The end of the year is fast approaching and Sony has released a fancy new gizmo to add the console market called a Playstation TV (PS TV) at a press event attended by yours truly. Not a full-fledged console in its own right, but more akin to a set-top box which can work in conjunction with a full Playstation 4 to stream content among other things. At its most basic, the PS TV would allow a user to play a PS4 on a TV screen which is streaming the game from another room. This could be moderately useful in a household with multiple screens, as it is easier to carry around the small box of the PS TV compared to the PS4 monolith. There did not appear to be any latency issues in my experience with the stream and the range is as effective as the WiFi it works on. It also has other features, including the ability to play PS Vita and PS1 games, as well as providing access to almost everything on the Playstation Network.
Alongside previewing this new demi-console, the event also had Michael Ephraim (Managing Director of the Australian/New Zealand division of Sony Computer Entertainment) giving a presentation on the state of the Playstation brand within the region. Without repeating verbatim the points of Mr Ephraim, it appears that Sony is moving to promote the online and multiplayer aspects of the PS4. Previously, the PS4 was being marketed with less focus on the ‘game’ aspect of the video game console. Instead, as Mr Ephraim had previously explained, the console was being angled as more of a holistic entertainment device which would streamline lounge room entertainment.
Although this aspect was still given a prominent part in the presentation with an announcement of a new streaming deal with channel 7 in Australia, it appears that the focus has now turned to the multiplayer features of the console. A key component of this focus is the fact that players will be able to invite friends to play certain multiplayer games with them even if the other player doesn’t own the game themselves. This will be an interesting tactic for Sony to adopt in its attempts to beef up the multiplayer experience on consoles which have to compete with the established online communities of PC games. Whether or not this strategy will work is something which only time will be able to tell.
The ramifications of this focus in development-terms might mean that Sony will urge developers to include more multiplayer aspects in their games. The best-case scenario would be that we get some awesome multiplayer games which take advantage of a model which specifically supports players inviting their friends to play with them. The less-than-best case would be developers diverting resources away from core development to force in multiplayer. At this point however, this is all conjecture and your guess is as good as Nostradamus.
The PS TV will be available for purchase on the 14th of November for $149.95 AUD.
While every Naruto fan is either celebrating or cursing the end of the Naruto manga, fans of the series still have the English release of the movies and the rest of the series to look forward to, starting with the most recently released movie in the series, Road to Ninja: Naruto the Movie.
Today Viz Media announced that they are planning on releasing the film on November 25th where both a Blu-ray/DVD Combo pack and a normal DVD version will be released. Both versions will offer simpler extras such as original trailres and commercials but the combo pack will also include a special bonus art gallery. The combo pack will cost $29.99 while the normal DVD version will be priced at $19.98.
It is hard to believe that Death Note aired for the first time in North America over seven years ago. In fact it actually feels like it has been far longer than that but I digress. It has been quite some time since Death Note has aired on television and now those looking to own the series will be able to with one purchase.
Viz Media has announced that they will be releasing the Death Note Complete DVD Collection later this month on November 18th. This DVD set includes all thirty seven episodes of the series on ten DVDs for the price of $44.82 U.S. / $52.99 CAN.
It is worth noting that Viz Media also owns the rights to the original twelve volume manga series and those who enjoy the series can still pick up singular volumes of the series or aim for the “Black Edition” two in one omnibus sets.
Those who have been on the fence about picking up Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist of Dusk will soon have the option to get the “Plus” version in the West instead. Koei Tecmo has announced that Atelier Ayesha Plus will be released as a digital download on January 13th in North America and January 14th in Europe.
This enhanced version of the game comes with a number of new costumes, dual audio, and new bosses to fight. To go along with this announcement Koei Tecmo also released a large number of English screenshots for Atelier Ayesha Plus that you can check out below.
A few weeks ago Koei Tecmo Europe revealed that the company was planning on releasing Atelier Shallie: Alchemists of the Dusk Sea in the West and today we have been given a release date for the latest entry in the Atelier series. Koei Tecmo has announced that Atelier Shallie will be released in North America on March 10th and in Europe on March 13th with the game being available both at retail and as a digital download.
