EB Games has announced that from Friday 4:00PM AEDT, the mainEB Games webpage will be down to get ready for the annual Mad Monday sale. The giant sale will start at 12:01AM AEDT on Monday December 8th, and will last for just 24 hours. With over 5000 product on sale, it promises to be a major event for the company, much like their Mad Monday Sales of previous years.
This online sale is exclusively for Australian customers.
A new feature of this sale are “30 Minute of Madness” specials, which will last for a half-hour each, or while supplies of each item lasts. EB Games states that these will include some major titles, such as the new Pokemon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire, as well as triple-A games like Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor.
From EB Game’s announcement:
Some of the top deals available throughout the day include:
Xbox One with Kinect + 7 Games + $20 Xbox Live credit for $599
PlayStation 4 Black + 8 Games for $698 GTA V Next Gen on PS4 & Xbox One $71 each – Very Limited, Save $28.95
Far Cry 4 from $53 – Save Over $30
FIFA 15 from $51 – Save Over $35
Also being offered is the guarantee that Mad Monday orders will be received by Christmas, going so far as to offer a $20 EB Games gift card should an order not make the deadline.
EB Games will also be running contents on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, using the hashtag #MadMonday.
All in, it looks to be like a promising deal for gamers and Christmas shoppers alike.
Deep Silver has announced that Dead Island: Epidemic has now entered into open beta. The arena-based combat game based on the original open-world Dead Island is available free on Steam.
Included in this announcement was a large content update as well. A new four player PvE mode titled Crossroads has been brought into Epidemic, offering increased replayability outside of the traditional MOBA combat system. In addition, the crafting system, level progression systems, loot drops, and more have all been updated. In-depth details can be found in the official patch notes.
Players interested in joining the open beta can sign up on the official site, and downloads for the game can be found on Steam. A trailer for the new Crossroads mode can be seen below.
EA and KIDinaKORNER/Interscope Records announced that British blues rock/folk musician Jamie N Commons will be providing the theme song for the upcoming FPSBattlefield Hardline. The artist had this to say about the track:
“Earlier this year ‘Jungle’was featured in the first Battlefield Hardline trailer, which was a total thrill. ‘Karma,’ however, was written specifically with the game in mind. The deep melodic beats and lyrics help express the game’s theme where actions have consequences, but sometimes those consequences come back full circle. I think gamers are going to love it.”
Battlefield Hardline is the first Battlefield title from Visceral Games. The title moves away from the series’ traditional military setting to the streets of Miami, where a violent conflict is breaking out between the police and criminal elements. The game features a full singleplayer campaign and multiplayer combat. Battlefield Hardlinewill launch for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Windows in North America on March 17th, 2015 and PAL regions on March 19th.
A steam community update provided from Square Enix has announced the release date of an upcoming patch for Final Fantasy XIII (reviewed here for the Xbox 360). On its initial windows release, back in October this year, the game was fraught with technical problems. The biggest of which was the locked in resolution of 1280 x 720. It was also apparent that the in-game cinematics seemed to be heavily compressed, more so than the PlayStation 3 version which was released back in 2009.
This will soon change however, as the patch will be available on December 11th. The Square Enix representative states that the patch adds “custom resolutions (720p, 1080p…) and graphic options”. It is not yet clear what those ‘graphic options’ will be, but the possibility of playing in 1080p and higher will certainly boost the games reputation with PC players. Final Fantasy XIII is available on steam for only $15.99.
Today marked the release of the Blood Bowl 2 Kick Off Trailer from Focus Home Entertainment. The trailer showcases the new graphics engine of the game, and some pre-rendered action. The humor and atmosphere of the world of Blood Bowl are shown to be a high priority in the game, which is sure to please fans of the popular Games Workshop title.
With this trailer came the announcement of a Spring 2015 release date for the PC version, and an announcement that the game will also be released on the Playstation 4 and the Xbox One as well. This announcement pushes back the original planned release date of 2014, no doubt to add further polish into the graphics engine and animations.
The trailer can be viewed below. You can visit the official website here.
Ubisoft announced today that they are releasing Driver Speedboat Paradise in Australia and New Zealand for the iPhone, iPad and iPod. This is the first Drivergame released in three years. Ubisoft are planning on incorporating the feedback received from the free trial version into the final version of the game, which is to be released in 2015. The game is available for free download here.
