Before we start this article, are you a boy or a girl? That’s right Pokefans, your favourite creatures are back for the biggest instalment the franchise has ever seen. For the first time in history, these monsters will be hitting the pockets of fans worldwide at simultaneously. At Nintendo‘s booth at EB Expo 2013, I was lucky enough to get my hands on a demo for the newest Pokemon adventure: X and Y. A demo specifically constructed to showcase the new elements of the game, it included a mix of elements that will assuredly pique-achu your interest.
Alright let’s talk about the Donphan in the room: the graphics. For the first time ever, the handheld versions of Pokemon have received a visual upgrade and they. Are. Awesome. The 3D graphics are very clean and simple in their presentation, retaining an old school feel whilst bringing it into the next gen. I’ll admit, when I heard about the 3D graphics, part of me worried how they would come across on a 3DS screen. But my fears have been put to rest. The style came across well on the 3DS XL, the system I demoed the game on, and is in no way visually imposing or confusing. When exploring the overworld, the game no longer locks in a top down perspective. X and Y sees the introduction of a more free form camera, shifting from an angled glimpse to behind the back perspective, depending on the situation. The game also receives some new variation in its assets, for example flower patches have been added to the list of areas where you can discover Pokemon.
Welcome to the wonderful world of Pokemon…again
In addition to the visual enhancements of the overworld, the control scheme has also received a few enhancements. First of all, characters are no longer locked into a four direction movement grid. Feel free to move in any direction you want, left, right, left-right, right-left…south. These new travel options can be aided by the brand new pair of roller skates your player obtains. These allow you to glide pretty quickly around areas, like the running shoes of previous generations. In X and Y however, the roller skates are used automatically when you use the analog stick. This removes the tedium of having to equip your bike or hold down B to run. A small complaint I know, but Pokemon fans will understand the benefit of the upgrade. You are still able to walk if you so desire, by using the D-pad. But why bother when you can skate or better yet ride around on a Pokemon? You heard it folks you can now use your some of your select companions as mounts to dash around the Kalos region. The demo I played provided me with Skiddo, half goat, half motorcycle, all boss. Only the Skiddo, Gogoat and Rhyhorn have been announced rideable at this point and, in the demo, I didn’t get a chance to experience the true benefits of these mounts, being locked in an enclosed area. Still cool though.
Ah, the battle system. That turn based realm where dreams are made…then possibly eaten. Just like the overworld, battles have had their graphics ramped up considerably. As much as the 3d style affects the pokemon, their movement has also been improved. Pokemon will now react to attacks, both used and received, livening up the visuals of battle. The camera will also react to attacks, cinematically zooming in and out as battles wage. Just as in the console releases, your Pokemon also possesses a brief fainting animation, another small touch that adds to complete the experience.
Be afraid. Be very afraid.
My brief excursion into the new world of Pokemon also gave me some time with the new mechanic that’s taking the world by storm: Mega Evolution. Provided with Mewtwo because why not, I was thrown into battle against a terrifying foe: Crobat. (Who, sarcasm aside, is an awesome Pokemon) Naturally against impending doom I had not choice but to unlock the true power of Mewtwo. One of the greatest aspects of Mega Evolution is that it does not use up a turn in battle. Before you choose your attack, simply click the Mega Evolution button, your Pokemon will then power up and strike. Efficient and deadly.
I was only granted a brief audience with Pokemon X and Y, but i relished every minute of it. This next endeavour into the world we all know and love so much will prove to be a memorable one. Get ready Pokemon trainers. Mega Evolution, Fairy-type…goatorcycles. The game has it all and we…Gotta catch ’em all!
During EB Expo 2013, I was lucky enough to get my hands on the latest instalment in the Ratchet and Clank franchise: Into the Nexus. As the fourth and final instalment of the Future series, the game picks up after A Crack In Time to lead you on another rollicking space adventure.
Everybody’s favourite Lombax is back and this time he’s heading straight into the nether regions…better known as the nexus. You know, censorship and all that. After the four player co-op bonanza known as All 4 One and the tower defence excursion of Q-Force, Rathcet and his robo-buddy clank are returning to their classic formula. With platforming a plenty the duo are, as they always have been, fearful of the countless bottomless pits that seem to plague the galaxy.
The game plays identically to the main series titles that have come before. When I picked up the controller, I immediately threw my wrench into a stack of crates and collected the sweet bolts within. No tutorial needed. The controls weren’t broken in past games, so why fix them now? Furthering their return to the main series is the appearance of some characters who haven’t been seen in a while. Talwyn Apogee is back, passing you order over the space walkie-talkie, probably isn’t called that, along with Cronk and Zephyr. Harking way back to Going Commando, the Thugs-4-Less crew is also around again to get in your way. Though they aren’t to much trouble because of…
They’re having a ball
Guns. Let’s face it, whenever you play Ratchet and Clank it’s what you want to see. Wacky, over the top, beyond-explanation weaponry that you can turn against your foes. Let me tell you, with what Nexus throws at you, your enemies will be cowering in fear, or shaking with frostbite, or helplessly circling their demise. Following the trend of quirky transformative weapons, this game grants us the Winterizer, which reshapes your target into a festive snowman version of themselves, complete with candy canes. Also joining the arsenal is Vortex Grenades which, upon detonation, release a localised ball of gravity for bad guys to helplessely spin around.
