HELP IS COMING IN EARLY 2017 WITH BANDAI NAMCO ENTERTAINMENT’S FROZEN EXPERIENCE IMPACT WINTER™
BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment signs worldwide publishing agreement with Mojo Bones for post-apocalyptic survival adventure
“My name is Jacob Solomon. I’m a survivor on this white wasteland I name the Void. I hope this diary will help anyone if I fail to survive it”. This is a message from Jacob’s diary posted on twitter.com/ishelpcoming
Surviving in an unfriendly world is not an easy task. The good news is rescue will arrive in 30 days. If you’re still alive… BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Europe and Mojo Bones today confirm that players will be able to test their survival instincts with IMPACT WINTER in early 2017 on PC for digital distribution. Developed by Mojo Bones, the game will allow players to help Jacob Solomon and his team of 4 survivors to survive the next 30 days in a harsh and winter environment.
In IMPACT WINTER, the push for survival makes each play through unique. Helped by Ako-Light, a robotic companion, players will be able to explore the hostile world and find solutions while struggling to stay alive in the freezing atmosphere.
“When Mojo Bones introduced IMPACT WINTER to us, we understood early on that this alternative survival experience, with its distinctive artistic direction will be a unique adventure for players. We’re really pleased to closely work with Mojo Bones on this project as we continue to expand our range of games” said Hervé Hoerdt, VP Mktg & Digital at BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Europe.
“The team here at Mojo Bones are both extremely proud and excited to partner with BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment for the release of IMPACT WINTER” said Stuart Ryall Co-Founder and Designer at Mojo Bones Ltd. “As gamers, we formed Mojo Bones in 2011 with the intention of using our newfound creative freedom to explore and design unique ideas and concepts. IMPACT WINTER represents the most ambitious step along our journey so far; taking inspiration from our favourite games, movies, music and literature in an attempt to build on those influences and create a one-of-a-kind survival adventure.”
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™, DARK SOULS™, NARUTO™, NARUTO SHIPPUDEN™, Dragon Ball, GALAGA™, RIDGE RACER™ and ACE COMBAT™. For more information please visit www.bandainamcoent.eu
About Mojo Bones:
Mojo Bones is an independent studio founded in September 2011 by a team of experienced game developers. The company prides itself on creating visceral concepts across PC, console and handheld, with a main focus on delivering high-quality and innovation. For more information please visit www.mojobones.co.uk or contact [email protected]
WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT, TT GAMES AND THE LEGO GROUP ANNOUNCE LEGO® WORLDS
For PlayStation®4, Xbox One and STEAM™
Players Can Create Anything Imaginable and Define Their Own Adventures In the Ultimate Digital LEGO® Bricks Building Experience
Sydney, AUS – Nov. 30, 2016 – Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, TT Games and The LEGO® Group today announced that LEGO® Worlds, a galaxy of imaginative worlds made entirely of digital LEGO® bricks where players can explore, discover and create together, will commercially launch on February 22, 2017 for PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, Xbox One and STEAM™. Developed by TT Games and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, LEGO® Worlds has been in STEAM™ Early Access since last year allowing players to provide feedback for continual improvements leading up to its official launch.
“LEGO® Worlds expands our LEGO® videogame franchise with a new experience that embodies all the fun of physical LEGO® brick building,” said David Haddad, President, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. “TT Games has created an expansive, digital universe that combines unlimited creativity with the LEGO® humor that fans love.”
“LEGO® Worlds brings the very essence of LEGO® play – building – to the digital world, more than ever before,” said Niels Jørgensen, Vice President, Digital Games for The LEGO® Group. “We are excited to bring our physical and digital play models closer together and know it will resonate with our core audience – and engage new ones. We believe LEGO® Worlds has the potential to inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow through its experience of open-ended creative play.”
In LEGO®Worlds, players uncover hidden treasures in environments that range from fun to the fantastical, where worlds come to life with a dizzying variety of vehicles and creatures – from cowboys riding giraffes to vampires scaring Yetis, to steamrollers, racing cars and colossal digging machines. Gamers can embark on a quest to become a Master Builder by helping other LEGO® characters along the way – find a sword for a king, protect a farmer from a zombie invasion, or build a home for a caveman. Environments and creations are brought to life in any way fans can imagine, either by building brick by brick, placing down enormous prebuilt LEGO® structures, or by using wondrous tools that let you paint and shape the landscape. LEGO®Worlds’ online multiplayer functionality allows players to explore each other’s worlds together, create together, and engage in cooperative and competitive play experiences that players can build themselves.
A separate LEGO® Agents DLC pack, featuring new characters, vehicles, weapons and more from the Agents range of play materials, will be available first on PlayStation® 4 and exclusive for 90 days.
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About Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, a division of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, Inc., is a premier worldwide publisher, developer, licensor and distributor of entertainment content for the interactive space across all platforms, including console, handheld, mobile and PC-based gaming for both internal and third party game titles.
