Razer, the world’s leading lifestyle brand for gamers, today announced the introduction of the Gigantus V2 mouse mat.
The Razer Gigantus V2is the latest addition to Razer’s mouse mat family, featuring an upgraded surface with a higher thread count weave for the perfect balance between speed and control, and an improved, non-slip rubber backing for comfort. Tested by Team Razer’s esports athletes, the Gigantus V2 is available in four sizes up to a massive 3XL for full desk coverage.
The Gigantus V2 comes in a stylish all-black finish, with a cool, minimal Razer tag in one corner, providing the perfect surface for big mouse sweeps while looking good, too.
Based on a thick, high-density rubber foam backing, topped with a textured micro-weave cloth surface for accurate, reliable mouse tracking, the Gigantus V2 is available in the following sizes:
Gamers can also customise their Gigantus V2 through Razer Customs, which allows them to truly personalise their mats with texts, colours, patterns and icons of their choice. For those who want to show their love to their favorite game or gaming influencer, Razer Customs offers an ever-growing collection of licensed prints from Blizzard, Microsoft, and other triple-A game publisher partners to choose from, as well as exclusive designs by popular streamers and esports teams.
Razer™ is the world’s leading lifestyle brand for gamers.
The triple-headed snake trademark of Razer is one of the most recognised logos in the global gaming and esports communities. With a fan base that spans every continent, the company has designed and built the world’s largest gamer-focused ecosystem of hardware, software and services.
Razer’s award-winning hardware includes high-performance gaming peripherals and Blade gaming laptops.
Razer’s software platform, with over 80 million users, includes Razer Synapse (an Internet of Things platform), Razer Chroma (a proprietary RGB lighting technology system), and Razer Cortex (a game optimiser and launcher).
In services, Razer Gold is one of the world’s largest virtual credit services for gamers, and Razer Fintech is one of the largest offline-to-online digital payment networks in SE Asia.
Founded in 2005 and dual-headquartered in Irvine and Singapore, Razer has 16 offices worldwide and is recognised as the leading brand for gamers in the USA, Europe and China. Razer is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (Stock Code: 1337).
(May 27, 2020 — Toronto, Canada) Comics-inspired horror game Worse Than Death comes full circle with an innovative new comic book expansion!
Worse Than Death is a scary, action-adventure horror game about a high school reunion that goes horribly wrong. It launched on Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One, Steam, Humble and on the App Store in 2019 to critical acclaim and coverage worldwide.
The game draws from classic horror comics and manga for its unique aesthetic, and now its story continues in an original comic series that pays tribute to its roots. This opening chapter introduces us to Mia — a seemingly shy twenty-something looking for love online. There’s just one problem: all of her dates end up dead.
This is the first digital chapter in an ongoing series. Chapter Two is currently on the drawing board.
Worse Than Death: Chapter 01
– On sale at 10am EST at ComiXology: https://bit.ly/2Tp5JBY – Writer / illustrator: Benjamin Rivers – Page count: 16 pages – Official site: http://www.worsethandeathgame.com/comic/
About Benjamin Rivers
As a game developer, Benjamin Rivers (Inc.) is a Toronto-based mom ‘n’ pop studio that’s been creating critically-acclaimed, story-rich games since 2012.
As a comic author, Rivers’ last major project was the Toronto-based slice-of-life graphic novel, Snow, which debuted at conventions in Toronto and eventually saw wide distribution through Diamond. Snow won a Xeric Foundation grant, was nominated for a Joe Shuster Award and was turned into an independent, full-length feature film.
Press Details: Game website: http://www.worsethandeathgame.com Comic book launch trailer: https://youtu.be/7eRNAKwgndY Press assets: http://www.worsethandeathgame.com/press/ Company site: http://www.benjaminrivers.com Twitter: www.twitter.com/benjaminrivers Twitch: twitch.tv/benjaminriversinc/
BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment is proud to announce that the puzzle-platformer horror franchise, Little Nightmares® has reached two million copies sold worldwide, highlighting the continued success of this original brand. Little Nightmares, developed by Tarsier Studios and published by BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Europe, puts players in the shoes of Six as she tries to escape the Maw, a ship full of evil residents and dangerous traps.
Starting June 1st, Stadia players will be able to immerse themselves in the dark tale of Little Nightmares. The standard edition of the game will be free to claim from June 1st for Stadia Pro members, who will be available to separately buy ‘Secrets of the Maw’, the collection of three additional stories. Non Stadia Pro members will be able to purchase ‘Little Nightmares Complete Edition’, which contains the base game and the ‘Secrets of the Maw’ additional stories.
