Perlego provides access to major local and international publishers
Perlego, the world’s largest streaming service for educational and self-development books, has launched in Australia and New Zealand.
The platform, founded in 2016, provides unlimited access to content from many of the region’s leading publishers including Taylor & Francis, Pearson, SAGE, Bloomsbury and Cambridge University Press.
Perlego provides access to the books required to learn or study, opposed to buying individual textbooks or visiting libraries, which hasn’t been possible during the recent pandemic.
Textbook prices have grown by more than 847%, which is three times the rate of inflation, since 1978. In Australia alone, students spend approximately $602 on textbooks every year.
Perlego offers access to more than 300,000 titles from over 2,800 publishers through an-easy-to use web and mobile app. Content from 500 topics is available; including architecture, business, history, computing, law, literature, maths, medicine, science and the arts.
London-based entrepreneurs Gauthier Van Malderen and Matt Davis founded the company after meeting at university, where they witnessed firsthand the expense of textbooks.
CEO Gauthier Van Malderen said: “We’re hugely excited to launch in Australia and New Zealand. Here and across the world, we believe learning should be accessible to everyone, but the current challenges of the publishing industry makes this difficult.
“The high price of textbooks is a big concern, as well as access, which has been further limited by the enforced coronavirus restrictions and closure of the Co-Op Book’s on-campus, second-hand bookstores earlier this year.
“We’re looking to change this by providing a quality and affordable streaming platform that not only widens access to educational materials but accelerates profits for the publishing industry to help bring it back to growth.”
–ENDS–
About Perlego
Perlego is an online library that gives students and independent learners unlimited access to over 300,000 professional and academic titles. Perlego’s mission is to make educational material more universally accessible and affordable. On Perlego, readers can learn from the best books in Business, Social Sciences, Psychology amongst hundreds of other topics. Founded in 2016 in London, Perlego now works with over 2800 of the world’s leading publishers including Pearson, Wiley and Bloomsbury.
Five New Characters Join the Super Powered Roster, Including Super Saiyan God SS Vegito, Super Saiyan Trunks (Adult) (Rage) and More
Santa Clara, Calif., – (June 1, 2020), Leading interactive entertainment publisher and developer BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc. is celebrating the second anniversary of DRAGON BALL LEGENDS, the popular fast-paced card battle mobile game based on the iconic DRAGON BALL series, by adding powerful new characters to the roster and unveiling a new augmented reality (AR) camera app on Facebook. The anniversary will see the introduction of Super Saiyan God SS Vegito, who headlines the roster of five new characters, alongside Super Saiyan Trunks (Adult, Rage version), Fusion Zamasu, Super Full Power Saiyan 4 Goku and Omega Shenron. All DRAGON BALL LEGENDS players will also gain access to 10x Summon events that will be held daily from May 30 to June 24 (PST). DRAGON BALL LEGENDS is available now as a free download on the App Store and Google Play.
The DRAGON BALL LEGENDS second anniversary celebration will extend beyond the iOS and Android App, with the game’s official Facebook page hosting the “DRAGON BALL LEGENDS AR Camera Campaign” from June 4 to June 12 (PST). The campaign allows fans to take a picture alongside their favorite DRAGON BALL icons from among 20 randomly selected characters from the game. For more information, check out the official Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DBLegends.Official
In DRAGON BALL LEGENDS, iOS and Android players jump into the boots of Shallot, an original character designed by series creator Akira Toriyama, to experience an all-new, story-based adventure alongside fan-favorite fighters from DRAGON BALL, DRAGON BALL Z, DRAGON BALL GT and DRAGON BALL SUPER lore, including the iconic Goku, Vegeta, Frieza and a trio of original characters, also drawn by Toriyama himself. With intuitive controls and simple card-based attack gameplay mixed with high quality 3D animation and visuals, DRAGON BALL LEGENDS features intense story-based and realtime PvP anime fighting never before seen on mobile platforms.
The Indie Adventure Platformer and Other Graffiti Titles to be Featured During Next Week’s Steam Game Festival
Vancouver, Canada – June 1, 2020 – Graffiti Games announces today that it is teaming up with Guin Entertainment to publish indie action game Adventures of Chris this year. To celebrate, Graffiti and Guin are releasing a special demo during next week’s Steam Game Festival. In addition, Graffiti will also release demos for its upcoming games Bite the Bullet and Cyber Hook. Information on each title is below.