But I digress. The game is called Into the Nexus, so naturally expect the Nexus to come into the gameplay. At certain points in the game, you must scan an area with a flashlight, in search of dimensional anomalies. Once shone at the correct area, it will start to glow purple, indicating a Nether Rift. In these rifts the gameplay shifts to a 2d side scrolling platformer which, as Clank, you must navigate with the aid of gravity powers. Flicking the right analog stick reverses gravity, shifting it so that you now run on the ceiling. Naturally, this becomes progressively more difficult, requiring quick thinking and skill to navigate this topsy turvy world. You must also attract the ire of a Nexus creature by slapping it in the face. Sufficiently enraged, you must lure the creature back to the entrance of the level, without getting hit of course. Completing this returns you to regular gameplay, wherein the wall the rift appeared has now shattered, allowing you to progress.
Ho-Ho-Holy crap!
The game also introduces a new gravity mechanic when playing as Ratchet. At certain points in the game, you will come across two purple circles affixed to walls or tracks. Using a new gadget, you must connect them with a gravity tube, allowing you to travel between them. This concept plays out similar to the Excursion Funnels in Portal 2, though unlike Portal, Nexus allows you to determine which way the gravity current will flow.
From what I got the chance to play, this epilogue to the Future series is oodles of old school fun. After their venture into slightly varied styles, Insomniac Games is taking Ratchet and Clank back to the formula that made them gaming superstars. I mean they’re getting their own movie for crying out loud.
Dead Man’s Draw Developer:Stardock Entertainment Publisher:Stardock Entertainment Platforms: iOS (Reviewed) Release Date: October 2, 2013 Price:$1.99 – Available Here
Overview
Stardock Entertainment has been around for years and they’ve had their hands in a variety of software endeavors. Originally known for making Microsoft Windows usability applications (such as WindowBlinds), they’ve sought to diversify with game development. Now they’re making a name for themselves in the game space with strategy titles like Sins of a Solar Empire and Fallen Enchantress: Legendary Heroes. Stardock is looking to diversify once more with Dead Man’s Draw, their first entry on the iOS platform. How does it hold up? Has it earned its loot or should be drowned at the bottom of sea? Let’s find out.
Gameplay Dead Man’s Draw is, at first glance, a relatively simple card game. The concept is straightforward. There are 10 suits of seven cards. On your turn, you draw as many cards as you want, but each draw is a gamble. If you draw two cards from the same suit, you “bust” and your turn is over, with everything you’ve drawn going into the discard pile. At any point, you can bank the cards you’ve drawn, counting only the highest of each suit toward your score (for a maximum score of 70).
The basic concept is fun enough, but Stardock weren’t satisfied to leave it at that. As you play, you earn gold and experience. With each level gained, you’ll get access to a special ability from each suit (but beware – so will your opponents!). For example, when you draw a cannon, you can choose a card for your opponent to discard, or a sword lets you steal an opponent’s card to play. These can be combined, too, so you could draw a sword, steal a cannon, and force your opponent to discard a card.
As you grow in levels and gain more of the suits’ abilities, the game takes on a completely new dynamic aspect. Every card you draw will somehow affect the outcome of the game. It blends the satisfaction and thought of a strategy game with the excitement of games of chance, brewing together an addictive experience that will keep you coming back for more.
One of my primary problems with Dead Man’s Draw, as seems to be the case so often with mobile games today, is the microtransaction system. After you’ve unlocked all the suits’ abilities, you begin to unlock “traits” that will give you special allowances in a match (such as cannons destroying every card of a suit instead of the top card in a stack). These traits have limited uses, though. How can you get more trait usages? Why, pay real money for them, of course! There’s no promise this will help you in the long run, either, since the game is so heavily weighted toward chance and odds. It feels like it could have been worked around, especially since they’re already charging $1.99 for the game.
The difficulty in the game is also a moot point. Every opponent you face plays virtually the same. They will all use everything at their fingertips to take you out. They are all absolutely ruthless. It doesn’t matter whether you’re playing in the first tournament or the final tournament, they will all send you straight to Davy Jones’ locker if they’re able.
Visuals
The visual aesthetic of the game is great. It all maintains a theme consistent with swashbuckling and maritime piracy. This game feels like it would be right at home in a scene of Pirates of the Caribbean, with Jack Sparrow busting on a hand and shooting some no-name bilge rat. Characters fit the theme beautifully and the suits of the cards could’ve have fit better in any other world.
The UI design is also well done. The game is easy to pick up and intuitive to play, thanks to hints given visually to the players. Everything is easy to navigate and that makes for great player experience.
Audio
The audio in the game fits thematically with the visuals. Sea shanties rule the soundtrack and it works well enough, but with only two tracks that loop fairly quickly, you may grow tired of the music before long. The sound effects, like the UI, do a great job mixing entertainment with usability. They grant cues to the player on what effects cards have and what’s going on, helping to keep everything connected and moving along.
Overall Dead Man’s Draw is a fantastic mobile game experience and a wonderful inaugural iOS showing for Stardock. The game looks and sounds great, even if you may tire of the soundtrack. Though the AI can be relentless at times and the (unnecessary) microtransactions feel somewhat off-putting, there are few games on iOS that have had me sneaking time to play them like Dead Man’s Draw. Anyone who enjoys card games will have a blast with Dead Man’s Draw.*
*- There is the chance that Stardock may sell printed decks in the future. You can go to their website and sign up to be notified.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Kevin Shortt (Left), Danny, Lead Graphics Designer (Right)
Thanks to Ubisoft Australia, we were able to interview some very special guests who flew in from across the globe to attend EB Games Expo 2013. Firstly, we got to speak with the Lead Scriptwriter/Story Designer on Watch_Dogs, Kevin Shortt. Topics covered included Dedsec‘s relationship to Aiden Pearce, his main motivations, how the timely U.S. government surveillance ‘scandal’ reinforces the messages/themes within Watch_Dogs and much more.
