A couple of weeks ago Viz released the first dub clip for Blood Lad and now next week those who are interested in the series will have the chance to own the series on Blu-ray or DVD. Viz is currently planning on releasing Blood Lad on September 2nd with the $69.99 Limited Edition offering a Blu-ray/DVD Combo pack and a normal DVD version for a cheaper $44.82.
It is worth noting that both versions of the release will come with all ten episodes of the series as well as the Blood Lad-EX OVA, but only the Limited Edition will come with a full-color chipboard case and a ninety six page art booklet. The Limited Edition also comes with a number of exclusive digital bonuses, such as an art gallery, almost a half hour of English dub outtakes, and a chalk art video from Anime Central.
For a better look at the limited edition you can check it out below.
Today 2K Games dropped a new trailer for NBA 2K15 and this one they have dubbed the “Yakkem” trailer. Why you ask? Well you’ll have to watch all the way to the end to find out. The video can be found below and features a lot of in-game footage showing off various teams from around the league shooting three pointers and going in for dunks.
Currently NBA 2K15 is set to be released on October 7th for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC in North America while gamers in Australia and New Zealand will be able to purchase the title on October 9th.
Indie Gala and Capsule Computers released the Every Monday Bundle #22 today. The bundle features 7 indie games for a single price. Buyers will receive the following titles:
Night Shift– Current on Steam Early Access, Night Shift is an retro styled adventure to stop the endless night with the help of a muscle car.
Where Angels Cry– Solve the mystery at a monastery deep in the Alps in this hidden adventure game.
War on Folvos– A turn based strategy title featuring two campaigns across 20 levels.
1000 Amps– Plug is able to light up everything he touches. Find new power ups for him and light up the world in this open world puzzle platformer.
Shad’O– A colourful tower defense title located in the mind of William’s dreams, a boy who has lost all his memories because of the fog of oblivion.
Lucius– According to prophecy, Lucius is the son of the devil himself. On Lucius’ sixth birthday, his demonic powers are unleashed upon the unsuspecting people at Dante Manor.
dUpLicity ~Beyond the Lies~ – A dating sim and visual novel starring Yukina Kodou, a highschool student who has been ordered to woo Youji Kataoka and become his girlfriend under mysterious pretenses. The game features 15 different endings and 7-10 hours of gameplay. Be sure to vote for the game on Steam Greenlight.
For the first 24 hours of the sale, the Every Monday Bundle #22 is only $1.89. Afterwards, the price goes up, so be sure to grab your copy at Indie Gala.
CounterSpy is a side-scrolling stealth shooter with procedurally generated levels from Dynamighty, “exclusive” to PlayStation (although an iOS and Android release is in the works). CounterSpy is a cross-buy and cross-save enabled title, so purchasing on the PlayStation 4, for example, with give you access to the game on the PlayStation 3 and PS Vita as well. Though it has been classed an indie title, SCE Foster City Studio also had a hand in its development.
Story
CounterSpy is set against the backdrop of an alternate history Cold War. The story is absolutely absurd in that, instead of the ‘Space Race’ for the first country to land on the Moon, the two warring parties – in this instance referred to as Imperialists (the U.S.A.) and Socialists (the Soviets) – are battling to launch a missile at the Moon. That’s right, with no true understanding or care for the warning that it would pull the Earth’s satellite into the planet’s orbit and cause a mass-extinction event, the two sides commit to this insane competition of pure machismo. This absurdity, however, is a clear hyperbolic caricature of the war itself and the nations involved. C.O.U.N.T.E.R., the agency who takes it upon themselves to sabotage these plans, opposes the Imperialists and Socialists in equal measure. The player takes on the role of their premier field operative, tasked with finding the launch plans for either crazed superpower and foiling the launch. In regards to storyline, as you progress through the levels, a handful of humorous interactions between the agent and home base are displayed in text, with a short cut-scene playing to mark the finale. Otherwise, supplementary background information is given via the collectible ‘dossiers’, but that’s all there is to the narrative.
