DOWNLOAD DUNGEON OF THE ENDLESS ON iPAD FOR FREE THIS WEEK ON THE APP STORE
Get in on the Fun for Free March 7-14!
Paris, France – March 7, 2016 – Award-winning indie developer Amplitude Studios announced today that Dungeon of the Endless will be free to download starting today through next Monday, March 14, for iPad® on the App®Store. Featuring a smart interface with quick, one-touch controls, a well-balanced blend of do-or-die gameplay, dungeon-defense strategy, and RPG elements, Dungeon of the Endless is a must download game. Defend your dungeon for free now!
Originally distributed on Steam PC in October 2014, and nominated at the D.I.C.E. Awards for Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year and Outstanding Achievement in Game Deign, DotE on iPad offers a unique rogue-like experience with a retro 2D look, colorful animations, and eye-catching visual effects. Mobile iPad gamers will get all of the latest updates including bring the original PC version and the “Deep-Freeze” and “Bookworm” add-ons for the full DotE experience.
Players will have the chance to build and equip their own team, gather resources and construct defenses, all while exploring an infinite number of randomly generated dungeons and fighting bizarre alien monsters, in an effort to reach the planet’s surface. The hybrid styles of rogue-like, tower-defense, and RPG elements are built around a strategic core giving DotE a gameplay experience like none other.
Known for its deep, engaging, and gorgeous 4X strategy games, Amplitude Studios won the venerable 2013 Golden Cube and Community Choice Unity Awards for Endless Space. For more on Dungeon of the Endless, visit Amplitude Studios on its Website (www.amplitude-studios.com), like it on Facebook, and follow it on Twitter.
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ABOUT AMPLITUDE STUDIOS Amplitude is an independent team of experienced video game lovers (and developers) with a single goal: Create the best strategy games with the players’ help! Based in Paris, the studio boasts an international team that has worked all over the world on major AAA titles. Since Amplitude’s creation in 2011, the studio has released Endless Space, Dungeon of the Endless and Endless Legend, all critically acclaimed. A pioneer in its working method, while developing its first game Amplitude launched an open crowdsourced development process called “GAMES2GETHER.” This platform enables the community to participate in the creation of a video game from the early stages of development. Today, this methodology enables the studio to fulfill the expectations of its players while earning international recognition for the quality of its productions. Read more at www.amplitude-studios.com.
Free Range Games Releases Labyrinth Into Early Access
Genre-Defining Game Now Available on Steam
SAUSALITO, Calif. – March 7, 2016 – Strategy fans now have a new type of game to challenge themselves with as Labyrinth, from independent video game studio Free Range Games, releases through Steam Early Access for $9.99. Combining the playing experience of a tactical role-playing game (RPG) with the deck building of a collectible card game (CCG), Labyrinth features an immersive 3-D universe where players battle one another, via customized dungeon decks, using strategic attacks, defenses and positioning. Players interested in jumping into Early Access can download and navigate the Labyrinth at bit.ly/1QwNwLy.
Created in partnership with Skybound Entertainment, the multimedia company founded by The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman and his longtime business partner David Alpert, Labyrinth enables players to take on the role of both Adventurer and Dungeon Master. While playing gamers must assemble Hero decks to attack dungeons in Player vs. Player (PVP) raids for loot, and also customize dungeon decks with Boss, Monster and Trap cards to guard their own treasure. During battle players will use RPG tactics to attack, defend and heal their characters, which is all seen visually in gorgeous 3-D universe. Thanks to asynchronous combat, players are able to calculate their attacks and defenses during multiplayer battles without any time constraints.
“Labyrinth is the start to an exciting new genre that melds a perfect union between tactical-RPGs and CCGs,” said Chris Scholz, CEO at Free Range Games. “With tactical-decision making, deck building and RPG elements, Labyrinth has something for players who love the challenge of strategy games. At the same time, the game’s easy-to-read cards and unique cool-down system make it accessible for those new these types of games.”
