2016 European National Championships are announced—including a new Pokkén Tournament category—and Pokémon players prepare to Train On.TM
London, UK —8 March 2016— As Pokémon celebrates 20 years of collecting, battling and trading, many dedicated Pokémon Trainers across Europe are preparing for the 2016 European National Championships.
Three cities will host the 2016 Pokémon Trading Card Game and Video Game European National Championships:
As the most vibrant, diverse and committed fans travel from all parts of Europe to battle their way to become the very best, an all-new category has been added for 2016. Pokkén Tournament will be featured in the championships for the first time, giving challengers an extra chance to gain entry to the 2016 Pokémon World Championships.
The top Pokémon Trainers from Europe will be invited to play at the World Championships in San Francisco, California, on 19–21 August. The very best European competitors will also earn Travel Awards to cover the cost of flights and accommodations.
The Pokkén Tournament Championship Series will include events across Europe, and the top players will earn an invitation to the Pokkén Tournament World Championships, part of the Pokémon World Championships in San Francisco.
Players entering the Pokkén Tournament Championship Series at the UK National Championships will compete in two age divisions.
Players in France will also have the chance to compete in a Pokémon TCG National Championships tournament that will take place 14–15 May in Verberie, France.
For more information on all the activity that will be happening in relation to the Pokémon 20th celebration, please visit: www.pokemon.co.uk/20 .
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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 Pokemon.co.uk.
Grab the Official Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Car Pack Starting Today
SAN DIEGO, CA – March 8, 2016 – Independent video game developer and publisher, Psyonix, and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, are pleased to announce that the iconic Batmobile from the highly-anticipated Warner Bros. Pictures film, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, is available for purchase inRocket League right now!
Priced at $1.99 USD (or regional equivalent), the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Car Pack is officially licensed by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and includes the world-famous Batmobile and three exclusive Antenna Flags that allow players to show their allegiance to the World’s Finest trinity of Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. Pick it up today for the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, Xbox One, or Windows PC via Steam.
Winner or nominee of more than 100 game of the year awards, Rocket League is one of the most critically-acclaimed sports games of a generation. Boasting a community of more than 12 million players, Rocket League is a high-powered hybrid of arcade-style soccer and vehicular mayhem that offers easy-to-understand controls and fluid, physics-driven competition. Available digitally on Xbox One, PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, and Windows PC via Steam, Rocket League includes more than 100 billion possible customization combinations, a fully-featured offline season mode, multiple game types, casual and competitive online matches, and special “Mutators” that let you change the rules entirely.
To learn more about Rocket League, please visit www.RocketLeagueGame.com, “Like” it on Facebook, and follow it on Twitter @RocketLeague for all the latest developer updates and news.
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ABOUT PSYONIX
Based in San Diego, CA,Psyonix is a critically-acclaimed independent video game developer and leading experts in Unreal Engine technology. For more than a decade, the studio has been a driving force behind some of the most successful games in the industry, including Gears of War, Mass Effect 3, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, Bulletstorm, Unreal Tournament III, Unreal Tournament 2004, Nosgoth, and the award-winning Sports-Action hit, Rocket League.
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, a division of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, Inc., is a premier worldwide publisher, developer, licensor and distributor of entertainment content for the interactive space across all platforms, including console, handheld, mobile and PC-based gaming for both internal and third party game titles.
MOVE OR DIE MUTATORS UPDATE LAUNCHES THURSDAY ON STEAM — RECORD LEVEL OF UNFRIENDING PROJECTED
New Characters and Game Modes Added to Ensure Hours of Friendship-Ruining Mayhem
Bucharest, Romania – March 8, 2016 – Indie developers Those Awesome Guys are thrilled to announce that a free gameplay update for the sensational multiplayer hit Move or Die will launch Thursday, March 10 on Steam. The new “Mutators Update” throws in wicked gameplay options including jetpacks and double jumps, new official characters, two new game modes, and so much more. Move or Die players are wisely advised to find more friends by this Thursday for future friendship ruination*.
Move Or Die will have the bestest spiky ball physics evar. Plus jetpacks!
“It’s been awesome reading and watching the amazing positive response for Move or Die and when I’m not working on the game, I’m watching people on YouTube yell at my game,” said Nicolae Berbece, founder of Those Awesome Guys. “We have been definitely taking all feedback from the freaking amazing community and threw everything into a blender – that’s pretty much what Mutators are! There’s much more planned in the coming months for Move or Die, so I do recommend making a whole new set of friends very soon!”
