Game on with ‘Hello-Kitty’

Meet Asadur Rehman, iPhone game developer at Salsoft Technologies and full-time (self-confessed) tech geek.

Have you ever wondered how computer games and iPhone applications are created, and why they are so addictive? Meet Asadur Rehman, iPhone game developer at local IT company, Salsoft Technologies and full-time (self-confessed) tech geek.

Rehman – who is famously known in the local gaming world by his nickname ‘Hello-Kitty’ – speaks passionately about how brainstorming ideas for a prospective game is the best part of the process, but also the hardest. “It’s less of a science and more of an art, so it’s hard to be good at it,” he explains as he paints a lively picture of people from various scholastic backgrounds sharing their ideas about game development. “We take advice from architects, psychologists, mathematicians; we have to consciously think of why a game would be fun in order to create a fully polished game to provide the absolute user experience,” he explains, adding that his Salsoft team has produced the games Kopy Kat, Brain Storm, Spot The Spot, Saving Private Lion and Bean Buddy.

Although some believe that the market for iPhone applications is saturated, Rehman believes that there is still room for “crazy ideas” as technology advances towards multi-purpose, mobile computers like the iPad, which can serve as a photo frame, iPod, and computer, all in one device.

When discussing the challenges faced by game developers in Pakistan, Rehman points out that game developers are plagued by a lack of visibility, due in large part to developers being picked up for work by international companies who go on to release the product without crediting local developers. He adds that there are very few game developers in Pakistan, and the ones that are emerging hide what they are doing because the business is so lucrative. He also laments the unwillingness of telecommunication giants to invest in games.

“The telcos are willing to pay millions to Atif Aslam to endorse their service or product, but they won’t invest in game developing because it’s not a ‘safe’ investment – they prefer not to spend money on ventures that have even a remote possibility of failure.”

In parting I ask Rehman how his undergraduate degree in Computer Sciences from the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMs) helped him in his career. He laughs and candidly admits “I am as nerdy and geeky as it gets but I never did well at school. It’s not just about having the appropriate degree; it’s about being really interested.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 25^th, 2010.