Note: This post, which assumes
last-gen and multiplat, has been superseded by
'Introducing Parkview Towers™ for PlayStation 4.'
"What's going on out there?"
Parkview Towers is a massively multiplayer tower defense light gun game and virtual apartment community for Kinect for Xbox360 and PlayStation Move.
The Story So Far…
Twenty years ago a new power source was discovered by Earth’s scientists. The global government initiated a program to create new power generators using this new technology in cities throughout the planet.
The template for these new generators was the same in every location: bulldoze an abandoned, contaminated, or crime-ridden area of the inner city to make room for the generator, a surrounding park area, and a housing development. In every city, the housing development had the same standardized name: ‘Parkview Towers.’
The generators are buried beneath the city, and heavily shielded and guarded against natural disasters, sabotage, and acts of war.
In Parkview Towers, your television monitor becomes
a window onto a city under alien attack.
The Game
Several apartment buildings overlook a large park or square in the heart of a large city. The city is under attack from alien spacecraft.
The head tracking capabilities of Kinect for Xbox 360 and PlayStation Move will transform your television screen into a window onto that park, and your living room will become a hi-rise apartment in that city under siege.
You will be issued a physical weapon (basically a ‘light gun;’ see Peripherals below) to help repel the alien invasion. Damage, destroy, and distract the various alien craft from the unique perspective of your apartment window.
But you’re not alone. Those other apartments you can see out your window are all occupied by actual players! You can see their silhouettes in the window, and you can see their attacks against the alien invaders.
Each player has a semi-permanent residence in a specific building. Your closest neighbors can hear you shout, and you can hear them.
It’s up to the brave residents of Parkview Towers to repel the aliens and save their city’s generator from destruction. If your entire neighborhood can learn to work together, the aliens don’t stand a chance.
Neighborhood layout. The Generator lies out of frame to the lower left.
The apartment buildings create a gauntlet for
attacking alien bombers, fighters, and mechs.
Goal
You are defending your neighborhood and the nearby power generator from the aliens. If the aliens do sufficient damage (a process that takes days or weeks of real-world time), your neighborhood will be evacuated, and you will have to move into an apartment in a new neighborhood.
It’s all but inevitable that your city will eventually succumb… but how long can you hold out?
Real-Time Persistent World
When you put the Parkview Towers disc in your game console, you’re not starting a game – You are opening a window to an alternate world that always exists outside that window, even when the window is closed.
Events unfold in real time. You can leave the game running for hours, and you can actually do other things around your house - go make a sandwich, or just gaze out the ‘window’ - during the frequent lulls in the attacks. Remember, your living room is now an apartment in Parkview Towers, and your television monitor is a window. But when you hear the warning sirens, you’d better be prepared to man your post.
Kinect/Move Functionality
Head Tracking
Creates the ‘virtual window’ effect at the core of the game.
Hit Detection
Detects when a player is hit by an alien beam or projectile.
Silhouette Position
Other players in your virtual neighborhood will be able to see your approximate position in your virtual apartment in silhouette form. Nearby neighbors may see a more detailed representation.
(PlayStation Move will extrapolate Hit Detection and Silhouette Position info from head and Motion Controller positions.)
Room Color
As seen by other players, your virtual room will take on the color of the lighting in your real-life room.
Gesture-Based Actions (Kinect for Xbox 360)
Motion Controller Actions (PlayStation Move)
- Open/Close Window Glass
- Open/Close Drapes/Blinds
- Blast Shield Mode (Down/Auto)
- Use Binoculars
- Use Telescope
- Throw Tennis Balls
- Throw Confetti
- Throw Paper Airplanes
- Use Bullhorn
- Use Laser Pointer
- Use High Beam (powerful flashlight)
- Spray Water with Water Hose
- Control R/C Plane and/ or Blimp
- Prepare and Throw Grenades
- Prepare and Throw Smoke Bomb
Open or close the curtains with a wave of the arm.
Voice Commands (Kinect for Xbox 360)
The Window can be controlled with voice commands.
- Open/Close Window Glass
- Open/Close Drapes/Blinds
- Blast Shield Mode (Down/Auto)
- Repair Window
Voice Proximity Simulation (Kinect for Xbox 360)
Kinect’s microphone will pick up your voice and transmit it to your neighbors in the virtual world.
Peripherals
Weapon
A physical light gun-like Weapon is required to play Parkview Towers. This Weapon has six Modes:
- Laser Gun (steady)
- Blaster (bolts)
- Rifle
- Shotgun
- Rocket Launcher
- Grenade Launcher
Kinect for Xbox 360
A custom gun controller will use integrated sound, light, and vibration effects to simulate the different weapon modes and to indicate when the player has been hit or stunned.
PlayStation Move
Parkview Towers for PS3 is compatible with the PlayStation Move Shooting Attachment and the PlayStation Move Sharp Shooter Attachment.
A custom Parkview Towers Shooting Attachment may also be available.
In all cases, the Motion Controller will use its light and vibration capabilities to simulate the different weapon modes and to indicate when the player has been hit or stunned.
Combat Goggles
Combat Goggles are optional LCD shutter glasses. The shutters flip up and out of the way when not in use, allowing for smooth transitions between the real world and the game world.
Kinect for Xbox 360
Combat Goggles provide a stereoscopic 3D effect for a single player.
PlayStation Move
Combat Goggles allow two players to simultaneously use one or more monitors while retaining the head tracking functionality. Combat Goggles can also provide a stereoscopic 3D effect for a single player.
[The original spec called for both the Sony and Microsoft versions to use this scheme, but apparently Sony has since locked up the technology with a patent.]
Open the glass 'manually' or
use the window remote
Window Remote
A physical remote control for the virtual ‘window.’
- Open/Close Window Glass
- Open/Close Drapes/Blinds
- Blast Shield Mode (Down/Auto)
- Repair Window
Kinect for Xbox 360
A standard Xbox 360 controller serves as the Window Remote.
PlayStation Move
The Navigation Controller serves as the Window Remote. DualShock 3 or Sixaxis controllers can also serve this purpose.
Monitor Stand
This custom Monitor Stand can hold two monitors one above the other, to create a large ‘double-hung window,’ or it can hold a single monitor sideways, to create a smaller double-hung window. It also works as a conventional monitor stand. All configurations allow dedicated shelves for Kinect or the PlayStation Eye.
Supports Single Console or System Link/LAN
Standard Configuration
One console and one monitor. Your monitor represents a single window in your virtual apartment. Most players will use this configuration.
System Link/LAN Creates Multiple ‘Windows’
Link two consoles together to create a second window into the game world. Two linked monitors can be placed side-by-side to form two windows along a wall, or they can be placed at a right angle to one another to create a ‘corner apartment’.
Two monitors can be stacked one above the other to create a large ‘double-hung window.’ A stand will be available for this purpose (see Peripherals).
Linked systems consisting of (4) or more consoles will be given access to exclusive virtual ‘Penthouse Suites.’ These Penthouse Suites can be configured to match many different monitor arrangements. Up to 16 consoles can be linked to create the ultimate 16-window experience.
Other Uses for Linked Monitors
Monitors can be used for more than just windows. A monitor could become a mirror, a bookshelf, a fireplace, or a weapons cache. A monitor could even create a portal in a real-world wall in your house, provided that there’s a Kinect/Move setup on each side of the wall.
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More info and video coming soon. Meanwhile, here's a very early concept video:
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Parkview Towers is a trademark of Crucial Games, LLC
All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners
Copyright © 2010 Crucial Games, LLC
All Rights Reserved