Othello
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A really bad approach to Reversi on the iPhone
Reversi, sometimes known under the trade name Othello is a really terrific board game. The game goes back to at least 1888, and is said with some truth that it takes a few minutes to learn but a lifetime to master. Reversi has been very popular as a computer game for many years. In most versions you can play another human, or play against the computer. It seems popular among Mac enthusiasts, and Ted Landau, who created and oversees the venerable MacFixit web site is a one time National Champion of the game, and came in 3rd in the World Championships in 1984. Go Ted! The iPhone/ iPod touch has had many Othello/Reversi games available. Some play OK, some do fairly well, but doing quality artificial intelligence on a phone is no small challenge.That brings me to the app at hand, called ReversiSister [no App Store link yet], from Japanese game authors DigiDock. To call it a new approach to the game would be an understatement. As you play, music blares in the background, while an animated cheerleader shouts at you. As Reversi is a game that takes concentration, I can't imagine why on earth someone would think this is a smart approach to game design. On top of that, the game does not play very well, and in my first game the app crashed near the end so I don't know who won, but I was ahead when the game went south.You can turn down the sound and the irritating cheerleader, but that really doesn't improve the game play, and even if the cheerleader is turned off you can still see her waving her arms around.There are some pretty fair Reversi games at the app store, including Morocco, Reversi and Black and White, but Ted Landau, who plays far better than I has looked at most of them and thinks they are all pretty poor. Well, good or bad there is nothing worse than ReversiSister. It's loud, irritating, plays badly and crashes every so often. I'd give you the link to the game, but it's not yet listed in the US App Store. That's probably a good thing, but watch for it if you are a masochist. Here's a link to a YouTube video of the game play. Consider yourself warned. The game is going to sell for $0.99US. Here's a collection of screen grabs: %Gallery-50291%
Fawkner talks up Neopets
Steve Fawkner, the CEO of Infinite Interactive, chats a bit about the recently announced Neopets and some of its features in the video above. Neopets takes the game Othello (also known as Reversi in some circles) and spruces it up a bit with magical spells and things of that nature, while also adding an adventure storyline. This may not excite some of you, but we still have fond memories of 7up's Spot: The Video Game, which showed us that Othello can be awesome in the right circumstances.Fawkner also claims that if you play just one game, you'll be hooked. Since Infinite Interactive gave us Puzzle Quest, a title that people had big doubts about until they realized it was video game crack (the DS version, at least), we're inclined to see if Neopets can live up to Fawkner's promise -- even if we still think the tie-in with the Neopets franchise is just weird. Gallery: Neopets Puzzle Adventure
Othello ... with a story mode!
Othello de Othello DS is notable for more than just the fact that two of the four words in its title are "Othello." It also features a story mode! No details on the story have been released yet, but we can see from screenshots that there's an RPG-like town for your (quite ugly) character to traverse. Hey, it worked for Puzzle Quest! Being a DS game, Othello de Othello DS also features a training mode, designed to test your knowledge of the game. The "Jibun no Jitsuryoku Check" ("Your Own Ability Check") features 150 questions about the rules and history of Othello.
Othello - the World of Warcraft Way
OldeSchooleNews brings us this interesting example of fantasy worlds colliding - when they act out an abridged version of Shakespeare's Othello entirely in World of Warcraft. While the voice-work is a bit on the quiet side, the video is well put together. While I've seen quite a few stories told within the framework of WoW machinima, this is the first classic re-set in Azeroth (at least to my knowledge).
