Sim games certainly aren't anything new. Hell, games that let you make your own theme park, and then manage every tiny detail of said park have even been around for decades. If that's the case, then what's so special about the upcoming Thrillville? Weve got the inside word straight from the developers and producers on why you're going to plop down on the couch and become the next roller coaster tycoon.
Every week until the game ships (that'd be November 21), we're delivering a
David Braben, Chairman of Frontier Developments and Executive Producer on Thrillville
My role as executive producer means that I have an overview of the game as it's being developed. It's up to me to ensure that it stays true to the original vision - to make sure it works well overall.
The idea for Thrillville came from a general feeling we had something more to offer over and above the strategy/simulation games of the past. Why should the "computer people" get all the fun? Playing mini-golf,
Friday 17 November 2006
Everybody loves lists, and last week we brought you the mother of all number-based countdowns - a momentous walkthrough of our 101 favouritest, thrillingest and most-remembered-est moments from the last 10 years in gaming. And, because we're nice and care about you all, in case you missed it we've gathered the whole week's worth of videogame-worshipping in one place.
Actually collecting the last decade's 101 greatest gaming moments wasn't just about creating a huge list
Ah, bosses! How we love their layered life bars, cheap super-attacks and exposed weak points. It's the rules that games have to have them, so in this roll-call we look at seven titans that really threw their weight around.
These are some of the biggest of the big, deserving of their boss status by barely fitting on the screen, let alone playing unfair.
7. The Hydra, God of War, (PS2, 2005)
In a game that does everything big, you expect some mighty bosses, but what you don't expect is one
So, you've been given the job of making the latest and greatest theme-park game. The objective: create an authentic theme-park experience in a box. Where do you start?
Jonny Watts, Senior Producer at Frontier Developments
Well, a good place might be to go to a few real theme parks and see how "the competition" does it! We've made quite a few games set in theme parks over the last few years now and although it really helps that we're nuts about roller coasters and theme parks in general,
Gears of War got us thinking: Massive explosions. Guts strewn everywhere. People running in terror. Few things ignite the minds of gamers like a good alien invasion. It may be bizarre or terrifying (and in the case of Gears of War, it may come from underground instead of outer space) but in video games, aliens always bring massive destruction in their wake. This week, we take a look back at the seven games with the most memorable, exciting or disturbing alien invasions... ever.
7. Halo 2
Developer Frontier has had experience creating other theme park-based games for the PC, such as RollerCoaster Tycoon 3. But Thrillville is different - it's been designed from the ground up for consoles and handhelds, including PS2, Xbox and PSP. With that comes a bevy of challenges - the most significant of those
As any horror-movie director can tell you, keeping up a tense atmosphere for 90 minutes of screen time isn't easy. So imagine, then, what it must be like to try and keep up that same level of tension over 40-plus hours of a survival horror game. No matter how intense you make it, sooner or later, your carefully constructed atmosphere of terror and despair is going to fall flat.
This Halloween, we'll explore seven of the least scary moments from some of the best horror games ever. Be
It's old news that, in the year leading up to its release, self-appointed culture critics around the globe desperately railed against Bully for its supposed violence. But even since its release - and the revelation that the game is fairly harmless - some people still refuse to let the controversy die, insisting publisher Rockstar isn't showing just how violent the game really
Great games don't simply happen. They're made by huge teams of people. And these teams are lead by creative minds. It may sound obvious, but every element of a huge game like Final Fantasy XII is a finely-tuned, separate instrument. Here, in cooperation with PSM, which provided some of the questions, we take time out to chat with the three of the creators of the latest Final Fantasysaga.
Battle Designer Kazutoyo Maehiro cut his teeth on the Final Fantasy Tactics games - epic strategy sagas