About TT Games
TT Games (www.ttgames.com) is the combined publishing and development group behind the hit games LEGO® Star Wars™, LEGO® Batman™: The Videogame, LEGO® Marvel Super Heroes and The LEGO® Movie Videogame. Incorporating renowned UK developer Traveller’s Tales, TT Games has a distinctive focus on console, handheld, mobile and PC games of the highest quality, aimed at young gamers and their families.
About the LEGO Group
The LEGO Group is a privately held, family-owned company with headquarters in Billund, Denmark, and main offices in Enfield, USA, London, UK., Shanghai, China, and Singapore. Founded in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kristiansen, and based on the iconic LEGO® brick, it is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of play materials. Guided by the company spirit: “Only the best is good enough”, the company is committed to the development of children and aims to inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow through creative play and learning. LEGO products are sold worldwide and can be virtually explored at www.LEGO.com.
For more news from the LEGO Group, information about our financial performance and responsibility engagement, please visit http://www.LEGO.com/aboutus.
Darksiders Warmastered Editionlaunched on PC today. Players will be able to revisit War’s adventure through a post-apocalyptic Earth after is is accused of triggering a war between heaven and hell, allowing the demons to take control of Earth. The game has been remastered from the ground up for 4k resolution. All the texture resolutions have been doubled from the original game, modern post-processing effects added, and the cut scenes have been re-rendered.
Anyone who owns a Steam copy of Darksiders will automatically receive Darksiders Warmastered Edition for free. As thanks to people who own the game on other platforms already, THQ Nordic has slashed the price by 80% on Steam and GOG until December 2nd.
Mad Fellows and Reverb Triple XP (Shadowgate) announced their new music shooter Aaero today. The game fuses high speed aerial combat fused with music-oriented gameplay. The graphics are reminiscent of old school arcade shooters with a delicious, modern twist. The electronica soundtrack features licensed musics from the likes of Noisia, Flux Pavilion, Katy B, The Prototypes, Neosignal, and more.
“We have been buzzing with excitement since we created the very first prototype of Aaero. Combining our favourite elements of rail-shooters and music gameplay has created something truly unique that we’re very proud of,” states Paul Norris, founder and Creative Director at Mad Fellows. “Aaero is based on a deep, fundamental synergy between music, gameplay and visuals. We’ve strived to create a unique and intuitive experience that exhilarates with bold visuals and an incredible soundtrack.”
Reverb Triple XP will be bringing a demo of Aaero to PlayStation Experience 2016 in Anaheim, California. The event runs on December 3rd and 4th at the Anaheim Convention Center. Aaero launches for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One in February 2017.
Pokemon Sun & Moon mark the beginning of the 7th generation of core Pokemon titles, bringing the total number of Pokemon species past the 800 mark. This time we travel to the Hawaiian inspired Alola region with an all new adventure that promises to shake up the Pokemon formula in a number of different ways while staying true to everything that made this franchise popular in the first place. Does Pokemon Sun & Moon honour the 20th anniversary of the Pokemon franchise while bringing us a new classic adventure or should Game Freak go back to developing one Pokemon generation per Nintendo handheld?
Story
Right away it’s clear that Sun & Moon are going to be presented in a more cinematic fashion. You don’t even get to a title screen before you’re asked for your name and gender. Thanks to the new style this is a more cinematic experience than we have seen in the past, with more cutscenes and shots framed in interesting ways as opposed to the standard top down view we normally have. Unfortunately outside the initial excitement of these changes the next 4 hours or so is a pretty painful tutorial-driven slog. While meeting the new characters and learning about the Alolan traditions is exciting the first time, it’s not long until you get annoyed with the constant interruptions to your adventure and some of the characters begin to become frustratingly one dimensional (I get it Lillie you don’t like Pokemon battles… and keep that damn Pokemon in it’s bag!).
Thankfully, once you get off the first island the greater story arc starts to come together, characters begin to develop into likable people and your adventure opens up immensely, giving the player a surprising amount of choice in how thoroughly they explore each route and town. Your main goal is to complete the Island Challenge and all the Trials, Totem Pokemon battles and mini games that go with that. The Island Challenge serves as a great replacement for gyms (yes, they are completely gone) even if they function similarly in most regards, but at least Game Freak is mixing it up.
What’s not different is the return of an ‘evil team’ known here as Team Skull, although, for better or worse, they are easily the most over the top evil organisation yet. These guys are pretty basic thugs but their story does get more complicated as you proceed and they become more than just comic relief (if you’re into that type of comedy). If you’ve ever seen the movie Chappie think of that group of thugs that start to care for him and imagine those guys in a PG rated Pokemon game. Team Skull are another example of a familiar Pokemon concept done differently and like the Island Challenge this works to a similarly successful degree.
