Correction: Duquette

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This column was published in U.S. 1 Newspaper on December 22,

1999. All rights reserved.

Princetec: The Choice Game

Web designers don’t usually deal with angels and devils,

but for this religiously-oriented computer game, Princetec programmers

needed to draw wings and cloven hooves. Princetec has programmed an

interactive social game for teenagers, The Choice Game, which sells

for $19.95 and teaches values and making the right choices in life

(http://www.thechoicegame.com).

"An angel comes on the screen and guides the teenager in the right

direction, and a demon character tries to mislead the teenager," says

Mohan Reddy, president of Princetec Inc. To be published in different

languages, the game comes complete with animations and an online link

to a chat room.

Reddy’s 65-employee software consulting firm has expanded from 1,200

square feet at Jefferson Plaza to 3,500 feet at Route 1 South. About

15 people are working in the office and 50 are at client sites.

Princetec ordinarily works on much more mundane projects. For Internet

application development and E-commerce, it has such clients as Lucent,

AT&T, and Chase Manhattan Bank. "We get called when they need to

implement a system very quickly," says Reddy. "They want to bring in

talent without training people. We hire people who are trained in

latest technology and they get going in the project without any

learning curve." Princetec is hiring people skilled in Java script,

XML, HTML, website design, Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle.

Reddy co-founded Princetec with Srini Nemani and Raj Sajankila. A

graduate of Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute, Class of 1975, he grew up

in HyderAbad (South India) where his father worked for the government.

Raised in the Roman Catholic Church, Reddy wants to open a shelter in

Trenton and equip it with computer networks to help homeless and poor

people get back into mainstream jobs.

It was an experience at St. Paul’s Church on Nassau Street that put

him in touch with Kathy DiFiore, who developed the concept of the game

for a foundation she created 18 years ago to help unwed mothers.

Several Sources Foundation, a Ramsey-based non-profit group, is

aligned with Roman Catholic organizations. DiFiore appealed to the

congregation at St. Paul’s Church and when Reddy responded to the

appeal she invited him to Lady’s Rest, a daytime shelter, to set up

some computer networks. When DiFiore found out what Reddy did for a

living, she asked him to get his company to complete the game and get

it to market. Reddy put six people on the project."

"We did it on a pro bono basis," says Reddy, "and I contributed a lot

of personal time." The bonus, for the company, is that the employees

learned new skills. "If the game does well, we will get paid back."

The game has both a secular and a church-related version, and the

latter is being marketed through parochial schools.

Reddy — who has one grown child and one teenager — admits that the

Choice Game may not top teenagers’ lists of what they want most for

Christmas. "The parents are to guide them," says Reddy. "They should

direct the kids to play the game."