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Atlus Readies Stylus-Based Surgery Game For DS
Thanks to GameSpot for its article discussing Atlus' announcement of a stylus-utilizing touchscreen surgery game for the Nintendo DS handheld. According to the article about Caduceus: Surgical Operation: "The player steps into the role of a talented young surgeon who must operate on different maladies in each of the game's stages... Actions such as cutting the patient or getting rid of an unidentified parasite are done with the [Nintendo DS] stylus. In addition, while operating, the player must cheer on the patient using the device's voice recognition." There's also a couple of screenshots of the forthcoming Life & Death-eque game, featuring the "Hurted Heart" mission, on the Japanese-language NTT site.
These are the kind of things that Nintendo was talking about when they said we'd get new kinds of gameplay. At E3 there was a carving demo that would let your carve things. They could do things like that to let you make your own piece in a board game. It may take some time, but I think we are going to see some VERY interesting games from the DS. Even if some aren't good, the innovation will be great.
How about a game where you "raise" a little AI robot or something. You could design it yourself, and be able to add user created objects to it's little "playpen" to explore and see how it reacts to things. You could "program" it by connecting little logic blocks (sort of how you program the Lego Mindstorms software).
And of course, now we could get a VERY cool version of Mario Paint.
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
Yeah, that's what I always look for in a surgeon... someone to "cheer me on" while I'm unconscious.
. . . they didn't even mention the fifth level, entitled "Busted Balls".
Seriously, how many of us would love to see a greatly enhanced sequel to this classic. The DS would be ideal, but I could also envision a GC/next gen version that utilizes the Mario Sunshine engine and allows one to create their own 3D Mario adventure.
It could feature a user friendly 3d modeler (with premade models of all the Nintendo favorites, of course). Design your own character or bad guy, apply premade or user-created texture maps/bump maps, etc., then create animations of the character through a smart interface. Put the characters in a designed game world and give them routes to walk on, triggers to react to, etc. Create worlds with premade or user designed objects, events, and triggers. Also let the user create some hilariously lame in game music, of course. Then create an overworld and even make in-game cinemas with your characters and user recorded audio! Imagine the possibilites...
Meanwhile, relive some Mario Paint goodness here.
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First thing I'd do is create a plastic surgery mod for m' ladies ;)
Urgo: "I want to live. I want to experience the universe and I want to eat pie!"
Jack: "Who doesn't??"
Man I loved that game, and I sucked at it! I used to play on my ][gs. I couldn't get past the apendectomy. The game didn't like my sutures or something.
But man, if I ever had to perform an emergency apendectomy, i could. Oh sure, you'd bleed to death later because aparently I can't sew, but at least you wouldn't die from apendicitis.
Now I can frag my friends and put them back together!
I like muppets.
And when will we have the lawyer claiming that he is trying to save the moral fabric of our society by claiming that this game will result in increased malpractice rates by doctors desensitized to surgery?
Or more likely, some kid will take a knife to his pet or smaller sibling and then someone will suggest they learned it from the game.
"But I trust in the people's capacity for reflection, rage and rebellion." -Oscar Olivera
Hmmm, suddenly a see a game in which you as a Samurai slice and dice your opponents with a sword shaped stylus. Miss the vitals and he may kill you, with bonuses for slicing style and penalties for too many strokes!
And for the kids, a Harry Potter game with a wand shaped stylus...The hits they keep a comin!
To the making of books there is no end, so let's get started
The Nip and Tuck video game! Imagine all of the perverted^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hcool stuff you could do as prep for a breast job!!!
It scared me, really.
Which is why I let my brother play it and not me >.>
I think they called it 'tamogotchi' is something :-)
I really like you idea - but look at 'A Dogs Life' by David Braben, or 'Creatures' (that *is* the one where you have a pet magical creature on an island?)
They take 'programming' much in the way of the sims, or the original little computer people.
Perhaps making it visibly logical could be more educational.
#hostfile 0.0.0.0 primidi.com 0.0.0.0 www.primidi.com 0.0.0.0 radio.weblogs.com
I remember a game like this on the amiga, where I never got past the fiurst incision, which usually lead to a complete dissection of the victim, I mean patient.
/.'ers at the operating theatre asking for a local instead of going under, then telling the surgeon that perhaps he should try the level 5 technique, and then arguing with him:
Of course, parent groups may protest that this will lead to home grown surgery systems, where people use this as a simulator.
I can imagine
"How many successful quarduple bypasses have *you* done?? I'll do it myself thanks!"
How to make money? Simply change the operations!
Breast Augmentation Surgery (with celebrebrity appearances!)
'Sex change chop shop' (with cele... no wait, that is too much)
#hostfile 0.0.0.0 primidi.com 0.0.0.0 www.primidi.com 0.0.0.0 radio.weblogs.com
...It says that this game will fall under the "sci-fi surgery action game" genre. I think we can all agree that we've already had way to many games in this category. Why can't they do something original for once!
