Gaming Console Platform

As RTS games go, everything just seems to get more and more complicated as the years go by. Sure we’ve got state-of-the-art graphics that can literally put players in another world with its surprising pseudo-realism, but whatever happened to the good old days when all you ever had to worry about were three buttons: harvest, build, and attack?

Oddlabs‘ Tribal Trouble takes a look back at the simpler days when RTS games weren’t chores to learn and was just another fun exercise in gaming. Doing away with the complicated menus and tech trees, this game puts you in command of either the red-nosed and haphazard Vikings or the restless Natives faction.

The game’s simplified feel becomes one of its best features for those gamers who are tired of playing the graphics- and specs-intensive RTS games coming out nowadays. Also, the more casual gamers can easy get into it with its easy gameplay and caricature graphics.

When Muppets go to war

At first glance, the game’s animated and cute, colorful graphics will take you back to your days of watching Sesame Street… at least until the first axe or spear is thrown. While most of the characters in the game may remind you of the lovable Muppets, there’s nothing wholesome about their war-like nature to go at each other like Animal on crack.

The developers at Oddlabs did an outstanding job by going out on a limb in creating their own 3D engine for the game. The game runs off relatively low specs and can still render a decent framerate despite the island teeming with Vikings and Natives.

Considering the number of awards Tribal Trouble has raked in since its release, it pretty much paid off in the long run; something very commendable for an indie game developer.

Couple this with the flexible, yet easy to pick up gameplay mechanics, and you’ve got an RTS which draws in casual gamers while still appealing to the more veteran strategy gamers at the same time.

Introducing: the deadly “chicken weapons”

Hardcore RTS gamers may feel a little turned off with the fact that the game doesn’t offer a lot in terms of unit and building variety. However, the game’s simplicity is actually one of its stronger points.

Doing away with heavy GUIs and cumbersome stats, the only real thing you have to worry about is micromanaging the number of peons that you have to assign with either gathering or producing goods that you can use to make a suitable war band.

Tribal Trouble offers 5 different unit types (A peon, three different warrior types, and one hero chieftain unit) that you can build per faction. There are no major differences between the different units between the Vikings and the Natives, except when it comes to the different special abilities your chieftains can use.

The minimalist gameplay balances everything out, however. Much like any RTS game, managing your resources while defending your resources becomes the biggest concern for gamers who want to excel in Tribal Trouble.

What’s more, because of the map’s limited space, you’ll eventually end up harvesting wood and rocks in the opponent’s backyard if you’re not careful. Which is why micromanaging your peons is a big factor in this game.

On a special note, this blogger really has to go out on a limb by saying that whoever thought of using tropical chickens as actual weapons for the game should be crowned as a game developer god. Nothing is more feared in the game as a chicken warrior going postal on your troops.

The Natives are restless

The beauty of the game comes together when you pit yourself against other human opponents with real-time tactics, all the while still trying to manage your resources and your troops.

The somewhat straightforward computer AI is somewhat easy to take down if you’re familiar with the classic “Tower Defense” and blitz tactics from other RTS games. However, try that against another human opponent on a small island with limited resources, and you’ve got peons scrambling over the island while your warriors try to rally a good defense against the numerous calculated strikes against your territory.

You’ll definitely get a laugh seeing your humorously animated army go through a repeated battle of attrition and see which side weathers it out in the end.

Chief Fjorlief approves

All in all, Tribal Trouble is a fun game that’s easy to pick up and well worth the short time it takes to learn and master. While the game is a bit short after finishing the two campaigns, there’s always the option to try your hand at some tribal warfare against the computer or some human opponents.

Some quirky game behaviors may need some time to get used to, especially if you’re coming from one of the bigger RTS titles released nowadays, but this blogger realizes that it’s all part of the game’s charm and really draws you into it by sharpening those mad micromanaging skills of yours.

For those of you looking for a simple game without the complexities of which unit does what, then Tribal Trouble is worth looking into. Casual gamers in particular will find the game’s cute animated graphics and simple gameplay a good way to ease them into the normally competitive RTS genre.

Tribal Trouble is available for both the PC and Mac and is priced at US 29.95. The Oddlabs website is also offering a US 5 volume discount for every registration key that you order off them. So grab a friend and see which tribe is stronger.

If you plan on attending the 2008 ION Game Conference, you might want to know that early registration for the event has now been opened and will close by March 17 this year. Attendees who register online before the said cut-off date can expect to save US 500 off the full registration price.

The event will be held at the Seattle Marriott Waterfront hotel from May 13 to 15. Those who will be attending can expect a discounted room rate of US 209. The event proper has some pretty interesting speakers as well, here’s a short list of the confirmed speakers:

• Allison Luong — Managing Director, Pearl Research
• Bill Fulton — Founder, Ronin User Experience
• David Ryan Hunt — Game Designer, Flying Lab Software
• Geoffrey Zatkin — CEO, Electronic Entertainment Design and Research (EEDAR) 
• Osma Ahvenlampi — CTO, Sulake

If you want to register for the event, follow our source link which will take you to the registration page.

