Enter the Heart of the Music in a Mind-Altering 3D VR World
Santa Ana, Calif.—March 21, 2016—Nicalis Inc., a publisher known for its work on critically-acclaimed games such as The Binding of Isaac, 1001 Spikes and Cave Story, today announced that it will publish Dimensional Intersection for Steam, Oculus Rift and PlayStation®VR. Experience an ever-changing, intensely visual world synced to trance-oriented music this fall. A trailer for Dimensional Intersection can be viewed at: https://youtu.be/RTWYUmQhkoE
Developed by Swedish studio, DNV, and tested in the psychedelic city of Anjuna in Goa, Dimensional Intersection is a transformation experience inside the heart of music. Featuring music from artists such as Soulacybin, Land Switcher and MONS, Dimensional Intersection will take participants to a new reality through surreal scenes filled with interactive real-time fractals, infinite tunnels and morphing 3D models.
“Dimensional Intersection is a crazy experience that distills music into the purest form,” said Tyrone Rodriguez, Founder of Nicalis. “It’s being developed in a place very close to the origin of psytrance and that influence is evident in the game.”
Dimensional Intersection’s meditative gameplay syncs with the music and creates surreal environments that continuously morph and evolve over time, with a grand sense of scale in a physics-driven world. Dimensional Intersection is a truly unique journey where players will lose themselves while exploring new virtual realities.
The game is currently under development by DNV and slated to release later this fall. For more information on Dimensional Intersection, please visit http://www.dimensionalintersection.com/.
About Nicalis, Inc.
Based in Southern California and founded in 2007, Nicalis, Inc. is an independent developer and publisher with a proven track record for developing and publishing well-polished games. More information on Nicalis can be found at http://www.nicalis.com. Follow Nicalis at: http://www.twitter.com/nicalis
Deep Silver Announces Deadlight: Directors Cut, Coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC on June 21
Debuting On PlayStation For The First Time, This Is What True Survival Looks Like
Larkspur, Calif., March 21, 2016 – Face your fears, or face death in the newly announced Deadlight: Directors Cut from Deep Silver, launching this summer on consoles and PC. Deadlight, the iconic zombie experience rises once more, spreading its deadliest infection yet to PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, Xbox One, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft and PC. Created in collaboration between Tequila Works and Abstraction Games, Deadlight: Directors Cut will deliver the definitive Deadlight cinematic experience on June 21, 2016 for $19.99.
Making its debut on PlayStation consoles, Deadlight: Directors Cut enhances the survival platformer on all systems in every way including: superior controls, new animations and full 1080p resolution. Featuring a brand new game mode, the ‘Survival Arena’ will be one of the toughest zombie challenges yet.
Set in an apocalyptic 1986, Deadlight tells the tale of Randall Wayne, an introverted and slightly paranoid survivor trying to rejoin his family in a world torn apart by zombies. From the destroyed streets of Seattle, through the crumbled underbelly of the city’s sewers, and the remnants of a forgotten stadium, players search for the haven known as the ‘safe point.’ Through tense platforming and life-threatening zombie encounters, gamers must choose to use limited ammunition to decimate the undead or utilize the surroundings to sneak past them and hide. Combat isn’t always the answer, especially against those known as ‘shadows,’ the walking, undead remains of the human race.
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.
“PlayStation”, “PLAYSTATION” and “PS” Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Trademarks are property of their respective owners.
JACKBOX GAMES REVEALS DRAWFUL 2 AND THE JACKBOX PARTY PACK 3
YOU DON’T KNOW JACK®Studio Plans Drawful Sequel for Spring 2016
The Jackbox Party Pack 3 Coming Fall 2016
CHICAGO – March 21, 2016 – Jackbox Games, the independent developer of hilarious party games like Fibbage, Quiplash and YOU DON’T KNOW JACK®, has announced two new titles it plans to release in 2016: Drawful 2 and The Jackbox Party Pack 3.
Drawful 2 is the follow-up to Drawful, the hit game in which players are prompted to draw weird, funny and sometimes borderline impossible things on their smartphones or tablets. The sequel will boast more colors and enhanced streaming tools, including an audience mode for up to 10,000 spectators to play along and influence a game’s outcome, as well as the ability to censor answers and drawings from trolls and other generally terrible human beings.
Drawful 2 is expected to launch in spring 2016 on the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, Xbox One, PC and Mac via Steam, the Mac App Store and Amazon Fire TV.
