Life is Strange Episode 1 was a refreshing and enjoyable experience and now Dontnod and Square Enix are looking to keep the ball rolling by releasing Episode 2: Out of Time on March 24th. There were doubts even from the publisher that Episode 2 would meet it’s March launch window but it seems those doubts have been erased. The developer originally planned for each episode to release roughly 6 weeks after the launch of the previous episode, so this one is coming in slightly later than expected.
While Episode 1 was all about setting up the narrative Episode 2 is touted to bring some big consequences for all your past and current actions. Life is Strange Episode 2 will be available on PC, PS3, Xbox 360, PS4 and Xbox One on March 24th. The season pass will give you access to all five episodes for $29.95 AU while each episode costs $7.55 AU individually.
The music in the game was a big highlight for many players so a developer diary detailing the music creation process has been released on YouTube. You can view the embedded video below. The Spotify and YouTube playlist links have also been provided so make sure to visit them if you’re in the mood for some teen indie sounds. A new trailer was recently released to celebrate the launch of Episode 2, you can check it out below.
Today, Cyber Gadget revealed more details about their Retrofreak retro gaming system. The new details have been translated here into English, along with a previously revealed detail about how HDMI works with the system.
Retrofreak can connect to a television with a HDMI cable. Games can be upscaled to output a 720p image, so compared with an analogue connection, retro games will have higher quality image and sound output.
The save data stored in the cartridge can be written to the Retrofreak machine .
Retrofreak has a feature that allows you to quicksave, so even if there is no save data on the cartridge, you can save and load wherever you like. (This is shown in the image below.)
If the battery of the cartridge has run out, and you are no longer able to save the game on the cartridge itself, you can save a state to the Retrofreak machine.
The official webpage for Retrofreak can be found here.
Sunrise has just begun streaming a 98 second trailer for “Artesia’s Sorrow” (Kanashimi no Aruteishia), the second episode in the Mobile Suit Gundam: The OriginOVA series, with both the original Japanese audio and English audio. The first OVA will be released in a collector’s edition DVD and Blu-ray combo-pack on April 24, 2015 in many territories. The series features character designs by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko and Tsukasa Kotobuki and music by Takayuki Hattori.
The trailer shows off some of the 3D CG animation in the opening shots and also reveals, among other things, that this episode will be set in U.C. 0071. The English dubbed trailer is featured below.
Looks like we are going to see a much faster turn around for the dub version of Dragon Ball Z: Revival of F than we saw with Battle of Gods, as today FUNimation have announced their acquisition of the film rights so they can create their own dub for the film. The film has had a slight re-title for the English release from Revival of F to Resurrection F. The dub will first launch in theatres across North America in Summer 2015.
In am impressive move that will see the movie screened in the States only 11 days after the first preview in Japan, FUNimation has teamed up with 20th Century FOX & Toei Animation to host the world premiere of Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’ (in Japanese w/ English subtitles) at the Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles, CA on Saturday, April 11. A limited amount of tickets to the premiere will be available to fans and the general public beginning today at dragonballz.com.
A tweet from Chris Sabat (director of Dragon Ball Z dub projects) has revealed it is highly likely Chris Ayres will reprise his role from Dragon Ball Z: Kai to voice the main villain Frieza, who is shown to have a brand new form in this latest movie. For all the latest Dragon Ball news including trailers and games such as Xenoverse just follow this link. We hope to have more news on international screenings in the coming days.
Animatsu Entertainment has been quite busy in the last month. They have revealed many new licenses and upcoming releases of both anime and non-anime titles in the UK.
They will be releasing Red Vs. Blue season 11 and RWBY volume 1 on May 4, 2015 on both DVD and Blu-ray. The website lists the DVD releases of both titles as being coded for region 2, which is unusual given that Rooster Teeth titles tend to be released region free.
They will also be releasing Hideaki Anno’s Nadia: Secret of Blue Water on DVD and Blu-ray on June 1, 2015. Unlike with the two above releases, the Blu-ray release of Nadia will be in a rigid box.
All of these releases are now available for pre-order on Amazon UK. For those who missed the announcement, Animatsu’s release of Halo: Nightfall will be released on DVD and Blu-ray on March 16, 2015.
FUNimation Entertainment has been announcing that they will be producing English dubs for many of the series they acquired from the winter 2015 anime season. Yona of the Dawn, Absolute Duo and Yurikuma Arashi will also be receiving an English dub.
The English dub cast for Yona of the Dawn is as follows:
Yona – Monica Rial
Hak – Christopher R. Sabat
Gija – Ian Sinclair
Yun – Clifford Chapin
Sinha – Eric Vale
Su-Won – Micah Solusod
This dub will premiere at 11am ET on Tuesday, March 17. Season 2 will be dubbed first, but FUNimation will go back and dub season 1 as well and then release it at a later date.
The English dub cast for Absolute Duo is as follows:
Tor – Ricco Fajardo
Julie – Bryn Apprill
Lilith – Caitlin Glass
Miyabi – Ashleigh Domangue
Tomoe – Whitney Rodgers
Sakuya – Felecia Angelle
Rito – Jennifer McDaniel
Imari – Michelle Rojas
This dub will premiere at 2pm ET on Monday, March 16.
