The High Life update for GTA Online is now live, featuring many new additions, such as the ability to own multiple properties at once. Eight new ‘Contact’ missions, as well as four new Land Race missions, will be available to play later today (by the time you’re reading this, it could already be up!)
Going into more detail after providing a basic rundown of the new features, Rockstar have provided the following descriptions:
With the new Mental State stat, we are keeping track of your behavior. If you seem to enjoy attacking pedestrians and terrorizing other players, then your blip will start to turn red on other players’ maps. The redder the blip, the more psychotic the player; the whiter the blip, the friendlier they are. The actions you take will have varying effects on your Mental State. For example, killing another player will turn your blip red faster than blowing up a car or taking out a random pedestrian. Killing a player with a white blip will push your Mental State into the red faster than killing more psycho players, while taking out full-on psycho players won’t cause your own Mental State stat to increase at all. Mental state also factors into matchmaking – you’ll automatically join Freemode sessions containing people more ‘compatible’ with your play style, and if a red-blipped lunatic does enter your session, you at least have fair warning!
Non-Contact Races are now an option. When you create a Non-Contact race, other racers appear as semi-transparent and collisions with them are disabled (although you’ll still be able to collide with non-player traffic, structures and other scenery).
You now have the option to Friend Spectate – if you and a friend are in separate GTA Online sessions you can now choose to spectate that player through the Friends menu.
New player toasts and celebrations: Switch out your salute for jazz hands, a face palm, a slow clap and more. There are also paired toasts for celebrating with a friend, like a backslap, or a solid, manly handshake.
New clothing: It can be hard work finding the perfect ensemble to really make your character stand out, so we’ve done some of the hard work for you and put together some stylish outfits. Hit the town, dressed to the nines with an array of classy new suit sets available with a pret-a-porter jacket, trousers, suit vest and shoes.
Click through to read Rockstar‘s official blog post on the update for further details on the missions and vehicles added, along with a list of fixes made to the game experience. Download the update after being prompted upon start-up, Also, keep an eye on Newswire for details on the High Life Weekend Social Club Event starting this Friday, with “in-game bonuses, a special Rockstar-hosted live stream, rare gear sweepstakes and more”.
The world of Titanfall is about to get a hell of a lot bigger. EA Games and Respawn Entertainment have finally confirmed when players will be able to download end enjoy the highly anticipated first DLC pack for the game. The Expedition pack will be available from May 15th (so probably by the time you are reading this… What are you waiting for!?) and will include 3 new maps – Runoff, Swampland and War Game.
Expedition is the first of three planned DLC packs, each of which will bring new maps and new gameplay features to the already incredible FPS experience. It should be noted though that tomorrow’s availability only extends to the Xbox One and PC versions of the game. The update to the Xbox 360 edition will come in June.
If you haven’t done so already, check out the DLC trailer and let us know in the comments below whether or not you will be hitting download, or if the vanilla game is more than enough for you. Remember to stay tuned to Capsule Computers for all the Titanfall news as it becomes available.
Get ready horror fans! EVENT Cinemas George St are putting on one hell of a show for you! on Friday, June 13th EVENT will be screening the original Friday the 13th film in all its glory (we are talking the original 1980 version, not the 2009 remake). Not only that but there will be cheap drinks ($9 cocktails!), and costumes for the best dressed patrons on the night! Like previous movie events, this one is sure to be a killer!
Tickets are available online here for the low-low price of $10. Cocktails and the best dressed costume party start at 8pm, with the film screening at 9pm. Get your tickets early because this one is likely to sell out quickly, also make sure you check out the Facebook Pagefor more info on the event.
If you have never seen Friday the 13th then this is the perfect opportunity to do so. Let us know in the comments below whether or not you will be getting your fright on, and make sure you stay tuned to Capsule Computers for all the horror movie news as it becomes available.
Star Citizen, the space simulation game famous for making tremendous piles of cash through crowdfunding on kickstarter ($43.6 million to be exact), has acquired a new asset in the form of another veteran of the game’s industry. Alex Mayberry, formerly the lead game producer at Blizzard Entertainment, has taken on a new role at Cloud Imperium Games (CIG) who are currently behind the development of the aforementioned Star Citizen. Mayberry will be in charge of overseeing all product development for Star Citizen and managing the distributed development process across the various owned and contracted production studios. Mayberry will report diretly to CIG founder and CEO, Chris Roberts ( who is himself famous for creating the Wing Commander series).
