Upcoming Games for Wii U and Nintendo 3DS on Show at EB Expo 2015
Super Smash Bros. amiibo Partner Battles, YO-KAI WATCH anime premiere, Super Mario Bros. selfie corner and more!
25th September 2015 – Nintendo has an exciting line-up of games at this year’s EB Games Expo from October 2-4, including unreleased titles like Star Fox Zero, The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes and YO-KAI WATCH, as well as fun range of activities to enjoy at the show and on the booth.
Playable on Nintendo 3DS, the Japanese cultural phenomenon YO-KAI WATCH will give fans a taste of the multimillion-selling role-playing game that’s on its way to the west, and a special premiere screening of the anime comedy series will take place before making its TV debut. The premiere screenings will be held at 4:30pm on Friday, and 8:30am on Saturday and Sunday before the show floor opens, with attendees able to take seats from 30 minutes prior to the screening.
Also playable on Nintendo 3DS, The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes, Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer and Skylanders SuperChargers Racing (with guest stars Bowser and Donkey Kong) round out the handheld offering on the booth. As always, the expo will be brimming with Nintendo 3DS consoles, so don’t forget to bring your own to collect those puzzles pieces and enjoy StreetPass functionality and multiplayer fun anywhere!
On Wii U, alongside the highly anticipated new entry to the Star Fox series, fans will be able to get their hands on Xenoblade Chronicles X – the epic RPG coming December 5 – and Project Zero: Maiden of Black Water – the chilling new adventure creeping into town October 31 – with plenty of family favourites such as Splatoon and Super Mario Maker available to play too.
There’ll also be fun stage activities right throughout the weekend with heaps of prizes to be won. Bring along your amiibo and compete in the Super Smash Bros. amiibo Partner Battles – by tapping on a compatible amiibo, players will team up with their Figure Players to take on other teams! On Wii U, massive 8-player battles featuring 4 teams of player and amiibo will be sure to excite, while 2 on 2 battles for the Nintendo 3DS will sort out the best Figure Player trainers in the land!
Finally, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Super Mario Bros. series, you can get your souvenir photo from the Super Mario Bros. selfie corner!
Stay tuned to the Nintendo Australia Facebook and Twitter pages for more information.
Please reply to this email if you would like to book an appointment to visit the booth for hands-on gameplay or other opportunities. Additional Links:
Overview The tales of Oda Nobunaga have been told in various forms throughout the years thought he most common theme tends to either feature the historical characters being female instead of male or mixing historical elements in with fantasy mech action. Nobunaga The Fool happens to be the latter with the extra twist of bringing additional historical names from Western history into the mix. Now that the first half of the series has been released, is this mixture of Eastern and Western history worth watching?
Story Set in a world where the planet has been split into the Eastern Star and Western Star, both planets derive power from the Dragon Veins that flow between the worlds. While the Western star flourishes under the rule of King Arthur in a European setting, the Eastern Star is filled with battles and wars between nations as the Japanese based world finds itself stuck in the Warring States Era of Japanese history.
Long after the deaths of their original bodies, Jeanne D’Arc and Oda Nobunaga have found themselves reborn on each of these worlds. Ever since she was young Jeanne has been seemingly cursed with the ability to see events that will happen in the future which has led to her being called a demon by her village while Nobunaga’s brash nature has led to him being called a foo and largely seen as a nuisance by the rest of his clansmen outside of his two friends Mitsuhide and Hideyoshi.
One day Jeanne witnesses a vision of the “Savior King” who appears to be living on the Eastern Planet and with the help of the genius war armor (mech suit) developer and inventor Leonardo Da Vinci who also happens to tell fortunes with tarot cards, she manages to reach the Eastern Planet with a freshly developed war armor where the pair just so happen to crash land near Nobunaga’s location after he laments his uselessness and vows to change the world after witnessing his clans’ soldiers be annihilated by the Takeda war armors.
With Nobunaga possibly being the one in Jeanne’s visions, especially after he manages to power up the war armor and tap into its potential, the pair swear allegiance to Nobunaga where they quickly find themselves embroiled in the Eastern Stars wars and political issues within the Oda clan. To make matters worse, those from the Western Star are seeking to invade the East and bring the planets under one rule, with Julius Caesar being the first one to arrive in a series that spends plenty of time focusing on action and putting a few twists on historical events.
Now if all of the historical name dropping didn’t give you the hint, Nobunaga The Fool is something of a mess as the series. The idea of bringing together various historical figures from European history and dropping them into the Warring States Era only with large mechs capable of unleashing special elemental powers if the user happens to be the owner of a “sacred treasure” at the same time is nonsensical at best and perhaps if handled by competent enough writers, may turn out okay.
