Archive for the ‘Project White Rock’ Category

All About N-Gage has another preview of Reset Generation up, this time from Evan Zelfden, who attended the Reset Generation unveiling at the Cartoon Art Museum a couple weeks ago. He really keys in on the cross-platform nature and portability of the application as a widget that can be embedded in websites and across the Internet.

He notes:

“While the game will cost between $10 and $14 on the mobile, the PC version will be completely free to play.  And not only can you play it on the official web site, you can embed it in your Facebook profile, or your blog, or anywhere else on the internet.

“This is where the game’s architects expect word-of-mouth to play a part.  Foe notes that it’s a game that’s created its own promotion.  The ultimate hope is that PC players will like the game and want to play it when they’re not chained to desks and desktops.  Which means they’ll need to purchase a Nokia N-Gage-compatible device in future.  It’s a long-range strategy, but it’s at the heart of the cross-platform approach, it explains why Reset Generation is free for PCs, and also why so much effort was concentrated on good, addictive gameplay.”

It’s another great preview, so please take a look.

All About N-Gage has put together an extensive preview of Reset Generation, discussing the heroes in the game, gameplay, and some of what they perceive as the significance of the project as part of the N-Gage offering:

“That is breaking new ground — it’s not a silo gameplay area that’s tasked with keeping smartphone and web players separate, but one connected world (surely a message Nokia as a whole wants to push).

“In any case, it adds another interesting strategy to the campaign, allowing it to promote a service effectively being given away for free — even with a 5% conversion rate, the number of potential eyeballs that could see the widget is huge, and the knock on effect for N-Gage as a whole could mean that Reset Generation is perceived as the title that launches the fabled N-Gage ‘next generation gaming platform’ to the masses.”

It’s a very nice preview, be sure to check it out, and while you’re at it take a look at the site’s Reset Generation screen shot slideshow.
 

Update: fixed links

It’s been a couple of days since the great unveiling of Reset Generation at the Museum of Cartoon Art in San Francisco, CA last Friday, and the first press articles about the game are starting to appear online.

GameCyte has put together an excellent hands-on preview, giving a thorough breakdown of the gameplay and the inspiration behind the game:

From its concept, to its gameplay, to its art and music, Reset Generation is a postmodern love letter to the industry — as Nokia puts it, “The first video game about video games.”

Pocket Gamer has also put up an extensive hands-on preview by Tracy Erickson. He notes:

Reset Generation is purely about gaming. From the hilarious heroes that act as parodies of popular characters from video game history to the core mechanics inspired by classic titles, every piece has been carefully installed to serve as an homage to gaming.

Gizmodo also has a story up, calling it the flagship title for N-Gage, adding, “The N-Gage platform has traversed a rocky road since its inception, and if there’s any princess in need of rescuing by a wildly popular and successful hero, that’s probably it.”

Other key features about Reset Generation to note from the previews:

• 18 single player missions
• Playable on both PC and N-Gage
• 4-player multiplayer
• Cross-platform gameplay (PC vs. N-Gage)
• Free to play on PC
• Rankings, belts, and Point Pickups
• Ten playable heroes
• Homage to videogame history

So what do you think of the game? Was it what you expected? Are you looking forward to it?

This month’s issue of EDGE Magazine is now going out to subscribers, who are getting their first look at Reset Generation, the game which you have come to know and love under its code name Project White Rock.

Details from the magazine article have surfaced on Pocket Gamer, Develop, Tech Digest, and All About N-Gage. And yes, there will be a press event tonight in San Francisco, where even more of the game will be revealed to the world. So I won’t say much more about it just yet.

I’d like to add on a personal note, I am really excited about this one, because I did get to play a small role in its development over these last couple years, being responsible for the story and dialogue.

It was a great privilege to work with Scott Foe, Scott Howard and all the guys over at RedLynx. I think you guys are going to have a lot of fun with this game. It’s exceptional and just a lot of fun to play. It is a blast.

