A couple of weeks ago it was revealed that a PlayStation Vita version of BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma was going to be released in Japan and it seems that Aksys Games is going to be quick on the draw with this portable game. While they will not be releasing it alongside its console counterpart on March 25th, it will instead be hitting shelves in North America sometime this summer.
The Vita version will feature all of the playable characters from the PlayStation 3 version as well as an additional story which involves the character’s heading to the beach, an enhanced Abyss mode and more. The DLC characters, Kokonoe and Terumi will also be available for purchase on the Vita version of the game. You can check out the latest teaser trailer for the PlayStation 3 version of the game below.
In a collaboration between Australian anime distributor Madman Entertainment and Aniplex of America, the insanely popular Sword Art Online anime series will be touring Australia with a special Exhibition Tour based upon the series.
The Sword Art Online Exhibition will tour select cities across Australia throughout 2014. The exhibition will host series artwork and character designs, giving fans a behind the scenes look at the making of this unforgettable anime series. Fans will be able to take photos with Kirito and Asuna, the protagonists of Sword Art Online, as well as purchasing some great Sword Art Online merchandise.
The following locations are locked in to host the Sword Art Online Exhibition:
Perth
WAICON
March 1-2, 2014 Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre Website: wai-con.org
Gold Coast Supanova Pop Culture Expo April 5-6, 2014 Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre Website: supanova.com.au
Melbourne Supanova Pop Culture Expo April 12-13 Melbourne Showgrounds Website: supanova.com.au
If you purchase a ticket to any of these events you will gain free entrance into the Sword Art Online Exhibition. Be sure to let us know what you think of all this in the comments section below.
IRL Shooter: Patient Zero is the latest zombie-slaying FPS going around and it is starting to take Australia by storm. It combines typical FPS elements with a unique twist… you don’t play it with a controller… YOU are the controller. Patient Zero isn’t a video game, it is a fully interactive experience that is inspired heavily from video games.
Set in a 7000sqm warehouse that has been meticulously recreated to look like an abandoned medical facility, players will be equipped with infra-red blasters and “pain belts,” where they will go toe-to-toe with over 200 evil zombies, who are also played by real people.
Doesn’t this sound like the coolest thing on the planet!? If you are interested for more you can check out The Feed, airing on SBS2 in Australia tonight at 7:30pmwhere Marc Fennell will be trying out some of the weapons and gear. Or, if you want to be a part of the action as either a player or a Zombie, then click here to pledge and pre-order your ticket. We will be following this pretty closely, so for all the IRL Shooter news as it becomes available, be sure to stay tuned to Capsule Computers.
While we have heard a lot about how EA Sports’ own UFC fighter, aptly named EA Sports UFC, will be an amazing looking game, until now all the company has revealed have been a few screenshots and some live action footage of various UFC fighters in the octagon.
Well today that has changed as EA has released a trailer containing in-game footage showing how the fighters will move and look on the next-gen consoles that EA Sports UFC will be released on sometime this Spring. The trailer can be seen below and a number of well-known fighters are shown off and the company also provides a few details about how they managed to create such life-like recreations of these fighters.
The Worms series has been going for almost two decades now since its debut back in 1995 and in that time, players have been able to find games in the series on more than 25 different platforms. But with a new announcement today, Team17 will be making it to two more consoles before the end of the year, namely the two newest the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
The new game, titled Worms Battlegrounds, doesn’t have much information out about it just yet, but it should be fairly straight forward what to expect. Probably some nicer, newer graphics and more weapons for the Worms to use on each other. Players can expect to see this sometime 2014, but we’ll have to wait to hear more on what new surprises the devs have in store though until then there is still the newest PC Worms game that just came out last year.
World of Warcraft (WoW) have seen some bad times over the last couples years and with Elder Scrolls Online around the corner, some say that the popular MMO is heading towards a slow death. However, WoW gained 200,000 new subscribers towards the end of last year, bringing the number of players to an amazing 7.8 million.
It has been over a year since the latest expansion pack ‘Mists of Pandaria’ came out, but there are a speculations that the comeback is due to the anticipated release of the next expansion ‘Warlords of Draenor’. The trailers for it has been looking pretty good with boosted levels and new character models.
But the strongest theory on the surge of subscribers is perhaps the announcement of the Warcraft movie. It’s about time too, as the first announcement of a WoW film was way back in 2009, but there was always something to set it back. The first buzz and indication that the movie was finally happening was at the 2013 Comic-Con, where a short trailer was shown. Further confirmation on the film came last month by the director himself via Titter:
Going to start shooting the movie tomorrow. Crikey! Better find my specs!