For the week of January 14 to 20, Nintendo led the rest of the pack in software sales in Japan. Wii and DS games dominated the first four places in the chart, and 16 of the top 30 games are Nintendo DS games.

With that in mind, it’s really comes to no surprise that the Nintendo platforms - the DS and the Wii - once again lead the pack for the same week. Understandably, sales have gone down for all platforms since the holiday season.

Here are the hardware sales numbers for Japan for the week ending on January 20:

• DS Lite - 88,575
• Wii - 81,638
• PSP - 79,923
• PS3 - 38,117
• PS2 - 13,539
• Xbox 360 - 4,552

A patch for Activision and Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Mod Tools v1.1 has just been released. This update fixes the shader_bin error in both CoD4Radiant and CoD4EffectsEd which many mod developers have been complaining about.

In case you’re not familiar with the Mod Tools, it is a program which allows users to make modifications to Activision and Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare for the PC. While this application is normally used to create multiplayer maps, it is also one of the tools used to create Machinima videos.

So if you’re using or plan on using the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Mod Tools, you might want to update the application to avoid any shader_bin errors. If you don’t have Mod Tools 1.1 yet, follow our Source link for more information on how to get it.

Download: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Mod Tools v1.1 Patch

If you live outside the US and simply can’t get enough of music, Amazon’s latest release would probably make you smile. On January 27, 2008, the Amazon MP3 was launched to begin rolling to foreign shores this year.

With over 3.3 million songs to choose from, it’s enough music to last a whole lifetime. The songs found in their collection are compatible with most digital music-capable device, the PC, MAC, iPod, Zune, Zen, iPhone, RAZR, and even BlackBerry.

Don’t worry about the cost when getting your music. Majority of the songs are priced from 89 cents to 99 cents. Most albums are price from US 5.99 to US$9.99. The top 100 albums are worth US 8.99 or less, unless marked otherwise.

Regarding this latest offer, Bill Carr, Amazon.com Vice President of Digital music said:

We have received thousands of e-mails from Amazon customers around the world asking us when we will make Amazon MP3 available outside of the U.S. They can’t wait to choose from the biggest selection of high-quality, low-priced DRM-free MP3 music downloads which play on virtually any music device they own today or will own in the future

We are excited to tell those customers today that Amazon MP3 is going international this year.

Amazon MP3, the world’s biggest collection of online songs, is now ready to take on the world with it services. If you want, feel free to check it out yourself.

Earlier this month, you guys will probably remember seeing Electronic Art’s very first trailer for their upcoming Command and Conquer: Tiberium FPS for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. The video provided us with glimpse of how Ricardo Vega and his accompanying combat rifle are going to look. Now, how’d you like to see them in action in some actual combat footage?

We’ve managed to grab a copy of GameTrailer TV’s’ recent Tiberium preview vid, with Geoff Keighley (the dude who was on Fox News) on-site to conduct an interview with EA’s dev team. Details discussed include a brief backgrounder on GDI’s Vega, his rifle’s various function (can you say mini Ion Cannon?), and team controls.

That aside, you guys will also be treated to what looks like footage of Tiberium’s gameplay. If you can spare 10 minutes worth of your time, the video awaits your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

Last October, analysts Michael Pachter and Colin Sebastian expressed an optimistic outlook regarding THQ, in spite of the game development studio’s underperformance during the last quarter of last year. This year, analyst Arvind Bhatia of Stern Agee has echoed his colleague’s sentiments.

Bhatia acknowledged that developments have proven to be “tough” for THQ, but he also admitted that these were also “a positive for the company’s future.” Furthermore, Bhatia said:

The good news is THQ’s FY09 appears to be essentially intact. All of the key potential multi-million unit sellers for FY09 appear to be on schedule.

We feel that management is positioning the company for long term success as it focuses on successful titles. The amortization charges, title cancellations, and studio closings, while expected to affect the company in the near term, are in-line with management’s strategy of more rigorous product review procedures, personnel and product changes, and its review of existing titles to maintain long term product quality.

The encouraging remarks from analysts such as Bhatia, Pachter and Sebastian couldn’t have come at a better time, as recent circumstances, such as the sharp fall in the company’s stock and the cancellation of its projects, have proven anything but encouraging. Nevertheless, the fight isn’t quite over yet, and sometimes a reassuring nudge in the right direction is exactly what someone needs to bounce back from a setback.