Gameplay
CounterSpy‘s is easy to grasp: progress as silently as possible, grab the launch plans, and get out. Being a 2.5D side-scroller, the player advances left to right as the 2D camera tracks along with their movement. But, then there are spots of cover where the camera moves behind the player and the game becomes somewhat of a gallery shooter. Some of the larger areas also deal with a lot of layers in verticality, and where it becomes confusing is some enemies will be standing offset, closer to the foreground than the player character, facing in towards the main path, and you’d instinctively think that means they will see you approach. But nope, they don’t. Sure, let’s just walk up and melee them in plain sight. And sometimes enemies in the far background can miraculously see (and shoot!) through walls as you stand behind them. Couple this with almost unfairly concentrated groupings of enemies, and it’s virtually impossible to get through a stage – having collected everything, mind you – without being spotted. CounterSpy becomes less of a stealth game, practically forcing you to enter conflict.
Yep…blew him up and his head and arm got stuck in the stairs above. Imagine the reaction of the guy patrolling there!
Getting called in by suspicious soldier, or spotted by security cameras raises your DEFCON level, which, once at its maximum, starts a countdown to launch that can only be avoided by sprinting to the end and aborting it/ending the level. Destroying equipment, which provides blueprints for weaponry, dossier entries and formulae – boosts that can be bought and selected at the start of each level, much like the your arsenal – also alerts A.I. to your presence. But, get an officer (wears all white) alone and he will surrender, immediately dropping the DEFCON level by one. Enemy types range from soldiers to captains with machine guns, grenadiers and rocketeers. Rockets fly at such a comically slow rate, as to allow players to shoot them mid-air. Ammo and health can be accessed in the levels, thought they are sparse in the latter stages. Certain formulae have very helpful effects, such as allowing you to run in silence or shoot through helmets/armoured security cameras, so save some money and invest! And CounterSpy might be a single-player game, but there is a competitive element to proceedings, as a ‘Rival Spy’s score will be presented for you to beat, and you can even find your fallen comrade’s body in the next level for a significant bonus.
Visuals & Audio
Right off the bat, players will be struck by the classic espionage-genre credits roll, with likewise signature music. The camera following the bullet across screen, the wipe transitions, all accompanied by an up-tempo beat, full of half-steps and accented by those trademark horn blasts…it all screams 60s spy film, and composer Jess Harlin (Lucidity) was perfect in his execution. As the player reaches the main menu, they’ll immediately notice an extension of the retro feel with the lo-fi television tube frame that persists even in gameplay. The screen also suffers from intentional speckling as if you are actually using an old TV with a loose antenna. The colour-palette is wide, but slightly faded, again lending to the overall dated vibe, while visual cues are brighter and clear. The characters in particular carry a cel-shaded style that just works for the atmosphere that is established. While the written text describing the location at the outset of every level and all the propaganda posters are quite funny, the biggest laugh came after a patrolling soldier found his dead pal, and said “oh my God, they killed Johnny!”. Hear it, and you’ll be in stitches every time.
The enemies’ necks disturbingly stretch once the ragdoll physics kick in!
Overall
CounterSpy is fun little game for the first two hours or so. After those couple hours, however, the game gets tedious, especially after you realise that there are many more blueprints and dossiers to collect, but you can already “finish” the game by tackling the final mission. Personally, there was a growing lack of motivation to continue further only to gather these collectibles and maybe even a formula and gun or two that hadn’t unlocked yet. For completion’s sake, I did in fact march on, but was sorely disappointed by the last few unlockable weapons as nothing seemed more advantageous than the simple, yet effective ‘Diplomatic Pistol’ (silencer) and mind-controlling ‘Dart Persuader’. The same can be stated for the remaining formulas. That said, CounterSpy is a well-presented, hilarious, visually distinct title that is good for those few hours, and given its cross-buy compatibility, you may end up playing it even more on the go, maybe on the train on the way back from work. Is it worth $19.45 though? Probably not. $12.95 is a more reasonable price, although PS Plus members can purchase CounterSpy at a discounted $15.56 for a limited time.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
A magical weekend transpired at Sydney Olympic Park for the Magic the Gathering Grand Prix Event from August 22-24. Players from all over the world came to try their hand at the event, but in the end it was Australian; Paul Jackson who claimed the championship title, and became the first person from Western Australia to win the Grand Prix.
