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Zoo Tycoon chooses first Community Challenge, Microsoft to donate $10,000 to tiger conservation
Sumatran tigers will be the first species to benefit from a partnership between Microsoft and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), wherein Microsoft donates $10,000 to a wildlife-oriented charity every time players of Zoo Tycoon complete a chosen Community Challenge. Developer Frontier also released the above dev diary detailing the studio's collaboration with the AZA, including how the studio studied real-life zoos to reproduce realistic animals, behavior and habitats in-game. Frontier also translated what they learned from the real world into the game's Zoopedia, a collection of facts about the animals players take care of. The more you know! [Image: Microsoft]
Endangered species get helping hand from Microsoft, Zoo Tycoon
Community challenges for Zoo Tycoon players will benefit more than just virtual animals, thanks to donations from Microsoft. Each month, a new challenge will be issued by Zoo Tycoon developer Frontier. When the challenge has been completed, Microsoft will donate $10,000 to whichever nonprofit organization the players have voted for. Each challenge is focused on a different endangered species, with the first round of voting underway. Players can vote for one of the three following challenges from the in-game community page: Adopt 1,000 komodo dragons in Zoo Tycoon and Microsoft and AZA will donate $10,000 to support the Komodo Survival Program's work with the Indonesian Government to protect this species. Release 1,000 rhinos to the wild in Zoo Tycoon and Microsoft and Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) will donate $10,000 to help protect and deter further poaching of rhino horns in Africa. Release 1,000 sumatran tigers into the wild in Zoo Tycoon and Microsoft and AZA will donate $10,000 to the Tiger Species Survival Program to help reduce the number of sumatran tigers killed, displaced or caught in snares. When voting closes on December 31, the winning challenge will begin.
Xbox One media overflow: Kinect Sports Rivals, Zoo Tycoon and more
Microsoft's Xbox One event was a veritable cornucopia of game reveals and trailers for next-gen releases, but apparently the time allotted wasn't enough to show every single trailer for all of the new games coming to both the Xbox One and Xbox 360. In addition to this trailer for Rare's Kinect Sports Rivals for Xbox One, looks at Starbreeze Studios' new Xbox 360 jam Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, Frontier's Xbox One iteration of Zoo Tycoon and Zoë Mode's Powerstar Golf are also available beyond the veil.
Report: Zoo Tycoon dev Blue Fang lays off dev staff
First Black Rock, then Red Fly, and now Blue Fang: a really depressing theme is presenting itself today. Blue Fang Games, developer of Zoo Tycoon and the Facebook Oregon Trail and Carmen Sandiego games, is in the process of laying off "the entirety of its development staff," according to a statement Gamasutra received from a source. Gamasutra's anonymous source said that the layoffs total around 15 people, similar to those that hit the company in 2009. The company is reportedly continuing to look for new work, but told the laid-off employees the odds are not good, and, as the source said, "it is more prudent to find new positions." Best of luck to all affected -- and stay away from companies with colors in their names for a while.
Blue Fang sinks teeth into former Looking Glass artist
Now, we don't want to come right out and say that game industry vet Alex Chouls has a zoo fetish, but he has sided with Blue Fang Games, the studio behind Zoo Tycoon, Zoo Tycoon 2 and, well, almost every game we can think of with 'zoo' in its title. The former Looking Glass 3D artist first joined the company shortly after the System Shock house turtled in 2000, and recently leapfrogged into a new role at Blue Fang as the studio's creative director. In his new post, Chouls will help steer the newly announced zoo sim World of Zoo for the Wii, work he expects to build on for future projects. After all, he otter-know.
Bury the Shovelware: Zoo Tycoon DS
Pedigree Based on the PC series of the same name, the Zoo Tycoon games are rooted in the business / construction simulation titles that proved to be very popular in the 1990s. These types of games include the SimCity series and its numerous spinoffs, Theme Park, and the Civilization series. These sorts of titles usually appeal to those who take gaming very seriously; perhaps you could say "connoisseurs" of gaming. Thus, a certain level of quality and depth is expected. Publisher THQ is neither fully innocent nor consistently guilty as a shovelware publisher. Developer Blue Fang Games is an interesting case in that the only games they've ever created are those in the Zoo Tycoon series. This game marks their first appearance on the DS, and one of only two games ever created for Nintendo's portable (the other being Zoo Tycoon 2 DS). It's worth noting that while neither of the two PC Zoo Tycoon titles were excessively praised nor bashed, they have won numerous awards relating to its family-friendly play. I can't vouch for the prestige of any of these awards, but it's always interesting to find a disconnect between critics and award organizations. The Critics Said ... Nintendo Power gave Zoo Tycoon the sole positive review. They claim that it "faithfully reproduces the ZT experience, from building exhibits and guest facilities to managing cash flow." I haven't played the original, but I can't imagine the series being this successful if all of the games are similar to this (more on that later). Statements made by other critics seem to fit the shovelware definition to a tee. A few snippets from the critics: "the forced or rushed feeling of this title," "tedious gameplay," "unwieldy controls," and "it will bore you into hatred."Game Informer pleasantly noted that the game is "about as much fun as giving an elephant a suppository." Gee ... a simple "I didn't like this game" would have worked just fine.
