Katana has been swinging her Soultaker katana in comic books, on the TV shows like Arrow, and in several Lego Batman games. Now, she is joining the cast of Infinite Crisis on March 4th.
In Infinite Crisis, Katana is a mobile bruiser specializing in burst damage who is perfect for picking off high value targets and getting around the map quickly.
Her passive skill Soultaker that allows her to store Slash and Cross Step abilities to give her bonus stats. Her Kendo ability gives her four possible finishing moves based on on her stored abilities.
Katana’s real name is Tatsu Toro and is a skilled martial artist. She married Maseo Yamashiro, a member of the Sword Clan and a Yakuza gangster. After her husband was slain by his twin brother Takeo, Tatsu Toro took up Maseo’s legendary sword Soultaker and is now using it to bring justice against criminals everywhere, in hopes of one day avenging her husband’s death.
Turbine released a new character spotlight trailer that will teach players all of Katana’s skills, provide some hints on how to play her effectively on each map, and suggest some items that compliment her.
Infinite Crisis is a free to play MOBA game based on the DC Universe. The game is currently in beta and can be accessed by signing up at the official site. The game is available for Windows only.
Don’t worry everyone! The Last Guardian has not been deserted as Sony has filed a petition to revive the trademark, signifying that work is still being done on the title. Gamers had reason to worry when news first appeared that Sony might have abandoned The Last Guardian, after the trademark had expired two days ago on the 16th February. Understandably so, as Sony has been very tightlipped over the anticipated title during the current stages of the (seemingly never ending) development cycle.
The petition of revival notice at the time of writing has a status of ‘Application revived and is awaiting further action’, so it seems to be only a matter of time before The Last Guardian is trademarked again.
The Last Guardian, developed by Team Ico (who were behind cult favourite PS2 games ICO and Shadow of the Colossus), is an action-adventure game about a boy who is trying to escape from a large castle. The game started development in 2007 but has suffered numerous delays and problems with internal communications. Release dates and platforms are still not clear.
Back in 1982, Tron made waves with its epic story and (at the time) incredible use of CGI. In fact, when it was made, Tron was disallowed from the academy awards because the academy though that CGI was cheating when it came to special effects. Fast forward to 2010 and we finally got the highly anticipated sequel. Fast forward again to 2015 and Disney have released Sam Flynn and Quorra from the 2010 Tron Legacy as figures for Disney Infinity 2.0: Marvel Super Heroes, albeit as iPad/PC exclusive characters that don’t have a physical figurine.
Sam’s ranged attack has him throwing his Identity Disc. Anybody who has played Disney Infinity 1.0 will be familiar with the disc and how it operates, but for those who haven’t; it is basically a boomerang… a really powerful boomerang. Quorra also has an Identity Disc but uses it in conjunction with her Light-Katana to deal rapid strikes to her enemies.
One of the coolest parts of the new characters is how they block and dodge oncoming moves. Sam and Quorra flip around like damn ninjas in the Toy Box, and as their flips and mid-air twists look awesome. Although both characters hide behind an identity disc to block, which seems like a big risk for the characters, considering the loss of an identity disc in the films means they cease to exist. However, I guess they needed to block attacks some way and it still looks badass.
Both Sam and Quorra look absolutely incredible in-game. Their dark suits that are highlighted by the bright blue/white outlining that fans of the Tron franchise will be immediately familiar with. Sam’s face is covered with a full mask so he has no expressions or dialogue, but Quorra’s face is free for the world to see, and you can definitely see Olivia Wilde’s features in her character model.
Ok, time to talk about the elephant into the room; the digital-only nature of these figures. Disney Infinity is more than just a video game, it is a collectible hobby, a cross-genre experience and the physical character figures and Power Discs make up a big part of that experience. By making the two Tron characters digital-exclusive, Disney have managed to both remain authentic to the movie and throw away the fundamentals of Disney Infinity.
Not only that, but limiting the characters to iPad and PC has ostracised the huge console player base and since Sam and Quorra have unique skills and abilities in contrast to the rest of the 1.0 and 2.0 characters, a huge chunk of the game’s audience will never be able to experience them in action.
