Invincible Tiger: The Legend of Han Tao unleashed onto XBLA

[Neil]

Blitz Arcade and NAMCO BANDAI release Kung-Fu fighter on XBLA and PSN

26 August 2009 Retro - style arcade beat ‘em up Invincible Tiger: The Legend of Han Tao is now out on XBLA for 1200 MS points/$15. Published by NAMCO BANDAI, Invincible Tiger was developed by Blitz Arcade, a division of Blitz Games Studios, one of Europe’s largest independent video games developers. The ‘70s Kung-Fu movie-style side-scroller will be available on PSN in the US from tomorrow (27 August 2009).

An ace 2D experience in its own right, Invincible Tiger is also the first console game to provide players with the option of stereoscopic Digital 3D. Crisp and clear 3D depth of field can be viewed without sacrificing colour or clarity through most high-end 3D Ready TVs. The game also includes anaglyph 3D which is compatible with any TV and a pair of standard anaglyph glasses.

An original concept by Blitz Arcade Project Director Ollie Clarke, the game follows the eponymous hero as he battles across ancient China to reclaim the Star of Destiny from the Evil Overlord. Along the way he fights the Overlord’s wicked hoards, which range from henchmen to the undead. Luckily, he’s well equipped with intense combos, slick counter-moves, the ability to wield deadly weapons and mystical Zen attacks.

Players can fill Han Tao’s Zen Meter with punishing combos and well-timed dodges to unlock the full potential of his power and annihilate his enemies. Sliding down ropes, going through doors, climbing up poles or jumping on roofs, Han Tao is also able to use his environment to quickly escape danger or catch enemies off guard.

Ollie Clarke said: “We’re really pleased with Invincible Tiger; it’s been quite a journey getting to this stage and it’s brilliant to see such a quality game at the end of it. We aimed to first make a great retro-Arcade game that’s easy to play but difficult to master first and then included a great Digital 3D experience second. Please turn up the volume and enjoy the splintering Kung Fu soundtrack as well. We really hope people enjoy playing the game as much as we have had while making it.”

Invincible Tiger: The Legend of Han Tao offers a variety of multiplayer modes for both online and local play:

• Team up with a partner and take on the Evil Overlord’s diabolical army through Story Mode Co-op.
• Battle through each level, dealing with increasing difficulty and a shared Zen-meter.
• Learn combat techniques in the single player game and use them beat your enemies into the dust.
• Experience Endurance Mode where you’ll face an endless stream of enemies under a time limit.
• Post your scores online for bragging rights.

To learn more about Invincible Tiger: The Legend of Han Tao, please visit http://www.invincibletiger.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; or http://www.namcobandaigames.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

For more info on Digital or Anaglyph 3D and how to use it see http://www.invincibletiger.com/support" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

For more information on Blitz Arcade or Invincible Tiger: The Legend of Han Tao please contact:

Debbie Henderson, Assistant PR Manager, Blitz Games Studios
T: +44 (0) 1926 880000
E: dhenderson@BlitzGamesStudios.com
http://www.BlitzArcade.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; or http://www.BlitzGamesStudios.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

About Blitz Arcade:

Blitz Arcade is a division of Blitz Games Studios and was founded in 2007. It is dedicated to producing top quality downloadable games across all platforms, utilising Blitz Games Studios’ industry-leading proprietary technology, BlitzTech. Blitz Games Studios is based in Leamington Spa. Founded by industry veterans Andrew and Philip Oliver, it has more than 200 staff and six divisions: mature titles (Volatile Games), Serious Games (TruSim), family titles (Blitz Games), proprietary middleware engine (BlitzTech), downloadable games (Blitz Arcade) and education (Blitz Academy). For more see http://www.BlitzGamesStudios.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

About Namco Bandai:

NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc., is a leading interactive entertainment software publisher and developer based in Santa Clara, CA. The company is a part of the NAMCO BANDAI group of companies known for creating and publishing many of the industry's top video game franchises including the PAC-MAN®, SOULCALIBUR®, Naruto™ and Tekken® brands. For more information about NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc. and our products log onto http://www.namcobandaigames.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

[martinlandau]

http://www.invincibletiger.com/#/3d/trailer" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Awesome!

