Artoon's new game Blinx (Screens inside)

[Old Skool]

Posted by C&VG's

In a world exclusive we can reveal today that one of Microsoft's big announcements for E3 next week is a first-party game titled Blinx: The Time Sweeper. Few specifics are known of the title so far, although the game is character led: how does a manic-looking lynx (you see?)-like cat grab you?
From the images we've seen so far, the cat-like creature has white and ginger fur and wears goggles on his head, in almost exactly the same way as Jak from PS2's Jak & Daxter. He's wearing a blue anorak, has white gloves and appears to be holding some sort of alarm clock crossed with a gun. Or something.

From what we've been told the game's a platformer (well, kind of), but the identity of the development team behind the project is, as yet, unknown. However with Naoto Oshima, co-creator of Sonic and NiGHTS, at the helm this should be one of the biggest titles to watch out for at E3.



http://www.newtechnix.com/Webmasters/mickurt/Images/sim-blinx-0001.jpg
http://www.newtechnix.com/Webmasters/mickurt/Images/sim-blinx-0002.jpg
http://www.newtechnix.com/Webmasters/mickurt/Images/sim-blinx-0003.jpg
http://www.newtechnix.com/Webmasters/mickurt/Images/sim-blinx-0004.jpg
http://www.newtechnix.com/Webmasters/mickurt/Images/sim-blinx-0005.jpg
http://www.newtechnix.com/Webmasters/mickurt/Images/sim-blinx-0006.jpg
http://www.newtechnix.com/Webmasters/mickurt/Images/sim-blinx-0007.jpg
http://www.newtechnix.com/Webmasters/mickurt/Images/sim-blinx-0008.jpg

[Angrist]

Vacuum cleaners are VERY popular at the moment. ;)

Looks pretty, and if it's a Sega game I guess the gameplay will be ok too.

[Revival]

My conclusion:

Games with vacuum cleaners suck.. literally :D

[Tombor]

Its being made by Artoon (Pinobee). The lead designer worked on Nights though. Should be promising.

[Perfect Stu]

this game looks very unique and stylish...I am definately interested...the trailer of it at E3 was very intriguing...

[Old Skool]

Originally posted by Perfect Stu
this game looks very unique and stylish...I am definately interested...the trailer of it at E3 was very intriguing...

Yea I liked the bit when they stoped time and went walking in the water. Looks to be some thing new in a game must keep a look out for this game.

[Nine Inch Nail]

Awesome features in Blinx:

-40 huge interactive levels

-manipulate time -- pause, record, rewind, fast forward, and slow time

-the first true 4-D game

Let's hope Blinx turns out good, because the Xbox needs a good platformer...oh, and a good mascot too (sorry Munch)! :D

[Joeiss]

Originally posted by Biohazard


-the first true 4-D game




What the hell is a 4-D game?


:hmm:

[gekko]

Originally posted by Joeiss




What the hell is a 4-D game?


:hmm:

4D is a fake dimension they make up for advertising purposes, literally. The 4th dimension is supposed to be like moving through time, but it's real purpose is advertising.

Travel through time? Never heard of that idea before, except those 80 million ****ty movies that came out about it :D

I'll play it and see if it's any good, but they aren't convicing me with the idea of controlling time.

[Professor S]

Oh yeah, being able to do something in a console game that you've never ever been able to do before sounds completely dull to me also. Oh, and considering it was voted as one of the best games of E3 makes it sound even more uninteresting.





Please note the sarcasm.

[Nine Inch Nail]

Originally posted by The Strangler
Oh yeah, being able to do something in a console game that you've never ever been able to do before sounds completely dull to me also. Oh, and considering it was voted as one of the best games of E3 makes it sound even more uninteresting.





Please note the sarcasm. Exactly. The ability to control time in a videogame is something that has never been done before--yeah, that's not innovative. :rolleyes:

Blinx looks to be one of the most promising titles due for Xbox this year. :)

[Joeiss]

So basically, if I made a game stating that you could move buffalos for the whole game, it would be 4-D because it is a new idea?


