Abylight's hoping this will be big

Augmented reality is all the rage these days, but it's not just the preserve of the 3DS: DSiWare has a few AR games up its sleeves too, with Abylight's AfterZoom the latest to emerge.

Players will use the DSi's camera to search out microscopic organisms, zooming into every day objects to see what tiny creatures can be found. The organisms can be captured, fed and raised, then battled against other creatures which each have their own unique abilities and statistics, necessitating a bit of strategy. After capture, you can even combine your prey to create new organisms based on actual chemical formulae.

You'll find the first screenshots in our AfterZoom gallery and stay tuned for information on the game's pricing and release dates.

AfterZoom announcement
An augmented reality game exclusive for Nintendo DSiWare

Barcelona, April 25th 2011

Abylight is proud to announce that the development of its next exclusive game for the Nintendo DSiWare™ service, “AfterZoom”, has entered its final phase. AfterZoom is an augmented reality and hidden object game exclusive for the Nintendo DSi™ system.

“Creating this project has been an authentic challenge from the start and we are very happy with the end result. AfterZoom is an original game concept that nicely mixes reality and fantasy.” - says Nacho Garcia, designer of the game and Abylight's CEO. “We've also developed some interesting algorithms that are able to detect the console movement and different types of images”.

AfterZoom

AfterZoom takes place in a Lab where there are 3 main areas: the Microscope, the Sample Bank and the Chemical Lab.

The Microscope is useful to search for organisms and other elements on the player's surroundings, which may be found in different places and at different zoom levels.

The organisms collected are stored in the Sample Bank. Here, one can also feed them so they are healthy. The healthier they are, the faster they'll grow and the less one will have to check on them.

The elements found with the Microscope are stored in the Chemical Lab, which is also where one mixes up new elements for the colonies, based on actual chemistry formulas.

Almost all the organisms are in too wild a state to allow a capture. So, before one can store them, it is necessary to weaken them using other organisms from the Sample Bank in a role fight that only lasts 30 seconds.

Not all of the organisms have the same stamina nor strike force, which means that strategy is necessary to ensure a win when choosing the right organism to send into a fight.

AfterZoom is a work of fantasy that has real biology and chemistry elements as another main feature. The significance of its cultural improvement has awarded it with a part-grant by the Ministry of Culture of the Spanish government.

“AfterZoom” will be available for Nintendo DSi™ through the Nintendo DSi Shop. To access the Nintendo DSi Shop, players simply connect their Nintendo DSi system to the Internet, then visit the Nintendo DSi Shop from the Nintendo DSi Menu.

We will be announcing the price and release date for America and Europe soon.

For additional information please visit the official site at: http://www.abylight.com/afterzoom

AfterZoom: Beyond the Zoom

Our planet is full of life. Besides all the creatures that can be seen with the naked eye, there are millions of microscopic creatures with amazing features.

Several scientific disciplines study and classify all of these creatures, but there is still much to do and learn.
Some organisms have developed wonderful camouflage mechanisms that make them invisible to conventional microscopes. However, a random series of events has transformed your Nintendo DSi camera into a very special Microscope that allows you to find them.

Capture all of these organisms and show the world your fantastic discoveries!