In the game, the goal is to become famous in the world of underground speedboat racing while the legendary cop John Tanner is out to stop you. Players can race in exotic locations around the world, including Miami, the Bahamas, Cancun, Venice and others. There are 32 races across the five different modes, which are Classic, Time Trial, Endurance, Elimination and Duel. The game boasts 3D graphics and realistic weather effects. There will be weekly tournaments for players to challenge their Facebook friends in order to get unique rewards.
The game is being developed by Ubisoft Paris and is optimised for iPhones 5 and up.
Bandai Namco America recently held an hour long live stream featuring an all new build of Dragon Ball Xenoverse with English dialogue and we’ve sifted through all the trash to bring you the best highlights from the stream including new characters, super attacks and other details. The full live stream is also below if you have an hour and twenty minutes to sit and watch it.
A male Majin character was chosen to be the custom avatar for the first bit of the stream. Male Majins can ONLY be fat, however you can make them slightly slimmer or larger. You can also change their height between four options which changes their look rather dramatically. You could have black or white eyes and change the colour of your pupils and skin tone to whatever you like.
There were 10 different voice options for male Majins alone.
It seems every race has height options, allowing you to make child characters of each race. Using different body types and skin tones will allow you to make alien looking races as well.
As we knew, mentors rome Toki Toki City and you can approach them. It also seems custom made NPC’s will rome Toki Toki City as well but their function remains yet to be seen.
Saw a created character that looked like Final Form Cooler but with different colours.
Appule and Larsberi, two of Frieza’s lesser known henchmen from the Frieza Saga are confirmed as playable characters along with the entire Ginyu Force. It is also confirmed Frieza 1st form, Final Form and 100% Final Form will be separate characters. Frieza has his Kai voice actor.
You tie certain skill and attack sets to alternate outfits which can then easily be selected in the character select screen for your created character.
It looks like characters will have HEAPS of alternate outfits. Vegeta alone has Saiyan Saga armour with scouter, without scouter, armour with shoulder pads and armour without shoulder pads. It looks like he has more that weren’t unlocked yet. Goku seems to have 15 and Nappa has 3. Certain move sets are tied to each outfit and can’t be changed, so unfortunately it appears you won’t be able to use any move set with any outfit.
Clothing items will have stats tied to them (unfortunately, hope we don’t just see everyone wearing the same outfit due to stats). It said these stat buffs won’t be too major.
It looks like local 1 on 1 battles can only be fought on the World Tournament Stage.
Lots of cool combos involving teleporting, cancelling, slamming your opponent to the ground and more.
Created characters will speak attack names such as Kamehameha.
Created Saiyans can go Super Saiyan 2 and most likely Super Saiyan 3 as they stopped before revealing it. When in Super Saiyan super moves won’t drain any ki, but you’re ki meter is constantly draining.
Everyone can use the Kaioken technique. Kaioken x3 and x20 are available.
Notable new clothing items I spotted include Bardock’s Amour, Coolers Armoured Squad Armour, Turles Armour, Android 17, 18 (skirt), Beerus, Hercules and Dr Geros.
Notable accessories include Gero’s Hat, 19’s Hat, Great Saiyaman Helmet, Young Chi Chi Helmet, King Kai’s Hat, General Blue’s Army Cap, Bandages the Mummy Head (from Dragon Ball). Man they are going all out with these!
Z soul will buff your abilities and there a number of different ones that activate under certain conditions.
New Super Attacks include Power Blitz (Android 17/18), Freedom Kick (Great Saiyaman) and X10 Kamehameha (SS4 Goku). There are many others listed as well. There are over 200 special attacks.
Some Super Attacks will buff your stats, such as fighting poses and Great Saiyamans Pose. There is a fairly long list of these. It is stated that a very low number of moves will be usable only by certain races.
New Ultimate Attacks include Supernova (First Form Frieza), Spirit Sword (Super Vegito), Minus Energy Power Ball (Omega Shenron), x100 Big Bang Kamehameha (SS4 Gogeta) and many more. Again the list is very impressive. There are also strike Ultimate Attacks, not just energy blast based moves.
Chris Sabat (voice of Vegeta and Piccolo) was a special guest on the live feed. He revealed he voiced a number of the custom characters and also voiced a special ‘Easter Egg’ challenge.
Some moves involving a sword can be equipped to your custom character and they will pull a sword out of midair (supposedly if they do not have one equipped).
Level 60 is a level your custom character can reach however it is not the max level.
Beam struggles officially deconfirmed. The reason given was the 3 x 3 battles. (I still want to see a game where a teammate can start a beam struggle and then their teammates can join in to charge it up).
The game is still incomplete as Kid Gohan still had his Japanese voice.
DLC seems to be planned, some based on fan feedback.