The Move Or Die Mutators Update includes:
Mutators Game Options: Spice up each of the game modes with new Mutators options with jetpacks, double jumping, skin swapping, death ghosts, and more. Mutators mix additional mechanics on top of the regular game modes for thousands of new ways to destroy friendships.
New Characters: New official unlockable characters expanding all characters categories from Common to Rare – fans of waffles and smart fish be excited!
New Game Modes: Avoid the large moving spiky ball in Spike Ball and run to randomly changing safe zones while avoiding death tiles in Shifty Grounds.
New Map Levels: One of the most demanded requests from fans, new official map levels for game modes will be included — it’s time to master a new Speed Run level!
Active Score Tracking: The new Leading Player tracker has been added to games like Hat Chase, Color Craze, and Cleanup so players will clearly see who is leading during the game and by how much.
Multiple Local Players Online: The game now supports multiple local players on the same PC playing with different people online.
Available on Steam, Move or Die will have gamers battling each other in an ever-growing list of game modes. Each challenge has its own outrageous level design and rule set to promote hours of laughter and good old friendship-destroying fun. Win battles and unlock insane new character skins and crazier game modes.
To learn more about Move or Die, please visit www.moveordiegame.com, ‘Like’ it on Facebook, and follow its development on Twitter @moveordiegame for all the latest developer updates and news.
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ABOUT THOSE AWESOME GUYS
Founded in 2012 by Nicolae Berbece, Those Awesome Guys is a one-man independent video game developer based in Romania that teams up with developers from around the world to create really awesome games. After releasing Concerned Joe, a 2D puzzle platformer Flash game that generated a small, but dedicated following, Nick decided to give the title a proper remake. And so was born Move or Die, an absurdly fast-paced multiplayer party game coming out in January on Steam. For more information, visit thoseawesomeguys.com.
BeefJack Create launches ‘The Idea Mill’ and ‘Game Tuning’
Two new services offer support, direction and assistance to budding game designers and established studios alike
London-based games studio BeefJack Create today launched two new services, which aim to help both budding games designers and established indie developers make the best games possible.
The Idea Millmakes games design and development accessible to anyone with a great idea, no matter how little their technical or creative knowledge. With a full team of developers and designers, BeefJack Create helps its partners turn game ideas into reality – via comprehensive design, production and deployment support, which keeps the game’s creator firmly in the driving seat.
With Game Tuning,BeefJack Create partners with independent developers to help fine-tune their games and produce the best possible results. With more involvement than a simple outsourcing development team, BeefJack acts both to fill any production gaps, and to provide tailored support and guidance, throughout the project’s lifecycle.
Creative Partnerships
James Wheeler, one of BeefJack Create’s recent partners, said: “BeefJack helped flesh out my idea while bringing new opportunities to the table. They also created some fantastic concept art and came up with an inventive way for me to make money.”
James, a keen level designer himself, also relished the opportunity to add to his skillset in this area. “They’re keeping me involved and giving me the opportunity to learn more about game development,” he added.
Meanwhile, Dean Edwards – creator of Iron Fish and a lover of all things marine life – approached BeefJack with the seeds of an idea for a psychological underwater horror game. BeefJack Create helped fine-tune his concept before moving into production – providing full development, art, narrative design, project management and business support.
“They are all extremely talented, hardworking and professional. The passion they show for the games industry has made creating Iron Fish one of the most rewarding and fun things I have ever done,” he said.
BeefJack Create launched in May 2015, with the view of lowering the barriers of entry to game development, and enable anyone with a great game idea to make it happen. Find out more on the BeefJack Create website.
About BeefJack
BeefJack started making games in flash in 2008. It also held an online magazine and gaming community. BeefJack’s development arm created a range of successful web games – including the award-winning Hot Tub Heist (which achieved over 1 million plays and a four-star rating on Newgrounds) or Verminator (with over 3 million plays and a four-star rating on each of iOS and Android).
Today, BeefJack offers a variety of indie game services. Alongside Create, BeefJack Promote offers marketing services to independent studios.
Find out more about both services on our website, and feel free to drop me a line for further info.
