Today’s the big day, the Seattle Seahawks are as we speak charging against the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII. This is big news, but you know what is bigger? That the guys over at Disney have created a brand new Toy Box for Disney Infinity players to download and try out.
Now before I get the torrent of outcry – Super Bowl and the Toy Box are very much related. How, you might ask? Well because this special Toy Box is titled “The Big Game,” and is made to capture the spirit and frivolity of the Super Bowl. The map includes a football arena where up to four people can charge, tackle and punt their way to victory. Also included are a race-track and a show-stopping halftime show.
We have put up a little trailer for the video below. Check it out and then boot up your game and download this limited time map. If you are looking for more Toy Boxes to explore, then be sure to check out the weekly Toy Box Challenge and remember to stay tuned to Capsule Computers for all the Disney Infinity news as it becomes available.
And then there was music. After hyping up the characters and environments, Konami and Mercury Steam have yet again dropped another piece of the Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 promotion with an extensive behind the scenes look at the score for the game. Araujo has returned to produce this symphony at Abbey Roads Studios, which is the largest orchestra ever utilized for a video game soundtrack to date.
You can check out the clip and get a first listen below, and keep in mind that we are now under a month away from the release of Lords of Shadow 2. It is quite a treat for all.
Famed Studio Ghibli director Goro Miyazaki has been confirmed to direct a TV anime series called Ronia the Robber’s Daughter based upon the Swedish children’s fantasy book of the same name.
Goro is of course the son of anime icon Hayao Miyazaki and has previously directed anime films such as Tales From Earthsea and From Up On Poppy Hill.
Ronia the Robber’s Daughter will be produced by Polygon Pictures in collaboration with Studio Ghibli. This marks the first time that Studio Ghibli has produced a TV anime series. The series follows a young girl named Ronia who is the daughter of a leader of bandits. She often wanders a nearby forest to study the wonders and creatures that reside within it.
The series is set to premiere in the Fall 2014 anime season on NHK in Japan. Stay tuned for more information on Ronia the Robber’s Daughter as it comes to light.
Type-Moon’s popular visual novel, Fate/stay Night, is getting another anime adaptation by studio ufotable and a key visual has been posted on the official website.
From left to right the image features the Servants of the 5th Holy Grail War; Assassin, Berserker, Lancer, Saber, Caster, Rider and Archer. The visual also confirms the previously mentioned air date of Fall 2014.
In an interview in Type-Moon Ace Magazine, it was revealed that the scenario is half-way done with the original writer, Kinoko Nasu, present during meetings. Nasu is said to provide new information that wasn’t included in the original.
There are also unconfirmed rumours that Nasu has prepared an original route for the new anime, but take this with a grain of salt until official confirmation.
A debut trailer was posted late last year. Studio ufotable has previously worked on other Type-Moon adaptations such as The Garden of Sinners and Fate/Zero.
Overview
The Madoka Magica series has become almost synonymous with the modern face of anime, sitting alongside lauded titles such as Steins;Gate. Even if you haven’t seen it or perhaps dislike it, chances are you’ve seen the pink-haired Madoka cluttering the anime scene somewhere.
Ironically, it’s also become the face of the once-innocent magical girl genre despite its unorthodox take by the author of Fate/Zero, Gen Urobuchi. It is now Madoka Magica, not Sailor Moon or Cardcaptor Sakura that comes to mind when thinking of magical girls, especially among newer anime fans.
After a TV series, SHAFT set about creating two recap movies that summarised the anime. As for this third film, an entirely new scenario was written, doing what many anime films fail to do; to take the franchise into the unknown.
Madman has brought over the third and final film to Australia and New Zealand during a one-day screening, and we were fortunate enough to form a contract with Kyubey and take a gander.
Story
Like with many films that continue a story, you must watch either the TV anime or the two films preceding Rebellion in order to understand what exactly is going. Even then, you’ll be a little disoriented going into the movie. True to the style of Madoka Magica, the film confusingly begins anew despite being set after the world-rending events of the second film.
Everything that fans are familiar with such as Madoka’s heart-warming family, her desperate and single school teacher and her friends Sayaka, Kyoko, Mami and Homura are all there safe and sound.
