KONAMI CORPORATION announced today that it will launch an online version of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Official Card Game, Konamis global strategic product. Konamis subsidiaries, Konami Online, Inc. and Konami Computer Entertainment Japan, Inc., have joined forces to develop the new on-line service, which is scheduled to start in a beta test phase on December 18. Full-scale service will be launched in Japan, U.S. and Europe in Spring 2005. Konami Groups companies will collaborate on network infrastructure, services and operations as well as content development to further enhance the internationally popular Yu-Gi-Oh!.
In the Yu-Gi-Oh! Official Card Game, two players face off in an all-out battle, armed with a deck of cards consisting of Monster Cards, Spell Cards and Trap Cards. A player wins when he or she reduces his or her opponents Life Points to zero. Yu-Gi-Oh! ONLINE will authentically recreate the Yu-Gi-Oh! duel field on the Internet. It will offer not only online matches beyond international borders, but online chatting and trading.
In Japan, Konami will distribute the Yu-Gi-Oh! ONLINE CD-ROM bundled with the December 18th issue of the Shueisha magazine, V Jump. The CD-ROM lets users install the Yu-Gi-Oh! ONLINE application on their PCs and access the official site for registration to get an ID and password. The service will be provided free of charge during the beta test through Spring 2005. The CD-ROM will be distributed similarly in the U.S. through SHONEN JUMP, German magazine, BANZAI (both to be released in January 2005), and Swedish Shonen Jump (to be released in February 2005) for release in the Japanese, U.S. and European markets.
Yu-Gi-Oh! is based on the comic series by Kazuki Takahashi, which was first published in Weekly Shonen Jump in 1996. The series quickly achieved sales of 23 million copies and over 33 million copies including related books. Konami has sold video games and Official Card Games based on the comic series Yu-Gi-Oh!, also authored by Kazuki Takahashi, since 1998. It made its way into the U.S. and European markets in 2002. The deep strategy along with the games content, which overcomes language barriers, has gained the support of children worldwide. Yu-Gi-Oh! is one of the strongest brands in childrens entertainment.
Overview of Yu-Gi-Oh! ONLINE
Supported Operating Systems: Windows 98 or higher
Recommended Environment: OS: Windows 98/ Me/2000/ XP
CPU: Pentium III 800Mhz or higher
Memory: 256MB RAM or more
Hard disk: Available memory of 600MB or more
Video card: Direct X8.1
Sound card: Direct X8.1
Internet connection: Broadband
How to play:
After installing the Yu-Gi-Oh! ONLINE CD-ROM, follow the instructions on the screen to complete your registration (get an ID and password). You will receive a Starter Deck to start playing. To play, challenge any player waiting in the online meeting place (Lobby) to a duel.
Content:
・ Match, Auto Duel, Match Watching
・ Chatting
・ Trading cards
SOURCE: http://pc.gamezone.com/news/11_16_04_02_02AM.htm