GameWorld Middle East November 2010

NOVEMBER 2010

SOCIAL GAMING’S NEW FRONTIER FARMVILLE, FRONTIERVILLE AND MORE

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RACING CAR DESIGN DETAILS ON THE X1 PROTOTYPE

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CONTENTS

FEATURES INSIDE GAMEWORLD THIS ISSUE...

NOVEMBER 2010

SOCIAL GAMING 12 THE NEW FRONTIER FLIPPING THE BIRD 16 A NEW MASCOT ARRIVES ON WII RACING CAR DESIGN 20 WITHOUT LIMITATIONS OF REGULATIONS

REGULARS

CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS 22 REALISM IN COVERT OPS

EDITOR’S LETTER 07 SOCIAL GAMING FTW NEWS 08 LOTS OF NUMBERS, SOME GOOD, SOME BAD LOCHAL ARCHADE 24 KNOW YOUR GAMING: POINT & CLICK

MOVE YOUR BODY 30 KINECT, MOVE AND WII: WE SORT IT ALL OUT JENOVA’S JOURNEY 36 DELIVERING A NEW EXPERIENCE

RAZER MAMBA 42 5,600 DPI AND 1MS

FEATURE: ASUS 43 WORDLWIDE DOMINATION BECKONS

LAST WORD 46 FAN SERVICE: IS IT GOOD FOR GAMING?

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EDITOR”S LETTER

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Social Gaming FTW This past summer, for reasons we can go in to another time, I played quite a bit of Farmville, the Facebook-based online game in which you build a farm including seeding and harvesting crops. My friends laughed at me, and said I was the last person they’d expect that from, and I agreed.

I started playing Farmville because I was curious to see what it was all about and because I needed a distraction in my life. In hindsight, it’s clear that the experience delivered on both fronts.

Friends of mine have played Farmville and other similar social games for a long time, but I never got in to it. In fact, I used to be the one making fun of them for harvesting peanuts or whatever else they were doing at the time.

Playing Farmville for a couple of months, at times pretty intensely, showed me what it was all about, and I can certainly understand the attraction. For a while, I harvested and seeded on schedule, making sure no plot was ever left unattended. I visited my neighbours’ farms every day, fertilised their crops, and tended to their chickens and everything else a good neighbour should do. The farm was upgraded to the maximum size, I had all the different kinds of buildings and decorations and I was making lots of Farmville cash, coins and experience points. In a short period of time I

added over 200 “friends” on Facebook just so I could add them in Farmville.

Although I wouldn’t admit to it being a problem, I suspect I was just on the verge of being a Farmville addict.

But I managed to stop cold turkey one day. I sold all the buildings and cleared up all the land. Now there’s nothing left but a series of hay bales spelling out “RETIRED” across the farm.

In a way I guess I was lucky because I managed to get out of it.

Now I don’t want you to think I’m all doom and gloom over social games like Farmville. I do think they can lead to problems but they also provide hours of fun, entertainment and comfort to millions of people every day. And that’s really what it’s all about.

At the core, Farmville, Frontierville and all these games are quite simple, but it’s the social aspect- that you work together with other people- that makes them so addictive. Zynga, makers of Farmville, is also devilishly clever at creating new things to explore on a regular basis, which keeps you glued to the game. You log in and see that there’s a new crop you can seed and harvest, and you just have to try it.

Ditto when there’s a new building or decoration on offer.

I do suspect that we’ve only seen the very embryo of something much more revolutionary still to come. What that is I don’t know and if I did I’d probably run out of the office right now and try to patent it from top to bottom.

What I do know is that whether you’re a gamer or a game developer we have fascinating times ahead. Social gaming is here to stay. Now, should I start a small homestead in Frontierville or go join a band of brothers in MafiaWars?

Printed by Printwell Printing Press LLC © Copyrigth 2010 CPI All rights reserved While the publisher have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of all information in this magazine, they will not be held responsible for any errors therein.

Magnus Nystedt Group Editor November 2010 | www.gameworldme.net | 7

NEWS

Recent Financial Results From The Gaming Industry Sony has just reported its financial results for the first half of the year. Driven by lower hardware expenditures and increased sales, the PS3 saw slight growth in hardware and larger increases in software over the same two quarters of 2009. The PSP and PS2 didn’t follow suit. The ‘Networked Products & Services’ division of Sony (which includes PC and PlayStation sales) showed a 5% grown in sales for the period of March 1 to September 30 2010 when compared to the same time period in 2009. Sony cited increased sales of the PS3 system and its games due to the release

of the PlayStation Move as a major factor for the continued success of the division. Game revenue dropped overall over 2009.

Microsoft reported “exceptional” numbers this quarter, citing increases in Xbox 360 consoles sold as well as September’s release of Halo: Reach as attributing factors.

According to Microsoft, the Xbox 360 moved more units than any competing consoles this last quarter, with 2.8 million units sold resulting in a 36% increase in revenue. Halo:

Reach, also saw impressive numbers, earning $350 million in revenue.

Capcom also posted its recent quarterly results.

The good news: sales are up. Bad news: income is still down. Revenues are up this six-month period over 2009 by 4.7 percent to ¥40.7 billion ($502 million USD), but income dropped 39.9% in the same time period to ¥1.78 billion ($22 million).

Capcom still blames the economy (who doesn’t?), but the truth is Lost Planet 2’s disappointing sales are

Microsoft reported “exceptional” numbers this quarter in an earnings call.

8 | www.gameworldme.net | November 2010

still costing the company even six months after its release. The Dead Rising 2 delay from August to September didn’t help, either.

Nintendo announced sharp losses in its second quarter and six-month fiscal year revenues based on fewer hardware and software sales. For the first half of its current fiscal year, the company reported a net loss of 2.01 billion yen ($22.5 million), compared to a 69.49 billion yen ($781.2 million) profit in the same period a year ago. Revenue tumbled 34% to 363.16 billion yen ($4.08 billion), down from 548.06 billion yen ($6.16 billion) from the same period a year ago. DS hardware sales fell 43% to 6.7 million units in the in the first half of its current fiscal year, while software sales fell 23% to 54.8 million. Nintendo Wii console sales dipped 14%, moving 4.97 million units in the first half of its current fiscal year. Wii software sales dropped 14% to 65.2 million copies.

Finally, user-generated content for Team Fortress 2 grosses over $200,000 in two weeks. Valve’s new economy initiatives for Team Fortress 2 are off to successful starts, as the new Steam Wallet system has allowed users to invest in user-created content from the Mann Co. Store, earning over $200,000 for its creators in only two weeks.

NEWS

EA: FIFA 11 SELLS 2.6 MILLION IN FIVE DAYS EA Sports sent out a press release announcing early sales estimates for FIFA 11’s first week on store shelves.

The 2.6 million figure comes from the five day period between the September 28 North American launch and Saturday, October 2, which also includes the European October 1 launch day. FIFA 11 hit PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC, Wii, PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS, and PlayStation Portable in retail stores where EA claims it made $150 million by the end of the weekend.

A statement included in the press release from EA Sports head Peter Moore reads, “We’re thrilled at how fans embraced FIFA 11... This is a landmark achievement for EA Sports

-- we’ve shattered sales records at retail, critics are praising FIFA 11 as being one of the most authentic and innovative titles ever, and fans are connecting and competing with other gamers around the world and have logged a record number of online connected game sessions.”

VIOLENCE CUT FROM MIDDLE EASTERN GAMES

VALVE HITS 30 MILLION STEAM ACCOUNTS

Two Middle Eastern companies have announced a partnership that would “introduce localised content” to Arabic-speaking regions.

Through the partnership, the Modern Electronics Company (MEC) and Rubicon would not only localise games, but also develop new games “based on Arabic culture Storyboards, for different gaming platforms.” The localisation in this case extends to censorship of

Valve sent out a press release announcing that its downloadable game service, Steam, hit the 30 million user mark during the past 12 months. Also during that time period, Valve says sales grew over 200% “putting it on track for a sixth straight year” of 100% jumps in yearon-year growth. Here are some other interesting factoids included in the press release: Steam infrastructure runs at 400Gps, enough

“extra-violent” games and games that contain anything otherwise objectionable to the region. Speaking to Gamerzines, Ghassan Ayoubi, executive director of Rubicon, said the process is not censoring. “[It]’s tailoring or customising it for the market,” Ayoubi said.

