Yesterday XSEED Games released the first in a series of videos introducing the schools of girls that will be playable when Senran Kagura: Estival Versus by introducing the original cast, the girls of Hanzo Academy. Now they are speeding things up a bit by releasing two videos that focus on a few of the more recent additions.
Both videos can be found below with the first one introducing the girls of Gessen Girls’ Academy: Yumi, Murakumo, Yozakura, Shiki, and Minori. The second one happens to introduce the new girls who took over of Hebijo Girls’ Academy who took over after Homura and her group left. This means Miyabi, Murasaki, Imu, Ryoubi, and Ryouna are introduced.
Nozomi Entertainment has just announced via press release that they will be releasing an Anime Elements DVD collection of El-Hazard: The Wanderers on June 7, 2016. The set has a suggested retail price of $29.99 USD.
The 26-episode series was animated by AIC (Strike Witches). The music was composed by Seikou Nagaoka (Chaika – The Coffin Princess and Tenchi Muyo). The DVD collection will present all episodes with the original Japanese audio with English subtitles and the English dub produced by ZRO Limit Productions (Trigun, Fushigi Yugi and Code Geass). The on-disc extras will include: a line art gallery, a full colour art gallery, the textless opening and ending animations and the animated comics. Right Stuf provided a synopsis of the series:
Makoto always upstages Jinnai without trying, which just aggravates the delusional rivalry that Jinnai has concocted within his own mind. However, when Jinnai attempts to sabotage Makoto’s newest invention, the machine creates a dimensional rift and throws Makoto, Jinnai, and several others from their school into a strange, new world that is filled with amazing creatures, beautiful sights, and dangerous enemies. If they ever want to get home, it’s going to take wits, courage, and a lot of luck in El-Hazard: The Wanderers!
Right Stuf’s trailer for the series is embedded below.
Madman Entertainment has announced extra screening locations for Mamoru Hosoda’s new film The Boy and the Beast. Fans of Hosoda’s works who live in Australia (excluding the Australian Capital Territory and Tasmania) or New Zealand will have another chance to see the film in cinemas.
In Victoria, the film will be showing in both Japanese and English at the Cinema Nova and in English at Hoyts Melbourne Central. The latter is only screening the film on Sunday, March 13. In New South Wales, the film will be screened in Japanese at Sydney Event George St. and in English at Hoyts Blacktown. In Queensland, the film will be shown in English at Events Myer, Chermside and Garden City. In Western Australia, it will be screened in Japanese at Luna Leederville and in English at Hoyts Carousel. It will be shown in English at Event Marion in South Australia. In New Zealand, it will be shown in English at Event Cinemas Queen St., Hoyts Wairau Park and Hoyts Sylvia Park and in both languages at Academy Cinema and State Cinemas Nelson. More details about each location can be found here.
The film was declared Animation of the Year at the Japan Academy Prize Association’s ceremony this year. Hosoda has now won this award four times. He previously won the award for The Girl Who Leapt Through Time in 2007, for Summer Wars in 2010 and for Wolf Children in 2013.
TORN BANNER STUDIOS REVEALS NEW ACTION GAME SET IN A WORLD OF FANTASY AND MAGIC, MIRAGE: ARCANE WARFARE
Obliterate your enemies with powerful magic or silence them with a sword in a new multiplayer FPS project from the creators of Chivalry: Medieval Warfare set to debut at GDC
TORONTO, CANADA, March 9th, 2016— Torn Banner Studios, the creators of the popular first-person medieval combat simulator Chivalry: Medieval Warfare are proud to finally reveal to their fans a first look at their upcoming magic and blood-soaked title, Mirage: Arcane Warfare. To introduce their newest IP Torn Banner has released a gameplay trailer which can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/0rBFSkJELuw. Additionally, the official website has launched offering more details about the game: MirageArcaneWarfare.com. The game will make its debut at GDC 2016 (San Francisco, March 14-18) – interested media can schedule a private meeting to learn more about the new game.
In Mirage: Arcane Warfare, the calm of a strange fantasy world is shattered by ruthless civil war. Warriors armed with steel and magic bring violence and death as they do battle across a fantastical Arabian and Persian-inspired setting of desert sands, market bazaars and grand palaces. Built using the powerful new capabilities of Unreal Engine 4, Mirage: Arcane Warfare presents visually stunning backdrops to some viscerally brutal multiplayer combat.
“Our last game Chivalry was about chopping off people’s heads with a sword. Mirage takes that core gameplay DNA and explodes with a range of new bloody, brutal combat possibilities thanks to the addition of powerful magic” said Steve Piggott, Torn Banner CEO and game designer on Mirage: Arcane Warfare. “Mixing in the elements of fantasy and magic allow us to add entirely new components and levels of complexity to that core team-based combat concept that we find so much fun to play.”
