Page 3522 – Capsule Computers

Europa Universalis IV Adds South American Expansion

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January 21, 2015

Paradox Interactive has announced that the Spanish Conquest will be coming to Europa Universalis IV. Paradox has titled this DLC as Europa Universalis IV: El Dorado and it brings a number of new features to the grand strategy game.

This expansion to Europa Universalis IV abring the politics and adventure from the European incursions into South America to life. The historical focus will explore the two sides of the conflict. As the Aztecs players much balance sacrifice and control over the Mexican plains in order to achieve victory. Europeans meanwhile will have to focus on expansion into the Amazon to find lost secrets, although they will be subject to the Pope’s commands.

Further features include the following:

–   A deep Nation Designer gives you new starting options for your games, including national ideas and custom monarchs
–   Experience the new Nahuatl, Inti and Mayan religions with blood sacrifices or Sun Worship
–   Send your conquistadors to hunt for the Seven Cities of Gold, or your explorer on exploration missions around the world
–   Gold Fleets can traffic New World wealth back to Europe, and be targeted by your privateer fleets
–   Use your trade fleets to hunt dangerous pirates
–   Maintain good relations with the Pope so you can get a corner of the world to call your own in the Treaty of Tordesillas

Europa Universalis IV: El Dorado will be available on Windows, Mac, and Linux next month. Check out the teaser trailer below.

‘Sailor Moon’ Season 1 Part 1 to be Released in Australia in April

K. Roberts

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January 21, 2015

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‘Sailor Moon’ Season 1 Part 1 to be Released in Australia in April

Madman Entertainment has revealed the details of their first release of the Sailor Moon series on DVD in Australia. Part One of the first season will be released in under three months.

The first collection will contain 24 episodes and will be released on DVD on April 15, 2015. The episodes will be featured with Japanese audio and English subtitles and English audio. The brand new English dub has received high praise from fans, although the positive opinions about it are not universal.

The first print run of this set will include extras that will be confirmed at a later date. It is likely that these extras will include the textless opening and ending animations on one of the discs and a physical booklet based on Viz Media’s limited edition release of the first half of season one. Madman has decided to create their “release from scratch using high quality, remastered standard definition materials”. They believe that “no true HD materials are available”.

Sentai Filmworks Licenses ‘The Familiar of Zero: Rondo of Princesses’

K. Roberts

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January 21, 2015

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Sentai Filmworks Licenses ‘The Familiar of Zero: Rondo of Princesses’

Sentai Filmworks has just announced their acquisition of The Familiar of Zero: Rondo of Princesses, the third season in the series. This is a direct sequel to the second season, Knight of the Twin Moons, which is set to be released on DVD and Blu-ray in North America on March 10, 2015. Rondo of Princesses, which “continues the adventures of Saito and Louise as they face a new dilemma that up to now has been an unknown”, will be available soon on home-video.

Based on the upcoming release of the second season, the release of this season will likely also be a subtitled-only release. Season three, produced by J.C. Staff, initially aired in Japan in 2008 and has remained unlicensed in the US until now.

The Crew Extreme Pack DLC Now Available

Nathan Farrugia

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January 21, 2015

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Ubisofts‘ massive open world racer The Crew has received it’s first DLC pack and it comes with three new cars for those willing to shell out some cash as well as a great deal of free content for everyone. The three new paid cars are the smooth and extremely rare Aston Martin V12 Zagato, the ferocious 2013 SRT Viper GTS and the zippy Abarth 500. Anyone with a Season Pass would have had access to these car’s one week earlier.

Now for the stuff everyone gets! Four new faction race missions have been added, all with an ‘EXTREME’ theme (if anyone’s seen Harold and Kumar you know how I’m saying that). In “Vertigo,” players outrun their opponents in a high speed and high stakes race along the Colorado River. “Rollercoaster” tasks players to race to the top of a mountain and fly down it full speed. Fans of driving on ice and snow can push the pedal to the metal and on a treacherously icy route to secure the fastest time possible in “Slip and Slide” and lastly, “Hurricane” with have players jumping on a demanding stunt-filled course located in a construction site with plenty of tricky jumps to land. Check out the new cars and races in action in the trailer below.