Mayberry was selected due to his 18 years experience in development, including the management of large multiplayer games including World of Warcraft and Diablo III and its sequel.
I don’t think we could have found a better fit than Alex Mayberry for helping me manage Star Citizen’s development… Alex brings a wealth of experience in managing very large online games with huge communities, including the biggest of all, World of Warcraft.
– Chris Roberts
Following a very successful Kickstarter back in 2012, Star Citizen has defined itself by its grand ambitions which include to create a game universe which will be constantly persistent. In effect, CIG aims to create a game which in which player ships and stations will remain in the game even after the player has logged out. Alongside this, there has been talk of developing sophisticated procedural generation technology to create new planets and environments to explore as add-ons for the game… after all, what’s the point of playing a space sim if you can’t go to where “no man has gone before”?
I’m not sure whether Star Citizen will be able to meet Robert’s ambition, but hopefully with the addition of this veteran talent they’ll be one step closer to achieving their goals and we ourselves will be one step closer to traversing a game with an ever-expanding universe.
Gravity is a harsh mistress and I have to commend Knights of Sidonia for finally bringing it to our attention when so many other anime featuring space colonies didn’t. When something goes wrong on a gigantic floating city in space, gravity (aside from oxygen) is the first thing that could go haywire. Who knew that a few G’s of force could be so catastrophic?
The fourth episode kicks into gear from where we were left off. Akai’s crack team of ace pilots is all but obliterated and the Gauna is heading straight for Sidonia. The brass at HQ waste no time in preparing the Heavy Mass Driver to fire again and at this distance the creature has no way of dodging a round the size of several kilometres travelling at near light speed. It wouldn’t be a very entertaining if it was that easy and naturally the Gauna dodges the shot and doesn’t deviate from its path.
Here’s where it gets interesting. The captain orders the unusual command of activating Sidonia’s engines at full blast, one after the other, in a dangerous evasive maneuver. The inhabitants are ordered to attach the harnesses that are worn at all times to metal bars placed throughout the vessel. There isn’t enough and in the scramble many people don’t make it to a safe point.
Once those massive engines kick in the result is as devastating as flipping a monopoly board full of people, but the board happens to be an immense space colony. Hundreds die as the gravity is inverted and the captain doesn’t give ground, ordering the second engine to activate. More than ever, this scene shows how grim this anime really is.
It seems to pay off, however, as Sidonia narrowly avoids the Gauna’s trajectory. With the alien flying thousands of kilometres in the opposite directions, this gives the ship time to consolidate its position.
Hundreds of Gardes are mobilised to form a defensive line between Sidonia and the Gauna. A retrieval squad is deployed consiting of Nagate, Kunato, En and Shizuka to fetch two precious Kabizashi spears that team Akai left behind. One of which is right on the outer rim of Sidonia’s communication reach.
After a tense journey the team manage to grab the spears and head back, just when the Gauna shifts its focus to Sidonia once again. While we’re wondering if they’ll make it back in time, we’re thrown a curveball as the Gauna mutates to fire a Higgs laser cannon, much like the ones mounted on the Garde frames, only much much bigger.
Our team narrowly avoids the fate of Akai’s, but three of the Gardes are disabled leaving only Nagate with his manual Type 17.Shizuka’s frame spirals out of control as its engine goes haywire and risks exploding. She ejects but is still at risk of flying endlessly into space.
Although Nagate is ordered to evacuate his team mates and retreat to Sidonia, he ignores the order and charges at the Gauna with a Kabizashi spear. Dodging the enormous beam once again he actually manages to destroy the Gauna’s core with his spear pretty easily but with pinpoint accuracy. Such a huge threat gone in seconds.
Now they have another problem. Shizuka is flying out into space in her escape pod while Nagate is ordered to forget about her. Unable to follow this order, he goes after her in his ailing frame knowing full well he won’t be able to return to Sidonia in his condition and that no help will come.
I say this a lot but Sidonia has so much going for it. It puts space simulators and the idea of an alien hive fleet (Tyranids from Warhammer 40k?) with anime together. It doesn’t beat around the bush. It looks like the next episode takes a page out of the recent Gravity movie too. Here’s hoping our two lost souls find their way back.