However if these first thirteen episodes are anything to go by, the series unfortunately won’t deliver in any satisfying way. Those who have seen anything Oda Nobunaga related in the past or know their history will find most of the events that transpire to be entirely predictable as the series retells numerous events from Nobunaga’s life with different twists, such as his actions at his father’s funeral, the building of a castle overnight to fool an enemy, and more.
At the times that it comes together properly, Nobunaga The Fool does deliver on some entertaining sequences and a handful of the characters do come off as likable. Nobunaga does develop slightly over the course of the events that play out, most of them being tragic losses, Himiko plays a believable character who actually cares for Nobunaga, and both Da Vinci and Mitsuhide being interesting to watch whenever they are on screen or planning something though the majority of the cast so far gives viewers very little reason to care about them, such as Jeanne who is used for fan-service and jokes more often than she plays a real role in the story so far.
By attempting to mix together so many different historical, mystical, and technological elements together it feels like the writers were attempting to appeal to everyone at once and only created a mess that rarely comes together to deliver a worthwhile episode throughout these first thirteen. Despite the numerous flaws there are certain elements of intrigue that rise up from time to time, such as the political maneuvering of Mitsuhide and a few of the secrets that aren’t easily predicted by those who know anything about the history of the characters. Perhaps the numerous developments throughout this half will pay off in some way during the second half of the series, or so we can only hope.
Visuals Despite being a series that focuses on mech action with very few combat sequences not taking place in war armor, one would think that the focus of the animation studio would be to create memorable looking mech designs. Unfortunately that is far from the case with Nobunaga The Fool as many of the mechs are as bland as they come with even Nobunaga’s “The Fool” war armor barely standing out in any substantial way. This lack of quality transfers into the combat sequences as well since most battles tend to be flashy with very little actual movement.
The designs of the characters are at least somewhat unique with Himiko appearing rather unique and a number of the Western characters standing out quite a bit from the Eastern counterparts, though don’t expect too much excitement here as most of the animation remains rather simplistic with little motion outside of a few specific events meant to give some scenes some extra drama.
Audio Nobunaga The Fool Collection 1 has been released by Sentai Filmworks with an English dub track to accompany the original Japanese voice track and the quality is unfortunately fairly hit and miss. While some characters tend to sound okay, many of Nobunaga’s lines sound absolutely terrible due to localization efforts and the characters often inserting various Italian and French words into their dialogue (accompanied by translation notes) feels a bit desperate at times though at least all of the insert songs are still sung by the original Japanese voice actresses.
The background music is rather suitable for a series that finds itself sitting during the Warring States Era and as mentioned before, a number of insert songs do appear from time to time which is a nice touch. The opening theme for the first half “Fool the World” by Minori Chihara is quite enjoyable and fits the series well while the ending theme “Axis” by Stereo Dive Foundation is as generic as they come.
Extras As far as bonus content goes; this release is rather simplistic as it only features textless versions of the opening and ending animation accompanied by trailers for other Sentai Filmworks releases.
Overall Nobunaga The Fool is a series where the writers tried to cram every element possible into a series without thinking of how to develop anything properly. As a result, these first thirteen episodes feel like a mess that is being put together in an effort to create an entertaining series that occasionally succeeds in certain elements. Of course since these are only the first thirteen episodes, perhaps the second half will turn into something grand but unfortunately the first half doesn’t reflect well on the future.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Skyshine’s Bedlam was the first game to license The Banner Saga’s engine. Skyshine’s Bedlam may share similar turn based strategic combat, but Bedlam is an unforgiving place. Failure is permanent in this rogue-like, so players will need to master resource management and combat strategy to survive Bedlam.
Story
The mighty city of Bysantine has simply become too overcrowded. Outside its sturdy walls lay the wasteland known as Bedlam, a dangerous place filled with violent rogue AI and bands of marauders. The player takes on the role of The Mechanic, a mysterious figure promising to take a highly armoured Dozer full of immigrants and lead it through the chaos of Bedlam to the mythical Aztec City. Bedlam is filled with the standard post-apocalyptic cast of mutants, marauders, rogue A.I., and cyborgs who are more than happy to use violence to get their way. Fans of Mad Max, Borderlands, and Fallout will feel right at home in Bedlam’s gritty deserts.
Gameplay
Skyshine’s Bedlam is a rogue-like that mixes resource management and strategy RPGs together. The game is broken down to two main phases, the world map and combat. In the world map, players will guide their dozer through Bedlam, while managing the ever dwindling supplies. Travelling will take time, fuel, and food to complete. Random events occur after arriving in the new area, with players given some choices on how to approach the event. The results range from lost resources, meet ups with strange wanderers, and combat.
