War Craft III: Reign of Chaos
After four years of waiting, Blizzard has finally announced that War Craft III: Reign of Chaos will hit the shelves on July 4. It will be released simultaneously in Taiwan, and among players, retail outlets and distribution companies, this is the big event of the year.
In the run up to its release, War Craft III has generated massive press. It already leads the rankings as the most anticipated game on such gaming Web sites as Gamebase (
COURTESY OF UNALIS
For Taiwan's retailers, the release of War Craft III at this time is a blessing. May and June are traditionally a period of weak sales and this year has been no different. Stores are looking to War Craft III to be the savior of their economic woes, for it is almost guaranteed to sell strongly. Already you can't miss the huge advertising posters that adorn stores in Kuanghua market or computer hypermarts.
"Since Unalis started taking advanced orders for War Craft III on May 25, orders for 200,000 units have already been placed by retail outlets, and individual Internet orders have exceeded 100,000," said Lee Chen-han (
"Taiwan's enthusiasm for the game has really made an impact with the people back at Blizzard headquarters. They made Taiwan the first stop for Bill Roper, chief designer of the game, during a tour of Asia to promote the game and will be inviting three local gamers on an all-expenses-paid trip to Blizzard headquarters in Los Angeles," Lee said.
COURTESY OF UNALIS
In order to give gaming fanatics an outlet for their ardor, Unalis opened a War Craft III competition in Internet cafes across the island last week using a beta version of the game to select a team to represent Taiwan in a championship match against South Korea in July.
The game has also attracted a number of celebrities. Shih Wen-bin (施文彬), a three-time best male singer in the non-Mandarin category at of the Golden Melodies, and top teen idol of the moment Jay Chou (周杰倫), are both fanatical War Craft players. Shih has enrolled in the national competitions and hopes to represent Taiwan, and Jay wrote the lyrics for the game's Chinese theme song.
War Craft III uses a graphic engine similar to that used in Empire Earth, which places it a step ahead of most other real-time strategy games. Using the mouse, it is possible to zoom in and out of the scene and the characters and monsters are incredibly life-like.
COURTESY OF ELECTRONIC ARTS
The development of War Craft III has not been without its problems despite Blizzard's strong track record. With characters of two different races in the first and second editions of the game, Blizzard managed to keep a remarkably high level of balance. Jumping to four races in the third edition, game testers worked long and hard to scale down the overwhelming superiority of the night elf race that marred beta versions of the game.
"We have tested War Craft III extensively over LAN networks and can guarantee that it does not have the imbalance that marred Microsoft' s Age of Empires and Age of Kingdom series. Even though Age of Kingdom has 13 races, experienced players always chose to use the Mongol race to the exclusion of every other type," said Gamebase senior editor Antonio Lu (
The logic for this new trend of combining RPG and RTS gaming systems first made an impact on the gaming community with Warlords Battlecry released by Interwise, the first edition of which has already achieved a significant fanbase in Taiwan. The second edition released in Taiwan last month, while superficially more complex, having a total of 12 racial types, isn't really all that different. In War Craft III, the orc, night elf, human and undead racial types are totally distinctive.
COURTESY OF SID MEIERS
2002 FIFA World Cup
The 2002 FIFA World Cup is already into the quarterfinals and many top teams have already been knocked out. If your favorite team is already out of the competition, 2002 FIFA World Cup by US firm Electronic Arts (藝電), may be the answer. With its high degree of realism and detailed information, it has the added option of letting soccer fans cheer themselves up by changing history.
2002 FIFA is the only computer game formally licensed by FIFA. It contains detailed information about all the players taking part in the current event, even down to gestures favored by individual players when they score a goal -- blowing kisses to the crowd, throwing up their arms -- so that gamers can get the real feel of being part of the competition.
COURTESY OF TAKE2
Games by Electronic Arts's have proved popular with Taiwan gamers, and 2002 FIFA maintains this strong record, garnering five stars from Taiwan's oldest gaming magazine PC Gamer, and accolades from other gaming journals.
