Star Wars Battlefront will finally be coming to arriving this year, thanks to EA and developer DICE (best known for the Battlefield series), who premiered the first trailer for the new franchise reboot today at Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim.
Here it is:
Star Wars Battlefront will be a fully multiplayer experience without any campaign and support up to 40 players at once. It was also announced that players will be able to play in either third- or first-person and battle with lightsabers. The trailer above is also completely in-engine footage.
Set during the original trilogy, Battlefront will have players choose either Rebel or Empire and battle on a number of classic Star Wars locations, including a new location from Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens — Jakku. The Jakku level will be free downloadable content released on December 8. But, for all who pre-order Battlefront, Jakku will be available a week earlier on December 1.
Star Wars Battlefront will be released for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC on November 17, 2015. To watch all the other big Star Wars announcements coming out of Star Wars Celebration Anaheim, visit StarWars.com and watch all weekend.
Nintendo recently announced that a playable demo for Puzzle & Dragons Z + Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition for the 3DS family of systems is available to download right now for free on the Nintendo eShop. The full game which encompasses both titles releases on May 9th. The demo includes two whole stages from Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition, each culminating in a boss fight, showcasing the Easy and Normal difficulty levels. Players are able to choose from team set-ups filled with familiar faces from the Super Mario universe to help them in battle, and will encounter Goombas, Koopas, Hammer Bros. and more as they quest through each stage.
Puzzle & Dragons Z + Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition is a two-games-in-one package and both games feature an exciting mix of role-playing battle action and match-three puzzle fun. Battles play out with the player’s team of characters and monsters engaging with the enemy team by matching three or more elemental Orbs of the same type. By matching fire Orbs for instance, the player unleashes a fiery attack that is devastating to Wood-elemental enemies, but of limited use against a Water type, similar to the Pokemon games. As the player moves their chosen Orb around the screen the Orbs it passes through are also rearranged in sequence, allowing for strategic formulation of combo chains.
In addition to different elemental properties, team members each have different skills and abilities to help the player in battle, such as causing extra damage after a set number of turns, altering the elemental properties of Orbs and even turning them into healing Orbs instead. Each team is headed up by a Leader and also backed up by a Helper, both lending their own unique skills to the battle, therefore creating a huge number of possible combinations for strategic team set-ups.
Puzzle & Dragons Z combines the elements of a deep and strategic puzzle game, a dungeon-crawling RPG and a monster-collecting adventure and features over 200 types of monster to recruit, evolve and hatch from eggs dropped after battle. Monster types include dragons, knights and even demons, and each has its own different strengths, skills and special abilities. Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros Edition gives the gameplay a Super Mario Bros. spin, as the heroes traverse the Mushroom Kingdom across eight worlds with multiple courses. Check out the game in action in the trailer below.
Ponycan USA recently revealed the details of Denki-GaiCollector’s Edition 3. The DVD, Blu-ray and CD combo set will be released on July 10, 2015 with a suggested retail price of $89.98 USD. It will feature episodes 9-12 with Japanese audio and both English and Spanish subtitles.
The set will feature an exclusive “mega tall size ‘Dodeka’ Disc Case”, a deluxe 24-page booklet titled “Umanohone Magazine 5 & 6”, two collectible wall pin-up pictures illustrated by original author Asato Mizu and a double-sided poster illustrated by Shin-Ei Animation. The discs will be contained in an exclusive plastic slipcase.
Anyone who pre-orders this release by May 31, 2015 from Right Stuf will also get an autographed illustration by Asato Mizu. Pre-orders can be made here.
Viz Media has just announced more Pokémonmanga releases to be published under their Perfect Square imprint.
Pokémon Black and White manga box set 3 will be released in September 2015 with a suggested retail price of $25.99 USD / $29.99 CAN. It will come with a mini-poster and volumes 15-20 of the Pokémon Black and White manga series.
Pokémon Pocket Comics volume 2: “Legendary Pokémon” will be released in October 2015 with a suggested retail price of $9.99 USD / $12.99 CAN. This volume will come with four-panel comic strips and will include trivia, puzzles, quizzes and more.
The Pokémon Adventures FireRed & LeafGreen and Emerald box set will also be released in October 2015. It has a suggested retail price of $54.99 USD / $69.99 CAN. It will contain volumes 23-29 of the FireRed & LeafGreen and Emerald story arcs of the Pokémon Adventures series and a special mini-poster.
FUNimation Entertainment has just announced the English dub cast for Production I.G’s 2012 anime film 009 Re:Cyborg, which was directed by Kenji Kamiyama, director of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and Eden of the East.
The dub will be produced by N.Y.A.V. Post, with voice direction by Michael Sinterniklass and Anthony Tortorici and mixing by David Raymer. The dub cast is as follows:
009: Joe Shimamura – Jason Griffith
002: Jet Link – Marc Diraison
003: Françoise Arnoul – Erin Fitzgerald
004: Albert Heinrich – Dave B. Mitchell
007: Great Britain – John White
008: Pyunma – Marcus Griffin
006: Chang Changku – Micahel Sorich
005: Geronimo Jr. – Patrick Seitz
001: Ivan Whisky – Stephanie Sheh
Dr. Isaac Gilmore – George C. Cole
Samuel Klein – Kevin T. Collins
Void – Greg Abbey
Navy Man – Sean Schemmel
FUNimation also announced that the first print-run of the home-video release will be limited edition and come with a exclusive 44-page interview and data booklet, which will include behind-the-scenes content, artwork, character profiles and a “very thorough interview with the director”. It will be available for pre-order later today ahead of its release on July 28, 2015. The release will be a DVD and Blu-ray combo-pack.