It is worth noting that this game is the final entry in the Dusk trilogy and Koei Tecmo has provided a summary of the title below:
In Atelier Shallie: Alchemists of the Dusk Sea players chose to play as either the reserved, mission-focused Shallistera, daughter of a tribal leader who embarks on voyage to find a cure for her ailing father or ambitious, energetic Shallotte, who has been struggling to bring success to the alchemy workshop since the passing of her father. While their personalities and appearance are drastically different, they both share the nickname “Shallie” and uncover the reasoning why along each of their journeys— the dual main character system has been improved with separate stories and multiple endings for Shallistera and Shallotte.
If you’ve been looking forward to MangaGamer offering something a little different on the Adult side of their site then you will probably be interested in learning that a demo has been released for No, Thank You!!! which is the company’s first boy’s love game.
For those who are unfamiliar with the term yaoi, this game is all guy on guy action and follows the story of Haru as he hits on various guys working at the bar. Currently No, Thank You!!! does not have a release date for the PC but once the game is released it will cost $39.95. Those interested in checking out the demo can do so here. (18+ Only)
This week Atlus USA was quite generous with the new trailers for Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth as they have released four new character trailers as well as a trailer highlighting how players will form a party in the game.
The four characters shown off happen to be Rise, Fuuka, Koromaru, and Kanji. You can check out all of the videos below as well as some new screenshots below those.
Party Forming
Rise Kujikawa
Rise is no stranger to the spotlight and uses those skills to help out her teammates! Her support abilities can manipulate turn order, and let a team member go first — either to land a crucial killing blow or get off a quick heal to save the entire party.
Fuuka Yamagishi
Fuuka, the labyrinth navigator from P3 is a strong battle navigator to start off with, since her Healing Breeze spell refreshes the whole party for three turns, and eventually learns a passive that lets the team regen health and SP!
Koromaru
Koro! KORO! Sooooo fluffy! The adorable canine Persona-user from P3 is back and cuter than ever in Persona Q! But despite his cute looks, Koro is a highly competent frontline fighter, either through slashing attacks or assaulting with Fire and Dark magic from his Persona Cerberus. Koromaru is a strong attacker, either through magic abilities or physical attacks, so it’s up to your play-style to determine what kind of sub-Persona to use.
Kanji Tatsumi
I’ll bash you good! The brash Kanji is back as a front-line brawler with his trusty metal chair. He has high HP for brutal physical attacks and his Persona Take-Mikazuchi gives him lightning elemental attacks. A high HP sub-Persona works well for Kanji, but it’s up to you if you want to make him an all-out damage dealer or a tank with defensive abilities.
Overview Usually when a movie is released for an anime that has already finished airing, fans of the series tend to be concerned about the property. This is because most movies are either simple recaps that do nothing to add to the story or are nothing more than simple spin-offs that offer little of value. However most of these movies are also produced for shōnen series, which makes Hanasaku Iroha the Movie: Home Sweet Home, a movie created two years after the ending of the series something quite different. Should fans of the series look forward to picking up the movie?
Story
Now before we discuss the movie, it is worth noting that Home Sweet Home does not pick up after the series ended but instead takes place somewhere around the twentieth episode of the series. This means that the movie is generally one that only fans of the series will enjoy thanks to the various relationships and character nuances built up over time. That being said, thanks to the way things are handled even newcomers may find Home Sweet Home a decent starting point before jumping into the full series.
Autumn has come to the Kissuiso Inn and Yuina has begun working at the inn in order to learn how other hot springs inns operate. Due to Ohana’s connection with Yuina and the fact that she is newest employee, she is put in charge of training Yuina and keeping an eye on her. Unfortunately this quickly becomes something Ohana isn’t prepared for as Yuina’s free spirit makes her quite a handful as she unknowingly insults many members of the staff and begins to mess up even the simplest tasks.
One such task happened to be cleaning a storage room which she left in disarray. While cleaning up Yuina’s mess, Ohana discovers old logbooks kept by Denroku while her mother, Satsuki, was still a teenager working at the inn and through these learns that despite their estranged past, Ohana and her mother are more similar to one another than she previously thought.
