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December 3, 2015

UBISOFT^®’S RAYMAN^® ADVENTURES NOW AVAILABLE ON SMARTPHONES & TABLETS

20-year-old iconic Ubisoft character embarks on a new adventure with the Incrediballs

RAYMAN ADVENTURES LAUNCH ASSET PACK: DOWNLOAD HERE

London – December 3, 2015 – Today, Ubisoft announced that Rayman Adventures, the latest installment of the award-winning Rayman^® franchise developed by Ubisoft Montpellier, is now available for download on the App Store and Google Play.

In Rayman Adventures, our famous limbless hero and his Viking companion, Barbara, take off on a legendary adventure to breathe new life into the Sacred Tree. From haunted medieval castles to the Enchanted Forest, players will embark on a quest with Rayman to travel through action-packed worlds in order to rescue the Incrediballs and unleash their powers. Once out of their eggs, the quirky creatures will team up with the player and help them explore, fight and race through the levels.

Rayman Adventures combines both exploration and action, offering players the possibility to fully explore the different worlds at their own pace and follow their own path to uncover hidden secrets and battle minotaurs, bandits and monsters. Players can challenge with their friends to grow the tallest tree by achieving the highest scores and competing against each other for the best time in the time attack levels. More than 150 levels are available at launch and numerous others will be released via regular updates.

Rayman Adventures is also currently available for download from the App Store on Apple TV by Apple^®. 20 new levels have been added to this version, matching the 150 levels of the mobile version. The mobile version also displays the Rayman channel, in which players will discover pictures and videos made by the studio as well as the best fan-art created by the community.

The Rayman franchise has recently reached a milestone in its development by celebrating its 20^th anniversary with more than 28 million units sold worldwide.

Powered by UbiArt Framework, the engine allows the development of high-quality 2D games to reach a level of console-like graphics that enhance the player’s experience. Rayman Adventures’ intuitive and easy controls offer more freedom thanks to just a single-finger touch on the screen.

For more information about the game, please visit www.raymanadventures.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.

Apple, the Apple logo, Apple TV, Siri, Siri Remote, tvOS, Apple TV App Store, iTunes, iPhone, iPad, Metal and Xcode are trademarks of Apple. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

THE ADVENTURES OF POKÉMON RUMBLE WORLD TO BE RELEASED AS A COMPLETE PACKAGE ON NINTENDO 3DS

Press Releases

Philip Federico

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December 3, 2015

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THE ADVENTURES OF POKÉMON RUMBLE WORLD TO BE RELEASED AS A COMPLETE PACKAGE ON NINTENDO 3DS

All-inclusive content with new and updated functionality — Pokémon Rumble World arrives at retail in Australia and New Zealand on January 23, 2016

3^rd December, 2015 – Pokémon Rumble World is set to launch in Australia and New Zealand as a packaged game from January 23 for Nintendo 3DS family systems at a suggested retail price of AU$49.95. Originally released as a downloadable game on Nintendo eShop in April of this year, this packaged version will provide the full Pokémon Rumble World experience, alongside a number of features reconfigured especially for this packaged version of the game. This adventure in the wonderful world of Toy Pokémon does not feature any additional paid-for content.

As you begin to explore the kingdom of toys in the guise of your Mii character, the king greets you and explains his frustration at having only one Pokémon. In contrast, he knows a mysterious magician who has 10 of them! The king is upset and enlists your help in collecting more Pokémon than the pesky magician has, thus showing him a thing or two about collecting Pokémon! Accompanied by the king’s own Pikachu, you embark on your heroic voyages via hot-air balloon to places where wild Toy Pokémon await discovery!

You, along with your Personal Mii, will collect Pokémon through thrilling gameplay, challenging stages and by collecting essential items. Every existing Legendary Pokémon can be discovered and collected, with Mega-Evolving Pokémon joining the battles. Plus, your Adventure Rank will increase the more Pokémon you collect.

Not only Pokémon appear in Pokémon Rumble World. Your Mii character appears, as well as the Mii characters of players you pass, leading to adventures for Pokémon and Mii characters together. You can enable this mode by connecting your Nintendo 3DS or 2DS system to the internet and also activating StreetPass. Then Mii characters from near and far are able to visit one another’s games and provide mutual support in future battles.

