Yup, you guessed it... More reviews

And here's where you can find them:

• Thresh's Firing Squad
• GamePro
• pc.ign.com
• Gamesmania

Interview with Oni Brand Manager

As part of their five day Oni special, Macgamer has posted a short interview with Oni Brand Manager Devin Winterbottom. The interview is on a variety of things, so check it out!
 

Oni reviews

More reviews have popped up at:

• MPOG
• GamePen

 

Oni support section up at official site

The official Oni site's support section over at Gathering of Developers is now up, dealing with both PC and Macintosh issues and including contacts for support. Check it out if you need help with Oni (and stop e-mailing me :).

Today's the day

Fellow Oni fans, the time has finally come. Oni ships today. After such a long time we can finally get our very own copy of Oni and play it to our heart's delight.

I've been reading that people who contacted Electronics Boutique cannot buy Oni today, it will be in stores tomorrow. Oni seems to be already out in parts of Europe. The Bungie Store isn't open just yet, according to Matt Soell there is still some paperwork to do. He explains the problem here.

In a press release from Gathering of Developers, official system requirements were stated:

PC System Requirements:

• Windows 98/ME (with Service Pack 3 or higher)/2000.
• 266 MHz Pentium III processor or higher.
• 64MB of RAM.
• 800MB free hard disk space.
• Hardware accelerated 3D graphics card (OpenGL compatible).
• Video Modes Supported: Voodoo 2+, TNT2+, Rage Pro+, Intel i890.
• Supported graphics: 3DFX Voodoo 2, ATI Rage Pro, ATI Rage 128.
• Only OpenGL, Glide and Software Rendering supported on WindowsNT.

Mac OS System Requirements:

• System 8 or higher.
• 300MHz PowerPC or higher.
• 64MB of RAM.
• 800MB free hard disk space.
• Supported graphics, 3DFX Voodoo 2, ATI Rage Pro, ATI Rage 128 (All G4 based Macs, some non-beige G3 Macs) and CD-ROM.

Reviews of the game have also been posted at Inside Mac Games, MacGamer (Corey Tamas also remarked on usenet that they have kickd off an "Oni Week" at MacGamer; expect a new Oni feature every day for five days) and MacNN (watch out for the spoiler).

Update: The Bungie Store is now open, go order your copy of Oni there and get a free Oni door poster (while supplies last)! All profit, so I hear, goes back to the community (can you say "fan fest"?).
 

Daily Radar reviews Oni for PS2

Nijhazer pointed me to a new review of the PS2 version of Oni at Daily Radar. There isn't a huge focus on the things the reviewer doesn't like, and writes a good review. A quote:

While the visuals are a little on the vanilla side of things, that doesn't mean they're bad -- everyone here agrees the game looks better running on the PS2 than it does on the PC.

Check out the screens, Oni sure looks nice on the PS2!
 

Oni Save Game Editor released

paw over at hosted site OniShots has put up OSGE, the first Oni Save Game Editor for Macintosh and PC. Be sure to check it out if you'd like to have some fun or just cheat blatantly.

Oni reviewed at XGR.com

I received a note from Ultramag about his review of Oni at XGR.com. The review points out the good, the bad and has 26 screenshots. Ultramag also informs me that he is working on a gameplay movie.
 

Need help with Oni's controls?

I've written a small guide on Oni's controls, covering the keys you can use and how to bind them. It's linked from the FAQ or you can click here to view it. Suggestions/additions are welcomed.

New Oni mp3's

Over at Marty O'Donnell's mp3.com page you will find two more pieces of Oni music for download. The first is called "Oni Anime", and contains the all the music and sounds from the intro movie. The secon, "Oni Farewell", is a sad sounding piece of music...wonder what it's for...

So head on over to mp3.com or to the mp3 page here to grab those mp3's!

(Thanks Claude)
 

Even more reviews

This time you'll find reviews at:

• ActionTrip
• Daily Radar UK
• PC Gamer UK

 

Win a copy of Oni

In the latest Askin' Haskins column over at Gathering of Developers' homepage, Haskins is holding a compeition where you can win a copy of Oni.

All you have to do is pick the winner of tomorrow's Superbowl XXXV and the over/under closest to the actual number of points scored. For more info, head over to Askin' Haskins.
 

Daily Radar reviews Oni

Daily Radar posted their own review of Oni, and what a review it is. They see Oni as great fun and a welcome change in gaming. Sadly, the reviewer also notes things he doesn't like about Oni. Read the review and make your own mind up.

