: Please introduce yourself and tell us a little about your history in the gaming industry, as well as what you do for Media Mobsters?
Christian Majgaard: My name is Christian Majgaard I'm CEO and co-founder of MediaMobsters.

: When was Media Mobsters formed and what was its original purpose?
Christian Majgaard: When we founded the company in 2001 we did it with the purpose of developing computer games, however with very limited funds we couldn't start full scale until we had made some money. Luckily we achieved this by making some successful board games and doing small-scale contract work.

: What was the hardest part in the development process of Gangland?
Christian Majgaard: Making ends meet. As a start-up developer with no record it is uphill all the way. Add to this that we live in one of the most expensive countries with no local publishers and a financial market totally alienated to games funding, then you have a challenge. Fortunately we've been able to attract an extremely skilled team of people who were also brave enough to share the risk and make it possible.

: How did Media Mobsters get involved with Whiptail Interactive to publish Gangland?
Christian Majgaard: Actually we were almost signed with one of the biggest publishers, when they had to break away due to a policy decision. At that time we were so advanced in the development that Whiptails publishing model was a perfect fit. We think they have done a great job, and we certainly have all the awareness we could have hoped for.

: Are there any other games currently out that you based certain aspects of Gangland on? What games, aspects?
Christian Majgaard: We have taken inspiration from elements of many different games we?ve loved playing over the years ? and these range from arcade and action games to simulation, roleplaying and strategy. In its heart the result is an action game with en epic storyline ? and set in a huge simulated world with lots of stuff and people to interact with.

: There seems to be some confusion as to the timeframe that Gangland is supposed to take place in, can you clarify this timeframe for us, and tell us why there are vehicles and weapons that don't seem to fit in the "proper" timeline in Gangland?
Christian Majgaard: The setting is Paradise City in present day. You will notice elements from the glorious days of prohibition that was a catalyst for the Mafia?s uprising and success. We have not been very true to any particular period in time, as we wanted both the mood and nostalgia of the thirties as well as the cool cars and guns of present day.

: How long did it take to develop Gangland? When was work first started?
Christian Majgaard: Way back in 2001 we did a prototype in the form of a 2d isometric game, but soon realised that - to be given a high priority from publishers and the gaming community - games needed to be in 3D. The real work on the current Gangland started in August 2002 where our programmers built the complete engine from scratch in three months.

: The ESRB gave Gangland a rating of "M" for Mature, was Media Mobsters targeting an older audience or was this rating a surprise to you?
Christian Majgaard: No not really, but in Europe the PEGI rating is 12+ which would indicate that it's not all that controvercial.

: Gangland feels like a very male-oriented game. Was this done intentionally?
Christian Majgaard: Actually no, and to our own surprise it is really not so. Girls actually tend to like the game a lot. We even got one of our best review scores from a website dedicated to female gamers.

: It seems like Gangland was released a little prematurely, lacking capabilities like a lobby in multiplayer setup. Did Media Mobsters have all the time necessary to fully develop Gangland? Were you aware of some of the problems the game had prior to its release?
Christian Majgaard: We were aware that there were some problems, but as a new and partly self-funded developer we naturally had to make choices and tradeoffs. We are solving the majority of issues in patches and we are very confident that future titles will have bigger and more patient budgets.

: Looking back from today, is there anything you would've done differently during the development of Gangland?
Christian Majgaard: Given the circumstances no, but if we did have unlimited funds I think we would have postponed release until all the patch stuff was in there on release. I'm thinking especially the save game function and the multiplayer lobby.

: Do you think Gangland is a success? Did the final product meet your expectations?
Christian Majgaard: I still have great fun playing it, and believe me I have played a lot. The multiplayer is indeed a lasting and rewarding experience. From a commercial point of view we are very happy with the release and the feedback from the community is so good that we now know there is demand for a sequel.

: Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions!