Sony is pushing its way through some challenging times.
Starting the week off was Monday’s hacking scandal. Earlier this week many employees at Sony Pictures Entertainment could not access their work network. Instead they were greeted by a rather spooky skeleton requesting that their (unrevealed) demands to be met and threatening to release confidential data. The hack was conducted by a group called #GOP (Guardians of the Peace) who subsequently leaked a zip file containing sensitive documents revealing a number of passwords (current and old) in addition to financial data. A number of twitter accounts also seem to have been hacked.
In further Sony Pictures related news, after acquiring the rights to make a biopic about Steve Jobs the company has now dropped the project, instead shipping it off to Universal Studios for what’s a price tag suspected to be around $30 million. While no comment has yet to be made on why the company no longer wishes to produce the film, there are suspicions that the timeline was simply too short for Sony Pictures to manage. It’s also supposed that Sony wanted to push back the timeline to make room for their other 2015 releases. This push back would have meant the loss of their chosen lead, Micheal Fassbender, who will be busy shooting X-Men: Apocalypse. However, this decision to drop the film is probably in Sony’s best interests considering that its entertainment division looks to be struggling.
Actually, the whole company is attempting to overcome some serious losses, last moth seeing an operation loss of $765 million. Additionally, Sony is making plans to cut 15% of staff, has made serious managerial changes and watched as Xperia handsets sell less successfully than expected. To compensate, the business will place a greater emphasis on its electronic devices and gaming divisions, especially after the huge success of the PlayStation 4.
Furthermore, Sony looks as if it will not renew its contract with FIFA. This news comes after the recent controversy regarding the corruption within FIFA’s bidding process for the 2018 and 1022 World Cups. While Sony has not officially stated why, or even if, it will breaking the eight year partnership, FIFA has denied it’s connection to the bidding scandal. However Sony will not be the only big time sponsor cutting ties with the association at this time, Emirates ending their sponsorship earlier this month.
If Sony didn’t already have enough on its plate, earlier this week Sony settled with Federal Trade Commission, agreeing to partially refund PS Vita owners who bought their devices during the US launch. The settlement came after complaints made by the FTC accusing the company and it’s advertising agency, Deutsch LA, of making misleading claims about the portable gaming system.
All in all, Sony has some rough times ahead although, being the wildly successful company that they are, it’s hard to imagine the giant pulling through with more than a few scratches.
Players of PokémonOmega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire will notice when they try to connect to the internet in game that a patch is available. The version 1.1 patch is available for both games. Players must download the update for the version they are playing in order to be able to connect to the internet with their game.
Details are vague, but the information on the 3DS eShop states that the update provides various bug fixes in order “to provide a smoother gaming experience”. Downloading the patch will result in ‘ver. 1.1’ appearing on the top-right of the bottom screen while players are on the title screen.
Nintendo will release an update in December, bringing the games up to version 1.2.
Madman Entertainment has just announced that they have licensed the anime adaptation of Sailor Moon. The license includes a digital and home video release for all 200 episodes, the additional specials and the three feature films. This will be the first time that Sailor Moon S, Sailor Moon Super S and Sailor Moon Sailor Stars will be made available in Australia.
Based on the bestselling manga series by Naoko Takeuchi, the anime follows “Usagi Tsukino, a clumsy but kind-hearted teenage girl who transforms into the powerful guardian of love and justice, Sailor Moon. Meeting allies along the way who share similar fates, Usagi and her team of planetary Sailor Guardians fight to protect the universe from forces of evil and total annihilation”.
The release will be presented uncut and uncensored in its original 4:3 aspect ratio. It will include all of the original character names, plot elements and relationships. It will include the brand new English dub.
The first twelve episodes of Sailor Moon will premiere on AnimeLab today with episodes from the rest of season one and the other seasons being made available in 2015. It will receive a deluxe DVD and Blu-ray release, with a release date to be announced in 2015. More details of these deluxe releases will be revealed soon.
In addition to this announcement, Madman has also acquired the rights to the 2014 series Sailor Moon Crystal, which will be available for streaming on AnimeLab beginning today and released on home video at a later date.
