As GDC – Day 3 gears up, in the back corner of Expo Hall, you might notice a group of wand-wielding gamers pacing around each other, eager to strike. They’re playing Johann Sebastian Joust, which uses PlayStation Move controllers. Listening to variably paced classical music, players hold their controllers like delicate eggs while trying to set off the motion sensors of opponents’ wands by any means necessary. The speed of the music cues players into how careful they need to be, with slow strings eliciting a careful waltz while rapid tempo indicates time for all-out aggression. Jabs, grabs, and body checks are employed to take out your foes. Just be careful not to set off your own controller with over-aggressive maneuvers. And watch out for show-going bystanders, too!
Joust is not yet for sale. The developers are looking into how best to market it, as it’s such a unique product; an entirely screen-less game experience. They’re looking for innovative ideas of how best to release it, with Playstation Network and Steam being considered.
The PlayStation Move alpha version of the game was developed in C# and Unity Pro (on Mac OSX). It uses an open source, publicly-available plugin, called UniMove, that they developed.
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