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...and began working on an online software package for game developers and publishers.

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Not that it matters much, but another coward abandons ship

foolish, I would not lump this into the same boat as people abandoning ship. The fact is their software already supports LAN games and there are no other LAN games on the horizon. It makes sense that they would stop tweaking software that already works pretty well.

it doesnt matter. I gave up on warp pipe a long time ago. I played some mario kart online and It was so incredibly laggy. Not to mention the fact that mario karts lan play was really sub-par (couldent even choose character).

And whens the last time warp pipe had an update? over a year ago?

It means they moved on to better things.........Demasked? We'll know at E3 and furthermore, what the hell Nintendo is planning with their whole Online adventure.

over in the N-Sider Forums

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Today, on the WP Forums, Chad said:

I decided, due to the delays and other other reasons I've been pondering, to fully reveal, within reason, the chorx during the interview. By publication you will be able to see what a chorx looks like, as well as get a contextual view of their role in demasked.

The first session will take place with Dean tomorrow at 1pm EST. I am not sure when the interview will be published, as that is not in my control.


So, tomorrow there will be the first interview on N-Sider, and Chad will fully reveal "the Chorx", he has been talking about.

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The interview is still happening, like, we've been talking for two hours - there's a lot of stuff that will make a lot of people happy.

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N-Sider has posted their interview.

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N-S: There have been rumours flying around that Demasked is not solely for the Nintendo DS any more, if this is indeed true, how will the software interact, and what platforms are they planned for?

CP : As stated earlier, Magellan was slated to debut with the Nintendo DS. We are obviously very respectful of Nintendo and we enjoy their products. As it stands, Demasked is very heterogeneous. Demasked could be used in all three next-generation consoles including the two current-generation handhelds.

N-S: What are your current plans for implementing the Demasked/Magellan Suite? Have the original talks with developers and publishers provided any benefits to bringing your product to the public?

CP : We have been talking to developers since E3, and they are incredibly excited about Demasked's capabilities and the opportunities that come with it, particularly a segment of Demasked called "ant-farm ". We will begin speaking with publishers this year at E3. I would personally like to work with one publisher exclusively, but we'll see how the rollout ends up. Shortly after E3, barring strong interest by a particular publisher, we will be pursuing our first major round of financing.

WPF: What connection type will users need to access the Demasked software, will it be something launched in-game or separately?

CP : This is something that will be largely up to the publisher of the game. However, in a perfect scenario, we would exclusively partner with a publisher and aide them in growing their existing online community.

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We would like to partner with a publisher exclusively; however that publisher must show us a commitment to delivering these new possibilities to gamers. I did not get into this business solely to make profit, I'm here because there is a void and we are going to fill it. Therefore, partnering with any one company can be a curse or a blessing. Nintendo ' s recent announcement regarding DS online is a positive thing, it shows they are committed to the changing their corporate culture to be more responsive to their consumer, I'd like to see more of that in the industry.

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N-S: Are you able to elaborate more on what "ant-farm" is?

CP : I can tell you what ant-farm is not. Ant-farm is not simply a fisher price toolkit, allowing developers to easily write network code on top of a pre-built community environment while publishers hemorrhage money, ala GameSpy . Ant-farm allows for complete artistic and development freedom, allowing publishers to profit from owning their online infrastructure. We are currently in a time where everything is cut and paste, and the community experience between each game is non-distinguishable, minus games that cost millions to implement and run these features. It's a vicious cycle that hasn't broken because developers are struggling to keep pace with the street date, and some publishers don't mind treating their online infrastructure as marketing expense when they should be treating it as a revenue stream and a way to form a lasting relationship with their customers.

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N-S: There has been much mention of a component of this suite called "Chorx"; it is arguably the most sought after part of Demasked, in terms of wanting to know what it is... So, what is it?

CP: The Chorx are characters in a game we will be releasing shortly after E3, called "Ahhh-choo!". It is the vessel that will allow us to put ant-hill in a live testing environment.

CP : For the sake of maximum accessibility, it will be a flash game. However, I think it would make a great handheld game. We'll see what the future holds for the Chorx.

