Those who happen to play visual novels on the PC, especially eroge titles, tend to grab titles from either MangaGamer or JAST but it seems that they will soon be able to pick up some of their PC titles through one service.
Today Nutaku, a site that has been a digital storefront for erotic titles for some time has announced that they have entered a partnership with not only JAST and MangaGamer, but also Dharker Studio. For the first time ever, starting on May 17th, popular titles from each of these publishers will be going on sale at a discounted rate.
Nutaku will be launching this storefront with titles ranging from 20-50% off and some of the first games that will be available are Vanguard Princess, Cho Dengeki Stryker, and more. The company has previously worked with Japanese adult publisher DMM and has been the sole distributor for their games in the West.
Robert Mann, a spokesman for the company, has the following to say about the partnership: “We’re excited to partner with the creators and distributors of the world’s best adult games. The Nutaku store will expose our thirteen million monthly visitors to entertaining, engaging, and professionally-animated hentai games that were previously unavailable to them without mosaics or uncensoring patches. We’re also offering developers an opportunity to reach targeted new audiences like never before. ”
Hanabee Entertainment is releasing three titles in Australia tomorrow. All prices listed below are in Australian Dollars (AUD).
Fate/Stay Night: [Unlimited Blade Works] Part 2 will be available on DVD and limited edition Blu-ray. All thirteen episodes are featured with dual language options. The on-disc extras include promotional trailers and the textless opening and ending animation. The Blu-ray set will also exclusively include the OVA episode “Sunny Day”. Only 1,000 units of the limited edition set will be produced. It contains a key art poster for the second season, four character art cards, a numbered authenticity card and a 24-page art book featuring concept art and breakdowns by Ufotable. The DVD edition has a suggested retail price of $59.99, while the limited edition set has a suggested retail price of $129.99.
From the New World Box Set will be available on both DVD and Blu-ray. All 25 episodes are featured with dual language options. The TV spot and the textless opening and ending animations are included as extras. Both editions have a suggested retail price of $69.99.
Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun will be released on both DVD and Blu-ray. All 12 episodes are featured with dual language options. On-disc extras include Nozaki-kun Shorts, promotional videos, commercials and the textless opening and ending animation. Both editions will come with a three-disc soundtrack and will have a suggested retail price of $59.99.
Everyone has had moments in class where they were either incredibly bored or completely disinterested with what they were meant to be learning. While cellphones are a general “go to” now for some discreet entertainment, many of us found other ways to mess around and entertain ourselves when we probably should have been paying attention. That happens to be exactly what Tonari no Seki-kun: The Master of Killing Time is focused on and now that the series of shorts has been released in the West, is it as entertaining as one would hope?
Story
In a standard anime series, the seat in the far back of class is generally reserved for the main character since it generally allows for the animators to avoid having to draw the entire class. Rarely is it done simply because the best place to mess around under a teacher’s nose is way in the back. The two students who have found themselves in this position happen to be Rumi Yokoi who tries her best to still keep up with class to and Toshinari Seki, a boy that does absolutely anything he can except pay attention.
There is no real overarching storyline in Tonari no Seki-kun: The Master of Killing Time, though there are a few running gags that rise up over the course of the twenty one roughly six minute long episodes. Instead we are presented with Yokoi who genuinely wants to pay attention in class but is almost always being distracted by the strange things that Seki ends up doing. While the majority of his messing around takes place in a standard class room, he isn’t afraid to slack off in the science room, at gym, or even during a disaster drill.
Although Yokoi generally ends up missing out on things thanks to Seki’s distractions, she never really tries to get him in trouble and is often impressed at the sheer scale of the things he manages to build or the creativity that goes into some of his creations. These jokes run the range of setting up an elaborate domino course made out of erasers, posing a robotic family, crafting elaborate stories out of shogi tiles, or simply trying to polish everything in reach to a mirror finish. Despite some of his antics appearing nearly impossible to get away with, this only helps make the comedic value even better.
This element pays off incredibly well thanks to the fact that every episode keeps itself nice and short. Even the small hint of a romantic connection is simply a misunderstanding from a classmate who only sees the fact that Yokoi often is seen looking at Seki, not because Seki is always messing around. By avoiding any extra fluff outside of the comedic build-up for every episode we have a series that remains very funny without dragging anything extra into the mix.