Hanabee has just announced today that they have acquired four new titles for release on DVD and Blu-ray in Australia. All new releases will be released on January 7, 2015. They are already available for pre-order on their website.
Onimonogatari will be released in a two-disc DVD/Blu-ray combo pack. It will feature the episodes with Japanese audio with English subtitles and will include the textless ending animation, TV spots and trailers.
Red Data Girl will be released on DVD and Blu-ray with dual audio. No other information about this release is currently available.
Blood Lad will be released on DVD and Blu-ray with dual audio. The set will include the OVA episode.
All sets have a suggested retail price of $59.99 AUD, except for Onimonogatari, which will sell for $49.99 AUD (Australian Dollars).
Razer finally announced the long awaited release date for the Razer Nabu Smartband. North American buyers will get their first chance to buy a black Razer Nabu on December 2nd from the Razer Store. The band will be released to select retailers and in different colours (orange, green, and white) in the following weeks and months ahead.
“The Razer Nabu has undergone extensive consumer and developer testing, all of which is providing feedback toward the final retail-ready device,” said Min-Liang Tan, co-founder and CEO, Razer. “This has ensured that with all the features polished—discreet notifications, fitness tracking, social capabilities and more—the Razer Nabu is a device that has something cool in-store for everyone.”
The Razer Nabu will come in two sizes, small-medium and medium-large. It is compatible with iPhone 5 and above and Android 4.3+ smartphones that support Bluetooth Low Energy. The Razer Nabu willl cost $99.99 USD as previously announced. Qualified Razer Insiders will be able to snag theirs for $79.99 only during the pre-order phase.
The next video game in The Dark Eye universe will be Blackguards 2. The turn-based tactical RPG will launch on Steam and GOG.com come January 20th, 2015, a few days short of a year since the first Blackguardswas released. The new title adds many new features and gameplay improvements recommended by press and by fans.
Blackguards 2 picks up where the first title leaves off. The surviving party members have moved on with their lives, after defeating the Nine Hordes. Now Cassia, the new protagonist, seeks to round up the team in hopes of taking over the Shark Throne.
Blackguards 2 will be priced at $33.99 AUD or $35.99 NZD. The game will be compatible with Mac and Windows systems. English and German localization are available and subtitles will be available in Spanish, French, Russian, Polish, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese, Japanese and Korean.
In 2014, RoosterTeeth Productions continued to grow as a media and entertainment giant, both on and offline. Their work with ‘Red Vs Blue’ and shows like ‘Achievement Hunter’ have made them very well known in the gaming community. In 2013, RoosterTeeth undertook a new venture to take a step into the anime community with a new show called RWBY. And it was a huge hit. RWBY volume 1 had everything audiences look for in a great show. It was quirky, it was original, it was spectacularly animated and it was teeming with unique lore and memorable characters. The end of the last volume left every viewer begging for more.
In July 2014, fans got what they wanted. Episode 1 of RWBY Season 2 first aired on the RoosterTeeth webpage, and continued to air an episode once per week until the end of October. As with season 1, the entire collection of episodes has been released upon the season conclusion in DVD and Blu-Ray format. While the entire series is still available to watch online, for the hardcore fans, there nothing quite like owning a copy yourself. Does volume 2 deliver on what volume 1 started? Let’s find out!
Story
RWBY volume 2 continues the story of Ruby Rose, a young student at Beacon Academy, a school that specializes in teaching its students how to make mincemeat out of the various monsters of darkness that roam the land of Remnant. Ruby is joined at this prestigious academy by her fellow teammates Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladona and Yang Xiao Long. (And in case it wasn’t obvious, YES, the first letter of the girls’ names makes up the show title.) These girls are called Huntresses in Training, and are well known for being masters of armed martial combat.
With the events of season 1 behind them, and with their respective differences settled, the girls look forward to beginning a hopefully NORMAL second school semester. Viewers are treated to a taste of the mayhem to come in the first episode alone, when the semester gets off to a literally messy start thanks to an all out food war between teams RWBY and JNPR.
