After Fifa, NFL, NBA, Cricket, now Indian games are ready to mark their presence on the gaming arena with Desi Adda: Games of India. Sony has developed this console game that includes indigenous sports like Pachisi, Goat & the tiger, Kite Fight, Kabaddi, Gilli Danda and the beat matching dance game. The game is developed by Hyderabad based GameShastra, for PS2.
First Looks
“First impression is the last impression”. This saying has always mattered and will matter in the future too. Desi Adda has lived up to this saying. After checking out the Hanuman earlier which disappointed us, Desi Adda by the looks of it impresses us here. Hope it lives up to the impression it has created here.
The game surprisingly has a s ’story line’. You play the part of Avinash, son of an NRI businessman, who comes to visit his ancestral village (Dil Bole Hadippa in a rural way ). The guy has spent his time abroad, and this being his his first visit to an Indian village, it fascinates him. The story unfolds as he roams around the village and plays the different village games. We hope they won’t have cheesy hindi dialogues like in the Hanuman game which was released earlier.
Priced at Rs499 for PS2 and Rs999 for the PSP (yes there’s a PSP version!), the game is playable in 3 Indian languages : Hindi, Punjabi and in Tamil and this game is the first game completely developed by Indian Development Studio for the PSP.
Developed on a low budget, what we think here is that the game should get a fair trial & has to be seen as a advancement in the Indian gaming industry (trying to be a nationalist here ).
We are curious to see how they implemented games like kabaddi,gilli danda on a console and how the game mechanics are going to be. Watch out this space for more updates.
PS: Again, we’re hoping, praying, pleading that it’s not like Hanuman. If it is, we’re not even bothering to play it fully like we did last time!
I had written about the call from Rajan Zed to withdraw Hanuman Boy Warrior. Today I got a reply from Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE)on the issue. It’s as follows.
In view of the recent protest by a Hindu organization regarding the newly released PS2 game – Hanuman: Boy Warrior; below is the response from Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE):
‘The game, Hanuman: Boy Warrior, which is currently only available in India, was developed with inspiration from the Hindu mythology and at every step, prominent Indian scholars were consulted. The aim of the game has always been to encourage young Indians to celebrate the stories of Hanuman and to help bring these key lessons to life. The characterisation of Hanuman is true to the actual depiction in Indian mythology, both in terms of the look as well as the powers that he has. The game has been developed with the Indian value systems and depicts a merciful winning of Good over Evil, something that is synonymous with Hanuman as a character. When creating the game, at no stage were any liberties taken to deviate from the divine power and nature of Hanuman. The endeavor actually focuses on using the powerful interactive form to bring the various mythological characters of India to the Indian audience.’
Hanuman: Boy Warrior, the first console game to be fully developed in India, is a great concept with poor graphics and average gameplay. Yet, it’s poised to be a runaway hit in the market, says NT Balanarayan
Screenshot from Hanuman Boy Warrior
There are good ideas and then there are bad ideas, but not all good ideas necessarily turn into good videogames. Hanuman: Boy Warrior is an ideal example of a brilliant idea gone horribly wrong. It promises the world, but delivers little. The game narrates the story of Hanuman as he
grows up from a vanarabala to a strong God.
The game opens with Hanuman angering a sage and being forced to live the life of a simple boy in a jungle. He’s taken in by a kind villager. Just when he gets used to the village life, asuras attack and turn the world into stone. Hanuman’s adventure begins from this point. He reveals his identity and sets out to stop Shirkasur, a rakshasa who has command over all five elements — air, water, wind, fire and ether; he is armed with a gada and the ability to restore life to creatures turned to stone.
Along the way, you (the player) will encounter rakshasas of various sizes and temperaments. Some will just circle you with swords; others will treat you like a pest who needs to be squashed. But luckily, Hanuman has a gada and the asuras are not too smart. Unless you are playing in hard mode, fighting these minions is just a cakewalk. The level of difficulty keeps rising as you progress, but the fights against the bosses (super villains), although lengthy as they are meant to be, are a little too easy.
The developers have drawn inspiration from God of War 2, one of the biggest successes on PS2. The similarities range from melee combat to storyline. But in terms of quality of gameplay, Hanuman is just the opposite of God of War which is dark, gripping, entertaining and pretty tough at stages. Ironically, the thing Hanuman was so good at doing — jumping great distances — is the toughest part of the game. There are certain sections of the game where you will wrack your brains trying to get that perfect jump. And when you fail, you might end up cursing the very God you are supposed to be worshipping!
The game might also provoke a few thoughts on the depiction of Indian mythology. Here, it turns out that Hanuman, who is chiranjeevi (immortal), can’t swim, and drowns just like lead in water! Maybe it’s the weight of his gada that pulls him down. This game might be enlightening for those who do not know about this stage of the God’s life. The graphics are nothing to boast about. The developers should hang their heads in shame for they are poor, even by PS2 standards. Agreed, the console has been around for ten years, but we have seen the levels of rendering it can produce. The semi-pixel shaded graphics look like the result of poor, hurried development. It seems like a desperate attempt at creating an Indian style of animation.
Hanuman looks good in the cover image but in the game, he isn’t as interesting. The environment is too bland and the low-poly makes it look like a PC game developed back in the ‘90s.
However poor it may be, it just might sell well in India because it appeals to the Indian mindset. We don’t want the next generation to be totally ignorant about our mythology. But surprisingly, it is not preachy at all — no sermons on time and maya. Having said that, on the whole, Hanuman: Boy Warrior is disappointing.
