DAY 33 / GAME 33
Seaman
I have a feeling that only a handful of people have ever heard of this game, let alone witnessed it in person. Seaman was one of those games that had made it's way over from Japan alongside the Dreamcast. Perhaps sneaking in somehow past the culture police with the likes of Pen Pen Triicelon and Crazy Taxi. I honestly didn't believe this game was going to make it to sale in the North American market, I had hoped, but didn't believe.
Seaman is an obscure voice-activated game that simulates a fishtank. You have to keep track of the filter (oxygen levels) and the temperature of the tank so that your fish-eggs hatch properly. The hatchlings are tiny fish babies with a human face. Odd. They grow up to be juveniles, and then apparently a frog or something a little more adult. I never did make it that far. It takes a bit of patience and you have to check in with them regularly or they will die as it is all based on the system clock. To top it all off, the game is narrated by none other than Leonard Nemoy.
The part that makes the game so interesting is that the Seaman learn by talking to you. At first they speak nothing but gibberish, but then they learn words, then sentences and then start to ask you questions. The Seaman will try to learn things from you like your occupation, age and a bunch of other things I can't quite remember. He has mood swings and can be temperamental at times. I had a friend who once tried to confuse him about something and he ended up being mad with me for a while after that.
I just read that this is supposed to be ported to the 3DS soon, since it has the microphone hardware already. But I'm not sure if going to happen, that announcement was from two years ago. But maybe it's just as well. Maybe a game like Seaman is best left in the past. If they did, I'd still play it though.
Seaman
I have a feeling that only a handful of people have ever heard of this game, let alone witnessed it in person. Seaman was one of those games that had made it's way over from Japan alongside the Dreamcast. Perhaps sneaking in somehow past the culture police with the likes of Pen Pen Triicelon and Crazy Taxi. I honestly didn't believe this game was going to make it to sale in the North American market, I had hoped, but didn't believe. Seaman is an obscure voice-activated game that simulates a fishtank. You have to keep track of the filter (oxygen levels) and the temperature of the tank so that your fish-eggs hatch properly. The hatchlings are tiny fish babies with a human face. Odd. They grow up to be juveniles, and then apparently a frog or something a little more adult. I never did make it that far. It takes a bit of patience and you have to check in with them regularly or they will die as it is all based on the system clock. To top it all off, the game is narrated by none other than Leonard Nemoy.
The part that makes the game so interesting is that the Seaman learn by talking to you. At first they speak nothing but gibberish, but then they learn words, then sentences and then start to ask you questions. The Seaman will try to learn things from you like your occupation, age and a bunch of other things I can't quite remember. He has mood swings and can be temperamental at times. I had a friend who once tried to confuse him about something and he ended up being mad with me for a while after that.
I just read that this is supposed to be ported to the 3DS soon, since it has the microphone hardware already. But I'm not sure if going to happen, that announcement was from two years ago. But maybe it's just as well. Maybe a game like Seaman is best left in the past. If they did, I'd still play it though.
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