German developer 10tacle Studios has announced plans to develop DS and Wii ports for Secret Files: Tunguska, an adventure title that originally appeared on the PC last year. Players take on the role of Nina Kalenkow, a Russian motorcycle mechanic investigating the disappearance of her scientist father. Nina's search leads her to Tunguska, Siberia, the site of a mysterious 1908 explosion that leveled an estimated 80 million trees over 830 square miles.Though several screenshots mocking up the DS version have been sent out, we can't say for sure whether or not they're just scenes from the PC game that've been pasted onto the handheld. We'll be impressed if the game manages to look even half as good when it comes out later this year in Europe. Jump past the post break for the full Secret Files: Tunguska press release.
Secret Files: Tunguska goes Nintendo DS and Wii!
Basingstoke, 12th June 2007 - Koch Media has assigned the exclusive production rights in the Secret Files Tunguska PC game to 10TACLE STUDIOS MOBILE (implementation for Nintendo DS) and to Keen Games (implementation for Wii). This fun adventure. leading the player all around the globe, will soon be ready for all owners of Nintendo DS and Wii.
Pete Walentin, Development Director of keen games, stated: "It is a real pleasure to implement one of the best adventures of recent years for Wii in cooperation with Koch Media. We will optimise the controls for Wii Remote and Nunchuk in order to turn a game that is very good already into a 'perfect-match' for Wii."
"Secret Files Tunguska is one of the most successful adventures of recent years. We are happy that we can bring this gaming adventure to a new platform by developing a Nintendo DS version and that we can also enhance it in a useful way with our innovative touch screen control," says Alexandra Gerb, Managing Director of 10TACLE STUDIOS MOBILE.
The Nintendo DS version of Secret Files Tunguska will hit the shops in the 4th quarter of 2007, the Wii implementation is expected to be published in the 1st quarter of 2008.
About Secret Files Tunguska:
Background: On the 30th of June 1908, an explosion with the destructive power of 2,000 Hiroshima bombs rocked the Tunguska region in central Siberia, felling more than 6,000 square metres of pine forest. The explosion could be heard within a radius of 1,000km. Witnesses saw an oblong object, glowing in a blueish-white light, fall from the sky. A 20km high pillar of light was followed by a mushroom-shaped black cloud. The three following nights were so bright all over Europe that you could read a newspaper outside without additional light. In California, on the other hand, they noted a continuing reduction of sun light.
Up to this day it is still not clear what really triggered the Tunguska catastrophe. These are the most prevalent theories:
• An asteroid or comet crashing to the earth - but why was there no crater to be found?
• A vulcanic-like eruption, probably of natural gas - but how does this explain the growing radioactivity in the Tunguska region?
• A (natural) nuclear explosion - but why do the trees bear no evidence of a fire?
• A small black hole - but where is the exit hole?
• The crash of an extraterrestrial spaceship - but why was there no UFO wreckage to be found?
So far, no hypothesis can logically account for all of the facts and features surrounding the Tunguska catastrophe. It could have been a thermal, chemical or even nuclear explosion.
The story: Nina is torn from her normal life when she finds that her father has disappeared without a trace. The police cannot (or will not?) help her, so Nina begins searching for clues about her father's whereabouts on her own. In the course of her investigations, she meets Max Gruber, a young colleague of her father's, who spontaneously offers to help the pretty young woman. Together they soon find out that Nina's father was involved in a previous expedition to Siberia that set out to investigate what lay behind the mysterious Tunguska catastrophe of 1908. At the time a huge explosion triggered an inferno, and the reasons behind that remain a mystery to this day.
Nina and Max soon realise that events of that time are linked to her father's disappearance. Their search for answers leads Nina and Max to the most distant corners of the earth (Berlin, Moscow, Cuba, China, Antarctica etc.). Soon it becomes very obvious that some mighty opponents are also interested in the secret of Nina's father. In the end it turns out that this is about much more than just the disappearance of an old man.
"Secret Files Tunguska represents a challenging mystery design, a long gaming duration and is state-of-the-art technically," promises Lead Designer Jörg Beilschmidt. And Marco Zeugner, founder of Animation Arts, adds: "We are looking forward to our cooperation with Deep Silver, as the past has shown that in particular German developers' teams are in very good hands with them."
Features:
• 2D/3D symbiosis – the best of both worlds (2D backgrounds for optimum clarity and richness of detail, 3D characters for smooth animations and atmospheric light and shade effects)
• 110 highly detailed and atmospheric pre-rendered backgrounds
• 25 movie quality motion captured 3D characters
• Real time light and shade effects of the 3D characters
• Atmospheric weather effects (e.g., snow and rain)
• Backgrounds that can be scrolled over several screens
• Facial animation to show emotions and speech
• Cinematic-quality videos for intro and cutscenes in wide screen perspective
• Real time light and shade effects
• Powerful 3D animations system
• Well thought out story and riddle designs (up to 25 hours of gaming fun)
• Lively locations thanks to numerous background animations