(Thanks for the heads up, Sean)

Bungie Store reopens with special Oni offer on Monday

A post at bungie.net let us know that the Bungie Store will reopen on Monday, January 29th. Matt Soell did say at the MWSF fan fest that they would accept preorders, but things came up and inevitably delayed the store relaunch.

But on Monday you will be able to order a copy of Oni (for Macintosh, PC and PlayStation 2) along with a free Oni door poster (while supplies last). $39.95 for the Mac and PC versions, $49.95 for the PS2 version. So be ready!

By the way, rumour has it that the profits made from buying Oni from the Bungie Store will help future fanfests a lot...
 

Oni already in stores?

I've been seeing reports about Oni already hitting stores, both in the US (Oklahoma) and Europe (Scotland and England). Seems like some places either don't respect the simultaneous release date of January 29th or I don't know what's up...

Update This just keeps getting weirder; according to Mac Gold Direct - a Mac reseller in the UK - Oni's release date for the UK has been pushed back:

MacGold has just been informed that the release date for Oni in the UK has been moved back. Originally due out at the end of January the release date is now Friday, February 23rd.

Strange. And yet, people in the UK are reporting that they bought a copy already. Thanks goes out to Stephen Ashton for letting me know about this.

Another interesting tidbit is that Take 2's German website has a news item on Oni, where they say that Oni for PC is coming out in late January, whilst the Macintosh and PlayStation 2 version will follow in February.
 

More reviews

You can find reviews at:

• Stomped (uses old screenshots)
• GameOver
• The New York Times
• GameSpy (including a way cool desktop picture by Gabe from Penny-Arcade, thanks to Pallor for the heads up)
• Computer Games Online
• MacGameNews.com
• Happy Puppy

 

Gameplay movie available

rampancy.net has acquired a movie file with footage from an in-store Oni movie that shows a ton of gameplay. If you crave for more sights of what you can do in Oni (and there's almost 16 minutes of it), this is the movie for you.

Alex Okita's homepage updates with lots of Oni images

Alex Okita, who used to be with Oni developers Bungie West, made a huge update to his personal site. Along with a new look comes a wealth of new material, including a lot of very nice Oni-related 2D concept art.

Interestingly enough, Oni was once called "Mnemonic Shadow."

(Thanks for the heads up, Khral)
 

New Oni reviews at Electric Playground, GamePower and Swanky Games

Another review at the website Electric Playground, explaining both the good and bad (multiplayer, "console-style saves" etc.). There's also a screenshot gallery and two streaming videos; one showing interviews with Doug Zartman (watch him do a spinning Lariat on a poor fellow) and Michael Evans, the other a more general "footage from E3" video.

GamePower, in their review, also see this game from a positive eye. But they also list the shortcomings and "what they could have done better." However, it's a good read. Screenshots and a video are available too.

The review at Swanky Games has the reviewer say how he has a love and hate relationship with the game. Read the review and see why.

IMG interviews Hardy LeBel

Following the interview with Project Lead Michael Evans, IMG posted their own interview with Lead Designer Hardy LeBel. NIce interview with good info, check it out.

(Thanks Claude and Bachus)

Iron Demon removed from Oni

It has been speculated, and I received a confirmation from Matt Soell after asking if it were true: the Iron Demon is indeed not in Oni anymore.

You might remember the large white mecha that stomped about in the E3 1999 trailer or was seen in a few screenshots. According to Matt; there were a host of problems with its animations and AI, and they couldn't solve them despite lots of hard work.
 
Big review at The Adrenaline Vault

The Adrenaline Vault, the site that out of the blue posted the very first Oni demo, posted their own review of Oni. It's a big one, well written and balanced by touching on both the good and the bad of Oni. Worth a read!

(Thanks, George T Gimp)
 
Michael Evans interview

Hypothermia posted an interview with Oni project lead Michael Evans; the interview being on a variety of topics including, of course, Oni. Here is an interesting quote on multiplayer:

12.) With everyone hitting the "Massively Multiplayer" market. . . and almost all games shipping with Multiplayer support what about Oni?? ( I notice Konoko's uniform has the letter CTF on it...subliminal Capture The Flag message??? ) What style, if any Multiplayer will there be? Any Co-Op mode or head to head deathmatching??

Oni is primarily a single player game. However the multiplayer experience could have been pretty cool as well. If we made Oni again on the console we would definitely want to support split screen. I love multiplayer but you have to be careful since not every feature is right for every game.
 

