We have some good news for basketball fans that prefer to play their favorite video games on the PC. Today 2K announced that they are planning on not only releasing NBA 2K15 for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One but they will also be releasing it on the PC with the PC version offering “even more graphical fidelity.”
To celebrate this announcement the company released the first in-game NBA 2K15 screenshot, found above, which features this year’s cover athlete, Kevin Durant. Those looking to pick up NBA 2K15 will be able to do so on October 7th in North America while gamers in Australia and New Zealand have two wait two days longer to pick the title up on October 9th.
Overview Adapting a novel into an anime can be a rather difficult task. While light novels adaptations are very common nowadays, actual novel adaptations can be difficult simply because of the amount of detail that your average novel contains can be difficult to cram into even a 25 episode anime series. However, outside of some questionable time-skips, From the New World told a successful story in Collection One. The question is, will this story continue successfully in Collection Two?
Story It should go without saying that for those who have not watched the first thirteen episodes found in From the New World Collection One, that this review will contain spoilers from the first half of the series. That being said, the story picks up immediately where it left off with Saki, Satoru, Mamoru, and Maria outside of the village after tracking down the runaway Mamoru who fled the village fearing for his life.
Unable to convince Mamoru or Maria to return to the village due to some of the dark truths the group has learned over the course of the story, Saki and Satoru return alone, only to be forced back into searching for their friends in order to save them from being assigned for death by the Board of Education. Despite returning to where they left them, neither Maria or Mamoru can be found but Saki and Satoru do come across a familiar Monster Rat colony that is now being led by Squealer.
After spending time with Squealer’s Robber Fly colony, the two realize that Squealer’s colony has made drastic technological advancements in such a short time and have completely changed the way that they rule themselves. With the help of Squealer and his soldiers, Saki learns that Maria and Mamoru have left them with no intention of ever returning to the village and disappeared into the wilderness. Accepting the loss of their friends, time moves forward several years to the point that Saki is now in her twenties and has taken up an administrative position within the village.
Where the first half of the series focused mostly on building the world and establishing the character base, it is only a sample of what occurs in the second half. While everything up to this point has given viewers glimpses and hints at the darkness that has led up to the way society is in From the New World, this time skip marks the point where the story takes its darkest turn yet, placing everything that Saki had learned and humanity at the risk of annihilation.
The running themes throughout From the New World all deal with morality being a gray issue. The series poses questions such as how humanity is currently at peace, are the means that are forced upon the villagers worth doing so at the sake of their freedom? What does humanity truly mean and to what ends would someone go to in an effort to better their lot in life, even if it means throwing away everything to do so?
To describe what happens further would due this series and anyone waiting to watch it a disservice as the events that take place, the various twists that occur, and the moral quandaries that arise make From the New World Collection 2 a satisfying end to the series, especially in regards to a shocking truth that is revealed in the final episode and the terrible journey that Saki had to go through simply to survive in a journey where even victory means returning to a world fraught with darkness.
Visuals Unlike the first half of the series where a certain episode contains unique looking character designs, all of Collection 2 retains the same standard look found through the rest of the series. The environments that the characters traverse are still very impressive looking with a lot of attention to detail while the characters themselves are presented the same. It is worth noting that in the second half of the series, I noticed that the quality of the character artwork actually dipped a number of times throughout the release, which is disappointing as it did not occur nearly as much throughout the first half.
As far as the Monster Rats are concerned, their artwork and designs actually improved over the course of the series, though this is likely intentional due to their role in the story. It is also worth noting that From the New World is not a series to shy away from blood and death and although the level of actual gore is low, the amount of twisted bodies and exploding silhouetted heads is quite high.
Audio As with the first release of the series, Collection 2 comes with both the English and Japanese voice track with the English cast retaining their roles. One thing that really caught my attention is how each of the voice actors for the children managed to properly age their voices to match the current age of their character in the English dub. Considering how many time skips are used in the series, especially in this release, the aging of the voices in the English dub fit far better than voice actor changes used in the Japanese dub.
The sound effects and background music used throughout much of From the New World helps provide a dark atmosphere that is essential to many parts of the storyline. As far as themes go, there is no opening theme used for the second half as this time is instead used to continue the story while the ending theme “Yuki ni Saku Hana” is introduced partway through this release and is performed by the Japanese voice actress for Maria, Kana Hanazawa.
Extras From the New World Collection 2 comes with the bare minimum amount of bonus features. There is only a clean closing animation and Japanese promotional material alongside trailers for other Sentai Filmworks anime and the disc credits.
