2. What got you into creating computer games in the first
place and what was your first computer game?
Walking into an amusement arcade when I was 7 and seeing games like
Snake and Space Invaders. I would not get those games out of by head.
3. What made you choose the football path?
Opportunity... ANCO wanted a football game, so I made one.... Kick Off.
4. What is favourite recollection of working on the Kick Off series?
When the good reviews started to come in.
5. I was a big fan of the games, but did you feel any
pressure from the competition between the Kick Off series and
the Sensible Soccer series?
Sensible Soccer took several years before they could compete with me. I
only felt pressure when I started working on the sequel to Kick Off 2 and
Player Manager. By Sensible Software's own admission, their game was
heavily based on mine, so in a sense I ended up competing against
myself.
6. What would you like to include in your next football game
which you've not yet brought to previous ones?
Greater emotional involvement of the game players.
7. Other than something you've been involved in, what's your
favourite game of all time?
Difficult. Either Elite or Descent 2 & 3.
8. Are there any games you've played that you wish you'd written?
Descent 2 & 3. Mainly because I could have improved them.
9. Aside from the plans for the forthcoming football game,
what else is on the horizon for you?
Helping the industry transform to a more stable and creative business
model.
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B
37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Jan 2011: Intel Quad Core Dell XPS 8100, i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80Ghz, 8Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GTS 240, Windows 7
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
The following is an interview with games designer Dino Dini,
creator of classics like Kick Off and Goal!, games which made a
long-lasting impression on me and fashioned part of my late teens and early
20s as I played the games well into the early hours on my Atari ST with
friends and housemates at Keele University between 1990 and 1993.
