http://www.1up.com/do/gameOverview?cId=3168563
http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3168874&p=37
Quote:
| Fat Princess from Sony and Darkstar Industries is a PSN downloadable game in which players must battle against another team to rescue the princess who is captured. However, the captors have been fattening up the princess by constantly feeding her and players will need much of their team to carry her back. |
http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3168874&p=37
Quote:
Previews: Fat Princess Thin is out. You're reading an E3 2008 preview, which we've broken into three sections to make it easy to sift through during this week of convention madness. Check out E3.1UP.COM for all (meaning words, screens, and videos) of our E3 2008 coverage.What's the game about?: Although it can't best Zipper Interactive's Massive Action Game in the race for E3's most awkwardly obvious game title, Darkstar's Fat Princess matter-of-factly embraces its sick obsession with obese royalty. The titular princess acts as a flag in a madcap reinterpretation of capture-the-flag that pits two 16-player squads (each with their own castle and pampered princess) in an all-out war to capture the opposing side's increasingly hefty royalty. What's new for E3?: Fat Princess made its debut here at the show, managing to stand out amid a diverse crowd of new PlayStation Network fare with its bizarre juxtaposition of cuddly cartoon-shaded graphics, free-flowing gore, and comically engorged princesses. It's a genre hybrid that mixes elements of old-fashioned top-down action-RPGs, real-time strategy games, and class-based online shooters into something truly bizarre and instantly engaging. Whether you're playing solo (with the aid of A.I.-controlled buddies) or with real folks online, you arrive on the battlefield as a squatty little soldier tasked with protecting your princess while attempting to kidnap that of your enemy. Your princess isn't so hefty at the battle's outset, but you can fatten her up (making it much harder for your foes to lug her across the battlefield) by feeding her pastries scattered around the map. A uniquely fluid class system gives this seemingly simple fatty-carrying gameplay surprising depth -- at any time during the fight, you can pick up one of four different hats to assume a different job. Swordsmen serve as the basic grunts by valiantly hacking, slashing, and dodging on the front lines, and they can amass a variety of different weapons. Mages master various elemental spells that are effective against larger groups of enemies, while Priests can heal allies, buff swordsmen (much like the medic and machine gunner relationship in Team Fortress 2), and curse foes. And perhaps most importantly, the Builder can harvest resources around the map to construct new buildings, barricades, and bridges. The Builder will even have a progressive technology tree that eventually leads to siege cannons and catapults. Darkstar promises 10 maps in the final game, and the one on display here at E3 seemed appropriately large (and symmetrical, eliminating any unfair side advantage) with several hidden warp portals. And although Capture the Princess clearly stands as the game's signature mode, expect additional game types such as Team Deathmatch, Thwart the Invasion (a land-grab variant), and a collection of wacky Medieval Games minigame competitions. What's our take?: Frankly, it was love at first sight. Fat Princess' whimsical visuals and oddball humor draw you in, but it's the creative approach to traditional multiplayer gaming that really impresses. Its initial pick-up-and-play simplicity gives way to a far deeper experience (if you so choose), and the potential for real community fostering around this title seems immense. Darkstar is already talking about plans for substantial downloadable content after the game's release. Really, the game's only real misstep appears to be the questionable decision to forgo voice chat in favor of a menu of selectable text messages. Apparently, this is a philosophical decision intended to ensure the purity of the online experience...but after I kept harping on how outdated and inefficient the system seems, the developers said that they're open to implementing voice chat if the public felt it necessary. Public at large, take that as a cue: Demand voice chat in Fat Princess! |
Quote:
| Move Over GTA4: Fat Princess is the Next Controversial Game Some feminists upset over Fat Princess's play on women and obesity. By Shawn Sines, 08/03/2008  The next big controversial game to have special interest groups up in arms may come as a surprise: It's none other than PlayStation Network downloadable title Fat Princess. Some feminists have taken offense to the cute little capture-the-flag-style game and are now vehemently condemning it.Melissa McEwan sends a message to Sony on her Shakesville blog (via Finding Dulcinea), saying she's "positively thrilled to see such unyielding dedication to creating a new generation of fat-hating, heteronormative [jerks]." "Mighty Ponygirl" of the Feminist Gamers blog at least offers a constructive suggestion for an alternative strategy to the game: Not all females are taking extreme stances on Fat Princess. Abby McVay defends the game on SlashGear, arguing that the feminist bloggers are overreacting: Considering I have a house full of females at my disposal, I polled them to see if the idea behind Fat Princess got their knickers in a twist. Aside from my sister-in-law snickering, "My first thought was that they were fattening her up to eat her for dinner ala 'To Serve Man'," the general consensus is that it sounds like a fun little game. By the way, not one of them was shocked that eating too much cake could make you fat. |