In addition, the studio that created the ultimate game night bundles of The Jackbox Party Pack and The Jackbox Party Pack 2 surprised absolutely no one by announcing The Jackbox Party Pack 3. This latest collection will feature five new and outrageous party games. Additional details on the titles and features contained within The Jackbox Party Pack 3 will be unveiled throughout the year, but Jackbox Games has stated Drawful 2 will not be included in that bundle.
“How do we keep coming up with these packs of five new hit party games?” asked Jackbox Games CEO Mike Bilder. “I don’t know, I’m just the CEO. My employees do all the work. Love the games they make, though. What are we doing for lunch?”
The Jackbox Party Pack 3 is expected to arrive on the PlayStation®4 system, Xbox One, PC and Mac via Steam, the Mac App Store and Amazon Fire TV in fall 2016.
Jackbox Games, formerly Jellyvision Games, is a developer and publisher of games on major gaming platforms and home entertainment devices. The studio is best known for comedic party games like YOU DON’T KNOW JACK, Fibbage and their recent Kickstarter-funded hit Quiplash. The digital release of The Jackbox Party Pack – a massive collection of five of these party games – was named “Best Local Multiplayer Game of the Year” by Giant Bomb. All of Jackbox’s current-generation games feature the innovative “mobile devices as controllers” concept, allowing anyone with an internet-connected phone, tablet or even laptop to join a game without the need for extra game controllers. Players connect to games on their devices by going to http://jackbox.tv and entering the custom game code displayed via the console, PC or home entertainment system that is actually hosting the game. This unique concept also allows for games that involve secret player input, such as typing in words or drawing on devices. The company is located in Chicago, Illinois.
HYPERX GAMING HEADSETS FIRST TO ACHIEVE DISCORD CERTIFICATION
Fountain Valley, CA – March 21, 2016 – HyperX™, a division of Kingston® Technology Company, Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, today announced its award-winning Cloud II and forthcoming Cloud Revolver headsets are the first audio devices to gain Discord certification. Discord, the fastest rising voice and text chat app for gamers, offers free, secure and low-latency service for multi-player desktop and mobile gaming. With more than 5 million users and over 1 million new people trying it out each month, the company recently raised $20 million (USD) in venture capital through an investment led by Greylock Partners.
Discord works with top audio manufacturers to ensure that gamers have an excellent experience when communicating among friends, teammates and fellow players. HyperX Cloud II and Cloud Revolver headsets are certified by Discord to have clear and crisp voice quality along with excellent sound. No audible echoes, background noises or vocal distortion were detected. To achieve certification, the microphone on the Cloud Revolver and Cloud II headsets were subjected to various tests including an acoustical comparison vs. a reference sound signature from Discord, rigorous gameplay among the top five games and constructive audio feedback from the user community.
“We are excited to work with the best hardware vendors in gaming to certify that their headsets play nicely with Discord,” explained Eros Resmini, CMO, Discord. “HyperX Cloud Revolver and Cloud II went through the gauntlet and passed with sonic bliss.”
“It is an honor to be the first gaming headset manufacturer to achieve Discord certification,” said Annie L. Gerard, global strategic marketing manager, HyperX. “Discord is quickly becoming a major player in the voice and chat gaming market. To get their certification is further validation of our headsets and our commitment to gamers to provide the best quality sound experience.”
HyperX is the high-performance product division of Kingston Technology encompassing high-speed DDR4 and DDR3 memory, SSDs, USB Flash drives, headsets and mouse pads. Targeted at gamers, overclockers and enthusiasts, HyperX is known throughout the world for quality, performance and innovation. HyperX is committed to eSports as it sponsors over 25 teams globally and is the main sponsor of Intel Extreme Masters. HyperX can be found at many shows including Brasil Game Show, China Joy, DreamHack, gamescom and PAX.
About HyperX HyperX® is a division of Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the world’s largest independent memory manufacturer. Established in 2002, HyperX is headquartered in Fountain Valley, California, USA. For more information, please call 800-337-8410 or visit www.hyperxgaming.com.
About Discord Discord is an all-in-one voice and text chat for gamers that is free, secure, and works on both desktop and mobile devices. Built for specifically for gamers, it is a modern tool for everything from small groups of friends to large game and stream communities. Since Discord can even run in the browser, no download is required to quickly connect with friends or scope a new server community. Discord is a young and growing platform, constantly adding new features based on player feedback and our own crazy ideas (see @discordapp). Available now for PC, Mac, iOS, and Android. Linux coming soon. For more information, visit www.discordapp.com
20th celebrations continue as Pokémon enters the record books
UK artist creates epic Pikachu mosaic using 12,987 Pokémon trading cards
London, United Kingdom, 21 March 2016—The Pokémon Company International has partnered with British artist Quentin Devine to create the world’s largest trading card mosaic, consisting of 12,987 individual Pokémon Trading Card Game cards. The massive work of art, measuring 71.54 square metres and hanging at over 10 metres tall and 7 metres wide, was unveiled today in Paris.
