Page 3105 – Capsule Computers

Racers Head To The Track In DiRT Rally To Take On The Best And Rise To The Top Of The DiRT Community

Press Releases

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March 19, 2016

Racers Head To The Track In DiRT Rally To Take On The Best And Rise To The Top Of The DiRT Community

Larkspur, Calif., March 18, 2016 – Today Deep Silver and Codemasters released the DiRT Rally® multiplayer trailer ahead of the game’s release on PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system and Xbox One on April 5, 2016. The video is available to watch now at https://youtu.be/rb7A4av_1hA.

Competition lies at the heart of the DiRT Rally experience – gamers can create online events or join leagues, climb the global leaderboards or participate in multiplayer FIA World Rallycross racing.

DiRT Rally allows gamers to take to the track in exclusive officially licensed FIA World Rallycross multiplayer races, where up to eight players can experience the breathless thrills of bumper-to-bumper racing in some of the world’s fastest off-road cars.

DiRT Rally’s online events are one-shot chances for players to test themselves against the best drivers in the world and claim bragging rights as well as in-game currency. Daily Events require nailing a stage selected by the DiRT team – mess up and the opportunity is lost. The Weekly Events, meanwhile, require players to complete all available stages in a rally location, while Monthly Events are a marathon-like test of endurance and skill over 24 stages. Only the brave need apply.

Players can also take advantage of DiRT Rally’s league system to compete with friends and rivals. Hosted on dirtgame.com, gamers can create their own leagues or join one of the thousands already created by the vibrant DiRT community. League events are fully customizable without restriction on the number of leagues each player can be a member of, so there’s never a lack of a fresh challenge in DiRT Rally.

DiRT Rally is now available on Steam and will be powersliding onto PlayStation 4, Xbox One and on April 5, 2016. The DiRT Rally Legend Edition for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One is available to pre-order now. The DiRT Rally Legend Edition includes both the Fully Loaded MINI Pack and Fully Loaded Ford Pack, which unlocks and fully upgrades the MINI Cooper S and Ford Escort MK2 from the start of the game, gives an exclusive livery for the cars and provides a unique team mechanic with perks.

Gamers pre-ordering the digital edition of DiRT Rally will receive the Fully Loaded Rallycross Pack, which unlocks the Mini Classic Rallycross and provides the same benefits as the other packs.

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About DiRT Rally
DiRT Rally is the most authentic and thrilling rally game ever made, road-tested over 80 million miles by the DiRT community. It perfectly captures that white knuckle feeling of racing on the edge as you hurtle along dangerous roads at breakneck speed, knowing that one crash could irreparably harm your stage time.

Every stage tests you differently, as you race on the edge of control across snow, ice, tarmac and dirt and tackle a variety of weather types. As the car suffers attrition and stages string together, your dedicated rally team tries to keep you competitive and each rally becomes a marathon-like test of concentration and skill.

DiRT Rally also includes officially licensed World Rallycross content, allowing you to experience the breathless, high-speed thrills of some of the world’s fastest off-road cars as you trade paint with other drivers at some of the series’ best-loved circuits, in both singleplayer and high-intensity multiplayer races.

Join the DiRT team for the continuing road ahead and follow updates from the studio on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/dirtgame) and Twitter
(http://www.twitter.com/dirtgame).

About Codemasters
Codemasters, the award winning video game developer and publisher, has a 30-year heritage. With titles distributed globally, Codemasters is a leading developer and publisher of driving and racing entertainment games including DiRT, GRID and the official BAFTA award-winning FORMULA 1 series of videogames. Since March 2010, Reliance Big Entertainment Ltd. (RBEL), a part of India’s Reliance ADA group, has been the principal shareholder (60%), alongside existing investor, Balderton Capital, the leading European venture capital firm. For more information on Codemasters’ product portfolio, please visit www.codemasters.com. Join in the conversation with @codemasters on Twitter or Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/codemasters.

