Interview on Upcoming BANG! Video Game

The Koalition has an interview with the developers of the upcoming BANG! cross-platform video game for the iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Atom Notebook, and PC. For those who read my previous post on the BANG! video game, I had some concerns about how the game would work with the different screen resolutions for 7-8 player. This interview answered this question, but maybe not to players' liking. Smaller devices will only be able to be involved in or initiate 5 player games. Although 5 player games are really fun, it is unfortunate that they will not be able to participate in the larger games. But for those of us, like myself, that don't care for these mini devices and stick with their laptops, this shouldn't be a problem. Apple users should find BANG! to be a nice addition to their selection of games.



The interview has a few interesting points worth looking at. One is that the developers claim that the computer game will make it is easier to know who you can shoot on your turn as the program puts an icon over those who are within shooting range (in the image above, it is the icon of the outline of a man in cross-hairs). They claim that the game has the benefit of crunching the numbers for you, so you don't have to figure out who you have to see. I admit that this makes it easier, but that doesn't mean I like it. I think a crucial part of the game is paying attention to what is on the table and making those computations. I know how I have lasted through difficult parts of some games because certain players didn't recognize that I was in range. The last thing I would want is for something to point this out for them! I don't see anything wrong with making humans do some grunt work to figure things out. Oh well. KBang doesn't have this problem, so if it urks you enough, go play that.