There are over 70 characters at least in the game but based on some of the inclusions we are guessing there will be even more.
So there you go. Let us know what you think about this latest news and be sure to stay with Capsule Computers as we bring you all the latest Xenoverse news as it comes. Dragon Ball Xenoverse releases February 12th in Europe and Australia, the 5th in Japan and the 17th in America. The game is releasing on PS3, Xbox 360, PS4, Xbox One and PC through Steam.
Overview
I’ll be honest. Grand Theft Auto as a franchise was fun when I was younger, but I became rather neutral over the years. Sure, Rockstar have delivered time and time again, but I kind of drifted away from the franchise after San Andreas, only dabbling in the series on occasion – but still managing to give every single title a purchase in the long-run. Like every other company, Rockstar know that this generation is new, and gamers want quality. Why not remake one of the highest rated and best-selling titles of 2013? With a good deal of new features, and a visual boosting due to next-gen hardware, Grand Theft Auto V is back and is aiming at re-capturing the same audience that loved it in the previous generation. Can a remake this soon do enough to stand up to the newer selection on the same marketplace? Let’s find out.
Story
Grand Theft Auto has come a long way since those simple missions serving as narrative from the first game. In what feels like a cult classic film, players will be able to play as Franklin, a small time criminal with big dreams, Michael, who has traded his past life of robberies and crime to be a “family man”, and Trevor, a low-life redneck who has hit rock bottom – yet still remains cocky and content being a generally crappy person. Yes folks, there are three characters here that have stories that intertwine with one another so even though each are extremely different, we eventually learn that they are all human and there is indeed a bit of a heart buried underneath the crime, money, and sex that is piled on top of a rich and enjoyable plot.
It isn’t all about the story in this game at all. Its about the people around you. The interactions, and of course the exploration. This has to be the most fully realized city ever put in a video game, as the NPCs are all rather interesting and react in very modern ways. Just turn on the radio – and you will be amazed at how much dialogue is featured in the talk shows and commercials that really hit home with serious issues such as race, politics, and celebrity. In past titles, I wanted to mainly blow stuff up and fight off cops as long as I could. I play GTA V differently, as the world is so interesting, its hard not to just get out of a car, and take a long walk around. There is so much to do that opportunities for entertainment feel limitless, leaving the player to have so much more than already decent story as a whole.
Gameplay
I won’t spend a lot of time speaking about the older gameplay methods within Grand Theft Auto V as most of you probably know what to expect. Instead, lets talk about the improvements. You can’t even begin to speak of the Playstation 4 and Xbox One versions of Grand Theft Auto V without speaking of the new first person mode. Yes folks, this port allows players to see the world in a whole new way, with a quick and easy press of a button. I honestly thought it would be awkward to play GTA in this perspective when I first heard about it, or almost like trying to play third person in Oblivion. Thankfully, this transition is not only smooth, but fully customizable.
Players can structure this feature to their own comfort, by setting up when the game goes into first person mode. As an example, if you want to use third person while driving (which is honestly still better for chases), you can. Once you leave that car, you will be right back in third person mode and ready to fight enemies or simply run down the streets to do whatever you like. Players can also customize the style of controls for this setting, and either keep the GTA standard controls, or go for a more modern FPS feel. Aim is also something that can be adjusted, as those wanting more of a challenge can pick free mode – with no auto targeting, or pick from partial or full assisted, which is kind of the norm for what most fans of the franchise expect. This feature could have been tacked on and rushed, or just a quick thought with no substance, but Rockstar have delivered by ensuring that the player’s own preferences come first, making this perspective an utter delight and hopefully a new mainstay for the namesake.
It isn’t just about one lone addition for this new Grand Theft Auto experience either. Plenty of new cars make an appearance, as well as new events, challenges and weapons for the players. A big monster truck or a rail gun might not be enough to attract someone right away, but once you add in all of the other new toys and upgrades, the little things stack up to be quite a good deal of content. You can now ride those fair rides in first person mode. You can also climb a mountain, or get caught up in a robbery. Sure, we did that last time, but the new camera view and overall look of the world make it feel like a brand new experience.
