Sun Rises and Sets on Afrika
by Patrick Steen on June 7, 2008 at 1:48 pm
After a long sleep, Sony’s mysterious game Afrika made an appearance on the interwebs last week through the Japanese PlayStation website. Sadly Japan is where the game might stay.
That’s right, according to SCEE, they won’t be publishing Afrika in Europe. Why? The Brits, for example, might feel the need to shoot Elephants for ivory trinkets, poach lions for rugs, or murder antelopes to display on their wall. And I’m afraid that’s not what the game entails.
Afrika sees you wandering around shooting animals with a camera – whether by foot, car, or air balloon – and might not be what Europeans are after. How the game progresses, we’re not entirely sure, but this new trailer gives you a better idea of how it may play out.
Ikejiri Daisaku, SCE Japan Studio Senior Producer, had this to say on the project;
After the unveiling of the game, people always asked me “Did you actually go to Africa?” We actually went to Africa for our research. I think if we didn’t see it with our own eyes and actually experience it, we could not truly express the beauty, as well as lacking the reality when we present it to people.
I only understood this after I went, but Africa was so much more than I expected. Instead of just “Some place on earth that I’ve never seen before”, it was more like an impact of feeling time-slip into “Ancient Earth”. It was the same for the zebras, gnus, giraffes and lions, it felt like even a dinosaur was going to pop out at any given moment.
The emotional affections experienced by the staff when we were in Africa has been incorporated into many different parts of the game. It’ll mean a lot to me if after playing the game, people will feel “this actually makes me want to go to Africa.”
It’s surprising that SCEE made such a flippant statement about the game not coming to Europe. After all, it’s been a staple at Sony’s press events since 2005. Even Phil Harrison was vocal about Afrika’s place in the PS3 library:
Video games have a function in life, and that is: wish fulfillment. You can become a mercenary, a fighter pilot. On PS3, we can expand the realm of that experience. Afrika allows you to experience a very interesting part of the world, a safari in the plains of Afrika. The gameplay is entirely non-violent. You don’t kill the animals. It emphasizes the positives rather than the negatives.
Is Phil Harrison’s departure the reason for SCEE’s move? Are Sony trying to close their pockets on games that don’t have huge profits predicted? Harrison was also excited about Eight Days and The Getaway, so it’s dubitable he would have let them slide either.
“Rarr, where are you Phil?”
Moreover, it was my understanding Harrison wanted to release Home in a “bare bones” form, whereas Kaz Hirai wants the project to be feature complete upon release. The effects of Harrison’s departure may have been greater than we thought.
Afrika releases in Japan on August 28th. You can visit Afrika’s webpage here.
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4 Comments » |
on June 8, 2008 12:07 am
You can still order it and it will still play as PS3 games are region free, pity though it’s not getting a world wide release.
http://www.play-asia.com/SOap-23-83-6vmj-71-bm-49-en-84-k-40-extended.html
on June 8, 2008 8:03 am
@ Patrick
I don’t know if you know of any important contacts in the industry but if you do I hope you are trying to convince them of releasing Afrika World Wide and if you know anyone at Namco Bandai could you let them know people in the U.S. also want Eternal Sonata.
Ohh I hope this is released in the U.S. When I first saw this I knew I wanted it from the start.
I don’t know why they wouldn’t release it when games of much less quality have been released that have to do with taking pictures. The one that pops in my mind is Pokemon Snap. IDK what I was thinking when I bought that but all the same I am sure that Afrika can sell tons if Marketed right.
I mean I also bought Endless Ocean for the Wii and I was happy with that. The PS3 needs this game to be released World Wide if not only for profits for them but also as a learning tool for the World so maybe people would respect animals rather then want to hunt them all down.
Not to get off topic but I sure hope that they revive Eight Days even though I heard there is No Chance of it, that looked like one hell of a game and was one of the games on my must buy list.
P.S. Ohh and I hope that Eternal Sonata the once thought Xbox 360 exclusive comes to the PS3 not only in Japan but also in the U.S. I was happy to hear it was coming to the PS3 but then when I heard it may only be released in Japan I was like WTH IS WRONG WITH THEM!!!
on June 8, 2008 12:10 pm
I’ll see what I can found out Wolf. “Howwwl”.
on June 11, 2008 6:42 am
Thank You Patrick for the effort you are putting into this. :-)