Labyrinth is set in a vast and wondrous cosmos with the world of Hylea at its center. The core set starts in a city called Starfall. Once a peaceful and thriving market city, Starfall has spun into turmoil due to the breakdown of age-old pacts and alliances. The earliest settlers have consolidated their power and look to push out rivals while newcomers to the city seek to carve out territory for themselves. As night falls, every player must battle for survival in the ancient city’s tunnels, alleys and halls.
“Skybound is all about embracing creators with an authentic voice willing to tackle the risk of surprise,” said Daniel Murray, President at Skybound Interactive. “Launching Labryinth on Early Access with Free Range Games is just the beginning. We can’t wait for players to join our long journey ahead.”
For more information regarding Labyrinth please visit the game’s website, or Free Range’s Facebook and Twitter pages.
About Free Range Games
Free Range Games was established in 2009 to explore new ways of making and distributing quality games. The company’s goal is to develop games out in the open, with the community, and evolve them organically. The studio employs 25 passionate and talented game makers who have worked together for the better part of a decade. Based in Sausalito, Calif., Free Range Games has launched more than 15 games since its inception, including Free Fall Tournament, a popular free-to-play, sci-fi third person shooter that is played by millions of fans all over the world. About Skybound Entertainment
Founded in 2010, Los Angeles-based Skybound Entertainment is a multiplatform entertainment company specializing in television, film, digital content, interactive, gaming, and merchandise. The company is led by The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman and his longtime producing and business partner David Alpert.
What’s better than one Indie Gala Every Monday Bundle? Two! There’s still a week left on our anniversary bundle and we are introducing another bundle today! This week’s bundle has seven great indie games for only $1.99 in the first 24 hours of the sale.
Moonlight – A pixelated adventure about Kinubo and his adventure to the moon.
Venusian Vengeance – A retro arcade shooter starring Sgt. John Dagger, a one man army on a mission to invade a secret Soviet base on Venus.
Big Journey to Home – Not all epic adventures start with a hero chosen to save the world. Sometimes it’s about an average guy in the wrong place at the right time.
EvilQuest – If being the good guy is getting boring, try evil for a change. Galvis is a dark knight looking for vengeance, power, and lots of violence.
Absence – After waking up in an office bathroom, you find the building deserted and your memories gone.
Super Helmets on Fire DX – A sid scrolling action platformer with a dash of RPG and runner gameplay.
Supreme: Pizza Empire – Make your pizza franchise famous while you deal with angry employees, corrupt government officials, mobsters, and more.
For the first 24 hours, the whole bundle is $1.99, so be sure to grab your copy at Indie Gala before the price rises.
Boss Key Productions Co-Founder Cliff BleszinskiJoins Military Charity Stack-Up.Org Advisory Board
Pittsburgh, PA – March 4th, 2016- Military gaming charity Stack-Up.org, supporting veterans with the power of video gaming, today announced Cliff Bleszinski, the lead designer of Gears of War and founder of Boss Key Productions, has joined its advisory board to support Stack-Up’s mission to support veterans all over the world through a shared passion for video games.
“We are excited to welcome Cliff to the team,” stated Stack-Up founder Stephen Machuga. “Cliff and I have been talking about working together to help veterans for years, but the timing just never seemed to work out. Between Cliff’s starting Boss Key and my starting Stack-Up, the timing couldn’t be better!”
Cliff has been in the videogame industry for well over 20 years (minus the time he took off to wander the Earth, like Kane in Kung Fu). During that time, he’s been a key creative visionary on numerous projects, from Jazz Jackrabbit to the Unreal and Gears of War series. In 2014, Cliff reunited with the co-creator of Jazz Jackrabbit, longtime friend Arjan Brussee, and the two of them founded Boss Key Productions to create the studio’s first title, LawBreakers, a futuristic, skill & team-based first-person shooter.
“Those who will join our military ranks and defend our nation work incredibly hard at what they do and, when not in stressful situations or combat, often find that they have downtime in which they need to unwind and relax and bond. Few things can help facilitate that more than video games, and when asked to be on the Stack-Up advisory board I jumped at the chance to help out those who keep us free and safe.”
