Playtonic’s spiritual successor to Banjo-Kazooie formerly known as Project Ukelele has had some big details revealed. First off, the games name real name is Yooka-Laylee (pretty clever their Playtonic) and the lead characters are thus, Yooka, a chameleon, and Laylee, a fruit bat. There is no doubt the inspiration for these characters, the name and even the entire game came from the much loved Banjo-Kazooie.
As expected, the two characters work together and use their unique abilities to fight enemies and run around the world. So far we’ve seen Yooka roll into a ball to go faster and Laylee carry Yooka to perform an extended jump, much like how Kazooie used to carry Banjo. It is also reported Yooka can use her tongue like a grappling hook and Laylee can perform a sonar blast attack.
The Kickstarter for the game begins tomorrow and based on it’s success, Yooka-Laylee will be coming to PC, Mac, PS4, Xbox One and Wii U. All backers will be able to pick up the game for about $15 U.S. when the final version is released. We’ll bring more details once the Kickstarter goes live tomorrow at 5pm BST (midnight in Australia) where heaps of new media including much anticipated tracks from the games soundtrack are set to be revealed.
Please let us know in the comments below your thoughts on these new heroes. It took me a little time to warm up to them but I think they will be great in action. For some reason I’m really hoping Yooka is a girl and that has been teased on Twitter so there is a good chance that will come true.
Not much has been heard from OVERKILL’s The Walking Dead since its announcement back in August of last year. Today, Starbreeze Studios has announced that the game will be released on current generation consoles with 505 Games handling the publishing end.
“Partnering with 505 Games partner with us on the console publishing for ‘OVERKILL’s The Walking Dead’ will streamline the distribution and marketing of the title in the traditional space and on the digital console marketplace. Having worked together before on the successful PAYDAY-franchise, we are certain this will be a fruitful collaboration.” said Bo Andersson Klint, CEO of Starbreeze Studios.
OVERKILL Software is best known for the Payday series, so this game will not play like the Telltale Games adventure series. It is also based in the comic universe rather than the AMC television series, so it will not be like Activision’s The Walking Dead: Survival Instincts either. OVERKILL’s The Walking Dead is said to play more as a hybrid between a survival horror game and a co-op action shooter. And with Robert Kirkman on board working with the development team, this may very well be a great game based on the immensely popular comic series.
OVERKILL’s The Walking Dead is slated for release on Windows PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One sometime in 2016. Check out the announcement trailer after the jump.
Earlier today, Jerry Seinfeld walked on stage to answer a very important question that many have been wondering for a long time: When will we be able to binge-watch all of Seinfeld from the comfort of our barcalounger without having to get up and change discs? Well, Mr. Seinfeld announced this morning at the 2015 Hulu Upfronts that Hulu has acquired the exclusive SVOD (streaming video on-demand) rights to Sony Pictures Television’s extremely popular television series, Seinfeld.
Until this deal, Seinfeld was only available to stream on Sony’s Crackle SVOD service (the same service that Seinfeld’s current web series, Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, calls home). And even with that, only a select few episodes are chosen each month to stream. With this new deal, all 180 episodes from all nine seasons of the hit “show about nothing” will arrive on Hulu’s streaming service for all to re-discover and even for a few new viewers to discover. This isn’t the first time in 2015 that a ’90s NBC comedy series reached SVOD. Beginning January 1 this year, the complete series of Friends came to Netflix.
The 2015 Hulu Upfronts also announced a few new series, including 11/22/63, a mini-series based on the 2011 Stephen King novel about a high school history teacher travelling back in time to stop the assassination of President John F. Kennedy starring James Franco; Difficult People, a comedy series starring Julie Klausner and Billy Eichner as awkward best friends living in New York City; and RocketJump: The Show, a half-hour comedy series from Freddie Wong and the creative minds at RocketJump chronicling the filmmaking behind the newest RocketJump short. For more, read the full announcement at the Hulu blog.
The details of Woody Allen‘s latest film with Sony Pictures Classics, like the details of most of his films, have been kept secret. According to one its stars, Parker Posey, she had to rely on merely having 20 pages of the script and her co-stars, like Joaquin Phoenix. But now, we all have a trailer and can piece together what the writer/director has in store for us with this year’s cinematic entry.
Here’s the trailer for Woody Allen’s Irrational Man:
In Irrational Man, Phoenix plays a philosophy professor having an existential crisis (i.e. the character that Allen would have portrayed himself had this film been made in the ’70s or ’80s). When one of his students — played by Allen’s newest young muse, Emma Stone — begins spending time with him, his depression and debilitating anxiety begin to disappear.