Hanasaku Iroha the Movie: Home Sweet Home is a shorter movie that comes in under three episodes worth of running time. At the same time it also feels like the stories told throughout the movie could easily have been worked into the main series without breaking the flow since despite the main plotline following Ohana’s discovery of her mother’s past and learning about her deceased father, many other little interactions occur at the same time.
Minko continues to try her best preparing food that will impress her crush Tohru while Tohru continues to be blunt and vague with his criticisms all while the inn deals with a power outage that puts stress on everyone. This stress continues to build when Nako, who has been struggling to keep her many siblings happy at home while her parents are at work, learns that her youngest sister has run away due to the way her mother has been acting.
Although it is paced similar to the basic series, this setup works the best for Home Sweet Home as it ultimately gives fans plenty of what made the series great… character interaction. The simple scenes that show the characters working around the inn and interacting with one another provides plenty of humorous moments while most of the touching moments come from Nako’s struggles with her family and Ohana learning about her family.
Told through a series of flashbacks, viewers are given glimpses of Satsuki’s life at the inn while she was younger and how she dealt with trying to find out who she is and what she wants to do with her life. Despite their differences, these flashbacks give us a clear look at how Ohana is like her mother in many ways and also how despite how she raised her, that Satsuki truly cares for her daughter.
Visuals Handled by the same studio that worked on the main series, Hanasaku Iroha the Movie: Home Sweet Home does see a marginal boost in production values for certain scenes but for the most part many elements of the film look the same as the series. Now that isn’t a bad thing by any means, as the main series always featured lush detailed backgrounds and realistic and expressive character designs.
It is especially interesting to see how certain characters’ younger selves looked during flashbacks compared to their current selves. It is worth noting that there is some mild fan service present in the movie as there are a handful of bathing scenes featuring the female cast but it is incredibly tame and shouldn’t make anyone bat an eye.
Audio Since this is an NIS America release, it comes with only the Japanese voice track where all of the Japanese voice actors have retained their previous roles. All of these voice actors and actresses do an excellent job matching their characters’ personalities.
As far as the background music is concerned, a number of themes used from the main series are present in the movie which is a bit disappointing as it would have been nice to hear something fresh, but fans will at least appreciate the consistency. As for the theme song, it is “Kagefumi” by nano.RIPE which is used to great effect during one of the most touching scenes at the end of the film before transferring into the credits.
Extras Hanasaku Iroha the Movie: Home Sweet Home comes with only the original Japanese commercials for the movie and trailers for three other NIS America anime releases on the disc. This release also includes the long box slipcase as well as a hardcover art book.
Overall Hanasaku Iroha the Movie: Home Sweet Home may not be the continuation of the series that many might be hoping for, but it does have a touching story to tell about family and finding yourself. By blending the story of Satsuki’s past together with the other events happening at the modern day Kissuiso, Home Sweet Home creates an enjoyable story that will please fans of the series.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Astro Gaming and Microsoft are continuing their partnership by releasing a special Astro Gaming A50 Wireless Halo Edition gaming headset. The army green headset features a honeycomb design on the ear cups with gold accents. The A50 Halo edition will be available at select retailers and the Astro Gaming website for $300 USD.
The Astro Gaming A50 Wireless Gaming Headset is an officially licensed Xbox One headset. KleerNet 5.8 GHz wireless technology allows for lossless audio to be sent wirelessly to the headset with minimal interference or lag. The headset works with Dolby Headphone to provide 7.1 surround sound capabilities with three different EQ modes and adjustable voice/game volume balance.
Mordheim: City of the Damnedis nearing its Steam Early Access launch. Developers Rogue Factor released a new trailer teasing the city of Mordheim and the factions that are doing battle for control of the city.
Mordheim: City of the Damned is a turned based RPG-strategy title that will be released on Steam Early Access in the coming days. After a comet smashes into the city and scatters Wyrdstone fragments through the neighbourhoods, the four factions of Mordheim engage in a brutal battle to control. Players will be able to form an army and equip them with items found in game. Be careful though, as death is permanent for units.
It is hard to believe that 
