As I’m sure many of you are aware, The Sims games always have a tonne of additional content; downloadable patches, extra items, Stuff Packs and of course expansions make the games feel like they have a near endless supply of content. Well EA are carrying on that tradition with The Sims 4 with the release of The Sims 4: Outdoor Retreat.
Sitting about half way between a “Stuff Pack” and an “Expansion Pack” in terms of content, Outdoor Retreat gives players a whole new neighborhood to explore and develop: Granite Falls. Granite Falls is a holiday destination that your Sims can visit, set up camp and relax away the weekend.
The Sims 4: Outdoor Retreat comes with the brand new Granite Falls neighborhood, new objects such as tents, campfires etc and even new clothing options (including a totally kick-ass bear costume). Priced at about $30, the pack is available now through Origin so make sure you check it out.
Nozomi Entertainment, Right Stuf’s anime distribution division, recently announced their acquisition of Sketchbook ~full color’s~. They will be releasing a complete 13-episode DVD collection of the series in the summer of 2015.
Based on the 2002 manga series Sketchbook by Totan Kobako, this 2007 slice-of-life comedy anime is directed by Yoshimasa Hiraike (Wagnaria, Kaleido Star), features character designs by Isao Sugimoto (Ai Yori Yoshi, Shakugan no Shana), music by Ken Muramatsu (Natsuyuki Rendevous) and animation by Hal Film Maker (ARIA).
In addition to this acquisition, Nozomi also announced a litebox release of The Rose of Versailles Part 2. Available for a suggested retail price of $39.99 USD, this 20-episode set will be released on April 7, 2015. Part 1 will be released on February 3, 2015.
Previously announced in December was the release of Yakitate!! Japan Part 1. The 27-episode subtitled DVD set avaiable on March 3, 2015. Anyone who pre-orders this set will also receive a chipboard artbox to hold all three sets of Yakitate!! Japan, while stocks last.
Lucky Penny Entertainment, a label of Right Stuf, announced in December that a complete subtitled DVD collection of You’re Being Summoned, Azazel will be released on February 3, 2015. Announced at the same time was their acquisition of the 2006 anime Looking Up at the Half-Moon. The 6-episode subtitled DVD collection will be released on April 7, 2015.
Techland released a new teaser website for the fictional city of Harran today. Upcoming parkour-based FPS Dying Lightis set in the fictional city and Techland has set up a website for the city that has been hacked by survivors looking for help. Gamers can get a feel for the disaster zone they will soon explore in two weeks time through the site.
For the handy geeks with 3D printers, Techland has released a 3D printable zombie. Alongside the file is a YouTube video showing a zombie being printed in quick time and Techland concept artist Krzysztof Baron painting the zombie.
Dying Light will launch for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows on January 27th in the Americas; January 28th in Asia, Australia, and New Zealand; and January 30th in Europe.
Almost three years after their first Kickstarter was successfully funded, Harebrained Schemes announced the sequel to Shadowrun Returnswould be similarly funded through Kickstarter. Clearly the fans was happy with the results of the last campaign, as Shadowrun: Hong Kong met its minimum funding goal in 24 hours flat. As of publication, Harebrained Schemes has almost a half a million dollars in pledges.
Shadowrun: Hong Kong takes players to the bustling Chinese port city of Hong Kong in 2056. Its seedy underbelly of triads have become even more dangerous with the magical awakening of the city. Now a city already coping with bleeding edge cybertech and organized crime is mixing with wild magics.
Harebrained Schemes estimates that the game will launch some time in mid 2015 for Linux, Mac, and Windows. The money being raised through crowdfunding will go towards increasing their budget, allowing the team to increase the size of the game, introduce new features, and improve and revamp parts of the game. Copies of the game start at $15.00 USD, with extra bonuses for those who pledge more money to support the campaign. Shadowrun: Hong Kong’s Kickstarter campaign will run until February 17, 2015.
Many announcements were made during the 41-minute Nintendo Direct of January 14, 2015. Keeping up with every single one of them could be a time-consuming task, so to make it easier, here is a full list of the announcements that did not receive their own articles here.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3D will be released exclusively for the New Nintendo 3DS and New Nintendo 3DS XL consoles on April 2, 2015. Featuring 3D visuals, the game will allow players to view maps and character stats on the bottom screen. Also included with the remake is an option that will allow players to view 3D models of the characters and to listen to the game’s soundtrack.
