Afrika, Sony’s upcoming entry in the resurgent “wildlife-photojounalist-sim” genre (which goes all the way back to Pokemon Snap, and then some), has been given a final release date and price in Japan. It’ll be out on August 28, and will cost ¥5980 (USD$56). Which is a bit high considering this type of game would make an excellent Playstation Network release instead of a full-fledged retail game. UPDATE: The game will be published in America by National Geographic and thus will be renamed National Geographic: Africa.
In Afrika you play as a photojournalist who has to complete an “Animal Library” photo database by taking pictures of wild animals (modeled very realistically with equally detailed environments) that you encounter while traveling the lands by foot, jeep and sometimes hot air balloon.
The game has you doing missions which are sent to your camp via email, and require you to snap certain shots of scenes or animals (no time limit on doing this). To get out into the wilderness for said shots, you have to use a jeep although you won’t be driving it or otherwise controlling how you get to these locations in any way (even if you’re on foot), as that’s taken care of by your “AI/tour guide”.
Once you’re on the scene, photos are taken using Sixaxis motion-control, which determines not only the aim, focus and angle of the shot, but the clarity as well; if you can’t keep a steady hand, the photos will turn out blurry. After you’ve got them, your shots are graded according to “composition, rarity and clarity” and you’re given cash by your head office. The better the shot, the bigger the cash reward, which can then be used to buy better cameras.
Here is what the Afrika game looks like in motion.
Via Kotaku