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July 31st, 2006, 23:52 Posted By: wraggster
A "big announcement" is planned for Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars this August, as the next-gen strategy sequel's multiplayer mode goes on show during the Leipzig games event. Producer Mike Verdu says the announcement will "mean a lot to Command & Conquer fans" - could this spell the return of series villain Kane?
Kane was the leader of the NOD faction throughout many of the C&C games, even though he was supposedly blasted to atoms at the end of the original Command & Conquer, also known as Tiberium Dawn. The ruthless bald terrorist was resurrected for Command & Conquer: Tiberium Sun, and would certainly be a big pull for C&C fans if he were to reappear in EA's latest C&C offering.
Verdu mentioned the "big announcement" during a recent podcast, which also featured lead designer Jason Bender. Forums are already creaking under the sheer weight of fanboy speculation around C&C 3, mainly focused on the mysterious third race hinted at by the game's first trailer.
The resounding hope from fans is that Kane will lead this new, extraterrestrial faction, which will reportedly have an "interesting, unique and tactical" use of the world-eating Tiberium crystals, meaning that players will want to be "very close to Tiberium when using their units", say Verdu and Bender. We'll be hunting out new info on Tiberium Wars to bring you updates real soon.
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July 31st, 2006, 21:47 Posted By: shadowprophet
The annual event moves from "mega-show" to a small, intimate summer affair.
The world of interactive entertainment has changed since Electronic Entertainment Expo's creation twelve years ago, gaming professionals and geeks alike would gather for a week of electronic entertainment frenzy. The annual Electronic Entertainment Expo has hosted giants and small players alike as companies present their latest game titles and hardware to media, retailers, and colleagues. The event crammed the Los Angeles Convention Center with blazing lights, blaring speakers, bustling crowds, and endless activity -- before spilling into flashy press conferences and notoriously decadent after-hours parties.
Now, E3 as we've known it is a thing of the past.
The Entertainment Software Assocation, which hosts E3 each year, announced today that going forward the Expo will be an "intimate event" rather than a massive trade show, hosting press events and small meetings with media, retailers, and developers. According to Electronic Arts, the redesigned E3 will now take place in July.
The new E3 will still be hosted in Los Angeles, and will still offer game demonstrations. However, the significantly smaller format acknowledges that many companies -- especially larger outfits such as Sony, Nintendo, Electronic Arts, and Microsoft -- already host their own showcase events. Additionally, regional events such as the Tokyo Game Show and the Games Convention in Leipzig have lessened the need for what the ESA describes as a single "mega-show."
"The world of interactive entertainment has changed since E3Expo was created 12 years ago," commented ESA president Douglas Lowenstein. "At that time we were focused on establishing the industry and securing orders for the holiday season. Over the years, it has become clear that we need a more intimate program, including higher quality, more personal dialogue with the worldwide media, developers, retailers and other key industry audiences."
Prior to this morning's announcement, industry buzz suggested that larger companies had become frustrated with the high cost of E3 and decreasing benefits of marketing at the show. Additionally, preparing games for E3 often means taking development teams away from work on final versions while demonstration builds are polished -- a costly process.
Publishers such as Capcom and Electronic Arts have already announced their support for the new format. Electronic Arts told IGN that it is "very supportive" of the show's new approach, and plans to participate next July.
"When the show began 12 years ago, it was a great opportunity to meet with buyers, media and partners," an EA spokesperson explained. "Over time though, the timing has become disruptive to the studios and the costs have become expensive.
"The July event is less disruptive to our development schedule. We think that software shown in July will be a more accurate reflection of the games that will appear in stores later that year."
According to the ESA, the new E3 will take shape "over the next several months," as the trade organization finalizes what it hopes will be an event to better serve the industry.
"E3Expo remains an important event for the industry and we want to keep that sense of excitement and interest, ensuring that the human and financial resources crucial to its success can be deployed productively to create an exciting new format to meet the needs of the industry," said Lowenstein. "The new event ensures that there will be an effective and more efficient way for companies to get information to media, consumers, and others."
The first E3 was held in Los Angeles in 1995 by the Interactive Digital Software Association (now the ESA). At the time, a new generation of consoles was rising, as SEGA released the Saturn, Nintendo offered its Virtual Boy, SNK its Neo*Geo CD, and Sony entered the market with a little console called the PlayStation.
Last year's E3 admitted more than 60,000 attendees and hosted about 400 exhibiting companies, according to the ESA.
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July 31st, 2006, 15:48 Posted By: wraggster
Just in case Civilization IV hasn't consumed enough hours of your life, Sid Meier and his team at Firaxis are giving you one more reason to spend the rest of the summer indoors. Warlords is the first expansion pack to 2005's near-unanimous PC game of the year, and was built with the aggressive Civ gamer in mind. There are six new playable civilizations, including the Barbarians, and a new warlord unit to help pump up your military production. Get to war!
Yahoo! Games (90/100) likes the diverse settings: "There are scenarios for all tastes, from combat-oriented conquests like Alexander the Great or Genghis Khan, to diplomacy heavy episodes like Chinese Unification or The Rise of Rome. These scenarios provide new and distinctive experiences no matter how many times you've played Civilization IV."
GameSpot (86/100) notes the bias toward ancient warfare: "These new scenarios are engaging, though they do skew a bit toward ancient-world settings and conflicts. Still, the campaigns here are interesting, and each features a unique challenge. These scenarios are essentially modifications of the core game, and they feature rewritten tech trees and unique units that are appropriate for their settings. There are also a number of new wonders of the world."
GameSpy (70/100) questions the value of this expansion with so many free mods available: "The biggest problem with Warlords is simply one of value. For all the fun the scenarios, new units, and new civilizations add to the game, they simply don't push the game far enough. The only really new gameplay element added in Warlords is the vassal state. This is a gameplay dynamic that allows a player to offer political subservience to another empire."
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July 31st, 2006, 15:47 Posted By: wraggster
There's an interesting piece over at Cnet's News.com that touches on why male MMORPG players pick female avatars as their player character of choice. While some may just choose a female to have something pretty to look at, News.com quotes a male player as saying that one of the bonuses of being a girl in game is "people give you more free stuff."
Even though some of us here at Joystiq have never noticed the trend while immersed in any particular MMO, we can see this happening among the eager-to-please MMO crowd. The story mentions that a recent About.com poll said "nearly two-thirds of the 920 respondents said they play characters of the opposite sex in online role-playing games." Of course, taking on a female role has its own unique benefits and disadvantages, as the story notes:
THE GOOD: Gamers, both male and female, say female avatars confirm what they already knew: Being a pretty girl has its perks. Female avatars are often the center of attention and showered with gifts such as swords or armor by other characters.
THE BAD: They also, however, get unsolicited and sometimes condescending game play advice from the thousands of mostly male players who populate the MMO universe.
What's your virtual sexual preference?
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July 31st, 2006, 15:15 Posted By: wraggster
Brand new Phantasy Star Universe screens have been released, and pretty much sum up what our social lives will be like once the game's released later this year.
After suffering a number of delays, the game is finally approaching completion for Xbox 360, PS2 and PC. The Phantasy Star Online sequel sees the introduction of an all-new single-player adventure with 40 hours of gameplay promised - and online shenanigans are expected to be even more of a blast, with expanded six-man squads and advanced character customisation being added in the sequel. We really can't wait.
If all goes well, Phantasy Star Universe will be in shops this winter.
Screens Here
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July 31st, 2006, 05:35 Posted By: shadowprophet
Via A very Dark place
When you think of the most influential and significant creators in the video game industry, few can be spoken of in the same breath as the legendary Yoshitaka Amano. Before putting his fingerprints on the role-playing genre, as one of the original creators of the Final Fantasy series, Amano spent 15 years at renowned animation studio, Tatsunoko Productions, best known for Speed Racer, Gatchaman, various Macross titles, and later, the production of Neon Genesis Evangelion. Amano-san himself created the characters for animated shows like Time Bokan, Tekkaman, Kashaan, Hutch the Honey Bee, and most-famously, Gatchaman, which became famous in the United States as Battle of the Planets (a.k.a. G-Force). Since leaving Tatsunoko, he has become a force to be reckoned with in the art world, with exhibits appearing in galleries all over the world, from New York City, to Los Angeles, to Germany, Switzerland and beyond. His unique, delicate style, and ethereal character designs are instantly spotted a mile away, gracing franchises like Final Fantasy and Front Mission for Squaresoft, Rebus (known as Kartia in North America) for Atlus, and El Dorado's Gate for Capcom.
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No subject is safe from his roving eye, either, as he's painted and published a series of books called NY Salid inspired in Miyamoto-like fashion (see: Pikmin ) by an assemblage of vegetables placed on a bowl in his one time New York City studio, which aren't indigenous to Japan. Beyond whimsical children's books, Amano-san has collaborated with some of the biggest names in the comics industry, like Neil Gaiman on some Sandman collaborations, and done work for Marvel, DC Comics and Dark Horse over the years. There's never a lack of demand for Amano's distinctive style, but even so he still manages to find time to create giant silkscreens of his character "HERO," paint on silk kimonos, pottery and ceramics, and other diverse medium. He is a true artist, one who never stops seeking for ways to bring new ideas into the world, and yet, one of the humblest, most generous people you will ever meet.