“Our artists have created a rich and unusual world in Mirage, full of colour, character and a unique setting that is so rarely explored in video games,” according to Torn Banner environment artist Lucas Annunziata. “Working with Unreal Engine 4 has not only helped us bring to life the exotic locales of Mirage, it also gives us the tools to make magic effects that dazzle and bloody gore that make us cringe.”
Slated for release on PC through Steam later this year, Mirage: Arcane Warfare will feature a range of diverse player classes each with their own unique weapon and skill sets, exotic fantasy locales, multiple multiplayer game modes including objective-based challenges, brutal gore and a host of other innovative new features. Currently in development, Torn Banner will roll out more information and progress about Mirage: Arcane Warfare in the coming months.
Torn Banner will have a private meeting room off site during GDC week on Wednesday, March 16 and Thursday, March 17. Interested media are invited to schedule a meeting to reserve a session with the team to learn more about Mirage: Arcane Warfare.
Torn Banner Studios is a small indie games studio that makes BIG games. Based in Toronto Canada, Torn Banner Studios was founded in 2012 by a group of passionate game developers who are dedicated to creating powerful and unique games for a dedicated audience of fans. The nucleus of the team first came together from a group of modders who created a well-known Half-Life 2 mod called Age of Chivalry. Their first full game, Chivalry: Medieval Warfare, was a critical and commercial success and has driven the dedicated team at Torn Banner to continue to develop great games and ongoing content for their passionate community of fans. For more information visit TornBanner.com or follow @TornBanner.
Fourth Annual E3 College Game Competition Opens ESA Showcases Talents from Popular Game Development Programs at Leading U.S. Colleges and Universities
March 9, 2016 – Washington, D.C. – The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) today announced its fourth annual Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) College Game Competition. The contest provides colleges and universities with video game development programs an opportunity to exhibit student work at E3−the world’s premier trade show for computer and video games. Each institution can submit one game and selected finalists will receive a display space at this year’s event at the Los Angeles Convention Center from June 14-16, 2016.
Competing schools are required to submit story details and content assets from their own playable video game, which will be judged by a panel of game industry veterans and media professionals. Previous E3 College Game Competition winners include the DigiPen Institute of Technology (2015) and the Savannah College of Art and Design (2014, 2013).
“E3 is the leading place in the world to see the video game industry’s strength and vitality on display. The college competition is an incredible opportunity for the next generation of student talent to display their creativity at E3,” said Rich Taylor, senior vice president of Communications and Industry Affairs with the Entertainment Software Association. “We are thrilled to be working with universities to inspire, cultivate, and support the best in up-and-coming video game artists and designers.”
The competition targets nearly 400 U.S. colleges, universities, art and trade schools offering video game courses, certificates, and degree programs. The five competition finalists will not only be given the chance to feature their games at E3 2016, but they will also be able to network with top game industry figures including publishers, developers, analysts, and marketing executives.
“This competition has become one of my favorite aspects of E3,” said Kate Edwards, executive director of the International Game Developers Association. “It is awesome to witness the passion these students have for making new and interesting games. I greatly appreciate the ESA taking the time to spotlight these talented students in such a high-profile format.”
ESA will provide participating schools with complete instructions, including guidelines on specific design, concept, and key asset requirements. Universities and colleges interested in more information on competition rules and submission requirements should email [email protected]. The winning submission will be announced during E3.
Important competition dates and deadlines are as follows:
Submissions will be accepted beginning March 16, 2016.
The final deadline for submissions is April 20, 2016.
Finalists will be notified on May 11, 2016.
E3 is the world’s premiere trade show for computer and video games and related products. The show is owned by the ESA, the U.S. association dedicated to serving the business and public affairs needs of the companies, publishing interactive games for video game consoles, handheld devices, personal computers and the Internet. ESA conducts business and consumer research, provides analysis and advocacy on issues like global content protection, intellectual property, technology, e-commerce and the First Amendment in support of interactive software publishers. For more E3 information, visit www.E3Expo.com.
To learn more about ESA and its work, please visit www.theESA.com and follow us on Twitter: @E3.
Insomnia Gaming Ireland tickets available now via Ticketmaster
The first Insomnia Gaming Ireland to commence at the INEC Killarney, 10-13 June, 2016
London, United Kingdom – March 9, 2016 – Multiplay, organiser of the UK’s largest gaming festival, Insomnia, and a subsidiary of GAME Digital plc (“GAME Digital”), the UK’s leading video gaming specialist, is pleased to announce that tickets are available now to purchase for the very first in a series of Insomnia Gaming Ireland events taking place at INEC Killarney, 10-13 June.
