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.
Wastelands Interactive announced their upcoming fantasy 4x strategy game Worlds of Magicwill 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 Magicis 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 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.
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.
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.
Indie Gala and Capsule Computers launched Indie Gala Every Monday Bundle #43 today. This week brings seven indie games for an extra low price.
Aztaka– An action RPG inspired by the Aztec legend, players will conquer 21 levels in a quest to reunite the seven phonograms.
Eleusis – A cult in Greece seeks to summon an evil being, but their plans are soon disrupted when the player stumbles upon the village they call home.
Final Dusk– A two phase action puzzle game. Players will open up a safe path in the first phase, then guide Vampire Princess Mina to safety in the second phase.
Sweet Lily Dreams– Lily loves books, but the Realm of Dreams is now under invasion by famous literary monsters like Dracula. With her two faithful pets at her side, Lily must battle against the darkness and stop the monsters from destroying the Realm of Dreams.
Tesla Breaks the World!– A side scrolling puzzle platformer starring Nikola Tesla and his famous rival Thomas Edison.
For the first 24 hours of the sale, all seven games can be purchased for a stunningly low $1.49. Be sure to head over to Indie Gala to grab your bundle before the price rises.
Come one, come all to the world’s most exciting and entertaining (we hope) news program; Xbox Newsbeat. What makes us so exciting and entertaining? Well, the fact that we deal with all the latest and greatest news out of Microsoft HQ for starters! With the new year comes new news and this week we have three killer Xbox One headlines for your viewing pleasure (I’m guessing that 2015 will NOT be a big Windows Phone year). So sit back, relax and enjoy!
Xbox One February system update: Game hubs and TV updates now in preview
If there is one thing that can be said about Microsoft, it is that they are not stingy with the Xbox One system updates. The console is already far more versatile and customisable than it was at launch, and yet they keep making it better. Here is what you can expect from the upcoming February update (which is presently in preview for some lucky gamers):
Game hubs –New in preview this month, game hubs are the go-to centres for all sorts of interesting content around your favourite games. Every Xbox One game will have a game hub where you can see which of your friends are playing the game, compete with your friends in game leaderboards, dive into the coolest game clips and game broadcasts, and follow the game’s VIPs and top players.
To get to the game hub for your favourite game, find a game in your pins, recently played list, or My games and apps, then press the Menu button and select View game hub. You can also search for any game in the Xbox Store and click on the game hub tile from the game’s store page.
Custom backgrounds and tile transparency – After listening to your feedback, Xbox have added additional tile transparency to the Home tiles to make your background images more visible. As a reminder, to set a custom background, go to Settings > My Xbox> My background. Note: some items can’t be made transparent due to usage rights/restrictions for certain images.
TV updates – We’re releasing a lot of updates to the live TV experience and features are being released to additional countries in preview this month:
OneGuide for the Netherlands – Support for OneGuide will continue in preview for the Netherlands and the missing channels for the Netherlands OneGuide listings will become available over the next few weeks.
TV trending in OneGuide – As you scan the detailed OneGuide TV listings, you can see which shows are trending by a “Trending on Xbox” note and associated icon. Xbox – live TV trending is based on the number of Xbox One owners currently watching that show in each country, pulled from anonymous data collected at a national level. Currently, Xbox TV trending is available to all members in the U.S., UK and Canada.
Live TV trending (new countries) –France, Germany, Brazil and Mexico will begin seeing live TV trending data in Xbox OneGuide.
Improved control of TVs, set-top boxes and audio/video receivers – Xbox One will work even better with more devices. This month’s preview release contains updates to the IR blasting database for new models and addresses issues reported by our fan community.
“Trick play” with Xbox One Digital TV Tuner – Preview members with the Xbox One Digital TV Tuner in supported countries (UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain) will now be able to see video frames when fast-forwarding or rewinding paused TV on your Xbox One consoles.
Live TV streaming on Windows Phone and Android – Xbox are continuing the preview of live TV streaming on Windows Phone and Android devices for Xbox One Digital TV Tuner owners in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
What’s in Week 3 of the Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer Beta?
We recently previewed the beta for 343’s upcoming Halo 5: Guardians, but as we mentioned then the beta was operating in a sort of episodic format, where every week new content was being added and expanded upon to give players a real sense of what to expect. Here is what got added over the past week:
New Game Mode: Stronghold – Building off the strengths of team-based Slayer mode, Strongholds features three control zones placed around the map that your team will need to control in order to dominate the enemy. But take note! Only the team that controls two Stronghold zones can score points: the first team to score 100 points, wins the match. Try to control all three zones and you’ll be spread too thin, so your team will need to strategize and stick together to hold the combination of two Strongholds that establish map control!
