Age of Wushu

[wenshu]

New free to play MMORPG Age of Wushu looks interesting. Not a big fan of MMO's myself, but this is the kind of thing where if enough forum members played we could start a KFM guild. It would have like 3 people.

http://www.ageofwushu.com/home/

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012...ia/#more-87721

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=_VtYBrk9N7E

Has 8 classes including Shaolin, Wudang, and a Beggar sect.

http://www.ageofwushu.com/book/8-maj...ols/index.html

[Scott R. Brown]

MMORPG Apologist!

[Lucas]

do i get to dim mak people?

[BakShaolinEC]

heck with dim mak, do i get to dim sum people?

[Featherstone]

reminds me of Acclaims 9Dragons. Maybe I'll check this one too.

[GeneChing]

Does this mean I get to have dim sum with Jet?

June 5, 2012, 11:00 a.m. EDT
Jet Li Packs a Punch for Age of Wushu
Li Will Endorse, Be Spokesperson, Make Appearances for Snail Games' MMO, Worldwide

LOS ANGELES, Jun 05, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- International action film star Jet Li has signed a two-year contract to promote Age of Wushu, already a popular MMORPG with more than 20 million users in China alone. Snail Games is debuting an early build of its North American version this week at E3.

As the new face of the martial arts MMO, Li will make appearances, be featured in a TV commercial and endorse the game, which features the martial arts style for which he first became famous.

Li began his training in Wushu at the age of eight. Multiple times a national champion in China, he often competed against adults twice or three times his age. After retiring from competition in martial arts at age 19, Li won great acclaim as an actor. He starred in many critically acclaimed Chinese martial arts epic films.

Li's first role in a Hollywood film was as a villain in Lethal Weapon 4 (1998) with Danny Glover and Mel Gibson. He soon advanced from martial arts film star to Hollywood action films.

Li stared in Unleashed (2005) with Morgan Freeman, The Forbidden Kingdom (2008) with Jackie Chan, and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008) with Brendan Fraser.

In 2010, Li starred in The Expendables (2010) with Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mickey Rourke and Bruce Willis. Lionsgate recently brought the same team together to do Expendables II, adding actors Chuck Norris, Jean Claude Van Damme and Liam Hemsworth. That film, now in post production, is due in theatres this August.

When playing Age of Wushu, MMO gamers will be able to guide their characters in the martial arts style of Wuxia fiction, not only delivering kicks, punches, balances, jumps, sweeps and throws but also moving around the world with superhuman speed and performing gravity-defying moves including gliding across water, running vertically along walls and flying across rooftops.

About Snail Games USA. Based in Los Angeles, Calif., Snail Games USA is the North American division of Snail Games (Suzhou Snail Electronic Co., Ltd.), a leading developer of MMOs and virtual world experiences in China. Snail Games USA is committed to delivering the highest-quality interactive experiences to gamers.

Official Website | Facebook | @snailgames

About Suzhou Snail Digital Technology Co., Ltd. Named one of the "Top 10 Chinese game developers," Snail Games is a leading developer of MMO and interactive online games in China. Founded in October 2000, Snail Games' growing library of titles includes 5 Street, Age of Armor, Voyage Century and Heroes of Gaia. Snail Games' wildly popular titles are currently sold and distributed worldwide.

[GeneChing]

There's a vid if you follow the link.

11/05/2012 @ 1:16PM
Snail Games Founder And CEO Shi Hai Details US Expansion And Hollywood Plans For Age Of Wushu

Snail Games USA used New York Comic-Con to showcase its popular Chinese free-to-play online game, Age of Wushu. The company has established its U.S. headquarters in Los Angeles with plans to bring Age of Wushu and other online games to Hollywood film and television. Snail Games Founder and CEO Shi Hai explains how he’s working with international film star Jet Li and details his plans for American gamers in this exclusive interview.

How did your background as an entrepreneur lead to the creation of Snail Games?

I originally studied graphic design, and then started my career in advertising. I was sidetracked for a while: I did some house remodeling, and even opened a Karaoke bar. Then, in 1998, the Internet truly took off as a global phenomenon. Since I was already in the service industry, I thought it would be good to create a service for the internet. My background in art and my long interest in gaming naturally led to the creation of original content for online consumers. We founded our company as early as 2000, and our first product, an MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game), was called “Voyage Century” in China. This is how we started.

When it comes to Snail Games, where did the name come from? What does it mean?

I believe many companies come up with their names not through a rigorous analysis, but in a moment of sheer inspiration. Snail just sounded right at the time. Once we have it, we are reminded of a saying that only two creatures can ever make their way to the top of a pyramid: an eagle, and a snail. I also remember a movie in which someone said that a snail can crawl along the edge of a serrated knife. A snail’s survival instinct is most extraordinary. It is our metaphor for starting out small, and yet aspiring to achieve the impossible.

What games are you localizing for American gamers?