Check out more Knights of Sidonia Impressions HERE.
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – May 14, 2014 – Ubisoft Australia in association with Ubisoft Montreal is pleased to announce a collaboration with Vivid Ideas, a panel event entitled Ubisoft Montreal Presents – Developing Games: From Indie to Blockbuster – Child Of Light & Watch Dogs.
Jean-François Poirier, Producer, (Child Of Light) & Kevin Shortt, Lead Story Designer (Watch Dogs) from Ubisoft’s Montreal studio will be travelling to Sydney to participate in the panel and provide an inside view on how these titles are delivered through the entire creative process.
The panel will discuss game design, story narrative, production and a range of other development aspects and considerations required to deliver both videogame titles to global audiences.
Ubisoft Australia Managing Director, Edward Fong said “We’re delighted to be a part of Vivid Ideas. The festival provides an insight into some of the world’s most creative minds and industries, and to have speakers from Ubisoft Montreal, our biggest development studio, participate is a great honour and reflection of the amazing games they create.”
Lucy O’Brien, journalist at IGN Australia, who will be chairing the panel, said, “We’re very excited to be involved with Vivid Ideas alongside Ubisoft Montreal. It’s an amazing time to be a gamer; game developers have never had such powerful tools and platforms to create and distribute games of every shape and size. This panel event will reflect that.”
Limited number of Tickets are available at Vivid Ideas’ website – http://bit.ly/PpbF9W, however they are selling fast.
Event Details:
WHAT: Ubisoft Montreal Presents – Developing Games: From Indie to Blockbuster – Child Of Light & Watch Dogs
If it isn’t new pictures of the robots in disguise, it is some other piece of news coming out! Grammy Award winning rock band Imagine Dragons have teamed up with Paramount Pictures and Michael Bay to help score a song for the upcoming Transformers: Age of Extinction. The new song “Battle Cry,” has been written specifically for the film and will be featured throughout (much like Linkin Park’s music was used for previous installments). Check out the announcement video below:
In addition to writing and creating the song, Imagine Dragons will be singing it live for the first time at the Transformers: Age of Extinction world wide release in Hong Kong on June 19th. We have a little sneak peak at the song that you check out below. Transformers: Age of Extinction will be hitting the silver screen here in Australia on June 26th, so make sure you stay tuned to Capsule Computers for all the Transformers news as it becomes available.
After two cancellations and a world of chaos and protesting, Family Guy has become a staple of adult-centred animation today. The exploits of the insane Griffin Family are some of the most offensive and deranged out there, but millions of viewers still can’t get enough – and it is easy to see why. Now in its 13th season, Family Guy is no longer in its fighting prime, but much like the prize boxer it can still go a few more rounds.
Story
Family Guy sticks to a tried and true method of storytelling where each episode is its own self-contained story that results in its own conclusion. Rarely do episode plot points carry over to future episodes, and when they do it is usually in the form of a brief mention or cameo character appearance.
Out of the 22 episodes from season thirteen, there are a couple of impressive standouts. Leading the pack here is easily Yug Ylimaf, which has Brian accidentally reversing time. This episode features an awesome inverse giant chicken fight, as well as some backwards-reverse takes on some of Family Guy’s classic jokes (like another instalment of Peter falling down the stairs from season 12).
Ratings Guy is another great standout from the season, where Peter gets his hands on 100 Nielson Boxes and has control over television. The episode even features a cameo from Mad Men’s Jon Hamm who is coerced into changing the show or risk plummeting ratings.
Sadly, many of the characters have lost a lot of their depth and development that happened during the early seasons, devolving into caricatures of themselves. The most notable example of this is Peter, many of who’s actions resemble a toddler’s. It is this kind of writing that shows Family Guy, while still enjoyable is past its prime.
At this stage, the writers are not afraid of poking fun at themselves, or other similar programs. Stabs at The Simpsons, South Park and Bob’s Burgers are all par for the course this year. We even get the first glimpse at a Simpsons/Family Guy crossover (set to air in September this year) when Dan Castelanetta makes a brief appearance as Homer Simpson, pointing out that they are in the midst of a particular story line that Family Guy did first (poking fun at the fact that many critics and fans of each series have commented that Family Guy reuses old Simpsons storylines in its shows). Of all the self-mockery though, the parody of Macfarlane’s offensive Oscars hosting ceremony stands out as a highlight from the season.