About Deep Silver
Deep Silver develops and publishes interactive games for all platforms, seeking to deliver top-quality products that provide immersive game experiences driven by the desires of the gaming community. The company has published more than 200 games worldwide since 2003, including the best-selling zombie action Dead Island(TM) franchise, the critically-acclaimed Metro(TM): Last Light and the smash hit action adventure Saints Row IV(TM). Deep Silver is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Koch Media, GmbH, and also owns the development studios Deep Silver Fishlabs in Hamburg, Germany, Deep Silver Volition based in Champaign, IL, USA, and Deep Silver Dambuster Studios in Nottingham, UK. For more information please visit www.deepsilver.com.

© 2016 The Codemasters Software Company Limited (“Codemasters”). All rights reserved. “Codemasters”®, “Ego”®, the Codemasters logo, “DiRT”® and “DiRT Rally”® are registered trademarks owned by Codemasters. “RaceNet”(TM) is a trademark of Codemasters. All rights reserved. All other copyrights or trademarks are the property of their respective owners and are being used under license. Developed by Codemasters. Distributed by Koch Media GmbH, Gewerbegebiet 1, 6604 Höfen, Austria._

“PlayStation”, “PLAYSTATION” and “PS” Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Trademarks are property of their respective owners.

KOEI TECMO EUROPE ANNOUNCES UPCOMING RELEASE OF ATELIER SOPHIE: THE ALCHEMIST OF THE MYSTERIOUS BOOK

Press Releases

Philip Federico

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March 18, 2016

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KOEI TECMO EUROPE ANNOUNCES UPCOMING RELEASE OF ATELIER SOPHIE: THE ALCHEMIST OF THE MYSTERIOUS BOOK

Celebrated Atelier series from GUST to debut on the PlayStation®4 this summer! Limited edition details unveiled!

Hertfordshire, 18^th March 2016- Koei Tecmo proudly announced today the upcoming launch of Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book on the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, and digitally for the PlayStation®Vita handheld system on 10^th June 2016. This is the debut of the long-running Atelier series on the PlayStation®4 and it marks a new beginning for GUST’s popular RPG brand.

Set against a vibrant background reminiscent of a medieval European town the Atelier series’ 17^th instalment follows the exploits of a young novice Alchemist who discovers she is the owner of an enigmatic volume imbued with a soul. This Mysterious Book seems to hold all the secrets to the art of Alchemy knowledge and it goes on to become Sophie’s mentor. As Sophie improves her Alchemy skills throughout the story she unravels forgotten memories, and eventually sets out to uncover the strange tale of the book’s origin.

The development team at GUST consider this title ‘the new standard for the Atelier series’ as they have poured all their creativity into rebuilding the series’ signature Alchemy system from the ground up and into crafting a visually stunning world full of well-rounded characters and beautiful illustrations. In a series first, there are two key illustrators involved in the making of Atelier Sophie, NOCO and Yuugen. Their distinctive work brings the in-game world to life and creates a dynamic environment where time, weather, and relationships play a key role in the adventures of the young new Alchemist and her trusted allies.

To commemorate the announcement of Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book, Koei Tecmo released a first batch of assets illustrating the game’s key characters and background art. A teaser trailer going through the series’ history and introducing the key features of this exciting and mysterious new chapter of the Atelier brand has also been released and can be accessed here.

Finally, Koei Tecmo Europe is pleased to announce the release of a limited edition box, available exclusively through the NIS America Europe Online Store! This collector-must-have box will include:

~ PS4 version of Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book

~ 2 Disc Original Soundtrack featuring 38 tracks of original music from the game

~ 48-page hardcover art book, including illustrations and sketches of the characters, creatures, and background art of the game.

~ Set of 5 5″ x 7″ beautiful mini art prints

~ 40″ x 26.8″ cloth poster

Pre-orders for the limited edition will go live on the 22nd March 2016 at 12pm GMT and can be accessed here.

For more information please like us on www.facebook.com/ateliergames and follow us on twitter @koeitecmoeurope.