Available now on Ticketmaster, Day tickets for Insomnia Gaming Ireland will start from €12 to €24 and €99 for the Bring Your Own Computer (BYOC) LAN Hall. Also available are package deals which includes tickets and accommodation, these can be purchased through the venue. To not miss out on the Insomnia experience, all tickets can be purchased at https://insomniagamingfestival.com/ireland.
Visitors to Insomnia Gaming Ireland will be able to play a host of games, enjoy numerous activities and entertainment inside the INEC. Areas include the Bring Your Own Computer (BYOC) LAN Hall; open for 72 hours, hosting 250 people playing multiplayer games with and against each other in a fun and social environment. The Exhibition Hall contains a variety of feature zones and games for all ages. These include a Minecraft Zone, Over 18s area and the Main Stage, where Special Guests will be playing the latest games as well as Panel Talks and Q&A sessions. Special Guests will include ChooChoosGaming, AshDubh, NettyPlays, AmyLee, InTheLittlewood and MiniMuka.
BYOC ticket holders will be able to delve into the eSports scene with popular competitive tournaments occurring throughout the event such as Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Rocket League, League of Legends and Hearthstone. Daily console tournaments will be taking place, as well as the BYOC LAN Hall hosting tournaments of its own.
“With an even busier year of Insomnia events, we‘re delighted to bring the Insomnia brand to Irish gamers,” says Craig Fletcher, Founder and CEO of Multiplay. He continued “Insomnia already reaches tens of thousands of gamers in the UK and we can’t wait to witness Irish gamers’ passion for all things gaming for the first time. The Irish gaming community is one we’ve looked to tap into for a while and we are excited to be able to offer the Insomnia experience in the region.”
Insomnia Gaming Ireland is a place for gamers of all backgrounds to congregate, socialise, discover new things and largely celebrate gaming.
Today, Insomnia combines a vast Bring Your Own Computer (BYOC) Local Area Network (LAN) gaming hall, a huge line-up of Content Creators from the worlds of YouTube and Twitch, a great line-up of gaming tournaments, main stage entertainment, and a whole host of gaming related zones and activities for all types of gamer, including both novice and professional, of any age.
Insomnia Gaming Ireland will take place at INEC Killarney, 10-13 June. For more information and to purchase tickets visit https://insomniagamingfestival.com/ireland.
For more information contact [email protected]
About Multiplay
Founded in 1997, Multiplay is a gaming services company specialising in events management, eSports, online hosting and more.
Creating and running simple to sophisticated popular events with tens of thousands of people attending, from Insomnia Gaming Festival to MINECON, and RuneFest, Multiplay delivers quality productions and entertaining gaming experiences for all ages.
Multiplay provides a unique online hosting platform, Clanforge® enabling individuals and businesses to host video game backend services with the very best performance at all times. With support from a dedicated 24x7x365 technical infrastructure team and over 26 locations available worldwide, Multiplay provides an unparalleled online hosting experience for gamers across the globe.
Following its acquisition in March 2015, Multiplay is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of GAME Digital plc, the UK’s leading video games specialist.
For more information, visit www.multiplay.com or www.gamedigitalplc.com .
About GAME Digital
Listed on the London Stock Exchange in June 2014 and comprising three divisions: Retail, Digital Solutions and eSports and Events, GAME Digital plc is dedicated to delivering an authoritative range of gaming products, services and experiences to the gaming communities of the UK, Spain and beyond. GAME’s UK and Spanish retail businesses are the market leaders in each country, operating a total of nearly 600 stores across the two countries, a fully integrated omni-channel offer including the multi-award winning GAME App, and a reach of more than 17 million customers across its Reward programmes. Through GAME’s Digital Solutions division, GAME is pioneering the use of new technologies to deliver gaming content and reach gamers and business partners outside its main markets. Multiplay, GAME’s eSports and Events business delivers unparalleled gaming events and experiences directly and on behalf of third parties, including its flagship consumer event, Insomnia. For more information please visit www.gamedigitalplc.com or www.multiplay.com .
NEW FURI TRAILER ELECTRIFIES WITH ALL-BOSS GAMEPLAY
The Game Bakers released today the first all-gameplay trailer for its stylized, high-energy combat-action game Furi, slated for release on PlayStation 4 and PC in 2016.
Furi takes players on a quest for freedom as they defeat deadly, formidable adversaries in intense one-on-one fights.Furi’s ultra-responsive mix of fast-paced sword fighting and dual-stick shooting results in something quite different.
