A long time ago, I was hooked on Digimon Rumble Arena for the Playstation. It was simple, yet the next best thing outside Smash Bros. at the time, and it did well to service the booming franchise that was Digimon. Sure, the property has cooled down a bit in the past decade, but fans still love seeing video game adaptations, and Digimon All-Star Rumble looks to be fantastic thus far and if you enjoyed the past “Rumble Arena” titles, this should definitely hit that nostalgia spot due to its similar stylings.
Recently, Bandai Namco released a trailer for their latest title, featuring a stop-motion segment with Veemon and Agumon, which is honestly a nice, fresh take on advertising. Of course there is some gameplay footage mixed in as well, and you should definitely give it a look down below. Digimon All Star Rumble is set to release on November 11th for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.
Big Hero 6 Studio:Disney Animation Studios Distributor:Disney Formats: Cinema 3D (Reviewed), Cinema 2D Release Date: November 7th, 2014 (US), December 26th, 2014 (AU)
Overview
When Disney announced that they were making Big Hero 6 I’m sure I’m not the only one who was a little bit surprised. Big Hero 6 is one of Marvel Comics most obscure and out-there properties, so choosing to adapt it into a full-fledged animated movie was unexpected. Now we have Big Hero 6 the movie and while it strays away from the source material, the end result is a charming movie that has the perfect Disney mix or charm, humor, likeable characters and enough emotional impact to soften even the coldest of hearts.
Story
Big Hero 6 follows a child engineering prodigy – Hiro Hamada, who despite his intelligence has no drive or passion in his life. Worried that Hiro is squandering his talent and is at risk of ruining his life, his older brother Tadashi takes him to San Fransokyo Tech to introduce him to the robotics department, its students and their legendary professor Robert Callaghan. With a newly recharged passion, Hiro decides that he absolutely needs to be a student at the school.
After creating an amazing series of “microbots,” (think sci-fi nanobots but a little bigger) as part of his showcase entry to gain admission into the school, a fire rocks the auditorium that the showcase is being held in, and Tadashi rushes inside to save his professor. The fire engulfs the entire building and both Tadashi and Calaghan are caught in it. Hiro falls into a deep depression following the loss of his brother, and sensing his distress, he is aided by his brother’s work in progress medical aid robot – Baymax.
Hiro discovers that his robots that were initially on display at the university were stolen instead of destroyed in the fire, so he sets off on an adventure that has him crossing paths with a myserious villain. Baymax is always following alongside, keeing Hiro safe from harm and trying his best to aid his new friend. Hiro and Baymax are later joined by some of Tadashi’s classmates as they form a super team to uncover the truth behind the fire, the stolen robots and a whole lot more.
Big Hero 6 is a super hero origin movie but more than that it is about a boy who has suffered a great tragedy and his new friend. Hiro and Baymax are without a doubt the focus of the movie here (often to the detriment of the other characters, who at times feel like they are nothing more than screen filler). Baymax is everything you would expect from a Disney side-kick; loving, caring and more than a little bumbling. His actions all feel kind, calm and hilarious which is made all the more impressive considering his face is made out of two circles and a line joining them.
One of the pivotal moments in the story involves Hiro and Baymax in what I will call a “Superman 2” moment. Without giving too much away, Hiro makes a decision that impacts not only himself, but Baymax and the entire team in a very negative way. However, when he is at his lowest point they are open to the greatest change and after seeing a series of video recordings of his brother, Hiro begins to understand what it takes to not only get over his brother’s death, but how to keep his spirit alive.
Big Hero 6’s story is a little cliché in this day and age, but there is enough to it to keep you enthralled and emotionally invested from beginning to end. The characters all get their time in the sun, and the film’s not to subtle message that relying on your friends during times of trouble is ok, is a brilliant one to teach children.
Visuals
Visually, Big Hero 6 is a sight to behold. Disney have developed more than a few new tricks that they implement here that really make this film come to life more than anything else before it. The film uses a very similar 3d animation style to last year’s Frozen but takes the look and feel so much further.
The fictional San Fransokyo manages to capture the look and feel of both its very different muse-cities (Tokyo Japan, and San Francisco USA) while merging them into a cohesive whole. Not only that, but San Fransokyo is absolutely bustling with life. There may be more characters on screen than any movie I’ve ever seen before and at no point in the movie did I notice any two background characters that looked alike. The massive, unique background cast really helps this city feel alive and real.
Characters are all brightly coloured and have that signature look that makes Disney characters iconic for generations. The sci-fi/futuresque technological marvels that are present in the movie really help it stand out from other Disney properties and give it a life of its own.
The most impressive part of the animation however is the fact that audiences will fall in love with Baymax, despite the fact that he is nothing more than a giant marshmallow with two black dots for eyes. Although this is a joint success between the visuals, the story and the voice work.
Audio
The voice work in Big Hero 6 is really stellar and unlike many recent Disney Animation Studios pictures, isn’t filled with massive a-list celebrities. The fact that (aside from a couple characters) I was unable to pick where I had heard a voice before really helped me get absorbed into the experience all the more. Hiro and Baymax are voiced expertly by the dynamic duo of Ryan Potter and Scott Adsit, and together their friendly chemistry is outstanding. The most notable voice in the film is probably T. J Miller (famous for his appearance in Transformers: Age of Extinction, and Silicon Valley) who voices the comic-book loving Fred. Miller’s performance almost outshines the rest of the cast, and he sounds as thrilled to be a part of the team as his character is.
Overall
Big Hero 6 it the start of something really special for Disney. Not only does it show that they can adapt really obscure source material, but they have created a brand new world filled with colourful characters that will surely lighten our eyes for many years to come. The visual techniques used to bring Hiro, Baymax and the rest of the group of San Fransokyo to life are absolutely astounding and the emotional connection that they were able to create is nothing to scoff at. Although we are still about 6 weeks from getting this movie down under, it is one that you really need to have on your radar.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
The final chapter in StarCraft IIwas unveiled at BlizzCon 2014. StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void is the Protoss’ chapter, picking up after the end of StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm. Legacy of the Void is a stand-alone expansion that will come with the new gameplay mode, a new single player campaign featuring Artanis and Zeratul, and new playable units for competitive multiplayer games.
StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void introduces Archon Mode and Allied Commanders. Archon Mode will be familiar to those who played StarCraft on consoles, where two commanders shared their units and base. Allied Commanders is a cooperative objective-based gameplay mode where players will choose legendary commanders from the StarCraft series. These commanders have special abilities and level up as players conquer specially designed scenarios.
Finally, new units will be making their appearance in StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void multiplayer. Two of the new units were revealed during the announcement. The beloved Lurker will return to the Zerg ranks, burrowing deep into the ground and destroying infantry with its sharp spines. The Protoss Disruptor is an anti-ground unit that wield energy spikes. Finally, existing units will be receiving new abilities, such as the Tactical Jump ability for the Terran Battlecruiser.
Blizzard will be announcing the release date and price for StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void at a later date.
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.
It is hard to believe that 