Also currently sitting on the Stack-Up advisory board are Oculus founder Palmer Luckey and DayZ mod creator Dean Hall.
Stack-Up.org is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization supporting US, NATO and ANZAC veterans with video gaming, whether sending supply crates full of video games to combat zones or military hospitals, sponsoring deserving veterans to attend VIP gaming events or studio tours, or working through groups of volunteers stationed worldwide to help veterans at a local level.
The teen coming-of-age films are a particularly popular sub-genre of 80s cinema with the works of John Hughes being particularly strong examples. Everyone is familiar with the stereotypical depictions of high school cliques of jocks, nerds, and the various other denizens of the American high school food chain. The drama is generally quite restrained as it deals with the personal issues of adolescents… but with the addition of puberty hormones; all the stakes get raised much higher for our (often misunderstood) protagonists. It’s not a genre which particularly appeals to me, but I’m always willing to give second chances so I slunk on down to George St cinemas for the In the House screening of John Hughes’ The Breakfast Club.
The MCs, Jason ‘Jabba’ Davis and David ‘Quinny’ Quinn, warmed up the crowd in the proper In the House style… that’s right; a super tense game of scissors, paper, rock with the winner walking away with a jetboating prize. Jabba and Quinny then sat down to talk some discussion of the movie we were about to watch. One notable tidbit was that the film was shot in sequence, which is unusual for most productions but I believe may have helped with the younger cast’s performances.
Story
The film’s plot focuses upon the interactions between five highschool students completing detention on a Saturday. We’re first introduced to each of them by how they interact with their parents (who range from doting on to ignoring their young charges) and by how the supervising teacher classifies them. Each of them resembles a stereotype including your stock standard jock, nerd, and rebel type. Through the machinations of the rebellious John Bender (Judd Nelson), the group are able to distract the authoritarian assistant principal (Paul Gleason) and gain some privacy with which to connect with one another. At first their attitudes towards one another are incredibly antagonistic but they slowly realise that despite their social differences, they have more in common with one another than they had originally believed.
The script is pretty damn good overall and you can see how it connects with so many people with the issues that it touches. This film sets up that these teens come from their own cliques within the high school and that they themselves don’t see much commonality between their experiences of life. As the story progresses, they open up to each other and discuss the mutual difficulties they have in fitting in, dealing with their parents, and the expectations of both friends and family. It’s easy to see why this film is appealing as it teaches that people are more than the perceptions we have of them.
Each of the actors playing the teens put out a strong performance. I especially found Ally Sheedy as Allison (the weirdo) to be particularly strong. She plays this character with a significant amount of neurotic twitches and sounds but also adds a certain charm to her as well which I quite liked. Emilio Estevez does a similarly good turn as Andrew (the jock) who plays their character with a lot more introspective depth than I thought I would see. Molly Ringwald as Claire (the prom queen) gave a solid performance but I feel she could have given more if the script had called for it.
Nelson conveys a very energetic performance as Bender (the rebel). The character is someone who presents a rough and tumble projection to the world but who is ultimately still a teenager trying to find their way in the world even as he beats his chest. Although the story does give Bender some moments of redemption throughout the film, I could not look past his tough exterior as I didn’t really find there to be much that was charming with Nelson’s portrayal of the character. I will grant that Nelson gives the character the bile and aggression he needed to play a (dis)respectable bad boy…
As I’ve said before, this movie was made in the 80s and it shows in the dialogue and the way the writer approaches a number of serious issues. One of these instances is when one of the characters reveals that they had received detention for bringing a gun to school. In the film’s context, that’s still a fairly shocking reveal but in today’s world of school mass shootings post-Columbine; it takes on a much more sinister tone than I feel was originally intended. Another instance which is problematic occurs in the first half hour of the film where John makes a rape joke towards Claire. This certainly made the point of characterising John as a bit of a douchebag and actually kind of ruined any charm he might have otherwise had for me. These aspects are a product of their time, and if you’re someone who can look past it then power to you… but I feel that you should be made aware all the same that these present.
