Freelancer
International distributor: Microsoft
Taiwan distributor: Microsoft Taiwan
Platforms: Chinese and English for PC
Release: Currently available
Another high-profile release from Microsoft, making use of the considerable talents of Chris Robert, the designer of influential games such as Wing Commander and Star Lancer. The game environment is sumptuously designed, and the character options include both military and civil characters -- and trade plays as large a role as combat.
The story picks up 800 years after Star Lancer, in a world in which the Alliance and the Coalition face-off has forced members of the former to seek new worlds outside the solar system. These worlds, including Liberty, Britonia, Rheinland and Kusari, all have vaguely echo countries we are familiar with, and the player, in third-person mode, moves through the frontier, trading, conducting various secret missions and simply looking for adventure.
The game is set up in such a way that the story continues to unfold even when the player character is inactive, providing a sense of a wider community outside the player himself or herself.
It is hardly surprising that such a major release is Internet enabled, allowing players to join forces across the Web, cooperating and competing against each other. If a mission proves too difficult to crack, a player can bring in online assistance from others. In online play, all the factors of inter-player diplomacy and deception come into play, bringing the game to a totally new level compared to stand-alone mode.
Play is simple, requiring only a mouse and keyboard. On the other hand, over two hours of scenes were shot using cinematic methods, so it is easy to become captivated by the movie-like realism of the game.
The Hulk
International distributor: Vivendi Universal/Universal Interactive
Local distributor: Unalis Technology
Platforms: Chinese and English for PC, Xbox, PS2
Release: July
Another game is added to the slew of film tie-ins. While none of the reviews have exactly raved about Ang Lee's (
The game story starts a year after the events in the film, when troubled scientist Bruce Banner and his enraged alter ego, The Hulk, are forced into battle with the forces of The Leader, who wants to use The Hulk's gamma energy to unleash an army of gamma creatures and take over the world.
What makes the game unusual is that the player controls two very different characters, one being the mild-mannered Bruce Banner, and the other his alter ego. Play is obviously very different depending on which character the gamer is using at any given time. As Banner, the gamer must get into various guarded buildings, solve complex puzzles and make himself scarce when enemies approach. As The Hulk, he has the use of 45 different methods of attack and can kill 10 enemies with a single blow.
For those bent on destruction, getting Banner to turn into The Hulk will
obviously be a priority, and considerable effort has been spent in developing the character's ability to use various objects in the cityscape as projectile and battering weapons and also in breaking through walls.
Memories Off 2nd
International distributor: KID
Local distributor: T-Times Technology
Platforms: Chinese for PC, Japanese for DC, PS
Release: Late June
KID's Memory Off proved a popular hit with gamers when first released and has seen the subsequent release of numerous extension kits and associated products. Two years on, a new edition has been released under the English title of Memories Off 2nd (
Memory Off 2nd offers a massive selection of narrative possibilities, so that the romance between the lead male character and 10 female friends can develop in many different ways. It is a game that demands many replays to see the intricate net of possibilities built into the game by the designers, each one more tragic and tear-jerking than the next.
Although the interface is only 2D, the intricacy of the characterization and the fineness of the acting of the characters makes this game a powerful drama, as every choice the player makes affects the fates of so many people around him. Great attention has been paid to the creation of an almost cinematic setting, so gamers cannot help but become embroiled in the atmosphere of the intense sentiments of high-school romance.
Virtual Resort: Spring Break
Local distributor: Atari Taiwan
International distributor: Eidos International
Platforms: Chinese and English for PC
Release: Currently available
If your travel plans have been put on hold due to SARS, why not take a virtual holiday at a virtual resort. But this holiday is not all fun and games, as the player's objective is to ensure that everyone arriving at the resort has a good time. You have to exercise all your creativity to set up a holiday resort that allows for the maximum enjoyment for the largest number of people. You can also get yourself a tan without any fears of sun burn, or party all night without a hangover the next day. It's a great way to have lots of fun, without suffering the consequences.
The game offers 12 tropical island resorts and over 50 types of facilities with which you can create your ultimate resort. You can choose to set up isolated beachside bungalows or have people gathering at crowded nightclubs to dance the night away. Gambling, souvenirs, water sports, they are all there to choose from. Hiring the right people, keeping quality up and costs down is all part of this cut-throat business. You have to keep on upping the pleasure quotient if you are going to get to the next level, so there is no time for slacking.
As for the party music, you aren't stuck with what the game designers give you, but you can incorporate your own MP3 files into the game and have people dancing to your own tunes.
In late October of 1873 the government of Japan decided against sending a military expedition to Korea to force that nation to open trade relations. Across the government supporters of the expedition resigned immediately. The spectacle of revolt by disaffected samurai began to loom over Japanese politics. In January of 1874 disaffected samurai attacked a senior minister in Tokyo. A month later, a group of pro-Korea expedition and anti-foreign elements from Saga prefecture in Kyushu revolted, driven in part by high food prices stemming from poor harvests. Their leader, according to Edward Drea’s classic Japan’s Imperial Army, was a samurai
Approaching her mid-30s, Xiong Yidan reckons that most of her friends are on to their second or even third babies. But Xiong has more than a dozen. There is Lucky, the street dog from Bangkok who jumped into a taxi with her and never left. There is Sophie and Ben, sibling geese, who honk from morning to night. Boop and Pan, both goats, are romantically involved. Dumpling the hedgehog enjoys a belly rub from time to time. The list goes on. Xiong nurtures her brood from her 8,000 square meter farm in Chiang Dao, a mountainous district in northern Thailand’s
Located down a sideroad in old Wanhua District (萬華區), Waley Art (水谷藝術) has an established reputation for curating some of the more provocative indie art exhibitions in Taipei. And this month is no exception. Beyond the innocuous facade of a shophouse, the full three stories of the gallery space (including the basement) have been taken over by photographs, installation videos and abstract images courtesy of two creatives who hail from the opposite ends of the earth, Taiwan’s Hsu Yi-ting (許懿婷) and Germany’s Benjamin Janzen. “In 2019, I had an art residency in Europe,” Hsu says. “I met Benjamin in the lobby
April 22 to April 28 The true identity of the mastermind behind the Demon Gang (魔鬼黨) was undoubtedly on the minds of countless schoolchildren in late 1958. In the days leading up to the big reveal, more than 10,000 guesses were sent to Ta Hwa Publishing Co (大華文化社) for a chance to win prizes. The smash success of the comic series Great Battle Against the Demon Gang (大戰魔鬼黨) came as a surprise to author Yeh Hung-chia (葉宏甲), who had long given up on his dream after being jailed for 10 months in 1947 over political cartoons. Protagonist