Adventures of Chris Adventures of Chris is a ‘90s-inspired action game about a chubby underdog kid with wacky superpowers that must save children from around the world. Set in the greatest year ever, 1995, Chris is kidnapped, mocked and transformed into a balloon, but manages to escape by floating off on a global adventure. Driven by determination, superpowers such as fireballs, and most importantly cookies, Chris is on a mission to defeat the forces of villainy and make it home in time for dessert.
Bite the Bullet Bite the Bullet is the world’s first Run & Gun & Eat. In this roguelite RPG shooter players must eat enemies, bullets and more to powerup their character, weapons, and abilities. Gun down zombies, robots and giant mutant bosses with a barrage of bullets before chowing down on their corpses to craft new weapons, unlock new abilities and special attacks, and transform into a powerful Zombro form to smash foes. Explore four character classes and a skill tree based on a player’s selected diet – and remember, you are what you eat!
Cyber Hook Cyber Hook is a fast-paced, 3D platformer that has you using parkour skills and a grappling hook to scale and ride walls, while fighting enemies and blasting blocks with a laser gun. Hurtle forward in a vibrant retrowave environment to test parkour abilities, but be careful, because one missed jump can mean life or death.
For more information regarding these titles please visit the Graffiti Twitter page.
About Graffiti Games Graffiti Games is a video game publisher comprised of industry veterans that understand what it takes to launch a successful game. We view game publishing as a collaborative effort between our team and developers and strive to ensure everyone benefits from a game’s success. To find out more about Graffiti and our titles please visit www.graffitigames.com.
Safety is a huge priority at Xbox, and we’ve worked for years to offer families tools to find the right balance of gaming in their lives and to fit their unique needs. Family settings on Xbox include more than 20 customizable features to help parents set screen time limits, set content filters and manage who their children can play and communicate with. This provides parents with the choice and flexibility to decide what settings are right for their children. Today, I’m excited to announce an update in our safety offerings: the Xbox Family Settings app, available now in preview on Android and iOS, which makes it easy to manage family settings from anywhere. See here for more details.
The Xbox Family Settings app (Preview) empowers parents and caregivers to manage their children’s gaming on Xbox consoles through their mobile device. It provides a simple and convenient way to create child accounts and customize family settings on the Xbox console to ensure your kids have access to gaming that you feel is appropriate. The Xbox Family Settings app (Preview) includes helpful features such as:
Screen time limits – set limits for each day of the week, for example, you have the ability to allow for more time on the weekends or reduce time during the school week
Content filters – set filters based on the age of each child; an 8-year old can only access games rated E, and will be blocked from accessing titles that are too mature
Play and communication settings – block all access to play and communication with other players, limit access to “friends only” or grant permission for older children to play and chat with “everyone”
Activity reports – view daily and weekly activity reports for each child to understand how they are spending their time on Xbox
With the app, parents and caregivers can respond to notifications in real time, such as requests from their child to extend the console screen time limit for the day. We have also built in a new feature within the app to easily enable access and multiplayer capability for Minecraft, which is rated E10+. Sometimes parents of younger children want to provide access to Minecraft and possibly enable online play with their friends, and a convenient toggle in the app unlocks those specific capabilities quickly. Based on customer feedback on this feature, we may include similar functionality for other games in the future.
Additionally, once the app is available to broad consumers later this year, parents will be able to view and manage their child’s friends list and approve or decline requests to add new friends via notifications sent to the app.
We know that especially right now, families are facing new challenges in the wake of school closures, working from home and social distancing due to COVID-19. In my own family, we’ve had to navigate this “new normal,” and how our existing rules for screen time might need to be adjusted to better reflect our reality. With the Xbox Family Settings app (Preview), parents can easily relax screen time on Xbox so kids have more time to play, or create a new schedule to help balance time for remote learning. We believe that especially now, gaming plays an important role to help connect friends and family and have fun while staying home. The app makes it easy to find the right balance of gaming time that feels right for your family.
The Xbox Family Settings app (Preview) is available now for all Android users and the first 10,000 people on iOS to test in preview. To download the Preview, go to: https://aka.ms/XboxFamilyBetaAndroid and https://aka.ms/XboxFamilyBetaiOS and then follow the steps to setup on your mobile device.
We encourage you to come along on the journey and share your feedback so we can further improve and refine the experience for all users. We’re always listening to customer feedback, and more features will come to the app over time. We hope you’ll join us!
