Here are some images of a new game from Konami, courtesy of our friends over at Impress Game Watch. It's called Survival Kids: Lost in Blue and is the latest game to be made exclusively for the DS which looks stupendously brilliant. To our eyes, at least. And we have great eyes for games. Our mums say so and everything.
The game, innovative and exciting in a way reminiscent of Nintendogs, follows the fortunes of a boy who finds himself washed up on a desert island. And unless you want to lose weight and grow a beard, getting washed up on a desert island is never good. Unless there's a tribe of Amazonian lady warriors who take you for their king, of course. Though chances are they'd probably just eat you, boiling you up in a big pot full of chopped veggies, after convincing you that it's "just a bath". You might catch a glimpse of an erotic war dance or something. Though that's about it. However, we digress...
The boy happens upon a girl, also stranded. Not the Amazonian man-boiling type, she quickly befriends the boy (neither character is named at this time) and they combine their skills to stay alive in the hope of rescue. The touch screen of the DS is used to perform survial tasks. Trees are shaken for coconuts, sand is dug for clams and bows are pulled to fire arrows at various scentient pieces of nature. If you're a boy. When played as the girl, the touch panel is used for sewing and growing crops and cooking. So it's a slightly sexist game but what are you going to do? We live in a slightly sexist world. And remember, if this game had been made a hundred years ago, one player would be a white middle class gent in need of constant support from his loyal black slave, named after a day of the week or something. So we've come a long way. Kind of.
Expect this game to hit Japan on August 25th, with a western release due in time for the Mass of Our Lord the Baby Jesus Christ.
The game, innovative and exciting in a way reminiscent of Nintendogs, follows the fortunes of a boy who finds himself washed up on a desert island. And unless you want to lose weight and grow a beard, getting washed up on a desert island is never good. Unless there's a tribe of Amazonian lady warriors who take you for their king, of course. Though chances are they'd probably just eat you, boiling you up in a big pot full of chopped veggies, after convincing you that it's "just a bath". You might catch a glimpse of an erotic war dance or something. Though that's about it. However, we digress...
The boy happens upon a girl, also stranded. Not the Amazonian man-boiling type, she quickly befriends the boy (neither character is named at this time) and they combine their skills to stay alive in the hope of rescue. The touch screen of the DS is used to perform survial tasks. Trees are shaken for coconuts, sand is dug for clams and bows are pulled to fire arrows at various scentient pieces of nature. If you're a boy. When played as the girl, the touch panel is used for sewing and growing crops and cooking. So it's a slightly sexist game but what are you going to do? We live in a slightly sexist world. And remember, if this game had been made a hundred years ago, one player would be a white middle class gent in need of constant support from his loyal black slave, named after a day of the week or something. So we've come a long way. Kind of.
Expect this game to hit Japan on August 25th, with a western release due in time for the Mass of Our Lord the Baby Jesus Christ.
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Comments
claudioalex 13 Jul 2005 21:36
1/9
Awsome,
This interaction between game and players is what i was waiting for.
This interaction between game and players is what i was waiting for.
jsm30625 13 Jul 2005 23:46
2/9
Spong, you say this game is SLIGHTLY SEXIST!
Ha!
This is like sending us back to the stone ages in which women were taking care of families!!!!
I shall never buy from Nintendo for their insolence to man woman she male feminists.
Maybe after read this article they can stope enforcing their GENDER FASCISM!!!!!!!!!!
Ha!
This is like sending us back to the stone ages in which women were taking care of families!!!!
I shall never buy from Nintendo for their insolence to man woman she male feminists.
Maybe after read this article they can stope enforcing their GENDER FASCISM!!!!!!!!!!
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dmgice 14 Jul 2005 03:00
3/9
Yes, that's how it works on the first play through. Depending on the ending you get, you can unlock the choice to start as the girl from the get go and the roles/skills are reversed.
Oh, Lost in Blue is Survival Kids 3. The first one for the GBC had the gender option from the start and both characters roles were identical. This made it more of a preference than a gameplay asset. This time around, those who want to use the female have to work for it as both characters now have different strength attritbutes and roles depending on which you choose to start out with. Survival Kids 2 had two male characters and it started them out on different parts of an island as they tried to escape from kidnappers who kidnapped them because of their -apparently famous- parents. The parents were the two kids from the first game. (Ending 8 showed them getting married after the ending.)
SK3 seems to be an all new story, but I think the assesment that the game is sexist is a bit stupid.
Oh, Lost in Blue is Survival Kids 3. The first one for the GBC had the gender option from the start and both characters roles were identical. This made it more of a preference than a gameplay asset. This time around, those who want to use the female have to work for it as both characters now have different strength attritbutes and roles depending on which you choose to start out with. Survival Kids 2 had two male characters and it started them out on different parts of an island as they tried to escape from kidnappers who kidnapped them because of their -apparently famous- parents. The parents were the two kids from the first game. (Ending 8 showed them getting married after the ending.)
SK3 seems to be an all new story, but I think the assesment that the game is sexist is a bit stupid.
config 14 Jul 2005 08:28
4/9
You mean, women don't take care of their families any longer?
Crikey. Family units will disintegrate once the word is out. Generally, men are just s**t at running a home; clothes stay unwashed, pots fester, food - unnoticed at the back of the fridge - goes rancid, cupboards are left bare, bills go unpaid and children leave for school looking like urchins.
