Chase off your case of the Monday blahs with a monstrous indie bundle from Indie Gala and Capsule Computers. This week’s Every Monday Bundle features five huge indie games for one great price.
1Quest– A rogue-like turn based RPG that challenges players to stop an demon summoning ritual in only seven days.
Mission Control – A game funded and developed in collaboration with NASA, Mission Control features upcoming technologies developed by NASA packed into an action game.
Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 – Return to Fazbear’s Pizza’s night watch. New animatronics have have been added to the cast, yet they are just as dangerous as the old crew.
Quest for Infamy – Playing the hero is boring. Instead, engage in a debauchery, wealth, and general no good behaviour in this retro styled point and click adventure.
Rift’s Cave –A fantasy adventure game designed for the Oculus Rift.
For the first 24 hours of the sale, all five games costs only $1.89. Be sure to grab your copy at Indie Gala before the price goes up.
The long-awaited Fate Reforged, is set to surface at the prerelease tournament this weekend from January 17-18. Magic the Gathering players are invited to take part in the war-torn history of Tarkir, where five clans (Abzan, Mardu, Jeskai, Sultai and Temur) clash with the mighty dragons of the past.
Fate Reforged is the second of three sets in the Khans of Tarkir block, and promises to provide players with an exciting range of fierce and powerful dragons. What makes Fate Reforged truly unique is the significant influence of individual choice in the game; to design ones’ fate in the hope that their strategy proves to be successful.
Can you imagine drawing this planeswalker!?
Don’t miss out on the prerelease this weekend, head down to your local game store or hop online to preregister for the event to ensure a spot and clan of your choosing. Fate Reforged hits shelves next week on January 23, with the Game Day scheduled for February 14-15.
Stay tuned with Capsule Computers this week for more insights into the prerelease. Best of luck to all magic participants!
Satellite Reign is a new indie, strategy game by 5 Lives Studios which aims to be the spiritual successor to the old (and much loved) Syndicate franchise. I recently scoped out Satellite Reign as a title to look out for in the new year for all the high-tech/low-lives amongst you. As luck would have it, a fixer was able to set a meet up between myself, Chris Conte, and Dean Ferguson. After fulfilling my end of the bargain, I jumped into a secure node and got to extracting as much information as I could out of my two targets…
Belated congratulations on your successful kickstarter and your recent pre-alpha release of the game on Steam early access.
Thanks. 🙂
What has the experience been like with developing the game through a crowdfunding model in comparison to a publisher-funded model?
It has been overwhelmingly positive to be honest, we have a direct line to the end user which is priceless in our industry. It has also been very humbling to have so many people share our belief in what we are doing. Probably the biggest difference is just the freedom to take risks and explore things we would never have done if a publisher had veto power.
Freedom, sweet freedom. From what I’ve seen so far, the look and feel of the city nails a gritty and neon cyberpunk aesthetic. What influences did you have in designing the city?
So much, there is an immense body of work in the Cyberpunk style for us to draw from. Our biggest influence for the city visually was probably Bladerunner.
It definitely comes through.The area of the city that’s in the current build is huge. How big a city have you got planned for the final product? What process did you guys go through to plan out the cityscape?
The currently released district is one of 4, each is roughly the same size…so its a very large city.
The planning stages were largely handled by Chris (designer) and Brent (environment artist), they blocked out the city in what we our ‘call white boxing’ phase. This is where they lay down basic forms to denote specific areas of game-play/art. At this rough stage it is all about getting the basic flow and game play mechanics in and tested before we do anything long term such as art passes. It allows us to play the game and see how the design is working and make changes quickly if needed.
There appear to be plenty of law enforcement and corporate security type enemies in the current build of the map, what other enemy types do you have in store for the final game? Are there plans to have other, competing syndicates with their own agents trying to take over the city?
We have 3 unique factions, each control certain areas in the city. They aren’t actively trying to take over the city from each other but they have no love for your team. We also have larger more imposing mech units on the way.
