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• 10Sep 08

  SPORE: Another Masterpiece From Maxis

  DEVELOPMENT

  The name Spore was originally a working title, suggested by developer Ocean Quigley, for the game which was first referred to by the general public as Sim Everything. Even though Sim Everything was a first choice name for Wright, the title Spore stuck. Wright added it also freed him from the preconceptions another Sim title would have brought, saying "...Not putting 'Sim' in front of it was very refreshing to me. It feels like it wants to be breaking out into a completely different thing than what Sim was."

  Civilization IV lead designer Soren Johnson joined EA Maxis to work on Spore.

  Gameplay

  The game allows the player to develop a species from a microscopic organism to its evolution into a complex animal, its emergence as a social, intelligent being, to its mastery of the planet and then finally to its ascension into space, where it interacts with alien species across the galaxy. Throughout the game, the player's perspective and species change dramatically.

  The game is broken up into distinct yet consistent, dependent "phases". The outcome of one phase affects the initial conditions facing the player in the next. Each phase exhibits its own style of play, and has been described by the developers as ten times more complicated than its preceding phase. While players are able to spend as much time as they prefer in each, it is possible to accelerate or skip phases altogether. When playing the game for the first time, a player must play through each of the stages in order, unlocking each in turn. Some phases feature optional missions; when the player completes a mission, they are granted a bonus, such as a new ability.

  If all of a player's creations are completely destroyed at some point, then that player's species goes back to the beginning of that level, or the last viable point in species development.

  Unlike many other Maxis games, Spore has a primary win condition which is obtained by reaching a quasar placed in the center of the galaxy, and facing a large NPC race. However, the player may continue to play after the goal has been achieved.

  Community

  Spore's user community functionality includes a feature that is part of an agreement with YouTube granting players the ability to upload directly from within the game a YouTube video of their creatures' activity, and EA's creation of "The Spore YouTube Channel", which will showcase the most popular videos created this way. In addition, some user-created content will be highlighted by Maxis at the official Spore site, and earn badges of recognition for their work. One of Spore's most social features is the Sporecast, an RSS feed that players can use to subscribe to the creations of any specific Spore player, allowing them to track their creations.

  There will be a parental control toggle which allows the player to restrict what downloadable content will be allowed; choices include: "no user generated content", "official Maxis-approved content", "downloadable friend content" (named "buddy" in the final game), and "all user-created content". Players can also ban any creature in-game, at any time, and Maxis monitors creatures with notable numbers of player bans.

  Sporepedia

  The Sporepedia is a major part of the game. It keeps track of nearly every gameplay experience, including the evolution of a creature by graphically displaying a timeline, showing how the creature incrementally changed over the eons; it also keeps track of the creature's achievements, both noteworthy and dubious, as a species. The Sporepedia also keeps track of all the creatures, planets, vehicles and other content the player encounters over the course of a game. Players can also upload their creations to Spore.com to be viewed by the public at the Sporepedia website.

  Phases

  Start of life

  The game opens using the scientific concept of panspermia. A meteor plummets toward a planet and into an ocean. The meteor, now a geode, then splits, from which a tiny organism emerges.

  Cell

  The first phase of existence, the cell phase, is sometimes referred to as the tide pool, cellular, or microbial phase. The player guides simple protean microbes around in a 3D environment on a single 2D plane where it must deal with fluid dynamics and predators, while eating weaker microbes or plants. The player may choose whether the creature is an herbivore or a carnivore prior to starting the phase. Once the microbe has eaten several cells, the player can enter an editor in which they can modify the appearance, shape, and abilities of the microbe by spending "DNA points". A player may choose to remove some part from the microbe, which will refund some DNA points. If the creature dies, the player may restart from an earlier phase or point in the game. The player must also seek out special "golden shields" from meteor fragments and other organisms that provide new parts for the player to use in the editor, such as spikes, mouths or limbs. The phase consists of five stages, which are halved themselves; every half-stage, the creature grows larger, and former predators become harmless or even prey to a player's carnivore cell creature.

  Creature

  The creature phase is similar to the cell phase, but with several important differences. Principally, the environment is now truly 3D. Other creatures will inhabit the world, and most of them will have been created by other players. Creatures will automatically be introduced into the environment to maintain a balanced ecosystem. If the player creates a bigger, tougher creature, the predators that are downloaded will likewise be stronger than average.

  In this stage, the basic goal is the same: earn DNA points, reproduce, and avoid being eaten by predators. In order to reproduce the player must locate a mate.

  Another difference introduced is the social aspect which provides means by which a player can earn DNA points. Socialization is the nonviolent alternative to consuming creatures for DNA, as befriending other creatures earns DNA points, allows access to their nests for resting, and makes them allying against attack more likely.

  Every time the player interacts with a creature, the game will create a quest depending on what stance is used. If the player is in a social stance, it will give them the goal of befriending a certain number of that species. If they are in combat stance, the goal will be to kill a certain number of that species, and therefore, render that species extinct. If the player's creature kills off or befriends a species, the creature will be able to heal at their nest.