F1®2020 SERVES-UP A TASTE OF THE ORIENT WITH HANOI CIRCUIT REVEAL
Codemasters® unveiled the second new circuit to feature in F1® 2020, the official videogame of the 2020 FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP™. Having revealed Circuit Zandvoort earlier in the campaign, the development team heads to Vietnam for Hanoi Circuit. This city location fuses a street circuit’s characteristics with a permanent track layout. The lap, recorded by the F1® 2020 development team, features Scuderia Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. The video can be viewed here
Hanoi Circuit is 5.613km long, features 23 turns and takes inspiration from iconic F1® circuits such as Suzuka, Monaco and Nürburgring. Designed for action and overtaking, with two incredibly long straights, it promises to be one of the fastest circuits in the F1® calendar. With one of the shortest pit lanes, which removes both the final and first corners, pit-stop strategy could play a pivotal role in staying ahead of the competition.
“We’re always excited to create new experiences for our players. Hanoi Circuit delivers both thrills and challenges, set against the backdrop of the stunning city skyline,” said Lee Mather, F1® Franchise Game Director at Codemasters. “Hanoi Circuit is an adrenaline rush with high speeds, long straights and heavy braking zones, but it will punish anyone who doesn’t respect the walled sections.”
F1® 2020 will be released on Friday 10th July 2020 for PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, the Xbox One family of devices including the Xbox One X, Windows PC (via Steam), and Google Stadia. Players who purchase the Michael Schumacher Deluxe Edition will receive exclusive content and three days early access.
Codemasters (AIM:CDM) is an award-winning British video game developer and publisher with over 30 years of heritage. The company specialises in high-quality racing games including DiRT, GRID, and the BAFTA award-winning official F1® series of videogames.
In November 2019 Codemasters acquired Slightly Mad Studios, creators and developers of award-winning IP including the Project CARS franchise.
For more information on Codemasters’ product portfolio, please visit www.codemasters.com. Join in the conversation with @codemasters on Twitter or Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/codemasters.
All other copyrights or trade marks are the property of their respective owners and are being used under license. Developed and published by Codemasters.
Pre-purchase beta available now exclusively on the Kalypso Store
Sydney, Australia – (01 June, 2020) – Publisher Kalypso Media and in-house developer Realmforge Studios have today announced 23rd October 2020 as the official release date for upcoming construction management sim Spacebase Startopia, revealed alongside the launch of the closed beta, and a brand-new gameplay trailer.
Following on from an exclusive reveal earlier this week on Twitch, the Spacebase Startopia beta is unlocked for all pre-purchase customers on the Kalypso Store. The game is available in two versions, a standard edition consisting of the base game and beta access, and an Extended Edition which adds bonus content into the mix for the ultimate donut-shaped-space-station afficionado.
The beta is available English and German and offers an impressive amount of replay value, including three tutorial maps, two single player missions and an early version of skirmish mode with randomized parameters, 15 rooms and three tech tree levels. More content will be added as part of regular updates leading up to the launch of the full game.
The wait is over. Players are invited to join Sony Interactive Entertainment on Friday, June 5th, at 6:00am AEST for a look at the future of gaming on PlayStation 5.
The digital showcase, available to watch on PlayStation’s Twitch and YouTube channels, will run for over an hour and provide players with a peek into the future looking at the games available to players after the PS5 launches this holiday.
The games coming to PS5 represent the best in the industry from innovative studios that span the globe. Studios, both larger and smaller, those newer and those more established, all have been hard at work developing games that will showcase the potential of the hardware. Sony Interactive Entertainment is as thrilled as ever to bring players on the journey to redefine the future of videogames.
For more information on the upcoming PS5 digital showcase and a message from President and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment Jim Ryan, head to the PlayStation Blog, and sign up for all updates on PlayStation 5 here.
Nexon’s Thrilling Mobile Racer Adds Three New Tracks and New Character ‘Dino Ethen’
Let’s go full throttle! Today, Nexon announced that its newest free-to-play mobile racer game, KartRider Rush+, surpassed 10 million downloads in just two week since launch.
Inspired by the popular KartRider franchise, KartRider Rush+ zoomed to the top of the Google Playand Apple App stores, clocking in 3.57 million daily users. With its limitless customisation options and over 50 tracks and 20 karts to choose from, KartRider Rush+ players can personalise their races for an experience that is truly unique and action-packed.
KartRider Rush+ has also expanded the experience even further, introducing three new exhilarating tracks – “Dino Town”, “Namsan Tour” and “The Bridge of Fate” – and the exciting new character “Dino Ethen.” Along with new tracks and characters, racers who join by May 31 will be rewarded with an “L-decoder x 5” bonus beginning June 2.
