Tokyo Game Show report not in print

As you might remember, I announced my cooperation with CD-Action concerning Tokyo Game Show 2007 coverage. With fanfares.

Unfortunately, it won’t be found in the printed issue of the magazine. Due to the fact that there was a lot of material to go into November issue, it was supposed to be postponed to December issue. However, it seems that there was more interesting things for that edition, hence it finished on CD-Action webpage.

Link to the article in question (Polish only)

At first I was a little disappointed, but then I realised that thanks to CD-Action support I was able to join the Business Days, meet Jessica Chobot, play Assassin’s Creed with Philippe Dionne and much more. So all in all, good deal nevertheless!

Tokyo Game Show report not in print

As you might remember, I announced my cooperation with CD-Action concerning Tokyo Game Show 2007 coverage. With fanfares.

Unfortunately, it won’t be found in the printed issue of the magazine. Due to the fact that there was a lot of material to go into November issue, it was supposed to be postponed to December issue. However, it seems that there was more interesting things for that edition, hence it finished on CD-Action webpage.

Link to the article in question (Polish only)

At first I was a little disappointed, but then I realised that thanks to CD-Action support I was able to join the Business Days, meet Jessica Chobot, play Assassin’s Creed with Philippe Dionne and much more. So all in all, good deal nevertheless!

Haptx – revolution in game interaction?

One of the most interesting things I have seen at Tokyo Game Show 2007 was weird-looking input device known under codename Haptx. What looks like a small droid with a little ball hanging out on three supports is the innovative mechanism that can be used for truly 3D navigation. The problem with a mouse is that it is in fact 2D input device, hence the need of using additional buttons and whatnot – yet in fact this only emulates three dimensions of movement. Haptx allows user to control the pointer in full 3D and also provides force feedback. How cool is that?

Haptx was originally conceived as a device used for training of surgeons, therefore at the beginning it was extremely precise, but also expensive tool. At some point someone realised that gamers don’t require that amount of precision, hence the cheaper (the estimated end-user price should be about 200USD) version was born. And having spent some time with it, I can confidently say that this is at least interesting.

Firstly, I was shown a tech demo in which I could feel the textures of objects with Haptx. I could even feel pulsations of water flowing in the pipes (although in real life I was never able to do that in fact…). Still, the experience was neat. Then it was time for some real life action – Quake 4. Although at first I had some difficulties while aiming (but hey, it took me some time to get used to mouse at first as well), the overall impression was great. Not only each weapon really felt different (random recoil of machine gun versus powerful “kick” of the shotgun), but also when enemies started shooting, I could sense where I am being hit from, not to mention it also affected my accuracy. It made the game more difficult, but at the same time much more realistic. The last part of the show was demonstration of how player can interact with environment of game called Penumbra using Haptx – this part was, in my opinion, the least impressive.

Will Haptx in time revolutionize gaming input like once did joystick and mouse? I am not sure, but definitely it has a lot of potential. I’ll be keeping my eye on the news and you, dear readers, should try to test it should you have the occasion, because even though it looks strange, it feels more natural after you have tried it.

Haptx – revolution in game interaction?

One of the most interesting things I have seen at Tokyo Game Show 2007 was weird-looking input device known under codename Haptx. What looks like a small droid with a little ball hanging out on three supports is the innovative mechanism that can be used for truly 3D navigation. The problem with a mouse is that it is in fact 2D input device, hence the need of using additional buttons and whatnot – yet in fact this only emulates three dimensions of movement. Haptx allows user to control the pointer in full 3D and also provides force feedback. How cool is that?

Haptx was originally conceived as a device used for training of surgeons, therefore at the beginning it was extremely precise, but also expensive tool. At some point someone realised that gamers don’t require that amount of precision, hence the cheaper (the estimated end-user price should be about 200USD) version was born. And having spent some time with it, I can confidently say that this is at least interesting.

Firstly, I was shown a tech demo in which I could feel the textures of objects with Haptx. I could even feel pulsations of water flowing in the pipes (although in real life I was never able to do that in fact…). Still, the experience was neat. Then it was time for some real life action – Quake 4. Although at first I had some difficulties while aiming (but hey, it took me some time to get used to mouse at first as well), the overall impression was great. Not only each weapon really felt different (random recoil of machine gun versus powerful “kick” of the shotgun), but also when enemies started shooting, I could sense where I am being hit from, not to mention it also affected my accuracy. It made the game more difficult, but at the same time much more realistic. The last part of the show was demonstration of how player can interact with environment of game called Penumbra using Haptx – this part was, in my opinion, the least impressive.

Will Haptx in time revolutionize gaming input like once did joystick and mouse? I am not sure, but definitely it has a lot of potential. I’ll be keeping my eye on the news and you, dear readers, should try to test it should you have the occasion, because even though it looks strange, it feels more natural after you have tried it.

Space Invaders Extreme hands-on impressions

Space Invaders is one of the all time game classics that any gamer simply must know, even if they missed on early 8 bit era. If by any chance you don’t know what I am writing about, read about it here and play it here (also, be ashamed and hand over your gamer’s licence).