I first met Amano-san at the opening of his HERO exhibit at New York City's Angel Orensantz Gallery in late 1999. I was on assignment for Electronic Gaming Monthly, and was there with fellow editors John Ricciardi and Chris Johnston to meet with Amano-san and interview him. That initial meeting would begin a long and occasionally collaborative friendship with the man most gamers consider the heart of the "true" Final Fantasy games, those which sparked imaginations on the Famicom, Super Famicom, and Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and which set the template for nearly every role-playing game after it. Since I was based in New York City, EGM editor-in-chief, Dan Hsu, would ask me to handle the negotiations for commissioned Final Fantasy paintings by Amano-san (who was also based in New York City), which would go out randomly in limited quantities on a small number of EGM covers, not once, but twice. The first one we did together, Amano would ask me what we want painted on the cover, and I had the pleasure of taking Dan Hsu's basic requests (gold, chocobos, FFX's main characters) and shape them into a concept a little more concrete, giving our celebrity painter the direction he needed to complete our first limited edition Amano cover. To help commemorate the process, I visited Amano-san's studio, and documented the process of the work-in-progress painting (then only a pencil sketch) with a new interview, and a photo session (shot by myself), the results of which you see here in this feature. After the interview was over, I took our new collaborator out to dinner at one of New York City's most plush eateries, Montrachet, for a quiet, more relaxed conversation, some delicious French cuisine, and a nice bottle of red wine. Over the years, Dan Hsu would once again ask me to handle the commission and direction and delivery of yet another Amano-created, limited-edition EGM cover, which this time featured a triumphant Tidus riding on the back of a charging chocobo, against a stunning bright blue sky, a decided change of pace from our previous cover. As the years went on, I would catch up with Amano-san at The Happy Lion Gallery in the Chinatown area of Los Angeles, glad to see the show focusing on my favorite childhood show, Gatchaman. While my time with him there was brief, I would catch up with Amano-san on occasion whenever he and I had time during my business trips to Japan. Knowing that I was blessed with the luxury of having such informal access to him, I decided that it would be a good time to do a close-up profile on Amano-san, in the hopes of giving the world a closer, more personal look at the man, than has ever been available before.
Over the course of nearly a year now, I've made numerous trips to Japan to visit Amano (with the help of collaborator, translator and elaborator, Hiroko Minamoto) at his old-Ebisu studio, and at his newer, more elaborate, high-tech, super modern studio, meeting spot, and loft-sized workspace. Soft-spoken, humble, and exceptionally generous with not only his time, but gifts as well, Amano-san is a gracious host, who would cool our overheated selves in the sweltering summer heat of Tokyo with glasses of iced barley tea, and who would not let us leave his studio without practically carrying a bag full of recently published art books, cloisonne pins, stuffed NY Salad "vegetables" and Gatchaman limited-release t-shirts. All I wanted was the definitive interview. During the 12-month process in which we visited, spoke, recorded and filmed these interviews, Amano-san took us on a tour of his office, showed us finished and unfinished projects and paintings, let us take footage of his art supplies, his collection of bric-a-brac, and his entire studio (both of them, new and old) from top to bottom. If you've ever wanted to see what a day in the life of Yoshitaka Amano is like, you'll never find a more accurate telling, right here, right now.
But I've kept the laughing and the conversation with Amano-san to myself for long enough. It's time you got to experience the warmth and kindness of one of the world's most genuine artists for yourself. It's not just about Final Fantasy; far from it. It's about what moves him from project to project, and what keeps him so creatively charged, day after day, and disassembling the mythos that most people only see in rare, public appearances, like Amano's reunion with Hironobu Sakaguchi and Nobuo Uematsu on-stage at the DEAR FRIENDS concert at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. So please join us, as Yoshitaka Amano himself takes us on an in-depth tour of his life and his home and his work, and shares it all not just with us here at 1UP, but with you, the 1UP reader.
A Day In The Life of Yoshitaka Amano
1UP: Thank you, Amano-san, for taking the time out of your schedule to invite us into your home. Let's start off with the basic stuff. When and where were you born, and what was it like growing up, until you were around 10 years-old or so?
Yoshitaka Amano: I was born in 1952 in Shizuoka, which is close to Mount Fuji, it's close to the ocean, we have several beautiful beaches there. That's where I grew up, and as a kid, I wasn't one of the stronger kids, so whenever I was feeling sick I painted, which made me feel better. I liked going out and having fun with my friends, but whenever I felt like I wanted to paint or draw something I wouldn't show up wherever my friends were meeting, and I'd stay home and paint. That's the way I really enjoyed myself as a kid.
1UP: When did you realize that you wanted to be an artist, not in the sense of it as a hobby, but more as a profession and a way to make a living?
YA: When I was fourteen, I went to see my best friend, who had moved to Tokyo -- I was still living in Shizuoka -- so I went to see him. And I knew about Tatsunoko and I felt like I wanted to join Tatsunoko, so I brought a piece of my art, and I went to see their office and left the piece behind. After I came back to Shizuoka, Tatsunoko had sent a note saying they wanted to hire me, and that's when I joined Tatsunoko and that's when I realized that I wanted to draw and paint as my career.
1UP: What was the accepted idea of a career at the time? Did the Japanese economic climate in the 60s encourage young people to get a more traditional or 'practical' job? And were your parents supportive of your choice, or did they want you to follow a more conventional career path as a youth?
YA: I'm the youngest kid in my family, so my parents weren't on my case all the time. They thought if I was happy and healthy, then it was fine. And I just did it without talking with my family about it. I brought my artwork to Tatsunoko, got hired, and went out to work for them. So I just gave them a report after deciding everything. [Laughs]
1UP: What was their reaction after you told them you got a job in Tokyo? It must have seemed pretty daring, quite cosmopolitan at the time.
YA: My family was very surprised, but I was very very happy, because I loved to paint when I was a kid, but naturally my parents would always say "Oh, you're painting again," or "Do your homework" or "Do what kids are supposed to do," so I always got scolded. So the first thing that came to my mind is that it was an awesome job because no one was going to scold me for painting, and whenever I painted or drew something, people complimented me, so it was an unbelievable environment for me, so I was so happy. I thought it was destiny to have this chance to join Tatsunoko and start my career there. So when it was around when I was 15 years-old that I decided that I wanted to live my life as an artist, painting and drawing, and I thought that I would never regret it, and up to this point I've never regretted it at all.
1UP: What were your early years at Tatsunoko like? Did you begin your career having to do more mundane, apprentice-like chores or were you able to jump right into the character design and create Gatchaman? How did that progress?
YA: The first year I had to learn about animation, so I was part of the production team, and I was involved with all the methods, so I would understand what animation was. The second year I was working as an animator, but back then there wasn't a person called a 'character designer', so every now and then when I was working as an animator, the company would bring me to this private, secret room and force me to create a character...
1UP: On the spot?
YA: On the spot. I couldn't come out of the room until I designed a character. But after a while that room kind of turned into my room, because I was designing the characters the most, so the position as a character designer was created because of me, and that room turned into my room. [Laughs] So I was packed in that room for a week and I couldn't come out. I just had to design the characters. The information inside the room was confidential because they were new character designs, and we couldn't just announce those designs outside, so I was in this secret room a lot.
1UP: So you're the world's first official character designer, and you must be a little claustrophobic, because you were stuck in that small window, and you'd want some air and some sunlight, which would explain this huge loft space for your studio now.
YA: Even though I have a big atelier now, a big space to work in, it's still the same, and I usually stay in a small place to work. When I was working at Tatsunoko, the company was great, because they respected creativity a lot, so they let us go see movies, or study American comics or animation with the company money, and they didn't have strict rules, like you have to be in at 9 o'clock or 10 o'clock. You could just come in whenever, and you could go out to study things, but usually I was out playing. But that's how Tatsunoko supported the creators.
1UP: Did your years as animator help develop this incredible work ethic, like your current project where you have to create a hundred illustrations for TOEI Animation? I've seen you work and you work very fast.
YA: That's one reason why I'm able to work like this, but the big difference is that when I was an animator I was drawing the characters, but the characters were not mine, so I was copying someone else's character design. But what I'm doing for TOEI Animation, the whole design, the story plot is all from me, so that's the biggest difference. So I can't blame anyone for bad work now, because the whole thing is on me right now.
1UP: What was your first major contribution to Tatsunoko?
YA: Maybe, Minashigo Hatchi (Hutch the Honeybee). I don't remember clearly which work was my first one, but I was working on Minashigo Hatchi, Gatchaman (Battle of the Planets) and several other things, like Time Bokkan, an anime series with several characters that every kid grew up with.
1UP: What made you want to leave Tatsunoko? At the time it was traditional for most people to stay with the same company for their entire professional career. What you did was rather bold and not without risk, I imagine.
YA: I stayed at Tatsunoko for fifteen years. From 15 to 30 is when I worked at Tatsunoko. But since I turned 20 and in my twenties, I began to feel that as an artist and as a painter, that I couldn't be doing character design the whole time. I wanted to grow as an artist, so I was painting and drawing on my own outside of my work at Tatsunoko. So I decided to break out on my own when I turned 30, because I wanted my own art to be seen by people, not just as a character designer at Tatsunoko.
1UP: How long was it between when you left Tatsunoko and when you became involved in video games?
YA: Probably about three or four years. After I quit Tatsunoko, there wasn't really a game market for about three or four years.
1UP: So in the intervening years between leaving Tatsunoko and getting involved with the game industry, were you able to support yourself and survive purely as an artist during that whole time?
