Codemasters have signed a rather…interesting licensing agreement with Philips to use their amBX system, adding ambient lighting and even gusts of heated wind to, apparently, better replicate the act of driving a car.
Right. What's next, squirt guns firing at you for submarine games? It seems to me that behind a crash helmet and maybe a windscreen most racers aren't exactly feeling wind rustling through their hair (assuming they have any…hair that is).
Philips Announces amBX License Agreements With Codemasters and Introversion
PC Titles TOCA Race Driver 3, DEFCON and Darwinia Join A Growing List of amBX-enabled Games
New York – December 12, 2006 – Philips today announced that it has reached separate agreements with Codemasters and Introversion to amBX-enable their upcoming games. As a result of the partnerships, Philips will utilize a special scripting language in Codemasters and Introversion titles that will redefine the experience of playing games by extending the game world out of the screen and into the real world. The company will partner with Codemasters to amBX-enable the hugely popular TOCA Race Driver 3 and Introversion, the award-winning creator of Uplink, to amBX-enable the upcoming titles DEFCON and Darwinia. All titles will be available for the PC CD-ROM.
Codemasters and Introversion join an ever-increasing list of video game publishers and developers that have signed on to create amBX-enabled games, including THQ, Kuju Entertainment, Revolution Software and Sumo Digital. Previously announced games that will be specifically scripted to work in tandem with amBX peripherals include Broken Sword: The Angel of Death and Rail Simulator. Additional announcements are forthcoming as Philips is currently in the closing stages of agreements with a number of other high profile companies regarding amBX-enabling games in a variety of genres.
“Codemasters and Introversion are the cream of the UK-based game development community. They’ve recognized both the creative and commercial value that amBX can add, as well as showing that even back catalogue games can be amBX-enabled, extending product shelf life in the future,” said Jo Cooke, Chief Marketing Officer, Philips amBX. “These are three totally different titles that will use amBX in very different ways and, added to existing amBX-enabled adventure and simulation games, demonstrates how adaptable and striking amBX can really be across all genres of PC gaming.”
Featuring explosive damage effects across a huge range of motor sport disciplines, TOCA Race Driver 3 delivers pure heart pounding racing for the PC. The scripted amBX effects delivered through the Philips amBX Peripherals will make the experience of playing the game even more immersive. Racers will feel the wind in their hair through the amBX fans and see the flash of lighting through tree lines, tunnels and landscapes via the amBX LED lights all in the real world around them.
DEFCON is an online, multiplayer strategy game simulating global thermonuclear warfare. The game, inspired by the 1983 cult-classic film Wargames, superbly evokes the tension, paranoia and suspicion surrounding the Cold War era. Arming DEFCON with amBX will allow armchair generals to actually see the blinding light, as their intercontinental ballistic missiles land; feel the ground rumble through the amBX rumble pad as fallout rains down around them; and quite literally blow their enemy’s wigs off, through the force of the explosion entering the room via the desk fans.
Darwinia is a 2006 Best Game nominee at the Game Shadow Innovation in Games Awards and will immerse gamers into a virtual world populated by Darwinian life forms, who are under invasion. Darwinia will also take full advantage of the amBX LED light, desk fan and rumble peripherals to extend the game world out of the screen and into the player’s game room.
“As a small developer you don't have the time and resources to play around with content and photorealistic graphics, all your energy goes into creating a mood, an unforgettable experience,“ said Thomas Arundel, Commercial Director, Introversion. “With DEFCON we had tried to enhance the gameplay by concentrating on simple Wargames-inspired graphics and a very evocative audio soundtrack. Teaming up with amBX has given us an opportunity to take DEFCON to the next level, to really make you feel like you are the General conducting the whole messy business from your own bunker.”
"amBX is a really exciting prospect from a developer point of view, simply because it allows for an added field of creativity when making our games." commented Peter Chan, Business Development Manager, Codemasters, "The TOCA series has been one of our most successful franchises to date and we feel the immersive effects offered by amBX will help us make this year's iteration the most memorable yet."
About Philips amBX
Created by Philips, amBX™, a shorthand for ambient experiences, will drive the next generation of home entertainment through the use of a scripting language, a software engine and architecture. Through amBX, multiple peripheral devices in the room will function in harmony to deliver new content experiences: surround lighting, sound, vibration, air movements and other effects. Enabled devices will work in tandem with scripted amBX code embedded inside video games to extend the gaming world out of the screen and into the real world by barraging the senses with audio and visual queues tuned to the action on the screen. For more information visit: http://www.ambx.com/
Have you been wondering what the biggest screwups in the video game industry were in 2006? Well, you can quit worrying and start reading. This is the sort of stuff we'd like to see covered at things like the Video Game Awards. For an industry that is so good at congratulating itself, they sure don't like to admit their mistakes. So, it's up to someone else to do it for them.
What does litigation mean in the games industry? How far back does it go? And is it necessary? Dr. S. Gregory Boyd returns to Gamasutra with a detailed feature on the history of litigation, as it pertains to games, with examples ranging from Pong to Duke Nukem 3D. 