If anything, this week is a premonition. Last week was big since it saw No More Heroes and Burnout Paradise, and a good crop is in store this time to keep you mildly distracted before next week’s high profile titles. Electronic Arts is dishing out another fun expansion in form of The Sims 2: Castaway Stories, and Sony Computer Entertainment America’s Pursuit Force: Extreme Justice for the PlayStation Portable is finally heading to North America. Bomberman is also dropping bombs on the Wii, PSP, and DS. Everything else is listed below.

Bomberman Land. This week’s first Bomberman offering is for the Wii and PSP, another of Hudson Soft’s creations that features the explosive mascot and his friends. Around 50 minigames of all sorts are there to cater to fans of even extreme sports and sci-fi.

• Nintendo Wii, Sony PlayStation Portable - January 29, 2008
• US 29.99
• ESRB E (Everyone)
• Hudson Soft

Bomberman Land Touch! 2. Much like Bomberman Land on other platforms, a plethora of minigames make this bite-sized title a competitive party game. All you need to get friends to join is one cartridge, so it won’t be much of an investment to share the pleasures of good ‘ol Bomberman with friends.

• Nintendo DS - January 29, 2008
• US 29.99
• ESRB E (Everyone)
• Hudson Soft

King’s Bounty: The Legend. Developer Katauri has something with much promise for fans of PC adventure games. King’s Bounty: The Legend is an adventure in which “classic real-time meets turn-based gameplay” with typical character classes we grew to love in RPGs, such as warrior, paladin, and mage.

• PC - February 1, 2008
• US 39.99
• Atari and Katauri Interactive

Pacific Storm: Allies. Because we can never get enough of video games set in World War 2, here’s an expansion to the deep RTS released back in 2006. As a continuation of the heated battle between the Allies and Axis, new nations including Germany and the UK will be involved. New elements such as the hit location system and improved mod system are also set to give players an authentic WWII experience.

• PC - January 29, 2008
• ESRB T (Teen)
• Lesta Studio and Buka Entertainment

Pursuit Force: Extreme Justice. If jumping from one moving car to another is your thing, BigBig Studios‘ latest game has more than you can hope for. When not doing death defying stunts on the road, you as the Commander of the Pursuit Force can jack even boats just to catch that criminal.

• Sony PlayStation Portable - January 29, 2008
• US 29.99
• ESRB T (Teen)
• BigBig Studios and Sony Computer Entertainment

The Sims 2: Castaway Stories. Coming from The Sims Stories product line made with laptop-friendly controls, Castaway Stories is for everyone who wants an easy-to-play version of The Sims 2: Castaway. It’s divided in chapters, so you’ll be able to control how your Sims survive the remote island day by day.

• PC - January 29, 2008
• US 39.99
• ESRB T (Teen)
• Maxis and Electronic Art

Buy: [ Pursuit Force: Extreme Justice (PSP) ]

Buy: [ Bomberman Land (Nintendo Wii), Bomberman Land (PSP) ]
Buy: [ Bomberman Land Touch 2 (PSP) ]
Buy: [ Pacific Storm Allies (PC) ]

A gaming conference wouldn’t be a gaming conference without exhibitors around to strut their stuff. The upcoming Gaming Developer’s Conference in San Francisco will feature precisely that - more than 160 of them, to be exact, and Game Connection event organizers have confirmed this.

According to Game Connection, some of the companies whose representatives you will be seeing there will include:

• 10 Tacle Studios (Germany)
• Abducao Producoes Cinematograficas (Brazil)
• Acquire (Japan)
• Bug Tracker (Canada)
• Cenega Poland
• Lexis Numerique (France)
• Mere Mortals (UK)
• Pixelux Entertainment (Switzerland)
• Running with Scissors (United States)
• Virtuos (China)

The interesting thing to note is that is that a first-time Japanese delegation of representatives from nine companies will be joining delegates from 35 other countries. Understandable, considering the fact that select developers from Japan will also be given air time during the conference.

Good news to all of you waiting for word on Blizzard’s upcoming RTS StarCraft 2: the official community site is now open and it has some really cool features.

Aside from the usual boards, galleries, and news sections, a new feature called BlizzCast is also being bannered. Simply put, this is a podcast where you can listen in on some of your favorite Blizzard devs.

First off the plate will be longtime Blizzard art director Samwise Didier. As some of you may recall, he’s the creative mind behind such figures as Dark Templars, Zerglings, Pandaren, and Fel Orcs.

Didier will be talking about his experience while working on StarCraft and Warcraft characters. If we’re lucky, we might even get a heads-up on upcoming World of Warcraft and StarCraft 2 concepts and updates.

All the main developers from Blizzard will follow shortly after. The addition of BlizzCasts should provide some welcome in-betweeners when we’re in waiting phases for announcements, patches, and releases.

It’s great that the StarCraft 2 community site is now live. This gives us all a rally point where all the official word trickles down for us to savor.