:hmm:

[Perfect Stu]

I would consider time more of a dimension than moving buffalos :rolleyes:...besides, moving buffalos has already been done...don't you remember that part in Jak and Daxter? :p

And gekko, this is a new concept for videogames...so lighten up and btw, Back to the Future RULES!

And Blinx looks awesome...

[bobcat]

Yes Angrist, those Vaccuum cleaners do look kinda "cool" now ;)

Next we'll be seeing Klinx with a jet water type pack.

No but this game could be good............wait and c typea thing

[Nine Inch Nail]

I think having the ability to control time in a game is a little more innovative than moving buffalo in a game. :rolleyes:

[gekko]

Originally posted by The Strangler
Oh yeah, being able to do something in a console game that you've never ever been able to do before sounds completely dull to me also. Oh, and considering it was voted as one of the best games of E3 makes it sound even more uninteresting.





Please note the sarcasm.

Oh ya, raping someone in a game is something I've never done before, man I wish I could get my hands on Debby Does Dallas.

Please note the sarcasm.

[Nine Inch Nail]

Originally posted by gekko


Oh ya, raping someone in a game is something I've never done before, man I wish I could get my hands on Debby Does Dallas.

Please note the sarcasm. Damn, what is with you people? :confused: Moving buffalos...raping people. :rolleyes: The ability to control time is something that is actually intruiging/innovative.

BTW, gekko, all your dblns are belong to me doesn't make sense. Just drop the "are" in that sentence, and then it would correct. :wink:

[gekko]

You don't get it.

http://homepage.mac.com/gekko85/allyourbase.swf

[Nine Inch Nail]

Originally posted by gekko
You don't get it.

http://homepage.mac.com/gekko85/allyourbase.swf Oh I see. The people on that video don’t speak literally correct. So, it’s kind of a personal/insider type of thing, right? :wink:

BTW, what was that movie anyway? :confused:

[Bond]

Originally posted by Biohazard
Oh I see. The people on that video don’t speak literally correct. So, it’s kind of a personal/insider type of thing, right? :wink:

BTW, what was that movie anyway? :confused:
The movie was of a poorly translated videogame.

[Nine Inch Nail]

Originally posted by Bond

The movie was of a poorly translated videogame. I can tell. :wink: Whoever translated that game needs to go home and re-think their life. :roll:

[Perfect Stu]

Originally posted by gekko


Oh ya, raping someone in a game is something I've never done before, man I wish I could get my hands on Debby Does Dallas.

Please note the sarcasm.

take the sandpaper off your toilet seat already!!!

[bobcat]

Originally posted by gekko
You don't get it.

http://homepage.mac.com/gekko85/allyourbase.swf

Like I've seen the light!

[bobcat]

Originally posted by Bond

The movie was of a poorly translated videogame.

I don't think so. That was awesome. I nearly cried and the end when Cats disappeared.

:(

[gekko]

It is of an old Genesis game. Forgot the name.

[gekko]

I am being pressured by an anonymous source to tell you all that controlling time has been done before, therefore not making it really innovative.

[bobcat]

Originally posted by gekko
I am being pressured by an anonymous source to tell you all that controlling time has been done before, therefore not making it really innovative.

Where?? What game?

How can you control time?

[Shadow_Link]

*Cough*OcarinaofTime*Cough*MajorasMask*Cough*

By the way, I'm not the anonymous source Gekko talks of.

[bobcat]

Originally posted by Shadow_Link
*Cough*OcarinaofTime*Cough*MajorasMask*Cough*

By the way, I'm not the anonymous source Gekko talks of. That was at the back of my mind, I thought you were talking about a different method of controlling time. :unsure:

Coz some1 said it was 4d, I thought you control time while playing simultaneously or something. I dunno.