Each main character seems to grow alongside you and they all bring their own unique angle to a greater story that revolves around some deeper themes. Pokemon Sun & Moon’s plot doesn’t really push the boundaries of what a ‘Pokemon story’ can be outside of it’s presentation, however it’s still a decent tale that gives enough motivation to continue pursuing the next story beat and is probably one of the best stories we have had in the franchise. You don’t need any knowledge of past Pokemon games to enjoy this self-contained story, although those that have will be happy to hear there are lots of references and nods to appeal to your nostalgia.
Gameplay
Classic Pokemon gameplay refined over seven iterations gives us the strongest games in the series gameplay wise. The core mechanics of this game are really no different to the original Red & Blue that released 20 years ago. You make your way around a large region from a small town all the way to the end game, catching Pokemon and battling trainers all while leveling up your team of 6 Pokemon to keep up with the games well paced difficulty spikes. It’s a simple concept, but the sense of adventure in exploring new areas and finding new Pokemon tied in with the story and fun battle system make this such a fun and rewarding RPG to play.
What Sun & Moon does best is improving and changing on a lot of small things to make the game better. While to me, the changes implemented in Sun & Moon do little to change what it means to be a ‘Pokemon game’, all the improvements make this the best Pokemon game to date. A map and current objective is always displayed on the bottom screen thanks to the new Rotom Pokedex, breeding competitive Pokemon is faster and easier than ever, HM’s are gone and replaced by Poke Ride that allows you to fly, move faster, smash boulders, find items, surf on water and more without the need to take up move slots on your team, the list goes on. These are small changes that go a huge way in making Pokemon more fun and less tedious.
There seems to be much more focus on catching every Pokemon you can in Sun & Moon and luckily the catching Pokemon system is still as fun as ever. Finding new and rare Pokemon is always a thrill especially as there are around 80 brand new Pokemon to discover, most with new evolutions, abilities and moves. The way you catch Pokemon hasn’t changed and I don’t know why but it’s still incredibly appealing. Weakening a Pokemon carefully into the red zone of health before throwing whichever Poke Ball you think looks the best and hoping it stays in there is so simple but it just works.
The new ‘call for help’ mechanic that wild Pokemon can utilise is a bit hit and miss. While early game it becomes annoying as you kind of just want to catch the Pokemon straight away, post-game it is an essential part in finding stronger Pokemon with their hidden abilities and also gives you a greater chance at finding a shiny Pokemon. If they just allowed you to throw a Poke Ball with two Pokemon out on the field I think this feature would work much better but it’s not a huge issue unless you really want a certain Pokemon and it just endlessly calls for help.
Then there are Pokemon battles, which has truly evolved into one of the most in depth turn based RPG systems ever seen. Now with over 800 Pokemon all with different attributes and over 600 unique attacks, the strategy that comes into just building a team without even factoring in battle strategy is staggering. Players have to manage stats, health, attack damage, type advantages, abilities, status effects, when to trigger the new Z-move mechanic and more, all in the heat of battle. While that may seem like a lot to remember, actually performing well in battles is rather simple and everyone from a primary school child to a 26 year old competing at the World Championships can find great enjoyment from it. Rookie players will have no trouble getting through the game simply on knowledge of type advantages, but completing some of the post-game content and battling other trainers online demands more knowledge from the player. Lastly, everyone will be able to appreciate the new UI features which keep track of stat effects and type advantages on the bottom screen.
The battle system doesn’t just contain additions, with lot’s of small balancing changes being made to Pokemon stats, attacks, abilities and more to ensure a fairer playing ground. While I don’t doubt common strategies will still emerge after experienced players spend more time with the game, these changes should go a fair way to providing a battle system where no clear strategy or Pokemon dominates any other. While unfortunately Triple and Rotation Battles have been completely removed from the mix, a four way battle mode called Battle Royal mode has been introduced that for the first time allows four players to battle for themselves all at the same time. Battle Royal brings it’s own brand of strategic thinking and while more gimmicky than standard battles is a worthy new battle type. Like most of Sun & Moon you can choose to ignore the feature if it doesn’t appeal to you, a freedom that is appreciated many times throughout the game.
Among other additions I’ve already mentioned, Pokemon Sun & Moon adds two big new features and one improved one. Pokemon Festival is the new online mode that allows you to trade (Wonder Trade and the GTS are thankfully back) and battle (both with friends and randoms with different rule sets) easily through menus while also containing shops that offer various functionality like getting rare items, training your Pokemon in specific stats and more. There are some mini games but from what I’ve seen nearly all of them just involve you running around the festival circle talking to people and answering a question correctly for 3 minutes. I’ve done these missions a few times as they are an easy way to earn the Festival Coins currency and unfortunately they are as boring as they sound.
More interesting are Global Missions that task the community with completing a certain goal in a real time period and offer great in game rewards, such as catching 100,000,000 Pokemon in two weeks. While this first mission might have a ridiculous number attached to it, I’m sure the numbers for these missions will get more realistic as time goes on. The Pokemon Festival is accessible at any time right from the main menu and will definitely be of use to you on your adventure outside the necessary communication features.