Overall From the New World tells a complex story full of mystery and dark thought provoking ideas that will leave a haunting impression on the viewer. There are very few storylines that are capable of evoking such a powerful storyline while also raising questions about society as a whole. With Collection 2 bringing the series to a close with a chilling revelation that many may have feared, From the New World offers a compelling and enjoyable viewing experience that will be remembered for quite some time.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Ahead of the inaugural Disney Infinity Toy Box Summit, the guys over at Disney and Avalanche Software have released the a full list of the new features that will be available for players in the brand new Toy Box Mode for Disney Infinity 2.0: Marvel Super Heroes. These new tools and toys not only add a lot to the game, but also make it easier to build amazing worlds and games. We recently went hands-on with Disney Infinity 2.0 and got to see some of these new features in-action, but now you can check them out in all their glory:
Toy Box Tools – Procedural generation of content can now be accessed and harnessed through two primary systems:
Creators – Tools that the player can place into the world in real-time, and a themed arrangement will procedurally build that world within minutes.
Builders– Non-player characters (NPCs) that a player can drop into their Toy Box to build out detailed worlds.
Templates– Players can use these pre-built Toy Box Games ranging from battle arenas to race tracks and customise them using the items saved in their personal Toy Boxes.
Toy Box Games – The Disney Infinity 2.0: Marvel Super Heroes Starter Pack will feature Toy Box Game discs, which players can use to access standalone game modes including Tower Defence and Dungeon Crawler games that any character from across the Disney Infinity universe can play.
INteriors–Players can now create their own interior levels where they can build rooms and theme them to their favourite characters. Unlock hundreds of furniture pieces and decorations based on iconic Disney and Marvel properties.
New Toys – New toys allow players to make more detailed games with beginnings, endings, winners, losers, result screens and virtually any type of game including races, battles, collection-based games, defence games or exploration adventures.
Challenge Maker – Allows players to create any type of game, including structured games within the Toy Box.
Toy Box Game Maker – Allows creators to restrict core actions typically available in the Toy Box, such as the use of the magic wand.
Text Creator – Allows builders to write their own text bubbles in the Toy Box. All text is filtered through a safe chat server for friendly writing.
Creativi-Toys – More than 75 new Creativi-Toys allow players to customize their Toy Boxes even further.
Improved On-Boarding– The introductory Toy Box will now be filled with Game Play Hosts who are available to assign missions and answer questions, as needed. Players are free to learn and explore on their own, but can ask a host for help and they’ll even be rewarded with extra goodies once missions are completed.
Updated Online Services – A Newsfeed screen has been added to the main menu, giving the user an overview of the new online services:
Increased Storage – Storage for locally saved Toy Boxes in a player’s private cloud has increased from 100 to 300 Toy Boxes. Support for downloadable published Toy Boxes has increased from 100 to 100,000 Toy Boxes.
Like and Search User-Generated Toy Boxes – Players can “like” their favourite published Toy Boxes and find others that are well received. Quickly search through the published Toy Boxes using categories (developer picks, most liked, most downloaded, newest, trending, all Toy Boxes and Disney 1.0), and further refine the search with filters (genre, character required, ability required and Toy Box Games).
Sharing with Friends– Share Toy Boxes with friends directly using cloud storage.
All of these new toys and features combined with the mechanics of the original game will surely result in endless possibilities and unlimited fun. We have attached a short trailer below that shows off some of these new additions. Check it out below and let us know in the comments what excites you most about Disney Infinity 2.0
The commented solo demo below shows an early story mission, tasking player protagonist Arno with assassinating a Templar with strong economic connections named Sivert. Demonstrated is the open approach to mission design that the development team at Ubisoft Montreal has taken with this instalment, as the player is given the freedom to tackle their objective in any way they see fit. The video also highlights the beautifully recreated Notre-Dame cathedral, built to scale.
Assassin’s Creed Unity Gamescom 2014 Commented Solo Demo
Assassin’s Creed Unity releases worldwide on October 28 for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC.
2014 must be the year of the turtle! (yes I know it is actually the year of the horse). Not only is Paramount Pictures’ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles set to release next month, but a week later on September 17th fans will be able to buy a brand new documentary: Turtle Power, that details the history of the franchise.
We have a little snippet of the documentary below that shows some of the key players in the creation of the Turtle’s franchise discuss their role in the worldwide phenomenon. Check out the video and let us know in the comments below whether or not you are going to be picking this one up. As always, make sure you stay tuned to Capsule Computers for all the TMNT news as it becomes available.