Hello everybody. A little birdy tells me Mile High Pinball will likely be released into the Showroom over the next 24 hours, or at the latest, by Monday. For those of you fully completed your First Access survey and are looking forward to getting your N-Gage points and a complimentary Activation Code, be sure to read this message from our Community Manager, redrum.

Now onto today’s links of interest:

N-Gage First Impressions

Ben Smith of SMS Text News takes a look at the Ovi suite of software services on his new Nseries, including the N-Gage experience:

“N-Gage immediately feels like a well polished product. From within a single well-presented client I’m able to create my profile to utilise the social features and browse a catalogue of games.”

More First Impressions

Mark Wilcox over on Forum Nokia also offers up his first impressions of the new N-Gage service:

“Teething problems aside, these are the best games I’ve ever seen on a phone and they are generally very playable and they all have a free trial.”

Space Impact Review

Mobile technology site Net 9 takes a look at Space Impact Kappa Base in this new review. They like the game, giving it four out of five stars and noting:

“The graphics are astounding with the whole 2D mixed with 3D thing going on. Overall, this game rocks, and in it I see much promise of success for the new N-Gage platform.”

Nok Nok Reviews Brain Challenge

Here’s another N-Gage game review, this time it’s Nok Nok taking on Brain Challenge:

“It won’t dazzle you with stunning graphics buts it simple and addictive game play that will keep you occupied for hours and hopefully improve your IQ in the process.”

Personally, I really enjoy this game too. I like to do my morning mind exercises while my Nokia laptop slowly, slowly boots up.
Project White Rock Unveiling

And finally, All About N-Gage reminds us that Project White Rock will finally be revealed at a press event being held tomorrow evening:

“All we do know is it probably has something to do with classic retro gaming and is being made by RedLynx, the people who made Pathway To Glory and High Seize (so we are assuming PWR is a strategy game).”

Maybe next week I can start using the game’s real name.

It appears 1up.com’s Andrew Podolsky has received an invitation to the unveiling of Project White Rock, the code-name for the as-yet still unrevealed game being developed by RedLynx and Pocket Kingdom producer Scott Foe. Part of the invitation is shown below:

Podolsky notes that the For the Love of Gaming site features classic videogame trivia and chiptunes by 8-Bit Weapon. He further adds:

“The image appears to consist of parody versions of game characters, including Mario, Lara Croft, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Bomberman. The image was sent as part of an invitation for the official unveiling of the game in early May.”

What do you think? Is he on the right track? Who are the silhoutte characters? What do all these clues suggest about the game itself? Let the speculation begin!

I’m a bit perplexed. I received an urgent SMS from Scott Foe, one of our game producers here at Nokia, who said he had just been interviewed by the Electric Playground, a cable show that covers computer and videogames. He said that he revealed the secrets of the next generation of N-Gage on the show.

Check it out here.

IGN has picked up another piece of the puzzle regarding Project White Rock (also on Pocket Gamer, Gamespy, and WarCry), this time revealing the composer of the game’s soundtrack. They write:

“Finally, we have some exciting information about Nokia Games Publishing’s secret Project White Rock! Renowned chiptune artist 8 Bit Weapon will be creating a custom retro soundtrack for Senior Producer Scott Foe’s latest endeavor that will take players back to their gaming roots.”

8 Bit Weapon is a musical act that creates original music using classic computer and videogame sound chips as sampled instruments, which are then mixed into new compositions, a genre of music known as “chiptune.” And while 8 Bit Weapon has created original music for the videogame industry before, most notably the soundtrack for Xbox’s exclusive Halo 2 preview event, White Rock will be the first full videogame to be scored by the band.

The article quotes Seth Sternberger, leading force behind 8 Bit Weapon:

“Scott made a dream come true for me when he asked me to score a game,” said Sternberger of 8 Bit Weapon. “But for it to be this game: Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that I would get to work on something like Project White Rock.”

These articles also link to a media page on the For the Love of Gaming website, which includes a download link for the entire(!) soundtrack to the game, for free.

I’m listening to it right now.

The team over at Pocket Gamer has been busy getting their hands on as many upcoming N-Gage games as possible, with two new previews this week.