The end goal Satellite Reign is to take control of the city for your own nefarious purposes (or so my fixer tells me). To that end, how would the game-play transition from you ‘stickin’ it to the man’ in the early game to ‘being the man’ in the end game?
Your goal isn’t to take control of the city bit by bit, but rather to work your way through the city, building up your team to strike at the heart of the oppressive company, which has a stranglehold on the city. You start with a small team and limited resources, but through stealing, bribing and violent means, you can take your team from lowly cloned agents, into the heavily augmented, fully equipped, battle hardened killing machines you will need to make the final push into the Dracogenics headquarters and gain control of their satellite network.
Ah, well that certainly does sound a lot more cyberpunk.How deep does your simulation of the city go? Are there specific scripted instances for the player to encounter or will all events be the result of emergent game-play?
None of the moment to moment game-play is scripted. We have quests that even themselves have random elements to them where we set up things for the player to do but the enemies they face up against, the routes they take, the rewards you get and the chaos that ensues will be different every time you play.
Cyberpunk fiction generally portray a level of technology which is not too far removed from what can be seen today. Have you been working in a similar manner with your weapon and vehicle designs, or have you drawn upon other avenues of inspiration to create the tech in the game?
A little of both, we wanted to keep out of the realms of full on science fiction where possible, but at the same time its all about allowing the player to have fun so if a weapon or item is a little far fetched but really cool to use then that is fine with us.
Cool. Thanks for your time guys but I’ve got to cut the line as the trace is getting clos-
While you wait for a flash-cloned replacement writer to finish our preview of the current build of Satellite Reign, you can check out the game’s website here or jack into the game yourself through Steam.
Ponycan USA has just revealed the details of their first home video release for the 2014 series Denki-Gai (Denki-Gai no Honya-san).
This collector’s edition release will contain the first four episodes with Japanese audio and both English and Spanish subtitle options. The set will contain the episodes on DVD, Blu-ray and a character song CD. On-disc extras will include the special off-air, textless versions of the opening and ending animation and the TV commercials. Physical bonuses will include:
An exclusive “PONYCAN US” plastic slipcase
An “Exclusive Mega Tall size “DODEKA” Disc Case”
A “Double-sided cover illustrated by SIN-EI ANIMATION”
A “Deluxe 24-page Booklet “Umanohone Magazine 1&2″”
“Double-sided Poster illustrated by SIN-EI ANIMATION”
It will be released on April 10, 2015 and currently has a store price of $71.98. There will be a “special surprise gift” for customers who pre-order this release by February 28, 2015.
With Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 2: Sisters Generation set to be released on the PS Vita in a little over two weeks, Idea Factory International has released a couple of new gameplay clips as well as some new screenshots for the title. The first clip shows off the HDD transformations for Nepgear, Uni, Rom, and Ram while the second clip highlights Nepgear’s “M.P.B.L. Maximum Power” skill when paired with Rom.
As for the new screenshots they show off some of the costumes players will be able to use in the games as well as a few of the guest characters that can join your party. Currently Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 2 is set to be released in North America on January 27th while European fans can pick it up in stores on February 6th and through the PlayStation Store on February 11th.
Over the weekend Aksys Games released a very familiar, but new trailer for Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late. There may be a reason why this trailer is familiar to those who have been following the fighting game, as the trailer is actually the opening movie for Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late.
Anyways, you can check out this video, which does focus on introducing the sixteen playable characters that will be available in the game once it is released in North America on February 24th for the PlayStation 3. NIS America will be releasing the Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late in Europe, though at the moment no solid release date has been revealed.
HAPPY NEW YEAR! It’s a little belated I know, but they say it is better late than never. I hope 2015 is treating you all well so far, but more than that I hope that you are ready for the hottest Microsoft news because Xbox Newsbeat is back! We thought we’d start slow and ease you all back into the swing of things with two headlines this week, so get settled in for some Newsbeat!
