Funkydilla to be at E3 2004
by Kit

Monday, April 26 2004

Multi-console game looking to carve own niche.

UK-based game developer, Zoonami Ltd, will be previewing its first title, Funkydilla, a rhythm-action game that gives players the freedom to build up music remixes any way they choose, at E3 this year.

Designed for all game platforms, Funkydilla presents a revolutionary approach to the rhythm-action genre. Vocal lines and phrases on many different instruments steadily rise from the bottom of the screen and can be played in any order, one at a time or simultaneously in any combination.

"The game industry badly needs new ideas and gameplay innovation," says Martin Hollis, founder/director, Zoonami, and long a major player in the game world, now with his own studio. "Funkydilla is different from all the other games in its genre."

Funkydilla lets players choose the rhythms, instruments and phrases to play. When phrases are played successfully, they are cleared from the screen and added to the song's arrangement. Players must clear all of the phrases in each section before they reach the top and time runs out. Combos (playing multiple phrases at once) and chains (playing phrases sequentially without making a mistake) increase the score. Funkydilla features cooperative and competitive two-player modes as well as the solo game.

Each version of the title in the franchise can have its own style of music in a dance remix format. The final look of the game will also be determined by the personal style of the different artists through photographic images and video integrated into the game.

Zoonami game designer and lead programmer Dr. Richard Tucker created the concept for Funkydilla in-house and then, under Zoonami's idea incubator system, worked closely with the team's audio guru, Mo Jen, to bring the game to a visual and sonic reality. The game engine employs a variety of audio technologies to create the game's signature feature: freedom of choice for the player during the in-game experience.

--- Kit