So, we’ve heard bits and pieces about Aiden Pearce’s backstory as it relates to a tragedy occurring to members of his family, but what are his true motivations exactly?
I can tell you some things you probably haven’t heard before. Aiden is a former fixer; before the game starts, that’s what he was doing. A fixer is like a freelance mercenary who works for a contract – which he could get from anybody, from government agents, corporations or individuals – and fixers know how to shoot, handle themselves in combat and they know how to hack. So that’s what Pearce did. That was how he made his living, and then a tragedy happened with his family because they were trying to get him… somebody was trying to attack him, and his family was hurt as a result – quite severely – so he became obsessed with protecting his family, making sure that never happens again and also finding the people responsible.
So, at the start of the game, he’s not working for a contract anymore, he’s working for himself. He wants to find out what happened and that becomes his main drive through the whole game. He’s obsessed with protecting his family; he monitors them through cameras and surveillance, and it does become obsessive to him to the point that, even when he’s seeing other people […] the catch is when he sees something happening to somebody else, he is the kind of guy that just can’t let it happen; he has to step in. So he’s this guy who almost by accident turns into this vigilante.
So, do we get to see how Chicago transforms into this “smart city”, or is it a case of ‘this is where the story is set, and it’s already established’?
You are certainly going to learn a little bit about how ctOS came to be. The game starts where the city has had this system for about a year. So we start it, it’s fully up and running, but you’ve got forces that are up against it. Groups like Dedsec – a hacker group that doesn’t like what’s happening with ctOS. They’re raising questions about how far ctOS is going with privacy and how integrated they are into everybody’s lives and how good or bad that is. So, they’re trying to wake up citizens and say ‘hey, what the hell is going on. This isn’t right. We should be shutting this down.’
Bloom is the corporation that created ctOS, and I think their goals, initially, were noble goals; they wanted to bring a system that centralises everything, and it does. For the civilians, they’re like ‘this is great; my commute is faster, I’m paying lower costs on my hydro bills, things run more efficiently, I get free Wi-Fi through the whole city’, so on a simple level like that, citizens love it. I think I would love a ‘smart city’ to be honest. But, you know, I think there are elements that are trying to abuse that. Just like any new technology, we love it, it’s great, but you’re gonna find somebody who’s gonna find a way to screw with it and abuse it to their advantage. And that’s kind of what’s happening in Watch_Dogs.
In regards to Dedsec, what is the relationship between them and Aiden? Because back when first story details were trickling out, I think many assumed that Aiden was a part of the hacker group, but then in later promotional and viral videos released to market the game, it revolved around Dedsec declaring that they do not support or condone Aiden’s actions. So what’s their dynamic like?
Yeah, it’s a good question. I’m glad you brought that up, because Dedsec […] Aiden does not work for Dedsec, and they do not work for Aiden, right? But I think they both see… Dedsec sees that they can learn from Aiden; they can help him out a little bit, but there’s a very clear distinction. Aiden works alone. [Vigilantism, like you mentioned earlier] He’s a vigilante, right? And he works by himself, but he’s not like this lone wolf. He’ll take help where he can get it. And so he tries to get some help from Dedsec, and they will accommodate him, but it’s not like they necessarily have the same beliefs, the same philosophies… they are definitely separate entities in the game.
I’m interested to find out what your personal reaction was to the whole U.S. government surveillance/privacy controversy that came to light in the last half-year. Because, obviously this information came out after way after the game was revealed, but considering the subject matter, how surreal was that?
It was pretty amazing. I think I had two reactions when I heard that. My first was, ‘wow, I just can’t believe that they’re doing that. I can’t believe they’re so embedded in the way they are’, and my second reaction was, ‘of course they are, of course they’re that embedded, of course that’s going on.’ When we started creating the game, we had no idea what was going to happen. We always felt like this game was the near-future. We’re sort of speculating where things might go. We’ve been on this game for about 5 years, almost 5 years. So it’s been a long time…
It was kept secret for a long time too. Maybe the best kept secret in a long time.
Yeah, thank you. We worked hard on that. [Laughs] So, we’ve been on it for a long time, and we can’t anticipate where things are going. But what’s interesting is, we always thought that this was near future, but as the years have gone by, we’ve watched everything that we’ve been imagining coming to life. So suddenly this game – even though there’s still near-future elements like ctOS – we’re still surprised to see how close to the present the game actually is. As for everything that’s going on in the U.S. in the news, we couldn’t imagine that. I always said, [Laughs] it could have been the greatest Ubisoft promo ever!
Yeah, speak about viral marketing!
But the weird thing is it’s real life! This is real life we’re looking at, and that’s what’s pretty shocking about it. And I think that’s what we like about the game; the game is so current. I would love it if players are playing the game, put down the controller, they go to head out and what do they grab? They grab their cellphone. And I would love if they’re kind of like, ‘okay, everything that’s happening in there – it’s fiction, sure – but it’s really connected to my real life’, and I hope we kinda get people thinking about ‘what does that mean for privacy?’. We’re not saying Watch_Dogs has the answers, but we’re saying we want to be part of that conversation. We want to be part of that dialogue that everyone’s having about ‘where are we going with technology, where are we going with privacy and what does that mean for the future’.
I keep going back to the concept that the whole thing is an elaborate Watch_Dogs marketing ploy. [Laughs] That would have been hilarious. It’s just so timely…
I think that everyone would have loved to realise that too, like ‘oh, okay good, it was just a viral campaign’. Sadly it is not.
It would have relieved a lot of people. You know, we just walked past a guy in Aiden Pearce cosplay, and he was unintentionally standing in that poster hero pose, with his phone out and we thought ‘quickly, let’s snap a shot of him, he’s hacking something!’
