Nintendo quite possibly has one of the biggest recognisable character rosters in the world, with it’s biggest rival possibly being Disney, who not surprisingly has also jumped in on the physical character additional content bandwagon with Disney Infinity. Mario, Link, Pikachu, Yoshi, Luigi, Donkey Kong, the list could probably reach 50 before we started getting into the more obscure characters in Nintendo’s all-star lineup.
A recent report from Nintendo America claimed that Amiibo, Nintendo’s new physical property, has sold over 710,000 units in the month of November alone. That is equal to sales of arguably Nintendo’s strongest title in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Great news for the company who is well known to be struggling this generation with Wii U sales far behind that of its predecessor in the original Wii console. Not surprisingly, the big sellers were Link, Mario and Pikachu in that order, perhaps Nintendo’s biggest trio of characters and also the Amiibos that had the biggest production numbers. Japan also posted big numbers, with over 104,000 sold within the launch week period, just under half of the amount of copies of Smash Bros. for Wii U that were sold in the nation.
Sales seem to be similar in Australia as Amiibo’s seem to be sold out country wide aside from some leftover Pikachu and Mario figures. No doubt a number of the rarer figures such as Marth, Villager and Wii Fit Trainer that have been rumoured to be discontinued from production were snatched up by those looking to turn a profit on eBay, with some figures selling for 5 times their retail price on the bidding website. We’ve also seen a number of special production error Amiibos fetch prices in the thousands such as Legless Peach and the infamous Dual Cannon Samus. This has no doubt further sparked the search for these factory error Amiibos across store shelves.
Nintendo has very cleverly used it’s vast character roster and has capitalised on the physical toy market at the perfect time, taking a lot less risk than Skylanders had to endure when it first released with Activision hoping people would be willing to shell out $15 for an additional character (interestingly Activision was also trying to utilise the reputation of the Spyro series at the time which has since been surpassed in popularity by the Skylanders brand). The actual in-game features of Amiibo are actually quite weak even if they do work over multiple games. A souped up A.I. opponent in Super Smash Bros., an extra weapon in Hyrule Warriors and a few outfits in Mario Kart 8. Nintendo itself seemed reluctant (and still do so) in divulging more information on how Amiibo actually worked with it’s compatible games and it’s clear to see why.
People often questioned the value of the figures and rightfully so, but there was one reason people always seemed to use the justify the purchase of an Amiibo. These are the first official, mass produced lot of collectible physical figures ever released by the Big N and people have wanted that for a long time. Nintendo is cashing in big time on the nostalgia of older fans as well as the younger generation who simply want to play with some cool looking toys. Older gamers want to proudly display their Amiibo collection by their console or on their top shelf and kids want to have a tea party with Link, Samus and Kirby all in attendance.
It’s the most hardcore fan base that always gets Nintendo through tough times and that looks to be the case with Amiibo as well. Nintendo has merged the hot trend of ‘physical DLC’ with some of the most recognisable characters in the world to create a product people can’t get enough of. It will be interesting to see if sales can keep up as time goes on, but due to the staggered wave releases Nintendo has opted for it’s not hard to imagine the fire will continue to burn for at least the next three or four months. Even after all the characters from Smash Bros. are released, Nintendo can easily keep up the momentum with characters with different poses or limited editions such as crystal or gold Amiibo that come at a higher price point. So well done Nintendo, you’ve struck plastic gold with Amiibo.
Overview Type-Moon’s Fate franchise is one that is well known as it spans across a number of popular visual novels and has been given various anime adaptations and spin-offs. As such it is difficult to imagine that Fate/Stay Night, the first anime adaptation for the franchise, would change hands numerous times in North America before being abandoned completely. Now with Sentai Filmworks picking the license up and releasing the entire Fate/Stay Night series in one collection, does the series still hold up today?
Story In the world of Fate/Stay Night a periodic contest is held between seven randomly selected Magus who must take part in a free-for-all battle called the Grail War. These seven Magus must summon Servants to fight for them and the Magus left standing with their Servant is rewarded with the Holy Grail that will grant them any wish of their choosing. Each Servant is a hero from the past or a historical figure and while there are seven in total, each one fills a specific role and title.
