Industry Veterans Found Wii-Focused Studio Judobaby

Several experience game makers with experience at companies including Sony, Crystal Dynamics, Sega, and Capcom have formally announced a new studio, Judobaby, which has spent a year in "stealth development" on a family-friendly Wii game. The company is based in Redwood City, California, and officially opened last February, although employment information on the business networking site LinkedIn suggests the company dates back to 2006 in some form. Judobaby is headed up by president and CEO Dan Mueller. From 1997 to 2002, Mueller served in design roles at Sony Computer Entertainment before becoming a founding member of now-defunct BottleRocket Entertainment in 2002. "Judobaby is committed to creating a line of fun, humorous, 'pick-up & play' products to entertain the entire family," Mueller said in a statement. "Our focus is on providing top quality entertainment that brings the whole family together through gaming experiences that have yet to be offered." The company's art director is Ben Harrison, a longtime Crystal Dynamics senior artist and animator who served at that company from 1999 until last year. Prior to that he was an artist and animator at Sony Computer Entertainment for five years. CTO Richard Anderson is another 15-year industry veteran, whose past work includes Sony Computer Entertainment and Sega. Lead designer David Ralston, one of the company's more recent hires, has more than three decades of game industry experience, dating back to more than a decade at Atari starting in 1980, where his credits included classics like Paperboy and Rampart. He has also done design work at EA, Blue Shift Inc., Capcom Studio 8 (Maximo series), and most recently Locomotive Games. The company plans to release its first Wii game this year, and says it is undergoing "discussions of a live-action motion picture tie-in."