Ayoubi also said that some games could never be “Arabised and localised” for the region “because they would need reinventing.”

bandwidth to ship a digitised Oxford English Dictionary 92.6 times per second; The Steam Cloud surpassed the 100 million files saved mark.

November 2010 | www.gameworldme.net | 9

COMMENT

Dead Man Talking WHY FIRST-PERSON SHOOTERS DESERVE A TACTICAL NUKE

BY STEPHEN PIERCE

upon me such bumfoolery, I fear my angry head will pop, flinging bloody, grey chunks of mind all over my plasma.

The level begins and my comrades in arms start giving it all the “Tango, Charlie, Delta,” by way of incomprehensible instruction. There THERE are bombs, planes, ARE BOMBS, and choppers PLANES, AND everywhere and CHOPPERS within a second EVERYWHERE! t’s a busy time for shooters my uniform’s with Medal of Honor out on perforated: blood shelves, the latest Call of Duty in my eyes, sobbing for out soon, and Halo: Reach makmy mom. But why? The level’s just ing a killing on monthly NPD sales begun, and I’ve barely had time to reports. As ubiquitous as shootscrew on a silencer let alone get a ers are, however, there’s something bead on anyone. very wrong with them that guest Perhaps this is realism. But editorial writer Stephen Pierce tries I struggle to imagine even our to explain. questionably funded, real-life It seems a reasonable suggestion: military being asked to take on “So why don’t you just stop playing helicopter gunships and mile-away them?” It’s certainly a rejoinder snipers armed with only a closeI’m extremely acquainted with. quarters rifle and an erotically Typically it spills from spectators daubed helmet. as another joypad is thrown Besides, realism takes two in the with force against a wall, and a chest when we get to save points. scream like a stabbed dog fills Die, restart, then there’s that same the apartment; or, I simply “go sniper in the window, and a tank embryonic,” rocking, ball-like on will be around that corner again the carpet, whispering complex before you’ve got time to file for profanities at nobody in particular. compassionate leave. Sure, this You see I hate first-person on-rails stuff lets you get prepared shooters. Absolutely detest them. for what’s coming, but when a level But obviously, I just can’t stop is virtually un-doable unless you die playing them. a few times first, we’re no longer in Campaign, or story mode the realm of skill and merely talking is usually the least hateful about familiarity. component. Yet even here, Yet these grievances are amongst the earnest- but crookedmere whimsy compared with lip-syncing, certain games force deathmatching; the true center

I

10 | www.gameworldme.net | November 2010

of the FPS axis of evil. The rarely spoken truth is that skills won in campaign mode are next to useless in a deathmatch; it’s just not the same game.

Deathmatching has a visceral and competitive brutality that racing or sports tiles just don’t approach.

Yet there’s always someone six buckets of awesome better than you are. And while that may be beyond obvious, for any player with even a sliver of self-delusion, it’s completely impractical to admit. I am such a player. And the fundamentals of my hatred for FPSes can be traced to the simple fact that I think I’m the best player in the world, yet clearly I’m not.

So I have to tolerate dualwielding rapid-fire pistoleers, cheap and nasty sprinting knifers, cover with the defensive qualities of a greeting card, gargantuan payloads of airstrikes, tactical missiles, and choppers—all within an area the size of an average backyard.

Community gaming: brilliant!

A fevered temperament and an ego as fragile as a porcelain starfish are uneasy partners- and hopeless for deathmatching. Thus I’m at an immediate disadvantage: I’m only happy when I’m the best. And I am the best... just as long as I’m playing people who are worse than I am, which is never. It’s the game’s fault.

It’s the weapons. The imbalanced perks. It’s the stupid other players fault. Not mine. Never mine.

The rarely spoken truth is that skills won in campaign mode are next to useless in a deathmatch: it’s just not the same game.

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BY NADIA OXFORD

SOCIAL GAMING’S NEW FRONTIER BRIAN REYNOLDS, VETERAN GAME DESIGNER ON NUMEROUS REAL-TIME STRATEGY (RTS) FRANCHISES, DISCUSSES HOW HE’S BRINGING HIS EXPERTISE IN GAME DEVELOPMENT TO THE SOCIAL GAME ARENA WITH TITLES LIKE FRONTIERVILLE.

T

here are some users who fly across the Internet at 90 words per minute and land on Facebook just long enough for a quick look around before zipping off again. Other users climb onto Facebook slowly, pecking each letter into Google search before settling down to get lost in a sea of photographs and conversations.

The two demographics don’t

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socialise much, even though Facebook, boasting 500 million active users, is arguably the Internet’s most massive gathering ground.

But this all makes the California-based social game developer Zynga that much more remarkable. The company has the rare talent to talk to every Facebook user clearly and succinctly through its games.

Zynga’s most recognizable games include FarmVille, Mafia Wars, Texas Hold ’Em Poker, and Cafe World. If skulking around the back alleys of New York as a mobster doesn’t appeal to somebody’s tastes, they might be happier running a restaurant that their friends can visit.

Or they might try their hand at civilising the wilds of the American Old West in FrontierVille, a Facebook game developed by Zynga East near Baltimore. Pioneers who take on FrontierVille will find themselves immediately and wholly immersed in a world where diligence, perseverance, and neighbourly cooperation are necessary to successfully shape their own take on the Wild West. FrontierVille’s lead designer, Brian Reynolds, knows a few things about creating worlds for players to colonise, too.

FEATURE

Brian Reynolds Brings Lunch Hour Conquest to Facebook

Brian Reynolds is one of the most recognisable names in PC game development.

Brian Reynolds is one of the most recognizable names in PC game development, particularly among fans of RTS titles. He’s worked alongside RTS legend Sid Meier on Civilization II, Colonization, and Alpha Centauri. In 2000, he became the CEO of Big Huge Games in Timonium, Maryland, and led the teams that developed more blockbusters, including Rise of Nations, Catan, and Age of Empires III. Thinking back on Reynolds’ work on PC and traditional consoles conjures up images of huge development teams buzzing over careful plans that slowly take shape into a grand product years later. So when Reynolds announced in the summer of 2009 that he was leaving Big Huge Games to work with Zynga, some wondered if he’d lost his mind. Why would a RTS prodigy leave his post to work on puny Facebook games?

It was as if Shigeru Miyamoto had announced that he was retiring from Nintendo to make Tiger electronic handheld games.

Reynolds was at the time already extremely interested in Facebook, Zynga, and social gaming. “I’ve always tried to

make the kind of game I’ve been playing recently,” he says, “and as it turns out, last year I was playing a lot of Facebook games. I was really interested in the way friends interact with each other [on Facebook]. There was the core stuff like sharing pictures and comments, and then I realised the games themselves give you this really neat light tool to interact with people with whom you have a casual relationship. It’s like, ‘Hey, remember me from high school? I still like you, and here’s something for your Mafia.’”

November 2010 | www.gameworldme.net | 13

Even FrontierVille Had to Start in the Wilderness Reynolds met with Mark Pincus, founder of Zynga, and the ideas for FrontierVille were formed and pitched. “Part of the reason Mark brought me on,” Reynolds says, “is because I’ve worked on a lot of different properties, and Zynga wanted to go into some new areas nobody’s done as far as social games.”

Reynolds knows well that a successful social game has to appeal not only to young men, but also to a broad swath of aunts, uncles, mothers, fathers, and kids. A bit of market research and some subtle asking around revealed that frontier life is something that many social gamers have an interest in.

“Men would talk about Western shows and cowboy movies,” Reynolds recalls, “and women would say, ‘Oh, is it going to be like Little House on the Prairie?’ So we decided we needed to include raising families on the frontier as well as critters and varmints.”

How to Build a Town from your Office FrontierVille’s core gameplay is similar to FarmVille’s: Players visit friends, solicit neighbours, ask for and give gifts, and click on stuff in the game to make things happen. But when playing FrontierVille

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“ We’re on a slope; we found a new platform for games, and they’re getting better and better. The bar is going up on competition. You can’t just have the same kind of social interaction you had a year ago and be successful. ”

for the first time, it becomes immediately apparent that the game has a lot more to offer than its predecessor.