Archer, Assassin, Berserker, Caster, Lancer, Rider, and Saber all must fight one another at their Masters’ behest in order to obtain their wish. With each Servant having a unique specialization as well as a Noble Phantasm trump card that is as flashy as it is powerful, the Masters must choose their fights carefully, especially since if a Master is defeated, their Servant will also suffer the same fate.
The story takes place in a world where the last Grail War occurred only ten years prior and follows Shiro Emiya, a boy raised by a retired Magus named Kiritsugu after his parents were killed in a massive fire that devastated the city. Despite being raised by a Magus, Shiro only has a basic understanding of magic as Kiritsugu avoided passing any talents down to him. However when Shiro finds himself watching a battle between two magical fighters wielding weapons, he is at a severe disadvantage.
Despite doing his best to run away, Shiro finds himself mortally wounded by one of these fighters only to be saved by a fellow classmate. From here Shiro manages to accidentally summon one of the strongest Servants, Saber, to fight for him and protect him. Thanks to Shiro’s somewhat chauvinistic personality however he finds himself at odds with Saber as she constantly throws herself into danger to protect him.
After learning the rules, Shiro decides to take part in the Grail War to prevent anyone with evil intentions from using the Holy Grail. This immediately makes him an enemy of the other Masters, but he soon finds himself allied with his fellow classmate Rin Tohsaka and her Servant Archer who begin to teach him what it means to take part in a war that will see Saber and Shiro fighting against powerful opponents in order to obtain the Grail.
Fate/Stay Night tells the first story route from the original visual novel and it unfortunately struggles to get out of the gate because of the way the adaptation is handled. There are numerous rules and intricacies to the Grail War and the relationships between Master and Servant that are explained over the course of the first half of the series that do a great job establishing the setting and the basis for the battles that will come. However thanks to that, the series is extremely slow going as the few battles that do take place near the beginning are nothing more than simple skirmishes.
Thankfully the action does pick up after the midway point of the series as numerous important battles take place with costly stakes. One thing that is nice here is that the build-up of the main characters over the course of the series up until this point is exhibited in these fights, as Rin, Shiro, Archer, and of course Saber all take part in fights here, leaving only certain side characters to remain as less pertinent roles until a couple of twists are thrown into the story.
Another place where Fate/Stay Night shows its visual novel origins is with the way it handles its character developments and various interactions. Shiro is quite dense but does his best to try and be heroic but as mentioned before, he finds himself struggling with Saber who he wishes to protect despite the armor clad woman being able to fight foes on a completely different level from him. While his starting interactions with her may be annoying, it does make his development over the course of the series interesting to watch as we see Shiro begin to fall in love with Saber and even Saber start to show her knowledge of these feelings.
That being said, there is a bit of a harem feel to Fate/Stay Night thanks to how many members of the female cast begin to gather around Shiro. From the attractive and competent Rin allying herself with Shiro and teaching him the basics while living in his house to the younger Illyasviel switching from being a sadistic Master to one willing to cutely cling to Shiro there are many elements here that could easily lead to such a development.
Thankfully for the case of the story, these elements are simply there to provide viewers some satisfying slice of life character interactions in order to break up the action sequences and instead the story chooses to focus on Saber and Shiro’s developments. Now while some certain events that take place near the end of the series, especially considering the motivations of some of the final opponents that appear, fall flat, Fate/Stay Night tells a satisfying story with a bittersweet ending.
Visuals Now although Sentai Filmworks is releasing Fate/Stay Night on Blu-ray, it is worth noting that this series was first created back in 2006 by Studio Deen and unfortunately it has not aged well. In fact it almost seems like the upgrade to Blu-ray has made some of the flaws in the animation and character designs more prominent. This is due to the fact that while the characters designs are well known and certain ones really do stand out from the crowd, especially in the case of the Servants with Rider, Saber, and Archer standing out as the best examples, there is unfortunately a lack of detail to facial design and even the eyes of these characters appear lifeless more often than not.
