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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
...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!
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!"
Tell that to the MILLIONS of PDA users in the world. Or the tblet PC users (ok, not that great of an example =p). Either way, they will tell you that touchscreen input is an efficient, fast, intuituve way to interface with a computer system.
Many games play well with a joystick and buttons; shooters, side scrollers, etc. Some games play well with a mouse and keyb; FPS, and RTS. Playing a FPS on a console with a gamepad doesn't even compare to using a mouse and keyb. PLaying a RTS game with a controller is next to impossible, hence the complete lack of RTS on consoles.
The touchscreen can do some things as well as a mouse, some not as well, and some better, but as you point out, they are similar. FPS would be marginally better with touchscreen than with control pads, but not up to the keyb/mouse. RTS games, on the other hand, would be arguabley better suited to touchscreen input. Games likes one, which sounds very interesting, tho I doubt it will ever be released here, due to people like yourself who only want the same old same old.
As mentioned above, I hope that graphical adventure games make a comeback with the DS. The interface is perfect (thouch screen, extra screen for text messages, inventory, etc, voice recognition could add a whole new level to an old genre).
The idea of modeling your own game items/characters is interesting, and would be better excecuted with a stylus than a directional pad. Mario Party's line tracing games are a good example of why precise control with a joypad is not ideal.
don't knock gimmicky controllers. ok, stylus has been done before, in handhelds even (tiger game.com), usually to rather less than thrilling effect. but guess what? technology evolves, grows. i'm sure that the monitor you use today is better than the one you used 10 years ago. same goes for your mouse (at least mine: i use an optical, which is infinitely better than the 'ball' mouse i used 5 years ago) technology grows, and i'm sure nintendo wouldn't put it out if they couldn't make it work. as for light guns and dance mats, even those have evolved: they both date back (in home consoles) at least as far as the NES, but when you use a guncon2 and a ddr dance pad next to, say, the zapper and the 'power pad', the difference is great. the dance mat now has an actual good game to use with it other than that silly track and field game (that we used to cheat at long jump by completely stepping off the mat), and the zapper? every time you fire it the whole screen flashes, with a different shade for a flash around the ducks, but the guncon's effect is a bit more subtle, and while it still flashes, its not the same seizure inducing flash that i dealt with not 3 years ago trying to play house of the dead 2 on my dreamcast.
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"?
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Yes, using a stylus is the absolute worst input method ever. That's why we have completely given up writing on paper.
I don't know how much mileage will really come out of it, and this is the only example I've yet seen that wasn't totally lame, but face it - there is no better way to mimic a scalpel than a stylus, at least at this point. How can you not think this is cool? It will necessarily improve hand-eye coordination, which is always good.
Touch screens are cool. A stylus is the only accurate way to use one. And, a mouse is not feasible for use with a handheld gaming device. Kindly extract head from rectum before posting.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
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