Players will need to plan their route ahead of time to acquire precious resources. The actual planning is a bit frustrating. The game’s map is composed of a bunch of small provinces, with absolutely no indication of the road ahead. Plans to arrive in an area to collect a marked resource node can result in an extremely roundabout path that drains more resources than expected. A way to see the next two or three possible moves from the current position would be a much better way of letting the player plan their course in the short term, while still maintaining some element of surprise in the long term.
From the map screen, players can upgrade their vehicle, providing lower consumption of resources and faster healing of away teams. These upgrades cost power cells, which are also needed for Equalizer abilities and Dozer weapons during combat. Players are stuck with the hard decision to invest precious power cells for long term efficiency versus short term survival during the next combat phase.
Combat rates on the simple end of tactical RPGs. Before combat starts, players will assign up to four crew members to their away team. There are four classes: tanky Frontliners, Deadeye glass cannons, close combat specializing Trenchers, and well-rounded Gunslingers. Engaging in combat with only three away team members will award the player with extra meat and crude, encouraging the player to only send the exact number of crew members they think they will need. Crew members that are particularly successful at killing the enemy level up after a certain number of kills, giving them a healthy stat boost. Additionally, special elite units will join the crew after they are defeated in combat or a certain item is presented to them. Because of the stat bonuses given to elite units and veterans, other team members quickly become cannon fodder to be sacrificed at any given moment. Additionally, losing one of the powerful characters can be at times frustratingly impossible to bounce back from.
Players can only perform two actions per turn, with movement and attacking counting as one action. I’m not a fan of the short number of actions per turn, as it gives combat a really unpleasant rhythm. Players can also freely spend power cells to perform Equalizer abilities and use Dozer weapons, which can completely turn the tide of a pitched battle. As players explore Bedlam, the inhabitants become more aware of the Dozer’s presence and will begin to throw more and more enemies at the player, making combat increasingly difficult. Combat itself is painfully repetitive due to the limited number of power cells, the focus on elite units, and the singular objective of “kill everyone.”
The game’s controls are very simple and elegant. Gamers only need to use a mouse to control the game. In combat, players right click a square to move their crew member to the box and left click to attack. It is a foolproof control scheme.
Visuals
Skyshine’s Bedlam is a perfect comic book version of the post apocalypse wasteland. The art style is bright and bold, looking like a less aggressive version of Borderland’s art style. The graphic options are a bit on the sparse side, with the game only offering fullscreen and windowed options. For those preferring to play on a smaller window, the game can be resized to whatever suits the player in Windowed mode. Fullscreen mode will automatically default to the desktop resolution.
Audio
The audio experience is solid. The voice acting is a little over the top, but it fits the comic book style rather well. The soundtrack is an enjoyable listen. Skyshine’s Bedlam’s audio options are just as Spartan as the graphic options, with players only able to toggle the music and sound effects on or off. A volume slider is sorely missed.
Overall
Hardcore fans of rogue-likes looking for something different from the hundreds of rogue-like action RPG that currently flood the market will probably have a great time with Skyshine’s Bedlam. Though the game has a solid audio/visual presentation, the game struggles with repetitive and boring combat and the feeling of being too random to be strategic at times. The developers seem committed on making serious balance changes to the game post launch, with a major patch implementing some big changes released shortly after launch. Unfortunately, it is difficult to recommend Skyshine’s Bedlam to all but the most hardcore at this point in time. Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
In a rather low key announcement through the official Life is Strange Twitter account, the development team have confirmed that the final episode in the five part series will be aiming for an October 20th release.
Titled “Polarized”, Episode 5 will bring the sleeper hit series to an end. The Dontnod Team have stressed that things can happen that might push back the release date, but they are really aiming to have the game in the players hands by October 20th. It should be noted episode 5 is already behind the unofficial schedule, as initially an episode was to be released every six weeks.
AnimEigo had a panel at the Anime Weekend Atlanta convention this weekend. Robert Woodhead made a post on Twitter a few days before Saturday that suggested that there would be an announcement made regarding Riding Bean, and he then confirmed at the panel that there will be a Riding BeanKickstarter project launching later this year. He also announced that there will be a Kickstarter campaign for AD Police in early 2016.
AIC produced the Riding Bean OVA in 1989. The Kickstarter project was initially intended to begin in the past summer. AnimEigo previously released AD Police on DVD in North America over a decade ago. It has not yet been revealed whether or not the Kickstarter project is for a remastered Blu-ray release.
