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Virtual Worlds 08: Avatar Reality's Blue Mars PDF Print E-mail
Written by Nate Randall   
Friday, 05 September 2008 01:24

One of the many highlights from my trip to LA has been spending some time with Kazuyuki Hashimoto of Avatar Reality. Kaz is a veteran of the gaming industry having led the development of Final Fantasy VII and the photo-realistic animated feature film, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within.
In his current endeavor, Blue Mars, Kaz is leveraging CryEngine2 by Crytek to render a stunning environment set on the terraformed planet of Mars in 2177 AD. With an impressive advisory staff including the likes of Alexey Pajinov, creator of Tetris, Blue Mars is a fresh approach to Virtual Worlds.

While Avatar Reality will provide the base planet and tools, approved third party developers will create the actual content. Cities, items, mini games, quests and exploration are all possible development avenues. Kaz gave me a tour of a stunning island on Blue Mars. Flying over the island, waterfalls with photo realistic mist effects, stingrays and sea turtles under the ocean. The level of detail is such that when you exit the water, you can see it sheeting off of your screen.

Avatar Reality will be starting a Blue Mars closed beta over the next few weeks with a more open beta to follow later this year. I for one can't with to get into the world and explore.

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