[Laughs] Just working away. That’s it though, right? Like in the game, if you wander through the game, and you see people there, you can hack any phone conversation, any text message. We came to a bus stop, and we looked at it, and all we could see were icon, icon, icon, icon that you can hack, and we kinda laughed that they were all clustered together. And then we tough, ‘that’s real life’. That’s what a bus stop is, you just see everyone there and they’re all like this [motions his head buried into a phone].
So going back to the drive of the story and plot, and as a final pitch, what is the true lynchpin and what do you think will grip players? Is it the revenge tale of a man doing what’s right for his family, who were innocent victims? Is it the fight against oppression? What’ll keep people interested in the long run?
I think, if you’re thinking of story and what it is that’s gonna draw you in, I think it’s the fact that Aiden is on a personal quest – I’m hoping that’s gonna grab people. It’s a personal journey that should interest people for sure. If they buy into it, it’ll be something they’ll get excited about. I think what’s key about it is the characters you end up meeting along the way…
I was going to ask about that; for someone who is so focused on his singular, personal goal, he meets others who he can call friends in the process, right? And to see those origins, and why he can call on them or vice versa is a whole other layer.
Well exactly. And what’s interesting is we wanted to make sure that all these people you cross paths with, they have their own stories. They’re not just there to say ‘hey, I’m going to help you in this chapter and then I’m gonna go’. They’ve got their own goals, their own ambitions, their own problems and their own conflicts, and sometimes they clash with what Pearce wants. But, somehow it works together. So I think that’s something that’s going to be particularly exciting.
I think characters like Jordi – he’s this fun guy, he’s humorous, he’s entertaining, but he’s dark. You know, he’s really dark and dangerous. You could end up dead if you handle Jordi wrong. T-Bone’s another guy; he’s a programmer, he knows the ctOS network really well and he’s a great resource. But the same thing – he’s got a whole dark past that you’re gonna get to discover, and realise that he’s a little more involved with ctOS than what we see on the surface. So I think those are the things that are going to be particularly interesting for players, on top of the fact you’ve got a whole city to explore, and roam in and hack into.
And then you’ve got the second screen experience with tablets and smartphones, which in a way introduces a secondary player story to the fold by adding another affecting entity into the world. We’ve seen that you can write messages to the console player…
Love it. Yeah, you saw that!
Yeah, a lot of people missed that detail in the demo, but you could see her typing out the message that then appeared on the billboard or whatever it was.
Well yeah, it’s hard. Those demos are very fast and you’ve got a short amount of time, but you’re right, that’s exactly what happened. I think the tablet is going to be particularly fun. The thing I love about the tablet is that, okay, with my girlfriend, when I play a game… she’ll watch, but she has no interest in actually playing with me. She’s just not into games as much. But I know, I hand a tablet to her and say ‘okay, there’s a map of Chicago. Try and screw with me in Chicago’. I’m gonna drive around, and then she can hit bridges while I’m trying to go over them, short-circuit traffic lights, she can send choppers after me or cops… and once you start playing it, it’s pretty addictive. It’s a fun, fun experience; it’s very different. [It’s so accessible] It’s very accessible. And it’s something that’s different from other games – I think our use of the tablet is something unique. And it just makes sense! We’re a game about hacking. Aiden’s weapon is his phone, so we had to get a smartphone application that you could use.
Awesome. Well thanks so much for your time and the opportunity, we greatly appreciate it.
No problem, it was a pleasure meeting you.
A big thanks to Kevin Shortt for making the time for us, it was a true pleasure. If you’re as excited for Watch_Dogs as we are, this was a treat of an interview. The game releases for the Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii U and PC on November 22nd, and at launch for the PlayStation 4 a week later.
Titanfall. The game has been turning heads and garnering more than its fair share of positive attention since it was announced at this year’s E3 Expo. EA‘s upcoming sci-fi shooter combines traditional first person combat, with parkour/free-running/double jumping super soldiers, and of course giant mechanical suits into a game that just awesome. With all the hype behind the game, I had some questions, so I took them to Abbie Heppe, Respawn Entertainment’s community manager.
Sitting in the Microsoft interview room, at this year’s EB Games Expo, Abbie was more than happy to take my questions about Titanfall, the reception it has been receiving, its accessibility to players, and why you need to own it. We recorded the interview for your enjoyment, so check out the video below. As always, for all the Titanfall news as it becomes available, be sure to stay tuned to Capsule Computers.
We’d like to apologise for the background noise in the interview, please set your volume to max to catch everything that was said.
Pac-Man is undoubtedly one of the most legendary video-game characters of all time. The original Pac-Man game is one that has etched itself into gaming history as one of the best of the best. After all these years, we still haven’t had a new Pac-Man game that really captured our imagination like the first one did. However with Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures, that might have just changed.
At EB Expo 2013 we got to go hands-on with Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures. The latest installment in the long-running franchise is unlike the Pac-Man we know from all those years ago. This is a game based upon the highly popular children’s television series of the same name, but this isn’t just Pac-Man going wakka wakka through a maze, it is Pac-Man in a new light.
Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures plays very much like one of the 3D Super Mario games. You travel into different fully three dimensional worlds and adventure through them all the while progressing the story and gaining new abilities. Pac-Man can undergo a number of transformations including Fire-Pac which allows him to become on fire and through fireballs.
Whereas most platforming adventure games like this have players defeat enemies by jumping on them, Pac-Man simply chomps them down. The controls are quite simple and it allows you to really take on the role of Pac-Man with ease.