YA: Yes I was able to support myself as an artist. When I was in Tatsunoko, I only had one category, character design and animation, but after leaving I was relieved because I was able to do anything, in several genres, like science fiction or fantasy, or even humor illustrations. Video games was just an additional genre to all the other things I was doing.
1UP: Was Final Fantasy the first game you became involved with?
YA: Final Fantasy wasn't the first video game-related job I did. So I went to America for a week, which was the first time I went to America, and I don't remember what company it was, but this company asked me to do an illustration similar to Dragon's Lair, the arcade game, and that was the first game-related job I had.
1UP: And what time period did you actually design the character for Vampire Hunter D?
YA: Right around 1983-1984 I did the artwork for Vampire Hunter D, and that was a year after I left Tatsunoko.
1UP: How did you first meet Hironobu Sakaguchi?
YA: The first time I met Sakaguchi-san is when he asked me to do Final Fantasy. It was Sakaguchi-san along with three other people. Back then I was doing fantasy illustration for European novels, so that's probably where they found me, and why they came to me and asked me to do the art for Final Fantasy.
1UP: Was Sakaguchi surprised to find out that you were one who created Gatchaman, among other Tatsunoko franchises?
YA: He probably didn't know back then that I was the one who did the designs for Gatchaman. Of course he probably knew about Gatchaman, but wasn't aware that I was the one who did the designs.
1UP: Since the early video games featured such primitive graphics, how did you feel about seeing your elaborate illustrations transformed into such tiny sprites?
YA: There's actually an interesting story behind that. Because the art was so small and pixelated, I created a design like that. But they came back to me and said "please design it normally so we can shrink it down ourselves into a game character." They wanted a real design from me, not for me making something looking like a game character. [Laughs] What I think is that back then is that my art couldn't just go into the game without major adjustments. So I looked at the sprites as just a symbol of my art. Here's an example, when you say "Mount Fuji" and you make a motion like this [makes a peak sign with his fingers], everybody knows what Mount Fuji looks like, so they get the mental image in their head. So I was in charge of making the master art piece that people would keep in their mind, and people would remember this art because of these symbols in the game.
1UP: Did you think that video games would last as long as they have, and evolve as they have, or did you think it was just a fad, or something that would fade in popularity, like any other toy?
YA: Back then the people around me in my life, like people in the book industry, publishers, didn't see the potential in the games industry. They would ask "why are you working on games?" But myself, I was very interested, and felt a huge potential in games, so I enjoyed working on them.
1UP: What do you think is your best work in the game industry? Whether it is from Final Fantasy, or Front Mission, or anything.
YA: The character I like the most, is Tina from Final Fantasy VI, she was the first HEROine of the Final Fantasy series. I also like the character Faris, from Final Fantasy V, who is a girl, but a bit of a tomboy. I like the simple monsters too, like the Bomb and also the Slime, which is very simple. I feel as if this represents me more, so I like the simple designs. Like when a game or movie is a series, the main character or the monsters or enemies become more complicated as the series goes on. But I like the original the most, the plain, raw character. Like in the Star Wars series, I like the first one the most. I like the impact Darth Vader gave to people. As the series goes on, you're getting used to him, so they try to put more flavor into him, so you begin to lose the original, raw identity. I like monsters like this, that you can draw simply and easily, like this. [Amano draws a Slime from Final Fantasy]
1UP: It's funny how you're always finding new things to paint on. Whether it's kimonos, or even eggs.
YA: I just run into these things, and when I see something like this [motions to the large, wooden egg in his hands] I just feel like I want to do something with it. In this case, it's not 2D, it's 3D because it's a round shape, so if I start painting on this side, I have to think of the ending point as I wrap around to the starting point again. If I just paint on paper, it's just 2D, so even if you walk over here, it won't show up here, but if it's 3D, you'll see it from back here, because it has shape. I find that very interesting. There's a story, in this pond there's a fish. From our point of view, we could just pick up the fish and then put it back in, and that's just normal. But from the viewpoint of other fish, it just disappeared and it reappeared somewhere else, so they'd think that fish is like a god. It's normal to one person, but change the point of view, and it changes into something entirely different. I'm attracted to things like that.
1UP: So it's like perspective, how art is to one person can be entirely different to another.
YA: So video games say something different to me too. I could just express something, in a game world in a different way. That's why I like working in games too. I think it would be interesting if I could express something from a painting in a video game.
1UP: How hard has it been to be accepted by the fine art community? It's a pretty snobbish community, especially towards those who've worked distinctly commercial medium, like comic books, animation, video games and many of the genres you've explored in your career.
YA: I always like something new. Like,animation back then was new too, so games, etc., these are different places where my art is released, but I myself don't change. So my core doesn't change, and as an artist, I'm completely responsible for my art. So sometimes my art comes out in a game, but the game doesn't sell, so my art isn't reflected in a good way, and that's a sad thing. But what I think is that I am solely responsible for my art, so I'm not concerned which path I channel it through. If it's something new, then I am interested. So if it's animation, or games, or some new medium in the future, I would be happy to put my art into it. I'm not sure if there's any criticism, or if I have any frustration with the fine-art community, at least not that I'm aware of. I'm still a newcomer in the community, but as long as I'm doing something new and something different. By doing this, there's always the possibility that there's someone somewhere might be criticizing me about it. But I don't care that much, in fact I would be happy to accept it because it means that I'm doing something new. The other day I went to Rome and saw Michaelangelo's art, and there was a huge line for two hours to see his art. When I saw the whole line, I felt strongly that art has a strong power to attract people and to move the world, and I knew that I had to be responsible for my art, not just now, but ten years from now, forty years from now, I must be responsible for my art.
1UP: How have your different studios affected your work. You've had studios in New York City, Paris, Tokyo and who knows where else? What have these different locales given you for inspiration?
YA: Having studios around the world has influenced me a lot. My New York studio gave me ideas for HERO, and from my Paris studio I got the inspiration for my children's books. I haven't released them yet, but I'm working on some art in that style. The best case scenario is to have a studio in every country in the world [Laughs] -- it doesn't have to be big -- but it's important to have somewhere I can go and be inspired, and it's very important not to get used to that place. So what I want to do right now, the most, is travel around the world with my sketchbook for a year or two, and just draw sketches. Get a backpack, carry that and my sketchbook around the world. By traveling around the world, I'll probably get a lot of new ideas, and get inspiration from that. The point is to get inspired, so I don't want to stay in a hotel. I could even just sleep in the park, and stay there for a while so I can see the atmosphere and get the inspiration. The first thing I was surprised and inspired by when I went to New York was the fire hydrants and the manhole covers in the ground. Things that are not special at all -- people who live there would not even notice it at all -- but the plastic boxes on each street corner that have the free leaflets and newsletters, the yellow color of these boxes has just a bit of blue in it to make it a very unique yellow color. You can't find that color just anywhere. So really, really small things like that, but there's lots of really small things like that all over the world. So things like that are very important to me as an artist.
1UP: It's great how nothing escapes you like that. For my last question, how is your HERO project going, and what can we expect to see in the future?
YA: Right now, I have to finish the illustrations for this Spanish manga cafe this week, then I have to fly to Hong Kong [Laughs] because I have to put the color into 12 large pieces of art this week. In Hong Kong I'll have a gallery of there, which will have huge artworks, but they're not actually there yet. I'll actually be painting in the parking lot because the pieces are so big. I'm a little worried. [Laughs] So when I fly there, I'll make the paintings on the spot. I'm also working on a cover for a novel, as well as some things I can't mention yet, plus the drawings for TOEI Animation. And about HERO, the book will be finished around the upcoming San Diego comic convention. So that's what's going on around now, but in five years, or in the future, the core of my ambition is to keep on painting and drawing. I won't say I'll do this or that or anything specific, because if I do that, then I'll be responsible for doing it. So when there's something new, or offer to do something different, I would love to do that, and have a new experience. By experiencing new things, there's always a chance I'll find something fun, or interesting. I enjoy the unpredictable. So if something comes, that's good, and if nothing comes, that's also good, because I have a line-up of things I want to do.
1UP: Thank you so much for your time, as always. It's always nice to be able to visit you in your studio and see what you're up to.
SPECIAL THANKS TO: Mariko Suzuki and Yoshi Segoshi for their invaluable help in making this all come together. For more info on Amano's world, or to complete your collection of Amano paraphernalia, visit his Website for an up-to-date listing of events, gallery showings, and works-in-progress.
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July 31st, 2006, 01:25 Posted By: shadowprophet
The world's largest videogame convention may be no more.
According to a report at Next Generation, E3 2006 may have been the last Electronic Entertainment Expo ever, at least as we know it.
While no official announcement from the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) -- the foundation that organizes E3 -- has been made as of yet, the buzz around the videogame industry this weekend is that E3 is no more.
The reasons for the change are mostly economic. As Next-Generation reports, "the larger exhibitors have jointly decided that the costs of the event do not justify the returns, generally measured in media exposure." Larger companies such as Electronic Arts, Actividion and Midway have long organized their own individual gamer days for the press to see and play their upcoming titles. E3 is often much more hectic and overwhelming than individual events, so it looks like the larger publishers are questioning the value of displaying their wares on the jam-packed floors of the Los Angeles Convention Center (LACC).
There are rumblings that the trade show may go on in a different form. The new show would be vastly reduced in scope and scale, and move from its current location at the massive LACC to a smaller venue.