That being said, Tonari no Seki-kun: The Master of Killing Time is not the kind of series you will want to sit down and watch in a marathon. Seki’s creations and Yokoi as she reacts and even interferes at times with what he is doing helps establish this series as one with some incredible legs but also one that is a bit lacking in variety. As mentioned before, rarely does the anime move outside the standard classroom and when it does it serves as a breath of fresh air and while the concept may have you laughing more often than not, there are a few episodes that lack that comedic impact and this appeared to become more of an issue as the series progressed.
Herein lies the issue with Tonari no Seki-kun: The Master of Killing Time. When the comedy works, it is at its best but thanks to the fact that it doesn’t spend any extra time building up characters in any real way, when a joke falls flat then it simply feels like a waste. Thankfully with twenty one episodes to work with, viewers will find themselves with more than enough content here to enjoy, but it is probably best enjoyed in small clumps rather than all at once.
Visuals
Animated by Shin-Ei Animation, Tonari no Seki-kun: The Master of Killing Time thrives on its visual styling. Even though the character designs are fairly simple, a fair share of the comedy in this series comes from the way Seki and Yokoi’s faces are portrayed as Seki works on his little projects and thankfully the company has managed to nail these expressions perfectly. Whether it is a deadpan look from Seki after Yokoi messes with his work or Yokoi reacting wildly to the confusing twists that Seki often throws into his creations, it comes off incredibly well here.
As mentioned before, the series rarely shifts focus outside of the classroom so viewers will be more than prepared for some rather simplistic background work here and there but this works well enough since this allows for more focus to be spent in providing extra details to the objects that Seki is using.
Audio
The simpler focus from the animation stand point continues into the voice work as well. The primary speaking role in this series is Yokoi as she narrates everything that is going on and outside of the teacher speaking occasionally or another classmate popping up, she tends to be the only voice in an episode. This puts a lot of weight on her voice actress, Monica Rial in the English dub and Kana Hanazawa in the Japanese track, to carry the comedy and no matter which dub you choose, these voice actresses do a great job here though Hanazawa’s surprised Yokoi does feel a bit more fitting.
There is a small collection of fairly fitting but unremarkable background music that plays throughout the series and thanks to the short nature of each episode, the opening and ending themes are only forty seconds a piece. The opening theme is “Meiwaku Spectacle” and is performed by the Japanese voice actress for Yokoi while the ending theme is “Set Them Free” by Akira Jimbo.
Extras
This release of Tonari no Seki-kun: The Master of Killing Time includes multiple clean versions of the opening theme, a clean version of the ending theme, and trailers for other Sentai Filmworks releases.
Overall
Tonari no Seki-kun: The Master of Killing Time can be rather surprising at times with how it manages to take simplistic distractions and manage to produce hilarious results thanks to some well-crafted animation and dialogue from Yokoi. It may have a certain style of visual humor that may not be for everyone but it works incredibly well for fans of that style and although it may lose some of its luster if watched all at once, this is the perfect show to watch in small bursts for some great laughs. Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Many times when a 4-koma series is given an anime adaptation the studio usually strings together a full length episode with various breaks in between each gag set up. Occasionally however these four panel series are released as simple anime shorts and with the adaptation of The Comic Artist and His Assistants the studio opted to take the latter route bringing the twelve episode series out in thirteen minute chunks. The question is, is this ecchi comedy series worth checking out?
Story
A young manga creator named Yuki Aito has managed to achieve his dream by being able to publish a monthly manga series to some level of success. He has the passion and although he never really tops the charts in popularity he has found himself a solid following leaving him regularly in the middle of the popularity polls. The thing is, Aito’s manga of romance is primarily known for one thing and it doesn’t really come with his writing.
It focuses on his love for panties and everything else related to ecchi comedy. His obsession often leads to conflicts with those around him who want him to try and focus on more than just drawing panty shots and this often causes numerous troubles for both his editor, a high school acquaintance named Mihari, and anyone who is assigned to assist him, starting with Ashisu. To top it all off, Aito is also completely oblivious to the feelings of others as he often just blurts out exactly what he is thinking and has no experience whatsoever with his subject material.