One of the things that stood out most to me about this game was that there was effectively no hand-holding whatsoever. You are basically thrown into a world and it trusts you to figure out what to do and where to go. It treats you with a level of intelligence that most games targeted towards kids don’t and for that it earned some respect points. It also makes for a much more interesting gameplay experience, adding some exploration elements and allowing you to really absorb in the world of Pac-Man.
Namco Bandai have honestly done a great job with this game and with the number of platforms it is slated for release on, it is truly a game that anyone can appreciate. This isn’t strictly a game that only kids will enjoy. The game provides a great deal of challenge and fun for all ages.
If you thought Pac-Man had seen better days, think again! Pac-Man is back baby and with Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures, the yellow ball of fun we have come to love over all these years has had new life breathed into him. Pac-Man fans have waited a long time for a game like this and at long last Namco Bandai have brought those wishes to life. This looks to be a serious contender for platformer game of the year. What more can I say? Pac-Man mania is running wild brother!
Techland and Warner Bros’ upcoming zombie survival game; Dying Light has been capturing the attention of zombie fans since it was announced. We got to go hands on with the game a few days back, and since then I had a tonne of questions about the game and the team behind it. Luckily, at this year’s EB Games Expo I was able to grab Tymon Smektala, producer for Dying Light for a quick one-on-one chat.
Despite the insanity of the expo, Tymon was happy to talk to me about what we can expect from the game, and the team’s development process. We recorded the interview for your enjoyment, so check it out below and remember that for all the Dying Light news as it becomes available, stay tuned to Capsule Computers.
We’d like to apologise for the background noise in the interview, please set your volume to max to catch everything that was said.
At EB Expo 2013, we stopped by Nintendo‘s booth and got the chance to talk with PR and Product Representative Jamie Wilson about the new releases for 2013 and beyond.
We discussed the games that Nintendo is adding to their line up, including Super Mario 3D World, Sonic Lost World and the highly anticipated Windwaker HD Remake. We also discussed the new gameplay options made available by the new console releases and implementation of the Wii U Gamepad. 2DS anyone?
Oh yeah, we also talked about this Pokemon thing. I guess it’s pretty popular. We delved into the the details about the first ever worldwide release and what this means for Western fans used to learning from the Japanese version. So check out the interview and learn all about your favourite plumber, hedgehog and pocket monsters.
At EB Expo 2013, I was lucky enough to get the chance to speak with Sharon Ng (PR and Marketing Manager), Calvin Shing (eSport Manager) and Kenny Poh (Marketing Manager) from Wargaming. More than willing to answer questions and explain the duties they undertake in their respective field, the information began flowing with the answer to a question I hadn’t even the chance to ask, regarding the Tankasia Tournament. We now return to your regularly scheduled interview already in progress.
Calvin: Tankasia will be starting in the last week of October, or the first week of November. From last season there were a total of about five hundred teams who signed up for the league, one team is seven players, which equates to about 3000-3500. The whole league takes around nine weeks for it to complete and follows point system. Players start out in the challenge series and work their way up to regular and then to the masters, where all the top teams play. Continuing to get better every week. The bottom four of the Masters series will drop back down to regular and such, so every week there’s the drop.
CC: This is the first time a tournament has been set in Australia. How big is that as a moment for eSports, in terms of Wargaming?
Kenny: Of course to us it’s a very strategic move. The game is actually built on a platform that originated from Europe, so what we want to bring across is competitive platform gaming to the rest of the world and of course World of Tanks serves to be a very successful platform. The game itself is very different from other general games where one competition, one game can take forty minutes to an hour. However, our games go for about ten minutes, a race to five or seven depending on whether its semi-finals, quarter finals or finals. But when talking about how big it is for wargaming, it is definitely very important for us. Not only is this happening in Asia, it is actually happening globally for the entirety of of wargaming. We are all running different leagues all over the world and will eventually lead to our, I would like to put it as global championship…
Calvin: Wargaming League.
K: Wargaming Global Championships. It will be a global platform, like the world cup in a way.
C: Every class will send two teams up, their strongest two teams. For example from South East Asia it’s the Tanksasia Masters. The two champions will be sent up and then they will battle with other classes’ two teams.
CC: This tournament is a pretty monumental task. Being a global e-sports event, i would assume there is a prize players work towards?
C: There is a $100,000 prize pool for Tanksasia, per season. There are three seasons in one year and then they work their way up to the global league. The global league from what I know is…
Sharon: 2.5 million
K: 2.5 million USD. All the prize money is in USD
Who will win?
CC: OK. Wow, that’s a lot of money. Like you were saying, now that its global, how difficult is it to coordinate? You mentioned team drop downs, points, that has to be hard to manage on such a large scale.
K: We have specific teams…
C: Yeah, we use all forms of communication between the teams and our other departments. Like Skype, normal phone calls and such, which we are on every week. Each week the teams are supposed to send in their profile, scores and such so we can update it on our website. So we are talking to players everyday [laughs] There may be thousands of players every week, but yeah, we try to talk to them all.
CC: World of Tanks is really picking up support, even getting a new console version. Will this effect you at all, or will the competition remain solely PC based?
S: No, it will not effect us in any way. Though everybody always has a preference, like console vs PC. Its always an ongoing discussion. Like for myself I prefer PC games, but maybe you prefer console games. However we will not connect, as we feel it’s a different experience. Also it may be unfair, because the controls for Xbox if you have tried them before, are actually very different. Its more intuitive and gives you more control.
CC: Going back a bit, with the tournament itself, are their any specific guidelines the players have to follow? With the available communication is it ever difficult to just explain the rules?