VD-DEV’s new fast-paced shooter game IronFall: Invasion will be released on the Nintendo eShop in February for all consoles in the Nintendo 3DS family. The game will feature 6-player local and online multiplayer, a single player campaign and 60 FPS gameplay.
Coming out in February, Ace Combat Assault Horizon Legacy + is a game that will allow players to control fighter jets that are based on real-life jets. The game will feature C stick and ZL/ZR button compatibility and amiibo support which will allow players to pilot jets based on characters such as Link, Bowser or Fox.
A new video-on-demand service called Nintendo Anime Channel will launch on February 14. It will be free to download and will feature anime series such as Pokémon and Kirby with new content being added regularly. Fans of these series should assume that the edited English adaptations of said series will be available, not the uncut and unedited versions.
An update in February will allow amiibo support for Super Smash Bros. on 3DS. A previously announced NFC Reader/Writer will be released sometime in the future for original 3DS consoles.
A new free-to-play game called Project Treasure (working title) was announced for the Wii U. It will require an internet connection to enable four players to work together to complete varied stages, clear traps, route enemies and seize treasure.
Read some of our other articles to find out more about the announcements from this Nintendo Direct.
During the Nintendo Direct presentation of January 14, 2015, the long awaited 3D remake of The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask was given a release date of February 13 for the USA and UK and February 14 for Australia and New Zealand. It will be released both in retail stores and as a 661 MB download on the eShop. Players who intend on playing the game on a New Nintendo 3DS or New Nintendo 3DS XL will be able to experience the new stable 3D feature and enhanced camera controls with the C-stick.
In Australia, two limited edition New Nintendo 3DS XL consoles will be released along side the games. One will feature artwork from The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D, which will be available at select retailers. The other will be a Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate themed console, which will be available exclusively at EB Games stores. Both consoles above will have a suggested retail price of $249.95 and will not come with their respective games.
Also being released in Australia is a special edition of the game, which will include a specially-designed SteelBook™, a Majora’s Mask pin badge, a double-sided poster and the game itself.
A trailer for The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D is featured below.
Overview A virus originating from the Bugs 2 expedition to Mars with a one hundred percent mortality rate has started to sweep throughout the planet Earth. In an effort to find a cure for this virus and save the world, numerous nations have teamed together to send a large force to Mars called Annex 1 where they will try to capture mutated cockroaches and find a cure. However that is far easier said than done as not only have these cockroaches become smarter since Bugs 2, new and extremely powerful variants have already caused the deaths of many crewmembers. With the crew in trouble and facing off against foes they are ill-prepared to handle, what will happen in Terra Formars Volume 4?
Story It appears that the time for slow paced details have long since passed as, similar to the previous volume, this volume brings readers right into the battle as both Michelle and Akari, two crew members gifted with inherent mutation abilities, face off against two cockroaches unlike anything they have seen before. While there were already oddities with their actions before, the appearance of a cockroach with incredibly strong leg power and one capable of utilizing special underwater abilities catches the already weary fighters off guard.
Separated from the rest of the groups with very little communication between the groups in the first place and a limited supply of drugs to help the crew transform into their fighting forms these new foes make for a more interesting battle than what was previously presented. While the former volume may have been gruesome at times as we saw members of the Russian and Japanese-American teams instantly killed by surprise attacks, there was hope from then on as the surviving members were able to dispatch the normal roaches thanks to the advancements made with the Mosaic Organ Operation allowing mutations such as arachnids, birds, and even sea creatures to be utilized.
There are some brief moments of levity in this volume but it is worth noting that the focus of Terra Formars Volume 4 is the series’ signature bloody combat as we see throughout this volume even this advantage is lost once the unique roaches appear. This is a series that is more than willing to kill off characters that have been given a significant focus so there is always a tense nature to these battles and there are numerous times that readers are led to believe that the officers or one of the crew members is about to meet their fate.
That being said, there are very few developments in the actual plot in Volume 4 as nearly the entire volume features combat between the roaches and the officers. What we are presented with are the abilities of a few of the other squads such as Russia’s Squad and Adolf of Squad 5 as well as an update on their circumstances. Some character details about Adolf and Sylvester are revealed, including their motives for signing up for such a risky project but unfortunately that is about it. Considering the entire surviving crew of Annex 1 is split into six squads, the lack of focus in this regard is a bit unfortunate as readers are left only seeing a small portion of what is happening to the three teams focused on in this volume as the story jumps between them.