Players tend to crops and animals, but they also build up their world, get married, and start a family. All the while, the wilderness grows relentlessly and they have to tame it- or let it do what it will. FrontierVille overall feels very busy but rarely boring and never overwhelming, all design decisions Reynolds was conscious of when he started the project.

FrontierVille, Reynolds says, is meant to be discovered as well as played. “You realise, ‘Oh, if I click on a tree, then I can chop it down and get some wood. What can I do with wood? Well, I can build a fire, I can construct a building.’

Or, ‘Oh, I can pull some weeds up. Well, now I have a place to construct a building or plant some crops.’ Or, ‘Hey, if I put a sheep here, the grass doesn’t grow back.’ We don’t tell you any of this stuff, you have to discover it.”

The Social Aspect: How to Win Friends and Influence Pioneers Flash-based social games are evolving at tremendous speed, and Reynolds admits that it takes a lot of energy and brainstorming to stay on top of what’s new and fresh. What was considered impressive in social games two years ago is positively dated today, but the social aspect of Facebook gaming and the challenge of implementing it in new ways is primarily what piqued Reynolds’ interest in the platform.

Reynolds and his team took special care to make the social aspect of FrontierVille the biggest reason to keep playing the game. “The cool thing that we’ve added in FrontierVille is that now when you go visit a friend, you can click on the stuff they might click on. So if you need wood, you can help them chop some and you might even obtain some wood too. Or you can tend their crops and help them

FEATURE

ripen faster. If their crops are withered, you can click on them and revive them.”

Visiting each others’ farms also provides an immediate emotional impact that’s exclusive to open-ended games. “It’s really interesting when you visit your friend’s homestead and notice they’ve shaped a completely different world, even though they started with exactly the same resources as you did,” Reynolds says.

Game Development Then and Now Though he occasionally wonders if he should get a “real” job, Reynolds realises that people ultimately need entertainment, and they’ll pay “a lot of money to not be bored.” He’s loved every aspect of game design he’s ever been involved in, and finds the differences between developing traditional games and social games to be particularly interesting.

“Back in the days of developing Civilization II, you made a game where the player sat alone with their mapboard.

One of the biggest challenges of developing games like that is that you had to make it feel like there were other people playing the game.

“Gradually, the age of multiplayer dawned, followed by the age of true social games.

The old multiplayer was done with strangers whereas the new era involves cooperative play, and playing with your friends in large groups and so on. The audience has changed, the technology has changed, and the platform has changed.”

Reynolds also notes that working on a game like FrontierVille is a bit like developing in real-time. “In the old days,” Reynolds says, “we would launch a game and say, ‘Okay, I guess we’re done.’

You might do a patch, but essentially you couldn’t afford to keep working on the last game because you had to go to work on the next game.

Reynolds’ New Digs To put it bluntly, when you talk to Reynolds, you’re talking to a very happy man who thoroughly enjoys what he does.

“I’m in love with [social game development] right now,” he says. “I enjoy making games that lots of people want to play. And right now, that definitely fits the bill for social games.”

So will Reynolds’ new-found passion spark a trend that other veteran game developers will follow, causing them to bail on traditional games in favour of developing for social networks?

“No,” he says instantly.

“There’s always going to be a place for console games.

And there are people who are always going to want to play console games”

November 2010 | www.gameworldme.net | 15

Flipping The Bird

YUJI NAKA’S FIRST NEW MASCOT SINCE SONIC MAY DELIVER THE MOST UNIQUE WII PLATFORMER YET. MEET IVY THE KIWI.

O

ur first goal [at Prope] is to amase players,” Naka tells GameWorld. “Creating something that all the kids in the world can enjoy is another.

In recent years games with a lot of violence have done well, and I don’t shun them, but we’d like to take a different approach on developing games.”

Naka’s first game with Prope is one of the few titles in recent memory that required players keep their hands off of the controller. In Let’s Tap, players engage in a variety of minigames that are controlled

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by tapping a surface on which a Wii Remote is laid facedown in order to absorb the vibrations. That the group’sand even Naka’s- first Wii game was able to harness such a minute measure of motion control is pretty astounding.

That the group went in a completely different direction with its next game is even more so.

In Let’s Catch, Prope created a WiiWare game that simulates a worldwide pastime: playing catch. At first mention, it sounds like the one of the most boring concepts ever created for a game, but anyone

who played it knows of its largely undiscovered genius.

Playing catch with someone can be a deeply bonding experience, and Let’s Catch conveys that masterfully.

Your character never speaks a word, but over the course of dozens of catch sessions, the game’s many different characters open up about deeply personal issues like absentee fathers, career doubt, loneliness, and infidelity.

The only way to control the conversation is to keep the session going by accurately catching and throwing the ball, an experience that is way

PREVIEW

during an experimental program for another game, and the idea for Let’s Catch came about when we brainstormed new ways to hold the Wii Remote,” Naka says.

“The Wii hardware itself has a very unique control scheme, so we’re always thinking of an innovative new game for the system.”

Naka and Prope’s next title is ‘Ivy the Kiwi?’, a platforming game where you must guide a flightless baby bird out of harm’s way and back to its mother by “drawing” lengths of vines using the Wii Remote or DS stylus. (This is Prope’s first title for the Nintendo

THE WII HARDWARE ITSELF HAS A VERY UNIQUE CONTROL SCHEME, SO WE’RE ALWAYS THINKING OF AN INNOVATIVE NEW GAME FOR THE SYSTEM.

more immersive than it has any right to be. From the game’s ability to sense your throwing velocity and release point, to the satisfying “thwap” sound that emanates from the Wii Remote’s speakers as the ball lands in your glove, the gameplay is as satisfying as the story is engaging.

Both games were born from Prope’s propensity to try new things. “Let’s Tap was created

handheld.) Ivy, a precocious and energetic little animal, is constantly moving, and the vines you create can serve as static or swinging platforms as well as a makeshift catapult.

Whether playing on the Wii or DS, creating these various methods of movement are seamlessly intertwined. On the Wii, in a matter of seconds, you can set a slanted vine for Ivy to climb by pressing and releasing A on the Wii Remote while drawing a line, swing her up to another platform by holding A and rotating the vine- literally allowing you to flip the bird- and then catapult her across a dangerous pit

November 2010 | www.gameworldme.net | 17

PREVIEW

by pointing at a set vine and holding B while pulling back on the vine. On the DS version, you don’t have to press any buttons to make these moves.

There are no power ups needed to accomplish these wildly diverse actions, which most players should be able to get the hang of within two or three stage playthroughs.

“To tell you the truth I didn’t think it was possible to have an action game where the player controls the character indirectly without being frustrating,” Naka says.

“However, in ‘Ivy the Kiwi?’ it was done well and I was surprised at how precisely you’re able to control the character. It was a new discovery for all of us.”

And then there’s Ivy herself.

When asked to compare his most famous mascot creation with his most recent, he began by stating their commonality, saying “Ivy, like Sonic, was created to match the contents of the game.”

Beyond that, however, the two characters have very

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The Wii hardware itself has a very unique control scheme, so we’re always thinking of an innovative new game for the system. little in common. Sonic is a character that started out as a fresh alternative to Mario, but became annoying and stale once he opened his mouth and brought new friends into the mix. Ivy says little besides squeaking her own name, and throughout the entirety of the game, it’s just you and her. You may not be playing catch, but you are forming a bond with this helpless little creature. Naka describes the relationship between the player and Ivy as being, “like a parent cheering on a child at a sporting event. We wanted to emphasise parental feelings, so we decided to go with a baby kiwi as the character.” Unlike his other former mascot, Naka wants to keep some of Ivy’s mystique intact, as he’s noted that the question mark in the

title is meant to encourage curiosity about Ivy’s nature and the game as a whole. You may be helping Kiwi on her quest, but it’s going to take some time to learn more of this bird’s mysteries.

