Pangea Software announces Billy Frontier

Pangea Software, makers of Bugdom, Otto Matic and other original Mac games, today announced their latest game in development: Billy Frontier. It’s a whimsical, wacky and futuristic arcade-style game that puts you in the role of an interstellar cowboy living on the planet of New Texas.

While Bugdom, Otto Matic, and the most recent Pangea release, Bugdom 2, have all been large-scale action adventure games, Billy Frontier is a change of pace — it’s a series of different games combined into one, according to Pangea: On some levels, you’re required to engage in quickdraw duels with alien gunslingers. In others, you have to take part in a full-scale shootout. One level even features a herd of “Kanga-Cows” you need to outrun.

“This year we are focusing on developing smaller, arcade-style games which are really unique and fun, and Billy Frontier is the first of several that are planned,” said Pangea president and CEO Brian Greenstone.

Bugdom 2, released late last year, broke with tradition in a couple of respects: It was the first new Pangea title since Nanosaur not to be bundled on Apple’s consumer computers, and it was also the first Pangea title in several years not to see a widespread presence on the shelves of major nationwide resellers. Instead, Pangea focused on direct sales and Internet downloads as a way of making the game profitable, and they’ve succeeded.

The company plans to continue this trend with the release of Billy Frontier, which will be offered as a download only.

Pangea plans to release Billy Frontier in late April. The expected price is US$15. While specific system requirements are sketchy at this time, Pangea anticipates the game will require Mac OS 9.2 or Mac OS X 10.1.3 or higher.