SCEA approves Oni

According to Daily Radar, Sony Computer Entertainment America has reportedly approved Oni for the PlayStation 2.

A reliable source also let me know that Oni's testing was concluded last week and that the game went into production. Oni should indeed be available for Macintosh, PC and PlayStation 2 on January 29th.

Update: How could I miss it... A friend of mine pointed me out to a particular thing that Paul Eibeler (president of Take Two) said in this report:

I feel that Take Two is launching a huge new gaming franchise.

FGN Online seems to have an idea what this could mean...
 

New review

GamesFirst posted a review of the Gold Master version of Oni, overall a positive look at the game, giving it 4 out of 5 stars (thanks Al Wildey).
 

Rockstar Hosts Oni PS2 Launch Event

Inside PS2 Games posted a report on Rockstar's Oni for PS2 Launch Event held about a week ago. It has some interesting info concerning the game on the console, and is a nice read.

More Oni on the web

New reviews and first looks popped up on the web, here they are:

• A review at Gamespot UK over here (Thanks, Laura Stobart).
• A first look at Armchair Empire can be found here.
• Gaming Age posted a first look here.
• Thresh's Firing Squad also has a first look here.
• Computer Games Online too has a first lookhere.
• A review at Games Domain is here.

Oni special moves feature starts today

A special feature showcasing (and explaining) special moves in Oni launched today at Gathering of Developers' official Oni site. From today until January 29th (the game's release) a new move will be shown every day.

So go check it out and broaden your Oni skills!

Reviews and media galore

Over the past few days a lot of reviews of/and media from the demo and Gold Master version of Oni have been posted:

• CNET Gamecenter posted their review here (Thanks Pablo and AaZacko).
• RBMag.com posted a review of the gold version here (Thanks reviewscan.org and Devon Sharma).
• 10 new movies showing Oni's gameplay on a PS2 at IGN's PS2 site (Thanks Allan Libunao).
• Old Married guys have their own review right over here.
• 3DRage has their review of the game here (Thanks Forensic).
• MindlessGames.com posted their review of the demo here.
• GameRaiders also posted a review of the game over here.
• GameSpyDaily has 13 shots from the gold version of Oni here.
• Gamers.com has their review of Oni here ("1 to 8 players"?!?).
• Cutting The Edge has more shots of Oni.
• A review at Gamespot can be found here (Thanks ginsu and Nijhazer).

And the winners are...

As I had mentioned on Thursday, Ben and Shane of the Gathering of Developers Internet Street Team chose the winners of the fan art competition. Check out this page to see who won. Congratulations to the three lucky winners and the honourable mentions!

Update: I have acquired all other entries, and they will be posted as soon as I get names too.

Oni news from the fanfest

Some nice info was given at the Bungie fanfest in San Francisco yesterday, including news about what the guys who used to be in San Jose making our beloved game Oni. They are brainstorming for their next game, what it could be is unknown right now (and I could speculate...but nah), but lets hope it'll be just as great as Oni is.

The soon to be reopened Bungie Store will be taking preorders for Oni. "Soon" sounds like "before January 29th" if the store will be taking preorders for Oni. ;)

Gathering of Developer's Oni site to launch today

I received word from Gathering of Developers that a site for Oni will go up today at about 7 PM Eastern time, so watch out for it at this link.

Watch out for a special Oni feature coming soon to their Oni site too!

Update: The site is now up for your viewing pleasure.
 

New review of Oni at Gamezone

They keep on comin'... Michael Lafferty of Gamezone wrote his own very positive review of Oni, touching upon gameplay, graphics and other elements. Take a look.
 

Gathering of Developers' fan art contest ends, winners picked

Ben of the Internet Street Team at Gathering of Developers informed me that the winners of the Oni fan art contest have been chosen. Right now they're choosing the honourable mentions. When that is done, watch Oni Central to see who won with what piece of art!

Hands-on preview of Oni at ps2.ign.com

Yes, another hands-on look at the PS2 version of Oni, this time at IGN's own PS2 site; ps2.ign.com.

This preview is also positive, check out what Douglass C. Perry had to say:

Oni really has become more of a game -- a whole game -- since we last saw it. The faster framerate, the smoothed out, interpolated animation sequences, and some clever, challenging AI have really come together to crystalize Bungie's vision. The framerate obviously helps everything from the character animation to the fighting sequences look better, but it also affects gameplay, and it should get better in the next few months

The preview also includes new shots and new movies; although I found them to be a bit dark when playing them in Quicktime Player.

(Thanks to Allan Libunao for the heads up!)
 