One thing that continues to be impressive about Terra Formars is the way that it handles the various descriptions about the base organisms used in certain character’s M.O. Operation. These brief moments of information are not only incredibly detailed but give us some context as to how these abilities work against enemies, especially once they are increased to human-sized proportions. This is especially true for certain bases that may not seem like they would be powerful on their own or are extremely exotic, such as a plant.
While the plot does take a backseat to action in volume 4 it becomes predominantly clear that another creature, be it a traitor amongst the humans or an evolved being leading the roaches, has had a hand in creating these powerful monstrosities. How they managed to do this is still unknown and with how things are left at the end of this volume we likely won’t know anytime soon but we should expect to see the end of yet another powerful member of the team.
Artwork As usual with the Viz Signature label, the slightly increased size of the volume allows for the details in the artwork to really stand out. Despite the level of combat that takes place in volume 4 the amount of gore is actually the least of all previous volumes. This likely is due to the way most of the human combatants shifting their focus to disabling the roaches, per their objective, rather than flat out killing them but readers can still expect a fair bit of gore on both sides of the fight.
The character designs remain a strong point in the series and this is especially true whenever one of the humans uses the drug to enter their combat form. With the forms now including creatures such as an electric eel and king crab, there is more variation from the bug forms that readers have likely grown familiar with at this point.
Extra Content
The amount of extra content spread throughout Terra Formars Volume 4 is a little thin as readers are presented with only two pages of information concerning four characters that have appeared in the story. Unfortunately since two of these characters aren’t even involved in the Annex project, their details here feels a bit wasted.
Other than that there are also two pages containing detailed information for two creatures that were used as base creatures in the M.O. Operation with the author giving readers some extra facts about the creatures as well as what sources he referenced for the knowledge.
Overall Terra Formars remains a thrilling read in volume 4 as the new unknown powers of the cockroaches raise the stakes of every battle. While brief, the few jokes and small details concerning a few characters’ pasts are presented which is essential to give readers something of a break from the violence and make the survivors feel human. Of course with the body count likely to rise as the survivors continue to struggle with the new roaches and attempt to figure out how they managed to obtain such power, this development will likely be a barb that will hurt the readers in the future.
While barely any questions were answered in this volume the amount of action and the way that it is presented in volume 4 will be a delight to readers who have followed the series and will likely continue to do so as Yu Sasuga’s bloody story continues to excel in many ways.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
With the original Yu-Gi-Oh! manga being thirty eight volumes in length, it is quite an expensive challenge to try and collect every volume, especially since some may be hard to find now. As such, Viz Media has announced that they are now planning on re-releasing the entire Yu-Gi-Oh! manga series in a 3-in-1 omnibus format.
The first omnibus will be released on February 3rd and it will be priced at $14.99 U.S. / $16.99 CAN. There will be thirteen volumes in total though currently Viz has not announced when fans can expect the second omnibus to be released.
For those who never followed the anime series back when it aired in North America or bothered collecting any of the cards, Yu-Gi-Oh! follows the story of Yugi, a tenth grader who is possessed by the spirit of an Egyptian pharaoh after solving the Millennium Puzzle.
After being possessed by the pharaoh, Yugi challenges numerous opponents to “Shadow Games” with strange stakes and dire consequences for the loser. At least until he enters the world of card games after being challenged by Seto Kaiba to a duel after he threatens his best friends’ lives.
Even though it might be an enhanced version of a previously released game exclusive for Japan, it is interesting to see that Sega will not be making fans in the West wait long to play Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai DX as they have announced that the game will be released in North America before Japan.
Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai DX will be available at retail stores as well as a digital download in North America on May 26th, May 28th in Japan, and May 29th in Europe. Being a collaboration with Good Smile Company, this title features Hatsune Miku and her friends in Nendoroid style as they perform forty eight different songs included in the release.
Atlus USA has announced that they plan on releasing Etrian Mystery Dungeon in North America on April 7th where it can be purchased either digitally or at retail. All first run copies, or anyone who pre-orders the game, will be given a bonus soundtrack CD if they purchase a retail copy.
Currently no release date has been announced for Etrian Mystery Dungeon in Europe, but with this release date announcement Atlus also released a new trailer for Etrian Mystery Dungeon focusing on the Landsknecht swordsman class. You can check out the trailer, as well as some new English screenshots, below.
With the original