Visuals
The direction within the film is largely uninteresting in terms of its visual style and editing (which is certainly not a bad thing). Except for a number of sequences where the action is faster and the camerawork takes a similar pace, most of the shots are largely static. This largely brings the focus to the script and the performances of the actors, which is where the strength of this movie lies. An interesting aspect I noticed in the movie is the focus on close up and mid-shots in the first act and more group shots as the film progresses to signify the characters getting closer to each other. It’s a neat little visual representation of the story progression in the film.
The costumes are all perfectly suited to reflecting the characters of each of the teen characters. Andrew’s letterman jacket, Claire’s blouse and skirt, Brian high-waisted pants, Allison’s dark long sweater and jacket all help to reinforce the overall image we’re meant to have of each of these characters (at first). Bender is pretty much the epitome of delinquent cool with trenchcoat, fingerless fishnet gloves, and boots. A character’s costume is generally meant to be an extension of their persona, and this film turns this up to eleven with how each character looks.
Audio
Most of the music follows the film’s action in a solid way but doesn’t leave much of an impression. The film’s soundtrack is largely forgettable save for Don’t You (Forget About Me) by Simple Minds. Don’t You (Forget About Me) is the high mark which sticks with you long after the credits have rolled. As well as being an awesome example of soft/symphonic rock, it matches the tone and theme of the film so well that I was surprised it wasn’t written for the film (trust me, I checked).
Overall
Overall, despite my misgivings with the coming-of-age genre, I enjoyed watching this film. The story, although problematic in parts, ultimately aims for and (largely) succeeds in showing its audience that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. The costume design for each of the teen characters is great and the direction is solid. The soundtrack is forgettable but is carried by one REALLY good addition. It’s easy to see now how this movie gained its cult status and I would definitely recommend seeing it (with some caveats) to anyone who might be interested.
For other films which In The House is screening, feel free to check out their schedule here.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
EL Gaming Are The Asian Champions Of WGL APAC Season II 2015-2016
EL Gaming takes home $60,000USD and the trophy
March 07, 2016 — Wargaming proudly presents EL Gaming as champions of the Wargaming.net League’s (“WGL”) APAC Season II Finals 2015-2016, that spanned the weekend of March 05 and 06 at the Yongsan eSports Stadium in Seoul, Korea. They took on runners-up RefornGaming with a score of 7:4 and went home with $60,000USD from the $104,000USD prize pool.
The top two performing teams from the whole WGL APAC Season II, EL Gaming and GoldBass, currently have the highest rating points and will prepare to head to the WGL Grand Finals 2016.
“The finals of this WGL APAC Season II have let us bear witness to hotly contested battles this weekend in Seoul! The inspiring gameplay displayed by every team really is a testament to the prowess of players in the game of World of Tanks. Congratulations toEL Gaming on achieving supremacy on the battlefield and taking the championship title! There’s so much potential for the future of World of Tanks and Wargaming in eSports and we cannot wait to push forward with even more of such intense displays of gaming might for our fans.” said Deon Pek, Head of Customer Relations, Asia, Wargaming.
The season finals saw over 300 viewers at the live event, and close to 34,820 viewers watching the final matches on the livestream channels hosted by Twitch.tv and NicoNico.
To learn more about the Wargaming.net League APAC, please visit:
The Wargaming.net League is Wargaming’s professional eSports league established in 2013. It showcases the company’s products in an eSports capacity; runs all-year-round world-class events giving professional and aspiring gamers a platform to compete and excel, and provides its ever-growing, global audience with instant access to premier competitive gaming content.
The League promotes eSports through large scale events and premium content fostering its popularity among gamers and spectators. Massive prize pools and world-class competitive gaming tournaments with live broadcasts to millions of viewers along with the League’s accessibility attract new teams and contribute to the growth of the audience with the ultimate goal of turning it into a professional sport.
Having grown from a player-encouraged initiative into a global organization, the League puts its community first and evolves based on needs of pro-gamers and viewers. Format and rule sets for matches are continually improved in close cooperation with professional players.