[Bond]

Originally posted by bobcat
That was at the back of my mind, I thought you were talking about a different method of controlling time. :unsure:

Coz some1 said it was 4d, I thought you control time while playing simultaneously or something. I dunno.
Yes, but Blinx sounds truly innovative. It's also putting the Xbox hard drive to good use:

"Actually control the flow of time, a feature only possible on Xbox. Record actions, play them back and have dual characters cooperate to complete challenges. Throw the world into slow motion while moving about in real-time, fast-forward to achieve goals more quickly, or even rewind the world to gain additional opportunities at completing challenges, opening hidden areas and more."

Also, did anyone notice that Microsoft completely dominated the 'Best Orignial Game' category?

http://www.e3awards.com


Best Original Game
Psychonauts
(Double Fine Productions/Microsoft for Xbox)
Tim Schafer is a man so creative that we’re almost inclined to kick him out of the gaming industry. Why? The bottom line is that he makes everyone else’s games look so damn derivative. In Psychonauts, Schafer has concocted a circus-like hodgepodge of zany characters and game environments to tell the story of Raz, a gifted little lad who must have just missed the application deadline to Professor Xavier’s school for the gifted. As a result, Raz is apparently shipped off to psychic summer camp to develop his psychic abilities, in the hopes that he one day might become a Psychonaut. At psychic summer camp, psychic-wannabe Raz can earn special psychic merit badges, one of we hope might be a badge that decrees a moratorium on the use of the word psychic in the game. But seriously, things get interesting when Raz gets to jump into the minds of 16 individuals at the nearby insane asylum, and in turn use his psychic abilities like firestarting and invisibility to defeat some real inner-demons. The third person action adventure gameplay is a departure from Schafer’s previous work, but his trademark originality is still here in spades.

- Geoff Keighley, Associate Chairman, Game Critics Awards
Editor-in-Chief, GameSlice

Runner-up:
Blinx: The Time Sweeper (Artoon/Microsoft for Xbox)


That's a good thing, the videogame industry needs more original titles.

[Professor S]

Gekko, you compared contolling time to rape.

Please remove the pole from your butt.

[Revival]

Originally posted by The Strangler
Please remove the pole from your butt.
I believe it's a large stick, not a pole :sneaky:

Just kidding gekko.. heh.. you don't have anything up your ass... :)

[gekko]

Originally posted by The Strangler
Gekko, you compared contolling time to rape.

Please remove the pole from your butt.

A rape simulator would be far more innovative than Blinx.

[Bond]

Originally posted by gekko


A rape simulator would be far more innovative than Blinx.
Now lets keep it clean guys. Blinx is fairly innovative and original, you can't deny that.

[gekko]

Fairly innovative, yes, but not in the sense that people make it out to be. "My god this has never been done before, games will never be the same, the world would end without Blinx."

Time control has been done before, vacuums have been done before. It's all just a matter of how they are done. It's far from the most original thing I've ever seen.

[Bond]

Originally posted by gekko
Fairly innovative, yes, but not in the sense that people make it out to be. "My god this has never been done before, games will never be the same, the world would end without Blinx."

Time control has been done before, vacuums have been done before. It's all just a matter of how they are done. It's far from the most original thing I've ever seen.
Yes. But using the hard drive in such a way has never been done before. So in that respect it is innovative.

[Professor S]

Gekko, that was possibly one of the more disturbing comments I've ever read on this forum, not to mention competely tasteless and disgusting.

There is nothing funny or innovative about rape. At all.

[Perfect Stu]

omg gekko...

WTF IS YOUR PROBLEM?!?!

I'm sure you'd love to be virtually raping young women, wouldn't you? WTF is that?

Stop drinking urine, it's not good for you...

edit: and I completely agree with the strangler...that's just sick man...dammit...

[gekko]

Originally posted by The Strangler
Gekko, that was possibly one of the more disturbing comments I've ever read on this forum, not to mention competely tasteless and disgusting.

There is nothing funny or innovative about rape. At all. Originally posted by Perfect Stu
omg gekko...

WTF IS YOUR PROBLEM?!?!

I'm sure you'd love to be virtually raping young women, wouldn't you? WTF is that?

Stop drinking urine, it's not good for you...

edit: and I completely agree with the strangler...that's just sick man...dammit...