More news on this as it becomes available, right here on RPG-NEWS..
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July 31st, 2006, 00:43 Posted By: shadowprophet
Role playing Games. The very thought brings about memories of that first time you had slain a dragon, Or those epic battles filled with magic and summon spells that's you have come to love so much, All the while defending your perfect paradise from some arch nemesis that threatens to destroy everything you have come to know and love about your new world, But role playing game, have a unique and rich history all there own. So join me now, For this ultimate quest, To uncover the true history of Role playing games, This promises to be an enlightening experience.
Early role-playing
In the 16th century, traveling teams of players performed a form of improvisational theatre known as the Commedia dell'arte, with stock situations, stock characters and improvised dialogue. In the 19th and early 20th century, many board games and parlor games such as the game Jury Box included elements of role-playing. Mock trials, model legislatures, and the "Theatre Games" created by Viola Spolin arose, in which players took on the roles of characters and improvised, but without the formalized rules which would characterize modern role-playing games.
There is some evidence that assassin-style games may have been played in New York city by adults as early as 1920. A simple version in which an assassination was performed by saying, "You're dead," was mentioned in Harpo Marx's autobiography, Harpo Speaks!, in a section covering the 1920s.
In the 1960s, historical reenactment groups gave rise to "creative history" games, which probably originate with the founding of the Society for Creative Anachronism in Berkeley, California on May 1, 1966. A similar group, the Markland Medieval Mercenary Militia, began holding events on the University of Maryland, College Park in 1969. These groups were largely dedicated to accurately recreating medieval history and culture, however, with only mild fantasy elements, and were probably mostly influenced by historical re-enactment.
The 1970s: The first modern RPGs
The first commercially available tabletop role-playing game, Dungeons & Dragons, was published in 1974 by Gygax's TSR. TSR marketed the game as a niche product. Gygax expected to sell about 50,000 copies. After establishing itself in boutique stores it developed a cult following.
The game's growing success spawned cottage industries and a variety of peripheral products. In a few years other fantasy games appeared, some of which blatantly copied the look and feel of the original game (one of the earliest competitors was Tunnels and Trolls). Along with Dungeons & Dragons, early successes included Chivalry & Sorcery, Traveler, Space Opera and Rune Quest. Live-action groups such as dagorhir were started, and organized gaming conventions and publications such as Dragon Magazine catered to the growing hobby.
TSR launched Advanced Dungeons & Dragons in the late seventies (later called "first edition" among gamers). This ambitious project expanded the rules to a small library of hardcover books, each hundreds of pages long. These covered such minutiae as the chance of finding a singing sword in a pile of loot or the odds of coaxing gossip from a tavern keeper. Optional modules in the form of small booklets offered prepared adventure settings. The first edition Dungeon Master's Guide published in 1979 included a recommended reading list of twenty-five authors.
(The original printing of Dungeons & Dragons)
Mainframe computers
The earliest computer role-playing games began in 1975 as an offshoot of early university mainframe text-based RPGs on PDP-10 and Unix-based computers, starting with Dungeon and graphical CRPGs on the PLATO System, pedit5 and dnd, games inspired by role-playing games. Other influences during this period were text adventures, Multiple-User Dungeons (MUDs) and rogue like games. Some of the first graphical CRPGs after pedit5 and dnd, were orthanc, avathar (later renamed avatar), oubliette, dungeons of degorath, baradur, emprise, bnd, sorcery, moria, and dnd world, all of which were developed and became widely popular on PLATO during the latter 1970s, in large part due to PLATO's speed, fast graphics, nationwide network of terminals, and large number of players with access to those terminals. These were followed by (but did not always lead directly to) games on other platforms, such as Akalabeth (1980) (which gave rise to the well-known Ultima series), and Wizardry.
(Richard Garriott's Akalabeth from 1980 is considered to be one of the first graphical CRPGs)
Personal computers and graphical RPGs
(The Apple II version of Wizardry was one of the earliest computer role-playing games)
In 1980, a very popular dungeon crawler, Rogue was released. Featuring ASCII graphics where the setting, monsters and items were represented by letters and a deep system of game play, it inspired a whole genre ("roguelikes") of similar clones. Of particular note was 1987's NetHack, an update of Rogue that arguably surpassed the original's popularity by its advanced complexity and sense of humor, as well as through continuous extensions and updates to the game for nearly two decades.
Early Ultima and Wizardry games are perhaps the largest influence on the later console RPG games that are now popular. Many innovations of Ultima III: Exodus (1983) eventually became standards of almost all RPGs in both the console market (if somewhat simplified to fit the gamepad) and the personal computer market. Later Dungeon Master (1987) introduced real-time game play and several user-interface innovations, such as direct manipulation of objects and the environment with the mouse, to first-person CRPGs.
The earliest console RPG was the Intellivision title AD&D Treasure of Tarmin (1982). Much later, in 1986, Enix made the NES title Dragon Quest (called Dragon Warrior in North America and would remain that way until the 8th game in the series). This was followed shortly by ports of the computer RPGs Wizardry and Ultima III, and by Final Fantasy (1987) by Squaresoft. Both of these games proved popular and spawned a series of sequels. Both game series remain popular today, Final Fantasy more so in North America, and Dragon Quest in Japan.
Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy both borrowed heavily from Ultima. For example, leveling up and saving must be done by speaking to the king in Dragon Quest, and in order to rest and get healed, the characters must visit the king (Dragon Quest) or stay the night at an inn (both games). The games are played in a top-down perspective, much like the Ultima games, as well. The combat style in Dragon Quest was borrowed from another series from the personal computer market, the Wizardry games.
Pools of Darkness was the last in a trilogy of Gold Box games that began with Pool of Radiance.
Starting in 1988 with Pool of Radiance, SSI produced a series of "Gold Box" CRPGs based on the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rules. These games featured a first-person display for movement, combined with an overhead tactical display for combat. The Gold Box series was published up until 1993, when the game engine had finally become outdated. The Forgotten Realms Unlimited Adventures game published in that year allowed users to create their own adventures that could be played using the Gold Box engine.
(The Pools of Darkness title screen)
Online RPGs
The first CRPGs offered a single player experience. The popularity of multiplayer modes in these games rose sharply during the mid-1990s. Diablo (1996) was one of the games that heavily influenced this boost in popularity. It combined CRPG and action game elements, and featured an Internet multiplayer mode that allowed up to four players to enter the same world and fight monsters, trade items, or fight against each other. MMORPG's introduced huge worlds with open-ended game play and thousands of interactive characters (both player and computer-controlled).
In 1997, a new Internet fad began. Influenced by console RPGs, a large group of young programmers and aficionados began creating and sharing independent CRPG games, based mostly on the game play and style of the older SNES and Sega Genesis games. The majority of such games owe to simplistic software development kits such as the Japanese RPG Maker series.
A steadily increasing number of non-RPG video games have adopted aspects traditionally seen in RPGs, such as experience point systems, equipment management, and choices in dialogue. The blending of these elements with a number of different game engines and game play styles have created a myriad of hybrid game categories. These hybrid games are commonly formed by mixing popular game play elements featured in other genres, such as first-person shooters, platformers, and real-time strategy games.
Interplay
In the late 1990s, Interplay Entertainment produced several remarkable RPG titles through two new developers: Black Isle Studios and BioWare. In 1997, Black Isle released the groundbreaking Fallout, set in an alternate history American post-apocalyptic future wasteland. The game was notable for its open-ended, largely non-linear game play and quest system. The player was afforded many moral choices to shape the world and how NPCs reacted to the player, reminiscent of the original Ultima games. One of the few successful video game RPGs not set in the swords-and-sorcery genre, Fallout was greatly inspired by Interplay's own Wasteland (1988). Black Isle followed up with a sequel and the critically-acclaimed Planescape: Torment (1999).
(Standing before the Gecko power plant in Fallout 2) *1998
Bioware's Baldur's Gate series was no less important, as the most significant D&D games to be released since the Gold Box era. At the time, the games created the most accurate and in-depth D&D simulation to date, along with up to six-player co-op capabilities. Baldur's Gate provided an epic story that continued through both titles. Two games were produced, along with an expansion pack for each title. A slightly more combat-oriented series, Icewind Dale, was developed by Black Isle.
Interplay's games during this time period often shared engines to cut down on development time and costs, and all feature an overhead diametrically projected third-person interface. Except for the two Fallout games, the rest of their titles used various versions of the Infinity Engine. The collapse of Interplay resulted in the shutdown of Black Isle and the cancellation of the third games in both the Fallout and Baldur's Gate series.
(A full party storms a tower in the original Baldur's Gate) *1998
New millennium
The new century saw a trend toward ever-improving graphical quality, combined with increasingly detailed and realistic game worlds, particularly in the move to 3D game engines.
BioWare went on to produce Neverwinter Nights (2002) for Atari, which was the first CRPG to use the third-edition Dungeons & Dragons rules with a 3D display in which the user could vary the viewing angle and distance. New game content could be generated using the Aurora toolset, supplied as part of the game release. The game was very successful commercially, spawning three official expansion packs. Bioware also went on to produced the highly-acclaimed Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, which fused the d20 system with a very popular franchise.