However, amongst all of the light hearted hi-jinks, viewers will feel that beneath it all, there’s definitely something amiss. The military of the Atlas nation have made their presence around the world increasingly known, while a mysterious trio of villains continues to ransack the city of Vale for some yet unknown purpose. And it’s not just the viewers who notice this trend. Each of the girls in team RWBY express their concern over the concluding events of last season, where several of the team faced off against criminal boss Roman Torchwick, and the Faunus liberation/terrorist group the White Fang. This most heavily weighs on the mind of Blake Belladona, as a Faunus (A half human-half animal) and former member of the White Fang, her motivation to stop Torchwick’s plans are more than personal.
Along the way, the girls are joined in their efforts to uncover this plot by their friends in Team JNPR, (who, as with season 1, also get their own small story arc mid season), and some other new friends from out of town, including Sun Wukong, Neptune Vasilias, Penny and even Ruby’s pet Corgi Zwei. Volume 2 also introduced a myriad of new and interesting villains, including Emerald, Mercury, Neopolitan and Cinder, each with very interesting powers and abilities, the extent of which you just can’t help but feel they’re holding back on. And this just makes them seem all the more dangerous.
The story of volume 2 added just enough new characters to keep the relationships dynamic interesting without adding so many as to make them confusing or too huge in sheer number. As a high-school themed show, much in the vein of tales like Harry Potter, it wouldn’t be complete without SOME highschool-espue drama, complete with your typical array of relationship troubles. The show takes what are normally pretty clichéd drama themes, such as the secret crush and makes them genuinely interesting and entertaining to follow since the characters performing them are far more complex and developed than those we expect of these archetypes. Plus, this is the kind of show where you just can’t help but ship.
The only drawback of the story is the abrupt ending. Events such as the Vytal festival and the Combat Tournament are teased and eluded to, but never expressly shown. We can only assume that Season 3 will provide more on this front, but it was just a little disappointing to see that the tournament was held off this time around. Seems like it would have been the chance for some awesome action sequences, especially matches between friends. Regardless, the story delivered is still hugely engaging, and its many cleverly written upsides heavily outweigh this one downer. The delivery of its mix of action and humor is still top notch. There’s no other show out there that can quite compare to RWBY.
Visuals
Something fans of the first volume of RWBY will notice is how vastly improved the environment and animation detailing is. The visuals of the first season, while distinct and unique in their own right, felt more like a test of the cell shaded, anime-esque art style. The second season has builds significantly upon this groundwork, and boy does it look pretty. The world now feels alive and populated, with background elements moving independently of the main character focus. The locations visited, such as the streets of Vale, the highway and Beacon Academy itself are very well animated and detailed in the standard RWBY CGI cell shading style. The cell shading still offers simplicity of color, but detailing of environments, objects and characters is clearly handled with a lot of precision.
Without a doubt, one of the biggest selling points of the show are the combat scenes, particularly in regards to the visual design of character weapons. Each character has their own distinct combat style, and a unique weapon, most of which have two, or even three modes, such as Ruby’s Sniper Rifle/Scythe, Nora’s War Hammer/Grenade Launcher, and Sun’s Bo Staff/Nun chucks/Pistols. Some of the biggest build ups are just made in seeing new weapon designs, like Neptune’s Assault Rifle/Spear and we even get to see a few of the teacher’s weapons which I won’t spoil for you. Sufficed to say there is no point in which you will watch and think that each weapon isn’t damned cool. The combat animation is even better and more fluid than the first volume, with the writing team coming up with some really creative ways to utilise and combine team members powers, like Ruby and Weiss’ ‘Ice Flowers’ attack. When you think you have seen everything, the show with pull the rug out yet again and show you more.
Any anime fan will easily be able to pick up the heavy anime influences present in the show. It’s pretty clear that series creator Monty Oum, despite his fame and aptitude for CGI modeling, is also a big fan of Japanese anime, and it really shines through in moments such as when the girls discover Ruby’s father had MAILED her pet dog to her in a tube. It’s always clear that the show is animated, and never strives for a huge level of graphic realism, and in many ways, that’s a good thing.