The music, scenery and artificial intelligence-driven soccer technique, is a total re-creation of the actual event. For many Taiwanese who are unable to see the actual games, 2002 FIFA offers a chance of controlling some of the world's best soccer stars. It even gives gamers the opportunity to create their own dream team with which they can sweep every other team that they meet.
Trade Empires
If you find killing mythical beasts adolescent and don't have the patience to sit through a soccer game, playing at business or a couple of rounds of golf might be more your scene. Trade Empires released by Take2 and distributed in Taiwan by T-Time Technology gives you the chance to build a commercial empire while Electronic Arts' Simgolf, another in the series of "city building" games from the master of turn-based strategy, Sid Meiers, lets you create your ideal golf course.
Trade Empires combines aspects of Railway Tycoon and Civilization, taking the gamer from ancient history through the Middles Ages and into the Industrial Revolution as a member of a trading dynasty.
The aim is, as they say in the movies, total world domination, but rather than military, Trade Empires aims at economic preeminence. Scientific and cultural development, as in Civilization, sets the pace and forces the play to adapt to a changing environment. Overall, it is a well-designed game, and although the pace is somewhat slow, it manages to convey the feel of global trade.
Sim Golf
Sid Meiers' Simgolf is described as a "turn-based sporting game with role-play." This might seem rather cryptic, but really the concept isn't difficult to understand. The golf course itself is rather like a country in Civilization. The gamer develops the facilities of the course (fairways, rest facilities), organizes work teams (cleaners, kiosk attendants), and can even play a few rounds with the pros. In effect, you are the designer, CEO and manager and your aim is to create the golf course of your dreams.
You can hold competitions, or even compete yourself (improving your skill along the way), but if you'd rather stick to the design aspects, the sky's the limit as you add helipads and other luxury facilities. It is an ideal way for someone who enjoys sports but has no love for exhausting computer gaming, or someone who likes to play at strategy but doesn't want to deal with mayhem and magical beasts.
That US assistance was a model for Taiwan’s spectacular development success was early recognized by policymakers and analysts. In a report to the US Congress for the fiscal year 1962, former President John F. Kennedy noted Taiwan’s “rapid economic growth,” was “producing a substantial net gain in living.” Kennedy had a stake in Taiwan’s achievements and the US’ official development assistance (ODA) in general: In September 1961, his entreaty to make the 1960s a “decade of development,” and an accompanying proposal for dedicated legislation to this end, had been formalized by congressional passage of the Foreign Assistance Act. Two
March 31 to April 6 On May 13, 1950, National Taiwan University Hospital otolaryngologist Su You-peng (蘇友鵬) was summoned to the director’s office. He thought someone had complained about him practicing the violin at night, but when he entered the room, he knew something was terribly wrong. He saw several burly men who appeared to be government secret agents, and three other resident doctors: internist Hsu Chiang (許強), dermatologist Hu Pao-chen (胡寶珍) and ophthalmologist Hu Hsin-lin (胡鑫麟). They were handcuffed, herded onto two jeeps and taken to the Secrecy Bureau (保密局) for questioning. Su was still in his doctor’s robes at
Last week the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said that the budget cuts voted for by the China-aligned parties in the legislature, are intended to force the DPP to hike electricity rates. The public would then blame it for the rate hike. It’s fairly clear that the first part of that is correct. Slashing the budget of state-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) is a move intended to cause discontent with the DPP when electricity rates go up. Taipower’s debt, NT$422.9 billion (US$12.78 billion), is one of the numerous permanent crises created by the nation’s construction-industrial state and the developmentalist mentality it
Experts say that the devastating earthquake in Myanmar on Friday was likely the strongest to hit the country in decades, with disaster modeling suggesting thousands could be dead. Automatic assessments from the US Geological Survey (USGS) said the shallow 7.7-magnitude quake northwest of the central Myanmar city of Sagaing triggered a red alert for shaking-related fatalities and economic losses. “High casualties and extensive damage are probable and the disaster is likely widespread,” it said, locating the epicentre near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay, home to more than a million people. Myanmar’s ruling junta said on Saturday morning that the number killed had
RSS