Without spoiling any key plot points, I can say that the viewers will be led on an intense journey through the spectacularly drawn Mitakihara City and beyond. While everything seems ideal at first, the secret of the world is far more sinister and illusory than we’re led to believe. The focus is on Homura, who previously sacrificed everything for the well-being of Madoka and is now faced with the same challenge albeit in a way no one can expect. The love between the two, often a running yuri-romance gag, isn’t a laughing matter anymore. As you’ll see, their bond even transcends universal law.
Interspersed with the series’ signature dose of despair, Rebellion offers some elaborate action scenes. With the Witches gone following the conclusion of the TV anime, the girls now battle Nightmares – hardly a challenge in comparison and which gives us a false sense of security. One highlight is the long-awaited grudge match between Homura and Mami which is one of the coolest, more outrageous battles I’ve seen recently.
The conclusion, while epic in proportion, could be a mixed bag for some viewers. We had a huge information dump during the anime, thinking we know it all now, but this movie turns everything upside down and dumps even more. The ending is unpredictable, almost shocking, and is once again left more than a little open. Is this really the last we’ll see of Madoka Magica?
Visuals
The are two sides of the anime community. One who adores SHAFT’s animation and the other who despises it. OK so there’s probably a neutral group somewhere in between, but the point is that this is SHAFT territory through and through. Quick cuts, head tilts and twisted, hand drawn backgrounds that look like the result of a fatal acid trip. The beauty of Madoka Magica, and the high budget nature of this film, is mixing these elements with top-notch animation and powerful directing which makes it incredibly hard to look away for one second.
Fans will lap the visuals right up, and those walking in without seeing the anime before will still be enraptured by the stylised action and fascinating environments. The environments are sure to be of interest to any aspiring architect. An unfamiliar city that mixes futuristic designs, modern Japanese influences and old European cathedrals. It just looks like it’s from another dimension. No matter your opinion, there really isn’t anything else like it out there.
Audio
I’m a sucker for good music in anime, and Madoka Magica would have been half of what it was without the enchanting score by Yuki Kajiura. Rebellion is no different, introducing an entirely new sound track and dropping some of the previously overused themes. The result is simply a pleasure for the ears, creating a powerful effect when combined with the visuals. A mix of instruments including French accordion, flutes, violins and even heavy guitar during action scenes will have you trying to hunt down the official soundtrack after seeing the film.
The movie’s theme songs, “Colorful” by ClariS and “Kimi no Gin no Niwa” by Kalafina, stay true to aural experience since we saw the first episode of the TV series and sound just as good as you’d expect.
The Japanese voice actresses performed superbly as expected, going from a range of emotions; cute and lively to teary and full of despair. Having only recently been released in Japanese theatres, Madman currently didn’t have an English dub prepared which is more than fair considering how quick Aussies are able to see it.
Overall
While having enjoyed the Madoka Magica anime a few years ago, I was never a committed fan per se. But seeing how intense of a continuation that the creators came up with, shown within the span of two hours in a feature film, is simply phenomenal. It’s looking better than ever by the third film, with eye-opening action scenes while retaining the philosophical nature of the plot, especially during the second half.
Madoka Magica is a twisted fairytale, a polar opposite of your typical Disney flick or Studio Ghibli film. Rebellion combines the best of what we’ve seen in the series packed into a very well paced two hours. The animation and music all come together so well that you’d be impressed, fan or not. The conclusion, however, might be a little baffling for many fans or brilliant for some. Perhaps both.
With the addition of Rebellion, the three Puella Magi Madoka Magica films have become mandatory viewing for fans and an important experience for everyone else.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
This month there are two additions to the Australian Games with Gold program on Xbox 360 courtesy of Microsoft – Dead Island and Toy Soldiers: Cold War. The former will be free from now until the 16th (RRP $29.95) and the latter will be free from the 16th to the 28th (RRP $14.95).
Dead Island‘s game designer Maciej Binkowski was recently honored for his contributions to the horror genre, with the title being a prime example of his work. In August last year, the next entry in the series – Dead Island: Epidemic– was announced as a ZOMBA (Zombie Online Multiplayer Battle Arena). Toy Soldiers: Cold War is a playful homage to the 80’s action toys and films, offering control of a full arsenal of U.S. and Soviet units.
For more details on the Games with Gold program, go here.