The Wargaming.net League infrastructure gives aspiring players a clear ladder of progression for them to transition to the pro scene. Split into three divisions—Gold, Silver, and Bronze leagues—it allows for skilled players to tap into the world of pro-gaming and provides them with a clear path onward to the top echelon.
AboutWargaming
Wargaming is an award-winning online game developer and publisher and one of the leaders in the free-to-play MMO market. Founded as a privately held company in 1998, Wargaming has shipped more than 15 titles. Currently, Wargaming is focused on its team-based MMO war series dedicated to the mid-20th century warfare that include the armored World of Tanks, the flight combat World of Warplanes, and the naval World of Warships. The three intertwined titles form a common gaming universe integrated within the portal www.wargaming.net.
As part of its multiplatform line-up, the company has introduced World of Tanks on Xbox and World of Tanks Blitz on mobiles, tablets and Windows 10 PCs. Launched in 2014 and 2015, World of Tanks on Xbox introduced epic tank-on-tank battles to console gamers and offers the first cross-platform gaming experience between Xbox 360 and Xbox One. In 2016, Wargaming released World of Tanks for Sony’s PlayStation®4, continuing its console campaign.
A new trailer for the new Ghostbusters movies was released by Sony a couple of days ago. Starring Melissa McCarthy (Spy), Kristen Wiig (Zoolander 2), Kate McKinnon (Saturday Night Live), and Leslie Jones (Top Five) as the eponymous Ghostbusters. The trailer introduces each of their characters and the role they’ll serve in the new team. Alongside this, we get tidbits of the various complications that will occur throughout the film including an antagonist who is attracting ghosts to New York city.
The original film, released in 1984, starred Dan Akroyd, Billy Murray, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Remis, and Rick Moranis as supernatural pest control. It is considered a classic of 80s comedy and is much beloved. The new film, coming out this year, features an all new cast with exclusively female ghostbusters.
The trailer so far has been polarising… in fact, the dislike bar is significantly larger than the like bar on the video itself on youtube. There are some who decry the fact that there are so many women protagonists (if you’re one of them; promptly sod off), others are disgruntled that the one character played by a person of colour is not a scientist like the rest of the team (which is a fair criticism judging from what little we’ve seen), and some which just didn’t like the editing (hell, someone already re-cut it).
I, for one, am interested in seeing what the movie brings to the franchise. As a fan of the original film, I wish to see what fresh talent (and more powerful CGI) can bring to the popular formula. Tell us what you think of the trailer (and any cool re-cuts you find online) in the comments below.
I look forward to seeing it later this year, when it is released on the 15th of July.
Lamborghini Centenario is cover car for next Forza game on Xbox.
The Lamborghini Centenario will feature on the front cover and within the next Forza racing game on Xbox. Lamborghini and Microsoft’s Turn 10 Studios announced their latest collaboration at Geneva Motor Show in March 2016, with the new Xbox game to be revealed at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in June 2016. The Centenario will be available “First in Forza,” giving millions of fans around the world the exclusive opportunity to experience the virtual version of the car on Xbox before its road debut.
Thus, players will be the first to enjoy the aspects of the car celebrating the 100 year anniversary of founder Ferruccio Lamborghini’s birth, starting from the naturally aspirated V12 Centenario which produces 770 hp and powers from 0- 100 km/h in 2.8 seconds ( 0-300 km/h in 23.5 seconds) with a top speed of more than 350 km/h. Lamborghini will produce only 20 coupes and 20 roasdster versions of the car, which are all sold, at a start price of €1.75 million euro plus tax.
“Working with Microsoft and Turn 10 Studios allows a global audience the chance to share in the emotion of driving the Centenario, the most powerful Lamborghini produced to date,” said Mr. Reggiani, board member for research and development of Automobili Lamborghini.
“We’re excited to continue our long history of working with Lamborghini and to be part of their 100-year anniversary by celebrating the Centenario as the featured cover car of the next Forza game,” said Phil Spencer, Head of Xbox.
