Joining Gaming Boulevard today is Gary Lucas, Director at Hard Copy Games, a brand new video game publisher that will initially be focusing on limited PS4 titles. An imprint of Severed Press, Hard Copy Games recently announced its first PS4 title, The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human, to be released later this year.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Yes, I am Gary Lucas, I live in Hobart, Tasmania though I am originally from the UK. I am father, gamer, retro game collector, sometime author and director at Hard Copy Games and Severed Press.
Growing up, what was the first console and game you remember playing?
Well, this is going to show my age. The first game I remember playing is Pong. I think it was probably from Tandy. A couple of years later I got the Atari 2600. We only had one TV in the house so this led to lots of arguing.
What is your fondest video game memory from your childhood?
It has to be the loading screech of my Sinclair ZX Spectrum while waiting to play great games like Elite and Back To School.
Hard Copy Games is a very new publisher that will be focusing on limited PS4 titles. Can you share a quick history as to the company’s origins?
Hard Copy Games is an imprint of Severed Press, a leading independent publisher of science fiction. We have been looking to diversify while utilizing existing infrastructure and game publishing is a good fit in both a business and personal sense.
On social media, you’ve announced that your first title, The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human, will be one of the rarest PS4 games released with only 1,500 copies produced. Will future releases have a similar run count?
In the near future, yes.
Although your first title has not yet released, many are wondering about your company’s business model? So let’s do a quick speed round! Frequency of your releases? Timing? Open/Closed pre-orders?
The plan is to release 3 or 4 PS4 games in the first 12 months. These will have a two-week pre-order period and limited to two copies per customer.
Aside from PS4, will Hard Copy Games be producing titles for other consoles such as the PS Vita or Nintendo Switch?
In the future, yes.
There seems to be a “physical war” brewing (haha) with a lot of publishers emerging on the scene. What would be your unique selling value that separates you from the competition?
Haha, yes the “Physical War” has made for some amusing reading, but we will not be participating in any online drama. Limited edition PS4 games will be an ongoing theme, but we are looking beyond just limited editions. One thing that we are looking at is placing physical titles into our local (Australia) retail market.
Given the choice, what would be your top three digital-only titles to bring to the physical format?
To answer this would give too much away but I would have loved to have done Broforce, I have spent many happy hours with my son playing this, but that is already being published elsewhere. I will certainly be picking up a copy though.
Can you tease one of your upcoming titles once The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human?
No
Personally, what games are you most looking forward to playing?
I have nearly twenty consoles so I am a bit tight when it comes to buying new releases. I rarely pick up a new release until the price drops. I only just bought COD: WW2 so I am looking forward to giving that a play. I just picked up Adventure for the Atari 2600 to find that Easter egg and I need to find time to finish Journeys End for the Spectrum. It is a 3 part game that crashed on me over 30 years ago and I was so disgusted I haven’t played it since! I have also promised myself to make time to revisit GTA 5.
Finally, is there anything else you’d like to share today?
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http://www.hardcopygames.com/
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