The riveting competition dealt the best cards to the following top eight players:
Paul Jackson (Perth)
James Zhang (Sydney)
Matthew Griffin (Auckland)
Maitland Cameron (Hobart)
Chris Sparks (Sydney)
Tomoharu Saito (Tokyo)
Park Jun Young (Seoul)
Don Van Ravenzwaaij (Newcastle)
However the Top Deck Event wasn’t just all strategic warfare, many of the gamers participated in the plethora of side events that were available. Everything from Legacy through to M15 Draft and even 2-Headed Giant and Commander games were being run all weekend, with prizes in the form of boosters, single foil cards and cash! As if that wasn’t enough, six of the country’s biggest and best Magic: The Gathering stores were on site to show off their wares and help players find that last missing piece for their decks.
Check out the incredible artwork and two great artists for Wizards of the Coast; R.K Post and Steven Belledin in the gallery below, and don’t miss out on your chance to go to the Grand Prix event in Sydney next year!
Overview
Are you feeling lonely? Are you in dire need of more friends of even a friend? The creator of Haganai, an abbreviation of “Boku ha Tomodachi ga Sukunai” or “I Don’t Have Many Friends”, answered the calling of many anime viewers faced with this dilemma.
Haganai is centered around a group of strange misfits coming together in the school’s Neighbours Club in attempt to learn how to make friends. The ensuing antics were a riot during the first season and Haganai NEXT attempts to continue the laughter with round two.
Story To recap, the Neighbours Club was formed by classmates Kodaka and Yozora and its member list was soon expanded to include Sena, a busty and attractive girl who can’t make friends despite her looks, the science girl Rika whose high IQ is downplayed by her extremely perverted mind, the effeminate Yukimura who is gender confused despite wanting to be manly and finally a bratty little girl who happens to be a nun. Oh and there’s Kodaka’s little sister too who likes to cosplay as her favourite vampire character.
While the humour was centre stage throughout all of Haganai, it wasn’t without its plot and more serious elements. Kodaka realised at the end of season one that one of the club members, Yozora, was his childhood friend. The reason he couldn’t remember was because Yozora sported a tomboy look back when she was a kid. Nevertheless, the two agree not to tell the other club members in case anyone got the wrong impression that they are more close than they seem.
In contrast, it’s Kodaka’s interaction with Sena that seems to be the main point of this season. Kodaka’s father is friends with Sena’s father, who is ridiculously named “Pegasus”, so the two are linked whether they like it or not. More than that, Kodaka’s hilarious alone-time with Sena’s dad ends with a promise to protect Sena from being bullied at school.
But the comedy still comes first with episodes such as where the gang all visit a theme park for the first time in their quest to find the meaning of friendship. Spoiler: they don’t find it. Which is the brilliance of Haganai in a nutshell, here are a bunch of people hanging out and doing what friends normally do yet they aren’t actually “friends”, or at least they don’t realise that they are friends all along!
The final few episodes of Haganai NEXT take a more serious turn as Rika becomes the main star of the show, confronting Kodaka about his feelings and motivations. Out of all the seemingly clueless characters, Rika is the one that is the most perceptive. Fans of Rika will love the attention she gets while others might not enjoy the plot elements that sometimes take centre stage of what is basically a comedy show.
The story here ramps up considerably in the end and it’s a lot more satisfying than just leaving things as they are like in most comedy anime. All the characters become more developed and fleshed out in some way, with a couple of new characters and a few game-changing secrets thrown at the viewers (oh my, Yukimura!). But if this is truly as good as it gets for our socially-challenged band of misfits, I can’t wait to see them graduate and enter society as adults!
Visuals
I loved the luscious character art in Haganai, with designs similar to Denpa Onna or Psychoelectric Girl, and Haganai NEXT only improves on what we received in the first season. With regards to fan-service, there’s still plenty of it. But the impact of the fan-service is a little less than the first season as you won’t see a bare-chested Sena this time around. The Blu-ray makes this show such a treat to watch. Haganai remains one of the prettier slice-of-life/comedy anime out there in terms of character art and animation.
Audio
The music accompanying Hagani NEXT is as amusing and fitting as ever, matching the antics happening on-screen. The opening theme of “Be My Friend” is a fast-paced “did you miss us?” sort of song, sung by the Japanese cast, while the ending theme “Bokura no Tsubasa” is a slow and thoughtful song set to some beautiful character art.