The second big new mode is Poke Pelago. This mode makes use of all the Pokemon that are stored away in your PC and is fantastic, offering many utility like services that help the player in various ways. These services level up with use increasing their effectiveness just like the Pokemon Festival mode and can be accessed at any time through the menu once you unlock the feature. Gathering Poke Beans (which are kind of used as a currency here and to feed to your Pokemon in Pokemon Refresh), leveling up automatically, attracting wild Pokemon without having to catch them, growing berries and even hatching eggs without needing them in your party are just some of the beneficial features offered by the new mode. This was a great way to get your PC Pokemon involved in the game.
Lastly Pokemon Amie returns as Pokemon Refresh. Gone are all the weird presents and mini games and now you simply just pat your Pokemon or treat it after battle. This might include using a towel to wipe mud off it if it was hit by a messy move like Mud Slap or drying it off with a hairdryer if it got hit by a water move. The best part of this is the medicine item which will heal any status condition after battle without the need to use any item. Feeding your Pokemon beans, showing it love with pats and caring for it in the ways mentioned above increase it’s affection towards you which can have substantial effects in offline battles, including greater ability to dodge attacks and even survive them. If you’re not into caring for virtual pets then the good news is you can probably never touch Pokemon Refresh and not really be worse off for doing so, but if you ever loved Tamagotchis or the old Digimon devices you will love this feature.
There’s also a decent amount of post-game content, most of which is accompanied by its own mini-plot of some kind. I won’t go into details for spoiler reasons, but old characters from past games return, there are a variety of side quests to complete and the world is fully open to you to backtrack and find all the items you may have missed along the way, some of which will be very important to completing the Pokedex or in battle. Pokemon Sun & Moon represent a great valued product with lots of replay value.
Visuals
The 3DS is really starting to show it’s age at this point but Pokemon Sun & Moon do the best they can here on the aging hardware. The Pokemon themselves are by far the best looking aspect of the game, with really detailed models and an impressive amount of animation for each one from their battle animations to how they react in Pokemon Refresh. Game Freak took their strongest asset and focused on making them as unique and lovable as possible with a level of effort and care that really shows in every single Pokemon. It’s even more impressive when you consider there are over 800 Pokemon now, many of which have alternate forms that require completely new models. Each Pokemon even has certain areas of their body they hate being touched and certain areas they love, and they will let you know about it with either a cute or spiteful animation.
Most of the new Pokemon designs are very original and look great in my opinion but there is always much debate about this topic so it’s probably best you judge that for yourself. Vanilluxe from the 5th generation still holds the record for worst designed Pokemon to me if anyone wanted my opinion there. Most of the attack animations are standard fair but there are a few standouts for the big and powerful attacks. Likewise, Z-moves look truly devastating on a large scale, however they do begin to get repetitive after multiple viewings. Luckily they can only be used once per battle.
Outside of the Pokemon themselves the graphics range from excellent to good, with bright and well designed environments to decent models with blurry textures, especially on trainers faces. I am very happy to see that the ‘chibi’ style from past games has been done away with and we now have a proper ‘to scale’ world, trainers and Pokemon. To compliment that change, we now have full control pad movement as opposed to the 8-way movement grid system most past games used. This makes the world feel much more natural as not everywhere is cornered off by right angles and straight edges however you can tell Game Freak is still new to this as the way the game doesn’t let you into areas you can clearly fit through and artificially blocks you off from routes at times for some of the dumbest reasons is groan inducing. You’re telling me no one can cross this bridge just so this kid trainer can find items with his Stoutland… come on guys, this is basically invisible walls except they talk back to you with a lame excuse.
What really deserves praise is the visual flair added to the game, most importantly in battles. No longer are Pokemon battling on circles in generic environments. A Pokemon’s trainer now stands behind it, giving orders and reacting to the battle in an area that looks a lot like the one you were in prior to battle. Speaking of the trainers, customisation is back allowing you to dress and style your character to your liking. Sure the options are fairly limited but there are enough features to make you feel like your character is unique and is wearing the look you want.
Performance is perhaps the biggest issue with the game presentation wise. During battles with 3 or more trainers it is clear the 3DS is struggling to keep up, often lowering the frame rate immensely and causing the game to lag after the attack selection screen. This doesn’t have any large ongoing detrimental effect on the game but the issue but does occur frequently enough to warrant mentioning. In a similar vain, considering how much time you spend in battles it would have been nice if the whole process received a small speed up, particularly entering battles and HP bars draining more efficiently. Again though this is only a minor gripe.
Audio
The music ranges from fantastic to forgettable which is fair enough given the amount of tracks in the game. Most of the tracks associated with the major battles are among my favorites as are the remixes and tracks from past games. I don’t mind the new wild Pokemon and trainer theme but they just aren’t as catchy as in past generations.
