Ubisoft has launched an interactive experience called ‘Project Widow’, which utilises Google Maps’ Street View technology to create a view of modern Paris, but with informative tidbits painting a picture of how it was in the 18th century during the French Revolution. Online visitors can walk through the streets, accessing exclusive media and content, all the while guided along by Andy Serkis! The Andy Serkis!
Discover all the hotspots rich in history, uncovering hidden Assassin’s Creed Unity art, secrets, video clips, music tracks as you go. You can even win prizes and exclusives for use in-game come release. But look closely… “hidden” means hidden! Visit ‘Project Widow’ here if only for the experience of having the bloody time period described to you by the fantastic narration of Andy Serkis. I don’t know what it is about him, but I don’t trust his voice…he sounds shady. Hmmm… And for anyone wondering about the origins of the name, it’s actually a callback to the guillotine’s nickname in that era.
Assassin’s Creed: Unity comes out on November 11, 2014 in North America and November 13 in Australia. Check out the game’s Season Pass offerings.
EA Sports FIFA 15 may be out tomorrow, but Konami want you to give Pro Evolution Soccer 2015 a go! The demo for EA’s only real competition is available to download right now for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PC.
Winning ‘Best Sports Game’ among many other awards at Gamescom 2014 last month in Germany, Pro Evolution Soccer seems to be back on the horse as a competitive series this year, with many lauded improvements and additions in the 2015 edition. Check out the gallery of screenshots below and the newest trailer embedded further down. PES 2015 releases for the platforms mentioned above on November 13.
With Persona 4 Arena Ultimax set to be released in North America next week, Atlus USA has released a new set of English characters trailers for the game, this time highlighting Mitsuru, Elizabeth, and Teddie. These videos not only give us a glimpse of their special Ultimax moves and combos but also a look at some of each character’s storyline as well.
You can check out all three trailers below and be sure to keep an eye out for the game when it is released for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on September 30th in North America.
Rob Maher serves as a artist, animator, programmer, and game designer with Castle Pixel. The team is currently seeking funding on Kickstarter to finish their latest project, Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King.
What sort of games inspired you to get into game development?
Pretty much everything I grew up with, including NES games like Zelda of course. I also spent a lot of time playing Newgrounds games and Final Fantasy VII over the years. Canabalt, though, is one of the first few indie games that made realize I didn’t have to work at a big game dev studio or need a huge budget to make games.
What sort of mechanics did you see when playing 8 and 16-bit action RPGs that made you think “I can improve on that”?
It’s probably just the nostalgia talking but the classic 16-bit action-RPGs I always played seemed perfect to me! One thing that we do want to improve on is the fact that once you’ve figured out a dungeon or puzzle, you’ll probably remember how to do it again the next time. We want to add some unpredictability during both the first playthrough and the next by having dungeons and areas with randomly-generated areas, which I feel will result in a fresh, challenging experience.
For the most part, the early screenshots of Blossom Tales is pretty bright and colourful, then suddenly some really dark and brooding parts! Where did you draw inspiration for the visual design?
I can’t say I drew inspiration from a specific source. Rather, I just wanted it to be a colorful adventure where the visuals helped make each zone be memorable and feel new. This way players will get excited when they’ve spent an hour or two in a dark undead-filled area before wandering into a snowy zone with yeti monsters and viking people.
How far along are you on development right now?
Pretty early but we’ve got enough to hit the ground running as soon as we have the funds. There’s plenty of art assets already, though most of them we’ll be touching up and improving, so we’re confident we can make Blossom Tales by December of next year.
How will the randomly generated dungeons be implemented into the game? Have you settled on a ratio of randomly generated dungeons to the handmade ones?
We haven’t settled on anything yet and most of our ideas are still on the drawing board. Our current plan is to have dungeons that have a mix of both pre-designed rooms and randomly-generated areas, but we can definitely have completely pre-designed or randomly-generated dungeons as well.
Grandpa’s stories have unlimited potential. Is there any plan to turn Blossom Tales into a long term series?
If Blossom Tales gets made and is received well, sure! It’d be neat to whip up another adventure that follows the same grandfather-to-granddaughter storytelling that we want to provide throughout the game.
What has been the toughest challenge so far in Blossom Tales’ development?
Getting our Kickstarter up and going! We’ve faced some challenges while developing what we have so far with the game but our greatest hurdle is getting funded. It’s really a full-time job sending out press releases, posting on social media, requesting cross-promotions, etc but we’re confident it will pay off and we’ll receive what we need to make the game!
The Steam Greenlight process has really come a long way since it was launched. Everyone in the industry, from consumer to developer seems to have an opinion! Based on your previous experience with Rex Rocket and your current experience with Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King, is there anything you would like to see changed?
