Way of the Warrior (video game)
Encyclopedia
Way of the Warrior is a fighting game
released in 1994
for the 32-bit
3DO
. It was developed
by Naughty Dog
and it received a "17+"
rating for its violent content. The game's soundtrack consists of music from the 1992 White Zombie album La Sexorcisto: Devil Music, Vol. 1
.
Developed by Naughty Dog for Universal Interactive Studios, Way of the Warrior features high resolution characters, detailed storylines, and ultra-violent finishing moves. Players have to combat different fighters, their own character's "shadow", and two bosses to achieve complete victory. Each character has a standard arsenal of offensive and defensive fighting moves, combination attacks, and special moves that kills the defeated opponent in an extreme manner.
, and barely had any money to finish the game. Friends of the company were enlisted to portray the game's characters. As Naughty Dog could not afford a bluescreen
or any kind of motion capture
backdrop, a yellow sheet was glued to a wall in the developers' apartment
. However, the apartment turned out to be too small. To film the moves in the game, Jason Rubin had to open the front door and shoot from the apartment hallway. The neighbors mistakenly believed that the crew were filming kinky
adult films. Pillow cases and sheets, various items within the apartment, McDonald's
Happy Meal
s and inexpensive knick knacks were used to create the costumes of the characters. To round out the experience, Jason Rubin joined in and participated by portraying two of the characters in the game. After the game was completed, Naughty Dog presented Way of the Warrior to Mark Cerny
of Universal Interactive Studios (now the defunct Vivendi Games
). Cerny was pleased with the product and agreed to have Universal Interactive Studios be the publisher of the game, as well as signing on Naughty Dog for three additional games (which would later become Crash Bandicoot
, Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back
and Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped).
Early print advertisements that appeared for the game mocked its intended competitor Mortal Kombat
, and boasted that characters would have up to 9 fatalities each.
to develop an arcade version of the game; prototypes were built and tested, but were never released.
Fighting game
Fighting game is a video game genre where the player controls an on-screen character and engages in close combat with an opponent. These characters tend to be of equal power and fight matches consisting of several rounds, which take place in an arena. Players must master techniques such as...
released in 1994
1994 in video gaming
-Events:*Nintendo calls this year "1994: The Year of the Cartridge".*Nintendo Australia Pty. Ltd, the Australian subsidiary of Nintendo Co., Ltd is established and opened by Hiroshi Yamauchi and effectively ends Mattel Australia's distribution of Nintendo's products throughout Australia.*"Project...
for the 32-bit
32-bit
The range of integer values that can be stored in 32 bits is 0 through 4,294,967,295. Hence, a processor with 32-bit memory addresses can directly access 4 GB of byte-addressable memory....
3DO
3DO Interactive Multiplayer
The 3DO Interactive Multiplayer is a video game console originally produced by Panasonic in 1993. Further renditions of the hardware were released in 1994 by Sanyo and Goldstar. The consoles were manufactured according to specifications created by The 3DO Company, and were originally designed by...
. It was developed
Video game developer
A video game developer is a software developer that creates video games. A developer may specialize in a certain video game console, such as Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, or may develop for a variety of systems, including personal computers.Most developers also...
by Naughty Dog
Naughty Dog
Naughty Dog, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Santa Monica, California. Founded by Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin in 1986 as an independent developer, the studio was acquired by Sony Computer Entertainment in 2001...
and it received a "17+"
3DO Rating System
The 3DO Rating System was a rating system created by The 3DO Company and used on games released for the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer. The rating system has four categories:*E - Everyone...
rating for its violent content. The game's soundtrack consists of music from the 1992 White Zombie album La Sexorcisto: Devil Music, Vol. 1
La Sexorcisto: Devil Music, Vol. 1
Some pressings of the CD incorrectly divide tracks 12 and 13, beginning track 13 at 3:31 of "Grindhouse ."-"Welcome to Planet Motherfucker/Psychoholic Slag":"Welcome to Planet Motherfucker/Psychoholic Slag" is the first track on the album...
.
Developed by Naughty Dog for Universal Interactive Studios, Way of the Warrior features high resolution characters, detailed storylines, and ultra-violent finishing moves. Players have to combat different fighters, their own character's "shadow", and two bosses to achieve complete victory. Each character has a standard arsenal of offensive and defensive fighting moves, combination attacks, and special moves that kills the defeated opponent in an extreme manner.