Now we can sit here and lament the fact that console players wont get to play as Sam and Quorra in the near future, what is an even bigger mistake is the fact that the Light Jet and Light Cycle seem to (at least currently) be locked away in the iPad/PC exclusivity zone along with the two characters. This means that one of the most recognisable and famous vehicles in movie history is only available to players on iPad and PC.
I think that the rather vocal response has shown Disney and Avalanche Software that this kind of release is not what the fan base wants. I personally believe that this relagates new characters to nothing more than DLC or microtransactions, and if the game continues down that path then it wont be long before it loses followers. Lets just hope that this isn’t the start of a trend for the game and is a simple glitch in the system.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
The Disney Princesses are some of the world’s most recognisable animated characters, and are definite favourites for girls and women all around the world. When Disney announced that Jasmine would be added to Disney Infinity 2.0: Marvel Super Heroes, along side her beloved street rat Aladdin, many rejoiced – Jasmine would not only be bringing some serious female ass-kickery to the game, but she was also the oldest princess to be introduced (the others in the game have been from modern Disney flicks). Sadly, Jasmine didn’t release alongside Aladdin making players everywhere wonder where she was and when they could put her down on the Infinity Base and sneak out of the Palace on a magic carpet ride. Well, that time is HERE and Jasmine has been worth the wait.
Jasmine, unlike Aladdin uses her fists and her magical ability to create sandstorms (not sure if this is cannon to the movies…. leave this with me) to combat her enemies. She isn’t the greatest physical fighter, but Jasmine has the cunning, speed and dexterity to make up for it.
Jasmine’s ranged attacks make the use of “Carpet,” the magic, sentient flying carpet from the Aladdin films and TV series. While Carpet is more of Aladdin’s pal than Jasmine’s, that doesn’t stop the blue-clad heiress from using it to send out a tornado of sand that hits and decimates enemies from half way across the Toy Box.
One of the most exciting parts of the Jasmine character is that Linda Larkin reprises her role as Jasmine, keeping a sense of continuity with the character to her previous appearances. Larkin has voiced Jasmine in just about every Disney-produced film, episode and short that has featured the character so it is awesome that they have kept it going here.
When I recently reviewed the Disney Originals figures for the game, I mentioned that they seemed to fit in amongst one another and with the older figures much better than the Marvel Super Heroes did. The same reigns true for Jasmine, who looks absolutely stunning not only on her own, but like a match made in heaven when put next to Aladdin. The bright blues of her outfit contrast with her jet black hair and create a figure that looks simply awesome.
In addition to her individual figure, Jasmine is also available as part of the Aladdin Toy Box Pack, which includes both the Jasmine and Aladdin figures as well as two Power Discs that transform your Toy Box into the sprawling sands of Agrabah. Like last year’s Frozen and Phineas & Ferb Toy Box packs, the new Aladdin pack is the best way to get all of the pieces to make the perfect Aladdin Toy Box. Just a heads up though, the Aladdin Toy Box pack is only available from Big W.
While it was a little annoying that Disney held off on Jasmine for so long, it is great to finally have her be a part of the Disney Infinity 2.0 experience. Not only does she add a bit of girl power and increase the amount of Disney Princesses in the game, but her skills and ability make it so that she would be a great addition to the game regardless of her royal status.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Satoru Iwata, the President of Nintendo, recently gave a presentation at the Third Quarter Financial Results Briefing for Nintendo. Among many other topics, he discussed the sales data of recent Nintendo products.
The total sales of consoles from the Nintendo 3DS family has now reached 50.41 million units. Iwata stated that the Nintendo 3DS hardware did not sell as well as originally anticipated.
As for Wii U games, Mario Kart 8 has sold 4.77 million units worldwide and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U has sold 3.39 million units worldwide.
5.7 million Amiibo units have already been sold worldwide, with the products being particularly popular in the U.S., Canada and Australia.
Super Smash Bros. for 3DS was released in Japan last September. By the end of September 2014, 3.22 million units were sold. The end of year sales total reached 6.19 million units following the western release of the game in October. Some people were skeptical about how well this title would do on a portable console, however the game continues to sell steadily.
Since the initial release of Tomodachi Life in Japan in 2013 (known there as Tomodachi Collection: Shin Seikatsu, which translates as Friend Collection: New Life), 3.96 million units have been sold globally.
9.35 million units of the Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire games for the 3DS have been sold so far. Although it has not sold as well as Pokémon X and Y has so far, Nintendo is confident that the game will continue to do well this year.