Lamborghini’s legendary cars are among the most popular in Forza’s stable with more than five million players spending nearly 60 million hours racing in Lamborghinis. The Lamborghini Centenario will join another 14 Lamborghini models featured in the award-winning Forza franchise on the Xbox One.
Every Lamborghini is showcased in ForzavistaTM detail, meaning that each features working doors and headlights as well as fully drivable cockpits. Forza remains the best-selling racing franchise of the current video game console generation, and more than 10 million unique fans have played Forza games on Xbox One, making it the most played racing franchise on Xbox One.
About Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A.
Founded in 1963, Automobili Lamborghini is headquartered in Sant’Agata Bolognese, in North Italy. The Lamborghini Huracán LP 610-4, which made its world debut at the Geneva International Motor Show in 2014, the Huracán Spyder and the rear-wheel-drive version LP 580-2 of 2015 are the successors to the iconic Gallardo, and with their innovative technology and exceptional performance, they redefine the driving experience of luxury super sports cars. The Coupé and Roadster versions of the Aventador LP 700- 4, along with the Aventador LP 750-4 Superveloce represent a new benchmark in the world of V12 luxury super sports cars. With 135 dealerships throughout the world, in half a century Automobili Lamborghini has created a continuous series of dream cars, including the 350 GT, Miura, Espada, Countach, Diablo, Murciélago, as well as limited editions including the Reventón, Sesto Elemento and Aventador J. The Veneno Coupé, Egoista and Veneno Roadster were produced to celebrate the company’s 50th anniversary in 2013.
For other photos and video material, please visit our websites: media.lamborghini.com and www.thenewsmarket.com/lamborghini. For more information on Automobili Lamborghini, please visit the website at: www.lamborghini.com.
More information on the Forza franchise and Lamborghini Centenario can be found at news.xbox.com and media.lamborghini.com, respectively. Media assets for Forza can be found at news.xbox.com/media and forzamotorsport.net.
About “Forza Motorsport”
Welcoming racing gamers of all types, Forza Motorsport games combine unprecedented visuals with the industry’s leading simulation engine, giving everyone the opportunity to truly feel what it’s like to own, race and customize the cars of their dreams.
Forza Motorsport is developed by Microsoft’s award-winning game developer Turn 10 Studios. “Forza Motorsport 6” and “Forza Horizon 2” are available now for Xbox One.
More information about the Forza Motorsport franchise is available at forzamotorsport.net.
About Xbox
Xbox is Microsoft’s premier gaming and entertainment brand created by gamers for gamers on Xbox One, Xbox 360 and Windows 10 devices. Xbox delivers the best games and greatest social gaming network with Xbox Live. More information about Xbox can be found online at news.xbox.com.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
The information contained in this fact sheet relates to a pre-release product that may be substantially modified before its first commercial release. Accordingly, the information may not accurately describe or reflect the product when first commercially released. This fact sheet is provided for informational purposes only, and Microsoft Corp. makes no warranties, express or implied, with respect to the fact sheet or the information contained in it.
The AC1 Sentinel will soon be unveiled to the public
March 7, 2016 — Wargaming is proud to announce that it has transported the Australian Cruiser tank Mark 1 (AC1) from Texas, USA, to the Australian Armor & Artillery Museum in Cairns. Acquired from the private collection of the late Jacques Littlefield, a well-known tank enthusiast and founder of the Military Vehicle Technology Foundation, the Sentinel is now waiting to undergo minor renovations and will soon make its public debut back in its homeland.
The Australian Cruiser tank Mark 1 (AC1), also known as the “Sentinel”, was the only tank to be designed and mass-produced in Australia during World War II. Just seven Australian Cruiser tanks remain in the world, making it a rarity amongst historic military vehicles. World of Tanks (PC) and World of Tanks Blitz players will be able to get their hands on this vehicle in the near future.