This means that while Aito might be drawing a series where the main character has a love interest and wonders how her breast may feel, he simply has no idea and even goes so far to ask Ashisu to help him out in that regard to humorous and cringing effect. In fact, The Comic Artist and His Assistants can be summed up as simple as that. This is a show that is rather humorous at times and can be downright hilarious but also can be rather cringey primarily due to the way that the main character Aito ends up acting.
There really isn’t too much of a plot here as each short episode is broken down into even shorter mini-stories that usually are only a few minutes long and give us looks at various scenarios that Aito and the group end up in as he struggles with meeting his deadline, attempts to find research material for the manga, messes with his assistants, and simply gets into strange scenarios with the girls that he is surrounded by.
Thanks to Aito’s perverted and blatantly obvious personality The Comic Artist and His Assistants is going to be a hit or miss series depending on how you react to his actions. It is clear that he rarely ever has underlying motives to various requests he makes of the girls or when he is thinking of something beyond asking them for the sake of helping out with his manga production, he quickly comes clean. This does lead to many looks of disgust from the girls and plenty of pushback but this style of comedy does work rather well since all of the girls, outside of Rinna, a girl who barely knows anything about drawing but is a big fan of Aito’s series and joined him as an assistant because of it, stand up for themselves and are quick to squash any of Aito’s untoward plans.
As mentioned before, thanks to Aito often slacking on his deadlines Mihari has not only assigned him Ashisu as his main assistant but even brings in an extremely skilled assistant who quickly has her secrets exposed. Despite running away at first, she is quick to retaliate and set herself up as one of the best characters in the series outside of Ashisu who work as the perfect partner for Aito’s personality as her own cold reactions to his requests provide some of the best humor the series has to offer.
Mix Aito together with his three assistants, the cold Ashisu who aspires to have her own series one day but has an odd love for strange looking creatures, the naïve Rinna, and skilled but easily angered sadist Sena as well as Mihari, the extremely young looking chief editor of the magazine that Aito is published in, and even a mascot character of a cat with a bra on his head and you have a series that may not focus on too much outside of being perverted and humorous but is ultimately highly enjoyable thanks to the chemistry of the cast.
Of course if it isn’t, don’t expect too much else here as very few developments occur throughout The Comic Artist and His Assistants that expand these characters much. We do see Aito change a bit over the course of the series as he learns to listen to others and improve his manga as well as snippets here and there regarding how the girls surrounding him really feel about him behind their often angry or blushed faces, but when the last episode rolls around it feels like very little has changed. In fact, even the aforementioned perverted humor can start to run a bit dry due to its one-note nature making this a series that is best watched over a period of a few days rather than marathoned despite the short episode length.
Visuals
The animation for this series is handled fairly well with strong attention being paid to making sure that the character designs are nicely detailed and help stand out. The quality does drop a bit when many of the characters are on screen or anything too busy occurs but since most of the series takes place in Aito’s apartment this is a rare occurrence.
Although The Comic Artist and His Assistants may be an ecchi comedy series viewers might be a bit surprised about how little is actually shown. The animation studio opted to avoid any obviously perverted camera angles on the girls and there are very few actual near-nudity scenes. Sure there are plenty of moments where a girl’s panties will be shown and any time lingerie of any kind appears, whether it is simply Aito shopping on his own or drawing some or appearing on one of the characters, you can tell that the attention to detail really takes a step up from the average quality.
Audio
As one would expect considering this is a series of shorter than normal episodes, Sentai Filmworks has opted to release The Comic Artist and His Assistants with only the original Japanese voice track accompanied by English subtitles. This works well enough as the characters are all handled well and the signature tsundere voice actress Rie Kugimiya returns to voice Sena in a fashion that any fans of her will immediately recognize.
The soundtrack for the series is fairly standard as it is made up of a number of light-hearted background music to keep things feeling fun. The opening theme and ending theme are both performed by StlipS with the opening theme “Pure Impurities” serving as a memorable sounding opener and the ending “Spica.” being a fairly standard closing theme.