ABOUT KOEI TECMO EUROPE LTD.

KOEI TECMO EUROPE LTD. is a publisher of interactive entertainment software for current generation consoles, handhelds and digital download content based in Letchworth, Hertfordshire, UK. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of KOEI TECMO HOLDINGS CO., LTD., headquartered in Yokohama, Japan. TECMO is best known for the Dead or Alive® and Ninja Gaiden®series. KOEI is best known for its Dynasty Warriors® and Samurai Warriors® franchises. On April 1, 2009, KOEI TECMO HOLDINGS CO., LTD was established as a result of the TECMO, LTD. and KOEI Co., Ltd. merger. More information about KOEI TECMO EUROPE LTD and its products can be found at www.koeitecmoeurope.com

The “PS” Family logo, “PS4” and “PSVITA” logo are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. “PlayStation” is a registered trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

Caravan at the GDC 2016

Press Releases

Philip Federico

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March 18, 2016

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Caravan at the GDC 2016

All news surrounding the unique genre-mix at GDC 2016 in San Francisco

the stories of the ‘Arabian Nights’ can be discovered at the GDC 2016: Together with it Matters Games, Daedalic Entertainment shares the most recent news of their trade and exploration game Caravan.

Caravan, already scheduled for release in Q2 2016, first and foremost convinces through its authenticity: regional folklore, the famous stories of the ‘Arabian Nights’, and actual geographic properties and backgrounds of the Orient all were essential elements of the game’s development. At this year’s GDC, Daedalic Entertainment presents a new and fully playable version of the desert adventure.

Caravan will be released in Q2 2016 for PC, Mac and Linux.

About Caravan:

Caravan is a trading and exploration game with strategy, trade and RPG elements that tells an exciting story. The player controls a caravan in the pre-medieval Orient and travels to the various towns of the Arabic peninsula. During those travels, the caravan will steadily grow, as it acquires more members, heroes and camels over time. Along their path, the people of the caravan will face danger, adventure, tempting business opportunities and vicious combat.

World and setting are based on geography and history of the Orient. The player manages all important resources, like water, provisions and the caravan’s animals. It’s also their responsibility to keep an eye out for profitable business and buy and sell resources.

It’s an individual story with a lot of player agency in a balanced genre mix sprinkled with captivating folklore, mystical elements of the ‘Arabian Nights’ and authentic backgrounds.
For further information, take a look at the presskit.

Features:

Genre-Mix: diverse gaming experience through a mix of strategy, trade, and RPG elements
Players manage their own caravan
Setting based on history and geography of the Orient
Cultural authenticity through regional folklore and stories of the ‘Arabian Nights’

About Daedalic Entertainment

Daedalic Entertainment, based in Hamburg, publishes and develops computer and video games for all platforms. The studio focuses on interactive literature and character and narrative-driven games like adventures and RPGs. Daedalic Entertainment has a staff of more than 140 employees, including the Writer’s Room, a team of writers unique to the German media industry.

Since May 2014, Daedalic Entertainment is part of the Bastei Lübbe group of companies. In August 2014 the studio also established Daedalic Entertainment West, based in Düsseldorf. The studio’s first project is the Space Exploration RPG The Long Journey Home.

With titles like Goodbye Deponia, Daedalic won the German Developer Award 21 times („Studio of the Year“ 2009 and 2013, among others). With Chaos on Deponia the studio from Hamburg won the German Games Award for “Best German Game 2013”.
Daedalic Entertainment is also the six-time winner of the German Video Game Award and the European Games Award.

Titles like Silence, The Devil’s Men and Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth show Daedalic’s desire to raise the bar higher for the whole adventure genre. Blackguards has likewise earned it a place among RPG creators. As a publisher, the studio is also known for releasing unique and outstanding titles like Divinity: Original Sin, Valhalla Hills and Bounty Train.
www.daedalic.com
www.facebook.com/daedalic
twitter.com/daedalic

About it Matters Games

It Matters Games is a developing studio founded in October 2011 by Jens Kortboyer and Hendrik Lesser. Since its first days, the studio is part of Europe’s leading game developers association, the remote control productions family.