Quote:
Previews Fat Princess' lead designer talks about the name, the gameplay mechanics, and which is better: cake or pie? We wish we were present during the pitch meeting for Fat Princess, because A) it would have been great to see the suits' reaction to said pitch, and B) we'd want to give kudos to the same suits that greenlit the game. Think of it as a genre-combining capture-the-flag game where the flag is a chubby heiress. We recently caught up with Titan Studios creative director/lead designer Craig Leigh, and got him talking about the name, the teamplay mechanics, and most important of all, his choice in the eternal cake versus pie debate. 1UP: You guys had to have been at least somewhat surprised at the hugely positive response the first time Sony showed the game. Who came up with the awesome name? And hopefully it's staying, despite some complaints. Craig Leigh: The initial response was truly amazing. It was rewarding for the team to receive positive feedback from the press and players so early in development. It's always great to hear that players want to play the games that we want to make. We look forward to showing everyone more of the game in the coming weeks and months, as people have seen only a small portion of the content. As to the name, it came from Sony early in development. Everyone latched on to the humor of the Princess mechanic, and would refer to the prototype as "that Fat Princess Game." Will the game be called "Fat Princess" at release? Of course it will; you don't need to worry about that.  Click the image above to check out all Fat Princess screens.1UP: How did the concept come about? Was there a specific impetus or influence behind it? The closest I can think of is seeing all the tiny bugs carrying the enormous fat brainbug in Starship Troopers. CL: As a team, we wanted to focus on creating a fast, frantic, and fun multiplayer experience. We liked the emerging downloadable games medium on consoles, and thought it would be great to create something a little less traditional. We decided on the theme early on. We loved the idea of 32 players besieging enemy castles to rescue a Princess in fun and hilarious ways. A few concept images later, everything just clicked. The cartoon art style was locked, and the rest of the game design came together naturally. The original concept images inspired the hat-based class mechanic, the attributes of the different classes, feeding the Princess, and resource collection for castle upgrades. Fat Princess is about picking up the [controller], jumping into a game and having a blast right away. And as it worked out, the game is really funny. We laugh every day at the crazy situations that pop up during testing. [Recently] I stole the enemy's Princess and tried to use their catapult to launch myself back to [my] team's Castle. At the last minute I got turned into a chicken, but the catapult launched just in time to fire us home for a sweet victory. 1UP: What other games have been your greatest influences, and similarly, what could you see it inevitably being compared to? CL: The design of Fat Princess is an original mixture of gameplay elements inspired by many different games that have influenced the team throughout the years. The multiplayer and class switching could be compared to titles such as Team Fortress 2 or Battlefield 2, while the resource collection and Castle upgrades are more like a super casual Warcraft or StarCraft. Mix these mechanics up with pick-up-and-play controls, several buckets of blood, and a massive injection of humor and you get Fat Princess.  Click the image above to check out all Fat Princess screens.1UP: What are the specific things you would point to that differentiate you from the inevitable comparisons, and how do those features make you stand out? CL: There's nothing like it. The combination of 32-player online gameplay, teamwork, upgrades, mechanics and humor make Fat Princess unique. It has the best elements of many different types of games, but as a package it stands alone, and it works. What other games can you think of where you can feed cake to the enemy Princess, obliterate a crowd of enemies with a bomb, talk some smack, and return your Princess for victory? 1UP: How will you guys make sure people are still playing Fat Princess online a year after it comes out? CL: We always wanted the experience to have depth, and the gameplay mechanics reflect this. The more you play and work as a team, the more strategy you discover. We've also planned for downloadable content. After the initial release, look for downloadable content with new environment themes and new levels. And you never know what else we might have up our sleeves. 1UP: Is there a particular philosophy that you guys are following in regards to Trophies? Like, will Trophies reinforce good teamplay, or will they be more of a reward for people doing outrageous things? CL: The Trophies have been designed to help players experience the core gameplay elements, along with challenges designed to let the hardcore players stand out. Players who complete the Trophy challenges will learn how to get the most out of each of the classes, and will become really effective. For example, you might get a Trophy for slapping and stunning five enemies with the Villager class, which causes them to drop what they are carrying -- even if what they're carrying is the Princess. 1UP: Finally, what's better, cake or pie? CL: That's easy: cake of course. The pie is a lie! |