Have you ever wondered how far less interesting life would become if we educated our children?

[Shadow_Link]

Guys... Check a dictionary, there is more that one meaning to the word rape... 'Maybe' Gekko meant to use it in another context...

[Bond]

rape2 Pronunciation Key (rp)
n.
A European plant (Brassica napus) of the mustard family, cultivated as fodder and for its seed that yields a valuable oil.

This definition wouldn't fit in the way gekko used the word 'rape.'


rape3 Pronunciation Key (rp)
n.
The refuse of grapes left after the extraction of the juice in winemaking.

Um, yeah... that might work.


rape

\Rape\, n. [Akin to rap to snatch, but confused with L. rapere. See Rap to snatch.] 1. The act of seizing and carrying away by force; violent seizure; robbery.

I guess you could have a robbery simulator.

Keep in mind these definitions of rape are extremely rare. And we all know which definition gekko used.

[Shadow_Link]

Originally posted by Bond

This definition wouldn't fit in the way gekko used the word 'rape.'


Um, yeah... that might work.


I guess you could have a robbery simulator.

Keep in mind these definitions of rape are extremely rare. And we all know which definition gekko used.

I did say 'Maybe', but anyway...

[bobcat]

Originally posted by Bond

This definition wouldn't fit in the way gekko used the word 'rape.'


Um, yeah... that might work.


I guess you could have a robbery simulator.

Keep in mind these definitions of rape are extremely rare. And we all know which definition gekko used. :rofl:

So you can rape a grape?

[Sega fan]

Originally posted by bobcat
:rofl:

So you can rape a grape?

yeah... that's sounds like a good idea.:Poke:

Anybody who rapes a woman is a low life loser who can't can't get a woman in real life.

Anybody who wants to see a woman raped, has a loosen screw in his head that needs to be tightened.

[gekko]

Originally posted by Biohazard
-the first true 4-D game

Bringing up a topic I should've let die, I agree. But I have found an extremely interesting post, which basicaly goes against Blinx being a true 4D game. You just assume being able to control time is being true 4D, when in fact, from what I can tell, it's not.

Take a look of this post. Very interesting. However, I'm warning you, if you're not pure nerd, stay far far away:

http://boards.ign.com/message.asp?topic=15898382&replies=45

[Mushlafa]

Originally posted by gekko


Bringing up a topic I should've let die, I agree. But I have found an extremely interesting post, which basicaly goes against Blinx being a true 4D game. You just assume being able to control time is being true 4D, when in fact, from what I can tell, it's not.

Take a look of this post. Very interesting. However, I'm warning you, if you're not pure nerd, stay far far away:

http://boards.ign.com/message.asp?topic=15898382&replies=45

You must be an ign insider to access this page :rolleyes:

[gekko]

Get joining. Err... I'll post some of it here.

Everyone knows about 3D theory. Height, width, and depth are the defining characteristics of objects in our everyday lives. But then, we often here of a fourth dimension, time.

Let's suppose you wish to calculate how much volume a gas will occupy as it is poured into an object at an ever-decreasing rate. When you set up the calculus for such an equation, there are 4 major variables: height, length, width, and time. The same occurs in many problems. This is why time has become casually referred to as the fourth dimension.

Also:

Area = Width x Length
Length = Velocity x Time

Einsteine himself proposed that time was a fourth dimension at one point -- I don't recall if he stuck to that claim or not.

In physics, time is a crucial concept that is treated linearly, and works much like the three dimensions. There are (or at least were) plenty or reasons to refer to time as the fourth dimension, but the truth is that it isn't, and can't be. It isn't constant.


Discounting of Time:
Time isn't a defining characteristic, wheras an objects length in a particular dimension is. Let's suppose that you have two clocks, both of wich tell time perfectly. If you synchronize them, send one around the globe a few times (increase it's velocity), then check the times, the clocks will not read the same time any more. Time is relative -- yup, Einsteins theory of relativity deals with all that.