Extras
This release of The Comic Artist and His Assistants comes with the standard inclusions of Japanese promo material, clean versions of the opening and ending themes, a karaoke version of the last episode’s ending theme, and six OVA specials to help add a little extra content into this release.
The OVAs surprisingly don’t go too much farther beyond what the series itself offered as far as ecchi content is concerned though a number of the OVAs, which run at usually half the length as a standard episode, are focused almost solely on providing as much laughter or borderline lewd content as possible depending on the special.
Overall
As long as you know what to expect when coming into The Comic Artist and His Assistants you will find a fun and often hilarious ecchi comedy series. Rarely is anything in this series taken seriously and while there is no real storyline progress or much of a story in general, the chemistry that the cast of characters and the fact that the series embraces its fan service nature leads to a lot of enjoyable moments.
That being said, thanks to Aito’s disposition some may find him too much to handle if they can’t put up with his perverted attitude and since the comedy revolves around perverted fun, those who are put off by that should stay away. For everyone else who likes that style of comedy such as myself, then this is a series you’ll enjoy as long as you keep the episodes spread out to avoid burning out on the generally one-note humor. Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
LEGO® Dimensions™ Adds Three New Fun Packs Based on DC Comics, Ghostbusters and LEGO Ninjago
Players Can Grow Their Collection to Create Even Crazier Combinations with Their Favourite Characters, Vehicles and Gadgets
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announces the release of the highly collectable DC Comics Bane, Ghostbusters™ Slimer and LEGO® Ninjago™ Lloyd Fun Packs. Players can customise their building and gaming adventures in LEGO® Dimensions™ with the purchase of these Wave 5 Fun Packs which provide buildable characters, and rebuildable 3-in-1 vehicles and gadgets with special in-game abilities. All expansion packs provide gamers the opportunity to use everything interchangeably, anywhere throughout the game. Plus, any expansion pack character can unlock the corresponding Adventure World of the same brand to provide players with additional open-world gameplay content based on that entertainment property.
DC Comics fans can broaden their LEGO Dimensions gameplay with the buildable Bane Fun Pack. Players can place the buildable villain on the LEGO Toy Pad to bring him to life in the game, and then activate his Hazard Protection, Big Transform, or Super Stealth abilities to solve puzzles and overpower enemies. His 3-in-1 Drill Driver will boost gameplay, and can be rebuilt into the Bane Dig ‘n Drill and the Bane Drill ‘n Blast for upgraded in-game abilities.
Players who want to slime their enemies can construct Slimer, the glutinous ghost, included in the Ghostbusters Slimer Fun Pack. They can fire his Hot Dog and activate his Boomerang, Sonar Smash, Flying, Dive, Hazard Clean, Illumination, Mini Access and Hazard Protection abilities to solve puzzles and battle enemies. When he needs backup, players can call in the Slime Shooter and rebuild it into a Slime Exploder and Slime Streamer for upgraded powers in the game.
Players can put their ninja skills to the test with the LEGO Ninjago Lloyd Fun Pack, featuring a buildable Lloyd minifigure, two Golden Katanas and rebuildable 3-in-1 Golden Dragon. Players can use Lloyd’s two Golden Katanas and activate his special Spinjitzu, Illumination, Acrobat, Laser Deflector and Stealth abilities to solve puzzles and take on enemies in true Ninja style! When it’s time to take the battle to the sky, launch Lloyd’s Golden Dragon and rebuild it into a Sword Projector Dragon and Mega Flight Dragon for enhanced powers.
These Fun Packs round out the first five waves of LEGO Dimensions expansion packs, with many new expansion packs based on more of the world’s biggest entertainment brands to be revealed soon. The LEGO Dimensions Starter Pack will remain the entry point for a gaming system of play that will offer continued compatibility – everything bought today and expansions added tomorrow will continue to work together. No compatibility chart necessary!
LEGO Dimensions is available for PlayStation®4 and PlayStation®3 computer entertainment systems, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and Nintendo´s Wii U™ system.
