Yoot Saito's Odama
 

Since the old thread is gone, might as well make a new one.


From the creator and the makers of Seaman for Dreamcast (and Sim Tower for PC), comes Odama, a bizarre mixture of feudal warfare and pinball.

A brief summary at Nintendo.com describes it best:

So basically you have to go to war against enemy troops, commanding your armies by shouting into a microphone that comes with the game, all the while controlling a gigantic pinball ball and using it as a weapon against enemy forces. The trouble is, the ball will crush friendlies alike, so you need to be careful and guide your troops accurately for the best coordination. Hitting enemy troops with the Odama let's you convert them to your side, growing your army further. Many battle fields have all manner of obstacles you need to get past or destroy, such as getting your troops to cover a large moat with a makeshift bridge in order to get your Odama to strike the enemy on the other side (and naturally so your troops can cross as well).

I've been interested in this game for well over 18 months now, ever since I first read about it. At the time it was destined to become and stay a japanese import oddity, so I was excited when I heard a European release had been confirmed on Nintendo Europe's official website. I went to a supermarket to look for empty DVDs today and I noticed the game is already being sold over here, while the official release date seems to be April 10th (for the US as well).

Screens:

http://www.eurogamer.net/assets/arti...dama_ss-01.jpg

http://www.eurogamer.net/assets/arti...iew_i_8863.jpg

http://www.eurogamer.net/assets/arti...iew_i_8865.jpg

More screens

Nintendo.com Odama page

Got-Next's Odama preview

I saw this (I believe at) TGS, quirky as it may sound it seems to work.

I saw this in an EGM a few years ago, but I never expected in a million years for a US release.

I might pick it up simply for the novelty of it. (And how many good pinball games are made nowadays, anyway?)

Is there a score tab, or a scoring system, or a scoring anything in this game?

I mean who plays Pinball not for score?

I'm unreasonably excited about this game. I love virtual pinball machines, and this one looks very good indeed. I think it was at E3 last year but I missed it somehow (or maybe I thought it was a strategy game or something, since that's what it looks like at glance).

Anyway, excited! =D

It looks absolutely insane.

The way it seems so far is not really as a pinball game, but a strategy game with a pinball element, which is ridiculous. Definitely among the strangest games I've seen. Hopefully they'll show more of it at E3.

It'd be a waste of space at E3 this year, considering its already out in Europe, and it will be in the US/Japan within weeks....

Anyways, holy shit. I just was watching videos, and this looks great. I normally get pretty bored of pinball pretty quick, but I could see myself playing a LOT of this game...

- WraithTwo -

http://odama.nintendo.com/final/

The game looks friggin' sweet after looking over the official website and the new videos. The soldier dialogue seems to be pretty amusing, too. Like "Hey! Free stuff!" when you drop riceballs to distract enemies.

This is one of those games that makes me want a Gamecube so badly. I understand the translators were given a great deal of latitude, so some of the soldier comments are pretty hilarious, especially when morale drops and they start making cracks about your leadership.

I tried this out today. It's pretty fun, kudos to Nintendo for not dubbing it over in English.