Watch the first 30 seconds, after that he doesn’t move from the spot. I had gone to take a leak without stopping recording. Ouch! My review of the game will be coming out in the Sunday edition of DNA, Bangalore. Will post on this blog on Sunday. =)
Remember the time when Ramayan, Mahabharat used to come on TV. How old my grand mother and other older people used to almost worship the “idiot box.” Well now that a Hanuman game has come out.. will we see something similar? I can just imagine a nanny advising a toddler on how to beat up rakshasas….. =D
[| Trying out free writing with this post… Wrote it in 15 min+10 mins to create image above..
so don’t mind the vague points |]
I was reading this story on tech2 on the launch of Hanuman the Boy Warrior, but what grabbed my attention was the last line of the story.
A action game based on the Mumbai gang wars will also hit the PS2 platform.
Now hold on… no one mentioned that before. I haven’t got any info on the game other than that tiny line I saw there. I am wondering why they did not try to get more details on the game. So what would it be comparable to? I don’t want to say Grand Theft Auto, after seeing the quality of Hanuman game.. They are trying to get people who have never played game before to pick up a controller.
The strategy just might work considering as PS2 costs just 7k, (the prices might fall to below-6k soon) while Wii costs around Rs20k. And that is a huge difference in price-sensitive Indian market.
So what made the Wii so popular?
1> Simplicity of games
Simplicity of Wii gaming came with the Wii-remote, no more button bashing just wave of the remote and you can score an ace. It is not that simple with a DualShock
2> Clean content
By clean I am referring to games which appeal to all age groups. Not 18+ or 16+ games which most parents would object to buy and rightfully so. The games which Sony is developing in India along with Indian developers come in this category. I mean look at them, one is a possibly preachy Hanuman game, then an educational game, there is also a game involving village sports like kabaddi. Their strategy seems to to encourage people who don’t know anything about gaming. (People like my parents =P ) to buy a game or a console for their kids or grand-children. And this just might work!
3> Low pricing
Sony beats Wii black and blue here. A difference of approximately 15k is definitely not a small one
Thanks to gamingindians.com we have the first trailer of the much awaited game. Like Ghajini, I am disappointed with the quality. What is the point rushing out a game in 10 months, while compromising on quality?
Sony India head Atindriya Bose was pretty candid when speaking to gamingindians.
This game is solely targeted at entry-level gamers; it’s not something most GamingIndians members would even touch. It’s targeted at kids and families, and from that perspective, it’s a fantastic game. And while Hanuman is not a well-recognised international gaming brand, because of the Hanuman character, it becomes the parents’ and kids’ choice. This is a PS2 game that no parent will say no to. We’re expecting numbers of 7,000-10,000 on day one, which is huge for us and something we didn’t expect.
Hmm I can just imagine PR guys pulling out their hair and screaming right now. =P
That said, the game will do wonders to Indian gaming scene. Expect PS2 sales to peek in the coming month. He is expecting to sell 7-10k copies of the game on the first day. That’s a figure Ghajini managed to achieve. I am sure Hanuman Boy Warrior will have no problem reaching that figure. Just yesterday a cousin of mine was talking about the game.
The bottomline is that this game will help break the ice in Indian minds, when it comes to gaming.
Gamingindians reports that Sega’s games are finally officially available in India. However it is just the PS2 games which have managed to reach the shelves as of now. This is great news considering the huge install base (in comparison to PS3) that PS2 has in the country.
Press release:
E-xpress to release SEGA titles for Playstation 2 4 top selling titles from SEGA on PS2 platform set to ship this April in India
E-xpress Interactive, the leading game software distributor in India is set to release 4 top selling SEGA games for Playstation 2 console across India. The titles which will be available with all leading stores in the 1st week of April 2009 are, Sonic Unleashed, Yakuza 2, Ironman and The Incredible Hulk. All the 4 titles will be priced at Rs. 699 each.
e-xpress will be releasing more SEGA titles for Playstation 2 and other platforms in Q2 of the calendar year 09 (April, May and June) as their commitment to grow the SEGA presence massively across all gaming platforms in the Indian market.
At PlayStation Experience 08’ event in Bangalore, Sony Head Atindriya Bose mentioned that they are working on ‘India themed’ games. Meaning, games which might appeal to Indians. Ehm.. I mean games which might result in improved sales of PS2 in India. Well what do I care about motives and such might-y thoughts? I care about the games.
The first one is a sports based game, he mentioned kabaddi and kho-kho; no idea if it’s one game or two sports themed games. Anyway, it sounds like an interesting prospect. My PS2 might be pleased; poor thing has been ignored after God of War II.
The second game is a quiz based game, targeted at students preparing for Medical/engineering entrance. Oooh, now that is the most innovative plot to get people who should be studying to spend more time with their consoles. Now kids have an excuse and parents can’t say no even. Sony’s smart
The third game is based on Hanuman. “Not again,” I thought. But hey, it might be good! I missed the name of the developers, but whoever they are better do a good job. Or else what? I give up on Indian mythology-gaming combo once and for all. Oh wait, Trine studio is also working on a Hindu mythology based game called Legends of India. (quite interesting!!)
). The guy has spent his time abroad, and this being his his first visit to an Indian village, it fascinates him. The story unfolds as he roams around the village and plays the different village games. We hope they won’t have cheesy hindi dialogues like in the Hanuman game which was released earlier.
What they said…