Nintendo announced during its Nintendo Direct broadcast this morning that they plan on releasing Splatoon on the Wii U in May. During the presentation the company revealed a slew of new details for the game. Outside of the standard four on four multiplayer and single player modes, there will be a central hub area that connects each mode.
In this hub, players will also be able to customize their “Inkling” which is their character. They can customize their Inkling by equipping various outfits and weapons that can be purchased with in-game money earned by playing online. Up to three weapons can be brought with you at any time as players will have a main weapon, a sub-weapon, and a special weapon.
Today during their Nintendo Direct, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company chose to reveal the legendary Pokémon Hoopa which will be released in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire in the future. The company describes the Pokémon as follows:
Hoopa is a rare Mythical Pokémon that cannot be found during normal gameplay. Categorized as a Mischief Pokémon, Hoopa is a Psychic- and Ghost-type Pokémon, recognizable by the golden rings that adorn its horns and body, which are said to have the power to bend dimensions and move objects across great distances.
They also went on to reveal a title called Pokémon Shuffle for the 3DS. This game is a puzzle title but it unfortunately will be a free-to-play game that will make use of an energy system that players will either have to wait to replenish or pay real money to refill like in the app industry.
It seems that Nintendo will be forgoing the standard New 3DS entirely as today during their Nintendo Direct the company announced that they will be releasing the New Nintendo 3DS XL in North America on February 13th for $199.99.
The New 3DS XL will offer everything that was previously announced, including a C-Stick control, faster load times, extra shoulder buttons, an extended battery life, NFC support for amiibos, a face tracking 3D system, and a move to micro-SD memory cards. When launched the New 3DS XL will be available in either a red or black model and it will support all previously released 3DS games.
Oddly enough, Nintendo stated that this handheld will not come with an AC adapter to charge the system but they did state that any charger released for previous 3DS models will be able to charge the system.
During their Nintendo Direct earlier this morning Nintendo had a bunch of details to reveal for Mario Party 10, including when fans of the game’s can expect it to be released. Nintendo will be releasing Mario Party 10 on March 20th for the Wii U and it can be purchased either on its own or bundled with one of the brand new Mario amiibos, since the title will support amiibos.
The company also revealed that alongside the standard star collection mode, Mario Party 10 will include a Bowser Party where a player with the GamePad will always control a powered-up Bowser to face off against four other players as well as an Amiibo Party which is a board game mode that uses the Mario series of amiibos to move around a game board and collect various power-ups and items. It is worth noting that to use your amiibos with Mario Party 10 you will need to remove the save data from Smash Bros. from the figure unless you choose to purchase a brand new one.
During this morning’s first Nintendo Direct of 2015 the company revealed the amiibo figures that will make up the fourth wave of the releases. These figures happen to be Lucina, Pac-Man, Ness, Robin, Charizard, and Wario and they will be released in North America sometime this Spring while they will be released in Europe on April 24th and Japan on April 29th.
The company also stated that they will be releasing a different set of amiibos for Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Bowser, and for the first time Toad (which will work with Toad Treasure Tracker) with each character taking a more relaxed pose compared to their Smash Bros. counterparts.
Today during their first Nintendo Direct of 2015, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata announced that a brand new Fire Emblem game is in the works for the Nintendo 3DS. While the title does not have an exact name at the moment, it is being developed by Intelligent Systems and will have character designs handled by Kozaki Yusuke, the same man behind the designs in Fire Emblem: Awakening.
He went on to say that this title will feature an increased focus on the choices a player makes and the consequences of these choices that will play out through the game’s world. You can check out the teaser trailer for the new Fire Emblem game below.
Square-Enix has just released a trailer for Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn‘s next patch. Patch 2.5 adds in a number of new content, and will prepare players for the upcoming release of the first major expansion for FFXIV, Heavensward.
Patch 2.5 is titled Before the Fall, and it brings a bounty of new content to the popular MMORPG. While this is titled a patch, it’s more of a free expansion considering the amount of content that Square-Enix is releasing.
Before the Fall will conclude the main storyline of the MMORPG, and prepare players for the new story in Heavensward. The updates for the storyline finale will be split into two parts. Additionally, the Crystal Tower storyline will also be completed in this patch.
The new content also includes three new dungeons for the game: The Keeper of Lake, The Wanderer’s Palace (Hard), and Amdapor Koop (Hard). The latter two are retuned and more difficult version of dungeons already in FFXIV: A Realm Reborn.
A new center for some various attractions has been implemented, in the form of Manderville’s Gold Saucer. This new feature includes a number of mini-games, such as Super Dunk, a Triple Triad hub (based on the FFVIII game), and Active Events. Chocobo Racing is also a major feature being added to the area. Players will be to raise and customize their Chocobo’s stats for various races.
And if all this wasn’t enough, there’s also a new challenge to fight against the elder primal Odin, as well as to discover what caused Gilgamesh to return.