Magic the Gathering fanatics convened today for the long-awaited prerelease Born of the Gods, the latest edition to the popular strategy trading-card game franchise. The new set from Wizards of the Coast follows the Hero’s Path, which began with the Theros block and will conclude with Journey into Nyx in April.
The prerelease event is similar in structure to Theros, with a choice of five packs for players to master their destiny to Lead (White), Outwit (Blue), Dominate (Black), Conquer (Red) or Thrive (Green). With each choice there comes a special promo card; Silent Sentinel (White), Arbiter of the Ideal (Blue), Eater of Hope (Black), Forgestoker Dragon (Red) and Nessian Wild Ravager (Green). Additionally players receive a Hero Card, d20 Life Counter and six booster packs (3 Theros, 2 Born of the Gods and 1 Seeded Born of the Gods).
Having attended the 4-7pm flight at Burwood Good Games, competitive matches were favoured as the prize pool was dependent on the number of wins per four rounds. Whereas the 11-3pm flight offered players a casual prize pool, guaranteeing all players 4 booster packs for participating and a little extra for first and second place. The most challenge aspect of the three matches per round was the 40 minute time cap, which increased the draw results for most players.
Don’t miss out on the last day of the prerelease tomorrow at your Local Gaming Store, as there will also be the Two-Headed Giant (2HG) sealed format available for team battles.
Overview Sentai Filmworks is a company that licenses a large number of anime for Western release but not all of their titles are given an English dub. However over the past few months the company has started to revisit some of their more popular sub-only titles and re-release them with not only an English dub but on Blu-ray as well. The latest title to be given this treatment is MM! a series originally released in North America in late 2011. With a new English dub and an updated format, is MM! worth the extra effort?
Story Taro Sado might seem like a relatively normal high school boy, but he has a dark secret that he tries to keep hidden from those around him. You see, Sado is a masochist and he isn’t just any normal masochist who might like being told off a bit by a woman, he is a super masochist to the point where anything abusive from women will cause him pure bliss, whether it is extreme physical punishment or being called a flea-ridden mongrel. Even the potential for death doesn’t seem to bother him all that much compared to the pleasure he would receive from such abuse.
This problem caused Sado to be ostracized during middle school when the problem started and he only has his close friend Tatsukichi now. This secret is holding him back from confessing to his first love and at the suggestion of his longtime friend Tatsukichi, Sado seeks the help of the Second Voluntary Club which has been established to try and help out students with troubles. Realizing that his condition is problematic, Sado seeks the clubs help.
However when he arrives there he isn’t quite sure what to expect as he encounters a charming girl named Mio Isurugi willing to assist him. Thinking he arrived in the wrong place, Sado tries to excuse himself only for this same smiling girl to suddenly assault him and threaten him for trying to blow her off. Sado quickly realizes that the other two members of the club have just as many complexes as he does.
Mio happens to be a brutal sadist who also has an extreme superiority complex where she sees herself as a god that wants to grant wishes to people in need while the other girl, Arashiko Yuno is the same girl who originally exposed Sado’s masochistic nature and has an extreme case of androphobia causing her to violently attack any man that touches her. With Yuno constantly attacking him whenever he is close and Mio savagely trying to beat the masochism out of him, the club only seems to exasperate his condition.
Over the course of the series more rambunctious perverts appear and center themselves on the club. There is a cross-dressing friend that, when dressed as a woman, begins to act like a high class lady that stands over commoners, a brilliant scientist with a young appearance and her lolicon assistant, a school nurse that loves to have the girls dress up in cosplay outfits and take photos of them, a girl with strong lesbian tendencies, incestuous feelings from Sado’s mother and older sister and more.
MM! is a hot pot of every perverse tendency mixed together to create an outrageous romantic comedy with a few pieces of drama laced scenes distributed sparingly. Almost all of the comedy in MM! comes in the form of slapstick as Mio doesn’t seem to realize her intense sadistic personality and continues to thrash Sado in every way imaginable even while he happily enjoys every minute of it.
There are a number of running gags at use throughout the series as well, mostly played off of the various perversions each character has, Mio’s flat chest, Yuno’s androphobic nature causing her to ruin touching moments at the slightest touch, and finally the way Sado reacts to everything that is happening around and to him. There are also a few references to other series, such as Sado turning into a Super Masochist via Dragon Ball Z transformation, and again this is used for comedic purposes.