KartRider Rush+ will also offer additional rewards such as “Dino Ethen Code” and “Orange Lucky Coin” in an exclusive login event and for players who’d like to test their skills on the newly released tracks.
KartRider Rush+ is available globally via iOS and Android in multiple languages including English, Korean, Thai and Traditional Chinese. Visit https://kartrush.nexon.com and follow @KRRushPlus on Twitter for the latest updates and information.
Based on the popular online gaming phenomenon, KartRider, KartRider Rush+ is a free-to-play kart racing mobile game delivering all the racing action of its namesake on iOS and Android devices. With gorgeous 3D graphics, KartRider Rush+ offers players robust tracks, karts and game modes, just like its online counterpart accommodating every level, from racing novice to drifting champion.
Founded in 2005, Nexon America Inc. delivers outstanding free-to-play online game expertise and live game support, taking the strengths of NEXON Co., Ltd. (“Nexon”) and applying them for uniquely western audiences. Nexon America has consistently sustained iconic franchises such as MapleStory and Mabinogi for more than a decade, which have gone on to break records and captivate players. With new projects on the horizon, Nexon America maintains the pioneering and innovative spirit of its parent company, employing its player-first approach, while designing the best possible gameplay experiences for the western market.
Monster Train is a deck building roguelike. The attackers from Heaven are laying siege to one of the last Pyre shards that is powering a train on a mission to save Hell. To win, players will choose randomly selected cards, upgrades, and artifacts as they battle past eight bosses.
Story
The story is very simple as it only provides enough context for the player’s repeated runs through Hell. The developers were more than happy to blur the lines between the forces of Heaven and Hell, which makes for a richer world. The lore is fleshed out over multiple runs through random events and flavour text for some enemies. As a game that revolves around short runs over the same course, the light story is to be expected, but I wish they compensated a little more with richer world building.
Gameplay
As a deck building roguelike, players start each run by selecting their primary and secondary clans to determine their starting deck. The primary clan will add a hero, creatures, and spells to a deck, while the secondary clan will only provide spells. Clans are organized in the five colour format popularized by Magic: the Gathering. Each clan have their own specialized mechanics, monster types, theme, and hero. Those with background in Magic: the Gathering and similar style games will be right at home building decks. Veteran Magic players will need to adjust for certain creature mechanics like trample being shuffled to different colours and Melting Remnant playing more like black decks and Stygian Guard playing more like blue.
Once the game is underway, players will constantly be bombarded with choices. All new cards, artifacts and upgrades offer a choice between three random selections from the current pool of unlocked items. The path the train takes is also in the player’s hands, as there are always two routes to choose from populated with randomly selected events.
Combat is set on a train with four levels. Creatures are played on the first three levels of the train, while the fourth is reserved for the Pyre. Enemies usually appear on the bottom-most level and fight their way upwards. Bosses will often harass the player with a variety of abilities, before finally appearing on the train as part of the last wave. Enemies will ascend a floor after each wave until they reach the Pyre room. Enemies and the Pyre will do damage to each other, and the run ends when the Pyre health reaches zero. Early bosses are randomly selected from a pool, while the later named bosses do not change.
The main strategy in Monster Train is creating a well-rounded deck with synergizing cards and then paring down that deck as small as possible. This allows the discard pile to be cycled back into the draw pile quickly so the powerful synergizing cards can be played as many times as possible. While this strategy may be common sense to long time players of trading card games and deck building games, newer players may take a while to figure it out. An extra tutorial or a strategy guide specifically designed for those new to the genre would be helpful.
The game offers a singleplayer mode where each difficulty level adds more cards to the starting deck. There is multiplayer, but not in the traditional sense. Multiplayer uses the same gameplay as singleplayer, but players either race each other to finish their run first or attempt to top the leaderboard in a variety of daily and custom-made challenges.
Monster Train has an addictive gameplay loop. The constant flow of new cards combined with the large number of possible deck combinations from the primary/secondary clan system offers many hours of gameplay. The randomness of the game is at a good place. No run will ever be perfect, and a few will be absolutely horrid, but at least players have a level of control that feels about right.
The game’s balance is decent, but it needs some adjustment. While no clan needs a complete overhaul, some are significantly weaker than others. The Awoken is likely the strongest of the pack, as they are incredibly well rounded as a primary and secondary clan pick. The Umbra on the other hand are in the direst need of a buff due to their over-reliance on the Morselmaker and the Morselmaster to make their signature mechanic viable.