Besides new missions, five previously available cars have acquired new specs. These are:

Dodge Ram – Dirt
Chevy Silveradro – Street
Hummer H1 – Dirt
Mini Cooper – Circuit
Ford Focus – Raid

Lastly new “animal” and “nature” stickers were added to the tuners decal options. There are over 50 new stickers players can purchase and put on nearly any car from there out. I logged in this morning and the new content is definitely there. The new vinyls for your car are amazing with some fierce looking dragon and big cat decals. Definitely check it out if you are still playing The Crew.

Club Nintendo to be Discontinued Later this Year

Dustin Spencer

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January 21, 2015

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I have an extreme soft spot for Club Nintendo. Over the past six years, the program has rewarded consumers for doing nothing more than redeeming a code and taking a thirty second survey, where the prizes have been games, digital releases, and even some nice merchandise featuring some of the favorite characters of the brand. Sure, some have debated the quality of what Nintendo has put out, but free is always free and most have no reason to argue as you never bought the codes, they were just a nice gesture for loyalty.

All good things must come to an end though, but with the end of Club Nintendo comes a new beginning. On March 31st, members will no longer be able to enter codes on the website. You then have until July 1st to run out and spend your coins on offerings put up on the service. Right now, the digital rewards are nearly all that is left, but more games will be added next month and all members will receive a free code for Flipnote Studio 3D as well. Those who hit platinum or gold will also be rewarded with a digital selection later this year, so fret not if you have already earned that rank. You can read all of the rules here, and if you had old surveys, get to doing them now before time runs out.

**UPDATE POST INFO** Details written by Kyle Roberts

Nintendo Australia and UK has just announced that they will be discontinuing their Club Nintendo rewards programme in Australia, New Zealand and UK. A new membership programme will be launched later this year, and anyone who signs up to the new programme at launch will be able to download Flipnote Studio 3D to their Nintendo 3DS at no cost. Read on for more details of the discontinuation.

From April 1, 2015, product registration cards will no longer be included in packaged products however members can continue to register cards included in copies of games released before this date. The New Nintendo 3DS and New Nintendo 3DS Xl may not be registered in Club Nintendo.

From April 20, 2015, digital products downloaded from the Nintendo eShop will no longer be added to Club Nintendo accounts. Surveys for digital products will also be unavailable from this date. Post-play surveys will be still be available until the discontinuation of the programme.

All Stars in Club Nintendo accounts will expire on September 30, 2015. More items will be added to the Stars Catalogue over the next few months, so members will have plenty of options when it comes to using up their Stars. Current items are available for a reduced amount of Stars. Any Stars not redeemed by the end date will be forfeited. New accounts can still be made until this date.

Exodus Wars: Fractured Empire to be Deployed Early February

Mateja Simovic

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January 20, 2015

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As the resident tabletop and strategy game geek at Capsule, it is my duty to inform you that Exodus Wars is receiving a video game adaption by Membraine Studios called Exodus War: Fractured Empire which will receive a full release on February 2nd of this year. The indie, strategy title looks like it will be a faithful translation of the tabletop game from analog to digital.

The game will feature a sci-fi storyline which contains a galactic, idealistic (but somehow feudal) empire fighting against inter-stellar merchants as well as in-depth strategy to match. Players will be able to customise their armies to their hearts content with each side presenting their own options and challenges to overcome. The gameplay employs an interesting mechanic to break up turn-based simplicity by allowing for a side to develop ‘momentum’ and continue activating units more than just once per turn, with subsequent activations becoming harder to pull off.

If you’re interested, you can check the game out yourself via steam or the game’s page here. It’s currently in Early Access, with the devs eager to hear your feedback and willing to give a 50% discount for buying in early.

Worlds of Magic Leaving Steam Early Access on March 19th

Jamie Laike Tsui

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January 20, 2015

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Wastelands Interactive announced their upcoming fantasy 4x strategy game Worlds of Magic will be leaving Steam Early Access on March 19th, 2015. The game has been in beta testing since September 2014 and was successfully Kickstarted in November 2013.

Worlds of Magic is set in Elannara, a world torn apart by the War of Ascension. Gateways link magical worlds full of power together, giving sorcerers the opportunity to gain more power. Players will create their own sorcerer to lead one of eight unique races and master over 400 spells. A handy infographic shows how 13 schools of magic can be combined to create the weighty spellbook.

The game features over 80 military units and 40 wandering/summonable units. Combat is based on the popular D20 RPG system.

Currently, Worlds of Magic is part of Steam’s week long sale. The game is 25% off until January 26th and comes with a free 80 page art book. Those who backed the Kickstarter campaign will get bonus content in their art book.