The packaged version includes newly reconfigured features such as Poké Diamonds, the Poké Diamond Digger and VIP Cards, whilst removing the paid content component.

Poké Diamonds make your adventures more fun and help you along in your mission to discover Pokémon for the king. After completing the tutorial, visit the shop to receive your allotment of 3,000 Poké Diamonds. In addition, you will also be able to access the Poké Diamond Digger. The Poké Diamond Digger will provide you with 40 new Poké Diamonds every day. Once you obtain 3,000 Poké Diamonds and the Poké Diamond Digger, a special VIP Card feature will open up. There are two VIP Cards, the Balloon VIP Card and the Timing Stop VIP Card and they can be used to more easily voyage through the wonderful kingdom of Toy Pokémon, collecting more Pokémon for the king!

Players can look forward to the all-in-one Pokémon Rumble World package at retail locations from January 23, 2016 (SRP AU$49.95).

Additional links:

Nintendo Australia Website: http://www.nintendo.com.au
Nintendo Australia Twitter: https://twitter.com/NintendoAUNZ
Nintendo Australia Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NintendoAUNZ
Nintendo AU on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/nintendoau

The Goonies Review

Mateja Simovic

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December 3, 2015

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The Goonies
Studio: Amblin Entertainment
Publisher: Warner Bros
Format: Cinema
Release Date: Out Now

Overview

The Goonies is a much beloved children’s film, directed by Richard Donner and created by Steven Spielberg, it has accrued a fairly significant cult following. This film is so popular that its been referenced in pretty much all levels of popular culture with references to it in Family Guy and Yugioh! The Abridged Series. Having never seen the film myself, I was very interested in having a look at the film with In the House.

After moseying on down to George St cinemas, I was greeted with the traditional In the House pre-film shenanigans. Hosted by Jason ‘Jabba’ Davis and David ‘Quinny’ Quinn (the latter via pre-recorded message), the audience were treated to various bits of interesting film trivia and a ‘truffle shuffle’ competition. It was a pleasant appetiser before we got to the main course of the evening; the film.

Story

The narrative centres around the adventure of the eponymous ‘Goonies’, a group of kids living in the Goon Docks area of Astoria. The group includes everyman Mikey Walsh (Sean Astin), his older brother Brand (Josh Brolin), nerdy gadget guy ‘Data’ (Ke Huy Quan), wise-cracking ‘Mouth’ (Corey Feldman), and the hilarious/obnoxious ‘Chunk’ (Jeff Cohen). Facing displacement due to the foreclosure of their homes by an expanding country club, the friends decide to follow an old pirate treasure map in the hopes that they’ll find the hidden gold and save their homes. Along the way, they have to deal with dangers of the murderous Fratelli crime family and the deadly traps of the pirate treasure trove.

The film’s narrative gets into its stride after the first twenty minutes or so when the kids set off on their grand adventure. The first act is quite slow and ponderous in setting up the various characters alongside the motivation of the goonies to save their homes. Luckily, things pick up once they actually embark on their quest in the second act and climaxes nicely in the third act. Compared to the latter half, the film’s first act is quite dull but it’s understandable that the film wanted to get some context into the adventure.

All of the characters are painted in fairly broad strokes with little depth to their character beyond their assigned trait. The one note they play, whether it’s the smart inventor or the smart alek is presented to us from the first moment they’re given screen time. Normally, this lack of depth would be a drawback to a movie but I feel that these one-dimensional characters helped to streamline. By taking focus away from the characters, we end up focusing more on the action and I believe this plays to the film’s favour. We aren’t worried about character arcs or complex motivations and I guess you don’t really need to in what is ostensibly a children’s adventure film.

What surprised me most about this film was how it doesn’t molly coddle its intended audience. For a children’s movie, there is certainly a lot of death and quite terrifying danger which the characters are confronted with. I’m not sure whether children’s programming nowadays is allowed to show corpses and half-rotted skeletons but evidently there were no such restrictions in the 80s with the film’s extensive cast of post-mortem characters. The sense of physical threat is also quite pronounced in this film as one the child characters is threatened with getting their hand blended. Basically, if you have child who is very easily upset (or you want to shelter from such things) then I wouldn’t recommend bringing them to see this film. The child characters also swear quite clearly and there are a number of innuendos hidden throughout the script, but if your child is alright with death then they’ll probably be fine with some naughty words here and there.