The young team aims to create games with a unique style and solid, well established gameplay, that have a touch of real life to them.
Since the studio’s foundation, it Matters Games has developed various games with high quality partners. Among those games are the popular mobile game ‘Dog Hotel’ with more than 74 million players, as well as ‘Sidekick Cycle’, a downhill bicycle game, reknown for its charity background.
www.itmattersgames.com
on.fb.me/24mlA2K

New Physics Puzzler Invites Players To Help Splatts Find 101 Ways To Die

Press Releases

Philip Federico

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March 18, 2016

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New Physics Puzzler Invites Players To Help Splatts Find 101 Ways To Die

Maim, Tear, Burn, Explode, Impale, Repeat: Darkly Comic Game Launches for Xbox One, PC & PS4; New Launch Trailer Showcases the Murderous Mayhem

London – 18 March, 2016 – Vision Games Publishing today announced 101 Ways to Die, the latest game from UK indie developer, Four Door Lemon, is now available for Xbox One and PC and will hit PlayStation® 4 next week, on Tuesday, March 22. The game is priced at £10.99/$14.99/€14.99 on all platforms.

A dark, hilarious physics-based puzzler, 101 Ways to Die casts players as the assistant to the morally corrupt Professor Ernst Splatunfuder, who they must help recreate ‘101 Ways To Die’ – a book full of delightfully gory death recipes.

By utilising a variety of madcap and deadly implements, players must find the most violent and brutal ways to maim, slice, burn, explode, rip and impale lab-created creatures known as Splatts. Whatever you do, don’t let them escape!

A brand-new launch trailer showcases just a few of the many maniacal ways players can maim, mash and mutilate the Splatts. Check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sveuIhd7GuE

Key Features

Manipulate the environment to kill the Splatts before they escape
Create mutilation, mayhem and destruction by laying down fiendish combinations of tools
A series of bone-crunching animations show your creatures being maimed, sliced, burned, exploded, ripped and impaled
101 delightfully gory death recipes to unlock
Over 50 blood-soaked levels

“As much twisted enjoyment as we had creating all the death recipes in the game, we think players will have even more fun exploring all the clever ways they can find to kill the hapless Splatts,” said Simon Barratt, Producer at Standfast Interactive. “Professor Splatunfuder’s lab is now open for business—let the killing commence!”

For more information head on over to the official website over at http://101waystodiegame.com/ and remember, it’s not just about killing… it’s about killing in style!

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About Vision Games Publishing
Vision Games Publishing is the publishing arm of Standfast Vision, a Guernsey based investment fund for video games, investing across genres, business models and gaming platforms. Vision Games Publishing offers sales, marketing and production assistance, working closely with developers to help take their game to market.

Invaders of the Rokujyoma!? Complete Collection Review

Travis Bruno

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March 18, 2016

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Invaders of the Rokujyoma!? Complete Collection Review

Invaders of the Rokujyoma!? Complete Collection
Studio: Silver Link
Publisher: Sentai Filmworks
Format: DVD, Blu-ray (Reviewed)
Release Date: Available Now
Price: $59.98 – Available Here

Overview
Often when a light novel series becomes popular enough it is given an extra push with an anime adaptation and usually this is done in an effort to help drive sales for the source material even higher. The problem with this is that sometimes anime viewers are occasionally left in the dark when it comes to certain aspects. Invaders of the Rokujyoma!? currently sits at twenty one volumes in length and with Sentai Filmworks releasing the anime adaptation in the West, what can fans expect?

Story
High school student Kotaro Satomi finds himself an incredible deal on an apartment in the Corona House apartment complex that he must move into after his father is transferred to an unknown location. At 5,000 yen a month for a room suitable enough for a single guy, this type of luck doesn’t come every day so Kataro manages to sleep incredibly soundly after moving in despite his friend saying the room is rumored to be haunted.