This animation issue continues into the battles where there are extremely obvious looking shortcuts used to try and make these sequences look fluid but generally only result in looking foolish. There is a sense of style used with plenty of flashy attacks but unfortunately many of these scenes will be found lacking. As far as graphic violence is concerned, Fate/Stay Night keeps things relatively tame with only a decent amount of blood shed and no actual gore. The same can be said about the fan service which, outside of a few specific character designs, is extremely tame considering the source material.
Audio This release of Fate/Stay Night: Complete Collection uses the original English dub track that was created back when the series was first released in the States back in 2007. This is rather unfortunate thanks to the fact that the original English dub isn’t exactly stellar. They perform their roles adequately enough but this is probably a series that may sound the best using the original Japanese voice track that is provided in the release.
The background music in Fate/Stay Night has some fitting dramatic numbers that help make the action sequences appear more epic but unfortunately these are the only times that the soundtrack really stands out. The opening themes “disillusion” and “Kirameku Namida wa Hoshi ni” by Tainaka Sachi are fitting enough but the ending sequences are unimaginative and bland.
Extras This release of Fate/Stay Night comes with zero noteworthy extra features. In fact the only extras contained on the discs are disc credits and trailers for other Sentai Filmworks releases.
Overall The Fate/Stay Night: Complete Collection manages to tell an relatively enjoyable storyline that is slightly marred thanks to a slow starting story, a few lackluster twists near the end, and some character issues. Plus, while this may be the best way to experience the original series, it hasn’t aged very well and even a new Blu-ray sheen cannot cover it up. That being said, Fate/Stay Night is still a series filled with intricate rules and some nice action sequences that may be worth watching, but one cannot help but feel like the series could have been so much more.
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Well it’s been nearly eight months since the last episode, but now it’s the time to rejoice as Sword Art Online Abridge Episode Five is here.
The latest episode was uploaded to YouTube on the Something Witty Entertainmentchannel two days ago, since then it has gotten over 90,000 views and over 6,000 likes. Production for the episode took longer than usual due to the departure of members Jragoswinn and Misanda, who both left the abridged group because of creative differences.
Despite the setback Something Witty Entertainment managed to recast characters and produced a well written, highly entertaining abridged episode. The conflicts between Kirito and Asuna are both natural and engaging, there’s a sweet call back to a previous episode and the voice of “Tiffany” is voiced by the same guy who created the Free! abridged series 50% off (yes that actually exists).
Something Witty Entertainment uploaded their first Sword Art Online Abridged episode last year and have since been producing high quality episodes that anime fans will greatly enjoy. Check out episode five by clicking the video down below and let us know what you think about it by leaving a comment.
This year has seen the return of the fantasy series Mushishi, so far fans of the anime have been treated with a special OVA and 2 seasons of Mushishi Zoku Shou, the latter of which is currently airing in this anime season. Now fans in Japan will get to experience Mushishi in a whole new medium as it takes the stage in Tokyo next year.
The event isn’t going to be a theatrical play adaptation, but rather will be a live reading featuring augmented reality technology to create visuals spanning around a 270 degree field of view. The stage reading will be directed by Hiroshi Nagahama, the director of the anime, using an original script and voice over artists from the anime. Although only showing one page the official website does say that ticket pre-orders will begin next Sunday for the 2015 show, which will run in March from the 18th-29th.
Mushishi was originally a manga series that was published from 1999-2008 by Kodansha and lasted 10 volumes. The first season of the anime aired from October 2005 to April 2006 and was licensed by Funimation and Madman.
Earlier today Idea Factory International announcedthat they are planning on releasing a limited edition version of Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth2: Sisters Generation . Currently the price of the limited edition has not been announced but it will be available alongside the standard edition of the title when the game is released for the PS Vita in North America and Europe.