If you take two pencils, move one at the speed of light for a little while, then check them, they will still be the same length.

Intro to fourth spatial dimension:
OK, so there's a fourth spatial dimension, sure whatever, right? Well the proof is all mathematical mumbo jumbo that is far beyond what I understand or care about, but I can provide some examples of how to look at 4D, and how it may effect us.

Image a 2D world. Everything in this world moves in just 2 dimensions, we'll call it flatland. People in flatland can only percieve 2 dimensions: length and depth (no width). If you were to shove a pencil through their world, the would only see the cross-section of it (and only the outer edge at that, they wouldn't be able to tell if it was solid or a ring).

Just as baffled as the would be at something the could somehow have "width," the notion of something having space in a 4th dimension is ludicrous to us. Mathematical theory and physics both seem to back it up, though.

I'm going to stop there, as most of you probably already think I'm insane. If physics and/or hyperspace theory interests you, there is a great book called "Hyperspace," I believe that Author is Michio Kaku. It's a great read, and doesn't get all into math or physics.
Edit:His website. (http://www.mkaku.org/hyper_toe.htm)


So what the hell does all this have to do with gaming? I'm not going to start flaming every person that called time the fourth dimension, that'd be setting myself up for pain.

But for those of us that at least know of these theories -- even if you don't buy into them -- I just ask that you specify what you mean when you say 4D, time or space.

If you've made it this far, do youself a favor and pick up the book, you'll love it. Oh, and you're officially a geek.

Thanks for reading.

--Fidd

Wow, I'm not alone in my recognition that TIME is NOT under ANY circumstances the 4th dimension.

It is a completely independent entity.

It is not dependent on the other dimensions....the other dimensions are all defined using each other for assistance, without one it is pointless trying to define the others.....

Anyway, since it is completely independent of space, time cannot by definition be the 4th dimension. Because we can define our existence using time and space one is inclined to make the assumption that they are related while in fact, as you said, time is RELATIVE.

More of an idea than a fact if you will....

You guys are acting as if the definition of the 4th dimension is open to interpritation. Its not. I may be a bit nebulous, because we cannot experience it like we can with the three other space dimensions, but its identity is just as solid.

Mathematicians actually have built computer models that replicate 4D movements, via the 4D rotation of a "hypercube", or 4D cube.

Imagine we are a 2D species trying to comprehend the third dimension. Our brains simply cannot process this 3D information, but what we CAN do is study the 2D "Shadows" of a cube. Whenever we look at a computer monitor or a geometry textbook, we are extracting 3D information from a 2D medium. Therefore, it is possibly for our theoretical 2D minds to study 3D structure.

The same principal can be applied to our world. We can study 3D Models of 4D hypercube "shadows".

Now, this begs the question, can actual 4D engines be effective used in games?

It would probably baffle the player at first, but if we gave them 4D control of a hypercube based object, it might be possible for them to gain an understanding about how these objects behave.

It would probably be a bit too odd for an entire game, but I think it might have some potential as a minigame, or subgame (like, say, the Chocobo game from FFIX). It may be worth a try.

Implementation wold be difficult, however. Controls must be programmed for the new axis, which may be difficult to effectively incorporate with stardard conrtol inputs (but its still feasible.)

Also, the physical makeup of the objects would be different. They would have to be made up of something above polygons ("superpolygons" maybe? Im not sure if they have a name already or not...) In any even, programming, these structural and behavioral changes will be difficult to say the least. Programmers will be working blind, trusting their math, to construct things that they cannot see or touch or even imagine. Even if these massive programming hurdles were to be overcome, the hardware may not be able to facilitate this type of madness untill the next generation.

Just some more things for you guys to think about.

Why is it that people ignore my post? I'm repeating over and over there is already an existing game with the definite use of a 4th spatial dimension.