While working at a side-job to earn a bit of money, Kotaro hears a strange woman’s voice and after falling through a large hole in the ground, discovers a strange shrine with an unknown woman saying she has been waiting for him. This all is forgotten rather quickly when Kotaro comes to and is told that he simply hit his head while working and is lucky that all he has is a bruise. The only problem is, once he returns to his too good to be true apartment, an invader has already found its way inside.

A strange girl named Sanari is inside of his room and talking about kicking him out. Eager to free himself of any burden, Kotaro quickly removes her from the premises. The only problem is, Sanari travels right through the doorway and back into the apartment, revealing herself to be a ghost capable of traveling through objects, possessing people, and manipulating fire. After quarreling with this teenage ghost who has been living in the apartment for as long as she can remember, the pair are interrupted by another girl flying a staff through the window.

Claiming herself to be a magical girl and seen by the others as an enthusiastic cosplayer, the girl named Yurika states that she must protect the room from anyone evil due to the high magical power found within it. Things continue to spiral out of control when Kiriha, a large breasted shrine priestess styled girl appears from beneath the floor.

Hailing from a race that has lived underground for thousands of years, Kiriha wishes to claim the room as a launching pad for their invasion of the surface world. While still reeling from that announcement, a symbol appears on the wall and a girl named Theiamillis from a futuristic alien world arrives, nearly destroys the planet in anger after being called flat-chested before being reprimanded by her ally, and states that she must make the resident of the location swear loyalty to her in order to complete her rite of passage.

After an ensuing brawl that draws the ire of the landlord, yet another strange girl who attends Kotaro’s school, the entire group is forced to sign a pact of non-aggression. Instead they will compete in various games in order to earn shares of the room, with those that lose all of their points dropping out of the competition. Things begin simple as card games but escalate into athletic competitions and more.

That being said, the competition aspect quickly starts to lose focus in Invaders of the Rokujyoma!? once the characters begin to grow more accustomed to one another and become friends. If the character introductions there sounded quick it is due to the fact that they are all quickly introduced in the first episode in an effort to spend as much time as possible giving viewers time to see how they interact with one another as well as give each girl a pair of episodes to shine on her own in some fashion.

This helps flesh out the cast of characters that initially come off as rather one-sided and allows certain girls, especially in Yurika and Kiriha’s arcs, to develop far more than viewers thought possible, especially with the comedic role that Yurika finds herself stuck into almost immediately since no one ever believes her about being a magical girl. In fact, by building up these characters the way that they are, watching through the series a second time and catching various aspects that may have been missed the first time around is something of a delight.

Unfortunately when it comes to Kotaro, viewers are left with many questions about him as his past is barely touched upon despite being referenced often enough as well as numerous hints that this is far from the first time he has met some of these girls before. Even when the apparent reveal of certain aspects about Kotaro’s characters come to light in the last episode viewers are left with even more questions than before.

I’m not saying that Invaders of the Rokujyoma!? is a bad series due to this, as the character interactions in this series are absolutely hilarious, a few of the characters are extremely memorable due to their personalities, and there are even a number of fight scenes scattered throughout to keep things feeling fresh. This creates a comedic harem series that really helps stand on its own; especially due to the rather unique way everything is established and developed. However those looking for something a satisfying payoff at the end will be left with numerous questions about the main character, certain origins of other characters, and more.

Visuals
The animation found throughout the series can best be described as a bit on the simplistic side for backgrounds and colorful for the characters. Every girl has a unique enough character design and thanks to their various special backgrounds have special abilities that they often use, either in combat or for comedic purposes and these special effects are handled quite well.

Despite being a harem anime, the fan service is incredibly tame to the point of being nearly non-existent outside of a standard beach episode and a few panty shots but considering the tone of the anime is more about comedy and developing bonds between the group members while they still put on a façade of fighting for the room this is for the best.