At Gamescom, Ubisoft has revealed first gameplay of the last-gen only Assassin’s Creed: Rogue, coming out November 11, 2014. Rogue expands upon the already great naval gameplay found in Black Flag, while also providing new weapons for on-foot combat.
Directly below is the ‘River Valley’ demo, showing Shay’s templar arsenal in action as he utilises his air rifle and poison gas in clearing out a gang headquarters. Embedded at the very bottom of this article is the ‘Arctic Naval’ demo, showcasing the Morrigan’s – Shay’s ship – upgraded ability to ram through ice sheets, shoot an early version of the machine gun and lay down burning oil behind it for pursuing enemies.
With less than a month before its release, people everywhere are gearing up for Paramount Pictures’ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. To keep us excited we have been given moving posters, trailers, and even music videos. Now, as if that weren’t enough, now we have a brand new browser-based game for players to get addicted to.
Teenage Mutant Turtles: Demolition Dojo will have you clicking away at Foot Soldiers in a shooting-gallery style mini-game. Simple, yet addictive this will surely keep people entertained for hours while they tick down the clock for the film’s release. To get in on the action, click hereto be taken to the game.
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will be making their way to the silver screen from September 11th, so make sure you stay tuned to Capsule Computers for all the awesome turtles news as it becomes available.
Trion Worlds have declared that their MMO crossover of Syfy’s hit series, Defiance, is now free-to-play on Playstation 3; alongside the already free PC version and upcoming one for Xbox 360. To celebrate the second season of the show, Trion has rolled out a ton of new content to players, including new missions, enemies and regions for the co-op shooter.
Check out all the action below, in the latest NSFW trailer for Defiance.
For players who purchase a new box or digital copy of Defiance are granted the following bonuses:
A grant of 1,000 Arkforge, an in-game currency redeemable for resetting weapon mastery, upgrading a weapon’s power rating or even bumping an uncommon weapon to epic rarity.
4 Character Slots, 5 Loadouts, up to 75 Ark Keycodes and a minimum 70 Inventory Slots.
30 days of Paradise Patron status: boosts to skill, XP, scrip, salvage and reputation gain rates that stack with the matching boosts, a 10% store-wide discount and choice of one-hour boosts or Arkforge from Daily and Weekly Ark Hunter Bonus Lock Boxes.
Don’t miss out on this amazing deal and be sure to join the battle of Defiance online!
Naruto’s former enemy turned ally Gaara, the Fifth Kazekage of the Sand will be receiving a much anticipated new awakening in Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution. Gaara will be able to summon the One-Tailed Beast known as Shukaku as a giant true awakening and unleash his devastating power against opponents in the heat of battle. Unfortunately it doesn’t seem young Gaara will be receiving the revamp treatment and will most likely have the same move set he had in Naruto Storm: Generations. You can check out some screenshots of the Shukaku in action below. Kankuro will also be receiving his Sasori puppet as his new True Awakening and will feature in a new Team Ultimate Jutsu with his sand allies Temari and Gaara.
Other new additions to the game include being able to accessorize your characters in the online mode to stand out from the crowd with different equipment such as a giant battle axe or wearable scrolls. Players will also be able to have their online characters fight for them in Network Clone Teams to have them train and gather items while players are away from the game. Continuing the trend set by Ultimate Ninja Storm 3, Storm Revolution will also be receving a PC release via Steam with the release date being confirmed for the 16th of September. The game hits the PS3 and Xbox 360 in Australia on the 11th of September. You can check out the newest trailer for the game below the gallery.
The mystery action sequel Psychometrer will be going on hiatus in Kodansha‘s Young Magazine. The sequel to the shonen manga Psychometrer Eji will make an announcement in this year’s 38th issue of the magazine with no specific date on when both of the magakas will return with the series.
The manga series revolves around high school delinquent Asuma Eji who uses his psychometric powers to help police inspector Ryoko Shima solve mysterious criminal cases.
Yuma Ando and Masashi Asaka have been writing and drawing the sequel since 2011, before that they worked on the original Psychometrer Eji from 1996-2000 which ran in Kodansha’s Weekly Shonen Magazine. The original manga has been published into 25 volumes with the sequel currently on its 14th. A new a spin off series of Psychometrer called Debusen will be serialized within the magazine, which will go on sale in Japan this month on the 18th.