Also, it's almost obvious we can't control the 4th dimension directly, at least not yet. The limit is the controller here. Think of it. A joystick is barely able to control 2D. There's literally no device able to control all 3 dimensions, unless you can name me a single useable control that could handle Descent, a game that actually used all 3 dimemsions (rotate and move along all three dimensions, unlike FPS, which limit your movement a lot). So we have practically no controller capable of 4 dimensions. That's why the 4th dimension will most likely be done within the game, like with "gates" or similar.

The "hyperpolygons" barely make sense to me. Especially since no graphics card could handle a 4D vertex. In the example of Soul Reaver they reduced the 4D space to a "temporary 3D space", and these 3 dimensions are handled normally by the graphics card. This sounds like a reasonable approach. First you "project" the fourth dimension on a 3D space, and what's left is handled by the graphics card.

"When asked about a fourth dimension, people for some reason remain thinking in coordinate terms."

By definition that IS a dimension.

Are we talking pointless physical rambling here, or are we talking exact (math) definitions?

Math is the science that invented "Dimensions", every other science (including physics) is just (ab)using it.

The guy who wrote that 4D array is kinda right, by definition the 4th dimension is like the three others.

The "coordinate" is kinda wrong description for a dimension, since a coordinate is a number, no dimension and nothing. It's more like a "coefficent of a base dimension". For example the point [1,0] is 1 unit in x-direction from zero away, the point [2,0] is two units in x-direction from zero away. 1 and 2 are both just numbers, no dimensions.

Since we're talking about the "expansion of 3D" we need to look at the definition of 3D space. Again, I am not into relative physics rambling, I go by the definitions that coined the term dimension.
You are referring to the physical space here. The physical space has a math definition though. When we talk about 3D space, we always talk about a right angled, euclidic coordinate system with 3 axes/dimensions.
This means:
I) Every dimension is linear and can be represented by a vector/arrow
II) Every dimension is linear independent, that means it can't be created out of the other dimensions.
III) Every dimension is vertical to all other dimensions. This is also because of point II
Now we can create the mathematic definition of a 4D space.
You start with one dimension (vector/arrow) and add a second in a right angle to it. The result is like two connected edges of a square.
Now we add a third dimension. By definition again a straight arrow, in the right angle to all other dimensions. The only way to do it is, making it stick out of the square vertical. the three dimensions now describe three connected edges of a cube, each pointing into a different direction.

Again, I can't stress this often enough, since this point has been missed in lots of posts before: We are mathematical here. There's no physics involved. Math defined the dimensions, the physics are only abusing it.

As I said, we have three dimensions now. By definition the fourth is added as arrow, in the right angle to all other (3) dimensions. You won't be able to do this in a model, and the reason is our perception. Since this is already physics we can't continue there.

But we still have the definition from up there. Even though we can't visualize this 4D system, it is defined, so we can calculate with it.

Ok, now we have a correctly defined eucledian, right angled 4D system, and the task is now to apply this to reality somehow. All four dimensions look the same, by definition. The fourth is nothing special, just like a possible 5th, 6th, 7th etc.
Since, by physics definition the first 3 are spatial dimensions, the 4th has to be spatial as well. The definition doesn't allow the fourth dimension to be a "special case".
Of course you can project time on a timeline, and this way create a "4th dimension" when you visualize stuff. However this contradicts the definition of the 4D system, so what you have is no 4D system then.

I'm lacking pictures here. It's easier to show and describe with pictures, but I hope you get the idea.
Don't get lost in physical ramblings. There is a clear and unequivocal definition of dimension, space and such things. Learn to handle these, before you go the next step and try to apply it to physics.

Like I said, nerdy. But it brings back the whole point about advertising Blinx as a true 4D game. Is Blinx really a "true 4D game," I hight doubt it, it's an marketing phrase.

[Jonbo298]

*Passes out trying to read the whole thing and frying my brain thinking about the 4th dimension*

[Professor S]

DEAR GOD WHO CARES!?!?! You guys are arguing over possibly the DUMBEST topic I've ever read.

Its a stupid tag line and the best way to try and explain what the added gameplay in Blinx is. I really doubt that MS would like it if Stephen Hawking had to write their marketing copy so that the physics community won't get their panties in a bunch.