During the production of Fallout 2, some of Black Isle's key members went on to form Troika Games, which released Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura (2001), followed by the highly-anticipated The Temple of Elemental Evil (2003) based on the Dungeons & Dragons Greyhawk setting. The last game was Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines (2004) based on White Wolf's tabletop RPG Vampire: The Masquerade soon followed. Although these games developed a fan base, none of them were financially successful or very popular. ToEE in particular being heavily criticized for shipping with numerous bugs, causing an outcry when Atari dropped early support for the game. 2005 saw Troika Games in financial trouble, and most of the developers left for other studios, rendering the group dead.
When Black Isle closed down, several employees formed Obsidian Entertainment, who in early 2004 released Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, the sequel to BioWare's successful game. Obsidian is currently producing another BioWare game sequel, Neverwinter Nights 2, which is scheduled for a September 2006 release.
And that My brothers and sisters, Is the history of role playing Games. I hope I managed to condense it seamlessly, There was ever so much that didn't make it into this volume, But if you enjoyed this, Then maybe, ill do volume two soon, The comprehensive history of console rpgs.
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July 31st, 2006, 00:27 Posted By: Kaiser
The July C&C3 podcast has hit the streets, featuring Apoc, executive producer Mike Verdu, and legendary LARPer (and lead designer) Jason Bender. There's some nice little "colour" talk about the team members bashing each other in GDI-v-GDI-v-GDI multiplayer, Mike Verdu has a good overview on Tiberium in C&C3's world, there's talk of Silos, Tiberium Storms (which we read about in the designer diary a couple of days ago). Notable mentions are:
Silos are IN, and you can steal enemy money out of them.
80% of the world's population lives in Yellow Zones
Zone Troopers (possibly among other infantry units) aren't vulnerable to Tiberium fields, but others are.
Red Zones have a lot of Tiberium, so expect higher-money battles with faster powering-up.
Even totally farmed-out fields of Tiberium will eventually grow back, but you can't just expect to nurse your "starter" field through a whole match. Tiberium harvesting is faster in the begining of the match when there's a lot of it on the map.
Nod plays the "good guys" (sorta) in the Yellow Zones, where they bring food etc. to the neglected poor folk who live there. Champions of the oppressed and all that, yadda yadda.
EA is trying to make C&C3 a "fast-paced" game
Multiple refineries and harvesters are absolutely back in, and GDI has "familiar tactics still available".
Fan feedback (that's YOU) about the initial Tiberium shots showing "big crystals" has been heard and Mike Verdu said they made the (harvestable) crystals smaller.
Mike Verdu says he "comes across as GDI", but he's "subversive at heart". Jason Bender says, "Peace Through Power - Nod has style".
At Leipzig, EA will be showcasing the first real-time multiplayer GDI versus Nod match, and there will be a "big announcement" that Mike Verdu thinks "will mean a *lot* to Command & Conquer fans"
One of the factions will have an "interesting, unique" and "tactical" use of Tiberium - that you'll want to be "very close to Tiberium when you're using their units" Hmmm... Big announcement... Could it be the big K? It's pure speculation on my part, but if you're going to the Leipzig show, may I suggest you memorize the following lines:(Preacher) In the Name of Kane!
(Chorus) Kane lives in death!
(Preacher) In the Name of Kane!
(Chorus) Kane lives in death!
(Preacher) In the Name of Kane!
(Chorus) Kane lives in death!
(The Big K) KANE LIVES! You know, just keep the refrain handy, just in the back of your head, in case you find yourself needing it (it's great at weddings, bar mitzvahs, funerals, high school reunions, etc.).
via Planet C&C
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July 30th, 2006, 11:04 Posted By: wraggster
What do you get when you combine the Roman Empire building of Caesar, the city planning of SimCity, and the wonders and tech trees of the ever popular Civilization? It would probably look something like CivCity: Rome, developed by Firefly Studios (Stronghold, Space Colony), where your task is to create and manage the economy of ancient Rome, collect taxes, and keep your citizens happy. The critics have been all over the map so far, but there is an alternative right around the corner for aspiring urban planners. VU Games plans to release the long-awaited Caesar IV in September, which should provide a basis for comparison -- and give Firefly some time to patch the buggy CivCity.
IGN (82/100) appreciates the attention to detail: "CivCity: Rome is definitely full of Roman flavor. Not only are the structures and commodities designed to heighten your appreciation and understanding of Roman life, but even your citizens will give you insight into topics as diverse as makeup and warfare. If you crave more information, the Civilopedia and the manual offer some interesting commentaries on the buildings and activities of a Roman's daily life."
GameSpot (66/100) has issues with CivCity's look and feel: "For starters, the game is ugly. Although it is nifty how roofs peel back to show you citizens going about their daily lives, and how clicking on homes and businesses create arrows connecting them to their wandering citizens, the jagged visuals are three years out of date."
1UP (50/100) isn't bullish on the game's combat system: "Once you've struggled with troop facing, watched them surround and ignore an invader, and shrieked as enemies walk right through closed city gates, you'll convert entirely to the boring (but less troublesome) map-level warfare. You can also opt to entirely skip this disappointing tradeoff by sticking to the peaceful game, though at a cost of about one-third of the game's content."
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July 29th, 2006, 20:47 Posted By: shadowprophet
Via Some dark Corner Of the Internet.
So it turns out that a well-timed and clever press release by Nintendo of America has sparked quite the debate about when the company's forthcoming Wii console might launch. Readers have sent me some positively insane e-mails in what can only be described as entirely overzealous attempts at cracking the code in the Big N's release, supposing there really is one. Here's a rather tame example: It appears that the number of words in each sentence is significant. There are 19 in the first sentence and 26 in the second sentence. 2006 is the given key, so as 26 becomes 2006 then 19 becomes 1009. This gives us 10/09/2006 as the release date.
At least, this is my take on it.
Toby Er, thanks Toby.
I mean to stay vague when I state that there have been multiple indications that Nintendo aims to launch Wii in the October time frame. Which would, of course, put the machine well ahead of the expected mid-November debut and likewise well ahead of Sony's looming PlayStation 3 console.
Sleuthing readers have determined that October 2 is a very likely candidate for Wii to launch -- this, based on the aforementioned press release, which has a suspicious opening on said date. Let's go with that for a minute and consider why this might make sense and why it might not.
Launching Wii on October 2 makes sense for several reasons.
First, there's the element of surprise. I don't think anybody really expects Nintendo to break from tradition and debut a new system a full month and a half ahead of the historic time frame. The Big N could therefore use these expectations to its advantage, sneaking out its new platform early. Sony has enough problems already with the high-priced Blu-ray drives and the low yields of its Cell processor; a surprise release of Wii could go a long way against a company which is likely fiscally unable to quickly mount a counter.
Nintendo could pull an Apple, which has rarely, if ever been done in the videogame console business. What I mean by this is to hold an event and then release a spotlighted product within a week of said event. Apple does this at Macworld all the time. Nintendo could theoretically do it at the Tokyo Game Show.
I'm leaving the realm of rumor when I state that Nintendo is scheduled to hold a Wii related event in September. Furthermore, Iwata himself has said that the price and release date of the machine would likely come in September. Now, the Tokyo Game Show happens to fall in late September. If the hardware is ready in bulk, what is to stop the Big N from announcing price and release date on or around TGS and then shipping everything a week later?
Retailers would love it. Launching Wii in October would effectively kick off the holiday buying season early, a prospect that retailers could rally behind. In contrast to the usual release-everything-in-November mentality, Nintendo and backers could ship Wii with, say, 5-10 games and deliver an additional 10-15 through October and November. Good news for the Big N, which will undoubtedly have big guns like Metroid and Zelda at launch. Good news for third parties like EA and Ubi, both of whom will probably have Madden and Red Steel rearing to go for launch, too.
Meanwhile, Nintendo and third parties could trickle out other big games -- WarioWare, Trauma Center, Rayman -- in October and November, which offers two immediate benefits. First, some third party titles that may have gone overlooked now have a chance. Given the choice between Zelda, Metroid and anything else, your average Nintendo fan is going with the established icons. That's just the way it is. But perhaps after two weeks have passed, they'll have room for some third party goodies, too. And second, a steady release of games both offers potential buyers continued incentive to pick up a Wi and also creates the perception that the console has a lot of continued support, not just one big bang.
There are also reasons why it doesn't make sense.
I don't think hardware is the problem. Wii is essentially current generation horsepower shrunk to fit inside a tiny console. The controller has been working for months. And some developers have finished kits. Hitting it in bulk might be a hurdle, but Nintendo seems better prepared for this challenge than any competitor. Still, software could be problematic. Games like Excite Truck and Zelda should have no trouble launching in early October, but third parties may have more difficulties. And although it could actually prove fiscally irresponsible to launch their games against Nintendo's powerhouses, some third parties see the word 'launch' and think that if they hit the window, they've got it made; thus, if they can't make it because Nintendo launches too early, there could be some backlash.
Would there be adequate time for public relations and marketing campaigns? Difficult to say. Apple is a Mac monopoly, if that makes sense. It is the only company creating Apple computers, as opposed to PCs, which can be manufactured by anybody. It is therefore the Field of Dreams for Macs, meaning that if Jobs builds it, they will come. It can sell iPods and Macs a week after announcing everything with a commercial and a smile. But can Nintendo do the same? It's never been done by a videogame giant. On top of everything else, Apple runs its own retail outlets and therefore has the unique ability to ship product without spoiling the surprise. Can Nintendo do the same when dealing with outside retailers who have nothing to gain in keeping the secret?