The first part of Before the Fall will release January 20th. Square-Enix has really outdone themselves with how much they’ve put into a simple patch, especially considering they could have saved the finales for the Heavensward expansion. A 10-minute preview of the new content can be seen below.
Grey Goo is a new “old-school” RTS set to release later this month from independent studio Petroglyph Games. The title features three factions, two of which are rather standard human and alien type races. What sets Grey Goo aside from the pack is it’s third faction, the eponymous Goo.
Grey Goo is a sci-fi resource-based strategy game set in the far future. However, the twist comes from the Goo. The Goo, unlike Humans and the Beta, do not build bases. The Goo are based off a scientific concept called self-replicating machines. Essentially, they’re a large multitude of tiny machines that harvest resources and recreate themselves; in Grey Goo, they’re taken in as an entire race. The mass is mobile and players direct it to harvest resources, then split off parts to build units or expansion bases.
Additionally, Grey Goo is moving away from the popular micromanagement games. The focus in Grey Goo is on the macro level, and base-building like the old Command & Conquer series. The game takes it’s design keys from recent MOBA’s, streamlining the gameplay in order to let players get to the meat of the game.
These concepts are what sets apart Grey Goo as a different type of modern RTS. It doesn’t seem as though the Beta and Humans are quite as inspired as the Von Neumann-type probes. However, I’d be willing to give the developers the benefit of the doubt. If they’re able to create such an original concept for one faction, it is likely there are some great twists on the classic archetypes.
Grey Goo comes out for PC January 25th. You can check out two videos below.
Universal Studios Japan are going all out with their latest upcoming event, showcasing four popular franchises from video games, anime and manga, all of which have got worldwide recognition and praise. Titled Universal Cool Japan, the event will have sections dedicated to two of the most popular anime series, Evangelion and Attack on Titan.
People who visit Attack on Titan: The Real will be greeted with two giant life sized and incredibly detailed statues of titan Eren and a female titan, the fighting poses they strike are very similar to scenes from the anime. If this wasn’t real enough then fans can take part in a walk through attraction where they will get to see Clonoids (basically characters made into real life) of Eren, Mikasa and Armin. Full pictures of each character haven’t been released however check out the picture shown on the Attack on Titan event page, the detail of the eyes and hair alone will leave you amazed.
After checking out everything AoT, you should then head over to Evangelion The Real 4Dto witness battles between Evas and angels in a whole new way. This attraction will be the very first 4D Evangelion film produced and will put audiences right in the middle of the action; combining moving seats, special effects and even using the sense of smell to fully emerge audiences in the originally created story.
The whole event will also contain sections based around the video games Monster Hunter, in which you can see life sized versions of a Seregios and Zinogore (that will literally shock those who touch it), and Resident Evil where people can enter a scary maze type escape game filled with puzzles and riddles to solve.
Universal Cool Japan will officially open on the 23rdthis month and will be running until the 10th of May, giving you plenty of time to check it out if you happen to be in traveling around Osaka.
Would you have guessed that Disney Infinity 2.0: Marvel Super Heroes focused almost entirely on Marvel characters at launch? I know, crazy right! Well as awesome as the Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy and Spider-Man are many people wanted more DISNEY in their Disney Infinity (and really, who could blame them). Luckily, we now have a full line-up of Disney Originals characters that have been added to the game’s already impressive roster of characters.
We took a look at some of the Disney Originals range last year with Big Hero 6’s Hiro and Baymax, along with Tinker Bell but now we have gotten our hands on the rest of the gang and quite impressed with what we have found.
One thing to mention though is that unlike with the first game, Disney Infinity 2.0 doesn’t offer any additional Play Sets, and none of the Disney Originals characters can be used in any of the pre-existing Play Sets, meaning that the characters below are pretty much relegated to the Toy Box.
The second member of the Three Musketeers, Donald Fauntelroy Duck (yeah, how’s THAT for some Disney trivia!) has finally arrived! Right off the bat the best thing about this figure is that they have managed to capture his personality and mannerisms PERFECTLY. “If it walks like a [Donald] Duck, and quacks like a [Donald] Duck. Then it IS a [Donald] Duck!”
Donald’s wild, erratic personality is best portrayed through his ranged attacks, that have him throwing random objects at enemies. Everything from a boot to a vase and everything in between. Donald will throw everything but the kitchen sink at his enemies to make sure he winds up the winner.
If ranged isn’t your style then Donald also has his trusty mallet to wallop anybody that gets in his way. Nobody is messing around with this Duck!
Ok so full disclosure: I hated last year’s Maleficent movie and am a tad disappointed that they opted to go for that iteration of that character instead of the classic green-skinned, truly evil version (I’m sure my Kingdom Hearts fans know what I’m talking about).
Anyway personal bias aside, Maleficent may be one of the most powerful characters in Disney Infinity 2.0. At a basic level she shares a lot of her skills and abilities with Tinker Bell and Nova; being able to fly and shoot projectiles. Her projectiles are an ominous (and I will admit, badass) looking green colour that looks incredible on the game’s backdrops. Her special move has her summoning a torrent of crows and magical energy to lay waste to everything and everyone around her. Really she is an absolute power house character.
