Back in September of 2005, the Internet was abuzz with speculation about a teaser website put up by Marvelous Interactive concerning a new game they had in the works for the Nintendo DS. The animation showed a cartoon professor with his back turned pushing buttons as a clock counted down. Enterprising investigators decompiled the site's Flash code to find animations of said professor turning around, which was about the time the Earthbound fans swept in and noted the professor reminded them of the Dr. Andonuts character from their beloved series, albeit done up in a newer style.
Earthbound news always makes headlines, and this was no exception. News that Earthbound producer/director Shigesato Itoi was indeed working on a "mystery project" fueled the flame. But when the countdown ran out, it wasn't an Earthbound sequel that was unveiled, but instead a brand-new game called Contact. For a little while, attention drifted away from the new game. But Atlus U.S.A. localization producer Tomm Hulett was still paying attention, and decided he really liked what he saw. Come this October, the game will hit American retail, published by Atlus.
Contact is a unique, very Nintendo DS-centric role-playing game which has made some noise for being developed by Gouichi Suda (a.k.a. Suda 51), director of Killer 7, at his studio, Grasshopper Manufacture. But it doesn't bear even a passing resemblance to Suda's directorial work in 7; Contact is actually directed by Shining Soul and Shining Soul II director Akira Ueda. Ueda's credits also include work on Final Fantasy IV, Secret of Mana, and Super Mario RPG. The title had actually begun life targetting the Game Boy Advance, but the announcement of the Nintendo DS in 2004 found the team opting to switch systems to take advantage of the new system. As Ueda told Nintendo Power, developing for the DS' unique feature set "was like working out an adventure game. The variety of functions on the DS gives us unlimited ideas."
Seeing Contact in action makes it clear these words aren't just lip service offered at the altar of "innovation". The first thing you'll likely notice, looking at the game's screenshots, is the disparity between the worlds represented on the DS's two screens. The top screen is normally dedicated to a brightly-colored isometric world similar to that found in the 16-bit era of gaming, while the bottom screen shows hand-painted views of the world the game's main character inhabits.
There's a method to this madness, of course. The inhabitant of the isometric world is a professor who has "Contact"ed you, the person holding the Nintendo DS. In a move that has shades of Baten Kaitos and then some, Contact disposes with the literary "fourth wall" entirely, and you play yourself as the professor communicates directly with you, even getting to know things about you with some personal questions. Terry, inhabiting the game world and as the star of the show, meets up with the professor at the beginning of the game but is kept in the dark of your existence. The professor must depend on Terry to get home; he is, after all, a stranger from another world.
Besides Terry and the game player, the professor has only his space dog Mochi for companionship. The game's manual, itself a bit postmodern and done up in a very humorous style reminiscent of teenage-angst vehicle LiveJournal, explains that Mochi seems to want to become a space cat for unclear reasons. When Terry is sleeping, the professor's world swaps down to the bottom screen and you can play with Mochi. Becoming Mochi's friend is to your advantage, as Ueda hints your friendship with Mochi can make him a valuable ally to summon in battle.
The game's redone manual and box art as well as the game localization itself is the work of Atlus localization director Tomm Hulett, whose previous work includes DS hit Trauma Center: Under the Knife as well as Digital Devil Saga 1 and 2 and Steambot Chronicles. Hulett's script, though he says he is staying true to Atlus' stated policy of not changing the original game, manages to enjoy poking fun at a recent game industry meme--"I had that chance to make the most current parody game of all time," Hulett says. "Tell me you wouldn't take that chance."
Earthbound news always makes headlines, and this was no exception. News that Earthbound producer/director Shigesato Itoi was indeed working on a "mystery project" fueled the flame. But when the countdown ran out, it wasn't an Earthbound sequel that was unveiled, but instead a brand-new game called Contact. For a little while, attention drifted away from the new game. But Atlus U.S.A. localization producer Tomm Hulett was still paying attention, and decided he really liked what he saw. Come this October, the game will hit American retail, published by Atlus.
Contact is a unique, very Nintendo DS-centric role-playing game which has made some noise for being developed by Gouichi Suda (a.k.a. Suda 51), director of Killer 7, at his studio, Grasshopper Manufacture. But it doesn't bear even a passing resemblance to Suda's directorial work in 7; Contact is actually directed by Shining Soul and Shining Soul II director Akira Ueda. Ueda's credits also include work on Final Fantasy IV, Secret of Mana, and Super Mario RPG. The title had actually begun life targetting the Game Boy Advance, but the announcement of the Nintendo DS in 2004 found the team opting to switch systems to take advantage of the new system. As Ueda told Nintendo Power, developing for the DS' unique feature set "was like working out an adventure game. The variety of functions on the DS gives us unlimited ideas."
Seeing Contact in action makes it clear these words aren't just lip service offered at the altar of "innovation". The first thing you'll likely notice, looking at the game's screenshots, is the disparity between the worlds represented on the DS's two screens. The top screen is normally dedicated to a brightly-colored isometric world similar to that found in the 16-bit era of gaming, while the bottom screen shows hand-painted views of the world the game's main character inhabits.
There's a method to this madness, of course. The inhabitant of the isometric world is a professor who has "Contact"ed you, the person holding the Nintendo DS. In a move that has shades of Baten Kaitos and then some, Contact disposes with the literary "fourth wall" entirely, and you play yourself as the professor communicates directly with you, even getting to know things about you with some personal questions. Terry, inhabiting the game world and as the star of the show, meets up with the professor at the beginning of the game but is kept in the dark of your existence. The professor must depend on Terry to get home; he is, after all, a stranger from another world.
Besides Terry and the game player, the professor has only his space dog Mochi for companionship. The game's manual, itself a bit postmodern and done up in a very humorous style reminiscent of teenage-angst vehicle LiveJournal, explains that Mochi seems to want to become a space cat for unclear reasons. When Terry is sleeping, the professor's world swaps down to the bottom screen and you can play with Mochi. Becoming Mochi's friend is to your advantage, as Ueda hints your friendship with Mochi can make him a valuable ally to summon in battle.
The game's redone manual and box art as well as the game localization itself is the work of Atlus localization director Tomm Hulett, whose previous work includes DS hit Trauma Center: Under the Knife as well as Digital Devil Saga 1 and 2 and Steambot Chronicles. Hulett's script, though he says he is staying true to Atlus' stated policy of not changing the original game, manages to enjoy poking fun at a recent game industry meme--"I had that chance to make the most current parody game of all time," Hulett says. "Tell me you wouldn't take that chance."