The finished mosaic, which secures a new world record, forms the image of beloved Pokémon character Pikachu, using the original iconic pose drawn by GAME FREAK illustrator Ken Sugimori.
Anthony Cornish, Marketing Director for The Pokémon Company International, said: “We are incredibly excited to have secured this highly ambitious world record, and are thrilled to have worked with renowned artist Quentin Devine to bring the mosaic to life.”
Quentin Devine is an artist, animator and designer from Surrey, England. He has previously created a giant mosaic of the Mona Lisa constructed from fan self-portraits, as well as an image of Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain and Northern Ireland using only penny coins. The mosaic of Pikachu is his biggest creation to date.
About Pokémon
The Pokémon Company International, a subsidiary of The Pokémon Company in Japan, manages the property outside of Asia and is responsible for brand management, licensing, marketing, the Pokémon Trading Card Game, the animated TV series, home entertainment, and the official Pokémon website. Pokémon was launched in Japan in 1996 and today is one of the most popular children’s entertainment properties in the world. For more information, visit www.pokemon.co.uk.
Overview The Corpse Party series has been around for quite some time as the very first game was released back in 1996 for the PC. It wasn’t until years later when a PSP remake was released that the horror title made its appearance in the West. With multiple games developed for the series, it was only a matter of time until some form of anime adaptation was created and now Sentai Filmworks has brought that adaptation to North America. Consisting of four OVAs meant to take place during the first game, has Corpse Party: Tortured Souls transitioned into a worthwhile horror anime?
Story After a high school festival, a group of students are telling ghost stories as a sort of, going away party for one of their friends who will be moving away. While the class representative Ayumi is telling a particularly scary story, their teacher arrives and frightens them all. Bringing with her Yuka, Satoshi’s younger sister, she tells the group to wrap things up. Before the group splits up, Ayumi suggest that they perform the “Happy Sachiko” ritual in order to ensure that they all remain friends forever.
While Ayumi informs the group that something may go horribly wrong if the charm isn’t performed correctly, the group performs it anyways and, as one would expect, things almost immediately take a turn for the worse. Everyone who performed the ritual has been transported to a horrific place, one that was mentioned in an earlier ghost story, a place where a brutal and unspeakable series of murders took place, Heavenly Host Elementary school.
Despite all being together when performing the charm, the nine have almost entirely been separated and awake to find themselves in halls of the rundown school. Initially they are blissfully unaware of what is going on, that is until they begin to stumble upon corpses of other students, buckets filled with viscera, skeletons, mysterious locked doors, and gruesome ghosts of children and other apparitions.
Let’s be clear here, Corpse Party: Tortured Souls is a series that is not for the faint of heart by any means. There are many anime that are mentioned when it comes to extremely graphic blood, gore, and violence but very few of them can rank up there with what Corpse Party: Tortured Souls delivers here in these four half hour episodes. Things may start out a bit mild in the first episode outside of the first, still rather horrifically portrayed death, but quickly escalate from there to the point that anyone who may be a bit squeamish should say away, but more on that in a bit.
Those familiar with the Corpse Party series of games will be familiar with the events that unfold throughout the storyline and Corpse Party: Tortured Souls does a decent enough job explaining the events of the school and how things work in Heavenly Host. Between the four children who were brutally butchered in the past, the way that people wind up in this alternate dimension, how the multi-layered dimensions of Heavenly Host work, all of these things are handled decently as the story progresses at a brisk pace, attempting to keep viewers informed and the story moving while serving up horrific violence every few minutes.
That being said, considering the game that this OVA set is adapting was originally an RPG, certain story elements are condensed far too much and many of the elements that helped expand the story, such as various collectibles and details about the characters that the story is following, aren’t really explored that much here. This means that things do end up feeling a bit rushed and even when certain characters do end up dying off, viewers will be left wondering about some of their actions.
One thing that this anime adaptation does handle well is the multi-dimensional aspect of Heavenly Host as the timelines from when we see certain characters and their locations relating to one another are used to provide a sense of dread for viewers as well as confusion for the characters. What one student may see at a point may not even have happened yet from a perspective of another.
