Onimusha CT
International Distributor: Capcom
Local Distributor: Electronic Arts Taiwan
Platforms: Chinese for PC and PS2
Taiwan release: This month
Onimusha, set in 16th century feudal Japan, has long been a favorite of PS2 gamers, with its action appeal strengthened by a hero based on the pop and cinema idol Takeshi Kaneshiro (
The game, available in Japanese and English in PS2 versions, has now been released as Onimusha CT for the Chinese market. The Chinese edition is being released both on the established PS2 platform and the PC platform. While the second game in the series is currently available in Japanese and English, with a third scheduled for release later this year, the Chinese edition is a localized version of the first Onimusha game.
The survival/slasher game puts you in control of Samanosuke, a samurai warrior with many hits to his credit, not least taking out the evil warlord Nobu Nobunaga (1534 to 1582) in a daring assassination. As Onimusha CT opens, it is payback time, with Nobunaga back from the dead and ready to get even. The game scenario starts off with Nobunaga kidnapping Samanosuke's childhood sweetheart, and what follows is, naturally enough, the rescue of said sweetheart by brave hero.
In its mixture of horror (the ghost of Nobunaga and his demonic forces) and sci-fi fantasy genres, Onimusha CT bears some similarities to Resident Evil.
Splendid atmospheric graphics help give artistry to the slasher genre, and for those who care about such things, Takeshi Kaneshiro also took a part in creating the sounds and backing music for the game.
Cultures 2: Gates of Asgard
International distributor: JoWooD
Local distributor: T-Times
Platform: Chinese for PC
Taiwan release: this month
Cultures 2 by JoWooD continues a strong line of Sim City-type games. In moving to the second generation, the designers have extended the scope of the game to encompass the whole world, allowing players to experience cultural development in a whole range of cultures.
One of the biggest differences from previous games has been the incorporation of role-play elements into what is basically a city-building game structure, so that personality is added to the factors of production and construction.
Each character in Cultures 2 has their unique life experience. This can be sketched out by the player as the character grows and develops, marries, has children and dies -- all in response to the economic conditions that the player is able to create.
At the same time, the character is able to take jobs, study and generally seek to learn and adapt to the world around him or her. The combination of role-play in a Civilization-like game means that the various wars affect not just faceless military units, but the characters who inhabit your world.
The cartoon-like computer graphics have a fresh simplicity to them, with the costumes and architecture of individual cultures reflected in the appearance of the game characters.
According to Antonio Lu (
"You need to establish schools and provide job opportunities so that your society can go on developing," he said. "By putting these different gaming formats together, it is hoped that Cultures 2 will appeal to both fans of role-play and of building/production games, Lu said.
X-Men: Wolverine's Revenge
International Distributor: Activision, Marvel
Local Distributor: Unalis Technology
Platform: English for Xbox and PC
Release: PC this month; Xbox in June
If you haven't had enough of X-Men 2 at the cinema, why don't you relive the film through X-Men the game, which takes as its lead character Wolverine, played by Hugh Jackman. The game establishes details of Wolverine's past that are only hinted at in the movie.
It reveals that Logan had been part of a experiment to produce X-men fighting machines. When the experiment failed, the test subjects were injected with a drug to destroy them. Logan must find the antidote in 48 hours, before the drug kicks in.
The structure is fairly predictable and cuts out many of the other characters that made the first X-Men movie so appealing, but is nevertheless a fast paced puzzle-solving and action game that has little that is new in terms of game play, but plenty of appeal in terms of marketing tie-ins.
In addition, there are short missions to enhance Wolverine's skills and secrets to discover along the way, as Logan gradually discovers more about his past.
The Lord of the Rings -- The Return of the King
International Distributor: Electronic Arts
Local Distributor: Electronic Arts Taiwan
Platforms: English version for PC, PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, GBA
Taiwan release: Fall 2003
Electronic Arts has announced the Taiwan release of The Lord of the Rings -- The Return of the King in versions suitable for all main gaming platforms under the EA Games label.
Based on the third part of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, to be released by New Line Cinema this Christmas, it will give gamers a chance to sample aspects of the film before it is seen by cinema audiences. The third-person game allows players to take control of a choice of major characters including Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Sam and Frodo.
An all-new multiplayer co-op mode will let players form their own Fellowship before embarking on their journey through Middle Earth.
Jan. 6 to Jan. 12 Perhaps hoping to gain the blessing of the stone-age hunter-gatherers that dwelt along the east coast 30,000 years ago, visitors to the Baxian Caves (八仙洞) during the 1970s would grab a handful of soil to bring home. In January 1969, the nation was captivated by the excavation of pre-ceramic artifacts and other traces of human habitation in several caves atop a sea cliff in Taitung County. The majority of the unearthed objects were single-faced, unpolished flake tools fashioned from natural pebbles collected by the shore. While archaeologists had found plenty of neolithic (7,000 BC to 1,700
When the weather is too cold to enjoy the white beaches and blue waters of Pingtung County’s Kenting (墾丁), it’s the perfect time to head up into the hills and enjoy a different part of the national park. In the highlands above the bustling beach resorts, a simple set of trails treats visitors to lush forest, rocky peaks, billowing grassland and a spectacular bird’s-eye view of the coast. The rolling hills beyond Hengchun Township (恆春) in Pingtung County offer a two-hour through-hike of sweeping views from the mighty peak of Dajianshih Mountain (大尖石山) to Eluanbi Lighthouse (鵝鑾鼻燈塔) on the coast, or
Her greatest fear, dormant for decades, came rushing back in an instant: had she adopted and raised a kidnapped child? Peg Reif’s daughter, adopted from South Korea in the 1980s, had sent her a link to a documentary detailing how the system that made their family was rife with fraud: documents falsified, babies switched, children snatched off the street and sent abroad. Reif wept. She was among more than 120 who contacted The Associated Press this fall, after a series of stories and a documentary made with Frontline exposed how Korea created a baby pipeline, designed to ship children abroad as quickly as
Charges have formally been brought in Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je’s (柯文哲) bribery, corruption and embezzling of campaign funds cases. Ko was briefly released on bail by the Taipei District Court on Friday, but the High Court on Sunday reversed the decision. Then, the Taipei District Court on the same day granted him bail again. The ball is in dueling courts. While preparing for a “year ahead” column and reviewing a Formosa poll from last month, it’s clear that the TPP’s demographics are shifting, and there are some indications of where support for the party is heading. YOUNG, MALE
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