C: Yes definitely, because of language barriers. In South East Asia there’s Japanese teams, some Vietnamese teams as well, so we try to converse with them in English and see how it goes. English will normally solve the case. Then if there’s any disputes we’ll tell them to send in an email and we’ll slowly review to them step by step what really happened, in case of any technical difficulties that they had, or draw issues, or disputes with other teams. We’ll solve them…slowly [laughs]
CC: I assume there would be some complaints like that, just because of how intense the entire thing is. Like you said, with everything that’s riding on it, like the millions of dollars. Plus, if everyone’s willing and skilled enough to play on this level, I’m sure there’d be a lot of…not just complaints but second guesses, players calling things unfair.
K: It happens.
C: So for South East Asia we enforce this rule on camping. We’ll give out a first warning and the second warning will lead to a disqualification. So we really enforce this rule a lot, like for example just now for the fourth placing I had a warning sent to one team.
S: Camping drags out the match so it’s like…
C: It’s not entertainment.
S: It’s an unglorified win. If you manage to camouflage yourself and hide really well, the other team can’t find you, even though you’re the last tank. It ends up in a draw which is not…
K: Basically it defeats the purpose of the game, when scenarios like this happen. So what you were saying before about complaints, this is something that we deal with daily. So in Wargaming we have thousands of staff and are facing these kinds of things every day. As a company we are actually very specifically centred on community, so we are always looking at our players feedback, to ensure that they are well taken care of. I mean we can’t please everybody, but we are constantly trying to ensure that our players are heard and we try our best to fix and balance the game. Though its impossible to balance everything at the same time because if you talk about complaints, there’s different class disputes. Every body has specific problems that are totally different from one another. But for us, like I said, we listen and try to help. Like camping, this issue was a specific case that was brought up across Europe and when it came to Asia we felt like we needed to do something. So subsequently Calvin and the team started to do something with the format and improvise this area for, like I said, entertainment. I can’t be watching a game for ten minutes and everybody is just hiding in the trees.
C: Yep, I think for season one the first match which was streamed, there was one team which was camping, so we disqualified them. All the teams were scared, so they listen to us now.
It’s a big world
CC: Talking about enforcing these rules, how stressful is it? You yourself aren’t actually playing the game but, whether it’s right or not, player and the audience will complain to you.
C: Ah yes definitely. So different departments will have to maintain their professionalism in talking to players and viewers and such. We do have to stick to a very strict guideline on what to say and what not to say, so that we can maintain our sanity [laughs]. Because players complain about every single little thing honestly.
CC: People often complain about how events are handled. How much does that affect you personally? How often do these complaints get back to you?
K: Almost every time. The thing is that we are all human beings and we are looking at a few hundred to a few thousand every time. Everybody will have something to say. For example you line up somewhere and wait for a present a long time, “Oh, the queue management should have been better.” Some people get the present, but complain they were caught in a queue. Some complain in the queue before they get anything. It’s a chicken and egg problem. So overall in terms of events or eSports, we try to take care of every part. Be it accommodations to logistics, we try to give everybody the very best we can. I can not fully wipe out a problem but I can minimise it. We try to minimise as many of those unnecessary things that should not have happened. But like I said, once again, you cannot please everybody, it happens everyday, like the question you just posed. We were just having complaints earlier on about the event. We only can listen.
C: Everything, even team sides on stage. Left side, right side, the teams wanted to choose sides. [laughs]
K: They felt that maybe the light was too much on one side. It happens. Maybe its superstitions about positioning, this is something that we cannot control, we can only minimise and we can only try to provide. Wargaming is doing that everyday. If you say that we’re stressed, I wouldn’t say that we are but it’s part of what we need to face, and we face it everyday. I mean they are our people in a way, they played our game, supported us, otherwise it would not have grown from Russia and Belarus all the way across the globe in two and a half years. We’re actually spreading really fast, so we need to be very careful and thankful, like what Calvin was saying, because we meet too many people who are different. For example I’m saying one thing today, and another tomorrow. When player don’t get information they’ll say, “I was trying to get some information, they’re not willing to tell us.” Players sometimes don’t understand that portions in a game are not within our control, so we don’t have the information. For example he [Calvin] is an e-sports manager, his speciality will definitely be in the game itself, of the tournament basis, of the structure, of the maps and the machines and how to operate the viewership for that. For me I specifically run events and marketing, I have different areas that I need to cover, I will not take his place. I must be prepared for my own. So it’s part of the job.
C: We all deal with players [laughs]
Left side?
CC: You were saying you do marketing for everything, again going back to communication, how difficult is it due to language barriers and I suppose cultural differences. How does that affect your marketing?
K: Generally in Wargaming, we have a very strict code for how we portray our images, artworks and key arts. So marketing in terms of Europe, North America, Korea, Japan and South Asia is totally different. For example in Asia, we are actually very aggressive in café acquisitions, that’s the main culture differences. For example in Melbourne, it costs about $5-$8 an hour to play in a café and in Sydney its $1.50-$2. That’s a very drastic difference, even in Tasmania, Adelaide, Brisbane…everybody’s cost is different. But generally in Australia itself, because the country is so big, people tend to enjoy playing at home. Now this is one part of marketing, so our marketing for Australia is a lot on ground, we focus more on community engagement. Why? Australians are passionate, extremely passionate about games. But when we go to Asia, for example Singapore, we have a very fast track in terms of our internet, running around 205mbps in fiber optics. But 10 years ago, café in Singapore was running like hotcakes, springing up everywhere like McDonalds, and cafes were packed. But right now, due to the advancement in internet speed, that has changed. So in Singapore the way that we market it is different again, we need to go more viral, go more online. Now we are talking about two first world countries, moving into something that’s a little bit more on the lower end we come to maybe Thailand or the Philippines. The country itself is running on 7mbps. Our client is rather big and takes extremely long for them to download, and they are not able to download at times. So in Thailand the cafes are in the thousands so distribution and marketing there is done via café, where basically we have staff going down with CDs. Giving out CDs to install the game. So you can see the drastic differences.
