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Interview: Mystery Case Files: Dire Grove's Adrian Woods on the game's use of live-action FMV
Last month, developer Big Fish Games released the latest game in its hidden-object, casual mystery series Mystery Case Files. Dire Grove features something rather unexpected for a game released in 2009: full-motion video. As a selling point! The game sets you into the investigation of four graduate students who disappear in the spooky town of Dire Grove one night. Along the way, video sequences will help illuminate the events. Fascinated by the bold decision to bring in live actors for the latest iteration of a usually all hand-drawn series (and a game that will retail for seven dollars when the Standard Edition launches this month -- the Collector's Edition is available now for $20), we spoke to game designer Adrian Woods about the game and the somewhat anachronistic use of FMV.
SXSW 2009: 'Funologists' and unorthodox research methods
In the panel "Funologists Live & In Person: Guerrilla Game Research," a group of experts took turns explaining methods for researching user experience in games that goes in some way beyond the normal focus groups and QA cycle. The often ad-hoc methods provide valuable data about gameplay at a fraction of the budget of most data gathering exercises. And sometimes they involve becoming a frog.
Fanswag: Mystery Case Files goes to ...
Our latest giveaway has concluded and that means it's time we picked a winner. Who's walking away with a free copy of Mystery Case Files: Millionheir? It's none other than: Hoshi, who digs the Phoenix Wright series Congratulations to Hoshi. We wish you all better luck next time and thank you for reading. Keep you eyes peeled to DS Fanboy for our next giveaway, which will start up shortly.%Gallery-26089%
Reminder: Millionheir is up for grabs
Do you enjoy scavenger hunts? Free games? Well, we have you covered on both fronts, as today is the last day for our latest game giveaway featuring Mystery Case Files: Millionheir. What do you have to do to enter? Simply head on over to the original contest post right here and get to entering. Best of luck to you all!%Gallery-26089%
The DS Life / Promotional Consideration: Leopard print ad
Yes, two columns for the price of one! The price, of course, being nothing.This week's installment of The DS Life / Promotional Consideration looks at an advertisement for Mystery Case Files: Millionheir that ran in several "mainstream" publications like celebrity gossip magazines In Touch Weekly and Us Weekly. The print piece features Ugly Betty's America Ferrera and sub-Saharan Africa's leopard. Surprisingly, the latter doesn't maul the former, despite the ESRB's "violent references" warning.
Fanswag: Mystery Case Files: Millionheir
That's right, folks! We're giving away one copy of Mystery Case Files: Millionheir (valued at $20)! What can you do to be entered for a chance at this To enter, simply leave a comment between now and Sunday, October 12th at 11:59PM ET, telling us what your favorite murder mystery is. It can be a book, a play or even the movie Clue. Just tell us! You can leave one comment per day. We'll select a winner the following day via random drawing. There are a few things you should know before entering. Entrants must be current and legal residents of the United States or Canada (excluding Quebec) and at least 18 years of age or older. Read up on the rest of the official rules right here.%Gallery-26089%
DS Fanboy Review: Mystery Case Files: Millionheir
Back when I got my hands on Mystery Case Files: Millionheir at E3, I pretty much knew what the final product was going to be. After having several days to play the title, I'm comfortable saying that the game came out just as I thought it would. It's a fair game, but the gameplay can become stagnant fairly easily, and is really only for the younger gamers or folks who love those Where's Waldo books.%Gallery-26089%
DS releases for the week of September 8th
There's just one thing to say about this week's lineup of DS releases: wow. Spore Creatures and a host of games to suit any taste here in the States, and internationally, you've got Dragon Quest IV and then Pokémon Platinum in Japan. This could be one of those legendary weeks that threatens to empty (and then devour) your wallet ... and to think, we've not even entered the holiday season yet. Hell's Kitchen Lock's Quest Mazes of Fate DS Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir The Price is Right Spore Creatures Viva Pinata: Pocket Paradise
MillionHeir is a poor man's Layton
The concerns we voiced about Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir after playing it at E3 have not been assuaged by the latest videos for the game. While we were hoping for a puzzle-based adventure in the vein of Level 5's brilliant Professor Layton and the Curious Village, MillionHeir won't be that title. By relying mainly on one type of puzzle -- the "Where's Waldo?" variety where the player has to find objects in an elaborately painted scene -- the game already looks like it will lack serious depth. We don't really hold it against developer Big Fish Games; this was obviously made with younger gamers in mind, and not for us. Shame.The bright side of all this: now we want to play Layton again. Locate and go through the post break below for a MillionHeir developer walkthrough and more footage.%Gallery-26089%
E308: DS Fanboy hands-on with MillionHeir
MillionHeir is a very simple game. Sure, it has an overall story to it, but the meat and potatoes of the game has you staring at a large painting for several minutes, locating objects in the environment housed on a handy list. And, true to the Where's Waldo formula, finding these objects is not easy.%Gallery-26089%
E308: MillionHeir inherits new media
The dual announcement of Kirby Super Star Ultra and Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir was a pleasant surprise, and after Kirby had a hot injection of goodies, the mysterious heirs decided they wanted a piece of the action too. Hey when in Rome -- or in this case, E3.The trailer is suitable atmospheric, ensuring you won't feel left out of the ... mystery. It demonstrates a number of standard jigsaw and tile puzzles, along with a bit of pixel clue hunting. For a Mystery Case Files experience with less movement but more detail, check out the new round of screens in the gallery below. After perusing the updated Nintendo release list, it seems MillionHeir is still right on target for the original September 8th launch. Hooray and success for all -- we know that the DS handles adventure games extremely well.%Gallery-26089%
MillionHeir breaks out the puns
French site Wiiz has several screenshots of Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir, Big Fish Games' new detective adventure game and leading candidate for most groan-worthy pun-based title of 2008.As we know next to nothing about the game (typically for a Nintendo-published title, little has been revealed, despite its release date of September 8th being really close), these allowed us to indulge in some detective work of our own. Grabbing our deerstalker and magnifying glass, we discovered that the game's shameless punnery extends to the characters (see: Cole Minor, a gem prospector), and that the DS's microphone will come into use. Whether you're for or against implementing the mic in games, it doesn't look as though developers are ready to give up on it yet.Check past the break for more shots.
DS library plumps up before E3: Kirby and MillionHeir
Nintendo is proudly boasting that it won't be waiting until E3 to reveal some of their biggest upcoming games. The new DS announcements for today are Kirby Super Star Ultra and Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir, both with new screens in the galleries below!As a remake of the original SNES favorite, KSSU will use the touch screen to breathe new life into the existing mini-game compilation. Yeah, if the DS does anything well, it's mini-games. It'll be a totally revamped experience, with new Revenge of the King and Meta Knight Ultra modes in the works, including local wireless play. Kirby has done everything right so far on the DS, so we should expect greatness from the little pink blob on September 29th.<insert witty segue here>Yes, yes -- another mystery adventure game is on the way in the form of MillionHeir. Get over that delightful play on words, and check out some of the previous games in the Mystery Case Files range. The DS entry will be a "painted scene" point-and-click adventure, where a cluey detective needs to find the rightful heir to a fortune. It seems like the standard pixel-hunt for inventory items and evidence -- but a multiplayer mode is also included, which is a pretty nifty addition for an adventure game. MillionHeir hits the stores on September 8th.%Gallery-8402%%Gallery-26089%[Via press release]