Thank you JonF for pointing me to the LIST - make sure you check out the link - some tv's don't work with some consoles at some resolutions:

http://www.blitzgamesstudios.com/invinc ... /print.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Mitsubishi® 3D Ready® DLP® (older Models) WD-57833
WD-65833
WD-73833

Mitsubishi® 3D Ready® DLP® WD-60735
WD-65735
WD-65736
WD-73735
WD-73736
WD-65835
WD-73735
Mitsubishi® 3D Ready® LaserVue L65A90

Samsung® 3D Ready® DLP® (older models)
HL-T4675S
HL-T5075S
HL-T5076S
HL-T5087S
HL-T5089S
HL-T5675S
HL-T5676S
HL-T5687S
HL-T5689S
HL-T6176S
HL-T6187S
HL-T6189S
HL-T7288W

Samsung® 3D Ready® DLP®
HL61A750
HL67A750
HL50A650
HL56A650
HL61A650
HL72A650

Samsung® 3D Ready® Plasma
PN42A450
PN50A450
PN50A550
PN58A550

Hyundai® Polarized LCD W220S
W240S
S320D
S465D
W240P

Zalmon Triman
ZM-M190

JVC LCD GD-463D10

Panasonic Plasma Unknown 103" 1920 x 1080 Shutter ? ? ? ? ? ? 90"/230cm

LG LCD
47LH50
23LH50

Sharp LL-151-3D 15"

[ssiu]

If I remember correctly, the Samsung Plasma PN50A550 and PN58A550 do not have S-3D support. (It was originally planned at one time, but was pulled for some reason.)

[cybereality]

Ok, I just bought this game. Even though my Xbox360 is currently broken (and sitting in a box) and I don't even own a compatible 3D display. However, I commend Blitz's effort in supporting stereo 3d natively on the consoles and I would like to see this game become a success. I recommend that all MTBS3D members purchase this game so we will see more titles like this in the future.

[martinlandau]

Cyber, what a great idea, and what a swell guy you are supporting Andrew Oliver like this! The only console I own is a Wii for my nieces, but I am going to buy a comaptible console and this game now that I know my TV is compatible. Tomorrow I hope to be stereo3D karate chopping!

[craylon]

will do

[koshien]

I think I'm going to buy it in the next hour or so...! Hopefully it is also in the european online stores!
It is not very cheap, but I really want to support Blitz Games!

[Kamus]

Ok, I just bought this game. Even though my Xbox360 is currently broken (and sitting in a box) and I don't even own a compatible 3D display. However, I commend Blitz's effort in supporting stereo 3d natively on the consoles and I would like to see this game become a success. I recommend that all MTBS3D members purchase this game so we will see more titles like this in the future.

WOW, yeah... No.

[gamgamman]

I saw the You Tube video for this and it looks really cool. Who would have thought a 2D fighter would look so good in 3D. Hats off to the creators of this for a truly unique concept!
Very nice to see console gaming in 3D, I'll be getting this ASAP.

[martinlandau]

I just typed my fingers into a bloody pulp but I tried to light up the threads for xplay and attack of the show at g4tv forums to plug this game and other stereo3d games.

http://g4tv.com/videos/36658/X-Play-Web ... ally-Here/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; They did have this beauty demoing stereo3d, I missed that episode.

Some of the people kept talking about virtualboy, they really have a misconception of modern stereo3d gaming, we need to get Neil on one of their tv shows and maybe clear up some of the confusion. Many people there also though red/blue glasses was what s3d was all about. A few had a good idea of real stereo3d, but thought it would not be possible until xbox4 and playstation4. Maybe some more people from here can post over there and get them over here learning?

[PalmerTech]

Want me to ask Adam Sessler? I talk to him sometimes, we meet up at events every once in a while.

I have pics if you demand proof.

[martinlandau]

That would be great! Adam is exactly the person that needs to break this all over G4TV. I am trying to get Neil to come to the penny arcade expo so they can meet up, are you coming to PAX Palmer?