While Halo 5: Guardians is admittedly still a fair ways away, eager Halo fans now have the opportunity to pre-order the next installment in Master Chief’s epic saga so that they will have it available. Not only that, but Microsoft and 343 Industries have announced three different editions of the game that you can order:
Standard Editionfor $99.95 AUD – Halo 5: Guardians
Limited Editionfor $149.95 AUD – Available from EB Games, JB Hi Fi and MS Store, the Limited Edition* of Halo 5: Guardians delivers new digital content to enhance Spartan combat plus exclusive** items all wrapped in a uniquely designed steel book
Limited Collector’s Editionfor $329.95 AUD – Exclusive to EB Games in Australia, the Limited Collector’s Edition is a premium edition of Halo 5: Guardians for collectors and Halo fans alike. The Limited Collector’s Edition*** contains the Limited Edition as well as additional content including a commemorative, numbered statue designed by 343 Industries
In other Halo news, as many of you are probably aware the current Halo 5 Multiplayer Beta is in its final week, so if you have a copy of The Master Chief Collection and aren’t playing, then you should be!
Who would have guessed that the first Newsbeat of the year would have featured some Forza news? To be honest, everyone should have seen this coming and you should be ashamed if you didn’t! The latest Car Pack, the G-Shock Car Pack brings 6 new cars including the 2015 Nissan IDx NISMO.
All you rev-heads can grab the G-Shock Car Pack for AU$6.65 as well as a free 2010 Mazda Mazdaspeed 3.
So there’s the first installment to Newsbeat for the year. What did you think? Did you like the change in format (just kidding, we didn’t change the format, please don’t strain yourselves looking for differences). As always, let us know in the comments below which of this week’s headlines jumped out at you the most and remember to stay tuned to Capsule Computers for all the Microsoft news as it becomes available.
Overview In the past it used to be when an anime ended, the story for most fans would end at the same time as the Western manga market tended to neglect all but the most popular series. Nowadays that is no longer the case and while Deadman Wonderland will never see a second anime season due to leaving out important characters that come into play here in Deadman Wonderland Volume 6, the story will continue in print form. So now that Deadman Wonderland Volume 6 has been released, does the story continue in a decent direction?
Story Considering this is a review for volume 6 of the series, anyone who has not caught up with the Deadman Wonderland manga up to this point should expect spoilers. Along those same lines, anime viewers may find that volume 6 is the easiest entry point to the extended story but, as mentioned earlier, various characters that begin to play prominent roles in this volume were left out of the anime and this may leave many in the dark.
That being said, a week has passed since Korako Koshi and the rest of the surviving members of Scar Chain managed to escape from Deadman Wonderland after defeating the Undertakers. In this time frame they have managed to pass along the horrible information about the Carnival Corpse to the press and the public has become aware of what the Deadmen are capable of.
Unfortunately since Ganta chose to remain in the prison with Shiro, he is surrounded by fellow inmates that fear him and his powers and to make matters worse, the unopposed chief of Deadman Wonderland Tamaki isn’t about to let the uncovered information about the twisted prison damage his plans. Instead, in a public display of power he unveils a Ninben, an artificially created Deadman that sadistically slaughters an unknown standard Deadman on live television. With the public now in mortal fear of what the Deadmen are capable of and the remaining Deadmen left with no choice but to do what they can to stay alive against Tamaki’s creations even while Ganta struggles with how to act when one of his first acquaintances is someone he must now face off against.
After the long running escape arc featuring the fight between Scar Chain and the Undertakers, Deadman Wonderland slows things down a little bit as there are moments of downtime in volume 6 that allow for humorous antics from Shiro as she tries to figure out how to cook something for Ganta who is dealing with the casualties of the Undertaker battle as well as a number of other humorous moments while some additional time for other less prominent characters to step back into the spotlight and interact with the rest of the survivors.
This is a nice return to form for the series that was known for providing moments of humor and highlighting the actual characters between all of the violence but that quickly ends once the Ninben appear. In fact, the appearance of the Ninben and the way that Tamaki chooses to taunt the surviving Deadmen by using psychological scars to draw out their murderous intent not only reveals more about each of these characters, such as the little known Chaplin and Idaki, and shows what twisted lengths Tamaki will go to to prove the power of his new creations.