Visuals
The game’s graphics are enjoyable. The game uses an illustrated 2D style that isn’t as cartoony as Hearthstone’s exaggerated aesthetic but isn’t as realistic as Magic: the Gathering’s traditional fantasy art style. Each clan has a unique look that can be identified by style alone, though each card has a coloured frame to signify the clan. The frame is so subtle that it can be completely overlooked, but luckily clan affiliation is not a core mechanic of combat.
Audio
The sound effects are decent, but the game engine plays sound effects way too often at a slower game speed. During boss fights, players may be stuck listening to the same one or two injury sound in quick repetition for a mind numbingly long period of time. Things improve quite a bit once the game speed is increased to Ultra or Super Ultra. The soundtrack is enjoyable as it is reminiscent of old combat music from JRPGs. There is no voice acting beyond the well voiced introductory cut scene.
Overall
Monster Train takes the familiar framework of Magic: the Gathering and adapts it into a compelling roguelike. The addition of multiplayer challenges adds even more replayability to the game. While there are some balance issues that need to be ironed out over the coming months, a large majority of the game is still balanced within reason. Monster Train is a fantastic pick for fans of the deck building genre.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
I’ll admit it, I am not really an expert on the Five Nights at Freddy’s phenomenon. Sure, I gave it a go long ago, but I never found the hook that younger gamers seemed to grab onto to make it into one of the biggest names in gaming of the past decade. While the franchise has now cooled off a bit, we have seen a slight resurgence since seeing the ports hit consoles. Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted is a port of what was originally delivered to PlayStation VR and other similar platforms, and looks to bring its own, unique first-person fare to Nintendo. Does it have legs to stand on, or is this entire package miss the mark? Let’s find out.
Story
Well, there really isn’t a lot of story here outside of the original lore that is too exciting, as Help Wanted basically takes FNaF 1, 2, 3, 4, and spinoff titles, spins them into mini-games, and delivers the usually scares and bears that fans would expect. The meat is indeed here, and those looking for fanfare will more than likely get their lot out of the content within. That said, there is a feeling amiss to those of us “casuals”, as the blanks are not easily filled, and the expectation of the player to just jump in without much background means that you are assumed to know your history beforehand – which should be a word of caution for new, or even light players looking to just jump in.
Gameplay
As I mentioned, this is more of a mini-game compilation based on the franchise, rather than a compilation. While the group of mini-games that range through the whole series are quite varied and exciting on paper, the glaring issue with Help Wanted is how they expect us to consume the content on the Switch. On VR systems, being able to move your head and interact with objects worked. It was a clever mechanic that certainly delivered something new to players searching for a specific experience.
The Switch version plays the same, but without the proper headset or motion controls, fails as a concept in this port. Grabbing objects and interacting with the small buttons feels awkward and broken. When I played the first title in this collection, I was taken back with how cumbersome the control scheme felt. It is a headache trying to make a small reticle target a button with precision, and even adjusting the sensitivity of the Joycon control in the options did little to make the experience feel fluid. Tasks as simple as picking up a phone or a cupcake take longer than they should and overshadow the intentions of the development team.
Let me tell you that I wanted this to improve through other offerings within the package, as I tried nearly everything offered up front, but everything was simply too frustrating and clunky to actually enjoy the “fantastic” Fazbear experience that seemed to be promised. It’s as if someone simply wanted to do a quick cash grab without thought or proper testing, pasted this port, and didn’t look back long enough to ask themselves “does this work”? Disappointment is an understatement for what this Switch port has to offer.
Visuals
The graphics in Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted are indeed polished and smooth. Characters look fantastic and even though the game is indeed a slop to play, you can at least feel what they were going for with the visual design. If properly ported, this might even be one of the finer ports on the Switch. That said, without much else other than decent animation and crisp character models, the eye candy is just not enough to deliver satisfaction.
Audio
The sound effects, voice acting, and music are also well done. Even though I found the game a chore to play, the sound gave me a good jump scare or two as there certainly is that classic ambiance and atmosphere that captures the product. Never did I notice much stuttering or audio latency, and overall, those screams and familiar howls will at least provide the familiarity to players to keep them in “tune” with their purchase, if that is all they are really searching for.
Overall
Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted is a bad port. There isn’t really any other way to state it. While this concept sounds great and even works fine in the world of virtual reality, no thought or proper usage of the Switch makes Help Wanted feel broken and shallow. Fans of the franchise will probably want the next best game to add to their switch, but be warned – this mini-game compilation is more of an example of flawed execution than it is intuitive, and those who have poured years or even minutes into such a namesake simply deserve more. I am sure that the other versions available on the platform are great but wait for a patch or give this one a pass for now.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