As for sound effects all your classic menu sounds, Poke Ball sounds and even the thud noise when you run into a wall is back alongside both the old and new Pokemon cries. As with most Nintendo series there is no voice overs to speak of here but whether the series really needs voice acting is a debate for another time. The quality and volume mixing of the audio is perfect without any notable problems.
Overall
Pokemon Sun & Moon is arguably the greatest core Pokemon game we have received, but that is based largely on the merit of each title that has come before it. Pokemon has had 20 years to refine itself and that all manifests in Sun & Moon, with evolutions in presentation, the streamlining and refining of many core features and all the small changes that make this game unique (but not too unique) from what has come before it. While the performance issues are disappointing and the story, graphics and music are at times only acceptable, as a whole the game never falls below that benchmark and most of the game is terrific in all aspects, particularly gameplay wise. This is a fantastic game that does due justice to the Pokemon franchises legacy.
A HARSH JOURNEY OF SURVIVAL AWAITS SURVIVORS AS BANDAI NAMCO ENTERTAINMENT AMERICA INC. ANNOUNCES IMPACT WINTER™
Band Together and Survive the Frozen Void in 2017
SANTA CLARA, Calif., (November 29, 2016) – Leading interactive entertainment developer and publisher BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America Inc. and developer Mojo Bones today announces IMPACT WINTER™, a new survival game to be released on STEAM® for PCs in early 2017. In IMPACT WINTER, players take control of a group of survivors in a post-apocalyptic world following a devastating asteroid impact with Earth. Players will need to gather supplies, band together, and survive for 30 days until help arrives.
The year is 2018 and the world we once knew is no more – the planet is buried deep beneath a constant snowfall after a devastating asteroid collision. Supplies are scarce and each day provides a tougher challenge for survival than the last. Suddenly, Ako-Light, your robot companion, receives a radio transmission that changes everything… Help is coming in 30 days. With one month to survive a harsh environment, players take the role of Jacob Solomon and work with his makeshift team of four other individuals, each specialized in their own skill sets, to scour the land to find supplies, craft new tools and items, and stay united as a team to stave off the hostile winter before help arrives.
“IMPACT WINTER puts its own mark on the survival genre,” said Jason Enos, Director of Marketing for BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America Inc. “The 30-day time limit, randomized events, and daily challenges gives players a unique story for their harrowing group of survivors to survive during each play session.”
“The teams here at Mojo Bones are both extremely proud and excited to partner with BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment for the release of IMPACT WINTER” said Stuart Ryall Co-Founder and Designer at Mojo Bones Ltd. “As gamers, we formed Mojo Bones in 2011 with the intention of using our newfound creative freedom to explore and design unique ideas and concepts. IMPACT WINTER represents the most ambitious step along our journey so far; taking inspiration from our favorite games, movies, music, and literature in an attempt to build on those influences and create a one-of-a-kind survival adventure for 2017.”
Timeless Classics “Space Invaders” and “Arkanoid” Heading “Instant Games” on Messenger and Facebook News Feed
TOKYO (November 29, 2016)– Starting today, TAITO Corporation (Main office: Shinjuku, Tokyo, President: Koichi Ishii, hereinafter TAITO) will distribute “Space Invaders” and “Arkanoid” for Facebook with “Instant Games” on Messenger and Facebook News Feed.
Facebook is the most popular social networking site in the world, with over 1.7 billion users, and the Facebook Messenger app is used by over 1 billion people worldwide.
Now, those billion-plus people will be able to play the classic games “Space Invaders” and “Arkanoid” on “Instant Games” on Messenger and Facebook News Feed anytime, anywhere.
“Space Invaders” is widely considered to be the origin of all Japanese video game culture, and has been enshrined in the World Video Game Hall of Fame in New York’s The Strong National Museum of Play1. Upon its original release, “Arkanoid” was nothing less than a social phenomenon. Both have long been thought of as timeless, beloved classics by people all over the world, from their debuts in the 1970’s and 1980’s to present day.
TAITO has brought its games to numerous platforms over the years. Now, with “Instant Games”, older players can relive the fun of the 70’s and 80’s, while newcomers can experience the charm and challenge of “Space Invaders” and “Arkanoid” for the first time.
TAITO is dedicated to producing innovative, original games across all platforms, tailored to each platform’s inherit strengths. Be it smartphones, tablets, or something completely new, you can count on TAITO to keep evolving, and continue entertaining gamers around the world.
About “Instant Games”
“Instant Games” is a new feature from Facebook that lets people play games within seconds on Messenger and Facebook News Feed. This helps people easily discover, share and play games instantly.
About Space Invaders
“Space Invaders” was first designed, developed, and sold by TAITO in 1978, spurring a worldwide explosion in the popularity of arcade games. The “Space Invaders” character is TAITO’s corporate mascot and the characters that appear in-game continue to be licensed widely in various mediums globally to this day. “Space Invaders” has appeared everywhere from New York’s Museum of Modern Art to high-class fashion brands. It remains a popular, beloved franchise across the globe.