New Weapons –Sniper Rifle, Rocket Launcher, Energy Sword and Prophet’s Bane
New Map: Pegasus – The winner of the fan vote over Orion, features long sightlines, perfect for marksman weapons. Holding down the raised area with the Sniper Rifle, Rocket Launcher or Light Rifle gives a team excellent presence, and the ability to lock down huge swathes of the map. However, this spot is vulnerable to grenades and flanking routes that the opposing team should use to retake the high ground.
Pre-Order and Pre-Download Evolve on Xbox One
After running a successful beta over the past weekend, 2K and Turtle Rock Studios monster hunting shooter, Evolve is now available for preorder and preloading on Xbox One. By going through the Xbox Store, players can preorder one of the two following versions of the game:
Xbox One Evolve Pre-Order Edition – available for $99.95, includes the standard game, plus a Monster Expansion Pack, Team C and Wraith.
Xbox One Evolve Deluxe Edition – available for $126.45, includes the standard game, plus a Season Pass, a Monster Expansion Pack, Team C, and Wraith.
So there we have it folks, another week has come and gone and with it a bunch of Xbox news. Did any of this week’s headlines grab you? Let us know in the comments below and remember to stay tuned to Capsule Computers for all the Xbox news as it becomes available.
Let me tell you about the prerelease for Fate Reforged, the excitement and storm of magic players battling with dragons, all determined to prove their clan is destined for greatness. The most popular choices for the latest Khans of Tarkir expansion this weekend, were Jeskai and Abzan – however, I would not completely dismiss the likes of Temur, Mardu and Sultai.
Fate Reforged brings a variety of new and old elements into the playing field, with the return of hybrid mana for casting card effects and the addition of manifest, (which replaces morph) for summoning a face down 2/2 colourless creature. The most exciting features are the modal cards, which present players with a choice when their spell is cast, as well as the new mechanics; bolster for Abzan and dash for Mardu.
Bolster enables players to empower their creatures overtime, by adding X 1+1 counters to target creature with the least toughness. Whereas, dash speeds up the attack phase, with creatures entering the battle with haste and returning to their owners hand at the beginning of the next end step. Of course, the original mechanics are just as powerful and strategic for the other clans: Jeskai with prowess, Temur with ferocious and Sultai with delve.
For the prerelease event, all participating magic players received a prerelease pack with five boosters (four Fate Reforged and one Khans of Tarkir), a ‘seeded’ booster pack, D20 life counter, clan pin, info and activity card of their clan choice. Players are tasked to assemble a 40 card deck from their booster packs (with 40 being the minimum) and compete in four rounds that are based on the best of three games. Each local gaming store offers players two flights, competitive or casual, which determines what prizes players receive at the end of the tournament.
Jeskai vs. Abzan – an intense match for Tahnee and Bryce.
A special promo ‘Time Shifted Cards’ was included at the Fate Reforged prerelease, to illustrate how the plane of Tarkir has changed over time. All players received an ‘Ugin’s Fate’ booster pack, containing a Token, Land card and a few ‘Time Shifted Cards’ from a pool of 40 holo foil stamped cards with different artwork.
Fate Reforged hits shelves this coming week on January 23 – you can check out the epic 180 card gallery on the Wizards of the Coast official site here. Be sure to get your pre-orders in early for the Fate Reforged fat pack and booster box! Let us know your suggestions for the best deck build for each of the clans and what cards stand out for you the most in this expansion.
During their Otakon Las Vegas panel earlier today, FUNimation announced that they have now acquired the home video release rights for Dragonar Academy, Date A Live II, and No-Rin. While Date A Live II was a sure pick-up as the company has already released the first season in English, the fate of the other two series was unknown until now.
The company went on to say that they will be releasing both Date A Live II and Dragonar Academy on Blu-ray/DVD combo sets later this year, though they did not say how they will be handling No-Rin as more details will be revealed later.
For those who are unfamiliar with these series, Dragonar Academy follows the story of Ash Blake, a student at the Dragonar Academy that bears the mark of a master of dragons. However despite this mark he is incapable of controlling any dragons until one appears in the form of a young girl. As for Date A Live II, it continues the story from the last season with Shido continuing to seal Spirits’ powers while No-Rin is a romantic comedy that follows a group of students at an agricultural school only for a now retired famous idol to transfer into the class.
