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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