I’d love to see Greenlight pull in more of the crowdfunding features that you can find on Kickstarter. Steam has taken steps towards this with things like early access, but I have my fingers crossed that they will continue to build out this functionality. It’d also be cool to see a ‘Top’ games section, or incorporate more features that allow for greater discoverability of the awesome games that are on Greenlight. Once a game falls a couple pages deep, the only traffic a game will receive past that is the traffic sent to it by the
developer / fans.
What sort of planning and preparation goes into running a crowdfunding campaign?
Like I mentioned before, a TON of planning and preparation. Making the video alone took plenty of time and effort, as did the actual Kickstarter page since you have to come up with pledge rewards, write all the copy, and images, etc. It’s exciting
but also tough since you’re always worried about forgetting that special ingredient that could have made all the difference in gathering interest!
Kickstarter can be an anxiety-inducing experience for backers, it must be even worse for project creators! What have you learned from Rex Rocket’s project that you’re applying to Blossom Tales? Any lessons you wish to pass onto future project creators?
Hah, just breath! I suppose my best nugget of advice for anyone looking to crowdfund their game is to scope your project well. Know every little bit of what your project will take to happen before launching so that you’re more likely to get the funds you need.
Thanks to Rob Maher for taking the time to participate in the interview. Be sure to back Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King, a retro-styled action-RPG with a modern day flair, on Kickstarter and vote for the game on Steam Greenlight.
Sleeping Dogs was one of the greatest sleeper hits of the last generation and although it had to suffer the almost mandatory comparison to Grand Theft Auto, it did more than enough to set itself apart and prove itself in its own right with fantastic combat, a great story and fantastic world to explore. United Front Games have heard fans request for a sequel and are now coming good on that… sort of. The new title is called Triad Wars, and while United have outright stated this is not a sequel to Sleeping Dogs, it will be taking place in the same universe with the same Honk Kong setting.
Triad Wars is being described as an ‘online open world action-adventure title’ that is the flip side of Sleeping Dogs. Where in that title you controlled Wei Shen, an undercover cop who infiltrated the Triads to tear them apart from the inside; in Triad Wars you will become a Triad gangster, aiming become the kingpin of the criminal underworld as you rise through the ranks. Players set up different racquets (such as cock fighting or gambling) to earn money and try to take over as much of Hong Kong as possible. Players will have to become proficient in combat, driving, gun play and street smarts to earn Face and become a reputable member of the criminal underworld.
So it seems like the mechanics and world from Sleeping Dogs is being carried into this sequel, however the story seems to be left behind in favour of a more free ‘create your own story’ idea. Hopefully Wei Shen at least makes some sort of appearance in the new game.
In an interesting move, the game is currently only planned for a PC release through the Triad Wars website (no Steam release), leaving players who only played Sleeping Dogs on consoles in the dark. You can register for the Beta today by heading to the official Triad Wars website and also check out the first official trailer of the game which is available below. A remaster of Sleeping Dogs for the PS4 and Xbox One is also in the works and is due to come out next month.
Deep Silver Volition’s Jim Boone, the Senior Producer on the Saints Row: Gat out of Hell team, sat down with a copy of the game to give gamers a preview of New Hades. Boone shows off some weapons, features, and diversions that are new to Gat out of Hell. Johnny Gat’s new flight abilities take centre stage for most of the video, along with the PAX 2014 favourite, the Armchair-a-geddon.
Saints Row: Gat out of Hell is a stand-alone expansion pack for Saints Row IV. It will be released on January 27th, 2015 on its own for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and PC. It will also be bundled in the Saints Row IV: Re-Electedpackage being released for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One at the same time.
The second instalment in Tap It Games and Artifex Mundi‘s 9 Cluesseries, 9 Clues 2: The Ward, is out now for PC with a Mac release incoming, and mobile and tablets versions planned for later in the year.
The point-and-click adventure/puzzle title asks the player to solve the murder of Doctor Crow, a therapist working out of Mnemosyne Asylum. The story’s backdrop of a psychiatric hospital in 1950’s America makes for an atmospheric experience, set across 42 locations with 18 dynamic mini-games, 39 achievements to unlock and an intuitive Detective Mode that really puts you in the shoes of the main character during this investigation. Check out the official 9 Clues 2: The Ward trailer and gallery of screenshots below!
The popular Razer Deathadder has received a major upgrade. Now called the Razer Deathadder Chroma, the mouse has seen a major bump in its specs along with the most eye catching feature, multi-coloured LEDs. The traditional acid green LEDs have been upgraded to colour changing LEDs that offer more than 16.8 million possible colours. Under the hood, the sensor has been upgraded to an 10,000 DPI optical sensor capable of 50 G acceleration.