With that in mind, the Fratellis play an interesting part as the antagonists in this film. From the outset, they are shown as equal parts clumsy and clever with a mean streak a mile wide. In particular I loved the performance by Anne Ramsey as Agatha ‘Mama’ Fratelli, the matriarch and terrible mother of the Fratelli family. The three Fratelli brothers are also with Jake (Robert Davi) and Francis (Joe Pantoliano) showing a reasonable turn as slapstick villains. Sloth (John Matuszak) does a great turn in presenting the audience with one of the film’s most complex characters who is notionally a villain but ultimately becomes the film’s hero. There might be some concerns about this portrayal of a differently-abled person as a monster (at least at first), but I would argue that since the film does portray them with some degree of nuance and the protagonists’ opinion of them does change that the film does avoid straying into ableistic territory. I, of course, invite people who know more about disability activism and media portrayal to please comment/correct/elaborate on their opinion on this aspect of the film.

Visuals & Audio

The direction of the film throughout is typically adept with the cuts giving us a coherent sense of space throughout the action. The visual design of the sets is par excellence with the actors moving around, playing with, and reacting to the environment that they’re supposed to be in. I do have a bias for physical sets when it comes film making as it helps to give a sense of location to both audience and performer. The underground cove of the pirate ship is quite a sight and the ship itself is a fun space that a can spark the imagination of a child.

The orchestral soundtrack, composed and conducted by Dave Grusin, complements the film. Its composition is reminiscent of other adventure movies you might recognise such as the Indiana Jones series. There are plenty of fast-paced strings which help reinforce a sense of urgency. The music keeps up with tone of the action but ultimately didn’t leave to much of an impression on me when the film was over.

Overall

It was immediately easy to see why this film appealed to kids back when it was released and appeals to adults now that it’s nostalgic. The story is simple but effective for framing the adventure, with the exception being the slow pace of the first act. The characters are simple and one-dimensional but saving time on character development helps keep the focus on the action. The sets and direction are great with a solid complement by the soundtrack. It’s was a pleasure to see a film which was undoubtedly a part of so many people’s childhood up on the big screen. It’s the not the best movie of its kind I’ve ever seen, but it’s still pretty darn good. I commend In the House for bringing this back to a cinema and giving us the chance to experience the wonder and excitement of hunting for pirate treasure with friends once more!

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.

Dragon Ball Super Episode 5 Issues Corrected with Home Release

Nathan Farrugia

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December 3, 2015

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Dragon Ball Super Episode 5 Issues Corrected with Home Release

For those following along with Dragon Ball Super one way or another, you might remember episode 5 as the now infamous terribly drawn episode where Goku fought Beerus for the very first time utilising his three main Super Saiyan forms. Fans were wondering if the poor art and animation would be corrected for the home release as does happen in some instances. Now with the release of the first season of Dragon Ball Super on Blu-ray and DVD in Japan and thanks to Japanese Twitter user @iza_dbwj it is confirmed that some scenes have indeed been improved!

Some touch ups are a lot more noticeable than others but it’s a large improvement none the less. Anime in Japan, especially long weekly running series such as Dragon Ball and Naruto often have these kind of issues due to the hasty release schedule but it’s nice to see Toei taking some time to fix these mistakes. An international release for Super is still a long while away and a home release even further, although it was announced last month that an English dub would be produced, however it would not be by Funimation (who I still fully expect to receive the dubbing rights to Dragon Ball Super as well eventually, if they haven’t begun work on it already).

地味な修正もあり pic.twitter.com/sXb3LkOuS5
— イザ (@iza_dbwj) December 2, 2015

Feel free to check out our full review of the Battle of Gods arc of Dragon Ball Super before you leave and stay with us for all the Dragon Ball news as it becomes available. Feel free to let us know what you think of these animation touch ups in the comments below.