Like Sonic, ‘Ivy the Kiwi?’ won’t be hard to find when it’s released this summer on DSiWare, WiiWare, DS cartridge, and Wii disc. The ability to create a uniform gameplay experience across different systems and formats has led even a legendary developer like Naka to be at a loss for a recommendation. “I don’t really have any specific audience for each version,” Naka says. “The game itself is for young and old alike, and I just want as many people to have the opportunity to play [it] as possible.”

For more information please visit: Me.kaspersky.com

Racing Car

WITHOUT LIMITATIONS OF REGULATIONS Sony has revealed the X1 Prototype fantasy racing car, which, as they put it, is “built using very real technologies.� It comes out of a dream of trying to figure out what the fastest racing car in the world would look like if it was not limited by the strict regulations surrounding the sport.

Created by Polyphony Digital, the company behind Gran Tourismo 5, in collaboration with the Red Bull Racing team as well as other experts, the X1 Prototype will be available in the upcoming GT5.

The game is expected to go on sale later this year.

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PREVIEW

X1 PROTOTYPE TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS Length: 4.75m Weight: 615kg Engine: 3000cc V6 Twin Turbo Engine Bhp: 1,483 at 15,000rpm Accelleration: 0-60mph in 1.4sec Max Speed: Over 450km/h

November 2010 | www.gameworldme.net | 21

CALL DUTY Black Ops OF

BY ANDY BURT

T

reyarch’s Josh Olin describes how consulting with real ex-special forces members has allowed the studio to ensure that the distinguished shooter series’ first foray into the Cold War as believable as possible.

The rarely-publicised covert operations that took place during the Cold War are the focus for Treyarch’s next entry in the Call of Duty series.

Treyarch’s Josh Olin recalls how the studio was first intrigued by the opportunity to bring these “deniable operations” to life in their game, and the special operatives they consulted with for Black Ops to maintain a high level of authenticity.

“Call of Duty has a very long lineage—it’s successfully done the World War II thing, it’s done the modern thing very well, so this is an area that we can really ‘own’ as a studio. We found out that specifically during the Cold War era, there were lots of different black ops teams performing these secret

operations, and that’s where we saw an opportunity to offer some really interesting gameplay.

“After World at War there were a lot of ideas floating around the studio, but we decided pretty quickly to focus on this period... When people hear that our game is set during the Cold War, they say, ‘how could you make a game based on that? There was no war.’ But it’s actually quite the opposite—there were a lot of smaller conflicts that were completely classified, and they were the ones that prevented World War III from happening.”

The developers also knew that simply researching the Cold War wouldn’t be enough to support the entire game; they wanted to talk to members of the military who actually took part in these secret operations. For this they turned to Major John Plaster, who was a member of the elite special operations unit known as SOG, or Studies and Observations Group. The group took on a large number of

highly-classified missions during the time period in question, and Plaster’s stories helped shape Treyarch’s interpretation of the era shown in Black Ops. “Major John Plaster is the foremost published author on SOG, and in one of his books he describes many of the missions that he and his team would go on,” Olin says. “It’s only recently that this information has been declassified, but Plaster still had to get his book cleared through the Department of Defense. We were lucky to be able to bring Plaster himself into the studio to meet with all of our departments.

One of the funnier things he insisted we change was the location of the walkie-talkie one of the characters uses. We had it strapped onto his chest so all he had to do was reach up to use it, but Plaster said ‘we’d never have that there, we kept them in our backpacks.’

As game designers though, we have to take some serious liberties; it just wouldn’t be fun for players if every time you

Number of studios that have produced Call of Duty titles: 08

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INTERVIEW

CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS CONFIRMED MISSION LOCATIONS: URAL MOUNTAINS IN RUSSIA, LAOS. VIETNAM’S HUONG RIVER, HUE SOUTH VIETNAM

had to use your walkietalkie you had to stop and take your backpack off.”

Plaster’s stories also inspired the team when they considered what weapons to include in the new game.

“Although our story is completely fictional, we took a lot of influence from Plaster’s stories. One example is our inclusion of the explosive-tip

Number of Black Ops U.S. military operations: Classified

crossbow bolt. He told us that one of his men always went into missions with a crossbow as one of his main weapons; these guys didn’t have supply stations or anything when they were out in the field, so what they took with them from the beginning was all they had. We thought that was really fascinating.”

Treyarch is definitely taking some creative liberties when it comes to weaponry to keep things interesting in Black Ops, but even here Olin states that what they have on offer isn’t “outside the realm of reality.”

“We have era-specific weaponry, but we also have weapons that are much less traditional,” he explains. “The AUG assault rifle and SPAS12 shotgun with incendiary

‘Dragon’s Breath’ rounds are weapons that historians would say weren’t in production until the midseventies, but you’ll see them in missions as early as 1968 in our game. The thing is, though, through talking to SOG veterans we learned that they would get prototype weapons well before they were ever in mass production.

We’re not here to rewrite history or anything, but the fact of the matter is that if they were getting prototype weapons upwards of five years before they were in mainline production, which is what they told us, then as game designers we’re going to say that it’s actually not unrealistic to have these weapons in our game.”

CIA’s Special Activities Division’s years of operation: 63

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Quest games you had to type your commands in order to progress, but you were able to move around the environments using the directional buttons. Lucas Arts later than made the SCUMM (Script Creator Utility for Maniac Mansion) engine for their point & click adventure, Maniac Mansion. Later, Revolution Software made their own engine called Virtual Theatre for some of their games like Lure of the Temptress and Beneath a Steel Sky.

Know Your Gaming: Point & Click

BY MOHAMMAD ALHURAIZ

“Know Your Gaming” is going to be your monthly back-to-school special to get you up to speed on niche and sub-genres that you may not have heard of before. Kicking off this series, I thought I’d cover a genre very close to my heart, a genre that consumed a gigantic chunk of my video game child hood: point & click adventures.

What is it?

Point & click adventures are interactive stories, where you literally point and click through the game to progress, conversing with the many characters in the game and solving puzzles. Though it may sound monotonous to some people, point & clicks have a long reputation of having entertaining and well-written stories. Some of the more notable point & click adventures were the ones created by industry legends such as Tim Schaffer and Ron

Gilbert, who both worked on games such as the Monkey Island Series, Day of the Tentacle, Full Throttle, Grim Fandango and others.

How it all started Point & click adventures have their roots in text adventures like Zork, games that described the situation and the location of where you are in text, and the way to make progress was to type commands like “see room”, which would describe the location around you, or “open door.”

Text adventures had a healthy life on computers, but bigger hardware allowed for flashier presentation.

Mystery House on the Apple Macintosh played an important role in the transition from text to graphic adventures. It was a text adventure that had some graphical elements and it was one of the first games by Sierra that led them to the King’s Quest Series. In the first King’s

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Point & Click Adventures Today In the late 1990s, point & click adventures died in the commercial market. But hobbyists and fans kept them going with the use of ScummVM, which works as an emulator for point & clicks. It’s available for nearly every possible system and platform you can think of, even as a Flash animation for web browsers. For years, gamers have spent countless hours playing these games again and again. Recently, with the rise of casual games, point & click adventures have found somewhat of a renaissance again in the commercial market, adored by the fans and welcoming new comers to the genre.

Recommended games Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition (PC, iPhone, iPad, 360, PS3, PC) Sam & Max Episodic series (PC, PS3, 360, Wii, iPad) Beneath A Steel Sky (PC, iPhone) Broken Sword: Shadows of the Templar Director’s Cut (iPhone, Wii, DS) Teenagent (PC)

LOCHAL ARCHADE

SOUL SHEPHERD

BY JACK ENNS

Our community has a collection of interesting people, some play games, some even make them. I am one the members actually making games and I’ve created a 12 hour long RPG demo for everyone to try out.

Soul Shepherd is a game for those who enjoy the sweet ecstasy of desperation brought on by such games as Etrian Odyssey and Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne. It’s for those who like a game that keeps you on your toes in order to survive, a game that takes strategy and dedication to defeat, and rewards you only with its hate. Most casual RPG gamers don’t enjoy such masochistic treatment, but this game is an attempt to reach out to the few who do. Player beware.