[cybereality]

Some of the people kept talking about virtualboy, they really have a misconception of modern stereo3d gaming, we need to get Neil on one of their tv shows and maybe clear up some of the confusion.

You know, the Virtual Boy was actually a pretty cool system. People just love to hate on it. It may have only had one color, but the depth on that thing was really good. My favorite game was 'Red Alert' a wireframe Starfox/Descent type of shooting game. Man that game was awesome. And the controller for the Virtual Boy was hands-down the best controller ever made for any video game system. I really wish Nintendo has supported it for just a little longer. I can only imagine what they could have done with a 3D Zelda or a 3D Metroid. If that system had been a success I bet we would all have Ultra-HD 3D Virtual Reality Eye-Pods by now. Ah, what could have been...

[martinlandau]

I agree Cyber, I liked it and played it a lot at my friends house, but I think some of the people over there think modern stereo3d is a single color low rez solution like that, it didn't seem they were aware how far s3d has advanced today. All I ever played on it was the tennis game, but you are right, it had great depth. In fact I didn't know there was any other game for it but the tennis game - maybe if I had known there were more games - I would have bought one myself instead of just playing my friends - see these EPIC FAILS even be me? Oh yes, 3d Zelda, Nintendo will have to do this soon, it is the next logical step - I will buy a copy! Can't you do this with something Palmer was talking about - Dolphin the emulator? Palmer if it won't get me or anyone else into legal trouble, I would love to play super mario 64 in stereo3d on a fast computer one day.

What are the legal issues involved in buying the legend of han tao and then emulating it on an emulator that works on the PC so I could use a viewsonic s3d projector to play it on a 10 foot screen? Andrew Oliver said he loves challenges and if he could sell a few hundred million more copies of the game to PC users, maybe it would be worthwhile. It would be cool if the new ubuntu or win7 offered his game included in the games section of the OS to give people a taste of s3d - like they did with that indiana jones game and win95 I believe.

[PalmerTech]

I will not be at PAX, sadly.

Project64 will work with the current IZ3D drivers, you should try it out sometime. Ripping your own wii games for use with Dolphin is technically legal, no issues there. Nobody has ever gotten it working, but I hope to be the first. I will post a tutorial if I get anywhere, should be fun to play Wii games in full S3D.

As for running this game on PC, the XBLA arcade SDK has both X86 based PC compilers and Xbox 360 compilers. Making a PC version should be an extremely easy task for the developers, but for us on the user end with no source code, it is not possible. There are no 360 or PS3 emulators, too, so that is not a route we can take.

Oh, and "A few hundred million extra copies" is a bit optimistic. Even blockbuster games rarely sell more than a few million copies.

[cybereality]

@martinlandau: Yes, I have played the N64 versions of Mario and Zelda in stereo3d before (with UltraHLE on the PC) but thats not the same as thing as having Shigeru Miyamoto himself optimize a game for native stereo 3d. The Virtual Boy had more games than just Mario Tennis (the pack-in) but not by much. Here is the full list of both American and Japanese games combined: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Virtual_Boy_games" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. Pretty shabby. And out of that there were like 3 decent games: Red Alert, Vertical Force and Teleroboxer. So there was little to no support on the software side. If you look at the release dates you will see the system was only alive for a short 4 months. Pretty much the biggest failure in console history. Even the Atari Jaguar did better than that. Just sad really.

Emulate a 360/PS3 game??? AHahhaahahaahahahhahahhhhhhhhaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!111111. With the computer needed for that we could probably run full 360 degrees photo-realistic hologram virtual reality on so why even bother. And selling a few hundred million copies of a game is straight-up inconceivable. Even the best selling game over all time, Wii Sports, *only* reached 47 million copies sold. They will be lucky if they break 100k. Most games only sell in the 50k range, which should be enough to at least break even. Would be cool if Invincible Tiger was on the PC, at least then I could play it with my Zalman. But there are hundreds of PC games that work in stereo, what makes Invincible Tiger special is that its on the consoles.

[martinlandau]

Oh, and "A few hundred million extra copies" is a bit optimistic. Even blockbuster games rarely sell more than a few million copies.