Now while Corpse Party: Tortured Souls may handle the overall story fairly well, those who haven’t played the games will find themselves a bit lost due to the way that certain events are cut down in favor of hyper violence and those who have played the games will likely take a bit of issue with how the story is handled. I say this because while this does serve as a great incentive to play the game, this adaptation follows collects a series of bad ends together rather than follow the ending fans of the series may know of. This may dissuade some viewers while encouraging others to see just how events play out in such a form, though those that do check out this series will still find a fairly interesting story and plenty of horrific scenes.
Visuals As I was mentioning earlier, this is a series that is not for the faint of heart and while many horror anime may use atmosphere in order to try and scare viewers, Corpse Party: Tortured Souls takes that to the next level. While things may start out fairly bright and colorful, once the cast finds themselves within the halls of Heavenly Host the background art is extensively detailed, with bloody handprints, viscera and blood spatter everywhere in a wooden school building that is practically falling apart. Using titled camera angles to demonstrate when dimensions are shifted or something terrible is affecting the characters mentally is used to some degree as well to help accentuate the atmosphere.
As far as the characters go, despite mostly wearing school uniforms the cast is designed in a manner that they are all easily recognizable even when they aren’t all in one piece. Now while the PSP game may have made use of off-screen effects at times to try and provide horror, this anime adaptation doesn’t really pull any punches. Viewers will watch characters be brutally murdered in a number of gruesome ways and since the ghosts of the murdered children remain in the forms that they were left in there is even a child ghost with its head sliced off from the mouth level, with all of the details below still present.
Audio This release features the original Japanese voice track only but this is likely for the best as fans in the West have only ever heard these characters in Japanese before and since the voice actors were able to reprise their roles, they are immediately recognizable. The cast does a fantastic job making this title feel as unsettling as possible whenever something horrible happens, screams from the dying and those stuck watching are as upsetting as they can possibly be here, especially since some victims are middle-school and younger.
The atmospheric sound effects provided in this series really do a number on making some scenes really horrific and when accompanied by creepy sounding music made up of piano and orchestral tunes viewers will be in for a rather creepy experience. This OVA set features one opening theme “Hoshikuzu no Ring” by Asami Imai and an ending theme of “Hotaru-bi” by Yumi Hara set to simple credits.
Overall Corpse Party: Tortured Souls may take some liberties with how it comes to an end and rushes a bit too much that causes various details and character developments to be lost in the process, but despite that, this is an OVA that delivers on being one of the most graphic anime that you can watch. With atmospheric horror, numerous unsettling sequences, and sadistic scenes, this is a horror anime through and through and one that may be a bit too much for most people, but for those willing to stomach it, Corpse Party: Tortured Souls delivers. Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
As you may have heard last year, Viz Media has the rights to the Hunter x Hunter 2011 anime series and now this weekend at C2E2 the company announced the main English voice cast for the series. The currently revealed cast consist of the following:
Erica Mendez as Gon Freecss
Erika Harlacher as Kurapika
Cristina Vee as Killua Zoldyck
Matthew Mercer as Leorio
Keith Silverstein as Hisoka
Viz Media did not announce exactly when fans can expect the 148 episode series to begin releasing on home video but they have stated that when it is released it will be available for both Blu-ray and DVD.
Over the weekend at C2E2 Viz Media announced that they have acquired the streaming rights for JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Parts 1, 2, 3, and 4 as well as the Terra Formars Revenge anime. Viz will begin streaming part 4 of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure and Terra Formars Revenge starting on April 1st as the series begin airing in Japan.
It is interesting to note that Viz Media has been publishing both the Terra Formars manga as well as the JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure manga series for the last few years with many volumes already available in English.
To go along with these streaming license announcements the company has also acquired the Yoshitaka Amano Illustrations artbook and The Art of Castle in the Sky and will be releasing both in North America sometime in the future.
DiRT RALLY® MULTIPLAYER VIDEO TAKE TO THE TRACK, TAKE ON THE BEST AND RISE TO THE TOP OF THE DiRT COMMUNITY
SYDNEY, 21ST March 2016 – Codemasters have released the multiplayer trailer for the BAFTA-nominated DiRT Rally® ahead of the game’s release on PlayStation® 4 computer entertainment system and Xbox One on April 8th 2016. The video is available to watch now at https://youtu.be/Euoh9BovlJg
Whether it’s taking part in online events creating or joining leagues, climbing the global leaderboards or taking part in multiplayer FIA World Rallycross racing, competition lies at the heart of DiRT Rally experience.
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, meanwhile, 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 their 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 customisable and there is no 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 and Xbox One on April 8th 2016.