Audio
Sentai Filmworks has chosen to release Invaders of the Rokujyoma!? with only the original Japanese voice track and this works well enough primarily due to a Yurika, Theia, and Sanae’s voice actresses really helping deliver on their character’s personalities to the point that I don’t believe, at least in Yurika’s case, would have been easy to replicate in English.

The soundtrack for the series is fitting enough with a decent mix of background music used to fit the various themes but the real highlights are the opening and ending themes. The opening theme “Koukan win-win Mujouken” is sung by the female voice actresses and serves as a catchy and memorable opening and the ending theme “Love is Milk Tea” by petit milady proves to be even better than the opening theme.

Extras
Unfortunately Invaders of the Rokujyoma!? has been released with rather simplistic special features as the only bonuses come in the form of the clean opening theme, clean ending theme, and trailers for other Sentai Filmworks releases.

Overall
It is easy to tell that the anime adaptation for Invaders of the Rokujyoma!? was created in an effort to help give the light novels an extra push as one would assume that many of the mysteries and questions that are left hanging by the end of the series are answered there. Though the series does lack a satisfying conclusion, the comedy found throughout the series and the characters are rather striking. Those looking for a harem styled comedy that offers something a bit different should be pleased with what Invaders of the Rokujyoma!? has to offer, especially if they find themselves enjoying the character interactions as much as myself.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

Hayate the Combat Butler Season 1 Complete Collection Review

Travis Bruno

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March 18, 2016

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Hayate the Combat Butler Season 1 Complete Collection Review

Hayate the Combat Butler Season 1 Complete Collection
Studio: SynergySP
Publisher: Sentai Filmworks
Format: Blu-ray (Reviewed), DVD
Release Date: Available Now
Price: $99.98 – Available Here

Overview
There are very few comedy series that have had the longevity that the Hayate the Combat Butler series has had since it started back in 2004. Since its creation the manga series has had numerous anime adaptations throughout the years, though some of the more recent series weren’t quite as well received, the first and longest running season was out of reach for fans in the West for quite some time. Thankfully Sentai Filmworks has brought out the entire fifty-two episode first season out on Blu-ray for the first time in the West. With the original series still going strong, does this first season from 2007 still worthwhile today?

Story
Hayate Ayasaki has lived a terribly unlucky life. Ever since he was young he has had to struggle to the point that even when dreaming of Santa he is insulted by saying that he never is given any presents because his family is poor. Due to his parents being completely irresponsible and gambling away every yen earned, Hayate began faking his age to work various jobs throughout school, only to end up having his parents waste his hard earned money.

Despite these hardships, Hayate has always tried to remain positive but one Christmas day his parents finally take the final step. They abandon Hayate and leave him with a massive 156,804,000 yen debt to the Yakuza who are all the willing to simply take his organs and sell them on the black market to get their money back. Finally pushed to the point of no return, Hayate’s strict moral compass collapses when a seemingly perfect opportunity falls into his lap in the form of a naïve young girl named Nagi Sanzenin.

Through Hayate’s bumbling words and Nagi’s fantasies, a great miscommunication takes place and this is only exasperated when Hayate ends up rescuing her from a group of kidnappers who stole her away before he could kidnap her. By proving just how durable he is by chasing down a speeding car on the back of a bicycle and even surviving being hit by the same car, Nagi offers him the job of being her new butler/bodyguard.

The only problem is, Nagi’s ridiculously extravagant lifestyle is far more than anything Hayate could imagine and with so many oddballs surrounding her life, Hayate is in for an absolutely crazy time. Of course, with the constant miscommunication of romance between Hayate for Nagi and the one-sided nature of this misunderstanding, things such as crazy robots, talking white tigers, hikikomori life styles, battles for inheritance, and even crazier situations are just the tip of the iceberg.

