Street Fighter veteran"s support studio starts making its own games; first project to hit Xbox Live Arcade early next year.

In some ways, Chandler, Arizona-based CrunchTime Games is the prototypical indie startup studio. It is staffed by a group of eager young designers pulled from local universities. Its first game is a labor of love made financially feasible by the current trend of downloadable console gaming. Its studio space is a converted garage.

On the other hand, the studio has a few advantages over your average startup. It was founded and self-funded by James Goddard, a 17-year industry veteran who worked as a designer on the Street Fighter series (not to mention creating the character of Dee-Jay). It also has four years of history as a support studio, helping The Collective with Marc Ecko"s Getting Up and working with Blizzard Entertainment on the cancelled Starcraft: Ghost, as well as World of Warcraft.