Audio
The music is expertly composed, featuring a masterful mix of orchestral and rock based scores. Although watching through the entire DVD as a film will skip it at each new chapter, it’s definitely worth watching through at least one episode in ‘By Chapter’ mode for the opening song alone. The theme of volume 2 ‘Time to Say Goodbye’ is just about as awesome as power ballads get, and also plays in the DVD main menu.
Much of the RoosterTeeth voice cast from the first season reprise their roles in volume 2, and they do it with a great deal of flair and personality. Let’s face it, if there’s one thing RoosterTeeth is known for best, its adding voices to things. At the same time, many of the voice actors present in RWBY are NOT the same as the VA’s in RedvsBlue (with a few exceptions). The predominantly female led voice cast do a spectacular job at putting some real personality into the characters. Balancing the mix of comedy and seriousness with the anime style flair is a difficult nail to hit on the head, but its pull off superbly well. The voice acting as a whole feels much improved and less static than the previous season.
Extras
The volume 2 DVD features a very generous helping of extra features. As is standard RoosterTeeth fare, the DVD contains a selection of trailers from other RoosterTeeth shows, including RWBY’s own volume 2 trailer, Red vs. Blue Season 12 (reviewed here), The Best of RT Shorts and their new superhero style cartoon ‘Xray and Vav’. However, the real bulk of the special features are found in two other sections: The World of Remnant and The Production Diaries. The World of Remnant videos are short films that expand upon the lore of the RWBY universe, touching on topics such as Dust, Aura powers and the creatures of Grimm. For some of the newer viewers, this can provide some very helpful context, or at the very least, clear up fan speculation as to the nature of things in the world called Remnant. It’s definitely worth noting that the narrator voice of these little pieces of lore is provided by none other than Jennifer Taylor, better known as Cortana in the Halo franchise.
The Production Diaries are another interesting extra feature, where series creator Monty Oum takes the audience behind the scenes to show what happens in the creation process of a show like RWBY. This section goes into quite strong detail as to how characters and weapons are designed, to the subtle differences and techniques used in production to make the project feel more real to the viewer. It even details a fan competition to create a combat uniform design for one of the secondary characters. This is a very cool little extra for anyone who wants to know how making an animation like this is done.
Overall
RWBY volume 2 took everything from season 1 and made it better in every conceivable way. The animation was better, the environments were more dynamic and populated, the characters were better developed, the story more engaging and the action faster and more intense. The only complaint one could even fathom is how abruptly it finished while still leaving so many unanswered questions hanging in the air. But you have to look towards the massive of it. A show like this couldn’t be contained to two seasons alone. And with two extraordinary teasers featured at the end of the collection, season 3 is already shaping up to be an even greater and more intense ride than this. RWBY Season 2 ticks all of the right boxes for all of the right reasons. A thrilling and hugely entertaining ride from start to finish, it’s truly an animation masterpiece.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
I’ll admit that I’m not the biggest Call of Duty player out there, but one can’t argue with how popular the game is. What I can say however, is that on the odd occasion that I AM playing CoD it will be to lay waste to a bunch of zombies. Well if you are like me and need your regular dose of zombie-killing action, then look no further! Finally, zombies are making their way to Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, and will be available as part of the Havoc DLC pack, or bundled in with the game’s Season Pass. Check out the cool little zombies announcement trailer below:
As if that wasn’t exciting enough, Activision have also released a cool little infographic (OK, maybe it isn’t so little) filled with facts and figures about CoD players and their accomplishments over the past few weeks. Check it out below and remember to stay tuned to Capsule Computers for all the Call of Duty news as it becomes available.
FUNimation has just announced a DVD and Blu-ray release of the 2013 reverse-harem series Brothers Conflict, and has given the series a broad release window of Fall 2015. FUNimation streamed the series as it aired in 2013. The announcement does not state whether or not the release will contain the upcoming OVA episodes.
FUNimation describes the series as follows: “As the only daughter of a famous adventurer, Hinata Ema has had a pretty lonely life. But when her father remarries, she leaves the newlyweds alone and moves in to a huge building with her 13 cute new stepbrothers—each of which has a very unique personality. Oh, and her over-protective, talking pet squirrel is there, too. Is love in the air for Hinata?”.
More information, including English dub cast details, will be announced soon.
