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  Casually Speaking Interview: Linh V

December 01, 2007
Casually Speaking: Linh V

Welcome to Casually Speaking – the interview series that showcases the fantastic designers, artists, and developers who make MSN^® Games such a great gaming site!

This month, we meet with Linh V, one of our top game producers and an expert on our extremely popular Windows Live Messenger games. She will explain what Messenger games are all about, and also discuss GoPets – the international phenomenon where users can adopt and raise cuddly online pets!

MSN Games: Linh, thanks for taking the time to talk to us today. To start with, what do you do here?

Linh V: Hi, I’m a games producer in Carbonated Games studio – the first party game studio that develops casual games for Microsoft. I primarily produce Windows Live Messenger games, which can be both challenging and rewarding. You can never tell how successful your game will be before it goes out the door, but it’s a great feeling to work on something you hope will bring joy, relaxation, and fun into people’s lives.

MSN Games: Some of our readers may have never played a Messenger game before! How are Messenger games different from other titles on the MSN Games Website?

Linh V: Fundamentally, Messenger games aren’t really that different from our single player games in that they’re meant to be fun, light, casual games everyone can enjoy. The only real difference is Messenger games are designed to be multiplayer games that you can play with your friends while you chat with them online. In fact, you’ll find a lot of Carbonated games that you can play on MSN Games or Windows Live Messenger – games such as UNO®, Jigsaw Too, and Sudoku Too. 

We also have such popular classics like Tic Tac Toe, Checkers, Bejeweled and Hexic. It’s no wonder that more than 13 million users play Messenger Games with family and friends each month!

What’s most exciting to me  is there are quite a few games that are unique to Messenger. A recent example is GoPets, which lets you adopt a virtual pet and buy cool virtual stuff for it! Once you have created a pet, you can start meeting other GoPets players from across the globe and interact with them via Messenger. Another great game which you won’t find anywhere other than Windows Live Messenger is 7 Hand Poker. It’s an original card game where you go head-to-head with a friend, trying to create the best poker hands possible. It’s tempting to stack your best cards all in one hand, but the trick is to win not just one match, but the best out-of-five.

So, if you like our free single player games, you should check out our Messenger Games too!

MSN Games: Could you tell us a little more about GoPets?

Linh V: GoPets is actually more than just a game – it’s an entire virtual world where you can express yourself, meet new people, and have fun through virtual pets. GoPets offers our players a wide variety of fun activities such as shopping, chatting, and creating personalized content. You get to decide how your pet looks, what clothes your pet wears, and even what house your pet will live and play in! There’s just so much to do within the GoPets world, it’s hard to describe it all. You really have to experience it for yourself!

Did I mention the game is completely free to download and play?

MSN Games: That sounds fun! What kind of pets can you adopt? Could you also talk about the many items you can buy for pets, and the cool places your pets can visit?

Linh V: Cats and dogs have been popular. And now you can adopt panda bears too, which by the way are exclusive to Messenger users. Over time you earn green & pink shells, or buy gold shells with real money. Shells can be used to buy everything from food, clothes, toys and furniture for your pet’s home. You can completely customize how your pet looks with everything from a traditional Japanese kimono to a fireman’s outfit. For folks out there who are really creative, you can even create custom clothes for pets! You can also decorate your pet’s home any way you like – winter holiday themes are especially popular right now. From time to time other pets will drop by to visit and play with your pet, and it’s very easy to meet new friends from around the world!

One of the newest features in GoPets is your pet’s ability to learn new crafting skills such as cooking or farming. What’s really neat is once your pet learns how to cook, you not only have plenty of food for your own pet, but you can even sell food to other players and earn shells to spend on other things.

MSN Games: What special features does Messenger offer to GoPets players?

Linh V: What’s great about the Messenger version of GoPets is you can easily play GoPets with any friends from your Messenger contact list. The other thing that sets GoPets Messenger apart from the original GoPets version is how well it’s integrated into a number of Windows Live services.  For example, you can add Lily Panda – the GoPets Windows Live Agent – to your Messenger contact list by typing lilypanda@gopetslive.com. You can chat with Lily Panda to get answers to help topics and, best of all, use her to launch GoPets if all your friends are off-line. Lily Panda has her own Windows Live Spaces page, where you can subscribe to and receive alerts whenever new and exciting features or items get released. 

Personally, my favorite thing about playing GoPets on Messenger is that it’s the only way you can adopt a virtual panda! 

MSN Games: How did you become interested in working as a game developer?

Linh V: When I made the shift to working in the game industry, it was because I wanted to work in a creative environment, doing something I’m passionate about and can learn a lot from. 

I really didn’t play a lot of video games growing up, but the game I always come back to is Tetris.  You’ve gotta love Tetris!

My favorite games on MSN Games would be Hop It! and Bejeweled, of course.

MSN Games:  What are some of your hobbies/interests outside of video gaming?

Linh V: I enjoy spending time with my friends, playing volleyball every opportunity I can, reading a good book and drinking a good cup of joe!

Thank you again, Linh, for taking the time out to talk to us!

Be sure to also check out our past interviews in the Casually Speaking archive:

View the entire Casually Speaking archive!