Finally, here is the English dub cast list for Yurikuma Arashi:
Kureha Tsubaki – Alexis Tipton
Ginko – Monica Rial
Lulu – Jamie Marchi
Sumika – Elaine Wagner
Yuriika – Colleen Clinkenbeard
Mitsuko – Caitlin Glass
Life Sexy – J. Michael Tatum
Life Cool – Christopher Bevins
Life Beauty – Josh Grelle
This dub will premiere at 2:30pm ET on Monday, March 16, following the dub of Absolute Duo.
Yurikuma Arashi is directed by Kunihiko Ikuhara, the director of Revolutionary Girl Utena and some of Sailor Moon, and is receiving very favourable reviews from fans of Ikuhara’s past works. Unlike with the other recent English dub announcements, FUNimation has not stated whether or not they have the home-video rights to these three series.
Cyber Gadget, a Japanese company that designs video game console paraphernalia, has recently announced a new retro game system called Retrofreak. The details translate as follows:
Retrofreak will allow you to play video game software from no less than 11 different types of cartridges via an adapter that is compatible with retro games, all with a single machine. Note: games may not play properly in some cases. The 11 types of cartridges include:
Mega Drive (NTSC/PAL) (Note: the Mega Adapter can be used to play Sega Mark III games)
Genesis (Note: The North American Mega Drive)
PC Engine
TurboGrafx-16 (Note: the overseas version of the PC Engine)
PC Engine SuperGrafx
Translator notes: the Family Computer, or Famicom, is the original name for what is known in the west as the Nintendo Entertainment System, or NES. The Sega Mark III was released two years prior to the Sega Master System, and the two are almost identical in terms of hardware.
A release date for the Retrofreak has not yet been revealed.
The complete collection will be released in North America on June 2, 2015. The set will feature English audio and Japanese audio with English subtitles. On-disc extras will include the textless opening and closing animation, the promotional videos, commercials, music clips, the preview for the OVA episode “Secret Couple”, the OVA itself and ‘Maria Love Theater’.
The set is now available for pre-order here. The suggested retail price is $39.99 USD, however Right Stuf are currently accepting pre-orders for only $25.99 USD. A trailer, synopsis and screenshots of Please Teacher! can be found at the official website here.
Fifteen years on from Banjo Tooie and it’s safe to say that Rare isn’t the revered studio they once were. Six ex Rare developers have now come together to create a studio called Playtonic Games and their first title will be what they themselves are calling a spiritual successor to the much loved Banjo Kazooie franchise. At EGX the team held a press conference showcasing the very first details of this new game currently titled Project Ukelele as well as releasing a couple of background screens to show us the tone of the game.
The full video is available below but for your benefit I’m going to sum up all the most important and meaningful bits below for those who don’t have over half an hour to hear from some of these game developer legends.
– The game will most likely feature two main playable characters just like Banjo Kazooie.
– Multiple characters are being created for this game that will appear in the world somehow. All these characters are envisioned in the future to be receiving their own game where they are the star and the other characters can then appear in their games. Think The Avengers but cuter.
– While Project Ukelele will indeed be a giant love letter to the 3D platformer, the other games with the other characters could be of any genre which will be decided by both the fans and the developers.
– Don’t worry about free to play, micro-transactions, whale hunting or in game-ads. Playtonic are looking to deliver an old school full game experience.
– Playtonic are aiming to give people exactly what they want and expect. The tone and style will be similar to Banjo, the humour, challenges, eyes on inanimate objects, a wealth of NPCs and the classic mumble like speaking will all be in this title. Don’t expect a Nuts N’ Bolts revolution from this title (serisouly don’t, the developers even made a joke about it).
– They are looking to take advantage of the technology leap and bring the 3D platforming genre up to date. New mechanics as well as bringing the classic mechanics back.
– Expect lots of collectibles. One type of collectibles detailed today were called ‘pagies’ which unlock more worlds as well as expand current worlds.
– The characters will have lots of special moves they can learn thanks to their unique characteristics.
– Expect big, beautiful themed worlds that can be explored in a less linear fashion than in previous Rare games.
– The game will be single player.
– Music composers from past games will be coming back! One of them is Grant Kirkhope who has composed a few songs from his home in California. The music will change as you go throughout the level.
– The game will be coming to Kickstarter in May 2015! Regardless if the Kickstarter fails (don’t bet on it) or not the game will be released at least on PC, however it is all but guaranteed additional platforms will be in the Kickstarter tiers.
– Playtonic want to hear from the fans about what they want as Kickstarter rewards. There was even mention of replica Nintendo 64 cartridges and Amiibo! You can get in contact with the team through the forums on the website or their Facebook page.
This is a dream come true for any gamer who grew up in the 90’s and I am sure this Kickstarter will see a lot of support. We will keep you update on the latest news from Playtonic and Project Ukelele as it is released. Be sure to let us know what you think about this newly formed studio and Project Ukelele in the comments below.
Viz Media has just announced that they will be releasing a box set of six original Hello Kitty graphic novels in North America under their Perfect Square imprint.
The six original graphic novels to be included are: Hello Kitty: Here We Go!, Hello Kitty: Delicious!, Hello Kitty: Surprise!, Hello Kitty: Just Imagine…, Hello Kitty: Work of Art and Hello Kitty: It’s About Time. All of these books will come packaged in an illustrated slip case. The box set has a suggested retail price of $39.99 USD.
Artists Jacob Chabot, Ian McGinty, Jorge Monlongo and Giovanni Castro created these full-colour graphic novels, along with guest artists in each volume. The box set will be available in September 2015.