“Wargaming is passionate about history,” said Tracy Spaight, Director of Special Projects at Wargaming. “We work with museums and nonprofits around the world to make sure that the vehicles of World War II are preserved for future generations. We are thus excited to bring the Sentinel tank back to Australia, where she was built, so that Australians can rediscover this piece of their country’s WWII heritage.”
Wargaming is committed to bringing history to life, having been involved in such projects as the Dornier Do 17 salvation and the Alaskan-Siberian Air Route commemorative re-creation. In 2015, Wargaming released its tank battle re-enactment video in 360-degree format, putting the viewer right in the middle of a 1941 tank battle with tanks, infantry, artillery and even warplanes.
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About Wargaming
Wargaming is an award-winning online game developer and publisher and one of the leaders in the free-to-play MMO market. Founded as a privately held company in 1998, Wargaming has shipped more than 15 titles. Currently, Wargaming is focused on its team-based MMO war series dedicated to the mid-20th century warfare that include the armored World of Tanks, the flight combat World of Warplanes, and the naval World of Warships. The three intertwined titles form a common gaming universe integrated within the portal www.wargaming.net.
As part of its multiplatform line-up, the company has introduced World of Tanks on Xbox and World of Tanks Blitz on mobiles, tablets and Windows 10 PCs. Launched in 2014 and 2015, World of Tanks on Xbox introduced epic tank-on-tank battles to console gamers and offers the first cross-platform gaming experience between Xbox 360 and Xbox One. In 2016, Wargaming released World of Tanks for Sony’s PlayStation®4, continuing its console campaign.
Overview Few would have thought that back when NIS America licensed the first season of an idol anime that that series would have blown up to such a size that it has three years later. Although the Love Live! scene had been growing outside of anime since 2010, this was a fairly big risk at the time primarily due to barely any idol-oriented anime being released in the West.
Since then not only has Love Live! turned out to be quite the success, spawning a second season, a movie, and even a continuation with a new group, but NIS America has chosen to re-release the first season featuring an English dub for those who may have missed out on the original set. With this new English dub, has anything been lost in translation or does it shine a fresh light on the series?
Story For those who haven’t seen the series before the story begins with Honoka Kosaka, a girl in her second year of high school but it seems that her new year won’t be all sunshine and roses. At the start of the year, Otonokizaka Academy students are informed that the school will be closing down due to the low number of students and the lack of applicants. Although this initially causes Honoka to panic, she relaxes slightly when she hears that the school will be shut down only after the entire attending class graduates, allowing her to not have to worry about taking other entrance exams.
She soon realizes however that this means that the freshmen will be left with no underclassman and that the legacy of her mother’s time at the school will be lost. Vowing to do anything to save the school from being shut down, she learns from her younger sister that many of the most popular schools in Japan have small groups of students that have become school idols that hold performances and act similar to professional idols.
With the help of her best friends Umi and Kotori, Honoka puts into motion her plans to start a school idol group and try to save the school by becoming popular and increasing the amount of student applications. Unfortunately this task isn’t as easy as it sounds. Not only are these three amateurs unfamiliar with the idol scene, only one of them has been taking part in physical activities and none of them have experience writing lyrics or singing.
To make matters worse, the student council rejects their idea of creating an idol group as a way to save the school, refusing to give them any assistance. With the help of some fellow classmates, Honoko, Umi, and Kotori still continue to practice in an effort to save the school with their now named idol group μ’s. With a song, dance choreography, new costumes, and renewed vigor, these three face utter disappointment with their first performance.
Despite this, the optimistic trio continues to work towards their dream of saving the school while gaining new members in what turns out to be a light-hearted series filled with touching moments, great comedy, a varied cast of characters that mesh together to create a lovable, albeit underdeveloped cast, and a somewhat realistic approach to the trials of becoming an idol.
While many idol series tend to focus on an already established group or simply gloss over the amount of effort the girls need to put in and possibility of failure, most of the emotional moments within Love Live! happen because of these failures. When the original three debut only to fail right out of the gate we see just how determined they are to keep going, even if it means that they might never succeed. That being said, there is some forced drama near the end of the series to cause a disruption in the group but this is so easily resolved, albeit across a span of two episodes, that it doesn’t detract much from the experience. Thanks to that Love Live! School Idol Project’s first season is a series that will make you smile more often than not and a lot of the enjoyment comes from the characters.