“Being part of the journey for Little Nightmares, from its beginnings to this great milestone has been incredible” said Herve Hoerdt, Senior Vice President of Digital, Marketing & Content at BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Europe. “It is a testament of our capability to create great franchises that manage to achieve success and interest, not only in the video games sector, but also entertainment as a whole. And while this milestone is important, this is only the beginning”
“It has been amazing to see this new franchise come to life with the reactions and support from the fans,” said Lucas Roussel, Producer on Little Nightmares. “With Google Stadia, even more players will be able to play the game and this community will continue growing. We are fully focused on Little Nightmares II and can’t wait to tell fans more about the game this summer.”
Little Nightmares is available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, and starting June 1st, on Google Stadia.
About BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Europe S.A.S.
BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Europe S.A.S. part of BANDAI NAMCO Holdings Inc. is a leading global publisher and developer of interactive content for platforms including all major video game consoles, PC and mobile. The company is known for creating and publishing many of the industry’s top video game franchises, including PAC-MAN™, TEKKEN™, SOULCALIBUR™ and DARK SOULS™ as well as new franchises such as LITTLE NIGHTMARES® and THE DARK PICTURES ANTHOLOGY.
Keen – One Girl Army Slays Evil Hordes on Nintendo Switch, Steam 25 June
TOKYO – 27 May 2020 – Keen – One Girl Army, the tactical turn-based puzzle adventure from publisher Phoenixx and developer Cat Nigiri, will skate and slash onto Nintendo Switch™ as well as Steam for Windows and Mac on Thursday 25 June 2020.
Strap on a pair of roller skates, hoist a razor-sharp sword and prepare to slice through more than 20 enemy types including zombies, robots and ninjas. Navigate sprawling maze-like dungeons set in mysterious forests, top-secret underwater labs, orbital military outposts and other exotic locations filled with challenging bosses. Help the heroine Kim save her village.
Hailing from a lineage of female warriors, Kim’s island home is in peril. A corporation’s insidious expansion plans threaten to bring 500 years of peace to an end, with only Kim’s lightning-fast reflexes and weapons standing in the way.
Earn gadgets and powerups making her a true one girl army able to teleport past blockades, stun groups of foes, trap enemies and eradicate any obstacle along the way. Skate through ten enigmatic regions depicted in a cute but creepy art style, from the village Kim leaves behind through the Forest of Illusions on the way to the big city.
“Kim comes from a remote island, and her journey to take on the final boss at the enemy’s headquarters will take her through many strange and imaginative areas,” said Caio Lopez, founder of Cat Nigiri. “Keen – One Girl Army layers combat, movement and puzzle design on top of each other to create an experience where you don’t go back and forth between the elements, but instead get to think about all of them at once.”
Keen – One Girl Army will be available on Nintendo Switch and Steam for Windows and Mac on 25 June for $15.99 USD. It will support English, Brazilian Portuguese and Japanese.
Established in 2019 by industry veterans, Phoenixx aims to support innovative and creative developers from Japan and around the world. Its mission is to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one creator, one game, and one community a time.
Last year Sekiro delighted many by offering a unique experience from FromSoftware and now fans of that game will soon have a chance to delve a bit deeper as Yen Press has detailed their October release line-up and it happens to include not only the official art book for Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice but the premiere of a number of other highly anticipated manga and light novels as well.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice Official Artworks will offer over three hundred pages featuring storyboards, character designs, and concept art and although the release date is subject to change, it is currently set to be released on October 20th for $50 USD.
Alongside this art book Yen Press is debuting the long awaited light novel for the popular High School DxD series that has seen numerous anime adaptations over the ears, Sadako at the End of the World which is follows the story of a pair of sisters that play an infamous video tape after the world has already came to an end only to be happy that Sadako has appeared in front of them.
The light novel series In the Land of Leadale will also be debuting in October where a girls’ last memories are only of her being on failing life support after a near-fatal accident left her with only the VR world of Leadale as an escape. Now after waking up in what appears to be the game, only two hundred years in the future, how did this happen?
Also coming out in October is the continuation of the adaptation of Sword Art Online Progressive, Sword Art Online Progressive Transient Barcarolle that tells untold stories that take place during the first two years of the characters’ time trapped in the game world. Heterogenia Linguistico which is a fantasy manga with slice-of-life elements, a unique series that focuses on how various creatures such as werewolves and slimes communicate. And finally we have My Broken Mariko, an intense and emotional josei manga that addresses suicide and abuse. An utterly impressive work that is sure to appeal to the passionate josei fanbase, My Broken Mariko will be published in a deluxe hardcover format.
