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.
Big changes are afoot in global politics, which that are having a big impact on the global order, look set to continue and have the potential to completely reshape it. In my previous column we examined the three macro megatrends impacting the entire planet: Technology, demographics and climate. Below are international trends that are social, political, geopolitical and economic. While there will be some impact on Taiwan from all four, it is likely the first two will be minor, but the second two will likely change the course of Taiwan’s history. The re-election of Donald Trump as president of the US
The Mountains to Sea National Greenway (山海圳國家綠道) draws its name from the idea that each hiker starting at the summit of Jade Mountain (玉山) and following the trail to the coast is like a single raindrop. Together, many raindrops form life and prosperity-bringing waterways. Replicating a raindrop’s journey holds poetic beauty, but all hikers know that climbing is infinitely more appealing, and so this installment picks up where the last one left off — heading inland and uphill along the 49.8-kilometer Canal Trail (大圳之路) — second of the Greenway’s four sections. A detailed map of the trail can be found
“Bro, I can’t wait for my first dead body,” wrote an 11-year-old boy on Instagram in Sweden, where gangs recruit children too young to be prosecuted as contract killers on chat apps. “Stay motivated, it’ll come,” answered his 19-year-old contact. He went on to offer the child 150,000 kronor (US$13,680) to carry out a murder, as well as clothes and transport to the scene of the crime, according to a police investigation of the exchange last year in the western province of Varmland. In this case, four men aged 18 to 20 are accused of recruiting four minors aged 11 to 17
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