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TASTEE: Lethal Tacticsis out of Steam Early Access today. The RTS focuses on a small unit of mercenaries in brutal close quarters combat against the ruthless cartel. Players will choose their squad from a roster of twelve mercenaries, each with a unique ability that can turn the tide of battle. The game comes with a single player campaign with 30 missions and multiplayer modes with 10 maps that support both live opponents and turn based asynchronous gameplay.
TASTEE: Lethal Tactics is developed by Skybox Labs, the team behind the modern Age of Empires II HD expansion packs. The game is available now for Windows on Steam. The game is priced at $14.99 USD normally, but as a launch promotion, it’s 35% off until May 17th.
Indie developers Pera Games launched their turn-based RPGOverfallon Steam Early Access back in March. In the last two months, the team has been busy adding extra content, stomping bugs, and balancing the game. Their work is finally paying off, as Overfall will reach a full release next week on May 17th on Linux, Mac, and Windows.
Overfall mixes in diplomatic and rogue-like elements with classic turn-based RPG gameplay. Overfall is set in a archipelago ravaged by war, where two heroes are seeking their lost king. They must navigate not only a world filled with dangerous enemies, but also one filled with choppy diplomatic waters. Once players finish Overfall’s story, they can dive right into the story builder and create a new epic to share with the community. With the help of writer Chris Avellone (Icewind Dale, Planescape: Torment, Fallout: New Vegas), Pera Games has compiled a writing style guide to help writers craft their story in line with Overfall’s lore.
Grand Strategy SciFi Game Rivaling the Success of Cities: Skylines
STOCKHOLM – MAY 10TH – Paradox Interactive and Paradox Development Studio launched into space last night with the release of sci-fi grand strategy Stellaris. The launch was received to almost universal acclaim by the community, with an impressive 95% positive user reviews on Steam. With 68,000 simultaneous players on the day of release, Stellaris also managed to de-throne the publisher’s other recent success Cities: Skylines, which previously held their record for highest amount of concurrent players at launch. Less than 24 hours after release, Stellaris has sold over 200,000 units, breaking the revenue record for any of Paradox Interactive’s previous titles during the same time period. For the internal development studio, the game has broken every record available and is the studio’s fastest selling game ever.
“We are immensely proud of the Paradox team for putting together such a stellar release,” said Fredrik Wester, CEO of Paradox Interactive and master of puns. “This release is the result of hard work and dedication from the entire company and in particular Paradox Development Studio. The incredible reception by players, indicated for instance by the steam user reviews, is all the proof we could ask for that our hard work paid off. Our fans have put their faith in us and Stellaris will be a part of Paradox’s onwards journey for a long time to come.”
”Stellaris breaks a lot of new ground for Paradox Development Studio. It is a type of game we have never attempted to do before, and we are immensely satisfied to see this leap of faith work out well, especially with all the positive response we are getting from the players,” said Henrik Fåhraeus, Game Director of Stellaris. “We are listening very keenly to all the feedback we are getting and look forward to many years of continued expansions and improvements to the game. Let’s make space great again, together!”
In Stellaris, players guide a species of their own design to power and glory in the depths of space. From humble beginnings, as players leave their home planet and explore the unknown, to tense “first contact” moments with alien species, to the difficult choices and responsibilities of managing diplomatic relationships with other star-faring races, Stellaris presents the iconic gameplay of a Paradox grand strategy title on a galactic scale. With randomly created opponents and procedurally generated star systems, no two games can ever play out the same way.
Stellaris is available now from digital retailers everywhere. To learn more about Stellaris, visit www.stellarisgame.com.
You’re Lost In Space And Fighting to Survive in Tales From The Void, A Novel Sci-Fi Adventure Game Inspired by True Events
MONTREAL, May 20, 2016—Publisher, Black Dog Games, and developer, Portaplay, today announced the Steam release of Tales from the Void, a squad-based, atmospheric real time tactics game.
Travel back to a time of adventure, heroism and mystery as Edwin Albert Taylor Bragg, the British captain of the HMS E18. You’re on a secret mission in German waters, with an advanced experimental weapon meant to obliterate the Germans and win the war for the allies. But when the weapon misfires, you and your crew are warped through space into an alien asteroid field. Food is scarce, air supply is low and time is running out. It’s a desperate struggle for survival. Starving and cold, you have to equip your marines and venture out into the asteroid field to scavenge resources and fight off hostile creatures while trying to find a way home. Can you escape the void?
