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tocksic · 02-12-2009, 04:36 PM

I sat down the past 3 hours and translated the Computerbild Spiele article. Again please excuse any bad grammar and typos:

Article from Computerbild Spiele - March issue
translated by tocksic aka 5IC

Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings

Mental Movie

Clandestine resourceful developers work on the new “Indiana Jones” game. We were allowed to get a worldwide exclusive first look.

Hat and whip – these are the trademarks of one of world’s most famous movie heroes: Indiana Jones. The archaeologist and daredevil took his audience to the most remote places on earth in search for mystical artifacts from the ancient world. Meanwhile it took him to Montreal, Canada. There the team of “A2M” produces “Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings”, the new adventure of the intrepid archaeologist. Contrary to colleague and rival Lara Croft, who presented her good-looking body lately in search for rare artifacts in a game on PC, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, Indy is going his own way: The creators of the game dig the Nintendo console Wii, because the control shall bring the ultimate Indy feeling and lets the player swing the whip by himself and knock out some bad guys. The game also will be released on PSP, DS and Playstation 2. The developers left it open if other versions might follow. A comprehensible step by LucasArts, if you take a look at the current console sales volume. Wii is the star in the USA, getting bought more often than Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 together. Nintendo DS is a success story and many millions of PS2s worldwide are still being used, legitimating new games for this old device. Anyhow graphics spoiled gamers have to deal with a few drawbacks. The plot from yesterday won’t get the graphics from tomorrow.

Old friends, old foes
Speaking of the plot: What will Indy be searching for in the new game? The makers looked carefully at the success story of the films and came to one conclusion: The artifacts of the Christian mythology made the best stories. Thus such an artifact is the main goal of Indy and his “old friends”, the Nazis. This time the man with the hat and the whip searches for the Staff of Kings, the very inconspicuous piece of wood which Moses used to part the Red Sea and for other miracles. Surely the Nazis won’t get far without proficient helper: It’s the archeologist Magnus Völler, once a university colleague of Indy who also studied under Charles Kingston, the mentor of our hero. The story begins in 1934 when Indy and Magnus run into each other at a dig site in the Sudan – Magnus already in company of German soldiers. Indy wins the race for an old Nubian relic, but this will have serious consequences…
In 1939 Indy receives a cryptic message from his old friend Archie Tan, who lives in San Francisco’s Chinatown. When Indy arrives there, Archie is nowhere to be found and his shop is upside down. Indy finds out that his old rival Magnus is behind this and that maybe and old trace to the disappearance of Professor Kingston a few years ago is hot again. It leads to Panama where Indy not only meets the lovely but rigorous journalist Maggie O’Malley, who will from now on accompany Indy, but to notes from his old teacher who searched for the Staff of Kings. Further it goes to Istanbul where Kingston might has left other clues…

A game like a movie
The developers have a clear goal: The new Indy-game shall give the feeling of sitting in the cinema, watching a new movie of the series. Not only the plot is designed to be really movie-like, also the realization of the story will be dealt this way. Therefore the famous film music from John Williams will be heard when the hero cracks his whip and beats up bad guys. But there will also be new tunes that are originally composed for the game. Camera angles, the player’s point of view, special shots during movement – all that is supposed to be as movie-like as possible for not ruining the illusion of a new cinema experience.
The action elements are particularly important. The player shall witness firsthand how Indy is making his moves and wins his fights. The developers are positive about the intuitional Wii controls, because they are easy to handle and the player moves naturally like he would do anyway.
Furthermore the game has to fulfill certain pretensions concerning graphics. High aims that are of course supervised by LucasArts tells lead designer Stephane Brochu. Anyhow it is astonishing that LucasArts is giving such an important project to an external company – the trust in the Canadians seems to be very high.

What the player can estimate
To hold the high pretensions concerning movie-style, there will be many reminiscences to kown characters from the existing Indy universe. The developer won’t tell right know who the player is to meet or who he is to hear about, but there will be encounters with beloved figures. In the cooperation mode there will even be the opportunity to play aside one of those characters. But the developer won’t tell this name too. But A2M hints that there will be a secret in the game that will not be too hard to unlock and that will bring fun especially to the fans of the old games. These guys really know how to raise anticipation.
And what has the player got to do to bring Indy closer to his goal? Surely what Indy is best at: Distinct beatings in sleazy bars, also as thrilling discovery tours trough subterranean ruins of long lost cultures. Narrow escapes from the foes belong to the game also as the typical Indiana Jones humor. Without that humor no movie or game could have worked. During development the team studied the movies to get a sense of what Indy would do and how he would do it.
One can be curious of what the team from Montreal will, by any chance, release this year. But it is certain that in the gaming market Indiana Jones is full of beans and you can’t tell his age.

Indy in the future
Much less is known about the possible future of the archeologist. After the last movie – wich was received ambivalent by critics as well as fans – there where insistent rumors about the big three soon sitting together to speak about a possible 5th movie. If the result would be an Idea that George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford would like, a 5th (and final) movie could be done. But if there are no good ideas the silver screen career of Indy would certainly be over. But that’s all rumors. It is more likely that Harrison Ford, who already turns 67 this year, finally put away the hat and whip. For the last script needed 17 years and Ford would be 84, a 5th adventure of the coolest treasure hunter is unlikely. Thus the future is the games, where Indy never gets old.