N-S: While you are releasing a demo game with the Demasked infrastructure, do you plan on becoming a game development studio as well as a middleware tool house (e.g. the Demasked Suite)?

CP : That ' s an interesting choice of words. I suppose you would traditionally think of Demasked as middleware, however I do not. Ideally, we would be much more involved in the deployment and implementation process from the infrastructure point of view, all the way to advising on game integration. However, yes, we have several game play ideas we would like to see happen after theorizing and conceptualizing the possibilities that go along with Demasked. We have one game design, in particular, called "City Block" which I very much look forward to seeing in the future.

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N-S: Is there anything else you wish to state before we close up this interview?

CP : I'm really looking forward to sharing these concepts at E3 and I remain hopeful that we can get to work and start delivering to gamers as quickly as humanly possible. A new platform brings with it a lot of possibility; we are thinking about nothing but the online gaming space.

Something I'd very much like to see, personally, with the next generation is a renewed confidence on behalf of Nintendo. Something along the lines of "don't play games, play Nintendo" would really resinate, I think. Many reading this interview are too young to remember, but there was a significant amount of time where sitting in front of a computer screen to a television screen, playing any type of video game was "playing Nintendo". In any case, I think the company has a lot of opportunity to recapture a lost audience, and I look forward to seeing how they communicate their future innovations on the mass market, which is something they have had difficulty doing in recent years.

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"I would assume that they were referring to Nintendo, but that would stop them from being implemented into all of the consoles."

I'm thinking it means they'll go with whoever is the highest bidder and shows "a commitment to delivering these new possibilities to gamers." Basically they have a set design of what they want to do and whatever publisher matches that design the best gets them. I threw in "highest bidder" because it's common sense that if there are several publishers that meet the criteria the highest bidder likely will get it. Nintendo traditionally isn't usually willing to offer sacks of money and they tend to be the most stubborn when it comes to doing things their way so sadly I don't think they would fit. The guy clearly likes Nintendo but just the fact that Demasked isn't limited to the DS anymore suggests to me that he doesn't feel that working with Nintendo is a for sure thing. Nintendo seems like a front runner if they have a similar vision but with Nintendo and online gaming that's still a big "if".

If I was doing anything regarding online play Nintendo is the LAST company I would work with. Even though they've annouced that the DS will be online they have yet to show exactly how they're going to do it. Their plans might not fit what most pro-online people even want. For example if hot spots was the only option then any serious online gaming plans probably just wouldn't work. There needs to be a lot of flexibility and you never know if you're going to get that from Nintendo.

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For example if hot spots was the only option then any serious online gaming plans probably just wouldn't work.

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What's wrong with HotSpots, Ian?

You can literally play Online anywhere. If you have a WiFi router in your house, your set. If you don't even have an internet connection, you can walk to your nearest library/cafe/restuarant/internet lounge/friends house and play just dandy.

I don't get your point....

Maybe because your nearest library/cafe/restaurant/internet lounge aren't opened 24/7. It doesn't matter to me, though, because I went and set up a wireless network in my home BECAUSE of the DS.

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Originally posted by: Myxtika1 Azn
I went and set up a wireless network in my home BECAUSE of the DS.

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Crying about wifi requirment is stupid for two reasons.

1. Chances are Rev will be both wireless and wired out of the box so it will be a non issue.
2. Even if #1 turns out to be wrong, you can get a wireless router for 40-60 bucks.... the price of one game...

"What's wrong with HotSpots, Ian?"

There's nothing wrong with HotSpots I just feel that ONLY HotSpots would be inflexible. I shouldn't have to buy a wireless router or go to Starbucks. I should be able to just take my home internet connection and plug the cord right into the Rev. Why limit things for no reason? Why risk turning people away? Excuses and limitations are lame and Nintendo is grossly infamous for them. No one wants to hear "well you can buy a wireless router". People want to hear "it's easy to setup and requires no extra hardware or purchases".

Oh hay, putting that statement about "hot spots only = crap" in a paragraph about the DS is a bit misleading. I really doubt the Rev will be HotSpot only