As the sole owner of all intellectual property rights related to the “Space Invaders” brand and characters, including copyrights and trademarks, TAITO continues to proactively develop and market the classic game today.
About Arkanoid
“Arkanoid” was first designed, developed, and sold by TAITO in 1986. It quickly became a breakout hit, ushering in a huge boom of block-breaking arcade games. “Arkanoid” continues to appear on today’s newest gaming platforms, 30 years after its initial release.
As the sole owner of all intellectual property rights related to “Arkanoid”, including copyrights and trademarks, TAITO continues to proactively develop and market the classic game today.
About TAITO Corporation
TAITO Corporation (TAITO) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd. With headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, TAITO operates core businesses such as game arcade operations, coin-operated game machines, and mobile phone content services. A seminal part of gaming history, TAITO caused a worldwide sensation with its arcade legend, SPACE INVADERS®, and developed such fan favorites as PUZZLE BOBBLE® (BUST-A-MOVE®) and ARKANOID®. Today, TAITO continues to thrill game lovers of all generations by offering both classic and new family-oriented titles on the latest gaming platforms. TAITO delivers a wide range of entertainment experiences with the goal of providing consumers with fresh surprises and new discoveries.
About Square Enix Co., Ltd.
Square Enix Co., Ltd. develops, publishes, distributes and licenses SQUARE ENIX®, EIDOS® and TAITO® branded entertainment content around the world. The Square Enix group of companies includes a global network of leading development studios and boasts a valuable portfolio of intellectual property, including: FINAL FANTASY®, which has sold over 115 million units worldwide; and DRAGON QUEST®, which has sold over 68 million units worldwide; TOMB RAIDER®, which has sold over 46 million units worldwide; and the legendary SPACE INVADERS®. Square Enix Co., Ltd. is a Japan-based, wholly-owned subsidiary of Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd.
FINAL FANTASY XV now available for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 worldwide
‘FINAL FANTASY XV – Ride Together’ Launch Trailer also Released
LONDON (29th November 2016) – FINAL FANTASY® XV, the highly anticipated and latest mainline entry in the iconic FINAL FANTASY series, is now available for Xbox One and PlayStation®4 across the world.
The latest instalment in the classic series, FINAL FANTASY XV is set in an enthralling world where fantasy meets reality, where players will embark on an adventure like no other. Join Prince Noctis and his comrades on an epic journey of brotherhood, love and despair as they unravel Noctis’s destiny and take up arms against the warmongering empire, Niflheim.
With a captivating cast of characters, breath-taking visuals, open world exploration and thrilling action-packed real time combat, FINAL FANTASY XV is the ultimate FINAL FANTASY experience for both newcomers to the series and series fans alike.
“FINAL FANTASY has a special place in the hearts of many and the team who worked long and hard on this project couldn’t be prouder to present FINAL FANTASY XV to fans around the world,” said Hajime Tabata, game director. “Today, we invite not only longtime fans but a new generation of gamers to a series beloved thanks to the engaging storytelling, unique characters and captivating worlds that have become the hallmark of FINAL FANTASY over the years.”
FINAL FANTASY XV is available now worldwide for the Xbox One and PlayStation®4 system. For more information on FINAL FANTASY XV, visit: http://www.finalfantasyxv.com/
About Square Enix Ltd.
Square Enix Ltd. develops, publishes, distributes and licenses SQUARE ENIX®, EIDOS® and TAITO® branded entertainment content in Europe and other PAL territories as part of the Square Enix group of companies. Square Enix Ltd. also has a global network of leading development studios such as IO Interactive™, Crystal Dynamics®, and Eidos Montréal. The Square Enix group of companies boasts a valuable portfolio of intellectual property including: FINAL FANTASY®, which has sold over 115 million units worldwide; DRAGON QUEST®, which has sold over 68 million units worldwide; TOMB RAIDER®, which has sold over 46 million units worldwide; and the legendary SPACE INVADERS®. Square Enix Ltd. is a London-based, wholly-owned subsidiary of Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd.
More information on Square Enix Ltd. can be found at http://eu.square-enix.com/en
FINAL FANTASY XV, FINAL FANTASY, the FINAL FANTASY logo, DRAGON QUEST, SQUARE ENIX, the SQUARE ENIX logo, SPACE INVADERS and TAITO are registered trademarks or trademarks of the Square Enix Group. “PlayStation,” “PlayStation Portable” and “PS4” are registered trademarks or trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment. Xbox One is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners.
Mantis Burn Racing® Xbox One Patch Brings Significant Online Improvements, Adds Single-Screen Multiplayer Event
VooFoo Studios’ top-down racer gets first major Xbox One patch
Birmingham, United Kingdom – 29th November, 2016 – UK indie developer and publisher VooFoo Studios is pleased to announce the release of the first major Mantis Burn Racing® patch for Xbox One. The update, which is available now, adds new features including a new ‘Spotlight’ single-screen multiplayer event, makes improvements to the online experience with the introduction of a new Lobby system and the ability to race with AI drivers online, as well as making numerous bug fixes and general enhancements.
