Video Games & Technology

A Question of Atmosphere

JHM guest writer Peter Bell contributes an intriguing column to the site, suggesting that Walt Disney Studios’ main problem may be its absence of detail and theming.

Published

21 years ago

May 12, 2004

Noe Valladolid

“Atmosphere, atmosphere, est-ce que j’ai une gueule d’atmosphere?”

So runs possibly the most famous line in French cinema history, from Marcel Carne’s Hotel du Nord. Roughly translated as “Do I look atmospheric?” it’s a question that could easily be applied to the Walt Disney Studios Park outside Paris. The answer, sadly, would have to be “no”.

An awful lot has been made about the dire lack of attractions at DLRP’s beleaguered second gate, and rightly so, but a lack of things to do is only half the problem. The other main cause of the parks failure is, quite simply, a lack of things to see. A lack of atmosphere, in other words.

Let me explain: when the Imagineers first started designing the park, they decided to take a different approach to the one they had taken with the Disney-MGM Studios in Florida. Whereas in the Disney World park the emphasis was firmly on having the guests step “into the movies” and a vision of a Hollywood of days gone by, it was decided that the Parisian offering should look and feel like a real life, working studio complex. Guests enter with the promise of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness the art of movie making take place around them.

Personally, I think this is a fine idea as it put a brand new spin on an established concept and ensured that the park was not simply a clone of its American counterpart. At least, it’s fine in theory. Sadly, even a brief foray into the park reveals that it is suffering from what could be called “DCA Syndrome” — a significant lack of the theming and detail that used to characterise the Disney brand. But if you thought California Adventure had it bad, Walt Disney Studios looks like a terminal case. It’s clear that the “real life studios” idea has been used as a cheap excuse to cut corners, both financially and creatively.

The three “Production Zones” that make up the main body of the park — Backlot, Production and Animation Courtyards — are little more than a series of interconnecting tarmac spaces, lined with viciously ugly steel pylons and ringed with attractions. There are no visual hooks or icons to distinguish one from the other. There aren’t even any signs to tell you which section you are entering. Even the attraction buildings themselves are uniformly bland and anonymous, all following the same basic colour scheme. Officially, this shade is called “Californian Sunflower” but what it really equates to is beige. Only the buildings in the Backlot are any different, being made from plain grey corrugated metal. Hardly pleasing to the eye.

The Imagineers have responded to this argument by stating that real movie studios always look functional and plain. But — and forgive me if I’m wrong here — most guests I’ve met don’t come to Disney in search of gritty reality. They want to be wowed. The Imagineers also claim they wanted to create a park with a completely new feel — something more open plan and less partitioned than the neighbouring Disneyland Park. That would be fine, but you can’t help feeling the park is a little too open in places. For example, standing in the centre of Production Courtyard, one can see virtually the entire park, not to mention the looming structure of Disney Village’s new multi-storey car park beyond the perimeter wall. Riders on the Flying Carpets in Animation Courtyard are awarded a fine view of the Costuming building and car park, not to mention the large patch of waste ground marked out as a “future attraction.” A third car park is visible from the stands of Moteurs… Action! Stunt Show Spectacular, (surely a new Disney record) along with a clutch of distant warehouses and admin buildings that serve both parks. This is allegedly deliberate, as the guests are supposed to see such buildings and think they are extensions of the studio complex, thereby creating a greater sense of scale and authenticity. Believe me, no one is fooled.

It wasn’t meant to be this way, of course. Even after construction had begun, Imagineering’s plans were somewhat more ambitious than those finally realised, but as the already modest budget was scaled further and further back, a great many good ideas had to be abandoned. According to the concept artwork, the facade of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster was to have been made up of a network of huge lighting rigs, bathing the Backlot in a synchronised light show. Not only would this have been spectacular, it would have given guests an idea of what to expect of the ride itself. In its place, all we have is a large cardboard cut out style billboard and a bunch of plain grey walls.

Similarly, the Animation Courtyard was going to be a lively, brightly coloured yet intimately proportioned section of the park, dominated by two enormous paintbrushes thrusting upwards from the Animagique building. There is little evidence of that today. Those atrocious steel pylons march across it and the brushes have never appeared, although the blue spiralling supports to hold them up have been in place since opening day.

Only one section of the park seems to be pointing to a possible way forwards, and that is the Front Lot, which seems to belong in a different park altogether. Grand in scale and rich in detail, it is everything the rest of WDS should have been. All right, so the Studio 1 building is really just a straight copy of Hollywood and Dine at DCA, but what the heck, it works. All the park’s visual flair is here, as well as its most easily recognisable iconography. No wonder it’s virtually the only thing to feature in the park’s promotional material.