Turtle Beach has always been a leader in gaming audio, and so I was thrilled to hear of the release of not one, but two current generation console compatible headsets, both the first of its kind. Yesterday saw the two new headsets hit the market: The Turtle Beach Elite 800 headset for PlayStation 4 and the Turtle Beach Stealth 500X headset for Xbox One. So, what do these headsets have to offer?
Turtle Beach Elite 800 for PlayStation 4
Recommended Retail Price of $429.95
This wireless headset promises to provide a one of a kind audio experience for PlayStaion 4 and PlayStation 3 owners. Not only does DTS technology provide the experience of a full 7.1 surround sound system, it also features active noise cancellation. Talk about an immersive experience! It’s also worth mentioning that this DTS set up is the first of it’s kind for PlayStation devices. The Turtle Beach Stealth 500P provides a similar experience however lacks any noise cancelling features. Actually, the Elite 800 is the only console headset to provide active noise cancellation. If this wasn’t enough, Turtle Beach provides different DTS settings to tailor your sound experience to what you are listening to. Along with standard settings for listening to games, music and movies, users are able to customise and manage these settings with a free companion app.
You can also sound amazing on chat while using the dual invisible microphones built into the device. This feature not only provides a clean chat but assures a sleek boom free look. While the Elite 800 headset already emits a sleek sexiness, users are able to customise their look by using snap on speaker plates available at the Turtle Beach website.
This headset is seriously against wires (which I can only promote as a good thing). To ensure quality performance, the headset uses high performance wi-fi technology to eliminate any interference that may interrupt your audio experience. As well as connecting to your console, users can connect to mobile devices through Bluetooth. Even the charger doesn’t use wires, instead using a low profile magnetic stand. It works too, the batteries lasting an impressive 10 hours between charges.
As an added benefit, buying the Elite 800 headset also gives consumers a chance to enjoy the benefits of Turtle Beach’s Elite membership program. The program offers too much to be listed here but includes extended warranties, discounts on Turtle Beach products and two free sets of wappable speaker plates. If your interested in checking out the full details, you can check them out here.
Turtle Beach’s Chief Executive Officer had this to say about the new Elite 800 headset:
“The Elite 800 is a completely new design that was engineered from the ground-up to be by far the most advanced wireless gaming headset on the market. We are pleased to bring gaming enthusiasts a new standard in wireless gaming audio along with the benefits of our Elite membership program.”
Turtle Beach Stealth 500X headset for Xbox One
Recommended Retail Price of $369.95
The most exciting feature of the Stealth 500X headset has to be its wireless capabilities. Not only is it the first fully wireless headset available to Xbox One users, but looks to be the only one of it’s kind available through to the end of 2014. The high quality, interference free performance of this wireless headset is assured through top end wi-fi technology. Another interesting feature is the use of two distinct wireless channels to send sound into the headset, one for chat audio (usually received through the Xbox One’s USB connection) and the other for sound audio (usually received through the Xbox One’s optical connection). This is the first headset not to use a wired connection to the console’s audio adapter in order to enable chat audio.
Much like it’s PlayStation counterpart, the Stealth 500X offers a unique audio experience through the use of DTS technology to give users full 7.1 surround sound. It also offers different pre-set DTS systems to enhance your audio experience depending on the media you’re listening to, be it a game, movie or song. It has has differing settings to suit the type of game you’re playing, distinguishing between first person shooters, racing and sports games.
This headset includes a rechargeable battery that lasts an amazing 15 plus hours. Furthermore, it allows for the microphone to be removed and replaced with a cable able to connect the Stealth 500X to mobile devices.
Turtle Beach’s Chief Executive Officer had this to say about the new Stealth 500X headset:
“Turtle Beach has pushed the boundaries of wireless audio on the Xbox One console through innovation and close cooperation with Microsoft. True wireless connectivity for the Xbox One has been the most requested feature from our community and we are pleased to deliver the Stealth 500X in time for the big games coming this holiday season.”
Where to Buy
You can buy the Stealth 500X headset for Xbox One herefor $229.95 or either headset at an appropriate retailer, which you can find through Turtle Beach’s retailer locater.