There is a reason that Hayate the Combat Butler works so well and has lasted as long as it has and it proves it throughout this first season. By providing just enough plot and story development spread thin throughout the course of the series’ free-running comedic antics, you can keep viewers hooked for a very long time, especially if you manage to create an endearing and humorous cast of characters and Hayate the Combat Butler has those types of characters in spades.

Hayate the Combat Butler Season 1 serves as the proper introduction to the series as it follows the manga as close as possible compared to later anime adaptations that unfortunately started to put their own twist on the story and because of this viewers are fully introduced to the many characters that appear throughout the series and what they add to an episode when it happens to be one that they are included in. This also helps viewers connect a bit better with certain main characters and recognize the many misunderstandings that take place as the girls around Hayate deny any possible feelings or simply clash with one another while Hayate remains oblivious.

There are of course plenty of one-off characters and many of the episodes here are episodic in nature, there are also small story tangents that take place here and there which fit the structure of this series well. Those looking for some great comedy will find that nearly every episode is funny in its own way since most of the humor comes from the characters as well as plenty of jokes that reference other series and there are even episodes that end up being devoted to long-running gags.

This means that while there may be certain elements of Hayate the Combat Butler’s first season that might not fit every viewer’s taste, there is something for everyone here as this fifty-two episode season explores practically every type of joke possible. By combining this free style of humor, an amazing cast of characters to hold everything together, and a core storyline that is touched upon just enough to remain relevant while mini-stories and episodic comedic stories make up the base of the series shows just how strong of a start Hayate the Combat Butler had and why it is still running today.

Visuals
Now it is worth noting that although Hayate the Combat Butler Season 1 has been released on Blu-ray, that you really shouldn’t be expecting a significant upgrade here. There are a number of scenes that do look cleaner than before and the colors are a bit more vibrant than they originally appeared but it is worth noting that the first season was created nearly ten years ago at this point. As such there are plenty of moments that scenes can appear a bit fuzzy and the overall improvements this time around are unfortunately rather minimal.

That being said, although the Blu-ray upgrade may not add much to the title the art style used by SynergySP works very well for a comedy series such as this one. The character designs are reflected well in the anime and are memorable enough on their own but are helped by there being plenty of costume changes and different locales helping keep the series feeling fresh throughout the long season.

Audio
With the release of Hayate the Combat Butler Season 1 Sentai Filmworks opted to only include the original Japanese voice work for the series. This may be a disappointment to some but considering the amount of humor that is based around the language and certain Japanese themed products this is likely for the best. This is especially true considering many of the voice actors and actresses, especially Nagi being voiced by Rie Kugimiya, are handled incredibly well by their original voice actors.

The background music found throughout this first season is varied well enough with plenty of different tracks used for comedic scenes but there is a heavy reliance on simple relaxing themes. Since there are fifty two episodes this time around viewers can expect a total of two different openings as well as four different closing themes, with many of the tracks being quite memorable.

Extras
The bonus features for this release are rather slim as the company has only included a clean version of the opening and ending themes as well as trailers for other Sentai Filmworks releases.

Overall
Hayate the Combat Butler Season 1 may show its age visually but the wild style of comedy that helped establish the series still remains as solid as ever nine years later. Those looking for a classic comedy series with at least some form of a storyline mixed in will find that, thanks to the many well-handled and established characters, fits the bill perfectly. Although it may be something of a large investment, those looking to dive into the series will find that this first season is easily the best way to start.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

Hanabee Entertainment to Release ‘Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun’ in May

K. Roberts

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March 18, 2016

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Hanabee Entertainment to Release ‘Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun’ in May

Hanabee Entertainment will be releasing the anime series Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun in Australia on May 12, 2016. The series will be available on both DVD and Blu-ray.

The release features 12 episodes with dual language options. The on-disc extras include the Nozaki-kun shorts, promotional videos, commercials and the textless opening and ending animation. Both editions will come with a three-disc CD soundtrack. Sentai Filmworks’ limited edition DVD and Blu-ray combo pack only included two CDs. It is not known how the soundtracks differ.