What makes Maleficent stand out from the crowd is that she has a completely unique flight animation. Since the figure takes inspiration from last year’s movie, Maleficent has access to her feathered wings which she uses to take to the skies. The wings aren’t present when she is on the ground, so watching them unfurl is cool in of itself.
The Princess of DunBroch has arrived! Merida joins Disney Infinity 2.0 and stands proud amongst her “Disney Princess” companions; Rapunzel, Anna and Elsa. The main difference she has from the others is that she has a special move!
I know I just said that Maleficent may be the most powerful character in the game, but I’m sure Merida gives her a run for her money. For obvious reasons the feisty red-head plays very similar to the unsung hero of the Avengers: Hawkeye. Both are archers, but Merida has some tricks up her sleeve that help her one up the super hero.
Firstly, Merida has the “Frosty Fire” ability which makes all of her arrows deal ice damage to enemies, as well as freezing them solid. Combine this with the fact that she can unleash an absolute rain of arrows at higher levels means that most things around you will be frozen solid and be sitting ducks for your long-ranged (or melee) combos.
Merida’s arrows can be upgraded to charge quicker, fire more often and even bounce off walls and other objects. She is basically a female version of Robin Hood from Robin Hood: Men in Tights.
Coming all the way from outer space is Experiment 626 himself! Stitch is a cool little character who’s strength cannot be understated, even though it is wrapped safely in the confines of a cute exterior.
Stitch has an absolute arsenal of things he can use. His trusty ray gun can blast enemies away from halfway across the Toy Box (especially once upgraded) while his melee can deal devestatingly fast blows to unsuspecting enemies. His special attack has him revealing his two extra arms, each holding another blaster and absolutely lets the plasma fly! Not only does he unleash a barrage of laser blasts, but the spot they will all clump together for a body-rocking explosion.
So what makes Stitch unique? I mean almost all of the 2.0 characters have some kind of ranged attack right? Well can other characters roll themselves into a ball and roll around the Toy Box obliterating anything in their path? Stitch can and it is exactly as awesome as it sounds!
He’s one step ahead of the bread line. Aladdin is one of Disney’s most renowned scoundrels and he has managed to sneak his way into Disney Infinity 2.0. Mainly focusing on melee, Aladdin is equipped with a trusty scimitar to which he can cut down the evil Agrabah Guards. Quick, numble and with a mean jumping ability, Aladdin is the guy you are looking for when you need a melee character.
Aladdin has probably the coolest area of affect special move in the game; he reaches into his pocket and pulls out the Magical Lamp, rubs it for good luck and watches as blue smoke and thunder rain from the heavens around him. The attack looks incredible and deals a considerable amount of damage to anyone caught in the genie’s wrath.
If Aladdin is missing one thing, it is his feisty princess; Jasmine. Luckily, the confident, self-assured, tiger-owning princess will be joining the line-up in a very short amount of time
Infinity Crystal Series Figures
Back when we were all excitedly playing the first Disney Infinity game, Disney released a few special edition “Crystal” figurines. These were crystal-clear versions of the characters that gained experience quicker, and looked really awesome on a shelf (they also light up when placed on the Infinity Base). These figures were Mr. Incredible, Sully, Jack Sparrow, Lone Ranger, Lightning McQueen, Perry the Platypus and Buzz Lightyear. There was however one character missing from the list: Mickey. Well now he has finally been released so you can complete your collection!
The final Infinity Crystal figure has finally arrived! Sorcerer’s Apprentice Mickey was already one of the coolest original figures, and now he has been given a slick coat of paint (or more accurately, been stripped of a coat of paint) and is ready to stand proud among the other crystal figures. Playable in both Disney Infinity and Disney Infinity 2.0, Crystal Mickey has all the same skills and abilities as the original figure.
I was a little disappointed in how the Crystal figures were handled in 2.0, I feel that the new skills trees would have been a great time to help differentiate them from the normal characters, but sadly it wasn’t to be. This just feels like a missed opportunity. Although the figure itself looks great and may very well be the best Crystal figure in the entire game. The way he glows when on the base is incredible, with his robe and the stars on his hat gleaming beautifully, especially in the dark. He does level up slightly quicker than his regular counterpart which means you can max out his skill tree in a fraction of the time.
So there you have it, the Disney Originals range for Disney Infinity 2.0. While all of the figures are amazing this time around, the fact that Disney opted to not release an additional Play Set means that they are almost entirely relegated to the Toy Box and the two Disney Originals Toy Box Game Discs. That, and the figures are leagues ahead of the original Disney Infinity characters in terms of power level and skill trees, further showing a lack of care being put into the older figures. All in all though, these are great and will each provide hours upon hours of play time and enjoyment, as well as looking awesome as a collection on your shelf.
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