  Tribal

  After the player's species evolves its brain far enough, it enters the tribal phase. Physical development ceases, as does the player's exclusive control over an individual creature, as the game focuses on the birth of division of labor for the species. The player is given a hut, a group of fully evolved creatures, a mini-map of the world for the first time, as well as two of six possible "super powers". These are unlocked depending on the species' behavior in the previous phases.

  In this phase, the game is similar to an RTS (real-time strategy game). The player may give the tribe tools such as weapons, musical instruments, and healing or fishing implements. Food now replaces "DNA points" as the player's currency, which the player can spend on items and structures, or use to barter with other tribes. Creatures also gain the option to wear clothes that demarcate their professions. If an epic creature was befriended in the Creature phase, it is now used as a pet. Domesticated creatures seem to undergo neoteny in contrasting photos of the same species. Contact with other tribes of the same species, or even different species, can take place in this phase, and creatures also learn to speak. Their language is dependent on the type of mouth they possess; primate-type mouths, for instance, result in Simlish. Creatures, as with The Sims, also "speak" with icons embedded in word balloons.

  Civilization

  The goal in the civilization phase is to gain control of the entire planet, and it is left to the player to decide whether to conquer or unite. When entering the phase, the player's tribal camp is now a city. Players now have two new editors: the building and vehicle editors. The game will attempt to detect what style of content the player prefers, downloading similar content created by other players and adding it to the buy menu. Players can construct a variety of land vehicles, aircraft, ships and submersibles. If the player elects to start at the Civilization phase, they are prompted to assign the new civilization a philosophy: militaristic, economic or religious.

  Space

  The space phase provides new goals and paths to follow as the player begins to spread through the universe.

  The player may now terraform and colonize neighboring uninhabitable planets with special tools (water tool, volcano tool, etc). Although these tools start off finite and very expensive, the player can obtain infinite versions. Terraforming tools include pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere to act as a greenhouse gas. Left unchecked this can cause oceans to rise, then eventually to evaporate and transform the world into a desert planet, followed by a molten rock in space. These tools may also be used as weapons, sucking out the atmosphere or altering the temperature of a planet in order to kill the inhabitants without a pitched battle. The ultimate terraforming tool is a technology called the Staff of Life, dubbed the 'Genesis device' prior to the game's release, which instantly transforms a dead world into a habitable one, although it is limited to 42 uses, a reference to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

  Sandbox

  The space phase is sometimes referred to as a sandbox, because the player eventually gains near-complete control of everything, though in the initial stages of the Space phase, the player inevitably must interact with other civilizations as in previous stages. It has been mentioned that the space phase works on two axes: a horizontal axis (the ability to interact with many planets in a variety of different ways) and a vertical axis (the ability to revisit different phases of gameplay).

  THE BOTTOM LINE - "MASTERPIECE"

  • Posted Sep 10, 2008 8:37 pm PT
  • Category: Games
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• 7Aug 08

  Beijing Olypics 2008 'Its Gametime'

  In Beijing 2008: The Official Video Game of the Olympic Games, players will embrace the competitive spirit of the world's most prestigious sporting event and represent their country as they compete for the highest honor--the Gold Medal. Appearing on next generation consoles, the game promises to deliver a far more entertaining and immersive Olympic experience with superior graphics capturing the detail of each event where a fraction of a second means the difference between winning and losing. With brand new gameplay mechanics challenging their speed, time and coordination, players will strive to break records alone or with up to seven friends online as they lead the US team to victory in 38 authentic Olympic events. This summer, everyone will want to show their patriotism and bring home the Gold.

  Features:
  *Over 30 Official Events and National Teams: Across 10 authentic-looking stadiums, players will represent the country of their choice and compete in such sports as Track & Field, Aquatics, Gymnastics, Cycling, Judo, Table Tennis and Canoe-Kayak for the highest honor.
  *In-Depth Olympic Games and Competition Modes: In Olympic Games mode, players will organize their daily schedule and customize their national teams with agility, power, stamina and speed for competition in 38 events. With up to three friends, players will participate in either single or multi-event challenges in Competition mode.
  *New Gameplay Mechanics: There are a variety of controls across all events, including a time-based system where timing, power and angle are essential, a rhythm-based method that requires increasing and sustaining speed, and a targeting system to aid players in accurately hitting targets.
  *In the Zone: Pulls players right into the athlete's mind, getting them closer to the action and giving them time to accurately control every move.
  *Global Online Competition: As a member of the aspiring US Olympic Team, players will face challengers from across nations. A multitude of online features, including exhibition events, and leaderboards will allow players to prove themselves before the world.
  *Capturing the Olympic Spirit: As the exclusive official video game, Beijing 2008 offers an authentic look and feel of the Games, ultra-realistic recreations of the Beijing stadiums and a chance to soak up the atmosphere from the Olympic Host City in your own home.
  

  • Posted Aug 7, 2008 6:11 pm PT
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• 4Jul 08

  Tekken The Movie will released on 2009

  Tekken is a planned live action film based on the Tekken video game series from Namco. A previous, animated, adaptation of the film was released in 1997. The rights for Tekken were acquired by Crystal Sky Entertainment CEO Steven Paul, from Namco. The film is expected to have $60 million budget and will rely heavily on CGI Visual Effects. And well, I can't wait who will be the Characters and their faces...whohoooo
  • Posted Jul 4, 2008 6:35 pm PT
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