In this trailer, we are showing one of the fiercest guardians. She is a tactician, a hunter, a playful mercenary who doesn’t leave anything to chance.
“There is a feeling that I remember from when I was a kid playing video games: the huge, intense satisfaction when I finally beat a level or a boss I had been struggling with for a while,” explained Emeric Thoa, Creative Director, in his blog post www.thegamebakers.com/try-again/. “The feeling of learning how to overcome a challenge, with my brain and my thumbs. The combination of understanding and execution felt like a reward in itself. I remember it from games like Super Punch Out, bosses from Metal Gear Solid, combat in God Hand.”
“There are many games that gave me that feeling, but recently I felt that maybe games try too hard to be ‘user friendly.’ Adaptive difficulty, dynamic checkpoints, in-game tips… Everything is explained and balanced to make sure nobody drops out. With Furi, we want to give the player an extreme satisfaction when s/he beats a boss. That means s/he’ll have to sweat a little for it.”
Furi is inspired by the “Japanese way” of making games: It’s not realistic in its style or animations. It is fast-paced and requires great timing, reflexes, and judgment. With immediately responsive controls, players have the ability to think and act nimbly. And each of the formidable “guardians” — designed by Afro Samurai creator Takashi Okazaki — has a distinct, surprising combat style requiring gamers’ absolute focus, skill, and split-second reflexes to defeat.
The high-energy collision of vibrant visuals and electrifying combat is boosted from an explosive soundtrack composed by electro musicians highlighted by Carpenter Brut, who created this boss music.
Far Cry Primaltakes the series to a brand new setting rarely touched by modern gaming, the Mesolithic period. The clock gets cranked back to 10,000 BCE in Central Europe where three tribes of humans are moving into the fictional Oros Valley to take advantage of the lush environment previously hidden away by the glaciers during the last ice age. Here, our hero Takkar will rise from a lowly hunter to become the Beast Master and save the Wenja tribe from destruction.
Story
Upon hearing that the writers at Ubisoft Montreal brought anthropologists from University of McGill and linguists from the University of Kentucky to create a Far Cry game set in the Mesolithic, the nerd in me became really excited. Archaeology is one of those fields that really get butchered in popular media, such as our favourite bull whip wielding professor Indiana Jones and the tomb raiding antiquarian Lara Croft. So the thought of playing in a time period I have spent hours studying was a pretty enticing proposition. While no one expects a 100% realistic setting as it would make for dull gameplay, I have to say Ubisoft Montreal did a pretty good job bringing the Mesolithic to life. The most obvious ting is the complete lack of English in the game. Instead, all of the lines are spoken in a form of Proto-Indo-European language developed specially for the game. Then there are smaller touches that most people are likely to miss, like the fact that each tribe speaks a slightly different dialect or that the villages reflect the egalitarian social structure of the time. It all adds up to an incredibly immersive world that really deserves to be experience.
On the flip side, the game’s plot is pretty bland. Three tribes have begun settling in Oros, the brutish Udam, the fire worshipping Izila, and the scattered Wenja. After being repeatedly raided by both the Udam and the Izila, the Wenja are scattered across the land and are about to disappear. A group of Wenja hunters from the Wenja homeland are attacked on their way to Oros, leaving Takkar as the only survivor. Once in Oros, he finds Sayla, a forager likely plagued with post-traumatic stress disorder after witnessing the slaughter of many Wenja at the hands of the Udam. Starting with Sayla, Takkar begins gathering the scattered Wenja in a new village as they head towards the inevitable war with the Udam and the Izila. Unfortunately, the overall plot is pretty boring and predictable, which is worsened by the fact the main plot line is pretty short to begin with.
Gameplay
Far Cry Primal is built on top of Far Cry 4. There is quite a bit of recycling going on, with things like the wildlife and the overall map getting a prehistoric make over to fit the setting. At the same time, there are some major mechanical changes. The village is the central focus of the game. This little corner of Oros serves as the only hub for main missions and its growth is directly tied to Takkar’s growth as a character. The hunter-gatherer lifestyle is heavily emphasized in the game, which means Takkar will need to gather all the materials to upgrade huts in the village, improve his gear, and make new tools; no money involved. As the village grows, the Wenja tribe members will pitch into the effort, depositing more and more resources into Takkar’s cache as their population swells. Takkar’s skills and equipment are tied to specific villagers in the game. Once a villager is brought back, they will unlock most if not all of their associated skill tree and some equipment recipes for Takkar. I really like this villager system. Although it isn’t much difference in practice from Far Cry 4 skill tree and equipment crafting, there is a stronger attachment to the village and its occupants because of how Far Cry Primal handles things.