The English release of Haganai NEXT retains the Funimation voice actors we heard in the first season and suit the characters quite fine. But the rabid emotions among the bickering club members is on a different level when heard in Japanese, where the various puns and jokes are literally translated in the subtitles for full effect.
Extras
On the discs Madman has been kind enough to include the full short film that the characters made in the anime called “Black Dragon”: The Cries of the Damned along with your usual TV spots and trailers, commentaries and textless songs.
It’s worth mentioning that the English release of Haganai NEXT has been censored. There is a disclaimer on the back saying “Episode 2 contains select footage from the Japanese broadcast version.” Raunchy scenes on Japanese TV are often censored only to get revealed in the show’s DVD/BD release. Unfortunately they decided a certain scene was too raunchy for the overseas audience.
Overall
Haganai NEXT will fill you with plenty of laughs thanks to some crude, mature and in-your-face humour and inside jokes that otaku will love. The cast of unusual characters took some time to get together in the first season, but here it’s comedy with everyone involved from the get-go.
There is also some unexpected and serious character development here, particularly towards the emotional end, that reveals plenty of additional plot elements.
But you’re not here for the plot, are you? Haganai NEXT maintains the humour in the show’s outlandish, polar opposite characters. It’s also a quasi-harem without the romance thanks to the male MC and the girls around him. If you want to see one of the funniest anime shows in the last couple of years you’d do well to grab Haganai and Haganai NEXT off the shelves. You don’t need to be friendless to enjoy it, either.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Have you ever wanted to join the mighty Galactic Empire or become a member of the rebel scum? Well now thanks to Disney you can in the brand new mobile strategy game Star Wars: Commander. This is the second recent game that Disney have released using the Star Wars brand, after Star Wars: Assault Team. Launching on iOS first (with other platforms to follow), Commander puts you either in the shoes of either the rebels or the empire in the battle for supremacy. Set during the time of Episodes IV – VI, players will be able to pick sides, where the rebels can call upon famous heroes like Han Solo, Chewbacca and Princess Leia, or the empire can summon mighty war machines like the AT-ATs, Tie Fighters or the elite stormtroopers.
In Star Wars: Commander players will:
Choose a side: Command AT-ATs, TIE fighters and Stormtroopers as the Empire or call on iconic heroes like Han Solo and Princess Leia as part of the Rebellion.
Build and defend a base: Train unique troops specific to each faction, and fortify a base with deflector shields, turrets, heavy artillery, and other defences.
Lead epic battles: Strategically deploy powerful armies, units, and vehicles against enemies and other players around the galaxy.
Travel to multiple planets and complete special missions:Play an all-new story as a valiant leader on the front lines of the Galactic Civil War.
Upgrade a strike team and its defences:Strengthen forces with multiple levels of upgrades for each unit.
Star Wars: Commander is a free-to-play game and is available now for iOS devices through the App Store. Which side will you be picking in the battle for the galaxy? To help you make up your mind we have attached a brief trailer below that shows off the game in action. Check it out below and let us know your thoughts in the comments, and remember to stay tuned to Capsule Computers for all the Star Wars news as it becomes available.
I was looking forward to this title when I checked out the pictures and screenshots that I received. Kick-Ass 2 was developed by Freedom Factory and published by United Independent Entertainment GmbH, the publishers of other titles like Professional Farmer 2014: Platinum Edition. I’m kind of disappointed to say that the title did not live up to my expectation. There were a lot of contributing factors that made it less than stellar, and while some parts of the game were done pretty decently, the overall feel of the game is definitely disappointing. I felt like the movie was pretty good itself, and this is definitely not targeted at the film, but the game itself is not something to be proud of. More often than not, I found myself staring at the screen in disbelief, either cringing at the voice-acting or getting frustrated by the slow combat. I wasn’t happy with the outcome, and here’s why.
Gameplay
Gameplay is very simple, but not in a good way.You have a variety of “combos” that you can use to defeat your opponents, but after you exhaust your entire arsenal, there isn’t much left to discover. You can’t discover new moves or unlock new weapon animations. Everything is given to you from the very beginning. While it was slightly entertaining in the beginning of the game, I quickly grew bored of the repetitive moves and fight sequences. It seems to be a trend that you encounter a group of 3-5 thugs, and you slowly have to whittle away at the group with your two batons. While the amount of enemies you encounter slowly rises, t his quickly becomes trivial as you get into a rhythm of beating baddies up from every angle. You also can only play as Kick Ass throughout the game. I would have loved to play as some other characters, such as Hit Girl, but I guess the developers didn’t think that was a worthy look.