Prepare yourself for a novel gameplay experience, inspired by a true story.
Tales from the Void is an atmospheric real time tactics game inspired by the sci fi adventure stories of the early 20th century.
Tales from the Void will be available on Steam (http://store.steampowered.com/app/419590/) for $14.99 and will be 25% off through May 27th. For the latest Tales from the Void news, follow the game on Facebook.
Black Dog Publishing specializes in bringing unique and exciting video game concepts to life. With over 15 years of video game experience, the Black Dog team understands what it takes to capture the attention of the modern gamer. Working tirelessly with dedicated developers large and small to ensure that their game not only sees the light of day, but also gets the exposure it deserves in key gaming communities. Black Dog Games – boldly going where no publisher has gone before.
About Portaplay
PortaPlay was founded by two longtime friends in 2007, making it one of the oldest indie gaming companies in Denmark. The company has created a number of games for PC, mobile, web browsers and on-location game installations.Though they spent many years partnering with others to create games, they recently fulfilled their dreams of being able to create their own games. Portaplay’s latest project, Tales from the Void, launches in Spring 2016.
Nintendo has finally delivered on showing some Pokemon Sun and Moon footage and there a number of pretty big things to take away. First off, trainer customization from X & Y is returning with different genders, skin colours and outfits.
Secondly, gone is the games chibi style. Your main avatar and the rest of the world are now all full size, similar to how the trainers used to appear outside of the games over world in X & Y. Third, the region is called Alola and is based on a tropical island, seemingly taking a lot of inspiration from Hawaii.
We also have five brand new Pokemon designs including the 3 starter Pokemon which retain their classic grass, fire, water typing and the two main legendary Pokemon which will no doubt be integral to the story.
First up is Rowlet, which is of the fairly rare Grass/Flying typing. This Grass Quill Pokemon can attack without making a sound! It flies silently through the skies, drawing near to its opponent without being noticed, and then lashing out with powerful kicks.
It can also attack from a distance using the razor-sharp leaves that form part of its feathers. Rowlet also learns a brand new attack called Leafage, which we are guessing will just be a low damage physical grass type move.
If you’re a fire type fan then Litten is your Pokemon. This Fire Cat Pokemon can attack with flaming hairballs! Its fur is rich in oils and immensely flammable. Litten grooms itself by licking its fur, and then uses the collected fur as fuel for fireball attacks! When the time comes for Litten to shed its old fur, it all burns up in a glorious blaze.
If water is more your style then you’ll be looking to start with Poppilo, the Sea Lion Pokemon. Popplio can snort out balloons made of water! Watch it spin water balloons into a playful battle strategy!
Both frivolous and hard-working, Popplio can easily get carried away—unleashing enough power in battle to make quite a spectacle! But Popplio’s determined spirit means it can usually be found practicing hard on its balloon skills. Unlike previous games, these starters will know more than just tackle and growl, with each knowing it’s respective elemental move when you receive them.
The final two Pokemon revealed have yet to receive official names but were shown on both the games cover art and in some in-game footage. I think you’ll be able to tell which one represents the Sun and which represents the Moon pretty easily. It looks like both Pokemon are outside some sort of Sun/Moon temple.
We also have an official release date. Pokemon Sun & Moon will release on November 18th worldwide except for in Europe where the release date is shifted back five days later to the 23rd with no reason given as of yet. Australains rejoice, we have not been lumped in with Europe this time around and we will get the game on the 18th as well as confirmed by the official Nintendo AU Twitter.
The game is exclusive to the 3DS console and we believe is compatible with Pokemon X & Y, Pokemon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire, Pokemon Bank and as mentioned previously, the virtual console versions of Pokemon Blue, Red and Yellow. You can watch the new trailer below and be sure to let us know what you think of these new Pokemon designs in the comments below. Personally I think these are the worst designs for the starters yet but maybe they’ll grow on me. I’m still excited to see what they’ll do with their 1st and 2nd evolutionary stage designs.