So, to conclude, how much does a pair of giant paint brushes cost? Or a few more lights for the exterior of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster? Once Euro Disney SCA recovers from its financial malaise and if, as we are all hoping, it is given a new injection of funds, perhaps they will be able to splash out a little. New attractions will be the priority of course, and will certainly garner most of the public’s attention, but such projects always take time and, as I’ve already said, may not solve the entire problem.

So in the meantime, let’s look forward to the return of a little Disney detail, because if anything is going to help the Walt Disney Studios in the long run, it’s a healthy dose of atmosphere.

Video Games & Technology

“Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion” game coming this summer

Published

6 years ago

June 6, 2018

Alice Hill

Adventure Time Pirates of the Enchiridion

“C’mon on, grab your friends … ” A new Adventure Time game is coming out across multiple platforms.

In this open world game, Finn and Jake will be sailing on a raft (Named Jeff) through the flooded land of Ooo to solve the mystery of why water engulfed their home and to help others & get in hijinks along the way. With a ragtag gang of friends (From a vampire, to an Ice King, to a little robot) Finn and Jake will travel from the melting Ice Kingdom to the Fire Kingdom and fight in turn-based combat like an RPG.

The trailer shows off some absolutely gorgeous character models and environments. I’m particularly enchanted by the gorgeous Candy Kingdom that’s briefly shown in this footage. The art design sticks close to the show, but brings with it a soft, sweet design rarely seen in adventure games. Which is a refreshing thing to bring to the table. Likewise, it’s a joy to see the characters translate to 3D so well. Outright Games has done some fantastic work here with their art design.

Likewise, the voice cast for the show will be reprising their roles as characters in the land of Ooo. And they’ll have a lot of lines to record. Not only can you control Finn and Jake, but you’ll be able to play as BMO and Marceline as well. You can upgrade these characters to unlock unique abilities for combat and the map holds plenty of fun mysteries too. With side stories and secret locations, this seems like a game that’ll have hours & hours of fun.

What strikes me particularly about this game is how much it resembles Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker. This is no coincidence. Adventure Time have a history of being direct corollaries to Legend of Zelda games. “Adventure Time: Hey Ice King! Why’d You Steal Our Garbage?!” ‘s gameplay references “Zelda II: The Adventure of Link” and “Adventure Time: The Secret of the Nameless Kingdom” has the same top down look & combat stylings as “Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.” With this in mind, it’s absolutely delightful to see a Wind Waker homage with a series like this. Wind Waker was a gamechanger for the Legend of Zelda series, and it feels like “Pirates of the Enchiridion” will be a gamechanger for the Adventure Time games.

‘Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion’ will be out July 17th for the Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Playstation 4, and PC.

Video Games & Technology

Do you like treasure hunting and/or cooking soup? Then Pokemon Quest is the game for you

Published

6 years ago

June 4, 2018

Alice Hill

Immediately after the Pokemon press conference on May 29th, the mobile-switch cross platform game Pokemon Quest was available to download on the Nintendo eShop (with the mobile device version debuting later this month). Curious about the ‘Free-to-Start’ game, I snagged a download and started playing.

Pokemon Quest is a game that feels best letting itself auto-run. You check in several times a day to see what Pokemon have appeared at your camp (The conceit behind this game is that you’re a treasure hunter & Pokemon flock to you to fight their brethren in your honor. They also sometimes just come by because you make really good soup. What can I say?). With the Pokemon at your disposal, you build a small exploration team much in the same style as the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon game series. And you then set them out to fight other Pokemon in open levels. From these battles, you win power stones (which allow you to upgrade your Pokemon’s health & attack power), and ingredients to lure other Pokemon to your camp.

You may’ve taken notice use of the term ‘Free-to-Start’ earlier in this article. That’s because — like many mobile services — this game offers add-ons for purchase. I don’t see any age limit on the Nintendo Switch version to take away ads for purchases (which many mobile games have chosen to add. See Disney’s own ‘Disney Crossy Road’) but the Pokemon Company may be expecting parents to set their own controls over the switch with the parental controls available on the system.

Still, the game is typical in mobile game fare for trying to wring money out of players. Energy to play the game costs P tickets, which you can earn 50 a day … or you can just buy. The game gives you an amount to start with, shows you how to use them to speed up your game, and then takes you to the shop where you can see an advertisement to buy it — along with Pokemon furniture to help your team.