STRIKE DOWN ENEMIES WITH HOLY FURYAS THE MONK IN SADAME
In Rising Star Japan’s Sadame, the recently released action/RPG title for the Nintendo eShop for Nintendo 3DS™ family systems, gamers can choose from a wide cast of characters that stem from Japanese culture. The final character to be revealed from this game is the Monk, a wizard type character who uses deadly forces to wipe out large groups of enemies.
Fast and cunning, the Monk can call forth a near endless supply of spells that reinforce the staff attack techniques. Monks are well rounded characters that can shoot long range energy blasts from their staff. Combined with his ability to use auras to perform elemental attacks, the Monk is a character that will strike down foes with great vengeance and furious anger!
The Monk, as well as the previously revealed Samurai, Rogue, and Ninja character classes, features its own unique play style and will introduce items and upgrades exclusive to that class. The story of Sadame and the gamer’s encounters, along the main quest, will vary depending on the character class chosen as well.
Set in an alternate version of the historical Sengoku, or Warring States, Period in ancient Japan that saw a near constant amount of war and political upheaval, Sadame is a frenetic and imaginative hack-and-slash action/adventure title for the Nintendo 3DS that will have players fight wave after hellish wave of demonic enemies and huge, daunting bosses. Skillfully defeat the evil hordes in front of you with a variety of combos and moves to gain experience – level up your character, improve your weapons and armor, and strengthen yourself to take on the fearsome final foes once and for all! For more information, visit the official game site at www.sadamegame.com/us.html.
LONDON, UK — March 8, 2016 — Today, Ubisoft® UK announced a collaboration with Monorex, the team responsible for the in-game graffiti for Tom Clancy’s The Division and High Rise Murals to create a bespoke piece of street art telling the story of the collapse of New York in London’s Shoreditch district ahead of the game’s launch on 8th March. Over the course of five days, the iconic Shoreditch Art Wall has been transformed by four of Monorex’s finest artists to showcase the distinctive skyline of New York as it transforms into the setting for The Division.
Furthermore, a layer of banknotes was added to the art wall to illustrate the origins of the game’s outbreak, transmitted on the surface of dollar bills on Black Friday. Commuters and bystanders in this busy area were then able to remove the banknotes to be in with a chance of winning a number of fantastic Xbox One prizes. Within hours, the wall was stripped bare.
Founded in 2004, Monorex is an award winning unique multi-disciplinary design boutique based in London and is the parent company of High Rise Murals. Monorex were initially approached by the development team behind The Division to provide in-game graffiti.
“First and foremost, we wanted this to be a piece of art. New York is such a familiar place; it’s this huge, shining example of a city at the height of civilisation. That’s what makes the setting of the game in a mid-crisis Manhattan so compelling and believable, said Holly Cooper, PR Executive at Ubisoft UK and Project Lead for the Shoreditch Mural Project. We’re huge fans of the in-game work Monorex produced for the game so the decision to approach the talented team at High Rise was a natural one. They’ve done a wonderful job, depicting this iconic setting steadily descending into crisis. It’s really quite a sight to behold.”
“The very first brief from Massive, the development team behind the game was a dream,” says Terry Guy, founder of Monorex. “They asked us to design anything we wanted to go on the walls of NYC, including requests for some darker imagery that referenced the viral outbreak happening in real time and wanted to commission all of the 22 artists we work to submit their signature styles to give the fabric of the city some credibility. Collaborating with Ubisoft UK and painting a large mural is the perfect way to promote this new game release as it directly connects back to our contribution of street art inside the game itself and now we are doing it in the real world.”
Tom Clancy’s The Division takes place weeks after a devastating pandemic sweeps through New York City on Black Friday. One by one, basic services fail and in only days, without food or water, society collapses into chaos. The Division, an autonomous unit of tactical agents leading seemingly ordinary lives among us, is activated to save society. Team up with other players to investigate the source of the virus, protect civilians from dangerous factions, and reclaim the city from the overwhelming turmoil.
For more information about Tom Clancy’s The Division, please visit www.thedivisiongame.com.
About Ubisoft
Ubisoft is a leading creator, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and services, with a rich portfolio of world-renowned brands, including Assassin’s Creed, Just Dance, Tom Clancy’s video game series, Rayman, Far Cry and Watch Dogs. The teams throughout Ubisoft’s worldwide network of studios and business offices are committed to delivering original and memorable gaming experiences across all popular platforms, including consoles, mobile phones, tablets and PCs. For the 2014-15 fiscal year Ubisoft generated sales of €1,464 million. To learn more, please visit www.ubisoftgroup.com.