While the digital edition of Gearbox Software‘s Homeworld Remastered Collection has been available since February, Ubisoft is bringing the game to retail stores across Australia, New Zealand, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa on May 7, 2015 for Windows PC.
Homeworld Remastered Collection is a high-definition remake of 1999’s Homeworld and 2003’s Homeworld 2 sci-fi real-time strategy games from developer Relic Entertainment. These games were rebuilt from the ground up by Gearbox Software and presented with high-resolution textures and models, new graphical effects, and all in ultra-HD and 4K. The collection also includes the original Homeworld and Homeworld 2 as well as access to the Homeworld Remastered Steam Multiplayer Beta.
This retail edition also includes a flurry of bonus items, including the digital soundtracks from both titles and a digital art book. No word on if this retail edition will reach other territories.
Sentai Filmworks has just announced their acquisition of the home video distribution rights to the film Vampire Hunter D, the first film adapted from the long-running light novel series by Hideyuki Kikuchi.
The film was directed by Toyoo Ashida, known for his work in many series such as Fist of the North Star. The screenplay was written by Yasushi Hirano. The character designs were created by Yoshitaka Amano, known for creating concept art for the Final Fantasy series. The soundtrack was composed by pop-artist Tetsuya Komuro. Animation production was handled by Ashi Productions.
The film will be available on home video soon. It has not been confirmed if it will receive a Blu-ray release or not.
Razer announced that the Razer BlackWidow Tournament Edition Chroma Mechanical Keyboard is now available for purchase. Although the name is quite long, the keyboard itself isn’t. The keyboard is designed for travelling to tournaments and LAN parties, which means the number pad and the macro keys on the sides of the keyboard have been axed.
The keyboard retains many of the features from its larger brother, the Razer BlackWidow Chroma, such as Razer’s custom mechanical switches, the RGB LEDs capable of display of 16.8 million different colours, and extreme levels of customization with the Razer Synapse software. The custom switches are designed for gamers, requiring only a light touch and a short travel distance to actuate the keys. Each switch is designed to handle up to 60 million key presses before dying.
Razer BlackWidow Tournament Edition Chroma Mechanical Keyboard is available now in US and Canada online at the Razer Store and exclusively in store at Best Buy for $139.99 USD or $159.99 CAD.
Andrew is away from the keyboard this week, so this week’s Xbox Newsbeat comes from the endless winter known as Canadia true north strong and free. This week brings news about Halo: Spartan Strike, Screencheat, and Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.
“Halo: Spartan Strike” Launches Today on Windows 8, Windows Phone 8, iPhone, iPad and Steam
Halo: Spartan Strike launched on Windows 8, Windows Phone 8, iPhone, iPad, and Steam today. The game is set at the same time as Halo 2. One of the Spartan supersoldiers is on a mission in New Mombasa, where he will lead UNSC troops into battle. The game is a twin stick shooter that costs $5.99 AUD and features 30 levels. Achievements in the game will unlock emblems, nameplates, and avatars in Halo: The Master Chief Collection.
Windows 8 devices have access to special weekly challenges and leaderboards.
ID@Xbox Spotlight: Screencheat Turns Cheaters into Champions
Relive the glory days of first person split screen shooters and the constant accusation of cheating by peeking at your buddies screen. In Screencheat, all players are invisible. The only way to figure out where the enemy are is to look at their screen and figure out their location. The maps are colourful and full of unique landmarks that will help players narrow down where their enemies are.
The game is coming to Xbox One later this year, so invite some friends over, bring a few extra Xbox One controllers, and prepare to cheat.
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare “Ascendance” DLC Launches on Xbox One
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare “Ascendance” is a timed exclusive for Xbox One. The pack brings four new maps for multiplayer, a new zombies map set in Burgertown, and the new OHM Directed Energy Hybrid weapon that switches between SMG and shotgun modes depending on the situation.
The four new multiplayer maps are:
Perplex is a five-story apartment complex in beautiful Sydney. Construction drones systematically move the modules, creating a changing environment. Tight corridors and lots of windows facilitate a variety of strategies.
Site 244 is a map set at Mount Rushmore, wherein an alien ship has crash landed at the base of the Presidential monument. Getting a scorestreak grants you some alien spore perks and exo boosts.
Climate – a circular bio-dome – offers a lush, perfect environment for wanton destruction. The central island is great for king of the hill situations, and the changing rivers around the map add dangerous obstacles and challenges.
Chop Shop is a particularly cool map in terms of aesthetic and mythos. This black market exoskeleton lab and warehouse is a mazelike corridor setup. Watch out for the turret that appears when someone activates the map’s scorestreak!
Andrew will be back next week with more Xbox news, so stay tuned.
Cyanide Studio and Focus Home Interactive released a brand new gameplay video of Blood Bowl 2. The do-good Human teams were the stars of the last video, Cyanide decided to get a little evil with today’s video.
The Chaos teams are manned by a variety of mutated beast men and focus on their brute strength to literally flatten the enemy while they charge to victory. Their raw power is not what makes the Chaos teams unique. The fact they have access to all 75 skills in the game and are the only ones able to mutate, trading in unwanted stats like agility and dodge for more strength, because after all, who needs agility when you plan on steamrolling the opposition into the dirt.
Blood Bowl 2 has no official release date yet, but will launch on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