Personally, I am loving Emma Stone as Woody Allen’s current ingénue. Joining the likes of Diane Keaton, Mia Farrow, and Scarlett Johansson, Irrational Man is Stone’s second film in the same number of years with the prolific filmmaker, following 2014’s Magic in the Moonlight. And no matter one’s feelings regarding the director’s work, actors of every caliber always look to work with Allen and his now classic brand of filmmaking.
Irrational Man will premiere this May at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival before hitting theatres on July 17 (same day as Marvel’s Ant-Man). It is written and directed by Woody Allen, starring Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone, Parker Posey, and Jamie Blackley.
With the regional sections of the Australian Pokemon Video Game Championships & TCG Championships well underway, Nintendo Australia have announced further details regarding the National event which is expected to draw in over 900 players in what is now a three day event over the Queens Birthday long weekend. The event takes place in Melbourne at the Melbourne Park Function Centre on June 6th – June 8th with different stages on the tournament on each day. Full details are below.
Saturday: Qualifying Rounds Trading Card Game, Pre-Registration Video Game
Sunday: Qualifying Rounds Video Game
Monday: Finals Video Game and Trading Card Game
Players will compete for Championship points which can then see them off to the world Championships in Boston U.S.A. Making the top 2 at Nationals will most likely see you through to the Worlds as the amount of points you gain is huge compared to normal.
Don’t forget that the regional level tournaments for each state are happening at this time, with two already having been played and one in Melbourne being played on this Sunday at Collingwood. Check out our recent article to see all the details on how the Pokemon Championships work including how to register, where to play and how Championship Points work.
It has been a long time since a WWE game got a PC release, but 2K Games have delivered on that front and are bringing WWE 2K15 to the platform. Launching today, the release will of course include the launch product as well as the DLC in a bundled price of sorts. Yes, it is a decent deal as a whole.
The main game will not change at all aside from the usual, so take a look at the DLC that will also launch this fall for the main product that you can get for free if you take the plunge. Keep in mind Hogan and Sting are readily available:
WCW Pack
Playable WCW Superstars: Bam Bam Bigelow, Diamond Dallas Page, Fit Finlay, Lord Steven Regal and Lex Luger;
NXT® ArRIVAL Pack
Playable Former WWE Champion, NXT General Manager and Monday Night Raw announcer: JBL®;
Playable NXT Superstars: Adam Rose™ and The Ascension™ (Konnor™ and Viktor™);
Playable NXT Diva: Emma™;
New Moves Pack
More than 30 new moves, including an alternate version of Sister Abigail (made popular by Bray Wyatt™), the Gutwrench Suplex (made popular by Cesaro™), Rack Attack (made popular by Nikki Bella™) and Running Knee Smash (made popular by Brie Bella™), as well as the Uso Crazy and Spinning Powerbomb (made popular by Jimmy Uso® and Jey Uso®);
Accelerator
Instant access to all unlockable content available in the game;
2K Showcase: One More Match
Story focused on the rivalry between WWE Superstars Randy Orton® and Christian® in 2011;
Playable WWE Superstars (2011 versions): Christian, Randy Orton, Edge®, Mark Henry® and Sheamus®;
Playable arenas from 2011: SmackDown®, Extreme Rules®, Over the Limit® and Capitol Punishment™;
2K Showcase: Hall of Pain
Playable WWE Superstars (2011 versions): Mark Henry, Big Show®, Kane®, Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso, Sheamus, The Great Khali®, Randy Orton, Daniel Bryan® and Ryback®;
Playable arenas: SmackDown (2011), Vengeance® (2011) and WrestleMania® 29;
2K Showcase: Path of the Warrior
Story focused on the career of WWE Hall of Famer Ultimate Warrior;
Playable WWE Hall of Famers: Ultimate Warrior (1989-1996), Hulk Hogan (1990), Andre the Giant (1988), Sgt. Slaughter (1991) and “Macho Man” Randy Savage (1991);
Playable WWE Legends: Honky Tonk Man (1988), Rick Rude (1990) and Colonel Mustafa (1991);
Playable WWE Superstars: Undertaker (1991) and Hunter Hearst Helmsley (1996);
Access to WWE Hall of Fame ring announcer Howard Finkel and WWE managers Jimmy Hart, Bobby Heenan, Paul Bearer, Sherri, Sid Justice and General Adnan;
Playable arenas: WrestleMania VI, VII and XII; SummerSlam (1988, 1990 and 1991); Saturday Night’s Main Event® XXIV and Madison Square Garden.