It's amazing how much innovation comes when a "real" game company starts using a touchpad.
I've been waiting for this a long time to come to my palm, but almost every game I can find is stuck using the buttons at the bottom. I've only found two games that make good use of the stylus.
Insaniquarium and that other puzzle(sp?) one that was a huge hit and I can't for my life remember the name of(you switch position on some sort of gems and they disappear if you get three in a row).
If noone rtfa, then what's the slashdot effect?
I'm fairly sure that's what you're thinking off... switch blocks around, get three in a row and the row vanishes.
-ReK
md5sum -c reality.md5
reality: FAILED
md5sum: WARNING: 1 of 1 computed checksum did NOT match
Imagine the looks from your fellow travellers while screaming "hang in there" "don't die on my now" "we got a squirter here get a me a clamp he is bleeding all over" into you gameboy.
On a side note, why can't I ever turn of the music on gba games? Is it somekind of mind control program that I must play with horrible repetetive crappy soundcard music?
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
That game look's interresting, but if there's n option to deliver babies, I'm sure not playing it in the subway or any public transport.
"Ok, there you go, breathe harder, harder. Push push push - Sir, I'll have to ask you to leave or stop that camcorder or I'll shove it up your a** - No nurse I don't have a time for a sponge bath - Push harder lady. Yes!!! Congratulation it's a boy. Here sir, cut the umbilical cord. *clip* Congratulation, you've got a girl!"
What most people simply dont recognize is, that a stylus and a touchpad is a very good mouse replacement. I am pretty sure that many point and click adventures can be converted to the new GB, the main problem those things had in the past was that those games are close to impossible to be played seriously with the usual control cross. If you ever played the monkey islands on a handheld or ultima7 on a zaurus you would know how well the point and click interface can be mapped to a stylus interface.
Edheads already has Virtual Knee Surgery!
Small potatoes make the steak look bigger.
Oh wow! The possibilities of this exciting new form of input! Why, it's revolutionary, it's some sort of pointing device!
Like a mouse then?
Come on people, stylus input freakin' SUCKS BALLS. It's is rubbish. They tried similar things with light pens in the 1980s and instead of opening up new vistas of UI possibilty everyone totally hated them. Why don't they just stick a trackball on it and be done with it?
Seriously, stylus input is not more natural. It's a gimmick, and an expensive gimmick to boot (you need to bolt on a whole second screen??). People like conventional forms of input, they don't want to be scraping away like some medieval monk scribing out copies of the bible. As far as games are concerned, choices should be made with minimal efforts. My thumb twitches left, I move left. Right, I move right. I don't want to be describing circles with some sort of midget pencil, or painstakingly dragging my 'scalpel' from A to B, like one of those god-awful 'don't touch the wire or the buzzer goes off' so-called games. Does anyone like that sort of thing? Masochists maybe. Why don't you just spend your day threading needles, it would be about as much fun, and cheaper.
And as for that guy salivating over the modelling and level creation possibles - what, you need a stylus to do that?
http://eg.nttpub.co.jp/news/image/20040805_08_02.j pg
Mission 12: Hurted Heart
You're ABSOLUTELY right.
We should STOP coming up with new ways to play games. We should, instead, continue to give sequel after sequel that are pretty much just like their predecessor. THAT is what people want. They don't want people to take a chance and try something new.
Nintendo, I DEMAND that you cease this "innovation" crap immediately. Nobody wants to try new things - we only want what we are comfortable with.
While you're making New Innovative Game With Different Control Scheme To Try To Give The Player A New Experience, I'll be over here playing Old Favorite Game Sequel That Plays Just Like The Last One Did. And so will the rest of America.
Right, cluke?
...while operating, the player must cheer on the patient using the device's voice recognition.
So let's test it out with an obligatory Simpons quote!
"The hip bone's connected to the leg bone!
The leg bone's conected to the thingy!
The thingy's connected to my wristwatch!
Uh oh..."
-Dr. Nick
Well yeah but for some reason that kill sound. See I like the sound effects BUT not the music. Perhaps I am just odd but I play most of my games without the enclosed music. Maybe it is a console thing. Give option. Music On/Off Sound On/Off. Not that complex is it? PC games been doing it since the adlib card came along. Yeah I am that old.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
Has anyone else noticed a trend of games becoming like work? The first example that comes to mind is the common leveling treadmill, in which one has to complete the same task again and again for hours just to get anywhere. Now there are curry-house simulators, sports stat management sims that play like glorified spreadsheets, and a surgery game. What's next, "Answer the Phone eXtreme"?
This sig has been stolen. Return it to its original user for a reward.
I've noted several times that the only way the dualscreen and touchscreen would be any more than gimmicks is if there were computer-style games made for the system. Looks like at least one developer has realized that.
Rob