The combat in this game is quite straight-forward. You use WASD to run around, and you use your left and right mouse button to attack the thugs. Navigating the camera in Kick-Ass 2 is pretty weird, and it becomes a chore to have to swivel my camera every few seconds to adjust my point of view. You also have to combo your moves to do any consistent damage, otherwise you will only throw out a kick or a swing of the baton every few seconds, making it difficult to get anything done. The combat is really clunky in that sense, and I definitely had to force myself to push through the next few stages. The game doesn’t have a Save function that allows you to save wherever you want. You have to finish a stage for the game to save, which makes it very annoying if you want to continue gameplay, as it makes it necessary for you to completely re-do a stage if you left in the middle of the game.
One of the things that I found pretty annoying about Kick-Ass 2 was the finisher design for combat. Every time you smacked an enemy around for a while, an option comes up for you to interact with them, whether it be a right or left click, or the Alt button. Doing this will allow you, Kick-Ass, to execute a finishing move to finish off your opponent. In theory, this sounds awesome, but the finishing moves takes so long to complete that you end up trying to actively avoid using them, as it allows you to finish your objectives quicker. I have no problems with intricate finishing moves, but the time it took to use one and the limited amount of finishers that are provided ends up creating a cheap experience for players. After a while of playing, it was actually more satisfying for me to simply kick a thug in the head to end him, instead of prolonging the fight by knocking him down and slowly teasing him with blows until I break his arm.
Beyond the simplistic controls, players are provided a little boost to use whenever the battery sign below their health is full. By pressing “E”, the default key, Kick Ass uses his tasers on himself to completely block out all pain taken by him. Whenever you get hit, none of your health is reduced, and effectively allows you to tear through your enemies without worrying about getting hit. When you don’t have the benefit of this, using the Space bar will allow you to roll out of harm’s way. The AI in Kick-Ass 2 follows a very straight-forward pattern, attacking when you’re in the middle of attacking another thug. This makes it very easy to predict what’s going to happen, and honestly creates a no-challenge scenario for players. While some people might be more interested in the story than the gameplay, I feel that the gameplay is so clunky that you don’t have time to appreciate the dialogue or storyline, if there was any.
Visuals & Audio
Visually speaking, I actually liked the artwork and graphics used. It felt like a comic book, and I will say that I was captivated by the graphics of the characters and the scenery. It isn’t graphically intensive, but it got the job done and definitely was one of the strong points of this title. The voice-acting, on the other hand, was atrocious. Kick Ass and Hit Girl’s voice actors sounded awkward and weird. It felt like they were trying either too much or too little during their conversations together, and honestly, I cringed a few times as I heard Kick Ass try to muster up a joke during the scenes. The soundtrack is also unappealing and does nothing for the title.
Overall
I’m disappointed. I truly am. I enjoy Kick-Ass and think that it’s quite enjoyable as a comic book, but the game turned out terribly. This wouldn’t be the first time a movie-turned-video-game ended in flames, but I was hoping that a bit more effort would be put in to this title. I felt really bad playing Kick-Ass 2, and while I definitely wished I could give this game a higher score, I can’t convince myself that there was a deeper motive to their design. The game was slow, awkward, and made me feel like I was navigating through a first-date gone wrong. It’s a shame. The title could have had a lot of potential if they polished the game a bit more before publishing it.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Already, it’s been a year since the release of the extremely popularFinal Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. With the anniversary coming up on Wednesday 27th August, Square Enix has set up a special event to celebrate.
Players who have previously purchased and registered an account and players with inactive accounts are able to re-join the adventure throughout the realm of Eorzea and play for free. This event started yesterday and will continue through to the 1st September (9pm EST).
This a great chance for players to jump back into the fantasy world. It is also good timing, as there are many events going on in FFXIV, including Tales from The Calamity, The Rising and Moonfire Faire Festival. Tales from The Calamity is comprised of five short stories surrounding the events of that fateful day. The stories offer insight into the Calamity’s effect on the lives of the people of Eorzea. The Rising is a seasonal event commemorating the fallen of The Calamity, where players can purchase special in-game items.