New movies, new screenshots

Gamespot posted a bunch of new Oni movies showing different instances of gameplay. You can watch them as Windows Media format or MPEG. Alternatively, you can stream them in Windows Media Player or RealPlayer.

XGR.COM (X-Treme Gaming Radio) posted a bunch of screenshots from the Gold Master of Oni at a wonderful size of 1024x768 each. Take a look, Paligap took some nice shots!
 

Hands on preview of Oni on the PS2

Daily Radar posted their own hands-on preview of the PlayStation 2 version of Oni. On the whole, a postitive preview with a few gripes here and there. A quote:

Okay, let's start out with a bit of controversy, shall we? At 90% done, finally complete enough for the protective hens at Rockstar and Bungie to show it around, Oni is already far more fun than the finished Japanese version of The Bouncer. It's fast, it's complex and it's quite pretty. All of our fears and anxieties surrounding Bungie's long awaited and much delayed beat-'em-up seem to be unfounded. We're not saying the game's amazing, mind; we haven't gotten far enough into it for that. What we are saying, however, is that it's at least quite good and has every chance of being the first great beat-'em-up for the PS2.

3D Gaming World has shots of the Oni GM

Head to this page to check out shots from the Gold Master of Oni. The shots are from the first few levels and show a variety of things.
 

Oni featured in British PlayStation 2 magazine

I received a scan of the cover of Engine, a British PlayStation 2 magazine where Konoko is featured on the cover and undoubtedly in the magazine itself as a feature.

(Thanks to Jacen for sending in the scan.)

Oni ad scans

rampancy.net got their hands on some scans for two Oni ads in the February issue of Computer Games Magazine. The ads use two anime drawings and screenshots showing Konoko using weapons and martial arts.

Oni Central welcomes OniShots

Oni Res is a site for Oni Resources, and now Oni Central is pleased to host the ambitious site OniShots - made to explain moves visually and offer other cool info and screenshots.

Check out paw and Bongo's site today, maybe you have a cool shot to contribute, or tips for playing Oni, or perhaps you know a move not listed there yet.

Stomped takes a (brief) first look at Oni

Stomped (and Blue's News) received a gold master of Oni today, and JCal posted a first look of the game. It's brief, but JCal states that a full review will follow.
 

Win a signed copy of Oni with a haiku

According to Cpt. Sqweky, PC Gamer is holding a competition in their magazine where you can win a signed copy of Oni for a gaming-related haiku. Here is Cpt. Sqweky's full forum post:

In PCGamer's latest edition They are having a contest for gaming-related Haiku's (sounds like someone there did some homework;) anyway. The top ten Haikus will win a copy of Oni signed by the development team at Bungie. If you can't pick up a copy of PCGamer you just need to know to send your Haiku to eyewitness@pcgamer.com with "Oni Contest" as the subject. Then there's soem legal stuff like one entry per household per month, and include your addreess so they can send you your prize if they win.

Write a good gaming-related haiku and win a free copy of Oni (autographed by Bungie West!) could be yours!

Oni's presence at Gathering of Developers growing

If you visit Gathering of Developer's homepage you'll notice Oni is getting a bit more attention on the main page. A new box design pops up too...could this be the final design?

Oni can also be preordered from EBWorld and Babbages.

On a side note: Oni is also present on the main page of Take 2's German website.

Mac version of Oni goes gold

According to Gone Gold (and confirmed by Gathering of Developers CEO Mike Wilson), the Mac version of Oni now too has joined the ranks of being Golden Master. The PS2 version has not reached GM yet, however.

Oni will be released simultaneously on January 29th.
 

Another positive look at the demo

PCrivals.com posted their own look at the Oni demo, a very positive read examining various aspects of the game. Worth a read.
 

New fan art

Four new pieces of fan art have arrived...well one was found, really. I was pointed towards the first piece, an illustration by Evan Thompson that asks "Who's Yer Mommy?"...check out Evan's illustration to see what I mean.

The other piece of original art is by Ben Neall who actually sent this one in before, winning himself an autographed Oni flyer from this very site back when we held our own fan art competition.

The last two pieces of fan art are by Andrew Luby who took the "mission failed" screen from the Oni demo and made it into a desktop, as well as an enhancement of Konoko taken from the cover of Gamer's Republic.
 

New Oni demo review/preview

Online Game Review.com has posted their own Oni demo review/preview; short but to the point and with a positive outlook on the game itself. Check it out here.

(Note: the review/preview uses old screenshots)