This year we are introducing Age of Wushu, which we believe is the first game of its kind to achieve an authentic presentation of Chinese martial arts. No other game has truly portrayed the historical setting as well as the actual fighting styles of real martial arts. We’ve created a game with its traditional features intact, and completely refitted it with a brand new skin.

Can people learn the martial arts in some capacity through playing this game?

With respect to the game as a whole, the player will gain a deep, profound understanding of Chinese martial arts. This is achieved in a great part by our exhaustive motion-capture of real martial artists. Of the eight different Schools, or disciplines, of martial arts we present in the game, such as the Shaolin or the Wudang, we’ve invited actual practitioners who carry on those traditions to demonstrate their skills. We’ve also localized a large volume of text we’ve written to bring an ancient culture to life. In all, through this game, we’ve essentially presented a systematic review of Chinese martial-arts lore in its entirety.

What are the challenges of bringing these games over to the U.S. audience?

The original Chinese audience have read, and watched, many books and movies about the martial arts. All that provided a rich cultural context for them when they play the game, so that they understand all the things people do — things like acupuncture, the gathering of Chi or internal energy, and so on. All this context is not immediately available for the American audience. However, American gamers do play fantasy-based role-playing games, and they have also read many books, seen many movies related to this genre. They will surely appreciate how an entire exotic culture is channeled into this game.

Moreover, there is another aspect of this game that can be very meaningful for the North American clients. They can, at last, decipher the mystery they perceive to be the martial-arts culture in China. Though their understanding may start at a relatively low cost, the means by which they gain such an initial understanding is decidedly more interesting. It’s not so plain as to open a book, or so ephemeral as to watch a movie. By playing this game, they will experience the culture via repeated encounters. This will provide tremendous value for our clients.

In addition, this is what we can predict for our American clients, who may not be as many as our player base in China. Indeed, they will find it a very different culture. That said, because this is an online game, it is but inevitable they will meet new friends even here in America — say, martial-art enthusiasts from Taiwan or the mainland who come here to study. This will foster greater communication and mutual understanding between our two great civilizations.

How do you plan to find an American audience with this game amidst so much competition in the massively multiplayer online (MMO) free-to-play space?

First of all, Age of Wushu stands out from the rest because, unlike all the previous games whose premises are firmly based on Western culture, our product is completely based on the Eastern perspective. Moreover, we introduced many innovative gameplay features not found in other games, such as cultivation of skills through meditation and team practice. These special gameplay features are not created merely for the sake of innovation; they serve the needs of martial-arts heroes in their unique world. It will be a very new experience.

How did you bring Jet Li aboard? How did that relationship evolve?

Getting Jet Li wasn’t so difficult. Allow me to explain the thought process that led to our mutual agreement.

Our game is a work of art, a contemporary representation of martial-arts culture. Gaming is a fundamental aspect of today’s digital era. By creating Age of Wushu, we have opened a whole new territory for our online gaming community, and set a completely new standard by which all other similar efforts are to be compared. We want our gaming market to appreciate the historical significance of this achievement. Naturally, this brings us to Jet Li.

Jet Li is today’s reigning king of kung fu, a charismatic figure that commands great respect. On the other hand, as Snail Games has become a recognizable brand in China, it is associated in people’s minds with all aspects of online gaming, even such negative issues as online addiction, software piracy and the like. Mr. Li is well aware of these issues, and has his initial concerns.

As we presented our portfolio of products to Mr. Li, we explained that our games, as the cultural artifacts of our time, are comparable to cinema, literature and theater, yet all the more valued because they are so relevant to our modern lifestyle. Our part in the digital movement puts China in step with the rest of the world, not as a mere imitator as in so many other industries, but as an innovator of original content. That, in the end, was what convinced Jet Li to become our spokesman.

Like I said, it wasn’t so difficult at all.

What are your transmedia plans for film and television with Age of Wushu?

Since 2002, we have been working on 3D digital content. Our extensive research gave us our proprietary 3D graphic engine. Very few online games in the world today have such an engine.

Online games are products of today’s culture, and their production costs are soaring. Under the right conditions, the cultural content of these games can always be expanded. This is why we plan to enter this new territory, to adapt our own games for movies and television. We don’t plan on doing this the easy way, however. Our ambition is to combine the graphic technology we’ve developed for games with that of digital cinematography.

Think of a game as continuous sequence of scenes, where many scenes can take place each second. Now, with movies, you can decide to print a scene after shooting it for many seconds. The principle behind each is the same. We are integrating all aspects of the production process, in both hardware and software. Think of a digital motion picture camera, with our 3D engine algorithms built right in to generate digital effects on the fly.

I believe, once we perfect this integrated technology, we can significantly reduce the cost of digital movie production.

Let me give you an example. In principle, our plan is to reduce the cost of making a movie like Avatar to that of shooting an episode of soap opera for television. We take our game content, and present it as a transmedia platform via games, movies and television, all supported by our technology.

