Ian Stocker is the main man behind one of the most standout developers on the Xbox Live Indie Games platform, MagicalTimeBean. While its origin story extends back to just 2008 Ian’s tale as a gamer and a game maker has a considerably longer time line. Find out more about Ian Stocker, his shady past, and what he thinks of the XBLIG platform in part one of our two part interview right after the jump.

Tell us a little about MagicalTimeBean and what its mission is. Are you the only member of the studio? When did you officially form it? What’s that name mean anyway?

MagicalTimeBean was formed in October 2009, when I started working on Soulcaster, and I’m still the only member. As for the name, that’s something that has more value in its mystery because the real story isn’t interesting whatsoever.

What’s your background in gaming as a fan and a creator?

I’ve been playing games my whole life, mainly on the consoles as a kid but more PC once I got into high school. Console games are always going to be my favorite though. I guess I just like the couch and the controller. As a game creator, I got my start as a game audio contractor for handheld systems back in 2002. I did one GBC title, then a long string of GBA and NDS titles. After 7 years in that business, I started moving into developing my own games with XNA, starting with Soulcaster.

You were previously a composer and sound designer for handheld games. What are a few of the games you created noise for? Were there any standouts that you thought were some of your favorites?

I got to work on lots of big names, like The Sims, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Spore… lots of movie tie-ins as well. I’m really proud of what I did for 007: Everything or Nothing GBA, where I managed torecreate the Mya pop song in a footprint small enough to fit on the cartridge. Robots GBA is also a soundtrack I’m particularly proud of. The producer, Mike Platteter, sent me some songs by Bananarama that represented the tone he was looking for, and my study of those songs left a permanent 80′s synth mark on my music style.

Flash back to March, 2010 for a moment. Did you have any idea that Jerry Holkins(#sohandsome) would be mentioning your game to his billion readers? Tell the truth, did you squeal like a tween girl at a Justin Bieber concert?

You could say that. Not only did he mention me in his daily philosophical musings, but he sent me a personal message on Xbox Live. Since those messages can’t be saved, I printed out a screenshot of it and hung it on my wall. It ranks up there in my top career moments.

Are you now a full-time indie? (if so) Wasn’t it somewhat terrifying to set out on your own? Was it courage or insanity? What was your motivation to embark on such a grand journey. (If not) What’s holdingyou back?

Working as an independent contractor was a good stepping stone into this lifestyle. I’ve been pretty good at working solo (but I look forward to working with a team, let me tell you). As for the move from contracting into indie development, it was probably just the right amount of insanity, plus getting a blessing from my wife who agreed to support me through 2011 in this new endeavor. It meant giving up a lot of cash to stop looking for contract audio gigs for a year, but making my own games has so far been much more rewarding spiritually. My goal is to make it more rewarding monetarily in the next couple years.

The XBLIG is a pretty controversial place, especially amongst those who develop for it. What’s your experience with the platform been like? Is it really a Microsoft thing or do developers need to step up their game? In your opinion what can both Microsoft and developers do to improve the platform?

XBLIG is a great hobbyist platform, and it’s an amazing opportunity to be able to develop and distribute console games. You can even make some money doing it if your game does well, but it’s best not to expect to make a living from it. Since I’m planning on supporting myself with indie games, I’m going to be expanding to PC and possibly other platforms soon. I don’t think the problem is with the developers, because there is a wide range of excellent games for the platform. The biggest problem is with the top lists. With the current ratings setup, it’s easier to rate a game you haven’t played than it is to rate a game you have played. There is also no Top Selling (which really should be Top Grossing if they decide to add it). Because placement on these lists directly translate into revenue for the developer, these changes would improve the quality of games. Right now everyone I know in the XNA community is eyeing Steam, given Zeboyd’s recent success there. Given the Xbox Live user base, this really shouldn’t be happening.

What are your thoughts on IndieCity as a potential distribution platform?

I like the approach so far, at least according to the blog. Microsoft would do well to copy a lot of their ideas! Since I’m planning to distribute my games on PC, IndieCity sounds like a great place to do that, so I’ll definitely be looking into it.

Big thanks to Ian Stocker for the interview. This is only part one so be sure to check back in with us tomorrow to hear all about Ian’s new game Escape Goat and what is going to seperate it from the other puzzle platformers out there.

Continue on with the second half here.