The tentative covers for a few of these volumes can be found below.
Following an earlier delay to work on improving the game’s visual effects, Gust and Koei Tecmo have announced that the Fairy Tail RPG is once again being delayed worldwide. All versions of the game have been given new release dates, setting the European and Japanese release of the game for July 30th while North America will get the game on July 31st.
As many would expect the reason given for the delay has to due with the world being disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the altered work conditions that the team had to go through as a result. As it stands, Fairy Tail is currently set to be released on the PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC with the physical release of the game featuring inside artwork of the cast wearing their swimsuits.
Many were left wondering just when the latest game from the creators of Senran Kagura would come to the West and now XSEED Games has the answer as the company has announced that Kandagawa Jet Girls will be releasing in North America on the PlayStation 4 and PC worldwide sometime this summer where it will be sold physically for $59.99 and digitally on both platforms for $49.99.
A special edition of the PlayStation 4 version of the game will also be released in the future called the “Racing Hearts” edition and will include a copy of the game, the two disc soundtrack, a sixty four page soft cover art book, and a collector’s box featuring exclusive artwork.
In Kandagawa Jet Girls players will participate in the “Jet Racing” sport where waterways of Tokyo host some of the most daring and skilled young athletes of Japan on their high-speed jet machines. Drivers, also known as ‘Jetters’, pair up with a ‘Shooter’ armed with water weapons to blast away the competition. They must wow spectators if they want to win, building up their boost meter with spectacular aerial stunts while dodging obstacles and evading enemy attacks. There are seven two-girl teams to race with and sixty four total episodes to race through in story mode and an online mode to put the players’ skills to the test.
With some platform holders stepping in to cancel certain types of”ecchi” games it has made a few a bit reluctant to try and bring some series over to the West but it looks like one more game will be continuing to come over for Western fans. Eastasiasoft has announced that they are working with Play-Asia to release Moero Crystal H to Western audiences through the Nintendo Switch later this year. The game will be sold digitally through the e-Shop and all standard and the limited physical collector’s editions will be sold only through Play-Asia with pre-orders starting tomorrow.
Developed by Compile Heart, Moero Crystal H is a standalone release that is a dungeon-crawling RPG that follows the tale of of Zenox the “Lucky Pervert”, who must partner with a troupe of monster girls to reclaim the stolen Bra of Darkness, an object of great power needed to save the world. Equipped with the “Panties of Light” to guide them, our heroes embark on their mythical quest.
A trailer showing off the opening movie and a number of screenshots for the game can be found below.
Minecraft Dungeonsreimagines isometric action RPGs as part of the Minecraft universe. One to four players will be able to wade into combat to save the world from the Arch-Illager and get some sweet loot in the process. Players will be able to experience brand new items and enemies along with old classics.
Story
The story in Minecraft Dungeons is extremely light. Like many games in the genre, the player character is mute, so there is no personal character development to speak of. The story hinges entirely on in-game events, NPCs, and cutscenes. There are no NPCs and no commentary about in-game events, so most of the plot relies on the short cutscenes between levels. There is just enough content for a children’s book, and the plot itself is fittingly appropriate for children.
Gameplay
Minecraft Dungeons is a homage to the Diablo franchise that simplifies mechanics for children. The usual barrage of stats has been pared down to the bare minimum. To my great annoyance, there is no page with the character’s total stats, so everything must be eyeballed or manually tracked.
There is no class system. In a nod to Minecraft’s freeform mechanics, the developers have opted to design equipment and weapons to suit different types of playstyles but allow players to mix and match as they please. The active abilities normally associated with a class have been replaced with a variety of artifacts that can be placed into one of three slots. Passive abilities are found on weapons and armour. Each can have up to three enchantment slots, and each slot has three randomly selected enchantments that are permanently selected and upgraded with points that are awarded from leveling up. The resulting system is very enjoyable to play. Some of the most fun I had with Minecraft Dungeons was experimenting with new builds and tweaking old ones to change up the gameplay.
The itemization is mediocre. Flexibility appears to be the guiding principle. The multiple options for item enchantments allows players to get the exact combination of enchantments on a desired item with less farming. Each level has a clear list of what items can drop there, making it easier to farm for the exact item a player wants. Most items can be found in two levels at minimum. While it is a great system to cut down on farming frustration, there is room for improvement as the level’s possible drops never change. The game could easily encourage players to try different levels by rotating the drop table every day. The big issue is how items drop in Minecraft Dungeons. While I’m not a fan of pointless item drops to clog the inventory and tickle the brain’s reward sector, the developers have taken the less is more concept a bit too far. I experienced a lot of maps that offered no rewards for taking long detours into side areas. Enchanted groups rarely drop items either.