When it comes to Jet Li, what are your hopes in terms for his involvement beyond the spokesman of this game with this transmedia?

If we are to go ahead and make a movie based on Age of Wushu, then of course I would very much like Mr. Li to take part. However, we are still writing the screenplay, so we cannot confirm his participation at this point.

And I just want to clarify when we are talking about movies, are you talking about a movie that would be released internationally?

It’s international. Our script is being written in Hollywood. At the right time, I will also work personally with the circle of producers, cinematographers and other creative people in Hollywood.

And can you say who the screenwriter is?

Not at this time, but we will make an announcement soon.

We focus a lot on Age of Wushu, but there were other games at your New York Comic-Con booth.

There are many games, such as Black Gold and other titles. However, we will formally announce these titles in an upcoming press release. Our main purpose of coming to New York this time was to present Age of Wushu.

[Punch.HeadButt]

Saw a banner ad for this and it caught my eye (because I've never seen a game with "wushu" slapped right in the title), a new MMORPG based on wuxia stories:

http://www.ageofwushu.com/

Here's a vid from youtube with some gameplay: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ix0Ooqkge0g Age of Wushu (Shaolin Vs Wanderers Valley)


I'm sure someone out there is gonna try this game...I'm wondering how closely all the moves will be mapped to actual styles.

[Punch.HeadButt]

From that site, I thought it was a funny pitch. Isn't everyone already a character in a persistent world?

[Lucas]

that gameplay actually looks pretty cool. does anyone here play that game?

[GeneChing]

With Jet slingin it, it's gotta be good.

Age of Wushu – Jet Li chats about his gaming experiences

Attending the recent Age of Wushu global PvP tournament as a special guest this past weekend, Jet Li was 1 of the major highlights of the event itself. China media website 17173 managed to have an exclusive interview with Jet, and finds out he has quite the gaming knowledge.

Only a few of the interview questions and answers are translated below, and some of the are summarized/ localized for easier understanding. Read on!



Q: When did your interest in gaming started?

A: When I was 20 years old, while filming my 2nd movie. There was a cameraman with his own computer and I got in touch with this game, where I hit things in the sky. That was back then when I was young, I played whenever I wasn’t filming.

Q: You did mention that you only play casual games these days. Since appointed as Age of Wushu’s spokesperson about a year ago, do you have more thoughts now on such big games?

A: Back in 2000, I read about Korean games coming into China and were very popular. I wanted to understand more, and even thought of making a game to spread Chinese culture globally. But then, I did not have time to play the rather complicated games.

In 5 to 10 years’ time, I hope to see China games being the market leader in the industry. For now, the biggest and globally recognized genre China studios are developing is wuxia.

Q: Why did you start researching about games?

A: In the early 1990s, I was so engrossed with games related to guns that I didn’t want to sleep. Around the year 2000, I was involved in the production of 2 games, and my interest in the industry started to grow. There are many scenarios which are unable to be captured in movies, but anything can be done in the gaming worlds.

Jet Li - Rise to Honor

Q: Can you tell us what kind of wuxia world would you like to create?

A: I fell that with movies having only 1 ending, the audiences are somehow left aside from participating. I thought of having all materials in 1 game, where different choices will mean different outcomes. For many people, some regrets or mistakes cannot be changed, but it is possible in games. They will then tell themselves not to make the same mistake again, with many more choices ahead.

I told the American developers that killing innocents in a game will gather some negative energy, but positive energy can be claimed by doing the right things. This will lead to players having multiple choices at each turn. However, the American developers felt that my idea was too idealistic, with too much focus on moral values.

Q: You are a national wushu champion, so what is your view on virtual gaming being coined as a sport as well?

A: If poker card games and chess both have the players sitting down and are considered sports, why not virtual gaming as well? There are 2 kinds of sports, 1 physical and 1 mental. There is no good reason to debunk virtual gaming as a sport, and I believe the participants of such virtual PvP events have the same mentality as physical athletes.

[Lucas]

Gene Ching. I challeng you to a death match in video game world.

[Lucas]

So I did download this just to check it out. It did not take very long to download suprisingly, and while I did not spend much time in the game, it does look very good, and there is a cool wuxia kungfu vibe for sure. The game, from my first look, did seem a bit overwhelming as to all of the features available in the game characters development, and the kungfu training you start at the very beginning gives you a peak as to how the fighting works, and it is unique from other games like this I have seen/played. I don't have the time to get into a game like this right now, but maybe some rainy lazy weekend I'll have a chance to get further into it.

[Punch.HeadButt]

You've piqued my curiosity, I have to admit. I would give it a whirl if it wasn't for my crappy connection..takes me about 15 minutes to dl a 4 MB song.

Going off the gameplay footage, I can definitely see that good ol' wuxia style.

[bawang]

the best martial art game is war of the roses. it has real sword fighting. you can try the game for free.