Very little is known about the movie, but confirmed actors in the game-based film are Dominic Cooper, Paula Patton, Clancy Brown, Toby Kebbell and Travis Fimmel. We also know that the release date has already set for March 11th 2016. So there is a bit of a wait, but fans can just kill some time on in the game in the meantime.
The human race has had its fair share of stupid wars. Oil, religion, the colour of our skin – They’ve all been fuel for conflict in the past, but only after the fact do we see how ridiculous and futile fighting over them really is. However, this week Space Dandy actually succeeded in making those wars seem reasonable in comparison to the 10,000 year battle that was raging on at their latest crash site. The great struggle between underwear and vests…
My stocks went up 10% and skirts went down 50%… God, I love this magazine.
On their latest quest to hunt down an undiscovered alien, the crew of the Aloha Oe were blasted out of the sky as they entered a no-fly zone over the planet Eden. Accustomed to unexpected landings by now, Dandy left the ship and went searching for the aliens, forcing Meow to scour the surface as well. It was then that the alien hunters were ambushed by two savage creatures who dragged them back to their respective bases. When they had woken up, Meow and Dandy discovered that the two aliens were each the last of their kind. Lone survivors of a 10,000 year war between the factions of those who wear vests and those who wear underwear. One flourish of Dandy and Meow being morons later and they finally realised that they had no need to fight and they tried to call for peace between the two sides. It all went smoothly until the aliens exchanged garments at which point a fight broke out, resulting in the death of the two aliens and both of their last resort doomsday weapons plunging into the planet’s core. QT managed to escape with the ship, but just when it looked like he was going to abandon Dandy and Meow, he deployed the emergency surfboard and in the most spectacular piece of animation ever, Dandy rode the explosion into space and towards his next adventure.
Woah, woah! At least buy me dinner first!
I swear, Space Dandy is rapidly destroying any integrity I once had as a reviewer. There is no way that I should be enjoying this anime as much as I am presently, but the last few weeks have really made me regret not giving it my seal of approval after episode 4. It has started to gain some real traction now that the characters have established themselves a little more and I actually find myself liking the crew more with each passing week. Even Meow, who was merely an annoyance before, is starting to tickle my funny bone a little – Not quite as much as QT who I have loved from the very start, granted, but with a bit more screentime he could get there.
That said, the majority of episode 6 was fairly underwhelming. It was still consistently funnier than some of the earlier episodes, but the plot was extremely unoriginal which surprised me considering how off the rails Space Dandy is. The idea of two people single-handedly fighting a war against each other because of conflicting views is something that has been done in countless children’s cartoons in the west. One example that springs to mind is an episode of Spongebob Squarepants titled ‘The Battle of Bikini Bottom’ in which Spongebob and Patrick wage a war between dirtiness and cleanliness. Let us not forget, as well, the classic Spy vs Spy and most of the violent cartoons that ran on Cartoon Network well into the 90’s (Tom and Jerry for instance.) I hope the anime gods forgive me for this slander, but most of those western cartoons were and still are better in my books than episode 6 of Space Dandy. Admittedly, I don’t think that The Battle of Bikini Bottom ended with Spongebob riding the explosion of Patrick’s corpse out of the ocean and into space, but how awesome would that have been? Take notes Nickelodeon.
The eternal struggle between man and feline rages on…
I am beginning to get curious regarding how Space Dandy is going to progress, especially considering that every single episode thus far has ended with a ‘To Be Continued’ card. Whether that means that each individual story arc will get a second episode at some point or simply that the anime as a whole will be continuing is anyone’s guess though. A number of episodes would benefit greatly from a continuation and I for one would love to see them carry on the zombie story or meet up with Adélie from episode 5 again. Space Dandy has such a strange, episodic narrative that it could go in any number of directions. Maybe the stories will even end up interlinking somehow? It’s a mystery that I am incredibly excited to figure out, but for now I am just looking forward to next episode. Before Space Dandy was released, I said that it looked like a cross between Cowboy Bebop and Redline. Episode 5 gave us a taste of Bebop and now it looks like it is episode 7’s turn to inject some gasoline into the mix as we gear up to head to the intergalactic races next week! Stay tuned!
With the lack of shirts and Dandy’s bishy hair, I could have sworn I was watching Free!
Space Dandy is simulcasting in both subbed and dubbed formats and can be found airing on Adult Swim’s Toonami block or streaming on FUNimation in the US. UK viewers can catch it streaming on Wakanimand Australian viewers can catch it streaming on Madman with new episodes – both subbed and dubbed – up on the Madman Screening Room each Monday, at 1am AEDT.
For more impressions of winter’s best and worst, head over to our Anime Impressions page.