The game follows a young man who is banished to a prison dimension for the crime of having his natural abilities.

The ability of a Soul Shepherd allows him to capture and manipulate the souls of defeated enemies, infusing them into himself or into animated dolls that the shepherd commands.

This allows him and the dolls to

gain the fallen enemy’s strength and abilities. This power comes to be his only salvation in the hostile dungeon that makes up the game’s setting.

The Impulse system features desperation attacks akin to those found in many RPGs. These attacks are most similar to Lufia 2’s Ikari skills.

Impulse skills are found on equipment, and are used by spending points accumulated from defeating enemies, taking damage, and fighting battles.

The Rally system serves to augment the Guard (or Defend) command found in many RPGs. Rallies give additional defensive benefit to the party, as well as performing the regular Guard command on the active character.

In closing, if you are a RPG gamer who feels disappointed by the typical level of difficulty found in RPGs these days, this game may be for you. You can download the 12 hour demo from bit.ly/d25dQ6. Let me point out that it’s an on-going project and that I will certainly provide the full game once it is completed. Happy dying!

Lochal Archade is a Dubai-based video game community, concentrating on underrated or underappreciated games.

Instead of just covering the latest and greatest, they go out and find good games that may not have been in the headlines. On the Web site www.lochalarchade. com you can find their podcast, discussion forum, blogs and more.

BARGAIN TRACKER

Bayonetta + Nier Double Pack PS3, PAL , Dhs 199, Deira City Center, Sharaf DG

Bayonetta may have struggled with their PS 3 port but now they’ve fixed so many problems that it plays well on a PS3.

Square Enix’s Nier is also included.

Full Throttle PC, Dhs 15, Mall of The Emirates, Compume

This is a hard to find point and click classic with a heavy metal biker theme.

Short, sweet and an absolute gem to play.

Henry Hatsworth In The Puzzling Adventure DS, PAL, Dhs 69, Mall of The Emirates, Virgin Megastore

A very well made adventure platformer with a puzzle twist. This game is challenging but very reminiscent of the old 16-bit platformers.

Final Fantasy XII

Bionic Commando

PS2, PAL, Dhs 79, Mall of The Emirates, GeeKay

Xbox 360, PAL, Dhs 39, Mall of The Emirates, Carrefour

FF12 plays completely different from the rest of the series. This is a long and very deep RPG with an almost fantasy-set Star Wars story.

Despite getting very average scores in the media, Bionic Commando is a fun treat to play.

bargain tracker is an ongoing service provided by lochal archade. you can find more bargains and talk about gaming at www.lochalarchade.com or by following @lochalarchadebt on twitter. the details above are correct at time of going to press.

November 2010 | www.gameworldme.net | 25

e g a R t n a t u M

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e

PREVIEW

T

he world of id Software’s upcoming futuristic first-person shooter Rage is filled with atrocities at every turn. We take a first look at the wasteland’s Dead City, a crumbling metropolis where, as the game states, “no one comes out alive.”

››› Collapsed skyscrapers,

shattered highways, and knockedover street lamps litter the landscape of Dead City. Tim Willits, id’s creative director on Rage, explains that this location demonstrates how the game’s team of artists handcraft “everything you see in the game.” He adds that nothing you see in the game is randomly generated, meaning that an artist placed every physical object in the game there.

››› Rage’s highly detailed

environments are powered by the new id Tech 5 game engine, which runs at 60hz, allowing the game’s team to achieve what Willits refers to as “mega-textures.” He adds that players will see this on “every rock, bush, and tree.”

››› Dead City may be in ruins, but

it’s home to some truly monstrous mutants—such as this nasty freak dual-wielding homemade shivs.

While not featured in this screen, there’s a towering breed of mutant lurking in Dead City that’s at least 10 times the size of these creatures.

››› Enemies in Rage don’t just run

at you like mindless zombies—the unscripted A.I. dynamically changes depending on what you’re doing and where you are. For instance, some enemies run up on walls before lunging in for the kill, while others prefer to attack in pack formations.

November 2010 | www.gameworldme.net | 27

Join us at the Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Conference 5-6 December 2010, Four Seasons Hotel, Doha, Qatar Register now by calling +971 4 335 2437 or email spcme@microsoft.com

The ďŹ rst 25 Registrations will receive a complimentary copy of

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Eric Swift

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30 | www.gameworldme.net | November 2010

FEATURE

MOVE YOUR

BODY MICROSOFT AND SONY WANT US TO GET UP AND MOVE AROUND

T

he two giants in the console gaming market- Microsoft and Sony- are both making an all-out assault on gamers with their venture into motion-controlled gaming. They want us to use our bodies to control games and get us up and move around to play tennis, drive a car, dance, fight a war or whatever else it is we do when we play games. Sony has already launched their Move, so we’ll review it below; Microsoft’s Kinect is still not officially launched, so we have can only bring you a preview of it in this issue.

November 2010 | www.gameworldme.net | 31

Wii-ll gamers buy into it?

BY MAGNUS NYSTEDT

Wii

THERE CAN BE LITTLE doubt that the success of Nintendo Wii, released in 2006, plays a large part in the gaming giants’ attempt to now go into motioncontroller territory with their Playstation and Xbox consoles. At the end of March 2009, Nintendo had sold almost 71 million Wii consoles according to their own financial statement, meaning it has sold almost as much as Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 combined. Although the Wii was ridiculed by many when it launched for not having powerful hardware and focusing on cartoonish interface and gaming experience, it has nevertheless been tremendously successful.

Its impact on the world of casual gaming should not be underestimated.

From personal experience, I know that players- I

wouldn’t call them gamers- who would not normally play with a console or a computer, are willing to have a go with a Wii. My father serves as a good example. He’s now around 70 years old and would not dream of playing a game with a typical console controller.

This past Christmas he happily and successfully took me on in a series of of bowling matches using my sister’s Nintendo Wii. A combination of interface, games, as well as innovative accessories like the balance board used by Wii Fit, have all contributed to bringing in new groups of people to the world of video gaming, people who would not have bothered before. That’s the market that Microsoft and Sony now want to get a slice of with Kinect and Move.

Although the Wii was ridiculed by many when it launched for not having powerful hardware and focusing on cartoonish interface and gaming experience, it has nevertheless been hugely successful.

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FEATURE

Xbox

Xbox Kinect

BY MAGNUS NYSTEDT

AS IT’S NOT officially released at the time of press, let’s start with Microsoft’s Xbox Kinect.

When you read this, Kinect may already have hit stores as it’s scheduled to go on sale November 10. Microsoft is betting big on Kinect being able to revive the Xbox 360 gaming console. Aman Sangar, Product Marketing Manager, Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft Middle East, is excited about the launch of Kinect and explained what it really is: “The best way to describe it is that it is a motion-sensitive sensor, which allows you to navigate through your console, including the games, without using any controller, so you use your natural based

movements; you use your gestures, you use your body language, you use your voice, to control the gaming experience and the navigation experience on the console.” The Xbox Kinect sensor has three cameras- one RGB and two depth-sensor cameras- and multi-array microphones on each side, explained Sangar. The software in the Kinect builds a 3D image of the room in front of it with the two cameras on each side and then the RGB one identifies people- players- and based on advanced models of how humans look and move, it detects what the players do like jump up and down, swing the arms, etc. It can also recognise your face and understand what you’re saying to it.

Fifteen games are being launched at the same time as the Kinect, including “Kinect Adventures”, “Kinect Joy Ride”, “Kinect Sports”, “Dance Central” and “Kinectinamals.”

Other games especially created for Kinect will also be introduced, as well as updates for existing games, so they can take advantage of the unique capabilities of Kinect.

The Kinect sensor will be bundled with the “Kinect Adventures” game and sell for Dhs 699 in the UAE. Microsoft has also rolled out a redesigned Xbox 360 console. The new Xbox 360 250GB is sold for Dhs 1,150 and t he 4GB console goes for Dhs 899.

The best way to describe it is that it is a motion-sensitive sensor, which allows you to navigate through your console, including the games, without using any controller

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PlayStation Move

by Eric Neigher

SONY’S FORAY INTO the burgeoning motion control arena is finally here, and after a few weeks of testing, we’re ready to pass judgment. Even at the onset, Sony has put together a slick and technically proficient peripheral that has a legitimate chance to give Nintendo a reason to peek over their shoulder.

