Zoink working on interactive packaging for Wiiwaa, talking with publishers for Wiiwaa/The Kore Gang right now

A portion of a Diehard GameFAN interview with Klaus Lyngeled, Creative Director at Zoink Games…

DHGF: What all comes with the game? From the trailer, it looks like you have a resistance band for your stuffed animal, the game, the Wiiwaa character itself and the big, white bag.

KL: The resistance band is actually the rubber band ears, and they actually retract back into Wiiwaas body. The bag is probably not going to get into the package as it takes too much space and doesn’t add anything to the game. Actually, at the moment, we are designing a packaging which will also be interactive. So hopefully it won’t just be normal plastic box which all other toys usually come in, but a packaging that will be of a purpose in the game.

DHGF: As an independent Swedish development firm, have you lined up a publisher for this or The Kore Group yet? Can you tell us what’s like to try and do so for a smaller company like yourself?

KL: The Kore Gang is pretty much finished and we are looking for publisher for that title. It’s a little strange with Wii. There are so many consoles out there and still publishers seem to have a hard time selling games. I think at first everyone just bought the Nintendo titles, but now they are starting to look around for more games to play. Eventually there will be going to be demand again.

Wiiwaa is obviously very different from the usual Wii title. It’s more like a great accessory/game than just an actual game, like Wii Fit and the balance board.

Zoink isn’t a traditional game development company. We are much more into designing new ideas and creating IP’s. Zoink also has a daughter company called Zoink Animation (www.zoinkanimation.se) were we animate short movies, commercials and music videos.

DHGF: Is there a likelihood of Wiiwaa or The Kore Group coming to North America? I would hate for this to be a European exclusive.

KL: Of course. The publisher we are discussing a publishing deal with at the moment is, in fact, a US company. Same goes for The Kore Gang.