Despite these potential issues, I think it can be done and to be perfectly honest, I'd prefer it. Hitting the October window would be unexpected and original, two words that can simultaneously be used to describe the Wii console. I want to see Nintendo make the first move.
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July 29th, 2006, 20:33 Posted By: shadowprophet
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July 29th, 2006, 07:49 Posted By: shadowprophet
It's 1998. After years of waiting and hype, Nintendo finally debuted a new installment in the Legend of Zelda series for a gaming console. Weighing in at 256 megabits (32MB) and packed full with all-new 3D locations and two different Links, the new "Zelda" was supposed to attract a broad audience of gamers from the very young to older players who had grown up on the NES and SNES titles. Although the Nintendo 64 never caught up with Sony's PlayStation, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Zelda no Densetsu: Toki no Okarina) provided the biggest sales spike in the console's much too short lifespan. But more significant than the game's sales was the effect the title had on the industry and the critical acclaim it won even from the most jaded game critics. There isn't much that hasn't been written about Ocarina of Time -- after all, our old IGN64 site features more stories about Zelda than any other topic -- but I'll try.
Check out this cool, understated beginning. No booming orchestra, no fancy intro. The game knows it's good -- it doesn't have to try hard.
If anybody ever writes a bible for game designers, then this should be the first sentence: "Play through The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time." I've played a lot of games in my life. I've played Pong. I've played games on the Fairchild Channel F, the Atari consoles, on Apple computers, on the ZX Sinclair, on PCs, on the C64, on the Atari 400 (and later XL and ST machines), the Amiga, the Vectrex, various Game Boys, the NES, Colecovision, Master System, NeoGeo Pocket, the Genesis and all its attachments, Super NES, 3DO, PlayStation, Game.com, Dreamcast, PS2, Xbox, GameCube, and Xbox 360. And those are just the ones I can mention off the top of my head. I don't even want to think about how much money I've spent on arcade machines in the last 20 years. As the former EIC of N64.com/IGN64, I've played every single N64 game that ever hit the market, from the Australia-only HSV Adventure Racing to obscure Japanese games like Getter Love! Heck, I've played countless games that never made it out… But never again has a game instilled me with as much respect for a development team as Ocarina of Time.
Were you one of the first to own Ocarina of Time? Then you should have the special "shiny" box on the right -- not the boring standard edition (left).
It's not that the visuals were beyond anything ever done on a console at the time. It's not that other games haven't sounded better or had more compelling characters or a more appealing storyline. It's that no other game has created a gaming experience as complete and organic as this game. When the game debuted, it was THE 3D adventure game, providing a template for the genre for years to come. Nintendo's EAD team didn't just take Zelda and turn it into a 3D game, it designed a whole gaming experience around the 3D perspective.
Since there are so many gold copies, they aren't really worth much more -- but what about the 'red blood' version? It's true, early copies of the game had Ganon bleeding red blood. Since the game's rated E, this was soon (and quietly) changed.
The story of Ocarina of Time begins with a little bit of Hylian lore. In the game, this back story isn't explained until later in the quest, but the manual lays out the mythology right from the start:
A long time ago… Before life began, before the world had form, three golden goddesses descended upon the chaotic land of Hyrule. They were Din, the Goddess of Power, Nayru, the Goddess of Wisdom and Farore, the Goddess of Courage. Din, with her strong flaming arms, cultivated the land to create the earth. Nayru poured her wisdom onto the earth to give the spirit of law to the world. Farore's rich soul created all life forms who would uphold the law. These three great goddesses returned to the heavens, leaving behind the golden sacred Triforce. Since then, the Triforce has become the basis for Hyrule's providence. Where the Triforce stood became sacred land.
Old footage (left) shows the Triforce, supposedly included to let you switch between young and old Link. In the finished version, a similar scene involves the Master Sword instead.
The saga of the sacred Triforce echos through most the adventures in the Zelda franchise. Though the actual Triforce is not found in Ocarina of Time (it was originally meant to be obtainable as shown in early alpha footage of the game), it effectively guides our hero's quest in his first N64 adventure. As far as story goes, everything is directly integrated into the quest. As you play through Ocarina of Time, you learn about both Link and Zelda as well as their adversary, the evil Ganondorf. The moment the mysterious thief from the desert is mentioned by name, returning players will have figured out that Ocarina of Time is in fact a prequel. Though Zelda fans have fought Ganon before, the game marks the first time they get to see the vile creature in its pre-pig days. Gamers who have never heard of Ganon or Ganondorf before will of course be in for a nasty surprise at the end of the game...
Playing Ocarina of Time
Think back to when you first played the game. Do you remember how well constructed the whole adventure was? Modern games love to throw players out into a wild, wide 3D world to dazzle them with sheer size and go "here, this is all yours to explore!" Nintendo designed Ocarina of Time as a game for both fans of the series and complete newbies. It all starts off in a rather confined area. There are plenty of things to do, but the area is limited so that you don't get carried away or confused.
As you explore the Kokiri village, you learn how to use the controls, how to pick up objects, how to fight, and how use the camera system. Returning Zelda players will try to do all the stuff they used to be able to do in the old games, and new players will have a chance to figure out all the things Link can do versus other 3D game heroes. Most players will spend a lot of time in this first area just messing around with their sword, cutting signs, and slashing bushes. The cool thing about this first level is that returning players don't feel like they're starting all over again. You can jump in the water and swim. You can pick up rocks. You can jump (albeit automatically). But one look at your empty inventory screen and you'll start to dream about all the things you will eventually be able to pull off in addition to all of these actions. When viewed from a modern player's perspective, many of these actions are now commonplace in games. Super Mario 64 had shown us how to navigate 3D and simultaneously control the camera view. Ocarina of Time showed us how to interact with a living 3D world.
Then you enter the first dungeon, the Deku Tree, and you find out how well the classic Zelda gameplay concepts work in a 3D environment. A lot of what makes LoZ stand out from the glut of adventure games of the '90s is the tight integration of simple story elements (told via real-time cutscenes) and an intelligent orientation system. Although pretty much every game on the market at the time insisted on pre-rendered clips to tell the story, in Ocarina of Time, there is never a break between "story" and "game." It's all one experience. As you enter the first dungeon, the camera pulls out and shows you the scope of the environment. Whenever you unlock a door or trigger an event, the camera moves behind Link and has him look in the right direction. There are orientation aides in the form of a detailed map system with arrows. Nintendo was very aware of the fact that a roaming 3D environment is far more complicated to navigate than a static 2D map where up is always up. Despite its brilliance, Super Mario 64 made the pitfalls of platform navigation in a 3D game painfully clear -- with Zelda, NCL used what it learned and adjusted the controls and camera system for adventure gameplay.
How things can change... A fence turns from an insurmountable barrier into an obstacle (left). A lake without water presents a completely different experience (right). You return to the same environments, yet the experience changes.
One of the coolest things about past Zelda games was the existence of an overworld, which linked all the levels together. Instead of taking the easy way out and giving you a Final Fantasy-style overworld map to navigate, NCL created a huge, realistic hub to link everything together. This was no small feat, considering the N64's lack of polygon muscle. Weren't you amazed the first time you stepped out into Ocarina of Time's overworld and saw the scope of the landscape? There it was, a sprawling landscape -- large enough to create the feel of exploring a realistic world. This isn't like the small garden area around Peach's Castle in Super Mario 64. The dungeons in the old Zelda games were so close together, if you just translated the old overworlds into a 3D environment, the result would have been Disneyland, not a living, breathing world.
Nintendo's solution? A sparse, realistic Hyrule that merely hints at all the adventures to be had. You see a mountain in the distance. You see a fence that's too high to climb. You see a cave entrance underwater. You see the expansive size of the world and think about the things you will be able to do. There are no invisible walls and artificial limiters that force you to turn around. If you see something interesting, chances are that you can get there. And once you're familiar with the overworld and start to worry that it'll take too much time to travel around, the game gives you Epona. The horse is not only a cool gameplay feature; it's a necessity for this kind of game. Using Epona, you can travel around more quickly and enjoy the same environment on a different level. Once you've got the horse, you explore the same landscape again and what once was a huge barren stretch of land linking hot spots suddenly becomes an obstacle course. It's an old Nintendo trick that few developers know how to pull off effectively. Nintendo repeats this technique a few times in Ocarina of Time. When you find the Lens of Truth, you begin to wonder how many invisible doorways there are in Hyrule. When you get the Stone of Agony, you start to wander around just to find more hidden underground secrets. And let's not forget the ultimate change, Link's growing up from inexperienced kid to a more competent warrior. While you'll find similar game design in many modern videogames, the Zelda and Metroid franchises continue to reign supreme as they get it just right.
It's easy to forget all the things you get to do in Ocarina of Time because there is just so much here. Do you remember the Deku Tree? Or how about Zora's Domain, the Lost Woods, Kokiri Forest, the Forest Temple, Lake Hylia, Gerudo Valley, Hyrule Castle, Lon Lon Ranch, Death Mountain, the Goron Village, the Water Temple, the graveyard, Lord Jabu Jabu, the Shadow Temple, or the Desert Colossus? There are so many memorable moments and sights in Ocarina of Time. Remember how cool it was to be able to fish near the lake? Have you already forgotten how you figured out the reflective Mirror Shield? Or how about that ominous-looking windmill, hunting Skulltulas at night in Kakariko Village, stepping into the open field underneath the Water Temple, or the surprise when Evil escapes the well? And let's not forget the bosses, like the oversized Dodongo, the creepy spider Gohma, and finally the hulking Ganon.