Check out the trailer down below and get ready for WWE 2K15’s release which you should be able to download as of today.
Overview History has shown that whenever a new country is discovered, the natives usually have issues trusting the newcomers. This usually leads to various altercations and war eventually breaking out between the two forces and there are a handful of stories that take that situation and put a fantasy spin on it. Such is the case with Outbreak Company. With the Japanese government discovering a portal to a parallel fantasy world filled with magic and different races, Outbreak Company takes this idea on with a novel approach but is it one worth watching?
Story If there was ever a way to identify the most hardcore otaku, the Japanese government certainly found a way to accomplish it. The son of a light novel writer and an eroge illustrator, Shinichi Kanou is a shut-in that knows practically everything there is to know about otaku culture as he spends hours watching anime, reading manga, and playing games. So when an extremely difficult job questionnaire appears to test his knowledge, he managed to answer every question correctly.
Little did he know that, thanks to his knowledge, he is now the Japanese government’s head man in dealing with a highly classified secret. Drugged and smuggled into a fantasy land predominantly ruled by the Holy Eldant Kingdom, Shinichi is put in charge of a company that will work directly with the citizenry and empress in order to spread the values of Japanese culture in the form of anime and manga. Shinichi quickly gains the support of the teenage Empress Petralka but due to the nature of the world where classism, racism, and illiteracy run rampant, this strange task is far more complicated than it may seem.
Despite appearances, Outbreak Company is a surprisingly well-thought series that came as something a surprise back when it aired in Japan. The reason for that surprise is that the idea of introducing everything moe into a fantasy world was not only handled impressively well despite sounding ridiculous but had quite a bit of depth to it and that depth comes from Shinichi trying to change the prejudices that persists in the world against the other races, including elves, dwarves, lizard-people, and treated worst of all, half-elves.
These attempts to try and sway deep-seated beliefs are smartly written in part because despite Shinichi believing the best in people, even a fantasy world isn’t perfect. While trying to establish a school to teach everyone, including the poor, how to read and write he is attacked by a small terrorist group calling him an invader threatening the ideology of their ancestors or later when trying to quell anger between the elves and dwarves in his class an organized soccer match devolves into a warzone littered with broken bodies as his poor judgment of how sports actually play out compared to what he knows from his anime.
Despite these miss-steps though we continue to see Shinichi persevere and make small steps towards success. It is in these successes through failure that Outbreak Company really clicks, especially in regards to the development of the co-heroines and their relationship with Shinichi. Myucel, Shinichi’s half-elf maid, begins the series hiding her parentage in fear of being punished as well as illiterate but over the course of the series Shinichi teaches her Japanese and treats her as an equal, resulting in many touching moments.
Empress Petralka sees Shinichi as one of the few people who sees her as something more than just a leader and actively seeks out his attention while trying to impress him with her knowledge. She undergoes the most change as she is first treats Myucel as a dirty servant with no rights to working together with her, treating her as a friend, and celebrating with her in a manner that will likely shake up the previously held caste system.
Now it is worth noting that another thing that makes Outbreak Company is its brand of comedy and sheer amount of references. Not only is the series rather self-aware as characters often mention the various tropes that pop up, there is a nice mix of sight gags as well as plenty of misunderstandings of otaku culture, poking fun at various fandoms, and the absurdity of some of the things Shinichi and his bodyguard Minori try to teach. One of the first things Shinichi tries to teach younger members of society about is zettai ryouiki (absolute territory) and progressing from that to the enticing thought about whether someone is wearing underwear or not while Minori’s obsession with everything Boys Love has her more than eager to teach students, especially since she quickly manages to turn Petralka’s cousin and knight Galious into a fan of BL manga.
Near the end of the release, Outbreak Company takes on a more serious tone as it explores why exactly Shinichi was chosen for his role and why Japan is so interested in making sure that the people of Eldant become obsessed with otaku culture, especially since there are many different ways to try and invade a nation that don’t require the spilling of blood. While these various influences are noticeable and hinted at at times during the series, the sudden shift in Shinichi’s realization about what he is actually doing serves as a way to try and wrap things up to end the season. This late shift does suffer from feeling rushed but also answers many questions that were hanging about in a fairly satisfying manner.
