Boktai announced for GBA
by VGLN Staff

Sunday, May 18, 2003

Game was heavily featured at the Nintendo booth at E3 2003.

Konami of America, Inc today unveiled a revolutionary new action title for Nintendo Game Boy® Advance. Launching in September 2003, Boktai: The Sun Is In Your Hand is the first videogame ever that incorporates natural sunlight into gameplay. Developed by Hideo Kojima, the creator of the internationally acclaimed Metal Gear Solid® game series, Boktai features a uniquely designed built-in solar sensor on the Game Boy® Advance cartridge that absorbs sunlight to influence the outcome of the game.

“Boktai represents a watershed moment in game design and marks the next step in the evolution of interactive entertainment. It also shows Konami’s commitment to innovation and moving beyond the status quo in gaming,” said Geoff Mulligan, COO at Konami of America, Inc.

Boktai was inspired by a desire of Hideo Kojima to combine the natural world and the videogame world. Boktai features newly-developed technology that encourages players to make use of the environment by having them play the game outside, in the sunlight, an innovation made possible by the Game Boy® Advance’s portability.

The story of the game follows Django, a vampire hunter who must venture through deep, dark dungeons to rid the world of evil demons. His ability to hunt down vampires during the day is far superior to his ability to hunt them down at night. Conversely, vampires are weaker during the day and much stronger by night. Boktai is the first game to integrate light and real world conditions into the adventure’s storyline. In Boktai, the amount of time that the player spends with the game in the sun will have a direct impact on the hero’s powers, the strength/weakness of the enemies and consequently, the overall outcome of the game.

The mysterious world of Boktai is strewn with numerous castles and dungeons that are riddled with enemies, including spiders, zombies, vampires and more. While some enemies can be destroyed using a “solar gun” that streams an ultra-powerful light beam, other enemies can only be destroyed by exposing them to natural sunlight.

To learn more about Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hand, please visit: http://www.konami.com/boktai

--- Kit