Game Tech: Civilization VI heralds new era
Are we living in a Golden Age, or the Dark Ages? That all depends on perspective — even two neighbouring countries might be in very different stages of history. One society might be on the rise, the other plummeting into chaos, writes
In Civilization VI: Rise and Fall, developer Firaxis is trying to capture that sense of history’s ebb and flow. Unlike previous Civilization games, where it was possible to play a ‘perfect’ game and win by being the ‘best’ civilization from start to finish, Rise and Fall will attempt to bring some ups and downs to the process of global history.
As always, the goal of Civilization is to take a society from the Stone Age to the modern age and beyond.
Ordinarily, this means working through a ‘skill’ tree to unlock more learning and technology that allows you to get ahead of other, competing civilizations. You might chose to become a military superpower, with a focus on weapons and defence, or you might choose to tackle opposition with enlightenment or science.
In Rise and Fall, the addition of an ‘Ages’ system will make that process less straightforward. Depending on how you perform in each era, your civilization may fall into a Golden Age or the Dark Ages.
In the case of a Golden Age, your civilization will receive buffs and bonuses for the remainder of that era. In the case of a Dark Age, your borders might tighten, for example, but internal food production might increase.
The goal is not to make the Dark Age a negative, say the developers, but to make it a challenge with rewards. If you overcome a Dark Age with a high enough score, you enter a ‘Heroic Age’, with the highest buffs possible.
“Instead of just a march through history, straight progress all game, maybe with a few speed bumps, but always forward,” says producer Andrew Frederiksen, “what we’re trying to capture here is the ups and downs, sort of riding the waves through history that is so paramount when you look back at our own world.”
This rise and fall of societies is aptly reflected in the Civilization series itself, which has gone through plenty of ups and downs in its lifetime. On February 9, when the Rise and Fall expansion is released, we’ll learn if the series is entering its own Golden Age.
Nintendo entered a new era last year with the release of the Switch, but that doesn’t mean they’ve forgotten their simple roots.
The origins of Nintendo date back to simple cardboard hanafuda playing cards, which were used to play a variety of games.
The Nippon company is taking an experimental step backwards with the release of Labo for the Switch.
Labo is a series of cardboard accessories that can turn your switch into a variety of toys for young children to enjoy. The cardboard kit can turn into a fishing rod, piano, periscope and even a robot suit for the kids to wear.
Labo comes in two options: the Variety kit and Robo kit. In both cases, the cardboard kits needs to be constructed by hand and used in combination with the Nintendo Switch screen and joy-con controllers.
The idea is to teach kids the principles of engineering and physics — and create some cool toys in the process.
At roughly €70 per kit, Labo isn’t exactly cheap, but Nintendo’s stock jumped 4% on the announcement, so investors clearly aren’t worried. At least we won’t have to wait an age for Labo — it releases on April 27.
Finally, it seems like an age since rapper 50 Cent has been relevant, but he did make a video game 10 years ago and seems keen on doing another.
Speaking to publicise his new film Den of Thieves, ‘Fiddy’ said that he wanted to make a game that “let people do things they weren’t able to do” and would welcome the opportunity as long as the experience was ‘unique’ and ‘extreme’.
Fiddy’s previous big-budget game, Blood in the Sand, was released in 2009 received a decent response from critics.
The rapper himself starred in the game, in which Fiddy goes on a revenge mission after having all his cash stolen in a fictional war-torn country.
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