New outfit Slitherine Software caught Future Gamer's eye at the recent ECTS with their Game Boy Color game Tyrannosaurus Tex, so who better to feature in this week's Developer Profile? Ben John gives us all the details.

Created on the May 4, 1999. Slitherine Software is a privately funded company, owned by myself, General Manager (and Lead Programmer) Ben John. The objective of Slitherine Software is to develop the business and build on intrinsic value to become part of the larger picture of the development of videogames, which we are uniquely qualified to accomplish.

The long-term aims of Slitherine Software are to create a stable foundation through the development of 'high awareness', technically innovated games with mass-market appeal. With a stable, well-funded and equipped development team, We can continue to create highly original videogames through the application of innovative technologies. It's the intellectual property that will begin to increase the value of Slitherine Software as both a proven developer and as an owner of valuable IPs.

The third phase involves not the physical expansion of Slitherine Software but the exploitation of the IPs and technologies within the company. That is to say, Slitherine Software will capitalise on the experience and technologies by licensing the game engine out-of-house to third parties wishing to utilise the technology in their own games. Slitherine Software anticipate a six to 12 month 'window' as the sole supplier in any newly developed technology before a competitor develops their own equivalent.

Using this strategy, Slitherine Software will not over expand or over staff, but will instead focus on our key strengths, which are highly innovative technology, the ability to deliver on time and the ability to successfully anticipate and exploit the videogame mass-market.

Our first game will be Tyrannosaurus Tex, the only real-time 3D game for the Game Boy Color. The deathmatch phenomenon is unequalled on the PC. Whole offices the world over grind to a halt every lunchtime for the ritual slaughtering of one's fellow workers, and even in today's age of sophisticated AI opponents, it's widely agreed that nothing even comes close to the adrenaline rush of a one-on-one shootout with another human player.