Croixleur Sigma’s English PlayStation 4 Release Set for December

Travis Bruno

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December 3, 2015

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Croixleur Sigma’s English PlayStation 4 Release Set for December

Croixleur Sigma‘s publisher Playism has announced that the title will be released on the PlayStation 4 as a digital download a bit later this month in North America and it will be priced at $14.99. Croixleur Sigma‘s PlayStation 4 version features a rather large graphical improvement over the original PC release of Souvenir Circle’s title but also adds a number of new playable characters that can be used in other modes outside of the story mode.

Players will be able to unlock additional weaponry, outfits, and accessories for the characters and even some new special attack animations. These female warriors must compete against each other in a bid to take control of the country’s military and political power and the only way to do so is to fight through a tower filled with monsters. Those who are attending PlayStation Experience this weekend will have a chance to play the title as it will be available at Playism’s booth.

Hanabee’s Website Reveals Two New Anime Releases for January 2016

K. Roberts

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December 3, 2015

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Hanabee’s Website Reveals Two New Anime Releases for January 2016

Hanabee Entertainment’s online store has revealed two new upcoming anime releases. Both of the following releases are currently scheduled for January 26, 2016.

Blade & Soul will be released on DVD and Blu-ray. Episodes 1-13 will be featured across two discs with Japanese audio and English subtitles. The on-disc extras will include the textless opening and ending animation.

The Irregular at Magic High School Part 3 will also be released on DVD and Blu-ray. Episodes 19-27 will be featured across two discs with Japanese audio and English subtitles. The on-disc extras will include features titled “Get to Know Magic Studies” and the textless animation.

Hanabee released the first part of The Irregular at Magic High School earlier this year in Australia on August 13 and the second part of it on October 15.

Yen Press Acquires Asterisk War, Re:Zero, and Sword Oratoria Light Novels and More

Travis Bruno

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December 3, 2015

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Yen Press Acquires Asterisk War, Re:Zero, and Sword Oratoria Light Novels and More

Yen Press took to Twitter today to announce that they had quite a bit of good news for fans of their light novel releases and even a little bit for manga fans as well. The company revealed that they have acquired the Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Sword Oratoria light novel series, which is a side-story of the core series that follows Aiz Wallenstein instead of Bell and they will begin releasing the light novels in 2016.

The company also announced that they have acquired the license for both the manga and the light novel of The Asterisk War and will begin releasing it in summer 2016. The Asterisk War currently has an anime airing in Japan which has been licensed by FUNimation but the series itself began as the licensed light novels back in 2012 with a total of nine volumes being produced so far and three manga volumes being released.

Finally the company closed out their announcements by revealing the pick-up for Re:Zero‘s light novels and manga which they plan on releasing in summer 2016. There are currently seven volumes for the light novel which has spawned a number of manga adaptations since it began. The story for Re:Zero follows a high school student who is lost in a strange world where he is then rescued by a silver-haired girl.

Despite wanting to try and repay her, both the boy and his savior are slain in combat but it is then that the boy realizes that he has the ability to rewind death, the only problem is that he is the only one that remembers what happened prior to the rewind.

Holy Corpse Rising Manga License Added by Seven Seas Entertainment

Travis Bruno

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December 3, 2015

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Seven Seas Entertainment‘s licensing binge continues with a brand new announcement today to go along with the multiple announcements made over the last few days.

This time around the company has announced that they have picked up the license to Hosana Tanaka’s Holy Corpse Rising manga series. The manga began running in October 2015 and has so far reached two volumes in length and Seven Seas is planning on releasing the first volume in English on November 29. 2016.

Holy Corpse Rising takes place in fifteenth century Rome where witches have declared war against humanity. A young man named Nikola, whose parents were murdered in front of him by a witch, has discovered the key to winning the war against the evil witches.

He finds that by using sorcery obtained through many years of study he can revive twleve witches that are known as the “First Witches” who will become his allies in order to defeat them. The only problem is that to do so he must marry each of them.

Fallen Legion, a 2D Action RPG, Announced for PlayStation 4

Travis Bruno

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December 3, 2015

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Acttil has announced that they are working with developer YummyYummyTummy and Mintsphere to bring Fallen Legion, a side-scrolling RPG to the PlayStation 4 in summer 2016. Fallen Legion will be released as a digital download for a currently unannounced price. The story begins with Princess Cecile standing on a battlefield with her army supporting her.

