''Afrika'', known as ''Hakuna Matata'' in Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan and Southeast Asia, is a photography and

safari A safari (; ) is an overland journey to observe wild animals, especially in eastern or southern Africa. The so-called "Big Five" game animals of Africa – lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, and Cape buffalo – particularly form an importa ...

simulation video game for the PlayStation 3. Developed by Rhino Studios and published by Natsume, the game was first announced in a promotional video during the Sony press conference at E3 2006. ''Afrika'' has been referred to as being similar to the Nintendo 64 title ''

Pokémon Snap is a 1999 first-person photography game with rail shooter style gameplay mechanics developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It was first released in Japan in March 1999 and was later released in July 1999 in No ...

''.

Gameplay

In ''Afrika'', the player assumes the role of a

photojournalist Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...

hired to take images of various animals in Africa, as the name indicates. Gameplay is mission-driven; players receive e-mails at the base camp instructing them to which animals they must photograph. Players may then travel by foot, car, or hot air balloon to the areas where the requested animals are found in order to photograph them. The in-game camera is controlled by the Sixaxis. Depending on the quality of the photograph taken, the player will earn in-game money. The money can then be spent on new supplies, such as an upgraded camera. Real-life photos and footage of the animals can be unlocked. When unlocked, the content is stored in the "Animal Library". The soundtrack for the game was composed, orchestrated, and conducted by Wataru Hokoyama.

Development

Sony first showed a trailer for Afrika at E3 2006. This generated buzz, however, other than the title, little was actually known about the project. In 2008 Sony put up an official website for the game. Soon after a game description was posted on the Japanese retailer Gamestar's website with a trailer indicating the game was about a

. The U.S. version of ''Afrika'' was announced at E3 2009. The game's North American release date was October 6, 2009.

Reception

The game received mostly mixed reviews. '' Famitsu'' scored the game 29/40. According to Media Create sales data, ''Afrika'' debuted in second place during its release week in Japan, selling 38,423 units. The game's soundtrack was awarded "Best Original Video Game Score" by The Hollywood Music Awards 2008. Movie Music UK has the only review of the soundtrack and gave it 4.5/5.0, saying "Hokoyama has left a strong impression with the wonderful music he has composed. This is a soundtrack you cannot pass up".Movie Music UK review
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References

External links

Official website

Official Rhino Studios website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Afrika (Video Game) 2008 video games Life simulation games Natsume (company) games Photography games PlayStation 3 games PlayStation 3-only games Single-player video games Sony Interactive Entertainment games Video games about animals Video games developed in Japan Video games scored by Wataru Hokoyama Video games set in Africa

Gameplay

Development

Reception

See also

References

External links