Archive for the 'Gaming' Category

Japan’s Concerto Gate heads to the US

The US will be getting a slice of the action from Square Enix’s Concerto Gate, a PC MMORPG that’s similar to Ragnorak Online in some aspects. The game is a sequal to the 2001 MMO, Cross Gate.

Concerto Gate is marked by its ease of familiarity to those fans of console based RPGs through its use of randomly generated battles. The game presents in an art style similar to that of Ragnarok Online, though with a Square Enix touch of flair. The visuals display a creative cross between the Chocobo’s Mysterious Dungeon and Seiken Densetsu titles. - RPGamer

The game will be release at the start of 2008 and will be free to play. The game has been very successful in Japan and other Asia countries already! If it’s a game from the creator of Final Fantasy, it must be at least worth checking out right?

Well, here’s the trailer for the Concerto Gate:

This look more like an anime than a MMO trailer, so here’s a video of a boss fight in Concerto Gate to give you a better perspective on the game:

Source:
Destructoid
RPGamer

Toyota in World of Warcraft

This move by Toyota to use World of Warcraft for advertising is a clear example of how gaming is moving in to the mainstream, arguable for better or worst, but it is happening. In this advertisement you can see the infamous Leeroy Jenkins, a World of Warcraft celebrity of sort driving a Toyota Tacoma. This will for sure attract the 10 Million subscriber of WoW and the larger gaming community. I won’t be surprise to see a lot more Toyota Tacoma on the roads, and their drivers will probably be gamers.

Meet-Me and HiPiHi, Asia’s solution to ‘Second Life’

Digital marketing company, Transcosmos Inc. of Japan are aiming to compete against such online virtual world gaming giants like Second Life with their very own virtual world, ‘Meet-Me’. While, China has also seeked out their own answer to compete for the virtual world niche market with HiPiHi.

Unlike Second Life’s plan for world domination, Meet-Me aims at the Japanese niche market specifically, because Kunimasa Hamaoka, the overseer of Meet-Me believe the:

Japanese are so well-behaved and conformist, he says, they would prefer a more predictable and secure virtual environment over the free-spirited anything-goes of “Second Life,” created by San Francisco-based Linden Lab. CNN.com

Although the figures contradict him, as the Japanese are the third highest population using Second Life. But maybe it’s because a ‘by Japanese, for Japanese’ game such as Meet-Me hasn’t been made yet? If so, Meet-Me have a bright future in Japan afterall.

What interest me the most about Meet-Me is that they are able to differentiate from Second-Life with their cute anime-like avatars which the Japanese Otakus and anime-frantics alike will find more fun to play with over the more realistic alter-egos of Second Life. And by ‘play’, i mean ‘play’; Meet-me is referred to be pornography-free and safe for children - like Disneyland by CNN, so let’s leave it at that. Meet-Me is also designed to look like Tokyo, even the sunrise and sunsets are in Tokyo time. Meet-Me will be released in December.





China haven’t been as creative as Japan with their virtual world, HiPiHi. Many has referred to HiPiHi as the ‘Chinese Second Life’, due to its similarities to Second-Life. Judge for yourself with the video below (It’s in Chinese). However, HiPiHi is still in Beta testing, so there is the chance that they will change it before it actually releases.

For those of you that want to learn more about HiPiHi, you can visit them at their official site. (Don’t worry, it’s in English). You can also watch a showcase by HiPiHi here. If I had to choose, Meet-Me is the clear winner for me, but that might be influenced by my liking for anime and the fact that I can’t wait to visit the virtual Akihabara!


Source:
CNN
Virtual China