On the software side, the Razer DeathAdder Chroma will have some new features in Razer Synapse. The software will continue to provide control over the sensor and will now also be able to control the LEDs. An SDK has been released to allow software developers to trigger lighting effect changes during certain event. For example, taking damage in an FPS could cause the mouse LEDs to flash red. Finally, statistics nerds will be able to delve into data about their mouse, such as button presses, distance traveled, and pressure exerted on the mouse.
The Razer DeathAdder Chroma is available for pre-order now and is priced at $99.99 AUD. The mouse joins the Razer Blackwidow Chroma and the Razer Kraken 7.1 Chroma. Learn more about the Chroma series at the official mini-site.
During the inaugural Australian Nintendo Direct broadcast made earlier today, Nintendo has confirmed the release date of the New Nintendo 3DS console for Australia and New Zealand. The release date for Australia and New Zealand is set for the 21st of November, just in time for the (summertime) Christmas rush! This release date also coincides with the release date of Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, making it an ideal item for anyone looking to upgrade their console for Pokémon’s release.
This is the first announcement of the release schedule for the New 3DS outside of Japan, and the FIRST Western release area to receive the console only just over a month after the intended Japanese release date of October 11th. Hopefully this is the first of many announcements to come for other regions, who may also hold out hope for a release before the holiday season. Both a regular size and XL version will be available upon release for the Australian price points of $219.95 and $249.95 respectively. The official Nintendo announcement can be found on the Nintendo Australia webpage here.
Magic: The Gathering is filled with a wide variety of products that cover a wide variety of players and skill levels. Duel Decks are one of those products that is made for a wide-variety of skill levels; they can be used to teach new players the game, give experts an opportunity to play against each other on an even footing. Casual players get access to some cards that they otherwise wouldn’t have seen and veterans get highly desired reprints.
Speed vs Cunning is the latest in a long line of Duel Decks and draws heavy inspiration from the upcoming Khans of Tarkir set. Each of the two 60-card decks is based around one of the two clans; Speed is the Red/Black/White clan Mardu, while cunning is the Blue/Red/White clan Jeskai. Since it was released just prior to Khans of Tarkir, Wizards has found it pertinent to put in a few preview cards from the upcoming set, so lets take a look at those:
The first two cards are part of a cycle of lands that tap for one of three colours. These lands are powerful in literally any format of the game, but will almost certainly see play in the Commander format. The fact that they come into play tap slows them down a little bit but the versatility they provide cannot ever be understated.
The next card is part of the Cunning deck and shows off the special ability of the Jeskai Clan: Prowess. Prowess rewards you for playing non-creature spells by buffing up the creatires you control. With a lot of non-creature spells to sling in the Cunning deck, you will surely get some versatility out of Jeskai Elder.
On the other side, Speed gets Mardu Heart-Piercer, who shows off the new Mardu ability; Raid. Raid an ability that rewards you for attacking first and asking questions later by giving you additional benefits for doing so. This is especially important as it is typically a good tactical move to make when playing.
Then we come to the rares. The Speed deck gets Zurgo Helmsmasher, the Khan of the Mardu Clan and as you can see above he is an absolute BEAST! 7/2 attacker for 5 mana is incredible and the fact that he is indestructible as long as it is your turn just makes him all the more better. Don’t be surprised if this huge sucker sees some competitive play, and you get a foil, alternate-art version straight out of the box.
The last new card in the set is Thousand Winds, and he can single-handedly blow out the entire Speed deck in one move. His morph ability is incredibly powerful, and the fact that he is a 5/6 flyer can’t be understated.
However Duel Decks aren’t always about new cards. In fact, Speed vs Cunning features a few important reprints, especially these ones:
Arcanis, Krenko, Lightning Helix and Lightning Angel have all left lasting impressions on the game since their original printings, and the fact that players new and old can get their hands on them without having to shell out tonnes of money or dig through old dusty boxes is awesome.
Speed vs Cunning’s two decks showcase two of Magic’s most prominent gameplay styles; Speed covers an aggressive strategy while Cunning is all about control. Each of the decks are simple enough to understand for the purpose of new players, while also doing a fine job of showcasing what each style is about. Speed’s agro-style is quick off the mark but if it is stalled by Cunning’s control-oriented spells then it likely wont recover. On the flip-side, Cunning’s counter and bounce-spells can keep Speed locked down until it can drop one of its giant creatures.
Each game of Speed vs Cunning is a bit of a race and because of this you never know how it will turn out. This makes it one of the more fun Duel Decks that I have played in a long time, and although it isn’t as powerful as some previous decks, it is still a great addition to the line.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