But how many blockbuster games had andrew oliver and stereo3d and a 2d type platformer with aged film effects? Certainly han tao is unique?

Emulate a 360/PS3 game??? AHahhaahahaahahahhahahhhhhhhhaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!111111. With the computer needed for that we could probably run full 360 degrees photo-realistic hologram virtual reality on so why even bother.

Cyber, I was at siggraph, I do have a machine with 8 cores, and soon to be 16, and the intel larrabee folks had some interesting technology discussions, really this ridicule is not becoming of someone of your tech saavy I had a very long discussion with a former blizzard employee who now works for Nvidia with the Tesla group - although they were doing advanced DNA sequencing as the demo him and I talked about the future of gaming - I am certain I remember posting that in my siggraph thread - what is it yuri always says - OPEN your mind

Even the best selling game over all time, Wii Sports, *only* reached 47 million copies sold.

Was that the best selling game of all time? Better than zelda and mario and all the rest over the decades? I had no idea the numbers were so low!

But there are hundreds of PC games that work in stereo, what makes Invincible Tiger special is that its on the consoles.

Perhaps you and Palmer are right, meeting andrew oliver, and seeing what a national treasure he was - even more enthusiastically infectious than Will Wright of spore and sims fame, I have high hopes for this individual and his company and products - time will tell, it is early yet.

[Neil]

Actually, there is a very big difference between what Blitz did and a driver enhanced game can do. The 3D is part of the story, it's hard to sum up in words. Ubisoft said something similar about Avatar: The Game where drivers will amp a game to 3D, but a custom experience makes artistic differences (paraphrased).

Regards,
Neil

[craylon]

The 3D is part of the story, it's hard to sum up in words.

I have been thinking about that a lot in the past month and I have to admit I'm a bit ignorant towards that.
3D for me is the realistic placement of 3D objects in the scenery, I think it was called "no cheating" in the siggraph panel.

Now I can think of a few things an artist would do if he knew he would work with s3d besides no cheating like
- limited use/ 3d conversion of the 2d gui for healthbar
- slower/lesser zooms and cutscenes to be easy on the eyes
- level design to incorporate the feeling of depth
but all of these are more or less decisions on a designer level, not so much influenced by the drivers or how the stereoscopic effect is programmed.

If you guys get the chance to talk to artists directly it would be really great to get an in depth interview on how their method of producing s3d differs from just slapping on a driver that produces stereoscopic correct images (besides performance issues and limitations we heared about)

[martinlandau]

3D for me is the realistic placement of 3D objects in the scenery, I think it was called "no cheating" in the siggraph panel.

Dko just posted some interesting info from siggraph 07 I believe relating to taking movies in the cinema and releasing to the home. Depending on the size of the display platform, either a large projection screen, large dlp tv, or small pc screen, you have to adjust various stereo3d settings and objects. What works on a movie screen will not properly translate down to a small tv just shrinking the image - things have to be more dynamic than that. There are so many new issues and misconceptions to fix. This is probably not the same issue for games developers as I will bet most will speculate thier gaming audience will have small pc monitor or tv. A few of us are using large projectors though and we will be left out for optimal experience if game developers do not think of us too relating to the memes DKO talked about perhaps? As a 10 foot screen projector user, I don't want games developers to only think about s3d on small PC screen.

Now I can think of a few things an artist would do if he knew he would work with s3d besides no cheating like
- limited use/ 3d conversion of the 2d gui for healthbar
- slower/lesser zooms and cutscenes to be easy on the eyes
- level design to incorporate the feeling of depth
but all of these are more or less decisions on a designer level, not so much influenced by the drivers or how the stereoscopic effect is programmed.

Great stuff, the resident evil 5 folks at siggraph said it was too difficult to have printed text appear in cutscenes and such and it kept breaking the S3D so their solution they said in the future they would just stop using text and only do voiceovers. While this is a solution, now you are limiting what the creative artist can do. You talk about zoom, well in that resident evil 5 you have a "scope" mode when you look through the rifle scope, so lots of zoom in and out, can't be avoided. Thier solution was to minimize the stereo3d seperation to almost nothing when looking through the scope - yes there are so many things that need to be discussed and standardized and knowlede shared - From Peddie and Neil to many games developers, they know they need some standards.