Overview Those that have delved into the history of anime in the West are likely extremely familiar with Vampire Hunter D and the reason for that is because it helped establish the format in the West when the film was released all the way back in the late ‘80s. At the time Vampire Hunter D was released only in English dub format and although it’s gothic nature didn’t really represent anime at the time, it was one of the first anime films to be widely released outside of Japan. Now with Sentai Filmworks bringing this cult classic film to Blu-ray, does the movie live up to its history?
Story In the far off future, mankind has nearly collapsed and although they still possess some elements of advanced technology are at the mercy of vampires and other ghastly creatures that now rule the world. Called Nobles, the strongest of the vampires have lived for thousands of years and Count Magnus Lee is one of the oldest. For over ten thousand years he has survived and after a fairly long absence, he has returned to rid himself of boredom by claiming a new human bride.
The seventeen year old Doris becomes his target after stumbling into him one night and although she is capable of handling herself, especially since she is the daughter of a werewolf hunter, now that Count Lee has set his sights on her there is little she can do against his powers. Already bitten by Lee and left to fall under his powers, Doris’ only wish is to keep her brother safe and taken care of. Thankfully for her, a mysterious vampire hunter known only as D has arrived at their town and listens to her pleas to put a stop to Count Lee and his minions.
Vampire Hunter D feels like the style of movie one would watch if they wanted a classic “spaghetti western” that substituted gangs and guns with creatures, swords, and magic. Similar to your standard Western film, D, the “mysterious stranger,” arrives in the town with very little description and is hired by a young woman in immediate danger to take on the biggest threat in the area and subsequently faces off against everything in his path until it comes down to face off against the boss.
Being a dhampier, or a half-human half-vampire, viewers learn very little about D throughout the time in the film other than that he is the man to turn to when it comes to eliminating vampires. Through clever tricks, incredibly powerful weaponry, and a special left hand, D is built as a dominant man of few words and many secrets, including that he may be far stronger than anyone knows.
The fact that D is treated basically as a weapon here isn’t too much of an issue but there are some problems with the way that the plot is handled throughout this film. There are many instances that the story feels as if certain scenes were cut in an effort to trim the time down as much as possible while also providing very little information as to why certain betrayals end up taking place. Instead, the focus is set on providing a solid gothic styled film with plenty of violence as D slays his way through all manners of supernatural beings until the threat is put down.
Visuals With Vampire Hunter D being produced in 1985 it is rather surprising how impressive the film looks now that it has been transferred onto Blu-ray. While the film was previously released on DVD nearly sixteen years ago and was a decent improvement over the original VHS, the transition to Blu-ray has helped improve the color saturation and clean up the visuals more than before. Thankfully the company has avoided cropping by keeping the original 4:3 aspect ratio in an effort to present the film as it was originally intended.
As for the actual film, Vampire Hunter D is laden with Gothic style imagery and designs. D’s wardrobe is exceptional in this regard and the character designs help provide a sense of beauty while the creatures that rise up against D are as nasty as they come. The various combat sequences are handled fairly well with enough graphic content to satisfy fans of old school violence. Though this film benefits from a higher budget than your average series at the time, there are still plenty of noticeable shortcuts taken with animation and a number of rough looking sequences throughout the hour and a twenty minute long movie. On top of that, it doesn’t help that where there could have been extra effort into developing certain elements, the film spends using excessively long pans of certain scenes.
Audio
For those who have seen this film in English before there will be something of an adjustment period needed when watching Sentai Filmworks’ release of Vampire Hunter D as they have opted no to re-use the Streamline Pictures English dub and have provided a completely new English dub of the film. This choice is actually rather impressive as the new cast handles their lines well, though mixing the gothic feel with a few of the accents used is a bit strange, and for those who want the original Japanese that option is also available.
The soundtrack for Vampire Hunter D is oddly a bit ineffective due to limitations from when the film was created. With minimal usage throughout the film the themes that are used generally don’t work very well for the sequences they are matched with. Thankfully the atmospheric sounds and other sound effects help convey the nature of the world much better than the soundtrack does.
Extras Although Sentai Filmworks has provided a great upgrade here in the form of this Blu-ray release the bonus features are incredibly simple as the only offerings are the Japanese trailer for the movie and trailers for other products from the company.
Overall Vampire Hunter D remains a solid cult classic that served as many Western fans’ first darker anime experiences. That being said, despite being a nostalgic film for many this is also a movie that has a number of issues when it comes to telling a decent enough story. Watching D as he eliminates his foes in the best looking format possible does make Vampire Hunter D a worthwhile pick-up for those looking for a film such as this but be prepared for a number of flaws that you may never have noticed while looking back. Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