If you want to learn more about the events, jump on to the FFXIV website.
I feel like there should be epic music playing with heavy drums and awesome fanfare. Why? it is time for Xbox Newsbeat, that’s why! Xbox Newsbeat is your one stop, all access, best possible place to get all of the hottest news from Microsoft HQ. This week is pretty jam-packed, with three articles all dedicated to Xbox One (I am starting to notice that we are having fewer and fewer Xbox 360 articles here on Newsbeat. I hope it isn’t going the way of Windows Phone). Since we have so much to get through today, I say we get right to it!
Next Xbox One Update Rolls Out with New Social and Mobile Features
We’ve talked a lot about the latest Xbox One system update here on Newsbeat, but well that is because it is so damn awesome and necessary for the console that it is impossible to ignore! The roll-out of the new update began last week and if you haven’t gotten it yet, here is the list of new features you can expect from your sexy black console:
Mobile purchase: One of the most requested features on Xbox Feedback. Using Xbox SmartGlass or on Xbox.com, you can remotely purchase games and Add-on content. No more waiting to begin downloading when you get home – if your console is set to automatically take updates, your console will begin downloading your purchase.
Activity feed updates: Microsoft are adding new ways for you to interact with friends in the activity feed. The interface will change to a single column scrolling list that is longer and includes more content. They’ll add the ability to post text to your feed, and to “like” and comment on feed items. You can share game clips and anything else in the feed with friends either publicly (to your activity feed) or privately (as an attachment to a message). You’ll also be notified when anyone likes, comments on or shares your items. Each user will get a personal feed on their profile, so you can see what specific friends have been up to. And, with SmartGlass, you can see what your friends have shared to their activity feed and “like” specific posts (additional activity feed support coming in future SmartGlass updates).
Low battery notification:You asked for it, now a notification will pop up when your controller battery is getting low.
Disable notifications during video: Adding the ability to turn off notifications based on feedback we heard from you.
Enabling 3D Blu-ray:An update to the Blu-ray player app will enable 3D Blu-ray functionality on Xbox One.
Last seen time in Friends list:Direct from Xbox Feedback, the friends list will now show how long it’s been since a friend has been online. For example, “Last seen 20m ago: Forza Motorsport 5.”
So there you have it: A tonne of new features to help your gaming experience run that much smoother.
Forza Horizon 2 Car Reveal – Check Out the Week Five Cars
Ahh Forza, it seems like not a week goes past without mention of the Microsoft-exclusive racing series. Of the 200 cars in in Forza Horizon 2, more than 159 have been revealed. This week, the guys at Turn 10 unveiled a bunch of new cars for the game, including: the 1973 Ford Capri RS3100 is a highly sought-after version of the long-nosed beauty that won the hearts of car lovers, as well as multiple European Touring Car Championships. Or consider the 1962 Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta Lusso. A similar model recently sold for more than $38 million at auction. In addition you will find speed demons like the McLaren F1 and the KTM X-Bow, as well as Japanese gems like the 2004 Honda Civic Type-R and the 1992 Nissan Silvia CLUB K’s. Need a rally car fix? The 1992 Ford Escort RS Cosworth is ready to toss around on the back roads of the Horizon Festival.
As someone who knows nothing about cars, I understood about 5 words in the paragraph, but I am SURE it is exciting news for you gear-heads out there!
Twitch Gets New Features on Xbox One
Since it came to Xbox One a few months ago, Twitch has quickly grown to one of the console’s most popular apps. As if it wasn’t great enough, they have now added some additional functionality to make it even better! From now, the app allows you to zoom, capture audio through a headset, and most excitingly; watch with friends. Now you and friends on your Xbox Live friends list can all watch the same stream together! Talk about bringing people together Microsoft and Twitch. I take my hat off to thee!
So there we have it, another awesome installment of Xbox Newsbeat. A lot of new software updates for players to download and enjoy. Which of today’s headlines managed to grab your attention the most? Let us know in the comments below and as always make sure you stay tuned to Capsule Computers for all the hottest Xbox news as it becomes available.