Minecraft Dungeons is a slickly presented game for the most part, but it’s quest to be a simplified game for a younger audience has resulted in some quality of life features being dropped. The game’s emphasis on freeform classes has a major design flaw: the inability to save multiple equipment load outs. The limited number of enchantment points means players have to destroy old items to enchant their new ones, so players are forced to make a commitment when they try out new builds.
Inventory management is a pain. There is no sell to vendor, so players salvage items for emeralds and any enchantment points they may have spent on the item. There is no ability to mass salvage unwanted items, so players need to salvage items one by one instead. I do like the undo button, however, as it gives players a chance to get their item back in case of second thoughts.
The difficulty curve is a bit inconsistent. The game generally follows a linear difficulty curve. There are three general difficulties, but each difficulty level can be further tweaked with a sub-difficulty based on item level. The game offers a decent challenge that requires players to rely on a solid build and using game mechanics to stay alive. The final two levels suddenly spike in difficulty and need an adjustment to bring them in line with the other levels. The sudden change in difficulty is due to the volume of heavily armoured enemies and the generally tight corridors.
The amount of content in Minecraft Dungeons is extremely lacking. While dungeons are randomly generated to some extent, there are large chunks of maps that stay the same or shift slightly between runs. The game only has one tutorial level, ten story levels, a secret dungeon, and an ad promising a new paid DLC is coming soon that is set on an island. After players beat the game on the highest difficulty, there is no end game to speak of. While the game’s price is very accessible, the amount of content is laughable.
I did not experience a large variety of glitches with Minecraft Dungeons, but I did experience the same pathing issues. Large NPCs have difficulty with objects like chairs and tables, often getting stuck behind them. On occasion, I had a few golems get stuck on seemingly nothing at all. I found the player character did not always path around a corner well, requiring me to manually guide my character around.
The controls are good. While the genre is best known for being PC-centric, Minecraft Dungeons’ simple ability layout makes it ideal for playing with a controller. For long time mouse and keyboard players, all the main functions we have come to expect from the genre are there.
Visuals
Minecraft Dungeons does an excellent job channeling the Minecraft aesthetics. Save for a few environmental decorations, everything feels like it was built inside Minecraft. The items from the original game appear to be directly copied into Minecraft Dungeons, and the artists have done an excellent job creating the new items to fit in the voxel style. The map designs pay homage to the Diablo franchise, such as the grand double staircases and the tower levels reaching high into the clouds.
Audio
The audio experience in Minecraft Dungeons is excellent. Many sound effects have been taken directly from Minecraft and the rest do an excellent job fitting into the style. The narration is the only voice acting in the game, and it is done well. The soundtrack is very low key, even the combat music has a more relaxed pace than most high intensity video game combat tracks.
Overall
Minecraft Dungeons is very good for one specific purpose: serving as the first isometric action RPG for children who are too young to handle slightly more complex or violent affairs like Torchlight or Diablo. It takes the familiar environment of Minecraft and combines it with simplified action RPG mechanics to create a very accessible experience. Unfortunately, Minecraft Dungeon is no Pixar-like affair where children and adults are equally entertained. While presented with incredible polish, the game is missing too many quality of life features and too much content to seriously contend with the many quality isometric action RPGs out there.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Grab Your Stubby Fluorescent-Yellow Spacesuit and Destroy the Infestation
May 26th, 2020 — Luke Rissacher is proud to announce that his gun-part swapping rogue-lite Weapon Hacker will launch June 8th on Steam!
In Weapon Hacker you hack scavenged parts into custom-made weapons and explore a multiverse of procedurally-generated infested weapon facilities. Each playthrough is self contained and lasts around an hour. Discover 83 items and power ups to maximize your survival chances, and use your acquired abilities to unlock new areas. With 99,672,381,832,585,707,518,275 unique weapon part combinations to experiment with, you’ll enjoy hours of personalized alien-shredding fun!
Key Features:
Unique facility each time you play
Optimized engine, smooth on any PC
Procedurally generated Metroid-style exploration
Tight, fast-paced platforming
Honed by thousands of hours of playtesting & feedback
Weapon Hacker will release on Windows PC for $14.99. To learn more, visit:https://weaponhacker.com/ Weapon Hacker Twitter:@Weapon_Hacker Weapon Hacker Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/Weapon-Hacker Steam Page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1090060/Weapon_Hacker/
About Luke Rissacher Luke lives on the Oregon coast with his partner Nina and dog Maya, and enjoys surfing the local beach breaks. When not working on the game he programs custom business software for his freelance clients.