Includes new wingsuit, new missions, challenges & more
JUST CAUSE 3: SKY FORTRESS, the first content pack from the Air, Land and Sea Expansion Pass is OUT NOW for anybody who owns the Just Cause 3 Expansion Pass, with a wide release to follow on March 15th.
SKY FORTRESS contains a brand new set of missions that introduce a new threat – the eDEN Corporation and their huge and terrifying Sky Fortress, with its army of deadly robotic drones. To tackle his deadly new adversary, Rico Rodriguez will use a new upgradeable, rocket-powered, weaponised ‘Bavarium Wingsuit’ fitted with shoulder mounted machine guns and auto targeting missiles – alongside his new ‘Eviction’ personal defence drone and ‘Bavarium Splitter’ assault rifle.
“The new content will fundamentally alter how our players approach the game – we’re really looking forward to seeing how fans adapt to the new Wingsuit,” said Tobias Andersson, Senior Producer at Avalanche Studios. “The new story missions, challenges and gadgets that can be taken into the main game really mix things up, and we can’t wait for players to revisit Medici and start getting even more creative”.
The SKY FORTRESS pack will be priced at $11.99 / €11.99 / £9.49 whilst the AIR, LAND & SEA Expansion Pass is available for $24.99 / €24.99 / £19.99. All three content packs will be available before the end of summer 2016 and released one week early to Expansion Pass holders.
You can see the Sky Fortress and the new Bavarium Wingsuit in action in this trailer:https://youtu.be/6sEUrJSWOQg
Watch the trailer here: https://youtu.be/6sEUrJSWOQg
Assets can be found here: http://www.square-enix-press.com/download/37992/183f418da936995ff555ff590ff244c1f7cb10bc
We haven’t seen too much about Nioh over the last few months since Koei Tecmo announced that they were planning on bringing the game to the West but now Team Ninja has released something that potential fans will want to check out. They have released a six minute long gameplay demo for Nioh that was shown off behind closed doors last year at Tokyo Game Show.
The footage can be found below and as for the game itself, Nioh is set to be released as a PlayStation 4 exclusive and follows the story of William, a blond swordsman whose skill with a blade allows him to survive in the demon-plagued lands.
Just last week we learned that Etrian Odyssey V: The End of the Long Myth would be released in Japan for the 3DS on August 4th alongside a few basic screenshots and now a little under a week later we now have a whole bunch of footage of the game.
First we have an official trailer for Etrian Odyssey V: The End of the Long Myth from Atlus and then after that a set of three videos taken from a NicoNico stream have been released showing off around twenty five minutes of gameplay footage, showing that not a whole lot has really changed in this iteration, at least on the surface. Currently little is still known about what to expect from Etrian Odyssey V: The End of the Long Myth other than that there are four races who live in Arcadia and seek the treasures atop the ancient tree of Yggdrasil.
Overview After making an extremely successful debut in 2013 it wasn’t much of a surprise that a second season of the popular idol anime Love Live! School Idol Project was being broadcast in Japan. Of course with such a level of success it was also wasn’t very surprising to hear that NIS America had acquired the rights to the second season of the series, though what did surprise many fans was that the company would be releasing the second season, and re-releasing the first, with an English dub to go along with the original Japanese voice work. With the first season focusing primarily on assembling μ’s, where do the girls go from here?
Story It is worth noting that since the first season follows μ’s as the members are assembled to join the group and quite a few of the girls undergo most of their development throughout the first season that potential viewers should start there. As for this season, a bit of time has passed since the end of the first season and with Honoka and the rest of μ’s managing to prevent the school from closing thanks to the growing popularity of their school idol group raising the application numbers.
Perhaps due to her popularity and thanks to being the center of μ’s, Honoka has been given the job of being the new president of the student council and is assisted by both Umi and Kotori as both Eli and Nozomi have stepped down. After giving a fittingly embarrassing speech to the school, Hanayo comes to the rest of the girls with major news and tells them that the Love Live competition is going to be held once again and it is going to be bigger than ever.
Previous viewers may remember that while the girls formed μ’s in order to save the school, they were also attempting to take place in the idol competition Love Live but had to drop out due to Honoka falling ill. While Honoka may not seem too interested in taking part at first, she soon realizes that this is the last time that the third year students, Eli, Nozomi, and Nico, will ever have a chance to perform as school idols as they will be graduating shortly after the Love Live competition comes to a close.