If you guys get the chance to talk to artists directly it would be really great to get an in depth interview on how their method of producing s3d differs from just slapping on a driver that produces stereoscopic correct images (besides performance issues and limitations we heared about)

That is the whole point of Neil's gaming alliance no? To fix all this mess that is plaguing s3d efforts for all of us. Craylon I would take it a step further even. Everyone say chicken or egg and there are still people talking about thier not being enough content to spend massive amounts of money on new s3d hardware. I think a way Neil and the industry could monetize on this and create massive amount of user content, first get all the misconceptions worked out through the alliance. Get some standards and knowledge spread. Then release stereo3d tools authoring to the modding community and just like youtube with video - overnight there will instantly be massive amounts of user created stereo3D gaming content for us all to enjoy and consume. There is NO WAY you can do that now though, the misconceptions are too numerous, the standards too few, but someone will break this barrier. I remember playing the bard's tale over 20 years ago and even though I replayed it about 50 times and loved it, not until the bard's tale construction set did that franchise get anymore money out of me. Someone is going to release a stereo3d tool for the masses that have all of S3DGA stuff in it and the indie game developers and the users are going to make so much s3d gaming content it is going to take every person here working full time to review it all and certify it Imagine after you play han tao 500 times, and then blitz release user stereo3d authoring tool to modify levels - and then 5000 new levels show up - someone gonna have to review and filter all that stuff to get the gem levels no? It is a win for everyone, the developers breathe new life into thier franchises, the user communities that grow up around it will just keep improving, all of us here looking for new s3d content to consume will have so many choices. I am overwhelmed by all the s3d movies coming out, no way I can have the time to watch them all, and soon that will probably be true for s3d gaming, there will be so much, I am gonna need a review site like here to save my valuable time and give me winners and losers stereo3d wise and ratings and such.

[cybereality]

Ok, so I finally got to hooking up my Xbox and checking this game out. I hadn't used the Xbox in so long, the interface is all different now. It took me a second to figure out what was going on but after that it was pretty easy. I had just bought the game off Microsofts website and the Xbox was smart enough to just automatically download it once I signed in (very nice). I had to play with anaglyph mode since all I have is a standard HDTV. I did check out all the other 3D modes and it covers a lot of bases. Will be cool to see this on a real 3D display. So I first tried it with the Proview glasses since I had good success with those on the PC. I wasn't really too impressed with the 3D effects (even for anaglyph). There was some depth, yes, but marred by lots of ghosting and a general muddiness of color. The game was still fun though, but I would have almost rather just played it in 2D. Not the best first impression, but I will not give up so easy.

Then I tried my Anachrome aviators and the experience was like night and day. With the Anachrome glasses I was getting much better depth, I could see the rooftops popping out of the screen, or bad-guys flying toward me when I threw them. The color experience was much better and it some cases I was getting almost the full-color of certain elements/object. There was still a little ghosting but it was minor and certainly not distracting. I can't believe how big of a difference it was between two admittedly "high-end" types of anaglyph glasses. I didn't bother testing with the cheapo paper ones but maybe I will try tomorrow just for kicks. Anyway, this game is pretty cool if you like beat 'em ups although its hard like hell. I couldn't even make it past the first level (although I did at least get up to the boss). If you are thinking about getting this game and don't have a 3D-ready TV do yourself a favor: Buy the Anachrome glasses (which cost around $10). Its certainly not the full experience of a true 3D monitor, but it comes pretty darn close for $10.

[Tril]

I bought it too. I only tried the 2D mode. The game is hard. I passed the first level but got stuck in the second one. I'm not sure I'll be able to complete the single player story mode. It's that hard.

[Neil]

Hahahahah!

When you can swipe these 3D glasses from my hand, you will be a Han Tao Master!

I am on level three. Use the right paddle to roll, jump away regularly to regenerate.

Regards,
Neil