Rockstar even threw in a bonus to Playstation 4 owners by turning the Dualshock 4 into a cell phone. This means that your calls actually sound like calls now. The light on top of the controller also brightly flashes red and blue when you have a wanted level, which is a nice little feature that seems small, but actually makes a great talking point to those who deal with a lot of spectators in the room while they play. I want to spend a lot of time talking with this much excitement about Grand Theft Auto Online, but honestly, there isn’t a lot to talk about. Sure, its a blast causing chaos with friends, but it takes a long time to start jobs such as races or death matches, and I was disconnected six times in five hours during my first night. I want to love this mode, but it just needs some polish and general assistance. The currency is nice as well, but it takes a long time to level up unless you have the money to go all out, and that alone made me feel more comfortable in single player. Again – Rockstar will probably fix a lot of these issues, but as of now, there are a good number of little problems holding this mode back.
Visuals
As I mentioned quite a few times already, this is the same Grand Theft Auto V, but a completely different experience as the world is now able to be viewed in first person. Believe it or not, that makes a huge difference. The lighting and animation also comes with more attention to detail, as the full upgrade on the graphical engine has done wonders to make these textures look highly realistic. Thunderstorms look amazing, the water flows exactly like it should with detail down to the last ripple, and fauna is also nothing to just walk over as every blade of grass stands out to create an environment that is not only more polished, but completely reinvented. Unlike Sleeping Dogs’ next-gen port, GTA seems to handle animations much smoother as well, as enemies fall more realistically and injuries seem to effect every player as if you shoot an NPC in the leg, there is a good chance he will limp away. 30 FPS may not sound like a lot, but the framerate is consistent, as I never had any drops or terrible glitching during my hefty chunk of time thus far with the game.
Audio
The soundtrack within this title is huge and varied. Sure, there are bits of original music, but the radio is sure to be the first thought of most players, who will now be able to listen a ton of new licensed songs for the game, ranging from almost every genre you could hope for. The voice acting hasn’t changed, but it really didn’t need to. Every actor (and actress alike) do a fantastic job conveying emotion, and seemed to actually care about the part they played. I am still on the fence with Trevor as I hate his character, but I think that is rather intentional. I enjoy witty dialogue and humor, but his one-liners still seem to appeal to the lowest common denominator of gamers, yet still feels realistic as I can name about ten different Trevors I have personally met over time.
Overall
Grand Theft Auto V is old news to some, but Rockstar did this remake of sorts exactly the way one should be done. There is easily enough content and new features within the game to warrant a purchase or a re-buy, and that is something we don’t see too often. Forget about one coat of polish and a new gimmick you’ll forget about in one day (I’m looking at you Sleeping Dogs, Tomb Raider, Injustice, ect), as this title from a prior generation nails the art of the port perfectly, and as a result, players will be able to experience the same great game all over again and feel like they are stepping behind the wheel for the first time. Los Santos was already a great place to explore and get lost in, but now you have a reason to book a trip back as this title sets a new standard for not only the sandbox genre, but for the industry as a whole. In other words, if you make a billion dollars on a game, give back to your fans like Rockstar has with this release, as you’ll not only be more loved for it – but you will also be carving out a legacy that all remember.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
On the surface, Valvrave the Liberator seems like many other anime series out there. The characters are based on typical anime character archetypes and the plot is unoriginal. An anime series should not always be judged by its cover, however, because there is always a possibility that it will turn out to be entertaining and engaging despite its flaws. Is this mecha series worth checking out despite its familiar premise?
Story
In the year 71 of the True Calendar, 70% of humanity is now living in space following the development of a Dyson Sphere. There are two main superpowers: the Atlantic Rim United States, or ARUS, and the Dorssian Military Pact Federation. Alongside these two forces is the prosperous and neutral nation of JIOR. Module 77, one of the spheres of the peaceful nation of JIOR, is the home of Sakimori High School. At first glance, Sakimori student Haruto Tokishima seems just like any other high school student. He has a crush on his friend Shoko Sashinami and is not strong, opting to avoid conflict and believing that everyone should just go ‘halfsies’ on everything rather than fighting to win something outright. When the Dorssian Military Pact Federation launches a surprise attack on JIOR, Haruto must make a significant sacrifice if he is to avenge the death of Shoko: he must give up his humanity in order to pilot the mecha known as ‘Valvrave’ to save JIOR from Dorssian attack.
Valvrave the Liberator is not about originality or logic. Many people will be familiar with the ‘high school boy must pilot a giant mecha in order to save the world’ plot, but this is almost an entertaining series in spite of the weak characterisation and ridiculous plot. Haruto does not consider the consequences of piloting the available mecha and ends up becoming a global hero at the consequence of becoming “cursed”; he becomes what is essentially a vampire prone to attacks that compel him to bite and transfer his consciousness to a male or sexually assault a female. What is disappointing and offensive about this new trait is the use of molestation and then rape as an entirely pointless plot device. It ultimately serves no purpose whatsoever and is not discussed with even the slightest hint of delicacy. The writing for the series was already seriously unintelligent and illogical prior to the usage of that ‘plot device’, but this event features the series’ writing at its absolute worst.