MM! is more than just a comedy about perverts, as it also has a few key pieces of character development that come to light over the course of the series. Yuno’s androphobia is a major issue that is explored in the beginning of the series as we learn exactly what caused her to become so afraid of men and adopt the policy of hitting them before they hit her. In this story we also learn that while Sado might be a masochist to the core, he is still an upstanding guy that does not want to see anyone upset and will go to any length to stop something bad from happening to others.
The romantic side of things pops up sparingly throughout the series, with Sado slowly developing a very minor harem by the end of the show. There is one obvious pairing focused on for most of the series but viewers are also shown that there is a love triangle afoot despite the one girl not wanting to admit her developing feelings for Sado.
While Yuno and Sado are explored and developed, unfortunately viewers only get to see a few hints about Mio’s past and why she is doing what she does. Outside of a few minor arcs the storyline of MM! simply continues to follow Sado, Yuno, and Mio as well as other perverts as they try to get along and maybe cure Sado’s masochism but in the end nothing is really resolved. Despite this, MM! offers a hilariously enjoyable viewing experience with a few missteps here and there.
Visuals MM! is uses a variety of brightly colored character designs and backgrounds and now that the series has been released on Blu-ray, these colors look better than ever before. The character designs are a bit simplistic and have many of your standard anime stereotypes but as far as their outfits go, rarely will there be an episode where a female character isn’t cosplaying or wearing a different outfit than the standard school uniform.
As mentioned before, a lot of the comedy comes in the form of slapstick and sight gags and many of these sight gags are based around how Sado reacts to the various forms of torture he is put through. His facial expressions and reactions as he becomes lost in the pleasure of his super masochism are well used throughout the series and almost always are good for a laugh. That being said, there are a number of extremely cheap looking scenes spread throughout MM! and the quality of the character’s facial designs becomes abysmal at mid-distance.
Now despite the amount of fanservice that a series like MM! may seem to offer, it is actually fairly tame on the surface. There are some revealing outfits worn and plenty of cosplay outfits with short skirts but there is actually only one panty shot throughout the entire main series, though the bonus features try to make up for that. Instead there are a number of lewd poses and of course a fair amount of masochism and sadism happening on screen.
Audio Now the special part of this release is the fact that MM! now sports an English dub to go along with the original Japanese voice track. A number of popular English voice actors have taken up with the cast, with Monica Rial handling Mio, Blake Shepard as Sado, and Emily Neves taking care of Yuno. Monica does an exemplary job bringing Mio’s character into English and Blake always has some rather hilarious lines when he handles Sado’s masochism. There are a few issues with the dub however as they chose to almost always have Sado call Mio ‘Senpai’ in English which sounds awkward most of the time and there are some issues with the mouth flaps not matching the new dubwork.
The basic soundtrack for MM! is rather bland and forgettable, but there are a few inserted songs that are enjoyable. This is made up for by the fact that both the opening and ending themes are incredibly catchy and highly energetic. The opening theme consists of two variations of the same song “Help!!” with a hell side and a heaven side sung by the Japanese voice actresses for Mio and Yuno. The lyrics are very similar to one another but the accompanying animation is altered while the ending theme “More-More Lovers!” by Natsuko Asou is always worth watching.
Extras For this release of MM! Sentai Filmworks has provided viewers with a number of extra on-disc features. There is a Japanese commentary featuring the voice actresses for Mio and Yuno with English subtitles for the first episode of the series, numerous Japanese promotional videos, trailers for other shows from Sentai Filmworks, a clean version of all three opening animations, a clean ending animation, and disc credits.
Accompanying these extras are two sets of Japanese dub only shorts that, as mentioned earlier, provide a lot of the fanservice that the show itself did not. There is the “A Rather Extreme Short Story” set with five shorts running about two minutes long a piece that feature various members of the female cast interacting with one another with plenty of panty shots and lewd poses. The other collection is the “Hidden Camera Shorts” which are four sets, three of which focus on hidden cameras spying on the female cast changing clothes and showing off their underwear while the final short focuses on Mio’s fanclub spying on her.
Overall Now that the MM!: Complete Collection has been released with an English dub it is as enjoyable as ever. For viewers who would still prefer the Japanese audio it is still included and the Blu-ray upgrade does offer a nice jump in visual quality and for those that have been waiting for an English dub the cast handles the characters impressively well with almost every joke easily transitioning into English considering it is primarily slapstick sight gags.