“We’re committed to supporting Mantis Burn Racing® long-term and we want to encourage and support the multiplayer community, so we’re really pleased that today’s update brings some notable improvements to the online experience for our players” said Mark Williams, VooFoo Studio’s Technology Director.
Here are the full patch notes:
New ‘Spotlight’ event added – Play single-screen multiplayer in a battle to remain within the spotlight and be the final racer standing!
AI drivers can now be selected to fill the grid of online races
Extensive online stability improvements
Improved online lobby structure to allow players to race against AI while their lobby fills with human opponents
‘Punching above your weight’, ‘The bigger they are’ and ‘I’ll bring it back without a scratch’ trophies now never blocked from being unlocked
New ‘Far’ camera option
Players XP level now displayed in online lobbies
Gear reward summary now shown post-race
Online leader board now shown post-race
Improved car-to-car collision physics
Mechanic tutorials added for Overtake and Hotlap events as well as x2 upgrades
Boost colour now shown dynamically in the garage
Improved vehicle stat bar calculation
Option to permanently show players Gamer Tag above their vehicle
Ability to fast switch between career seasons
Highlighted career events now auto-scroll when joystick held in any direction
Time bonus for overtaking vehicles in the weekly Overtake challenge
XP line UI graphic tweaks
Weekly Challenge distance units now change dynamically with players selection
Overtake bug fixed that could cause the event to end prematurely
Improved logic for vehicle overtaking
Frame rate performance enhancements
AI tweaks
Audio tweaks
Extensive engine audio enhancements
General bug fixes and polish
Fixed an issue where certain Achievements would be unlocked at the wrong times
Fixed a potential crash when changing screen resolution.
Minor cosmetic bug fixes.
An update for the game has also previously been released on PlayStation®4 and Steam® (for Windows PC).
For assets and more information visit www.VooFooStudios.com
About VooFoo Studios Ltd
VooFoo Studios Ltd is an independent UK based video games development studio, founded in 2007 by a small team of experienced industry professionals. Utilising its own proprietary cutting edge technology, VooFoo’s first game, the critically acclaimed Hustle Kings, was released for PlayStation 3 in 2009, reaching the top of the PSN charts and earning VooFoo nominations for two highly coveted Develop Awards. Building on this early success VooFoo have gone on to develop Hustle Kings on PlayStation Vita, Backgammon Blitz and the acclaimed ‘Pure’ series of games – Pure Chess, Pure Pool and Pure Hold’em – all of which have further established our reputation for developing visually stunning, commercially successful games. VooFoo’s first self-published game, the TIGA Games Industry Awards nominated, Mantis Burn Racing®, is available now on PlayStation®4, Xbox One and Steam® (for Windows PC).
Localizing a video game based off of an anime series is a rather rare occurrence when you consider just how many titles like this are created in Japan. More often than not, only the most popular series have a chance of appearing in the West and until recently even Sword Art Online was seen as a risky proposal. After taking a chance and localizing the second game in the series, those risks have appeared to be nullified as Bandai Namco has promptly released subsequent titles in the West with the most recent game Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization being released in English only two weeks after being released in Japan. So now that the title has arrived, is it worth your time?
Story
It is worth noting that for those who haven’t followed the games, the story in the video games is a little different from what is found in the core storyline though most events do remain the same. That being said, Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization takes place after the events where Kirito managed to clear the 100th floor in Aincrad and free those trapped in the game from their death-threatened states. Years have passed and now a new virtual MMO using base code from the original Sword Art Online has been released.
Despite the trauma that many of them faced in the original game, Kirito and the rest choose to return to this game, called Sword Art: Origin set in the world of Ainground. With the ability to start at level 1 and not face the threat of death if they happen to fall in combat everyone takes kindly to the new MMO but it seems that things quickly become rather strange as Kirito comes across an unknown AI and begins to investigate.
It is worth noting that the plot lines in this game do take quite some time to develop but this is primarily due to the fact that Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization is an absolutely massive game with a huge amount of exploration, side-quests, and relationship building that players can and occasionally must take part in when they aren’t focusing on the storyline. This does mean that the plot may plod a bit, especially near the start, but players who do decide to stick through the slow beginning will find that the game features a rather interesting storyline with a number of new mysteries being introduced to an already incredibly lore packed world.
It is worth noting that, outside of certain character interactions that players can end up unlocking by raising affection levels with your friends and even random NPCs if you so choose, almost all of the story content is presented through character portraits while the aforementioned scenes simply use the character models. Occasionally a cut-scene will play for a highly important part but almost everything else is told through a visual novel style that, while entirely voiced in Japanese, can be a bit slow going at times as certain scenes do drag on thanks to this presentation style.
Gameplay
As mentioned before, one of the first things players will notice in Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization is that they are no longer beginning as an incredibly powerful character, though they are given Kirito’s signature “Blackwyrm” coat as a default armor set. Instead every character starts at level 1 and can be built from there which is a nice touch as players will no longer feel like they are already dropped into a high level game.