Firaxis Games Announces New Title, Sid Meier’s Starships

Brandon Postal

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January 20, 2015

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Firaxis Games and 2K Games have announced a new turn-based strategy games set in the popular Civilization universe titled Sid Meier’s Starships. The title is to be released for Mac, PC, and iPad, as a tactical turn-based space-combat strategy game.

Sid Meier’s Starships will allow players to command a fleet of starships to explore the galaxy. Players will have to fight to build and protect their civilizations, and ultimate create a galactic federation of planets.

This new title will allow cross-compatibility if players also on Sid Meier’s Civilization: Beyond Earth. This promises to add further replayability to avid Sid Meier fans. According to 2K, Sid Meier’s Starships features:

• Tactical space combat: Encounter unique tactical challenges in every mission, with dynamically generated maps, victory conditions, and foes.
• Fully customizable starships: Create an armada that fits your tactical plan with modular spaceship design.
• Diplomacy, strategy, and Exploration: Expand the influence of your Federation and gain the trust of the citizens of new planets. Use the unique abilities of the each planet to enhance your fleet and Federation, and keep your opponents in check. Build improvements on worlds to increase the capabilities and resources of your Federation.
• A galaxy of adventure: Explore the galaxy as you lead your fleet to distant worlds and complete missions to help the citizens of these planets. Fight pirates, protect colony ships, destroy rogue AI, and more.
• Multiple paths to victory: Will you win by conquering the greatest threat to the galaxy? Or will you unite a plurality of worlds in your Federation? Perhaps you will lead your people to push the frontiers of science. Each choice you make carries consequences on your path to victory

The title is to be released in early 2015, and a trailer may be viewed below.

New Dragon Ball Xenoverse Interview & Gameplay

Nathan Farrugia

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January 20, 2015

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Bandai Namco Games America have posted a new interview from Jump Festa that took place last month and while it doesn’t really reveal any new information, we do get to see some of the awesome new cutscenes that will feature in Dragon Ball Xenoverse. We see the fight with Raditz unfold, Raditz dodging Gohan as he becomes ‘villainous’ and then your character intervening to save the day. Unfortunately the video is edited so we don’t get to see the fight play out, but what we can see looks great and could overtake the infamous Budokai 1 from back in the PS2 days for cutscene king.

Some new gameplay was also released recently from Bandai Namco Japan showing some of the awesome combos you can pull of in this game with Super Saiyan 3 Goku, Super Saiyan Trunks and Nappa all getting a chance to show their stuff against their punching bag opponents. You can watch both videos below and make sure to let us know in the comments what you think about the cutscenes and the new gameplay footage. Click here for more awesome Xenoverse footage.

Gameplay Footage

New Cooking Mama and Gardening Mama Coming to 3DS

Nathan Farrugia

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January 20, 2015

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Release dates have been confirmed for new ‘Mama’ titles Cooking Mama: Bon Appetit! and Gardening Mama: Forest Friends. Both titles will be landing on the Nintendo 3DS on March 7th in Australia after being released last September in the States. You can pick the games up in retail or on the eShop for $49.95 each.

Cooking Mama: Bon Appetit! is another sequel in the popular Cooking Mama series made famous on the original Nintendo DS, and players must use the 3DS’ unique controls and touchscreen to help craft exotics and sweet dishes. Players are ranked for their performance with a medal system, offering replay value for completionist. The game has over 60 recipes and two additional game modes that get players out of the kitchen in ‘Let’s Help Mama!’ and ‘Let’s Help Harvest’. Players can utilise Download Play to allow up to four users to play off one game cart in a variety of mini games. SpotPass functionality is also being used, allowing players to earn exclusive items from the online service that they can use in the kitchen.

In the sequel to the spin off, Gardening Mama: Forest Friends has you pretending your 3DS stylus is a makeshift garden tool that will allow you to grow over 50 different plant types to create your own unique garden. Players help Mama turn an empty piece of land into a garden brimming with fresh and healthy produce, completing fun minigames while planning your garden strategy and delivering your crops to 6 different shops owned by your animal friends. Shops can raise in rank by selling them specific crops which will then offer you new items for you to decorate your garden with from fences, fountains and even pets. Like in Cooking Mama, SpotPass will be used here to hand out exclusive items to take the customisation options further.