One of the biggest changes to Far Cry Primalis the weapons, as guns are a definite no go. The ever popular Far Cry bow makes its return, but instead of one single bow repeatedly upgraded over time, we get three different bows, each filling a specific purpose. Melee combat plays a much larger role in the game, with a variety of clubs and spears to smash or stab enemies with. Takkar carries stacks of arrows, clubs, and spears, providing him plenty of ammunition to rain down arrows from a distance, hurl spears as he closes the gap, bash in heads with his club in melee combat, and then toss a few clubs at the enemy as a last ditch weapon while he beats a hasty escape. The grenades are a little low tech, but they work the same for the most part. The weapons are balanced well, though the melee system is a pretty simple affair.
The Beast Master skills provide Takkar with a companion that helps balance the difficulty a bit, especially for melee players. Different wild animals can be tamed, with each species having different stats and special abilities. I found some of the resource collection abilities were a bit flaky at times, but it really isn’t an actual problem in practice, as those animals tend to be low tier creatures that don’t see much use. Takkar actually has two companions, an owl that can scout ahead of Takkar and attack the enemy to loosen up resistance and some sort of land-based animal that will follow Takkar around. The animals are fed meat to keep their health up and can be revived with a piece of meat during a short window after the beast initially goes down or with some red leaves from the Beast menu.
The A.I. is pretty good in Far Cry Primal, which makes it all the more jarring when it goes wrong. Human enemies will make an attempt to flank you and they tend to work together rather well. The animal kingdom behaves realistically, and it’s quite amazing to just crouch quietly in a bush watch a pack of wolves chase down their prey. Unfortunately, the A.I. has some pathing issues at times, causing animals to look dumbly at Takkar when he’s perched on a boulder or NPCs to run into tree trunks. The A.I. glitches aren’t that common, but they do happen from time to time.
The controls are mostly the same as Far Cry 4 with the addition of melee combat. It is definitely a case of if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, as the controls are easy to use and intuitive. The melee is very simple, as tapping the attack button triggers a light attack and holding down the button winds up for a hard attack. The only beef I have with the controls is the fact you need to zoom in before commands can be issued to the pet, which makes issuing commands in a frantic melee quite annoying.
Far Cry Primal is a great game, but it is short. There are only a small handful of real story missions, with the other main missions feeling like filler thrown in to pad the game’s length. Add the usual array of open world side quests and Far Cry Primal starts to feel like it began its life as an expansion pack that was turned into a full retail release at the last minute.
Visuals
Far Cry Primal uses the same engine as Far Cry 4, which has aged very well. The world is bright, colourful, and lush with life. The animations are excellent for the most part, though feeding pets is a very obvious exception. Often times the meat will clip or miss the animal’s mouth completely. Since Far Cry 4 was built with last generation consoles in mind, the hardware requirements on the PC aren’t too taxing. The game ran smoothly, though the FPS tends to get butchered during cut scenes.
Audio
The audio in Far Cry Primal is excellent. The sound effects are spot on. The music fits the Mesolithic setting well with heavy use of drums and chanting. The voice acting is spectacular. The actors do a great job of channeling their performance, even though they are speaking in a partially made up language.
Overall
Far Cry Primal is a great game that is way too short. It boasts a well crafted setting, enjoyable gameplay, solid audio, and strong visuals, but it’s hard to shake off the price tag for what amounts to a handful of real story missions and a ton of filler. Visit Oros for the story, stay for the atmosphere.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Sega was fairly quick to confirm that they were going to be releasing Valkyria Chronicles Remastered in the West and now they have announced exactly when fans can expect to pick up the title for their PlayStation 4. Valkyria Chronicles Remastered will be released in North America and Europe on May 17th and will cost $29.99 in the United States.
Those who pre-order or pick up a launch copy of Valkyria Chronicles Remastered will net themselves a Squad 7 Armored Case while gamers in Europe will be given a thirty two page art book and a poster featuring Squad 7 on one side and Selvaria Bles on the other.
Now that XSEED Games and Marvelous have announced a set release date for Senran Kagura: Estival Versus in North America and Europe the company has begun to release videos to hype up their already excited fans. This first video focuses on introducing all of the original heroes of the game, the girls from Hanzo Academy; Asuka, Ikaruga, Katsuragi, Yagyu, and Hibari.
You can check out the video below and as for the game itself, Senran Kagura: Estival Versus will be released in North America on March 15th and in Europe on March 18th where it will be available digitally and at retail in both regions.