At Tokyo Game Show Taito has just presented Space Invaders Extreme, a remake of the original title for Nintendo DS. The game formula has been severely altered, which is a good thing, since the original was, to put it diplomatically, not the most complicated game in the world. The game was given major graphical overhaul in the vein of Q Entertainment’s recent games – different skins, different weapons, special effects flashing on the screen, combinations of strange colours and crazy electronic music made me think of Gunpey or Every Extend Extra.

The few minutes I have spent with the game went by quite fast and the game seemed to be enjoyable. I don’t know, however, how about the playability and replayability of the title. I mean how long can you shoot to rows of aliens?

Oh, and while on the topic of Space Invaders – someone please get me these shoes :

Space Invaders Extreme hands-on impressions

Space Invaders is one of the all time game classics that any gamer simply must know, even if they missed on early 8 bit era. If by any chance you don’t know what I am writing about, read about it here and play it here (also, be ashamed and hand over your gamer’s licence).

At Tokyo Game Show Taito has just presented Space Invaders Extreme, a remake of the original title for Nintendo DS. The game formula has been severely altered, which is a good thing, since the original was, to put it diplomatically, not the most complicated game in the world. The game was given major graphical overhaul in the vein of Q Entertainment’s recent games – different skins, different weapons, special effects flashing on the screen, combinations of strange colours and crazy electronic music made me think of Gunpey or Every Extend Extra.

The few minutes I have spent with the game went by quite fast and the game seemed to be enjoyable. I don’t know, however, how about the playability and replayability of the title. I mean how long can you shoot to rows of aliens?

Oh, and while on the topic of Space Invaders – someone please get me these shoes :

Patapon hands-on impressions

Patapon was one of the incoming PSP games that I hoped to become yet another addition to the variety of truly original titles available for the system (Loco Roco, Crush, Mercury). Sadly, I was totally disappointed.

Contrary to Brian Crescente’s impressions, I didn’t like the demo at all. The basic idea is that player has to tap combinations of button presses in order to make the little creatures visible on the screen (Patapons) follow his order. Pressing the combination of Square, Square, Square, Circle makes little fellows chant “Pata, Pata, Pata, Pon” and march forward for a moment. If player gets the timing right and chains two sequences together in a combo, Patapons will run for a while longer. Other combination causes small warriors to attack enemy.

And here we come to my main problem with the game – it is plain boring. Yes, it is charming, but being limited to just two actions is pain in the backside. It’s like being forced to chose between a series of Yes/No questions with the only thrill being that sometimes player fails to perform combination of button presses in correct timing. Playing the game just dragged for me. You can see it for yourself in the following video :

Maybe the final game will be different, but so far I was left unimpressed. Okay, the graphics had a cool sense of style, similarly to Loco Roco. But, as I have written on Kotaku : I also didn’t like Loco Roco.

Patapon hands-on impressions

Patapon was one of the incoming PSP games that I hoped to become yet another addition to the variety of truly original titles available for the system (Loco Roco, Crush, Mercury). Sadly, I was totally disappointed.

Contrary to Brian Crescente’s impressions, I didn’t like the demo at all. The basic idea is that player has to tap combinations of button presses in order to make the little creatures visible on the screen (Patapons) follow his order. Pressing the combination of Square, Square, Square, Circle makes little fellows chant “Pata, Pata, Pata, Pon” and march forward for a moment. If player gets the timing right and chains two sequences together in a combo, Patapons will run for a while longer. Other combination causes small warriors to attack enemy.

And here we come to my main problem with the game – it is plain boring. Yes, it is charming, but being limited to just two actions is pain in the backside. It’s like being forced to chose between a series of Yes/No questions with the only thrill being that sometimes player fails to perform combination of button presses in correct timing. Playing the game just dragged for me. You can see it for yourself in the following video :

Maybe the final game will be different, but so far I was left unimpressed. Okay, the graphics had a cool sense of style, similarly to Loco Roco. But, as I have written on Kotaku : I also didn’t like Loco Roco.

Skin your Wii

I couldn’t help but to give this post that title. Basically one of many gaming-derived products I have seen on Tokyo Game Show were faceplates for customizing your PSP, DS, notebook, Xbox, Playstation and of course Wii.

Now you know why I couldn’t resist the temptation. As for my opinion on the product itself, well, I really don’t see the point, especially since my PSP won’t be entirely covered. But as long as there are people willing to waste spend their hard-earned bucks on this things, why not?

Skin your Wii

I couldn’t help but to give this post that title. Basically one of many gaming-derived products I have seen on Tokyo Game Show were faceplates for customizing your PSP, DS, notebook, Xbox, Playstation and of course Wii.

Now you know why I couldn’t resist the temptation. As for my opinion on the product itself, well, I really don’t see the point, especially since my PSP won’t be entirely covered. But as long as there are people willing to waste spend their hard-earned bucks on this things, why not?