Visuals
Not a lot has changed visually in between seasons 12 and 13. Family Guy still uses the same art style that focuses on clean lines and exaggerated features to make its characters stand out from its competition. The benefit of it looking like this is the fact that anyone who has seen even five seconds of the show can see a still shot, or a piece of artwork and know instinctively that it is Family Guy. Like recent seasons, it is presented in HD visuals, but aside from the intro at the beginning of the episode, you likely wont really notice it when. Sadly, there is no Blu Ray release for Family Guy Season 13 (yet), so DVD is your only option here.
If I seem disappointed, it may be because I originally watched the episodes on TV in 720p, so watching the DVD release in 480p is a little bit of a downgrade. Don’t get me wrong, it by no means is a bad looking show, we are just so spoiled for quality nowadays that the differences between a Blu Ray and a DVD become apparent quite quickly.
Audio
At this point in Family Guy’s life span, the audio is very much set in place. The actors have all made the rolls their own, and the little musical flourishes are unique and feel just as much a part of the series as the Griffin family. As usual, Seth Macfarlane does most of the heavy lifting, both behind the scenes and with voicing the majority of the characters but it wouldn’t be Family Guy without the guest stars and special appearances. Everyone from H. Jon Benjamin to Jon Hamm and even Johnny Depp make cameo appearances this season (an awful lot of John’s in this year’s Family Guy).
The absolute best part about picking up a DVD collection of a show like Family Guy is the fact that you get to watch it and experience it how it was originally intended. This includes all of the swearing and vulgarity that was too inappropriate for television. Unlike similar programs, Family Guy only lightly sprinkles its foul language into its scripts. It is only on the rare occasion that the f-bomb will be dropped more than once in an episode and that is if it was used in the first place.
Family Guy doesn’t rely on its language to fuel its humour, so this means that when a character does eventually cry out an exasperated “F***!” that it catches you off guard and really adds to the punch line. One particular episode had me in stitches, which featured a cameo by everybody’s favourite web-slinger, who tells peter “You’re just a fat nobody, and I’m F***ing Spider-man!”
You’re a fat nobody, and I’m F***ing Spider-Man! How do you think that makes me feel!?
Extras
Here we come to the good part, the deleted scenes! Each of the season’s three discs has its own deleted scenes for a bunch of episodes. These fill a wide variety from crude to hilarious, from unnecessary to “why could they cut that!?” all in all, there is a lot to see and enjoy here.
Several episodes also feature director’s commentary over the tracks for those of you who love behind the scenes action, and there is even a look at some of how of the animation comes to life. Lastly, Fox have included the entire panel from last year’s Comic-Con that went over the present and future of the franchise, including the announcement of the Simpsons/Family Guy Crossover for 2014.
I really wanted to transcribe this joke for you all… But I wanted to keep my job more. Check it out on Disc 2!
Overall
It is a sad fact that Family Guy has definitely passed its prime. The jokes are starting to become a little tired, and the characters have become caricatures of themselves, but there is still a lot to enjoy here. The humour while crude, still exudes a lot of intelligence. Macfarlane and his team are not idiots, and while their over the top antics might make people cringe, there is a lot of depth to a lot of the storylines here.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Magic: The Gathering Intro Decks aren’t designed to win tournaments, or be unbeatable in any of the game’s formats. Their primary purpose is to provide a pre-made deck that new players can pick up and play, secondary to this is that they typically introduce and make use of the new rules implemented in the set they are from. In this way Intro Packs provide a great first stop for anyone jumping into Magic: The Gathering.
NOTE: Since Intro Decks are made for newer Magic: The Gathering players, I wrote the review to reflect that, and used some terminology that only Magic players will understand. This review was constructed using the Mortals of Myth Intro Pack with references to other standard-legal sets.
Wizards has taken us on a whirlwind adventure through the ancient Greece inspired Theros block for the better part of a year now, and with the release of Journey into Nyx, that adventure has come to a close. With a whole bunch of new abilities and new cards for players to strategise over.