This series does not provide one single perspective for viewers. We see how many different teenagers see the world, how they deal with conflict and trauma and how they deal with or hide their emotions. We see things through the eyes of a group of teenagers who go from being regular high school students to leaders of an independent nation, albeit in an unrealistically short period of time. They do not want to give up what they have without a fight, and they fight to protect what they love. Even during the midst of a full-scale war, they stay positive by singing hilarious songs and looking to the future. They remain as calm as possible and tell us that as long as people have hopes and dreams and remain positive we can achieve anything. It is unusual for an anime series to show us how teenagers perceive the world and everything around them in this way, and that is one of the few things that makes this series compelling and engaging at all. Unfortunately, men are still the ones doing all the hard labour and women are still the ones doing the cooking and cleaning. This is especially disappointing given that Valvrave is set in the distant future and therefore could have taken the opportunity to portray an equal society that has moved away from sexist notions of gender that paint men as strong and women as weak. Multiple voices may be presented, but only one, extremely rigid and problematic idea about gender is promoted.
Visuals
The animation is rather good. The movements of the mecha suits are animated with careful detail and the animation is consistently fluid even during the action scenes, with the rendition of Haruto’s Valvrave using its Harikiri Attack being particularly impressive. Although some series do not find the right balance between traditional animation and CGI, CGI is expertly utilised here and never detracts from the viewing experience. There is a lot of violence and blood right from the get-go, and there is some particularly shocking imagery later on in the season, but viewers may enjoy the fast-paced action scenes that it has to offer.
The series’ one major visual flaw is the ‘fan-service’, which is blatantly contrived and not even remotely entertaining. It does not contribute to the plot or character development in any way whatsoever. A couple of times throughout the season, a large painting of a naked girl is shown in various locations such as on a road and in the school’s sporting field. This is completely unnecessary fan-service and is one of the most ridiculous shots in the series at that point, although it is by no means the most ridiculous or disturbing shot overall.
The English subtitles in this release are mostly okay, but a couple of issues occur every so often. This includes capital letters being used incorrectly on more than one occasion, punctuation being left out on at least one occasion and a blatantly obvious typo being present; “IFS huge” was displayed when the subtitles should have read “It’s huge” in one episode. Neither the opening theme song nor the ending theme songs are subtitled. The same goes for the insert songs, except for “Good Luck For You,” the song in episode 5 that was sung by the students of Sakimori High School.
Audio
The audio will leave nothing to be desired for most people except those hoping for an English dub. The background music is skillfully composed and orchestrated, and it adds to the emotional feel of the series, or rather gives it one in the first place. The opening theme song and two ending theme songs are somewhat decent pop songs, but what stands out are the insert songs, which fit in very well with the scenes they accompany.
Extras
On-disc extras are minimal in this release. The original commercials and the textless opening and ending animation sequences are included.
Overall
Valvrave the Liberator is a series that will mainly entertain its core audience of mecha fans if anyone at all. It falls victim to many of the trappings of modern manga and anime series, and goes too far in its attempt to constantly keep viewers guessing. This season’s final episode ends quite abruptly, with a preview of season two after the credits promising answers to the many questions raised so far and a darker continuation of the story. One can hope that the writing drastically improves in the second half of this disturbing series.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Author’s note: The initial score given for this review was inaccurate and has been updated by the author to reflect Capsule Computers’ ongoing commitment to providing reliable reviews for its readers.
Today Viz Media has announced that they are planning on releasing Sailor Moon Season 1 Set 2 on February 10, 2015. The release will be available both on Blu-ray and DVD combo pack for $69.99 as well as simply on DVD for $44.82.
Sailor Moon Season 1 Set 2 includes episodes 22 through 46 featuring the company’s brand new uncut English dub as well as the original Japanese voice track. The Blu-ray/DVD combo pack is a six disc collection that comes with a “beautiful reflective holofoil slipcover” to hold the release as well as special on-disc bonus content such as Sailor Moon Day convention highlights, Moonlight Memories Part 1, a video containing the complete 2014 Anime Expo Sailor Moon panel and cast announcement, cosplay team interviews, clean opening and ending segments, digital art galleries, and official series trailers.
The DVD version will come with a variant “O-card packaging” featuring embossed holofoil printing, the aforementioned event highlights, clean opening and ending themes, and official series trailers.
Today