Storyline
Players had to combat nine different World Warriors, his character's shadow, then defeat a dragon (high abbott), and then a skelton (kull) in order to be sealed into "The Book of Warriors." Each character had a standard arsenal of offensive and defensive fighting moves, combination attacks, and special moves that killed the defeated opponent in an ultra-violent manner. The game also had several hidden characters that could be unlocked with a secret code.Characters
The characters were portrayed by friends and relatives of Naughty Dog employees. They each had a distinctive code name and a profile.- T-Mike Gaines as Major Gaines (and hidden character, Major Trouble)
- Mitch Gavin as Shaky Jake
- Jason Rubin as Konotori and The Ninja
- Tae Min Kim as Dragon (and hidden character, Black Dragon)
- Steve Chan as Nobunaga
- Chris Sanford as Fox (and hidden character, voodo)
- Tamara Genest as Nikki Chan
- Carole May-Miller as Crimson Glory
- Gullab Jamun (the special hidden character, Swami)
- High Abbott (Dragon Boss)
- Kull the Despoiler (the final, Skeleton Boss)
Development
Production of Way of the Warrior began in 1993. During that time Naughty Dog was bankruptBankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
, and barely had any money to finish the game. Friends of the company were enlisted to portray the game's characters. As Naughty Dog could not afford a bluescreen
Chroma key
Chroma key compositing is a technique for compositing two images together. A color range in the top layer is made transparent, revealing another image behind. The chroma keying technique is commonly used in video production and post-production...
or any kind of motion capture
Motion capture
Motion capture, motion tracking, or mocap are terms used to describe the process of recording movement and translating that movement on to a digital model. It is used in military, entertainment, sports, and medical applications, and for validation of computer vision and robotics...
backdrop, a yellow sheet was glued to a wall in the developers' apartment
Apartment
An apartment or flat is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building...
. However, the apartment turned out to be too small. To film the moves in the game, Jason Rubin had to open the front door and shoot from the apartment hallway. The neighbors mistakenly believed that the crew were filming kinky
Kink (sexual)
In human sexuality, kinkiness and kinky are terms used to refer to a playful usage of sexual concepts in an accentuated, and unambiguously expressive form....
adult films. Pillow cases and sheets, various items within the apartment, McDonald's
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
Happy Meal
Happy Meal
A "Happy Meal" is a meal specifically marketed at children, sold at the fast-food chain McDonald's since June 1979. A toy is typically included with the food, both of which are usually contained in a small box or paper bag with the McDonald's logo....
s and inexpensive knick knacks were used to create the costumes of the characters. To round out the experience, Jason Rubin joined in and participated by portraying two of the characters in the game. After the game was completed, Naughty Dog presented Way of the Warrior to Mark Cerny
Mark Cerny
Mark Cerny is a video game industry figure who has worked as a game designer, programmer, producer and business executive. As president of Cerny Games, which he founded in 1998, he now acts as a consultant in the video game industry. In 2004, he was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award...
of Universal Interactive Studios (now the defunct Vivendi Games
Vivendi Games
Vivendi Games, formerly known as Vivendi Universal Games, was the holdings company for Sierra Entertainment and Blizzard Entertainment. Vivendi Games was founded as Vivendi Universal Games after Vivendi bought Universal Studios in the early 2000s...
). Cerny was pleased with the product and agreed to have Universal Interactive Studios be the publisher of the game, as well as signing on Naughty Dog for three additional games (which would later become Crash Bandicoot
Crash Bandicoot
Crash Bandicoot may refer to:* Crash Bandicoot , a video game protagonist* Crash Bandicoot , a video game series* Crash Bandicoot , a 1996 PlayStation video game and first Crash Bandicoot...
, Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back
Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back
Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back is a platform video game published by Sony Computer Entertainment, produced by Universal Interactive Studios and developed by Naughty Dog for the PlayStation...
and Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped).
Early print advertisements that appeared for the game mocked its intended competitor Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat (series)
Mortal Kombat, commonly abbreviated MK, is a science fantasy series of fighting games created by Ed Boon and John Tobias. The first four renditions and their updates were developed by Midway Games and initially released on arcade machines. The arcade titles were later picked up by Acclaim...
, and boasted that characters would have up to 9 fatalities each.
Reception
Several demos were sent out to various magazines plus a non-playable demo appearing on sampler discs for the consumer. While initial response was very positive, the final product was poorly received both critically and commercially. Criticisms for its sub-par controls (thanks in part to the design of the original controller packed with the 3DO system), extreme difficulty and quality of animation abounded. Way of the Warrior had ultimately failed to deliver on boasts proclaimed in its print advertisements of having 9 fatalities per character and being more violent than Mortal Kombat. It ended up widely considered another Mortal Kombat clone, albeit of a higher quality than most.Other formats
Naughty Dog later worked with American Laser GamesAmerican Laser Games
American Laser Games was a company based in Albuquerque, New Mexico that created a wide variety of light gun laserdisc video games. The company was founded in the late 1980s by Robert Grebe, who had originally created the system to train police officers under the company name ICAT , and adapted the...
to develop an arcade version of the game; prototypes were built and tested, but were never released.