After operating at a loss for a while, Iwata stated that Nintendo has finally returned to earning a profit from products.
FUNimation’s release schedule for May 2015 has just been revealed. In addition to the previously announced premium edition Blu-ray release of Darker than Black season one, this month will see the release of Anime Classics titles and S.A.V.E. editions of previously released titles.
First up is the S.A.V.E edition of the complete series of Solty Rei, which will be released on May 5, 2015 with a suggested retail price of $29.98.
Next up are the May 12 releases. Michiko and Hatchin will be receiving DVD and Blu-ray S.A.V.E. editions for $34.98 and $39.98 respectively. Darker than Black season two will be released as an Anime Classics DVD/Blu-ray combo-pack for a suggested retail price of $49.98, and will include the OVA.
Both the complete series of .hack//Roots and the Anime Classics release of Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 will be released on DVD on May 19 with a suggested retail price of $39.98.
Right Stuf has announced that they will be partnering with FUNimation to exclusively distribute the releases of the Idolm@ster spinoff series Puchim@s, with both season one and two to be available on DVD for a suggested retail price of $19.98 each. Right Stuf lists the two sets as being subtitled-only. The release date for both sets is May 19.
Except for the Puchim@s releases, all releases will feature dual audio. All prices are in US dollars.
Ubisoft Chengdu has announced the release of their endless running game for mobile devices in the west. Ubisoft Chengdu is a Chinese studio for Ubisoft. This title is called Monkey King Escape, and it’s based on the stories of Son Wukong, known as the Monkey King.
The title was designed specifically for Chinese audiences, but thanks in part to it’s large success in the Chinese market it has been brought to the western audiences. The title is very nicely animated and completed. However, while it is a very cute title the endless runner market has no shortage of cute runners.
Gameplay is mostly that of the typical endless runner, and while characters can fly and jump it still follows a set path. It Ubisoft Chengdu has added some new experiences, such as quick time events and boss battles. Characters and the story are supposedly faithful to the famous “Journey to the West.”
The title is available now for iOS and Android devices. You can watch a trailer below.
The website for the official anime adaptation of Puyo’s spin-off manga The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan is now live, and can be viewed here. It began as a manga spin-off of Nagaru Tanigawa’s novel The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, the fourth novel in the The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya series.There are also two other parody spin-off manga series that also received an anime adaptation: The Melancholy of Haruhi-chan Suzumiya by Puyo and Nyoron☆Churuya-san by Eretto.
All official and spin-off anime titles produced prior to now were dubbed and subtitled into English and released on DVD by Bandai Entertainment USA. Since the company no longer exists, there are no guarantees that the series will receive an English release and with the same dub cast. The original Japanese voice-cast is confirmed to be returning for this adaptation.
The character designs, based on the original ones by Noizi Ito, are featured below.
FUNimation Entertainment has revealed the English dub cast for two Winter 2015 series that they acquired the rights to a couple of months ago. First up is the Assassination Classroom dub cast list:
The English dub of Assassination Classroom will premiere on February 18 at 8:00pm ET, with the Death Parade English dub premiering shortly afterwards at 8:30pm ET. All of these shows are available in 1080p high definition and without commercials. Following the broadcast of these dubs and the Japanese home video release of each series, FUNimation will produce a final version of the dub for the future uncut and uncensored North American home video releases of the two series. A DVD and Blu-ray release has already been confirmed for both Assassination Classroom and Death Parade.
FUNimation has just revealed the first ever North American Blu-ray release of the first season of the Darker than Black anime. This three-disc Premium Edition release will be limited to only 5,000 copies. If this release sells well enough, another Blu-ray release may occur in the future.
The technical details of the release are as follows:
1080p High Definition visuals for both the main feature and the on-disc extras
16:9 aspect ratio
Dolby TrueHD Japanese and English 2.0 audio and Japanese and English stereo audio
Blu-ray Region A
The on-disc extras include episode commentaries, cast auditions, production artwork, the US trailer and trailers. The physical bonuses include a display easel and a 48-page art book, which will be contained in special ‘classified’ packaging.
This set will be released on May 12, 2015 and is not a FUNimation store exclusive, so fans can purchase it from their retailer of choice. The suggested retail price is $99.98 USD. Store prices may differ.