Reinvigorated Honoka and the rest of μ’s begin to train themselves for their hardest performances yet as they know that, due to their location and the new stipulations of Love Live, that the group must now compete directly with A-Rise, the most popular school idol group in Japan, in order to even make it to the finale.
With μ’s setting their sights on coming out on top before the group loses three of its most important members, Love Live! School Idol Project’s second season focuses heavily on the group preparing while also giving viewers more development for a few characters that were previously left in the dark, more endearing slice of life moments with the whole group, including a few sections where the girls break into groups of three that match their sub-units, BiBi, Lily White, and Printemps, far better handled drama than before, as well as plenty of highly enjoyable music numbers.
Thanks to all of the girls already being assembled in the second season, viewers are treated to plenty of humorous and cute episodic events that follow the girls as they prepare for their upcoming performances. This extra time that doesn’t have to be spent on gathering the group is instead spent on developing a number of characters that were only briefly touched upon in the past with Niko’s family life being introduced, Rin overcoming her negative past, and even providing us with a view into why Nozomi did everything she could to help μ’s from the background before becoming a member.
These little moments help provide the series with some more believable small pieces of drama such as the girls trying to lose weight (albeit one of the weaker episodes), compete against idol groups that they previously idolized themselves, and eventually come across the realization that once everything is said and done, that three of the nine tightly knit girls will be separated once the competition comes to an end. These pieces of drama are far better handled than what was shown in the first season and show fans just how much these girls care about one another, making the end of the season really hit home emotionally for longtime fans as μ’s comes to an end, even if there is still a movie on the way.
Visuals Love Live! School Idol Project continues to appear outstanding with the second season. The bright and colorful designs for the nine main girls continue to help them stand out and with more performances than ever before fans are in for a real treat when it comes to the costumes that appear, especially during the “Snow Halation” performance which is easily the best one of the entire series.
One of the biggest changes that occurs in the second season of Love Live! School Idol Project is how the CG elements are handled. The CG models are still used from time to time during performances however not only has more time been spent on making sure that these models are a bit more up to par with their standard animated counterparts, but that they move far smoother than before. It is still quite obvious when the show switches from standard to CG but it isn’t as noticeable as before.
Audio For this second season of Love Live! School Idol Project NIS America is offering fans both their freshly handled English dub as well as the original Japanese voice work. For many who don’t go back and pick up the first re-released season, this will be their first time with the English cast and the voice work by the English voice actresses is still decently for those who wish to listen to it. That being said, with some liberal translations for Honoka and a few characters losing a bit of their unique voicework in the process, fans will likely wish to stick with the original Japanese voice track. Whichever option is chosen all of the singing is still presented in Japanese which continues to serve as a wise decision.
Although the basic background music is fairly standard outside of the few occasions that instrumentals of other Love Live! songs are used fans will find that the performances this time around contain quite a variety of music with around nine performances happening throughout the season, including one from A-Rise. The opening theme for the second season is “Sore wa Bokutachi no Kiseki” while the ending is “Donna Toki mo Zutto” and both songs are performed by μ’s and are fitting with the rest of the soundtrack.
Extras Although NIS America has previously transitioned their premium edition releases into being more standard sized collector’s art boxes, Love Live! School Idol Project2nd Season’s Premium Edition returns to the original longbox format. This is a good choice considering fans who were able to pick up the first season will now be able to pair up both editions without one being shaped far differently than the other. The long chipboard art box contains colorful artwork featuring all nine members of μ’s in their school uniforms on one side and in their final performance outfits on the other.
The premium edition comes with two slim-pak cases containing the two Blu-ray discs and these are accompanied by a well put together art book that is the same size as the art box and features episode summaries, character descriptions, special artwork of characters, and artwork that has previously only been seen through promotional posters, making it a real treat for fans.
Overall The second season of Love Live! School Idol Project capitalizes on the extra time it has by already having a fairly established cast of characters by shining the spotlight on the few that needed extra attention and providing viewers with plenty of heartwarming and humorous moments with the group, allowing fans to see just how close he members of μ’s are to one another. With lighter touches of drama, an exceptional amount of performances, and plenty of emotional impact, Love Live! School Idol Project2nd Season will not disappoint fans by any means. Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