When it comes to advertisements it’s no more general. In Australia for example TV commercials are still fine because Australians still do actually watch television. Singaporeans don’t watch television, they’re very much on the move, everybody’s on their phone so everything is online. Internet. Internet. But when we go to the other to countries [Thailand, Philippines] there’s activities, outdoor banners. It works for them. So marketing differences, cultural differences, it’s definitely drastic. Totally different from North America and even Europe. Japan, which we actually just started off about three weeks ago at the Tokyo Game Show, manage it totally different. Japan doesn’t believe in Facebook, same applies to China. Every country is different. At Wargaming our marketing team is actually very versatile. It’s all over the world and in every country there’s somebody local. Our company makes it a point that, from the specific countries that are covered, there must be somebody from that country. As the local you understand what’s best and what is most suitable. We specifically work with them, with Singapore controlling the offices for Wargaming in this region. We are actually doing a lot of localisation, whatever we do is all about localisation. Unless its eSports. eSports is different.
C: No, we still need to localise.
K: But eSports is on the global platform in general.
C: Yes
K: So everybody’s there to fight and playing the game is just a language issue. But in general all the imagery is the same, because it needs to be standardised. I hope that helps.
CC: Definitely. But, because the marketing has to be so different just appeal to the different cultures, how do their attitudes react to each other in the game itself?
C: I have to do a very strict guideline and I really have to adhere to it so that I don’t give leeway to any countries, be it due to language problems or otherwise. I don’t give and leeway to anyone, so that everyone knows that whatever I say is final. No leeway is given, no teams can complain. “I’m from Vietnam I don’t understand your rules” [laughs] No.
Or right side?
CC: How often would all of these random excuses come up? Like “I don’t understand the rules” or “My internet connection was bad”
C: Yeah, I look through them one by one. Normally I’ll take 24 hours to look through a dispute. I’ll go through every single step that they took. Recently for the Australia national series, the qualifiers, one team couldn’t get ready. So they were complaining in forums, in game chat and such. I talked to him on Skype and went through with him, “What did you do?” step by step. In the end, the mistake was done by him. He did not read the rules and miscalculated the tier points.
CC: How do the more serious, persistent people with complaints affect you? PR especially as sometimes gamers band together, rather than taking the side of the company who apparently wronged them, under the perception that a large company just doesn’t pay attention.
C: For eSports, because of good relations with Wargaming and the players, if there’s obviously something a team has done wrong and he flames it in the forums, our players will support us. There’s no need for us to go out and make and official statement about it, our players will rebut him and such.
K: One of the main reasons I think is that early on, we took extreme efforts to get close to our community. We do listen and players know that. I think Wargaming is really one of the few companies around the world that do a lot of engagement activities on the ground and meet the players a lot. Trust me we meet players from all over the region, we get around. We want the players to know that there will be times there are questions we cannot answer, that we cannot review. But we try our very best. So I think a lot of our players feel, and know, that we actually care. We take the extra effort to make them understand. It’s being human, if you don’t get the attention, “Oh your not interested in me, I’m your paying customer, your not interested in me” However if we care, people know that they can talk to somebody and we make it a point to actually speak to a lot of players, not only from Australia but across the world. We have players on our Skype who personally who talk to us. But sometimes it gets a little bit too much, especially when we’re busy. It happens.
C: I have players on my Skype, my phone, everywhere.
K: These are the kind of things that the company doesn’t ask us to do. But because this is our vision we wish to create something that is very different in terms of community. So we speak to them a lot.
CC: With the tournament as well, it’s such a large scale operation but so much effort goes into giving it a personal touch. How difficult is it to maintain that balance?
C: For example on Skype there’s an unofficial team captain chat, which is steadily growing because every week there are new teams coming in. I’ll have my other managers and such keep a look out on forums, “Hey that’s a new team, lets talk to them, add them on Skype.” If there’s any official news we can also put it on Skype to tell everybody and, if there’s a need to, the can also PM (Personal Message) me for more details. It makes things more convenient. If there are any queries they can ask it in the chat and other team captains will reply to them. For live, offline events, because we have to organise hotel transfers for the players it’ best if I can get their phone number so I can just call them directly. Instead of having just one guy in one agency to handle everything, we prefer the personal touch.
CC: It’s a lot more intensive than just organising a game. A lot of people probably don’t realise how much work goes into it. When you think about a sport, you think about the game itself. Hotels don’t often cross the fans’ minds.
C: People think that they are just talking to me I think, but they are talking to multiple teams.
About 0.000002% of the total player count
CC: A lot of work people appreciate, even if they don’t quite realise it. Going back to the marketing, people might see an advertisement and judge the game without realising the amount of effort that went into that localising it.
K: Like you said, with marketing, different regions have different bases. Some are console, some are PC regions. It happens. So with our marketing we definitely change our strategy. Such as you know we’re having an Xbox version, so in a way it’s a strategy to move people into World of Tanks on different platforms. We take the data into consideration. We are also going mobile with Blitz. So there are multiple platforms we are going on, so that it caters to everybody. Why would a company want to stop when its actually growing? We don’t want to close of sectors of the market where we can actually expand to as well.
CC: Not just World of Tanks, Wargaming also encompasses World of Warplanes and the newest addition World of Warships. With the effort you put into Tanks alone, how is it going to affect you as these other titles in the trilogy gain more and more players?