The game console space has recently been through some growing pains with newfangled motion controls. Perhaps the PlayStation Move, backed by stalwart Sony and its powerful PlayStation 3 console, will finally bridge the gap between the “elite” and motion controls. But don’t judge the Move by its cover: it easily bests the Wii Remote in just about every technical aspect, and enhances games that even the most hardcore gamer would be interested in playing.

Because it’s the natural thing to do, I have to start with the inevitable technical comparison between Move and Wii. While it’s probably unfair to compare the two directly (Sony, after all, had ample time to study the Wii to see what they could improve), that’s exactly what I’m going to do because they’re more or less the same product.

Thanks to its more ergonomic shape, the Move’s controllers are more comfortable in your hand than the Wii-mote/nunchuck combo, and the PlayStation Eye, which acts as the sensor, is both more accurate in its tracking and easier to balance on top of your TV than the Wii’s. Moreover, the Move’s Z-axis tracking is not only superior to the Wii’s (just the fact that it exists is enough for that), it allows more flexibility in your

movements, allowing you to move closer to your TV in order to put more power into a bowling throw or to back up in order to absorb a powerful slam at ping pong. The camera also incorporates real, 3D body movement as well, leading to a more intuitive sense of realism.

Beyond the Wii comparison, though, the Move impresses from virtually every technical perspective: both the accelerometer and the angular rate sensors are dead-on accurate. Tracking is crisp with low latency, and motion is represented as you’d expect in real life, meaning assimilating to new games is simple.

Now, in addition to the motion controller, the Move also comes with what Sony is calling a “navigation” controller which is essentially a Wii Nunchuck. You can use this controller to navigate menus and such, and it also has some functionality in games like Resident Evil 5, where you use the navigation controller’s thumbstick to walk your character around. To Sony’s credit, you can actually hold a standard Sixaxis controller vertically and use the left thumbstick as you would the navigation controller- meaning you don’t need to shell out the dough for one if you don’t want to- but it isn’t particularly comfortable or logical.

While I was thoroughly impressed with the Move, there are a couple of negatives that keep it from being a true killer app. It requires constant recalibration, with titles like the

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very enjoyable Sports Champions, requiring it at nearly every loading screen. The calibration process is not lengthy or onerous, but needing to do it a dozen times in a gaming session gets annoying. Another issue may be cost: most of the games in the Move’s initial release cycle allow you to play with just a single Move controller, but most are also enhanced quite a bit when you play with two controllers simultaneously.

This means potential Move-aholics will likely have to purchase as many as four separate motion controllers and two navigation controllers if they want to share the tip-top gaming experience with just one other friend. That can add up to a costly proposition.

Of course, the main expense will be whether or not people are willing to buy a PS3 itself now that it has motion controls.

It will also be interesting to see if the diehard Sony fans who’ve been deriding the Wii as a mere “toy” will swallow their pride and support what is essentially technology reversed engineered from the enemy’s playbook.

REVIEW

Don’t judge the Move by its cover: it easily bests the Wii Remote in just about every technical aspect, and enhances games that even the most hardcore gamer would be interested in playing.

The problem is compounded by the lineup of launch games that will ship with the Move. Most of these have more in common with the sort of games you might get in a happy meal at McDonald’s than they do with the PS3’s usual, high-production values lineup. While a couple are re-tooled hits from the hardcore zone (including Resident Evil 5), most are simple sports or parlor-game titles, that just scream “tech demo” and have about as much depth as a postage stamp. The lone exception is Sports Champions, which both makes fantastic use of Move’s strengths and is just downright fun in its own right, especially with friends in the room. But again, it’s

just retreading the same road path Nintendo forged four years ago with Wii Sports. Most prospective Move fans would do well to wait a month or two until dedicated Move games come out, as right now, there just isn’t that much interesting to do with the super slick hardware.

And in the long run, for the Move to truly succeed, Sony would be wise to leverage the relatively superior hardware of their console to address the one critical weakness the Wii has always had: its inability to deliver truly next-gen experiences.

For now, the early read on the Move is that it’s a fantastic piece of equipment that adds an intriguing wrinkle to the PS3 experience.

GAMEWORLD RECKONS Pros: Comfortable, intuitive controllers; near-perfect tracking with PlayStation Eye; huge range of motion; accurate and responsive internal components.

Cons: Initial spate of compatible games is less than inspiring; getting four people fully outfitted to play will be expensive.

Price: Dhs 269 (Starter Pack incl. camera) Info: bit.ly/ps-move

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Jenova’s Journey How Joseph Campbell, technology and an astronaut are helping shape Thatgamecompany’s next adventure

BY ANDY BURT

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INTERVIEW

T

hatgamecompany Creative Director and Cofounder Jenova Chen isn’t your normal video-game developer, and his company’s next game, Journey, is leaps and bounds away from a “normal” adventure title. Filled with shifting desert dunes, colorful pieces of cloth with mystical properties, and an ominous mountain always on the horizon, Journey is Thatgamecompany’s most ambitious title to date.

Chen and his team don’t begin a project by thinking in genres. The nine people that compose Thatgamecompany (TGC) don’t discuss how many weapons the game will have, how its heroes will overcome a villainous adversary, or what type of gamer they want to appease. The team thinks in emotions, and how they can best convey these feelings to the player.

“When we finished Flower, we were thinking about what kind of game we wanted to make next,” Chen tells me.

“At Thatgamecompany, we have a very unique approach to developing games. When we start a game, we think about the experience we want players to have, what kind of emotion we want players to feel. For Flow and Flower, we had

very specific feelings we wanted to tackle, but we also don’t want to settle on just one feeling, we want to push the envelope of what emotions video games can communicate.”

The team’s next title, Journey, is a third-person adventure that puts players in control of a robed being who wakes up in the middle of an expansive desert. No backstory cutscenes set up the premise, and, as was the case with Flow and Flower, gamers are expected to figure out the controls themselves. “Our philosophy of design is to avoid menus and tutorials; we’re the generation of ‘touch and try,’ or ‘trial and error,’” Chen says. “My parent’s generation read manuals before they tried to do anything; we’d rather try something to see what happens.”

It only takes a few moments of exploration in Journey’s vast desert to recognize the surreal nature of the world around you. The desert is not a static landscape, but instead it ebbs and flows like the currents of a boundless ocean. High cliff walls guide streams of sand down their edges like waterfalls, and small pieces of cloth scattered across the landscape grant the player the ability to fly for a short

November 2010 | www.gameworldme.net | 37

INTERVIEW

period. The cloth pieces also play a role in how players advance through the world. Occasionally players will need to “harmonize” with the cloth to create bridges across stone precipices. Once players create a cloth bridge they’re able to run along it, like sprinting across an elongated magic carpet. Using the Sixaxis to view the desert expanse, a towering mountain spouting white light appears in the distance. Though Chen acknowledges that the mountain is the player’s ultimate destination, he asserts that Journey is equally about conveying a sense of wonder and awe, about feeling “small” in an almost alien world, and that modern-day technology has prevented him from feeling that in his every-day life.

“Journey is my reaction to what I see every day, especially in the game market,” Chen says. “Right now we’re living in a world where we’re empowered by a lot of technology; every day I’m using my [cell] phone, and all my work is done through technology.

So a lot of times I feel like

a god; I can travel at 60 mph, I can fly to the other side of the earth, I can talk to anyone in the world, and I have access to all the knowledge in Wikipedia.

It’s all very empowering, but at the same time, I feel overwhelmed by this power. Every day I think about getting more power, and I’ve forgotten what it feels like to be small, to feel that sense of wonder about the world and what’s out there.”

Like TGC’s previous titles Flow and Flower, Chen and the team are careful not to simply create Journey to be a distraction for gamers.

