The days that we wait forever for a Japanese game are over, SEGA America have posted a blog entry announcing Binary Domain, even though Famitsu basically spilled the beans. Along with it is a teaser trailer (above) and some screens. Oh, and a message from Nagoshi himself.
“One of the key elements of this is the pursuit of strong and differentiated human AND robot AI. Aiming to have the world’s best AI was essential to bring a true realisation of the concept of life to the players, through the story and the action within the gameplay. The inclusion of online modes has allowed us to transform the game from a mere battle field into a field of survival.
Additionally, the game is set in Tokyo in the year 2080. This was important to realise the theme of life as it’s where we (the development team) are actually living as we tell the story of this drama. I decided to combine this with a deep human drama with science fiction, despite most science fiction games being cold and clinical.
Finally, and best of all, I am working with the Yakuza team who are all excited to take on this new challenge and we are hoping that the technique and pride developed on the Yakuza series will move up to a new level.
That’s all I can tell you now, but I’m sure the game will amaze you in the near future more than you could imagine.
Don’t miss it!” – Toshihiro Nagoshi
Two extra “facebook exclusive” screens.
Press Release:
WHO IS HUMANITY’S TRUE ENEMY?
LONDON & SAN FRANCISCO (December 1, 2010) – SEGA® Europe Ltd. and SEGA® America, Inc. are pleased to announce Binary Domain™, an original squad-based shooter by Toshihiro Nagoshi, the creator behind some of SEGA’s most well-known video game franchises, including the critically acclaimed Yakuza series. Binary Domain puts players in the middle of a fast-paced and intense battle for humanity in robot-invaded 2080 Tokyo. Fighting through the derelict lower levels of the city, players control an international peace-keeping squad that soon starts to question their surroundings and the choices they are making. Are the robots becoming more human, or are humans becoming more like machines?
“What I wanted to create this time was a dramatic and energetic sci-fi shooter. When you hear sci-fi you may think of cold, clinical environments but with Binary Domain I wanted to combine this with a deep human drama,” commented Toshihiro Nagoshi. “The keyword we have in mind for this project is ’Life’. I wanted to make something that will be accepted by both the Japanese and Western markets, and this fundamental theme is something everyone knows but which the full extent of can be difficult to grasp.”
Binary Domain’s central theme of life is also key to the way the innovative AI system is being developed. The highly advanced AI will make the battlefield a more compelling experience than ever before, and players will have to plan their moves strategically and carefully in order to progress through the hostile environments of the game.
“We are excited and proud to have Toshihiro Nagoshi working on Binary Domain,” said Gary Knight, Senior Vice President of Marketing at SEGA of Europe and SEGA of America. “The game is being developed in Japan yet it is designed for a global audience and will take players into an exhilarating story wrapped into a unique, action-packed shooter experience in a fresh new setting.”
Binary Domain is being developed by SEGA Japan and Yakuza-creator Toshihiro Nagoshi for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system. For more information on Binary Domainplease visit www.binarydomaingame.com, or for press assets please visit www.sega-press.com.
About SEGA® Europe Ltd.:
SEGA® Europe Ltd. is the European Distribution arm of Tokyo, Japan-based SEGA® Corporation, and a worldwide leader in interactive entertainment both inside and outside the home. The company develops and distributes interactive entertainment software products for a variety of hardware platforms including PC, wireless devices, and those manufactured by Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. SEGA’s global website site is located at www.sega.com.
About SEGA® of America Inc:
SEGA® of America, Inc. is the American arm of Tokyo, Japan-based SEGA® Corporation, a worldwide leader in interactive entertainment both inside and outside the home. The company develops, publishes and distributes interactive entertainment software products for a variety of hardware platforms including PC, wireless devices, and those manufactured by Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. SEGA of America’s Web site is located at www.sega.com/usa
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I can't help but feel that this looks like a real sega product lol. I'm really liking the teaser.
One thing that's bothering me a little bit are the visuals. No it's not that I find them ugly, but you know.. from a general perspective people might complain about them. I wouldn't want that to happen so I hope they polish up the visuals and especially the lip syncing.
Anyway, this looks like it's might going to be a beautiful product. It got me interested so far, the last part really got me asking what the story is going to be about. T
+ I liked the ending, neat twist
+ Multilinguality is something I want to see more, most people are bilingual and the world is multilingual. Glad to see the game featuring it.
– Hated the starting, fight scene was crap, reminded me of Vectermanator (vectorman + terminator), fighting machines is stupid they have wifi and will be downloaded somewhere else, a human won't. Machines are not quanitifiable adversaries, breaking a robot isn't the same as killed a human.
– Graphics look very plasticy
– Those forgeign humans sound uninspiring
Let's see right now I'm not excited.
Well, I like the enemy robot designs a lot, the boss robot was pretty cool. I really liked the ending too.
If there is one thing that is irritating me right now its the generic shitty character designs… They suck, big time.
For a trailer for a game where they are trying to show off great enemy AI and a deep storyline the trailer was pretty 'meh'… Until the end that is.
I WANT to be excited.
I agree about the characters. When I first saw the topic pic on Joystiq I thought it was The Heavy from Team Fortress too, before I took a second look.
There is a ton of cliches though: dialog, character types (obviously), down to the half robot grabbing the leg of the main guy (hello Terminator).
They better play up the twist at the end, otherwise this could go generic all around real fast.
Generic as hell.
The ending was kinda cool though.
This looks like a more generic version of Army of Two!
The trio of gunmen came across as annoying, it also didn't help that their VA's didn't sell the characters for me.
In truth it didn't start getting interesting until that robo woman showed up. I hope gameplay wise it'll can deliver.
I am really not sure what to say. I think this has a lot of potential, but that sure as Hell did not sell the game to me.
The VA's suck indeed