It is a bit disappointing however that, at times, a few girls join as a group and it feels like a few characters end up getting sidelined because of this. While we see Umi, Eli, and even Hanayo develop over time as they overcome some of their fears and take a step towards completing their goal, we learn only a little bit about a few of the other girls. Both Rin and Nozomi are included in a group that joins all at once and although they are given enough screen time to establish themselves, we learn very little about them other than the fact that Rin is the enthusiastic athletic one and that Nozomi uses tarot cards to predict things and punish the other girls for misbehaving, making her appear to be the most responsible member of the group.
That being said, although many of the nine girls that form μ’s are simply variations of character types, these girls happen to be so likable and their interactions with one another so fun that it doesn’t become an issue even if they happen to be underdeveloped. With as much charm that flows out of Love Live!, the optimistic nature of Honoka, and some amazing character-based humor mixed in with plenty of well-handled musical numbers, it is easy to see why Love Live! has managed to succeed as well as it has.
Visuals There are two separate aspects of Love Live!’s design and that is standard animation as well as 3D models. This split only appears during the colorful and vibrant performances. These are a real treat for the eyes that place every girl in a new outfit, often varied for each girl. The transition between the two styles is noticeable but not too much is lost in this shift. It is worth noting that the 3D animation can be a bit stilted at times but it does little to bring down the overall quality present throughout the dances when it shifts between close-up standard animation and group-model animation.
As for the basics, the characters are amazing and the humor can be golden, a large amount of this success is thanks to the amount of effort put into designing these girls. Each girl has her own unique look and style, which is essential for a series that focuses heavily on performances and features as many costume changes that appear throughout Love Live! From their school uniforms to their exercise gear and eventually to all of the outfits they wear throughout performances, each girl is charming. As for the humor, a decent amount of the humor comes from character expressions and once again, since each girl has her own personality, they tend to react differently to each situation.
Audio The main difference between this release and the original from NIS America is that this time around the company has provided an English dub for Love Live! School Idol Project’s first season. For those who simply want the original experience at a cheaper price they will be happy to hear that this release does still contain the original Japanese voice track as well. The English voice actors that NIS America have cast do handle the characters well enough and they have chosen wisely by transitioning the English voice work into the original Japanese dub when it comes to the singing. Character nick-names remain unchanged in the English voice work though it is worth noting that a few characters’ verbal tics and smaller tendencies are thinned out which may be disappointing for fans of Rin and Eli specifically.
As for the quality of the songs used for the performances and all of the background music throughout the first season, they are simply superb. While the background music tends to be a little bit forgettable at times, there are numerous times that the beats for μ’s songs are used which is a nice touch. The songs used in these performances are varied and will be a real treat to anyone who is a fan of J-Pop music. As for the opening theme, “Bokura wa Ima no Kanu de” is a suitable, albeit somewhat spoiler filled opening performed by μ’s while the ending theme is “Kitto Seishun ga Kikoeru and while it is generally performed by all of μ’s, a few episodes feature a specific character taking the lead vocals.
Extras The other main difference found in NIS America’s English dub release of the first season of Love Live! School Idol Project is the fact that it is only available as a standard edition. This means that the only real bonuses offered in this release come in the form of on-disc extras that include a clean version of the opening and ending themes, original trailers, and original TV spots from Japan.
Overall Love Live! School Idol Project may have been a risk at first but there is a reason that the series and the characters reached such a level of popularity and this first season is a great example of that. While there might be a few problems with character development throughout this first season it is overshadowed by the fact that this is such a fun and charming series that you cannot help but smile as you watch it.
With a fresh English dub that manages to portray the characters well without thinning out too much of their original personalities, these endearing characters that mesh well together to create a great source of humor and colorful artwork and performances top off an idol series that is very accessible to those willing to give it a chance, especially now that newcomers can check it out in English. Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