Overview Naoki Urasawa has created a number of award winning manga series such as Monster and 20th Century Boys, but he has also spent time working on another series that is just as well known and that happens to be Master Keaton. While disputes and controversy exist on who wrote parts of Master Keaton, as Urasawa started to claim that he wrote some of the story after a dispute with the original author caused him to take over the story and the artwork, but it is clear that his influence is still shown through the artwork in these early chapters.
Anyways, now that Master Keaton is in English for the first time since the series’ original run from 1988 to 1994, is this first volume worth picking up?
Story Taichi Hiraga Keaton is the son of a Japanese zoologist and a British noblewoman and although he may spend some of his time in Japan as an Archeology lecturer in a Japanese university, he is a man with many occupations. What Keaton usually does is work as an insurance investigator for Lloyd’s of London as well as attempt to help those he comes across when they are in trouble. Keaton’s low-profile personality that leads his students to take advantage of his laid-back attitude and causes issues with his now divorced wife and teenage daughter may be who he is on the surface, but below that surface Keaton is a man of incredible skill.
While few details have been revealed in Volume 1, Keaton is not only highly intelligent, with time spent at Oxford, but also skilled in combat and tactics thanks to his time enlisted in the British Army’s Special Air Service. Thanks to this particular set of skills, Keaton is capable of not only coming up with historically accurate facts on the fly but also surviving dangerous encounters with make-shift weaponry and handling impossible odds by using ingenious survival techniques.
It is worth noting that all of the stories contained in Master Keaton Volume 1 are one-off stories that usually end at the conclusion of that chapter. Keaton can go from investigating the suspicious death of a man with a life insurance policy of one million pounds to attempting to surviving in a desert after being left for dead by locals due to the ineptitude of an excavation crew and then shifting to helping a strange surly old woman with a mystery that he only had just met. There are a few slight hints about certain events that may appear in another chapter and Keaton’s also divorced father and daughter regularly appear throughout this volume as we learn about the divorce from his wife though this is only barely explored. This lack of a consistent story is disappointing, especially since (despite how wordy many descriptions tend to be) many of the stories are wrapped up in a rushed manner with very little extra explanation or long lasting development.
The lack of continuity appears to hurt the series even worse when you compare the one-off chapters to the two storylines in Master Keaton Volume 1 that last for more than a single chapter. While the simple stories tend to be well told and interesting enough on their own, these stories that span two or three chapters give readers plenty of extra information not only about Keaton’s past but also some insight into the people he is trying to track down or foil the plans of.
As mentioned, Master Keaton is a bit of a slow read thanks to the descriptive nature of the series and when you combine that with the slow start of volume 1 and the episodic stories you have a story that isn’t exactly for everyone. The stories that are told are still interesting in their own right and seeing how Keaton will manage to survive or figure out the motives of certain characters makes for an enjoyable read, but one that is lacking in action since Keaton or other characters generally end fights instantly or any real development
Artwork Although at this point Naoki Urasawa may not have been writing the storyline, he was handling the illustrations and throughout the volume viewers will be treated to his crisp detailed artwork. The way that he designs his characters makes even the standard looking Keaton stand out in surprising fashion, though this also is thanks to the way that every character has a distinct look about them and plenty of detail into their outfits and expressions.
Since the volume jumps from story to story and Keaton travels to numerous locations readers will be shown plenty of detailed areas ranging from cities in Japan, Greece, Italy, and more as well as desert ruins and various other sites that feature a number of extremely detailed backgrounds that really have a chance to shine in this larger Signature release. It is also worth noting that, to preserve the manga artwork, all of the sound effects have been left untranslated in this release but Viz has included a glossary in the back with these translations.
Extra Content Viz has handled Master Keaton Volume 1 the same way they handled Naoki Urasawa’s Monster series, giving the volume a faux dust jacket as well as a handful of color pages at the start and the middle of the volume. These color pages are printed on the same material as normal pages and it is neat to see the color slowly diminish every page until the manga enters its standard black and white form.
Overall Master Keaton Volume 1 is a manga series that may not be for the average reader thanks to the way it handles it stories, but those who do pick up this release will be in for a fascinating manga that is unlike most other series on the market. Keaton’s unique way of handling situations and seemingly endless pool of knowledge that helps him against even the shadiest members of society makes this a series worth reading for those who can overlook its current shortcomings.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