These packages can go up to $30 and include Pokemon in-game items & exclusive furniture. And while Pokemon Go offered items in bundles like this, it’s still odd to see in a Pokemon game — let alone a Pokemon game on the Nintendo Switch (albeit, this is a cross-platform game). The game itself doesn’t seem to have any sort of hard-pay line for gameplay, though. I’m up to the fifth world in my game without making any purchases. And while the game difficulty has dramatically ramped up, likely to encourage purchases, it’s still completely manageable to play without paying.

In that sense, for a free game, it’s really cute & enjoyable. The graphics are pleasing and colorful. And if you return to camp, you’ll find all the Pokemon you’ve befriended hopping around adorable decorations. Sometimes stacking on top of each other, other times following each other around in what seems like games of tag.

The ‘cooking’ mechanic to encounter a random Pokemon makes encountering them feel less like gambling and more like strategy. By cooking certain recipes from materials you find on missions, you can draw certain types of Pokemon to your camp. Cooking in certain pots (unlocked by playing through the game) can draw higher powered Pokemon at the cost of more materials. And waiting while your energy fills up means running out of ingredients (At the point of the game I’m at, about half-way through) doesn’t seem to be a problem.

All in all, I’d say, if you have access to this game, check it out and see if it’s for you. There doesn’t seem to be cross platform support for other Pokemon games. But as a standalone, it’s a cute, fun blip of a game. The hard ‘end’ of the levels within surprises me, especially since it seems to end with 150 Pokemon (out of the over eight hundred available). So I’m not sure what there is to get out of it when you get to the end level outside of getting every Pokemon. But it’s still a fun, very casual strategy game. Just keep an eye on purchases if your children decide to play.

Video Games & Technology

“Pokemon — Let’s Go, Pikachu !” & “Pokemon — Let’s Go, Eevee !” to come to the Nintendo Switch this year

Published

6 years ago

May 31, 2018

Alice Hill

Let's Go Pikachu and Let's Go Eevee - Pokemon Nintendo Game

During a conference in Japan earlier this week, the Pokemon Company revealed three new games : A mobile and Nintendo Switch cross platform game, “Pokemon Quest,” with graphics similar to Crossy Road and some absolutely adorable furniture in a “free to start” format; and for the Nintendo Switch, “Pokemon — Let’s Go, Pikachu !” and “Pokemon — Let’s Go, Eevee !”

Taking inspiration from gameplay styles from the popular “Pokemon Go” for mobile devices, “Pokemon — Let’s Go, Pikachu !” and “Pokemon — Let’s Go, Eevee !’ adopts the thrown Pokeball system. By using one controller with the Switch system, you can make a tossing motion to throw a Pokeball and capture a cute critter for your team.

***Copyright the Pokemon Company. All rights reserved***

Additionally, you can buy the “Pokeball Plus” accessory to act as an additional “Joy-con” controller for your Switch to capture Pokemon. Then load a Pokemon into your pokeball, and take it out on the go.

From there, with the accessory, you’ll be able to interact with the Pokemon you have inside. Although current information doesn’t offer whether we’ll have more options than putting Eevee or Pikachu in the Pokeball Plus, the footage seen in the linked trailer is absolutely adorable.

The game itself seems to be a remake of Pokemon Yellow, a game released twenty years ago for the Game Boy Color. You explore the Kanto Pokemon region, and seem to be limited to the 150 Pokemon available when that game was out (Well, 151, if you were lucky, or good at exploiting glitches). But these games ditch the random encounters of mainline Pokemon games and adopt the overworld encounters of Pokemon Go. What Pokemon you see on the overworld is what you get.

Additionally, Pokemon can follow you around and you can ride some of them. In footage, we see a trainer riding a giant Onyx (i.e., a giant snake made out of rocks. Who wouldn’t be comfortable riding on that?) and followed by a starting Pokemon, Bulbasaur. Although in these two games, you start instead with the series mascot Pikachu, and the evolution Pokemon Eevee, which can evolve into several different pokemon. You can also put little outfits on them. Which is – frankly — incredible.

Likewise, this seems to have local multiplayer. Hand the left Joy-con to a friend and let them enter your game. Or if you’re feeling really lonely, put the left Joy-con in your hand and pretend you have a friend while controlling the new trainer that arrives. What a fun time!

You and your friend can then team up to capture Pokemon together, or go exploring together- And you can have Pokemon you capture in Pokemon Go (of the original 151 Pokemon) arrive in your game. You can also send “Presents” back to your Pokemon Go game, including a possible new form of Pokemon as the trailer discusses.

“Pokemon — Let’s Go, Pikachu !” and “Pokemon — Let’s Go, Eevee !” will be arriving on the Nintendo Switch this November. Likewise, a new Pokemon game will be released in the second Half of 2019. With a Mario movie in development and theme park additions on the way, it’s sure to be a busy year for Nintendo.