“Video games are now the number one form of entertainment in the U.S. and fishing is a $30 billion a year industry. It makes perfect sense for us to expand the release of Top Angler,” says Reto Bodmer, president of Xicat Interactive, whose company has tripled its sales over the past six months.
Top Angler, offers gamers of all ages a fun, realistic and challenging bass fishing experience. “Our developers (SIMS) went out of their way to make it look and feel like real bass fishing. SIMS has had quite a bit of experience with this genre as well, they developed the best-selling Sega® Dreamcast(TM) version of Sega Bass Fishing(TM). With life-like motion graphics, unpredictable weather and some great fishing holes, the only thing missing is a six-pack,” quips Bodmer.
It’s quick to learn, yet hard to master and you don’t need to be a fishing enthusiast to enjoy this addictive, good-time game. Top Angler is packed with innovations that allow the player to always have “a good day of fishing.” Along with the many levels of play, Top Angler has a “deep” interactive tackle box with over 36 lures, real pole action/response, a zoom view feature and an enhanced “live well” feature that shows cumulative weight, type of fish caught and lures used. It also boasts real-time scenery and weather changes as well as the split screen “fight/underwater” view.
Xicat teamed up with SIMS in developing the unique split screen “fight/underwater” view, which alone makes this game a must see and play. The instant the fish hits the lure, the view changes into the split screen mode. The player experiences the “fight” from above and below the waterline seeing the valiant twists, turns and leaps of the fish up close on one side of the screen, while the other side reveals the player struggling with their monster bass. “The split screen fight/underwater view is a fun touch and an innovation we are proud to have developed,” says Bodmer.
Xicat is planning to cast Top Angler to console gamers in Q1 of 2003. Top Angler will be available for the Nintendo GameCube.