Mortals of Myth is a White/Green intro pack that focuses on +1/+1 counters. More specifically, it focuses on getting as many +1/+1 counters onto your creatures as you can. It accomplishes this with a bunch of creatures with Heroic abilities. Heroic makes it so that creatures you control get additional benefits when they are targeted by spells that you cast. The Heroic Abilities are only the first part of the pie for this deck however, with the second half coming from the newly introduced Strive mechanic. Spells that have Strive allow you to pay additional mana in order to target multiple creatures with them. That means with only one card, you can activate the Heroic abilities of all of your creatures.
There is an interesting dichotomy with this deck. Many of the permanents are white, while many of the deck’s instants and sorceries are green. There are of course a little bit of bleed between the two, but primarily you will be leaving white things on the field and casting your green things as one offs. Even the deck’s two rares are both white-aligned. Here they are:
Dawnbringer Charioteers is by far one of my favourite cards from Journey into Nyx. It costs 1 extra mana than Wingsteed Rider does, and has an all the bells and whistles plus an additional 2 toughness and lifelink. This card is a gamechanger, and if left unchecked can cause some serious damage to your opponent. Spear of Heliod is another great card from Theros, and gives all of your creatures +1/+1 while also serving to ward off attackers. It’s ability is a bit restrictive in that until you have a five or more land in play.
It is fun to see what kind of combinations this deck can pull off, especially since it is in white/green – two colours that are typically associated with small creatures and getting tonnes of mana. Sadly though, this deck doesn’t exactly feature too many of each. The creatures in the deck aren’t exactly big, with most sitting around the 3-4 mana cost, which hopefully means you will be casting them around turn 3. Golden Hind is going to be the card that has you playing creatures out earlier than you should – it is a new twist on the staple “Llanowar Elves” card that has existed forever.. Plus it has some cute as artwork.
Once your creatures are on the field, it is time to hit them with the Strive spells. Anything that targets more than one creature at a time is a massive bonus in this deck, and can help combat the fact that you probably wont be doing much attacking until turns 4 or 5. All eight Instants and Sorceries in this deck have strive, so you have to wait until the absolute right moment to play them.
Lastly, we have a few more creatures and some enchantments that are there to ramp up your creatures even more. Namely this big guy:
Easily my favourite card from Theros, Phalanx Leader puts a +1/+1 counter on ALL your creatures whenever he is targeted. That means if you strive a spell onto both him AND another creature, they will get the bonuses from each heroic ability. Can we say massive creatures quickly? It is also of note that enchantments will trigger Heroic so Raised by Wolves will turn something like Pheres-Band Thunderhoof into a 7/8 behemoth all on its own.
The rest of the creatures either help you slow down your opponents, or build up your dudes in their own way so that when you swing in to attack, it is worth it. There is a good mix of spells and abilities here and it all synergises quite nicely. The major flaw is how slow the deck can feel, with most of your attacking creatures coming a little later into the game. If you were going to take this deck’s concept and make it a bit better, creatures like Favored Hoplite or Elvish Mystic would help it out in the early game.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
The Frontier is about to get bigger as today Respawn Entertainment revealed the release date for the first Titanfall DLC pack, Expedition. Coming May 15 to the Xbox One and PC, Titanfall: Expedition introduces three new maps to the Frontier – Runoff, Swampland and War Games, and extends the heart-pounding action and adrenalin-fueled gameplay to new heights.
Titanfall: Expedition is the first of three planned DLC packs, each retailing for $13.45 AUD. For gamers looking to further extend the fight on the Frontier, the Titanfall Season Pass* will deliver three content packs as soon as they become available. The Titanfall Season Pass is available at a one-time price of $33.45 AUD and can now be purchased for the Xbox One, Xbox 360 and on Origin for PC. Titanfall: Expedition for the Xbox 360 will be available in June.
Heralded as “a new breed of multiplayer” by Game Informer and “the next big thing” by Polygon, Titanfall drops players in the middle of a conflict between the Interstellar Manufacturing Corporation (IMC) and the Militia on a distant frontier on the edge of the universe. The action is rapid and varied – featuring parkour-style wall running, massive double jumps and the ability to hijack titans. The freedom to shift back and forth between pilot and titan allows players to change tactics on the fly, attacking or escaping depending on the situation and extending the action vertically to new heights.
*Requires Titanfall for Xbox One, Xbox 360 or Origin for PC (sold separately). Content must be redeemed by March 11, 2016. See www.titanfall.com/au/dlc for expansion pack release schedule.