With an army of beasts approaching she has been given a special Grimoire by her recently passed father that allows her to breathe life into weaponry. You can check out a few screenshots as well as a teaser trailer below and those looking for more info on the story can check out the outline from the official website below:

For ages, Fenumia has ruled over the vast continent,
and now the crown has been passed down to the princess.
Among the artifacts of the recently departed king lies a sentient book that
holds timeless knowledge and an extraordinary power to breathe life into weaponry.
Guided by this mysterious tome,
the unwavering Princess Cecille journeys on a personal quest
to restore her kingdom to its former glory.
As she travels beyond the castle borders,
however, she finds nothing is truly as it seems.
How far will she go to save her home…?

Japanese Sensation YO-KAI WATCH™ Launches in Australia and New Zealand on Saturday

Press Releases

Philip Federico

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December 3, 2015

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Japanese Sensation YO-KAI WATCH™ Launches in Australia and New Zealand on Saturday

Free Demo Now Available to Download on Nintendo 3DS eShop

3^rd December – Do your socks go missing in the dryer? Are you constantly shopping for useless stuff? Or maybe you can’t stop spilling all of your secrets? All of this could be caused by Yo-kai! Hundreds of these sometimes spooky, sometimes cute and usually mischievous Yo-kai secretly inhabit our world. They can’t be seen by the human eye, but they’re hiding everywhere! In YO-KAI WATCH™ – an original game from top Japanese entertainment company LEVEL-5 Inc. – which launches exclusively for the Nintendo 3DS family of systems on 5^th December, you must explore the in-game world to find and befriend more than 200 of these Yo-kai, each with unique skills, strengths and personalities.

The Nintendo 3DS games have sold more than 8 million copies in Japan, and the local release will soon be joined by the highly anticipated animated comedy series which debuts on the Nine Network’s GO! Channel on Monday 14th December, as well as a fun toy and DVD range which will be making a splash as part of a wider entertainment blitz in stores nationally from February 2016.

After selecting to play as a male or female character, you begin an adventure in an expansive world filled with hidden Yo-kai waiting to be discovered. As you explore the world, you will encounter Whisper, the self-proclaimed “Yo-kai Butler,” who entrusts you with a Yo-kai Watch. With this special watch, you’ll be able to see Yo-kai everywhere in town and even befriend them. Befriending new Yo-kai is not always easy, though – in many cases, you will need to battle with them and impress them during your battle. Once befriended, you’ll receive a Yo-kai medal as proof of your new friendship. Then you can summon your new friends with their Yo-kai Medals, form a team and challenge troublemaking Yo-kai or solve the problems of people in need. Finding all the Yo-kai in the game (especially the rare ones) and seeing their inspired names and charming designs is all part of the fun.

As you collect Yo-kai throughout the game, you can form teams of six Yo-kai at a time. Since each Yo-kai has different abilities, it will take strategy to form the right team and gain the upper hand when confronting particularly troublesome Yo-kai. By strategically initiating Soultimate Moves and purifying your friendly Yo-kai using the touch screen of the Nintendo 3DS system, you can gain the advantage in battle. You can even feed your Yo-kai food, beverages and medicine in battle to heal them. Your assistance and leadership in battle is crucial to success.

Be part of the newest cultural phenomenon when YO-KAI WATCH arrives in stores and in Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS from 5th December in Australia and New Zealand (SRP AU$59.95). A free demo of the game is now available to try in select stores and to download in Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS, and for people looking to take their first step into the wonderful world of Nintendo handheld gaming, two value-bundles will be available, each including a Nintendo 2DS system (Black/Blue or White/Red) and a copy of YO-KAI WATCH, all for a suggested retail price of AU$169.95! If purchased separately, the Nintendo 2DS hardware and game would have suggested retail prices of AU$149.95 and AU$59.95 respectively.

Alongside the video game, from 14th December the YO-KAI WATCH animated TV show will be broadcast weekdays at 8:30am and repeated at 1:30pm on Nine Network’s GO! Channel. From February, the DVD series will be released through Roadshow, and Hasbro will introduce an innovative YO-KAI WATCH toy range centred around collectible medals, which each represent a unique Yo-kai.