Pre-orders for the Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 2: Sisters Generation Limited Edition will begin in January and it will contain the following items:
Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth2: Sisters Generation for PS Vita
Space Bullet are over the moon to announce that their latest game, Vox Machinae, is a combat simulation with giant robots for players to pilot on a variety of mercenary missions. The developers have worked extremely hard to bring a 31st century combat game of hulking robots clobbering one another, into the present day and age.
One of the best features is being able to “punch things with giant robot fists”.
Vox Machinae is set to include the following features:
Engaging solo/coop campaign with a twist
Explore hostile planets alongside your AI
Designed with Virtual Reality in mind
Actions players make directly influence the emergent narrative
Immersive physics simulation drives movement, in addition to ranged and melee combat
To celebrate this milestone, Space Bullet have put together a short video about their company and the making of Vox Machinae, which can be viewed below. A VR-only version of the prototype will be released tomorrow, December 15, on PC. Check out the official website herefor further information and stay tuned with Capsule Computers for the latest gaming news.
It has been something of a long running tradition that every couple of months, an unannounced game is revealed thanks to a ratings board and it usually comes at the hands of the Australian Classification Board. This time the game that has been rated is called “Borderlands Remastered Edition” from Gearbox Software and 2K Australia.
The title is listed as a multiplatform release, meaning it may be heading for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One sometime in the future. At the moment this is only a rumor, but it will certainly be interesting to see if this “Remastered” edition comes with both Borderlands 1 and 2 as well as the recently released Borderlands Pre-Sequel.
It looks like NIS America will be handling most of the limited edition collections for Koei Tecmo from now on, as it has been announced that NIS America will be releasing the limited edition for Atelier Shallie: Alchemists of the Dusk Sea and will be selling it exclusively through their NIS America online store as well as their European online store.
The package will cost $64.99 and will be available alongside the standard version of the game which is set to be released on March 10th in North America and March 13th in Europe. The limited edition includes:
Limited Edition collector’s box (side loader)
Atelier Shallie – Alchemists of the Dusk Sea for PS3
Full-color hardcover art book (48 pages)
Atelier Shallie original soundtrack CD with jewel case
Square Enix has announced that there will be a special collector’s edition version of Final Fantasy Type-0 HD released alongside the standard version. This collector’s edition costs $99 and if you pre-order directly from Square Enix website, you will be automatically entered into a sweepstakes to win some prizes that include a Final Fantasy Type-0 HD themed PlayStation 4 or Xbox One and much more.
Golden SteelBook Case: Featuring illustrations by world-renowned artist Yoshitaka Amano, this premium case holds both the game and soundtrack CD.
Composer’s Selections Soundtrack: Includes 15 tracks hand-picked by the game’s composer, Takeharu Ishimoto.
Final Fantasy Type-0 Manga: A complete 200 page manga comic establishing the world and characters of the game.
80-Page Art Book: Dive into the war-torn land of Orience through its illustrations and art renders.
Ace’s Cards: Five life-size replicas of the iconic cards held by Class Zero’s Ace.
Final Fantasy XV: Episode Duscae Demo: Every copy of the Collector’s Edition includes a code for the Final Fantasy XV playable demo. Be among the first to play the game with your order of Final Fantasy Type-0 HD.
The company also stated that the Final Fantasy XV demo will only be included in Final Fantasy Type-0 HD first print copies and will never be released as a standalone download. This means that if you really want to get the demo, pre-ordering a copy of Type-0 HD is probably your best bet.
You may remember that The Evil Within had a $19.99 season pass released alongside the title a couple of months ago and it seems that the first piece of DLC that will be included in that pass will be dropping early next year. This three part story DLC will start with “The Assignment” which follows Juli Kidman, Castellanos’ partner through the events in The Evil Within. It is worth noting that she will also be the main focus in the second piece of DLC, The Consequence, though at the moment no release window has been given for this second piece of DLC.
It seems that this DLC may just have some of the answers fans were left with after The Evil Within wrapped up, as Tango Gameworks’ John Johanas stated in a Q&A with Bethesda that “we shed a lot of light on the lore of Rubik, STEM, and the characters while asking (and answering) a whole new set of questions regarding Juli and her mission.”