Venturing outside of the beginner’s town that serves as the game’s central hub players will find that the world of Ainground is surprisingly huge and although every area is divided up with loading screens these areas still feel rather large and most locations will contain a number of different monsters to hunt, field quests to complete, and even the occasional random spawn that can challenge the player by throwing a tougher than normal enemy at them.
Combat for the most part is a bit more refined than previous entries. Players can still simply attack at will if they over-level but thanks to the various new features players who mix things up will get the most out of the game. Dealing additional combo attacks can now add bonus damage, dodging and attacking at a proper time can stun an enemy, and even switching with your team mate, where you deal some damage with a combo only to step back and allow an ally to finish it off, allows for better damage dealing and a more rewarding experience.
Players can also make use of various party commands that allow for them to dictate how their party, of up to three characters, will react in combat as well as give them direct orders that allow them to chain up team skills that can be quite devastating. In fact, there are many time that a higher level foe can be easily toppled by playing as a cohesive unit though don’t be too discouraged if the absolutely massive amount of options and menu screens thrown at you is too much to handle for a while.
By traveling in the field with your companions and complimenting their fighting style players not only encourage certain actions to be taken by their allies but also build up their trust as well. This relationship building is carried into the aforementioned romance options and interactions that allow Kirito to ask characters out for walks, out to lunch, and more to grow close with and end up bonding with them, regardless of who they might be as Asuna isn’t the only character available for this option should players choose to go after their favorite girls, or guys, if they so please.
Visuals & Audio
With the release of Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization following less than one year after the previous entry players who tried out the last game will find that there are quite a number of recycled assets that have appeared in this game. For the most part these don’t stand out too much as enough effort has been placed into creating diverse, albeit uninspired, MMO environments that these smaller assets blend in well enough. The level of detail placed in character models and the actual character portraits is nicely handled as well which is a big plus considering the amount of time spent looking at these portraits.
It is also worth noting that there are quite a large number of CG scenes that are well-produced and appear during certain events. As mentioned before, the game has been given complete Japanese voice work for almost every element of the game, including side events. This is a nice plus especially since the voice actors have all returned to reprise their roles in the game. The soundtrack is unfortunately fairly standard and rarely stands out in any way.
Overall
Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization may take a while to get going and throws a whole lot of different elements at the player at once with only the bare minimum of a tutorial but once players get past the starting elements of the game, they will find that a refined combat system and an enjoyable new storyline await them beyond some recycled elements. Those who are fans of the series will enjoy this entry as it offers more customization, interactions with the cast, and a far better storyline than previous entries while newcomers may be put off a bit but thankfully the title does give those unfamiliar with the series enough explanation to get off the ground.
Despite the trauma that many of them faced in the original game, Kirito and the rest choose to return to this game, called Sword Art: Origin set in the world of Ainground. With the ability to start at level 1 and not face the threat of death if they happen to fall in combat everyone takes kindly to the new MMO but it seems that things quickly become rather strange as Kirito comes across an unknown AI and begins to investigate.
It is worth noting that, outside of certain character interactions that players can end up unlocking by raising affection levels with your friends and even random NPCs if you so choose, almost all of the story content is presented through character portraits while the aforementioned scenes simply use the character models. Occasionally a cut-scene will play for a highly important part but almost everything else is told through a visual novel style that, while entirely voiced in Japanese, can be a bit slow going at times as certain scenes do drag on thanks to this presentation style.
Venturing outside of the beginner’s town that serves as the game’s central hub players will find that the world of Ainground is surprisingly huge and although every area is divided up with loading screens these areas still feel rather large and most locations will contain a number of different monsters to hunt, field quests to complete, and even the occasional random spawn that can challenge the player by throwing a tougher than normal enemy at them.
Players can also make use of various party commands that allow for them to dictate how their party, of up to three characters, will react in combat as well as give them direct orders that allow them to chain up team skills that can be quite devastating. In fact, there are many time that a higher level foe can be easily toppled by playing as a cohesive unit though don’t be too discouraged if the absolutely massive amount of options and menu screens thrown at you is too much to handle for a while.
By traveling in the field with your companions and complimenting their fighting style players not only encourage certain actions to be taken by their allies but also build up their trust as well. This relationship building is carried into the aforementioned romance options and interactions that allow Kirito to ask characters out for walks, out to lunch, and more to grow close with and end up bonding with them, regardless of who they might be as Asuna isn’t the only character available for this option should players choose to go after their favorite girls, or guys, if they so please.
It is also worth noting that there are quite a large number of CG scenes that are well-produced and appear during certain events. As mentioned before, the game has been given complete Japanese voice work for almost every element of the game, including side events. This is a nice plus especially since the voice actors have all returned to reprise their roles in the game. The soundtrack is unfortunately fairly standard and rarely stands out in any way.