Unfortunately the way that Ganta reacts throughout the latter half of volume 6 is an unfortunate return to the inept whining character that many might have hoped would disappear after the events with the Undertakers. Not only does he handle things so poorly with the Ninben that he ends up turning everyone except Shiro against him but when Shiro does reveal a little something she figured out, and is genuinely proud of, he shoves her away, shutting away the last piece of light that was still shining on him by the end of the volume.
Artwork After the bloodbath that made up past volumes, Deadman Wonderland Volume 6 can be found tame by comparison. There is still bloodshed of course, but the amount of gore is limited mostly to grotesque growth followed by exploding bodies that are mostly obscured by blood due to the one-note powers of the Ninben. The various Branch of Sin powers wielded by the surviving Deadmen remain very impressive looking while the character designs still remain quite memorable, especially since we see less prominent characters step into focus this time.
The change in scenery, as the Deadmen are let back out to mingle with other prisoners, adds to the variety of backgrounds that readers will see throughout the volume though it is unfortunate that a large number of panels feature completely blank or extremely simple backgrounds. Viz’s translation and editing of the series remains very impressive as their translations do not mar any of the artwork which is a must for the few action sequences contained in this volume.
Extra Content The first page of this volume is presented entirely in color which is then followed by a colored two page spread featuring a, presumably naked, Shiro submerged in a bathtub full of jelly beans and surrounded by other sweets. Other than that, the only other noteworthy extra is the interesting way that the credits page for the original staff is handled, as it features various panels from the volume as if the characters were presenting the staff.
Overall
Deadman Wonderland Volume 6 takes some downtime to focus on the characters after the last major arc before heading into the next one. These moments of peace give us a fresh look at some characters that have been overlooked for volumes and also set up a horrific revelation that Ganta has to deal with alongside his fellow Deadmen. Unfortunately the way that he does end up dealing with it remains one of the consistent issues that Ganta’s character has, for every step forward he takes two steps back. That being said, thanks to a cliffhanger ending, the various hints that have been dropped throughout this volume as to what to expect and the hopelessness that is permeating the rest of the cast, readers should be eager to see where the story will continue in volume 7.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Yen Press has just made several new announcements to kick of the new year. Below is a list of manga and light-novel acquisitions that will be coming to North America with an English translation.
Durarara!! (light novel) by Ryohgo Narita and Suzuhito Yasuda
Rust Blast (manga) by Yana Toboso
Puella Magi Homura Tamura (manga) by Magica Quartet
Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Homura’s Revenge (manga) by Magica Quartet
Black Bullet (light novel and manga) by Shiden Kanzaki and Saki Ukai
Strike the Blood (light novel and manga) by Gakuto Mikumo and Manyako
Exact release details have not been revealed yet, but the first Durarara!! novel will be released in July 2015.
DotEmu has announced that they’re bring the classic arcade beat ’em up Double Dragon to the PC. What gamers will be able to purchase is Double Dragon Trilogy, which contains all three of the popular Double Dragon games: Double Dragon, Double Dragon 2: The Revenge, and Double Dragon 3: The Rosetta Stone.
While this title was already released on iOS and Android under the same name, DotEmu has promised that this release will have a few additional features than the mobile versions. Most importantly is the inclusion of online multiplayer. It doesn’t seem as there is too much more than the iOS version, but the ability to play with arcade sticks or controllers is much more appealing than touch controls. The announced feature list is as follows:
• Two game modes: “Arcade” (play the game from beginning to end and go for the high score) and “Story” (unlock new stages and achievements while playing through the game)
• Customizable controls (keyboard & controller)
• Three difficulty levels: “easy” (easier than the original), “original” (similar to the arcade version) and “expert” (a real challenge!)
• Choose between the original 8-bit soundtrack and a brand-new remastered one!
• Choose between the original graphics or video filter
• Local or online multiplayer
The port will be released on Steam, Amazon, and GOG on January 15th. DotEmu has not yet announced the price.