K: We cannot say right now [laughs]
S: We’ll tell you next year [laughs]
K: But as of now as you can see Wargaming are only managing World of Tanks. The problem is we already have around 2000-2200 employees around the world and that is only on one title. So expect us to grow further, that’s for sure. Not forgetting the multiple platforms we have coming up.
CC: I was going to say, not only are you growing in games but within World of Tanks alone…
K: We are multiplying. I think because our company is very inclined to make sure the players are taken care of as much as we can, we can’t do a 100% job. But the company is very focused, which is one of the ways we manage our players. We don’t really have a problem with this. Yes players will rage, players will flame, it happens everywhere, in every game.
CC: Like you said, running all of these events, it gives everyone a higher opinion of the company. Some people tend not to put two and two together, attacking the company behind a game they love.
K: Its very simple, let me just put it to you. There’s just too many [laughs] We have 70,000,000 registered players. So just 1% Is enough to keep you busy for two weeks. The amount of complaints…But this is just human nature, we look at the bad but not the good. It’s always the case.
The phenomenon spreads…
CC: It just becomes expected, when everything runs well its an attitude of, “Of course, why wouldn’t it.”But when something goes wrong…
K: The company is about creating a legendary game, we put a lot of passion into the things that we do and everyone is very committed. For example we are flying from nation to nation. I haven’t been home for two weeks. I just travelled from Tokyo, to Taipei to here. After we get back we have to fly a lot of places as well, like Korea. It happens. It’s tiring, we have families, but its our responsibility to make sure that everything is done properly.
CC: It’s a worldwide thing and, I feel a little guilty for not realising myself, you have to be there at each location. Which would be stressful as much as it is tiring.
K: A fair share, but the company treats us well.
CC: I’m not even sure how to respond. I’m here talking to three people who have to help run millions of players along with events, marketing and the game itself.
K: On our site we deal with about 200,000 users around Asia, with an influx from other regions. We also have players from India playing on our servers which we can’t control. They feel that their ping is safer here, though they should actually be playing on North American servers. We can’t control that, but we try to take care of them as much as we can.
CC: It’s unbelievable. Sometimes it’s difficult to contact people who live half an hour away from me.
K: Maybe you’re to close to each other [laughs]
CC: Speaking of being close, how different are the live, on stage matches for World of Tanks as opposed to the online ones?
C: One of the teams playing on stage had girls coming up, we were shocked [laughs]
S: Players are getting their own fan clubs.
K: Yes, we do all kind of events for Wargaming globally. We tend to have different objectives for different kinds of events, so EB Expo is very different from our PR and marketing events, where there’s a lot more engagement and acquisitions. Here its more of an experience, to showcase the league. Initially there are multiple platform sets for the league, so it’s not just professional league straight away, we have open season for everybody. A place where people can play. To compete at home is easy but when you’re playing in front of a crowd it’s a totally different ball game. Our HR tried when she was in Australia, playing in front of 600 people, she was fumbling. She can play, but she fumbled. It happens. When you are playing for a total pool of 2.5 million, you wouldn’t have to work for a year. For us we have a lot of hardware and software sponsors who are actually watching. Our partners will be hear to see if we can carry their brand, so there a lot more things here than simply playing.
CC: Not only are these events helping eSports spread, but also impacting your marketing…
K: They are watching. They came to see us yesterday, so its actually a platform for us to showcase everything and because we have a live stream, which is growing, there are a lot of opportunities for partner marketing as well.
Tanks and planes and ships, oh my!
CC: It’s interesting in that regard. Not only are you trying to market the game to the audience and players, but you’re also trying to market your company to possible partners. It strange to know that there’s two parallel promotions running, one of which the audience probably isn’t aware of.
K: It’s definitely different ways of managing. The front end is where it’s created, but the back end has a different portion. The engine behind the function. This is the totality. There’s a lot of things involved. Not only are we passionate about eSports, but we have a lot of other thing we concurrently do. Of course, we go back to the player again, the community, so actually there’s more than two ways. There’s so many platforms, and PR to deal with, any number of things which come back to us. Sometimes it’s hard to explain, but we try our very best in everything, every aspect we do.
CC: There’s certainly a lot happening. You look at the Wargaming name and don’t realise all the machinations behind it.
K: Let me jump the gun a little bit, a lot of people say that, playing games, they always want to work for a gaming company. But when you start to work for one it’s no longer the same. You don’t play games any more. You’re too tied up in too many things. Too many channels you have to be in.
S: It’s kind of like betraying your own game if you play something else.
K: They only look at the surface. But every job is the same.
I would like to thank Sharon, Calvin and Kenny for the very enlightening interview regarding Wargaming, World of Tanks and so much more. It definitely takes a huge effort to organise something as large as a global tournament, a lot of which goes fairly unnoticed. Though with 70,000,000 players and counting, they must be doing something right.
Bluehole Studio and Gameforge present the Steampunk Workshop Update for TERA: Rising, the free-to-play MMO that stems from the original PC title, TERA.
The Steampunk Workshop Update offers players four new dungeons;
Wonderholme: 10 player raid across ‘Wonderland’ for average and expert players
The Channelworks: 3 player support system during battle in subterranean tunnels
Shattered Fleet: 5 player instance to defeat the raging disaster on abandoned fleets
Kezzel’s Gorge: 7 player battle against the fierce giant, Kezzel, driven to find his gold
In addition to TERA: Rising, three new festivals; Sun, Carnival of Blood and Beach Party, have been launched in Arborea to provide players with the opportunity to complete special quests, mini-games and exciting puzzles. The update also allows heroes to obtain special materials essential for crafting powerful PvE and PvP equipment, through proving their worthiness in challenging combats. However, before these matches begin, players should experience the impressive Steampunk outfits and weapon designs to boost their hero’s fashion sense.