Visuals By taking place in a fantasy setting, Outbreak Company features a different mixture of lush looking landscapes and fantastic looking pieces of architecture, such as Petralka’s castle while also mixing in a number of modern buildings that are far less impressive but are touched up in their own way. You see, since Shinichi is trying to spread otaku culture, most of the in-door sequences at his residence or at the school are filled with posters, figures, life-size character cut-outs, and manga. All of these titles that are shown are references in some way or another to another series and it is enjoyable to see just how many you can recognize, though it is worth noting that most of them have been given slight alterations, usually with different colored hair and clothing,
As far as the characters go, they are fairly well designed with Myucel, a werewolf girl named Elvia, and the various fantasy races standing out the most. The more conventional characters are given fairly predictable looking designs which is unfortunate. It is worth noting that since there are so many references to other anime series in the dialogue and through character actions, that Sentai Filmworks has included a large number of notes that appear whenever a certain action or line is referencing a popular series which is a nice touch.
Audio With the release of Outbreak Company Sentai Filmworks has included both the original Japanese voice track as well as a newly recorded English dub. The English voice actors are a decent fit for the cast, with Petralca’s voice actress Kira Vincent-Davis and Myucel’s Juliet Simmons performing their roles especially well but unfortunately the dub isn’t the strongest sounding as the Japanese voice track does seem to fit best during certain sequences.
The sound track is fairly expected for a series such as this one though I must mention a certain simple sounding bit of music that plays whenever something awkward ends up happening. Whenever this short track plays it makes the scene feel even better simply due to the way it sounds. The opening theme is “Univer Page” by Suzuko Mimori is a fitting fantasy pop song while the ending theme “Watashi no Houseibako” is a bit slower paced and is sung by Petralka’s Japanese voice actress Fuchigami Mai.
Extras Outbreak Company: Complete Collection comes with very standard bonus features in the form of a clean opening animation, clean closing animation, and trailers for other Sentai Filmworks releases.
Overall Although it may have a strange sounding premise, Outbreak Company is a surprisingly intelligent series that finds a nice balance of humor that comes in many different forms and drama that touches upon serious issues in a fantasy land. Outbreak Company celebrates otaku culture while also taking plenty of humorous jabs at various fanbases and relishing in its tropes, creating an entertaining and very enjoyable series that any fan, especially hardcore anime fans, will enjoy.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Today Microsoft and 343 Industries have revealed the official cover art for Halo 5: Guardians and with this reveal also comes the appearance of a new group of Spartans. Microsoft describes this group as Spartan fireteams that will play a “crucial role” in the showdown between Master Chief and Spartan Locke.
As for who these Spartans are, it seems like more will be revealed about them and other things as we grow closer to E3 2015. Halo 5: Guardians is currently set to be released on October 27th as an Xbox One exclusive and you can check out the animated box art as well as the basic box art below.
It is a good time to be a fan of otome games as not only was Amnesia: Memories announced for localization recently, but today Aksys Games announced that they are also localizing a new otome title called Code: Realize ~Guardian of Birth~. Developed by Idea Factory, Code: Realize ~Guardian of Birth~ will be released on the PS Vita in fall 2015.
Players will control a young woman with a poisonous touch who will encounter five charming men and meet others that happen to be historical and literary figures such as Arsène Lupin, Abraham Van Helsing, Victor Frankenstein, Impey Barbicane, and Count Saint-Germain.
Restricted to an abandoned mansion on the outskirts of London in fulfillment of a promise to her father, lonely Cardia lives day to day isolated from the world. Her body carries a deadly poison that rots or melts anything her skin touches, prompting the locals to call her a “monster.”
Her last conversation with her father two years ago, telling her to stay out of sight and never fall in love, is the furthest back she can remember. One day, her quiet solitude is interrupted as the Royal Guards break in to capture her. It is then that Cardia meets Arsène Lupin, a chivalrous thief, who helps her escape the soldiers’ clutches. She soon finds herself on a journey with Lupin to locate her father, who holds the answers to her mysterious condition. The two are soon joined by four more interesting and handsome gentlemen…
In an interview with Famitsu, Hidetaka Suehiro, better known as Swery, revealed that he is planning on bringing D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die to the PC sometime in the future. Originally released on the Xbox One and planned as an episodic game, we haven’t seen anything about the game since the first “season” was released.
This is quite a shame as when we reviewed the title, it was given high marks due to its quirky nature and unique gameplay and the possibility of seeing the story continue is something many fans are hoping for. Currently no release date for the PC version of D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die has been announced.