Compare this with other adventure games and you'll quickly find that this kind of variety coupled with carefully planned action-adventure gameplay and pacing is unique indeed.
Ocarina of Time's influence on the rest of the gaming world is profound. Most 3D adventure games now feature a lock-on and quick-center camera system, more games now use in-game cutscenes to tell the story to prevent a break between gameplay and story telling, and many third-person games allow for a manual first-person aiming system when using ranged weapons. But as ground breaking and enjoyable as Ocarina of Time was, there were also some pitfalls. For starters, the game was definitely too ambitious for its own good. Apart from the N64's technical limitations which necessitated a less than smooth framerate, Nintendo basically had to create the 3D third-person adventure from scratch, so less time was spent on making certain quest elements more intuitive and others less obvious. One example for this could be many gamers' inability to figure out that you'd have to be on horseback to get Ingo to challenge you to a race. Another example would be the constant "hey" reminders from Navi. Designed to help out gamers find their way to the next challenge, Navi actually ended up distracting from the game. Nintendo should have been a bit more confident in the gamer's ability to find things through exploration -- or, in this particular case, should have at least given you the option to turn off the Navi nag hints. Critics also point at the fact that the "dark world" in Ocarina of Time wasn't nearly as cool and distinct as the one in Link to the Past, that the popular Overworld Theme was sorely missing from the soundtrack, that it was confusing that time stood still in some areas, or that use of the boomerang was limited to Young Link. But in the end, the game's shortcomings are minor compared to what the game does right. Ocarina of Time is an amazing game. It may look dated visually (especially when played on a large TV set), but the gameplay remains top.
Should you go back and play it?
I hope you already did. There is so much stuff to do in Ocarina of Time, playing through it only once doesn't do the game justice. Yes, the visuals are dated by today's standards, yes the midi music sounds tinny, but what a brilliant game it still is!
Where can I get it?
Everywhere. The gray version of Ocarina of Time can still be found in many game stores, both used and new. The gold cart is a tad trickier to find if you're looking for a new, mint condition one, but used gold carts are also plentiful. You can of course also check the Nintendo Classifieds forum, or scour Ebay and related auction sites.
Ocarina of Time was also made available for the Chinese Nintendo iQue system, which allows players to download games to flash memory cards via special kiosks. The iQue is exceedingly rare outside China and the clunky controller doesn't quite deliver the same experience when playing Ocarina of Time, but it's interesting for collectors nonetheless.
Luckily, a slightly enhanced version of Ocarina of Time is also available on GameCube as part of the
The legend of zelda: Ocarina of time / Master Quest compilation as well as The legend of zelda Collector's Edition disc. The two were made available via special bonus offer, as pack-ins, and even sold (not sanctioned by Nintendo) in stores. If you're not a purist and have no issues playing the game without the Nintendo 64 controller's patented Z-Button setup, grab one of these special edition re-releases for GameCube and relive one of the most pivotal game releases of the last decade once more.
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July 29th, 2006, 07:39 Posted By: shadowprophet
We dig into the story and come up with answers, plus new screens and a sweet new gameplay trailer.
Via ign
Exclusive for Microsoft's next-generation system, Ubisoft will bring From Software's 3D RPG, Enchanted Arms (called "[eM] -eNCHANT arM-" in Japan) to the US and Europe this summer. The Japanese RPG features high-fidelity visuals, totally new English voice-overs, an enormous amount of collectible characters (75 collectible characters, plus dozens more populating the many huge cities), and a story that's rich in history, side stories, and drama. We caught up with Ubisoft to get a deeper insight into the game's storyline, featured exclusively in today's article.
IGN: What's the basic storyline of Enchanted Arms?
Ubisoft: In the tradition of classic Japanese RPG storytelling, Enchanted Arms is an epic tale of good against evil. The story takes place in a fantasy world ruled by powerful magic known as "Enchants." These Enchants can be used to cast spells and to create a variety of subservient beings known as Golems. One thousand years ago, combat Golems with almighty powers nearly destroyed the world in a mysterious war -- but were sealed away before totally annihilating civilization.
The player assumes the role of Atsuma, a magic student at Enchant University. Atsuma and his classmates, Toya and Makoto, become embroiled in the adventure when the Queen of Ice, a supremely powerful "Devil Golem," mysteriously awakens and destroys Atsuma's home of Yokohama City. Atsuma embarks on an epic journey to halt the Queen of Ice, avenge the destruction of his city, and discover the hidden power of his right arm.
IGN: In terms scope, just how "epic" is Enchanted Arms?
Ubisoft: The story takes place over 50 hours of gameplay, with more than 500 characters to interact with, more than 100 unlockable and controllable Golem creatures, and more than 25,000 lines of dialogue. Included are both the original Japanese language track and an all-new English language track featuring rising star Johnny Hawkes as Atsuma.
IGN: With 50 hours of gameplay, there are sure to be some mini games. Can you name and describe a few?
Ubisoft: There are indeed mini games available, and they vary depending on the environment. Players can gamble at the Casino in London City, trying their luck at familiar games like bingo, roulette and slot machines. They can post their winnings on Xbox Live and compete for the highest rankings.
In damaged areas of London City, for example, players can take on Reconstruction Missions to help citizens restore water, fire and light to the city.
There are also plenty of golem battle tournaments as well, where players can battle against a pre-set golem team using golems they've created. Even better, golem battles are also available on Xbox Live.
IGN: We noticed a number of environmental puzzles in the "Story Features" video. Will you explain how some of those mechanics work, how frequently and in what contexts they occur? The brief scenes where Atsuma is hopping across glowing orbs and riding in a mine cart come to mind.
Ubisoft: Aside from running and teleporting from place to place, sometimes Atsuma and his party will need to use other means of travel including glowing orbs, moving panels and carts. Players will encounter these when they need to reach un-connected areas of the map, activate devices such as bridges, or navigate mazelike environments to collect key items such as ether.
IGN: Let's talk more about Atsuma. Will you describe a few of his special attacks or a progression of how his attacks grow more powerful?
Ubisoft: As all Enchants are based in a primal element, Atsuma draws his power from fire-based attacks. As he levels up, he will learn devastating super attacks known as "EX Skills," such as Summon Phoenix. This spell literally summons a giant Phoenix to fly through opponents and reduce them to ash. Specific EX Skills are necessary to defeat key enemies in the story. Atsuma will get those EX Skills when he completes a mission or event.
IGN: Will you explain anything about why Atsuma has a mysterious power in his arm?
Ubisoft: Without spoiling the plot, the key to unlocking the secret of his arm lies deep within Atsuma's own memory. Given Atsuma's hot-headed personality, he'll have to look beyond his immediate goals of avenging Yokohama City and learn a secret art to unlock and control his amazing powers.
IGN: What about Atsuma's student comrades and the other characters that join your party?
Ubisoft: Atsuma begins the adventure with his two friends from Enchant University, Toya and Makoto. Toya, utilizing Water Enchants, is a calm and studious counterpoint to Atsuma's brash style.
Makoto, specializing in support spells, is a hopeless romantic harboring a secret crush on another University student.
Throughout the course of the adventure, Atsuma meets:
Yuki: A young and feisty female Golem Hunter brandishing two enchanted pistols, which deliver high impact range attacks.
Karin: A member of a resistance movement in London city to rise up against the government, whom she believes may be exploiting the Golem threat to gain more political power. She specializes in close-range kicking attacks and support powers.
Raigar: Karin's faithful protector and former member of the Green Knight Brigade. He specializes in Earth Enchants and close range sword attacks.
Golems: There are over 100 Golem creatures to encounter, defeat and unlock to create your own custom Golems. You can add newly created Golems to your party and level them up as you see fit. You can expect more specific information on Golems in the coming weeks.
IGN: Thanks!
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July 29th, 2006, 07:32 Posted By: shadowprophet
High School Girls + Demons = Fun!
Via ign
Games based on anime titles aren't the most elegant of experiences, and the really successful ones have their roots in fighting games. It's worth mentioning that if you have even a moderately successful anime series in Japan, the odds of it getting a video game are really high. It doesn't matter if it's something super popular like One Piece or a niche title. So along comes this new anime series, called Blood+.
For those who haven't followed the development of this series, Blood+ is the follow-up anime series to the 45 minute animated short movie entitled Blood: The Last Vampire. The characters share the same name, but they're totally different in demeanor and looks. Other than the fact that both feature young high school girls slicing up demons, they don't really share any similarities. Based on the anime series, SCEI recently released Blood+: Souyoku No Battle Rondo to eager anime fans and gamers alike.
Otonashi Saya is the main character of Blood+, and she's a raven-haired goddess of destruction, with the ability to wield a katana as if she was a 16th century samurai. With her mentor Hagi and their organization called Red Shield, they have to take on legions of monsters called Chiropteran. These monsters suck the blood out of their victims much like vampires, but they can actually disguise their grotesque figures by assuming the identity of human beings.
Unlike other anime-based games, Blood+ does a good job of progressing its story, but it does by overloading the player with tons of cutscenes with some gameplay sprinkled on the side, instead of the other way around. The game is really story-driven, and the cutscenes can be long. Worst of all, they can't be skipped, even during your second run through them. Luckily, the story is actually well written, if you can understand Japanese.