Their focus on providing a game experience that evokes an emotional response stems in part from Chen’s own experience simply growing into adulthood. “We were the guys growing up playing games, and as we got older we realized that as adults we have a lot more responsibilities,” Chen explains. “If a game just distracts you for eight hours, that’s not very attractive. If you spend ten dollars to watch a movie for two hours and you didn’t feel touched in

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“ Every day I think about getting more power, and I’ve forgotten what it feels like to be small, to feel that sense of wonder about the world and what’s out there. ” —JENOVA CHEN

any way, you’d think that was a waste of money; with games it should be the same way. As adults our tastes become more and more mature. We want something that’s intellectually challenging, that might change our perspective on the world, or something that’s emotionally challenging, that makes us feel touched, or moved.”

One of Chen’s earliest influences for imbuing Journey with a sense of “smallness” was a chance meeting with decorated Marine veteran and deputy NASA administrator Charles Bolden Jr. Over lunch the two discussed Bolden’s journeys into space, and the transformation astronauts sometimes go through while on missions into the great unknown.

“Bolden traveled into orbit four times, and he told me a story about the mission specialists he’s traveled with who’ve stepped out onto the

moon,” Chen explains.

“All these specialists are scientists, and most scientists are atheists, but he noticed that after they came back they became very spiritual or religious.

He could never understand it because he had never stepped onto the moon.

“That story inspired me; I think the reason they became spiritual is that while standing on the moon and looking back at the earth, everything you know and care about is just a marble in the air, but around you is the entire universe. I felt as a game maker, since most games are about empowerment, that it would be healthy to provide players with a gaming experience where they feel small and a sense of wonder towards the world they’re in.”

Another of Chen’s influences for Journey comes from the works of Joseph Campbell. A mythologist and writer, Campbell introduced the concept of the hero’s

“ If a game just distracts you for eight hours, that’s not very attractive. If you spend ten dollars to watch a movie for two hours and you didn’t feel touched in any way, you’d think that was a waste of money; with games it should be the same way. ” —JENOVA CHEN, CREATIVE DIRECTOR, THATGAMECOMPANY

journey in his seminal work on comparative mythology The Hero with a Thousand Faces, which has served as a building block for countless novels and films since being published in 1949.

“In my original attempt to make this game about a sense of awe and wonder, there’s no way I could avoid the works of Joseph Campbell,” Chen tells me. “He studied all these mystical stories from the past and found the common structure of a hero’s journey. There’s a surprising overlap between a three-act structure in movies [beginning, middle, and end] and the hero’s journey; they’re practically aligned. I think the hero’s journey is about a common-life journey of any individual that involves a transformation of some kind, and Journey is certainly inspired by this structure.”

Journey certainly conveys a sense of being alone in a deserted world, but TGC is trying something new by incorporating a multiplayer

element into their game for the first time. In typical TGC fashion, the way multiplayer plays into the overall experience is vastly different from practically every other game on the market. While wandering Journey’s landscape, players may spot someone off in the distance. No PSN tag appears above their head, however, and players can’t communicate via voice chat or messaging.

Through simple onscreen gestures, though, players can exchange signals, inviting the other player to accompany them, which could be beneficial for solving a puzzle in the world. Or, simply leave them to their own adventure.

“I felt it would be very different in an online game experience for both players to feel small; when they meet online without a gun or sword in hand, the experience will be different from other games,” Chen says. “I think it’ll be able to change the expectation you have when meeting a stranger online.”

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INTERVIEW

The multiplayer element of Journey helps explain TGC’s decision to include an actual player avatar, as opposed to the more esoteric mechanisms players manipulated in the developer’s last two titles.

Though little is known about the origins of the robed being players control, Chen states that the reason behind creating a character for Journey is both technological and due to the implementation of multiplayer into the game.

“Because we have an online component now, we find it’s hard to feel empathy if you’re just…a cube, for instance,” Chen explains. “There’s also the technological reason; our company is very small, just nine people writing our own engines, and we don’t have some advanced character animation system. For Journey we really felt that it’s about time we do,” he says, laughing.

Technology can sometimes be a detriment to smaller development houses, and it’s certainly something Chen and TGC have struggled with.

Instead of focusing on what they can’t do though, Chen likens his group’s strong focus on working towards one goal to that of a well-trained movie team. “With film you have hundreds of people working on a project, but very often you see a movie that feels very coherent, like it was coming from one voice even with all these people working on it,” Chen tells me. “For games it’s the same: if the whole team is working together, seeing the same note, it will become a harmony and you’ll be able to see what the game is trying to say. If you don’t have good direction, and team member ‘A’ is doing this and ‘B’ is doing that, it just becomes noise. It might look very impressive and

high-budget, but because everyone’s seeing different notes, the audience can’t ‘hear’ what the game is about.”

Though TGC is technically under contract by Sony at the moment to create PSN titles, they by no means consider themselves to be larger than they are. “We’ve always considered ourselves to be an independent developer, and though we’ve been lucky to have Sony help us and publish our games, in spirit we’re just like any other independent developer,” Chen states.

“We want to be activists for video games.” One of the common elements you’ll find amongst smaller development houses is that they hold many of their contemporaries in high regard, and Chen is quick to note some of his heroes in the development community.

“I am a big fan of Team Ico and all their games,” Chen says. “I actually got a message on Facebook from [Team Ico lead designer Fumito] Ueda-san, saying he really liked Journey’s art style, and I was like ‘Oh god, that’s the best feedback I’ve ever received!’ I also really like the games David Cage and Quantic Dream are creating. I think they’re really pushing the envelope. From the indie side I really like Jonathan Blow and 2D Boy. We all have the same goal, which is to make games a mature media art form.”

If Chen’s past work is any indication, fans of games that are more than just an “eight-hour distraction” should have good reason to keep an eye out for Journey in 2011.

November 2010 | www.gameworldme.net | 41

RAZER MAMBA With numbers like 5,600dpi and 1ms latency is it a fragger’s dream come true?

BY MAGNUS NYSTEDT

R

azer is all about attitude, and gamers like attitude.

From the moment you open up the gorgeous packaging, to when you plug it in and start using it, the Mamba is all about attitude, which is one big reason why I love this mouse.

Before you even get close to the mouse you’ll have to deal with the packaging, which no doubt is cool and impressive, but I can’t help but wonder how much that added to the cost of the already expensive Mamba. A thick, clear acrylic case surrounds the mouse, which looks like it’s floating in thin air. Below, you’ll find drawers made out of paper, holding battery, papers, cable and more.

The selling point of this mouse is clearly that it offers 5,600dpi resolution capability over a wireless connection. Razer also claims 1ms latency and 100Hz polling rate, same as on their wired mice. Basically that means a promise of zero lag.

It can, however, also be plugged in, and the connection then also charges the mouse. A sort of docking station or holder is included, which also charges the mouse, and holds the Mamba up off of the desk where it can be easily admired by everyone around.

Razer follows through with the look and feel in the software, which sports the black and green colour scheme we’re used to by now. You have screens where you can adjust sensitivity, check for updates, assign tasks to all the buttons as well as create fully custom macros. The software for Mac OS X seems to lag behind though and doesn’t offer the same range of functionality as the Windows software.

You can configure the Mamba with five sensitivity levels, suiting either different gamers using the same mouse, or different settings for the same player. Each axis, X and Y, can be adjusted individually or together.

The sensor boasts a massive 5,600dpi, quite a bit more than the 4,000dpi gamers often strive for. It’s so much, in fact, that I wonder whether it’s really necessary and if a wireless connection can really sustain it.

In terms of the shape and functionality of the actual Mamba mouse, there’s not much new to say about it. It’s comfortable and fits well with my hand; my fingers fall into the right positions and there’s just enough “click” when pressing the buttons. Besides the usual left and right buttons, there are two small buttons on the top, just to the left of the left mouse button. They are for adjusting the sensitivity,

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selecting one of the five levels. Also, you’ll find to small buttons on the left side of the mouse, just by your thumb (yes, this mouse is only for right-handed players). The scroll wheel is large and covered in a soft rubber, which makes it a delight to use for zooming in with a scope, changing weapons or whatever else you have it configured to do.

These can all be configured with the Razer software, which you get from their Website.

