Old games find new life on iPhone

A video game requires laborious months or even years to develop. As you can imagine, it can be hard for industry folk to watch their hard work inevitably evaporate into the mists of time (and OS/console obsolescence) after the game ships. So it pleases Max to no end that two of his older titles are flourishing anew on the iPhone.

Turbo Subs and Chuzzle, games that Max respectively designed/produced and co-produced/project managed, have both met critical acclaim on the smartphone and are available for download.

"I had trouble putting this game down. It was very addictive. I played till level 32 before I could bring myself to put it down and write this review. This is a great game to own and play, but beware, it will take up hours of your time." -AppVee.com
Download Turbo Subs for iPhone

"The iPhone port of Chuzzle is nearly flawless, delivering all the one-more-level appeal of the original game, as well as its quirky animations and sound effects." -MacLife.com
Download Chuzzle for iPhone

Bio

Max Holechek is a producer, designer, and director of award-winning video games and other interactive media. From 2001 to 2004, Max gained industry attention as creative director of the popular Nancy Drew titles, the first game series to smash conventional misconceptions about female gamer habits while pioneering “casual” game design years before the term was coined.

To date, Max has shipped 16 games for the likes of Oberon Media, PopCap Games, PlayFirst and Her Interactive. He has also served as producer and design consultant to iWin, THQ, Nick Jr., Cranium, Codemasters and Humongous Entertainment.

26 awards and recognitions have been bestowed on Max’s game titles. In addition to being a skilled video editor and production artist, Max is a talented creative writer and copywriter, and has been cited in two books dedicated to interactive storytelling.

Max lives in Seattle, Washington, with his wife, son, and their tin toy robot collection.

Resume

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Click to open or right-click to download. Reference available upon request.

Has this guy ever heard of a coffee break?! Hard to tell. Max's history suggests an unhinged obsession over elevating his employer to a higher level of efficiency, output, and quality. Call it a fortuitous sickness.

Case Study #1

In 2001, Max took the helm of Art Director for Her Interactive's celebrated Nancy Drew PC adventure games. Two months into his employment, HI's distributor announced its decision to reduce the price point on its entire children's game catalog, down to $19.99. As the Nancy Drew games had previously sold at $24.99 each, Her Interactive's business model was put into jeopardy. Reporting directly to the company president, Max rolled up his sleeves and found solutions.

Highlights include:

Increased the company’s output and profit by 100% within 12 months.

Shepherded the release of eight adventure games in fewer than four years.

Was promoted to Creative Director within six months of employment.

Devised innovative design techniques that yielded smaller adventure games that were virtually indistinguishable from their larger counterparts.

Retained and restructured the entire art team, meeting increased artwork goals.

Built the Nancy Drew game install base by 35%.

Retained and advanced Her Interactive's quality standards, attaining 23 industry awards.

Was responsible for the game titles that revitalized public interest in the Nancy Drew IP for Simon & Schuster, resulting in three additional book series, a Nancy Drew TV movie, and a feature film.

Case Study #2

In 1998, Max was hired as Web Designer for Humongous Entertainment. Through his own initiative, Max pitched and sold a bold vision for transforming Humongous.com, a simple brand website, into a premier entertainment destination, rivalling the company's animated retail game products. His subsequent design work and project documentation earned him two promotions within one year, to Online Art Director, then to Online Producer.

Highlights include:

Instituted high-level communication and collaboration between the Online, Software Development, and Marketing Teams and launched the website's first cross-departmental, strategic product initiatives.

Led the direction of graphic-rich, brand-focused, "sticky" content/puzzles/activities that increased repeat website visits by 50%. (Phase II)

Built new processes that introduced and incorporated web-user and interdepartmental feedback into the website.

Lobbied for and received blessing from company founders to market Humongous.com as another product of the Humongous Entertainment catalog.

(Project was discontinued in 1999, after Atari purchased the parent company and shut down all Humongous.com initiatives.)

Case Study #3

Impressed with his work at Her Interactive, Say Design approached Max in 2006. They aspired to break from web game development, take a strong second step into casual PC games, and break into console game development. Max hit the ground running and achieved their console game objectives within weeks.

Highlights include:

Designed an original Wii Ware concept and pitched it to Nintendo. The meeting resulted in Say Design receiving the first Wii Ware publishing deal offered to a third-party developer.

Designed an original Nintendo DS concept, pitched it to THQ on behalf of Say Design, and secured a publishing deal for the title.

Designed, produced, and shipped "Solitaire Pop," a PC downloadable game. Was direct liaison to the game publisher, PlayFirst.

 

Case Study #4

During his years at Oberon Media/I-play, Max exceeded expectations in his role as producer and game designer.

Highlights include:

Salvaged a runaway game project that had failed under two previous producers and was headed for the chopping block. After careful analysis, Max redesigned substantial gameplay and flow elements. He successfully shipped the game within 8 weeks, saving the company an excess of $200,000. The game, Go-Go Gourmet, became a fan favorite and garnered a sequel, developed under Max's supervision.

When Max was tasked with generating sequels for Turbo Pizza, Oberon's expectation was two simple re-skins of the first game. Instead, Max refined the original game design and implemented several exciting new features to both sequels, at no additional cost to the company. The changes greatly improved the overall play experience from the original, as supported by overwhelmingly positive player feedback and numerous industry reviews.

Need mountains moved? Whips cracked? Innovations innovated? No problem. With Max on your team, you’re well on the way toward watching your rivals weep with professional envy.

Contact Max today!

maxh...@gmail.com

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