Hanabee describes the series as follows:

A confession gone awry has resulted with Chiyo Sakura as the newest assistant to Umetaro Nozaki. Known in the publishing world under the alias Yumeno Sakiko, Nozaki is the creator of the ever-popular shoujo manga, Let’s Have a Romance!
Despite his renowned skills as a manga artist, Nozaki is completely clueless in the art of real life romance. Relying heavily on the lives of his motley group of assistants to be his source of inspiration, Nozaki’s understanding of love is as skewed as the lives of his characters. Can Sakura properly convey her feelings to her long time crush or will she forever be relegated to assistant?

The DVD edition can be pre-ordered here, and the Blu-ray edition can be pre-ordered here. Both editions have a suggested retail price of $59.99 AUD (Australian Dollars).

Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 Honoka Trailer Released

Travis Bruno

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March 18, 2016

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It seems that Koei Tecmo is speeding things up a bit with their character trailers as they are treating us to two videos this week. Earlier in the week they released a video highlighting Ayane and now they have released a video focusing on the newest character to join the roster, the busty Honoka. Similar to the previous videos, the minute long trailer shows Honoka in a number of different swimsuits as she takes part in various activities on the island.

You can check out the video below and as for the game itself, Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 is set to be released for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita in Japan on March 24th and the Asian release, featuring English subtitles, can be pre-ordered through Play-Asia.

Fairy Fencer F: Advent Dark Force’s Zenke, Apollonius, Benard, and More Introduced

Travis Bruno

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March 18, 2016

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Fairy Fencer F: Advent Dark Force’s Zenke, Apollonius, Benard, and More Introduced

One of the key points that has been advertised for Fairy Fencer F: Advent Dark Force is that depending on the story route you go down, since there are now two new routes to go down, one being the “Vile God” and the other the “Evil Goddess” route, your allies might end up changing. Last week we were introduced to a few characters that may switch sides and now Idea Factory International has released a few new character intros for other foes that can become allies.

Strangely enough, the chosen route also may affect the personalities of some characters, for example the once ruthless Zenke acts meek and even the proud Apollonius might fight alongside Fang and his party. Fairy Fencer F: Advent Dark Force is currently set to be released sometime this spring due in North America and Europe for the PlayStation 4.

Zenke – A bloodthirsty Fencer who only fights to cause senseless destruction. He is one of Dorfa’s Four Heavenly Czars. Fang first stumbles upon him terrorizing a town and challenges him to a fight
Della – Zenke’s fairy partner who enjoys violence just as much as he does. Although they appear like a perfect pair, they’re really only using the each other as a means to an end.
Apollonius – One of Dorfa’s Four Heavenly Czars. He’s a skilled swordsman who sticks to his strict way of the sword. He fights in hopes to battle powerful adversaries.
Seguro – Apollonius’ fairy partner. Due to his massive dragon form, he is skilled in battle.
Bernard – The calm director of the Dorfa corporation. He is President Hanagata’s assistant officer. His calculating personality makes him unparalleled in combat.
Sanguina – Bernard’s fairy partner and loyal secretary. Her professional and collected demeanor make her a desirable employee to many companies, however, she pledges to only work under her Master Bernard.

Frontwing Announces Plans to Release Corona Blossom in English

Travis Bruno

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March 18, 2016

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It looks like Frontwing has been so pleased by their success with the West, with their Grisaia games receiving plenty of support, that they are going to be bringing their newest visual novel to English speaking audiences before Japan. The developer announced through Facebook that their next visual novel, Corona Blossom, will be released digitally on PC through Steam before it is physically released in Japan.

Currently little is known about Corona Blossom other than the teaser art shown above but the game will be translated using Frontwing’s in-house translation team and that the staff working on this project include character artist Nanaca Mai, the illustrator for the SD art for the Grisaia series, and Yuhi Nanao, a scenario writer who worked on From the Future Undying.