02-12-2009, 04:36 PM	#1274
tocksic IndyFan Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Germany Posts: 488	I sat down the past 3 hours and translated the Computerbild Spiele article. Again please excuse any bad grammar and typos: Article from Computerbild Spiele - March issue translated by tocksic aka 5IC Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings Mental Movie Clandestine resourceful developers work on the new “Indiana Jones” game. We were allowed to get a worldwide exclusive first look. Hat and whip – these are the trademarks of one of world’s most famous movie heroes: Indiana Jones. The archaeologist and daredevil took his audience to the most remote places on earth in search for mystical artifacts from the ancient world. Meanwhile it took him to Montreal, Canada. There the team of “A2M” produces “Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings”, the new adventure of the intrepid archaeologist. Contrary to colleague and rival Lara Croft, who presented her good-looking body lately in search for rare artifacts in a game on PC, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, Indy is going his own way: The creators of the game dig the Nintendo console Wii, because the control shall bring the ultimate Indy feeling and lets the player swing the whip by himself and knock out some bad guys. The game also will be released on PSP, DS and Playstation 2. The developers left it open if other versions might follow. A comprehensible step by LucasArts, if you take a look at the current console sales volume. Wii is the star in the USA, getting bought more often than Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 together. Nintendo DS is a success story and many millions of PS2s worldwide are still being used, legitimating new games for this old device. Anyhow graphics spoiled gamers have to deal with a few drawbacks. The plot from yesterday won’t get the graphics from tomorrow. Old friends, old foes Speaking of the plot: What will Indy be searching for in the new game? The makers looked carefully at the success story of the films and came to one conclusion: The artifacts of the Christian mythology made the best stories. Thus such an artifact is the main goal of Indy and his “old friends”, the Nazis. This time the man with the hat and the whip searches for the Staff of Kings, the very inconspicuous piece of wood which Moses used to part the Red Sea and for other miracles. Surely the Nazis won’t get far without proficient helper: It’s the archeologist Magnus Völler, once a university colleague of Indy who also studied under Charles Kingston, the mentor of our hero. The story begins in 1934 when Indy and Magnus run into each other at a dig site in the Sudan – Magnus already in company of German soldiers. Indy wins the race for an old Nubian relic, but this will have serious consequences… In 1939 Indy receives a cryptic message from his old friend Archie Tan, who lives in San Francisco’s Chinatown. When Indy arrives there, Archie is nowhere to be found and his shop is upside down. Indy finds out that his old rival Magnus is behind this and that maybe and old trace to the disappearance of Professor Kingston a few years ago is hot again. It leads to Panama where Indy not only meets the lovely but rigorous journalist Maggie O’Malley, who will from now on accompany Indy, but to notes from his old teacher who searched for the Staff of Kings. Further it goes to Istanbul where Kingston might has left other clues… A game like a movie The developers have a clear goal: The new Indy-game shall give the feeling of sitting in the cinema, watching a new movie of the series. Not only the plot is designed to be really movie-like, also the realization of the story will be dealt this way. Therefore the famous film music from John Williams will be heard when the hero cracks his whip and beats up bad guys. But there will also be new tunes that are originally composed for the game. Camera angles, the player’s point of view, special shots during movement – all that is supposed to be as movie-like as possible for not ruining the illusion of a new cinema experience. The action elements are particularly important. The player shall witness firsthand how Indy is making his moves and wins his fights. The developers are positive about the intuitional Wii controls, because they are easy to handle and the player moves naturally like he would do anyway. Furthermore the game has to fulfill certain pretensions concerning graphics. High aims that are of course supervised by LucasArts tells lead designer Stephane Brochu. Anyhow it is astonishing that LucasArts is giving such an important project to an external company – the trust in the Canadians seems to be very high. What the player can estimate To hold the high pretensions concerning movie-style, there will be many reminiscences to kown characters from the existing Indy universe. The developer won’t tell right know who the player is to meet or who he is to hear about, but there will be encounters with beloved figures. In the cooperation mode there will even be the opportunity to play aside one of those characters. But the developer won’t tell this name too. But A2M hints that there will be a secret in the game that will not be too hard to unlock and that will bring fun especially to the fans of the old games. These guys really know how to raise anticipation. And what has the player got to do to bring Indy closer to his goal? Surely what Indy is best at: Distinct beatings in sleazy bars, also as thrilling discovery tours trough subterranean ruins of long lost cultures. Narrow escapes from the foes belong to the game also as the typical Indiana Jones humor. Without that humor no movie or game could have worked. During development the team studied the movies to get a sense of what Indy would do and how he would do it. One can be curious of what the team from Montreal will, by any chance, release this year. But it is certain that in the gaming market Indiana Jones is full of beans and you can’t tell his age. Indy in the future Much less is known about the possible future of the archeologist. After the last movie – wich was received ambivalent by critics as well as fans – there where insistent rumors about the big three soon sitting together to speak about a possible 5th movie. If the result would be an Idea that George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford would like, a 5th (and final) movie could be done. But if there are no good ideas the silver screen career of Indy would certainly be over. But that’s all rumors. It is more likely that Harrison Ford, who already turns 67 this year, finally put away the hat and whip. For the last script needed 17 years and Ford would be 84, a 5th adventure of the coolest treasure hunter is unlikely. Thus the future is the games, where Indy never gets old.