There is quite a bit of interaction during the cutscenes too, so you won't be sitting around, waiting for the next battle to happen. Most of the interaction comes from Quick Time Events (QTE), which force you to press a button at the proper time. In one scenario, Saya will be chasing after a classmate through the woods. During the chase, pressing the Circle buttons at the proper times will allow you to jump over fallen trees to gain ground, but pressing it at the wrong time will result in Saya falling over.
These events are handled a little differently in the game compared to other titles. You can't press the buttons on reaction; instead, there are specifics zones that you can press the button in, and if you don't press it within those zones, you'll get different results. In addition to the QTE, there will be times where you will have the choice of two solutions, although your choices won't affect the ending of the game. They will change how you get there though, so by choosing, say, Hagi's scenario first, you'll go through that without seeing what happened to the other characters. It would've been better if this had an affect on how the game ended, but it's only a slight thing.
When you're not watching the story go through its motions, you'll be fighting hordes of Chiropterans in a variety of locations, such as Saya's high school, the subway and even in forests. The action takes place from a 3rd person perspective, and fighting is your typical mashfest. Pressing the Square button will allow Saya to swing her katana around, and pressing it repeatedly will allow her access to different combos. If you hold down the attack button, Saya will perform different moves, the strongest being multi-hit combo that can decimate a foe. She also has a projectile attack, and your typical evasive moves, like the ground roll and jump.
The action starts to pick up once you gain enough power and unleash her special combo attack by pressing the Circle button. If this attack connects, the action shifts to a cool cutscene where you have to press the buttons on the screen - much like during QTE - to inflict more damage. The further along the chain you get, the higher the damage. You will also gain life back from this attack too, so it's essential to get the sequence down pat. Finally, for a real treat, if there's only one enemy left in a battle, you can use Saya's Finishing Move to deliver the coup de grace. Although it's pretty much the same scene each time, it's flashy and cool to see.
However, with only two major types of enemies in the game (hey, no one said that the Chiropterans evolved quickly), the action can get boring quickly, despite the easy to understand system. There are about half a dozen characters to choose from too, but Saya is the only character that has any significant depth to her, since she possesses several combos in addition to her special moves. The other characters, on the other hand, don't have such powers, and are usually regulated to their fists or guns. It's too bad too, because characters like Hagi and your high school friends do give the game more variety when it comes to battles.
Oddly enough, if you take out all of the cutscenes, you'd probably spend a good hour or so actually fighting. The game takes place over the course of a week, and each day is a different chapter. By the time the fourth day hits, the number of times you've actually fought (assuming you skipped the tutorial) can be counted on one hand, with fingers to spare. The game is definitely all about the story, but that doesn't mean the gameplay - what little of it - is bad. It's actually very competent and enjoyable, but why the developers decided not to utilize it more is a mystery.
Visually the game resembles a certain Disney RPG by Square-Enix a lot, especially when it comes to how the characters are modeled. Instead of using the traditional cel-shading that is so prevalent in licensed anime games, we get something that's much softer and pleasing on the eyes. The animation is definitely not of the same standard as that other RPG, but it's passable. Overall the cutscenes are well-directed, with a lot of extra animation to give characters a more life-like personality. Similarly, the voice acting is spot on, but that's to be expected considering the source material.
Featuring an easy-to-use combat system and excellent story, Blood+ is a good title, but for full price it may not be worth it to importers when you take into consideration how long the game is. You can probably finish the game within five hours, and that's being generous. The game does have some replayability with an unlockable survival mode and a hidden character, but there isn't enough in the game to justify forking over the cash for the import.
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July 29th, 2006, 02:25 Posted By: shadowprophet
Hi Guys, In my constant efforts to improve Rpg-news Today I have added a games section!
If you will be so kind as to glance over at the left side bar under the Games section, you will see a few additions About thirteen of them to be exact.
A few of them are rather nice some are jaw dropping, other are just humorous, But all of them are fun!
Plus let us not forget, for the sites name sake these are rpg games, (well mostly anyway lol)
I will be updating this section every so often to keep it fresh! And remember you need flash support in your web browsers to enjoy most of these,
So without further Ado, Let the games begin!!
Let me know what you guys think!
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July 28th, 2006, 23:20 Posted By: wraggster
Mythic's Mark Jacobs, whose MMO company is being acquired by EA, has commented in detail on why fantasy MMOs sell better as part of an extended interview. He suggests of MMOs: 'Fantasy is easier than sci-fi. Want to know why? It's simple. A gun. What's a gun? A gun is impersonal. A gun can shoot somebody from across the room... Part of the challenge we found with Imperator is how do you make a combat system based on lasers and energy weapons, compelling to an RPG audience. The other challenge with a sci-fi game is that fantasy is very well defined in our minds ... I also think there's something I can't explain, which is that people are more willing to play a fantasy game that's not as good online, than they are willing to play a sci-fi game that's not as good online. And I'm not sure why that is.' Suggestions
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July 28th, 2006, 15:35 Posted By: wraggster
Gamers fed up with logging onto normal dating Web sites need no longer worry about having to cater to potential dates' interests such as "long walks on the beach," "candlelit, romantic dinners," and "anything outdoorsy." A new service has launched that caters to people whose turn-ons include "raiding the Blackfathom Deeps for epic gear," "farming the Scarlet Monastery," and "bringing doom to the evil Horde."
World of Datecraft (due to heavy traffic, the site is intermittently offline), an online dating service aimed at the nearly 7 million World of Warcraft players, provides the icebreaker for WOW fans to host their own meet and greets. Members submit profiles with basic info (similar to Match.com) such as age, gender, location, and an optional photo, as well as descriptions of physical appearance, lifestyle, and professional life.
While such a service seems like an answer to many-a-lonely-PC-gamer's dream, men shouldn't expect to become level 60 lotharios overnight. Currently, there are just more than 700 users, approximately 600 of which are males. (Note: It's probably not a good idea to mention your "burning crusade" when trying to lock down a date.)
As for the site's legitimacy, the owners claim that "thousands of people meet on our site daily and go on to date and start relationships. We've also had hundreds of marriages across many borders." However, the owners offer no proof to back up their claims.
A cursory examination of World of Datecraft yielded somewhat unimpressive results. Only six users were online, only one of which was female. Going by the handle "Jjivani," the female member claimed to be a 26-year-old Canadian aerobics enthusiast whose favorite thing is playing World of Warcraft as a member of the horde.
"I am a fulltime, World of Warcraft-aholic and am looking to find a charming lad that has the same interests as me," said Jjivani in her description. "I find that when I date men, they don't usually understand my passion for the game and want me to stop playing which I hate."
While intriguing, Jjivani's post also raises some alarm bells. For one, she claims she only wants to "meet for casual sex." Secondly, she touts the fact she has a Web cam--a ploy typically used by posters shilling for Internet porn sites.
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July 28th, 2006, 15:30 Posted By: wraggster
The world outside of gaming has taken notice of the financial windfall that can accompany a hit massively multiplayer online role-playing game like World of Warcraft or EverQuest, and it wants in on the action.
Film production company Big Screen Entertainment Group today announced that it has begun working on its first entry into the genre, a PC game based on its upcoming horror film Babysitter Wanted. According to the company's Web site, Babysitter Wanted "revolves around a tormented and tortured young girl whose only concern is the safety of herself and the child she is babysitting. Strange events unfold which lead to a tumultuous climax, leaving the audience hanging by their fingernails."
To adapt that story to an interactive medium, Big Screen is taking a new approach to MMORPG development. The company will start with the first half of the acronym, and then work on finishing up the rest of it later.
"Initially, a working MMO will be released within the next 12 months," the company said in a statement. "The game's platform will be constantly updated offering subscribers new challenges and character options. In phase two, the game will be upgraded to [a] 'Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game.' MMORPGs give users the ability to role play inside the realtime virtual world as well as play against others."
Another part of the company's "phase two" includes ports of the game. Big Screen Entertainment "will concurrently make the game compatible for the popular Xbox, PlayStation 3, and comparable platforms as well."
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July 28th, 2006, 15:27 Posted By: wraggster
Vivendi has announced its financial results for the first half of the year, posting the biggest increase in revenues generated by its games division and the continued success of hit MMO World of Warcraft.
For the second quarter ended June 30th, the company posted revenues of 4.844 million Euro, up 4.8 per cent on the same period in 2005. Revenue for the first half of the year reached 9.610 million, showing an overall increase of 5.2 per cent compared to last year's 9.131 million Euro.
Whilst the multimedia group experienced growth in almost every division, the success of World of Warcraft has resulted in the company's games division showing the largest growth and contributing significantly to the overall revenue increase for the period.
Vivendi Games posted second quarter revenues of 162 million Euro, a 29.6 per cent increase on the comparable period last year. First half revenues peaked at 296 million Euro, an overall increase of 24.4 per cent on the previous year.
Whilst the company attributes the majority of its games division success to WOW, positive sales of animated movie tie-in Ice Age 2, 50 Cent: Bulletproof and the latest iteration in the long-running Crash Bandicoot franchise were also noted as key revenue drivers.
The subscription-based model for World of Warcraft continues to provide a solid revenue stream for the company, and its global success shows no signs of waning in the near future. The first expansion pack for the game is scheduled for release this autumn, and looks set to continue to lift the group's overall revenue in the second half of 2006.
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