P.S. I stumbled across the full version of Space Dandy’s amazing OP, Viva Namida, and, I have to say, the video is amazing. It takes the singer, Yasuyuki Okamura, and plunges him into the art style of Space Dandy, featuring all of the main cast and a lot of clips from the last 6 episodes. Check it out here!
Hold onto your hats people because Ubisoft and Sony Pictures Entertainment have announced that they are partnering to develop a full-length feature film based on the Rabbids. That’s right, those insane creatures are blasting straight into the silver screen…you’ve been warned. The Rabbids film project will be overseen by Ubisoft Motion Pictures specifically and the group will actively participate in the film’s production. Minghella and Jonathan Kadin are also set to oversee for Sony Pictures.
“Sony Pictures has tremendous experience developing hybrid live-action-and-animated blockbusters for audiences around the world, which makes them a natural fit for what we want to achieve with a Rabbids film. This deal deepens our partnership with Sony Pictures and highlights our holistic approach to bringing Ubisoft’s brands to new audiences while still maintaining the brands’ creative integrity.”
Hannah Minghella (President of Production for Columbia Pictures) added:
“There is an infectious quality to the Rabbids. Their simple joy and absurd, anarchic behaviour inadvertently causes you to look at the world afresh. There’s no end to the comedy and chaos they will cause when they invade our theatres.”
Having already taken to the small screen with the aptly titled “Rabbids Invasion“, the quirky characters have been seen more than 165 million times in only five months (that’s more than 2 million viewers an episode). There’s even an attraction at Futuroscope (France’s second largest theme park) based on the creatures: The Rabbids Time Machine. Comics, collectibles, mobile games…looks like people just can’t get enough insanity in their lives.
Well there you have it, looks like the Rabbids are set to take over yet another branch of media. With their dopey stares and bouts of screaming, it’ll be hilarious. Stay tuned for more information as it is released and wish good luck to those insane bundles of fun. BWAAAH!
Slightly Mad Studios (perhaps best known for their work on the Need for Speed SHIFT series) has today shown off their latest project. World of Speed will be a free-to-play, racing MMO for the PC, set to feature an evolving game world with regular updates to both the game and its content in the form of new cars, tracks and gameplay modes. The game is being touted as a AAA title and will feature licensed vehicless ranging from ordinary, historically important and the worlds best as well as real life tracks set in locations such as London and San Francisco.
A strong online social aspect is central to World of Speed’s appeal, featuring Clubs that users can join that are represented by your own customisable logo. The game will feature live events and player challenges, missions and objecties within races and other unique ways to compete within the racing community.You can check out the gorgeous screenshots and announcement trailer for the game below and if you think you would like to sign up for the closed beta happening sometime in America’s 2014 Spring, head to the official World of Speed website where you can sign up today.
Ubisoft® AndSony Pictures Bringing Rabbids To The Big Screen
London, UK — February 10, 2014 — Today, Ubisoft and Sony Pictures Entertainment announced that the studios are partnering to develop a full-length feature film based on the Rabbids, the irreverent, wacky characters from the popular TV series and videogames.
Jean-Julien Baronnet, Executive Director, Ubisoft Motion Pictures, and Hannah Minghella, president of Production for Columbia Pictures, offered comment on the deal:
“Sony Pictures has tremendous experience developing hybrid live-action-and-animated blockbusters for audiences around the world, which makes them a natural fit for what we want to achieve with a Rabbids film,” said Baronnet. “This deal deepens our partnership with Sony Pictures and highlights our holistic approach to bringing Ubisoft’s brands to new audiences while still maintaining the brands’ creative integrity.”
Minghella added, “There is an infectious quality to the Rabbids. Their simple joy and absurd, anarchic behavior inadvertently causes you to look at the world afresh. There’s no end to the comedy and chaos they will cause when they invade our theaters.”
Recently, the Rabbids took over the small screen, thanks to partnerships between Ubisoft Motion Pictures, Nickelodeon and France Televisions. The hit show, titled “Rabbids Invasion,” has been seen more than 165 million times in five months; more than two million viewers on average tune into each episode in the U.S.
The Rabbids got their start as the crazy, loveable villains in Ubisoft’s Rayman videogames and have since branched into comic books, collectibles, merchandise, mobile games, television and more. The latest example, The Rabbids Time Machine attraction at France’s second-biggest theme park Futuroscope, drew big crowds and rave reviews on its opening weekend and showcases Ubisoft Motion Pictures’ ability to successfully develop Ubisoft’s brands in new mediums.
The project will be overseen at Ubisoft by Ubisoft Motion Pictures and the group will actively participate in the film’s production. Minghella and Jonathan Kadin will oversee for Sony Pictures.