Right Stuf recently revealed that Viz Media informed them that the Death Note Omega Edition Blu-ray Release has been delayed from its initial release date of December 1, 2015, to March 1, 2016. The same goes for the regular edition Blu-ray release of the 37-episode anime series.
The regular edition will feature all 37 episodes of Death Note on Blu-ray with Japanese, English, French, Spanish and Portuguese audio and English, French, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles. The Omega Edition will feature the same and also the two Re-Light films with Japanese, English and French audio and English and French subtitles. Physical bonuses to come with the Omega Edition include an artbook and a premium metallic chipboard box.
The Omega Edition can be pre-ordered from Right Stuf here. It has a suggested retail price of $69.99 USD. The regular edition can be pre-ordered from Right Stuf here. It has a suggested retail price of $54.97 USD. Retailer prices may vary for both editions.
Ponycan USA has announced their plans to release the 2015 anime series Rokka -Braves of the Six Flowers on home video in North America. Collector’s Edition 1 will be released on December 10, 2015, with Collector’s Editions 2 and 3 to follow on February 10, 2016, and April 10, 2016, respectively. Pre-orders for Collector’s Edition 1 will be available from October 10, 2015 from Right Stuf. Ponycan provided a synopsis of the series:
Legend says, when the Demon God awakens from the deepest of darkness, the Goddess of Fate will summon Six Braves and grant them with the power to save the world. Adlet, who claims to be the strongest man in the world, is chosen as one of the “Braves of the Six Flowers,” and sets out on a battle to prevent the resurrection of the Demon God. However, it turns out that there are Seven Braves who gathered at the promised land…
The Seven Braves notice there must be one enemy among themselves, and feelings of suspicion toward each other spreads throughout the group, with Adlet being the one who gets suspected first and foremost.
Thus begins an overwhelming fantasy adventure that brings upon mystery after mystery!
The Japanese cast list is as follows (character/actor):
Adlet – Soma Saito
Nachetanya – Yoko Hikasa
Flamie – Aoi Yuki
Hans – Kenichi Suzumura
Maura – Rina Satoh
Chamot – Ai Kakuma
Goldov – Koki Uchiyama
The staff list is as follows:
Original Story – Ishio Yamagata (Shueisha/DashX)
Original Illustrator – Miyagi
Director – Takeo Takahashi
Script/Screenplay – Tatsuhiko Urahata
Assistant Director – Hijiri Sanpei
Prop Design – Yoshinori Iwanaga
Monster Design – Tatsuya Fukushima
Color Design – Hitomi Sano
Art Design – Hiroshi Kato
Art Director – Hirotsugu Kakoi
Director of Photography – Hiroshi Inoue
Music – Michiru Oshima
Sound Director – Yoshikazu Iwanami
Animation Production – Passione
The full details of Collector’s Edition 1 and the following releases will be revealed in the near future.
The third Girls Make Games summer camp will be held in Sydney from January 11th to 22nd and in Melbourne from January 18th to 28th. It’s an ideal opportunity for girls learn the basics of game design, art, and programming from professional game developers. At the end of the camp, girls will show off their indie creations at the Demo Day.
There are two programs, one designed for girls 8-11 and one for girls 12-15. Camps run every day from 10 am to 4pm, with early drop off and late pick up options available for busy parents. Tuition cost is $1,300 AUD, though financial aid for up to 100% of the price is available on an as needed basis.
LearnDistrict is running the summer camps an are looking for volunteers from the industry to provide their expertise and people to donate to the financial aid fund. More information is available at the Girls Make Games website.
NBA 2K16 is now available, and a launch trailer by 2K Games has released, showing players exactly what they should expect from the much loved franchise that is going to feature a full narrative this time around.
While the trailer doesn’t show much Frequency Vibrations, it does show the teams and general fun of the game of basketball as well as a few players hamming it up – with a good dose of slow-motion shots and general graphical displays that fans are sure to enjoy. Check out everything below and you can pick up your copy of 2K16 where games are sold.
Although Stella Glow is a strategy RPG, one of the core mechanics of the game happens to be the extremely rare skill known as Song Magic. Possessed by only five people, all of whom are Witches, the songs they sing have powerful consequences, capable of turning the tide of the battle by buffing allies, damaging enemies, or even changing the nature of the battlefield.
Atlus USA has released a new trailer focusing on Song Magic and you can check it out below where it shows that in Stella Glow players will first need to fill a Song Stone gauge that can then allow one of your allied witches to begin singing one of their songs, with time spent in Free Time with the Witches unlocking additional songs by growing closer to them and diving into their Spirit World in a manner very similar to a separate franchise.