We're doomed.
Oh, and I guess it's only "mildly" sexist because there's no "hot coffee" mini-game where the male players gets to variously fsck female characters, or an option for female players to wear provocative/removing clothing to lure male characters.
Crikey. Family units will disintegrate once the word is out. Generally, men are just s**t at running a home; clothes stay unwashed, pots fester, food - unnoticed at the back of the fridge - goes rancid, cupboards are left bare, bills go unpaid and children leave for school looking like urchins.
We're doomed.
Oh, and I guess it's only "mildly" sexist because there's no "hot coffee" mini-game where the male players gets to variously fsck female characters, or an option for female players to wear provocative/removing clothing to lure male characters.
dmgice 14 Jul 2005 08:56
5/9
I love how she/he/it blames a Konami made game on Nintendo.
Kind of like how people blame the U.S. president for everything when they forget he answers to and has to work with Congress, the States, the people, and the United Nations. (Which approved hostilities in Bosnia on far less "evidence" than what was presented on Iraq.)
If they really feel something is wrong, they need to take it up with their STATES first and at a community level. The best way to fix a problem is to go to the root of the problem and not the effects of the problem. Most of the problems with American politics end at higher up levels, they start at the lowest levels. The lower levels cause the higher level effects. The older feminists understood this. People like Susan B. Anthony understood this. Today's modern activists are just clanging cymbals and loud noisy gongs with nothing of real value to say. Like dogs on a leash barking at thieves. They don't realize they need to chew through the ropes around their necks FIRST before any action can truly be done.
But who cares: Lost in Blue is not a sexist game (After you unlock the option to start play as the girl, roles are reversed) and politics should stay far away from video games, please.
Especially in the case of Lost in Blue. Survival Kids is a damn fine game and I am seriously looking forward to the excellent third entry into the series. If you want to bitch about games being sexist, go yell at games like Lunar or Riviera where they have naughty pictures of the leading ladies you can collect. Or better yet, hit yourself in the face with a board until everything goes dark, because we don't need you messing with our video games.
Honestly, I play video games because I like gameplay and trying interesting ways of playing a game. I do not need people breathing down my neck because a game may have a curse or two, some violence, or *gasp* antiquated gender roles. (For that matter, does HARVEST MOON offend you because you can get married and date in it?) Geez. It would appear that modern liberals are just as bad as the "Christian Right" they constantly complain about. I don't need freaking equality in a video game. I just want to play it and have fun. Leave me alone.
Kind of like how people blame the U.S. president for everything when they forget he answers to and has to work with Congress, the States, the people, and the United Nations. (Which approved hostilities in Bosnia on far less "evidence" than what was presented on Iraq.)
If they really feel something is wrong, they need to take it up with their STATES first and at a community level. The best way to fix a problem is to go to the root of the problem and not the effects of the problem. Most of the problems with American politics end at higher up levels, they start at the lowest levels. The lower levels cause the higher level effects. The older feminists understood this. People like Susan B. Anthony understood this. Today's modern activists are just clanging cymbals and loud noisy gongs with nothing of real value to say. Like dogs on a leash barking at thieves. They don't realize they need to chew through the ropes around their necks FIRST before any action can truly be done.
But who cares: Lost in Blue is not a sexist game (After you unlock the option to start play as the girl, roles are reversed) and politics should stay far away from video games, please.
Especially in the case of Lost in Blue. Survival Kids is a damn fine game and I am seriously looking forward to the excellent third entry into the series. If you want to bitch about games being sexist, go yell at games like Lunar or Riviera where they have naughty pictures of the leading ladies you can collect. Or better yet, hit yourself in the face with a board until everything goes dark, because we don't need you messing with our video games.
Honestly, I play video games because I like gameplay and trying interesting ways of playing a game. I do not need people breathing down my neck because a game may have a curse or two, some violence, or *gasp* antiquated gender roles. (For that matter, does HARVEST MOON offend you because you can get married and date in it?) Geez. It would appear that modern liberals are just as bad as the "Christian Right" they constantly complain about. I don't need freaking equality in a video game. I just want to play it and have fun. Leave me alone.
supadupagama 14 Jul 2005 09:15
6/9
It's NOT sexist, because the girl loses her glasses at the start of the game, so you have to guide her around like in ICO!
Would you rather give a near-blind girl a bow & arrow to hunt or the boy with 20/20 vision? I'd rather not starve to death :-P
Would you rather give a near-blind girl a bow & arrow to hunt or the boy with 20/20 vision? I'd rather not starve to death :-P
Joji 14 Jul 2005 10:18
7/9
Good for Spong to highlight Lost In Blue. I hope you do the same for Riviera: The Promised Land on GBA because it deserves attention if not a review (I'd be surprised if we saw it over here).
Both are great games worthy of your money.
Both are great games worthy of your money.
rascal 14 Jul 2005 14:36
8/9
Why is it sexist ? As a male character you perform violent acts on animals, get down and dirty in the mud and, er, shake your coconuts. That's pretty damn sexist too. So it cancels out the female based sexism and we end up with a lovely family game that celebrates our differences. Or something.
fluffstardx 14 Jul 2005 18:41
9/9
Well, sexism IS both ways y'know. So you just backed em up.