Razer says that gamers are asking for higher resolutions and I experienced no problems with the wireless connection during my trials

REVIEW

Razer says that gamers are asking for higher resolutions and I experienced no problems with the wireless connection during my trials. Only when moving away for about two metres from the docking station did I start seeing disruptions in the mouse operations and it’s unlikely that you’ll ever have to be that far away when playing. If you do feel that the wireless is not doing its job you can, as mentioned earlier, also plug the mouse in to the computer with the supplied cable.

In terms of comfort and use, I like the Mamba a lot. I mentioned that the buttons fall into place for my fingers and have a good click-feeling to them. The materials used for buttons and the rest of the mouse also make it feel comfortable to use.

Battery life is not bad, but I hope Razer will get more out of it with software tweaks in the future.

The company claims 14 hours of continuous use and I’d say the real number is somewhat short of that.

I didn’t play 14 hours straight, but after about two days of use for work and quite a bit of gaming the Mamba was just about out of power.

There’s also just one battery so once it’s running low on power you have to plug it in or place it on the dock. One nice detail is the charge indicator, which lets you know if the mouse needs to be plugged in to be charged. Whether you pay attention to that when you’re playing a game is another story. The charge indicator doubles up as a display of the sensitivity level you’ve selected.

The Mamba glides very smoothly over almost any surface and the tracking seems to keep up even on

glossy ones. If you’re really into gaming I’m sure you have your favourite mouse pad and you’ll have to see for yourself how the Mamba works for you. I have, for many years now, an aluminum mouse pad from Razer, which I use and the Mamba is super-smooth on it.

In conclusion I would say this is a great mouse with amazing sensitivity and resolution. It feels right in my hands and I do believe it’ll help me with my game. The common concerns about wireless not being able to keep up are in my mind now gone and I have no problem using this wireless mouse.

I do have to keep an eye on the battery though Now, the price of Mamba is high and you can get something like the Sidewinder X8 for much less. It’s not an easy choice, but in style and attitude the Mamba clearly wins.

GAMEWORLD RECKONS Pros: Comfortable shape and grip; Amazing sensitivity and resolution; Wireless; Windows and Mac drivers Cons: Expensive; Wasteful packaging Price: $130 Info: bit.ly/razermamba

November 2010 | www.gameworldme.net | 43

Asus: We Want To Dominate

WORLDWIDE MOTHERBOARD MARKET WORLD CLASS ENGINEERS AND CLOSE RELATIONSHIP WITH KEY PARTNERS PUTS IT AHEAD

BY MAGNUS NYSTEDT

Asus Lamborghini edition notebook introduced in 2006

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NO DOUBT ASUSTEK, Asus for short, competes in a tough environment, whichever market your look at that they’re operating in. Whether it’s netbooks, notebooks, desktop allin-ones, or components like graphics cards or motherboards, competition is fierce. George Su, Regional Director META for Asus joined me for a cup of coffee to talk about his view of Asus and where they are right now.

I started by asking Su about what makes Asus different from their competitors.

“We keep more than 3,000 worldclass engineers in research and design.

From day one until now, we believe that we need to be technology-leading and quality-focused. That’s the key to survive in the IT industry,” Su said.

“Our target is very ambitious.

We not only want to be worldwide number one, we want to have more than 50% market share worldwide on motherboards.”

This is certainly very ambitious, but Su said that Asus has already achieved this in certain markets, and now it’s focusing on expanding in select markets to reach the target.

“We’re very strong in research and development so we can continue to come out with new products.”

Turning to gaming-specific topics, Su explained that Asus introduced the first gaming notebook in 2007 and have continued to refine its offering since then. Republic Of Gamers, or ROG, was born in 2006 and it’s a brand under which Asus can collect all its gaming-oriented products. Su said “it’s a brand, you’re right, a category if you like, which lets us easily communicate with gamers.”

It’s not quite correct to look at ROG as a brand only of interest to gamers though, Su corrected, as it has wider appeal.

“The audience has been expanded because there are some, a little bit professional users, not as geeky as gamers, but they enjoy the advanced features, that have found RoG,” Su explained.

George Su, Regional Director META, Asus

We’re very strong in research and development so we can continue to come out with new products.

The PC gaming industry is very driven by numbers, whether it’s benchmarking how fast a new processor is, how hot a graphics card gets, or how much power a motherboard requires. I asked Su if this is frustrating, knowing that any gaming product Asus brings out will be tested inside and out by gamers.

“It’s not frustrating. On the contrary, it’s actually exciting for our R&D team.

PCs are commodities. Components are almost the same for all companies so where do we differentiate?”

“The others focus on mass acceptance, how many devices they

Asus Ares has been called “the fastest graphics card ever”

can sell. We also focus on quality, with features like overclocking, BIOS, Super Hybrid Engine, and more,” Su said.

How then, does that affect the design and development of Asus’ products, I asked. An assumption one might make is that companies like Asus, knowing that a new graphics card, for example, will be tested by lots of people, design it so it performs well in the most common tests.

Su explained that the R&D team at Asus really enjoys this challenge. “The over 3,000 engineers I mentioned are really geeks and many of them are gamers. They dig into the details of how to squeeze the machine or the chipset,” he said.

“A close relationship with key component makers is also important, so we are able to test or debug most of the new platforms, new technologies, earlier and really work out something that is bug free or error free.”

No doubt we’ll continue to hear more from Asus in general PC components as well as in gaming. Su is certainly confident that the company has what it takes to compete on a worldwide basis. You may also want to read the article “Asus: computers and components for serious gamers” at bit.ly/asus-components or in our October 2010 issue.

November 2010 | www.gameworldme.net | 45

LAST WORD

Mohammad Alhuraiz has the last word every month.

This time he talks about fan service and how new video games are marketed.

HOW A NEW VIDEO GAME is marketed, is essential for any game released today as commercial success depends on it. I am no expert in marketing, let alone marketing a game, but I’d like to address the issue of fan service in the marketing of video games.

Let’s attempt a definition first. In the video game industry, it basically means that developers try to pack more stuff into games, so they can charge more for them.

I don’t think you can say that fan service is necessarily bad. Actually, I would argue that it’s a good form of marketing since fans get more bang for their buck and publishers get more people buying their games. However, there is a common problem with some companies abusing the loyalty of their fans.

Games are often available in “collector’s editions,” which most of the time means that you get some extra goodies, in addition to the game. The extras can be available in the game or as physical merchandise.

Physical things can include a statuette of the game’s protagonist, artbook, making of the game DVD, or soundtrack. These editions cost more than just the game, often three to four times more. Let’s not confuse them with “limited edition”, which are usually much more expensive and come with an even bigger package.

To attempt to clarify this issue, let me use a few examples.

Final Fantasy is infamous for its ridiculously heavy marketing, especially after the release of Final Fantasy VII. No game series has had that many sequels, spin offs and merchandise. It became

so popular that Square-Enix would use the Final Fantasy name on irrelevant titles just to make sure the game sells.

Basically they milked it for all it was worth using fan service without much regard for the true fans.

Activision is also guilty with their Call of Duty series. In the upcoming Black Ops they have included a fully functioning radio-controlled vehicle with a built-in camera in the “Prestige Edition.” They promote it by showing a vehicle just like it as it’s being used in the game.

Some, often smaller, companies don’t display the same greed. Atlus has a particularly compelling way of getting fans excited over additional content. Its strategy is to have the bonus content available for free for the early buyers as a thank you to the fans. It has also given out official soundtracks and fullcolour strategy guides with most of their recent games.

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If you’re a member on Valve’s Steam and have bought games from them, you may have enjoyed a wealth of goodies too. A common strategy on Steam is to give gamers extra content depending on what games they’ve bought previously.

For example, there was an offer for some exclusive hats and guns that you get for Team Fortress 2 if you pre-purchase season three of Sam & Max. This is certainly not a straightforward issue to discuss and there’s only so much I can bring up in one article. It is however clear to me that fan loyalty fuels a significant amount of the economy of today’s video game industry.

Mohammad Alhuraiz wishes he could give up his day job to just focus on gaming and other forms of tech.

He likes finding and playing under appreciated games, which didn’t necessarily capture the big headlines.

If he’s not hanging out at www. lochalarchade.com you can catch up with Mohammad on Twitter as @ asatiir.

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