E3 2006 Awards

Best of Show, Best Graphics, Best Expansion, Most Innovative, Best Both, Most Surprising... Our 2nd annual awards.

By Dana Massey on May 17, 2006

E3 2006 Most Innovative: Africa, Rapid Reality

It's a pile of paper on Tracy Spaight's Atlanta desk. The VP of Research and Development for Rapid Reality is not one of the old boys in the MMORPG industry and it shows. He's daring to think outside the box and try some concepts that have never made it into a game before. He dares to try and recreate the world.

Step one is Africa, or Northwest Africa to be specific. Rapid Reality is trying to create a mythological version of this world circa 1300. They're tackling stories that have never been effectively told and doubling their game as an educational tool. The game is largely skill based and incorporates a setting and flair that no one has ever tried.

Then you throw in ideas like the Dreamscape. This is an instanced area "inside your mind" where you can explore to gain answers to problems in the real world. This kind of thought is not unheard of in film, but to recreate it in a dynamic world is unheard of.

The game hit our minds with a lot of mainstream press earlier this year. Their site got swamped when it was featured on MTV. MMORPG.com even got in on the action when we visited the team in Atlanta (story). Then, Tracy met with us at E3 to tell us even more. Sean Dahlberg, an industry veteran who has seen a lot, had no doubt when the subject came up. "Africa," he said quickly. The debate was closed.

Can it live up to the promises? Who knows! But kudos to Tracy and the Rapid Reality team for daring to give it a try.

Africa was the only game we felt deserved mention in this category.

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