The-Path-of-Go
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Interview: The Path of Go developers (XBLA)
Nothing says intelligent, timeless strategy like Xbox Live Arcade, right? The Path of Go producer Joaquin Quiñonero Candela is determined to stop people from guffawing at that line when his team introduces this ancient Chinese tactical game to the realm of thumbsticks later this year. Developing Go is a very difficult undertaking, because it has more possible moves than Chess, on the order of 10174. Take that, Deep Blue! Gameplay also involves strange concepts like honor, and a lack of teabagging, which is hard to foist on the gaming community. However, we spent a few moment with the tutorial, and actually learned how Go works for the first time, and promptly had our ass kicked. So they did something right. We sat down with producer Joaquin and programmer Markus Jost at GDC this year to talk about the game, that the process was like, the innovative "Play By Message" feature, and how it was all born out of herd of sheep and a German Shepherd. Read on for the full interview.%Gallery-87790%
Hands-on: The Path of Go (XBLA)
Ready to frustrate yourself forever? Learn the game of Go. It's an ancient Chinese game that's over four thousand years old, and games can last up to 16 hours in tournaments. Sounds just perfect for an adaptation into the frenetic world of video games, right?! Well, your wish is granted. The Path of Go or How We Came Up With A Proprietary Name For The Public Domain Game of Go is being developed in-house by Microsoft at the likewise excitingly named Microsoft Research Cambridge division. We played the game briefly at GDC, and it's actually very robust. It includes a tutorial where your avatar has some faux back and forth dialogue with an ancient Go master, in which he really does teach you the game. I tried reading an old instruction manual for a set of Go I found at a thrift shop once, and was so confused by terms like "ko" and proper stone placement that I just re-thrifted the set. Now, I'm ready to take on Russell Crowe in A Beautiful Mind and kick his ass. Additionally, the game features single player or two player both locally and through Xbox Live, multiple backgrounds, and full 3D environments where you can control the camera. There's also an actual story mode in here, where you learn the nuances of the game in "beat the situation" scenarios while heading down a path. The ... wait for it ... Path of Go. %Gallery-87790%