Hands on with Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Here’s what they had to say about Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, in particular the unique CellWeaver system for controlling the game:

“What’s even more of a shock when working your way through the tutorial, however, is to discover the game’s based around a gesture system that’s officially called CellWeaver. This uses your phone’s (in this case a N81) numeric keys as a 3×3 grid onto which you ‘weave’ your actions.”

There is also an interview with the game producers available.

Hands on with Yamake
Next up is Yamake, an innovative title from our first party team that makes it possible for players to create their own games from a range of mini games by adding content, then playing and sharing them with friends and the wider Yamake community:

“What makes Yamake much more interesting, however, are the distribution options. Once created, you can either send (or receive) a puzzle via Bluetooth or upload to the N-Gage Arena, where – once the application is live – we assume there will be the sort of community-rating features that will allow the most interesting puzzles to be highlighted and shared amongst the N-Gage community. Of course, you can also download puzzles from the Arena for your own playing enjoyment.”

More on Yamake here. 

Project White Rock all for the love of gaming?
Finally, we have an update on the For the Love of Gaming story we blogged about last week. It seems Pocket Gamer’s Tracy Erickson has picked up one of the mysterious white vials and examined its contents:

“That isn’t stopping it from teasing us with bits of information though, the latest of which comes in the form of a vial containing a white USB stick. On the portable USB flash drive sits what appears to be the soundtrack for Project White Rock. Clocking in at 25 tracks, the electro-pop selections share a common theme: gaming.”

Read more on his discoveries here.
 

Have you heard this phrase yet? It came up at the Game Developer’s Conference, in a story first broken by PG’s Jon Jordan:

“It’s all very cryptic, and to be honest we’re not entirely sure what this is about ourselves. It’s a phrase Nokia staff have been dropping into conversations, as well as having it printed on their funky shirts at GDC.”

Indeed, the phrase was on the shirt Anssi Vanjokji wore during his keynote address, as well as printed in the Nokia brochure packed into every GDC bag. 

A mysterious source has emailed me some pictures to share with you, along with some additional information I will disclose in due course. Click the pix below for detail on the brochure and “funky shirts. ”

My source asserts that For the Love of Gaming and Project White Rock are related. This was confirmed by some media reports, such as Evergeek. Let’s pick up the story there:

“[Project White Rock] is cross-platform, it’s multi-platform, it’s N-Gage, it’s PC, it’s the amazing RedLynx; the kimono is opening a little bit today. We do it all for the love of gaming.

“If you doubt the gamer’s cred or sincerity, here’s a little self-check, perhaps a humbling one: Test your own for-the-love-of-gaming quotient at www.fortheloveofgaming.com. Don’t blame me if you can’t get the music out of your head.”

Ah hah! So For the Love of Gaming points to a quiz. A tough quiz! For the record, I scored 13 points, but my score has been bumped off the board. I guess I have something to do this weekend. :)  

But it seems there’s more to this story. Here’s Zedge from Zedge.net, who goes a little deeper down the rabbit hole:

“So there I was, minding my own business, at the Nokia booth, playing one of their new N-Gage games… when I got a tap on the shoulder by a friendly PR rep. She asked me if I would want to be part of an ‘experiment’ and I responded with, sure, why the hell not.”

He describes how he was ushered into a private room with a mysterious figure who questioned him about ‘Project White Rock’. He was then given the For the Love of Gaming quiz, but scored enough points to gain a little more information.

Zedge was then handed a mysterious vial with a white USB stick inside. He describes what happened next:

“I was told to immediately put it away and not show it to anyone. How mysterious! I was then told to check out the contents in private and to await further instructions. How clandestine!”

He then concludes with a picture of the mysterious vial:

He hasn’t been heard from since!

My source was unable to provide one of the mysterious vials, and in fact immediately broke the connection when I asked for one. I didn’t even get a chance to ask for one of the funky t-shirts. Maybe someone can find out what is on the memory card in the vial, and learn a little more about Project White Rock that way.

Anyone have any ideas on this one?