Atari Launches “My Horse and Me”
Tuesday 16 October, marked the launch of the “My Horse and Me” feature-packed new website on the worldwide web providing the public with a great chance to get a sneak preview of the only FEI endorsed equestrian video game ever to hit the streets. This comes in anticipation to the video games’ multi platform release scheduled for mid November 2007. Published by Atari, My Horse and Me is a unique equestrian video game experience for PC, Wii and Nintendo DS™ Features galore, visitors to the site can learn everything about what makes My Horse and Me an enthralling, highly realistic and immersive video game with detailed game information, videos and screenshots showing the rich variety of
gameplay modes, competitive environments and fun mini-games.
Furthermore, fans of the game can customize their own PC with a selection of downloadable screensavers and wallpapers exclusive to the site. The specially designed ‘My Horse and Me in Pictures’ feature lets fans upload a digital photo of themselves and superimpose it onto a photo of a customisable horse and rider of their choice. They can then download the finished picture, share it with friends, use it to create a unique PC or mobile phone wallpaper, or even enter a competition to win a t-shirt featuring the design.
You must be thinking this is a far cry from you Pinball or Space Invaders days… Indeed, from the pinball machine to My Horse and Me a lot has happened in both the equestrian world and the world of video games… For example, when pinball was really taking off during the post-World War II American economic boom in the 1950s, men and women were still competing separately at World Championships. Or even, when in 1965 the first ladies World Jumping Championships were being staged, “spacewar” (the next pioneer in the gaming industry) was dazzling crowds with two ships dubbed the “Wedge” and the “Needle” that could be moved around the screen while firing torpedoes at each other until one ship was destroyed…
It would not be until 1975 that men and women would be competing for the same medals at FEI Championships. A little around the time the video game industry went into what has been dubbed the golden age of arcade games, led by none other than the invincible Space Invaders – genuinely invincible because you could not win, as destroying all the aliens led to the game starting over at greater difficulty until, you, the player, were either finally terminated or exhausted. In Japan alone, the game eventually sold over 100,000 units and caused a phenomenon as small stores switched to housing rows of Space Invader cabinets and (apparently) a shortage of the 100 Yen coins required to play the game resulted in the Japanese government having to increase production of the coin!
Making history and revealing progress – every detail is a poignant one, and just retracing some of the steps in video games or equestrian sport makes you realise how far we have come in very few years. Just think of women’s participation and success in equestrian sports or some of the virtual and automated worlds with which we now feel entirely at ease. So, whether you are the ultimate technophobe or the intrepid, technologically enhanced type of person, why not take this opportunity to unleash or refresh the gamer in you.