Although the characters are primarily developed based on their perversion, all three members of the main cast grow a bit over the course of the season, though not enough to truly resolve everything. With the potential for romance always so close but still so far away, MM! doesn’t really resolve anything in the end but it is still a great ride with hilarious enough comedy to keep the viewer in stitches.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Overview Despite people’s concerns going into the game, Dead Rising 3 turned out to be an amazing game that kept a lot of the franchise’s beloved personality while also expanding the scope of the game. Our full review of Dead Rising 3 can be found here, but now that Capcom has released DLC for the game, what can fans expect? With the first piece of DLC, Operation Broken Eagle, already available for purchase, should fans of the game be ready to download it?
Story
Operation Broken Eagle is the first of four episodes of downloadable content for Dead Rising 3, with all episodes taking place under the title of “The Untold Stories of Los Perdidos.” Each episode will follow a different character as they move around Los Perdidos during the events that occur in Dead Rising 3. These stories will be told to players by a man who was watching the events occurring in Los Perdidos through the ZDC cameras.
However at least as far as Operation Broken Eagle is concerned, there is almost no crossover story to be found except for Nick appearing briefly and a few small environmental objects explained. For Operation Broken Eagle, players take on the role of Adam Kane, a special operations commander who is flying into Los Perdidos with his squad.
Kane has been given the order to eliminate any terrorist or illegal survivors still moving around Los Perdidos with the highest order being to kill any of the President of the United States’ remaining guards and capture the President alive for questioning. Despite the fact that the President is still alive, Kane chooses to listen to the acting commander-in-chief and although there is a brief moment of hesitation on his part at the start, Kane quickly ignores any morality and simply chooses to follow his orders to the letter.
After their helicopter is shot down, Kane spends the rest of the DLC’s hour to two hour long story moving in one complete circle around the map as he eliminates evidence, gathers supplies, and locates the President. There is no deviation from the plot outside of one type of rudimentary side-quest and throughout the story there is no development for Kane until right at the end but at that point it doesn’t even matter.
Gameplay
With Operation Broken Eagle, gamers are getting the same type of gameplay that they originally had in Dead Rising 3. Players can choose to play either the story through normal mode or through nightmare mode and they are then dropped in Los Perdidos with the exact same level and unlocks that they already acquired in the game’s main storyline. The map remains the exact same though a few doors are either barred off or already opened and all of the collectibles such as blueprints and Frank statues can be collected as well and the progress will also carry over to the main game.
Since the game plays the exact same as Dead Rising 3, players already know roughly what to expect as there are hundreds of zombies on the screen at any given time and Kane controls the exact same way as Nick does. There are however no weapon lockers available for players to use which means players will need to be a bit quicker on their feet when it comes to the weapons they use and combine. That being said, there rarely is a weapon shortage thanks to the game providing a wealth of options of equipment halfway through the DLC.
Once players reach a certain point in the story, a base will be established that will contain never-ending supplies of new weapons via boxes in the area. These weapons primarily are firearms, coming in the form of an extremely enjoyable minigun, an automatic shotgun, and a grenade launcher that shoots liquid nitrogen rounds.
The melee weapons are a bit more interesting as Kane’s weapon of choice are combat knives, which are two knives used at the same time for some rather brutal attacks and enjoyable zombie killing and a tactical axe which combines a riot shield with an axe that is just as fun to mess with as the combat knives. Also coming in with this DLC is a new armored vehicle called the Armadillo which sports a mini-gun on top and a new combo weapon blueprint, all of which can be used in the main game. It is also worth noting that there is no co-op multiplayer allowed in this DLC mission, meaning that it will always be a solo affair, which is an odd choice considering how fun the game can be with two players, but as mentioned before, at least these new weapons carry over to the main game.
Outside of the new ways to take out zombies, the game is very limited on content. Outside of the story missions, which can be completed in around an hour at best, there are side-quests that can be used to pad your playtime a bit but these come in the form of collectibles. There are ZDC cameras that can now be hacked, the safe houses from the main game can now be eradicated by gassing the occupants, and gathering up your lost comrades. Most of these comrades are already dead which requires the player to recover their dog tags, though it is possible to move along with two surviving soldiers at the same time.
Visuals & Audio Outside of a few minor differences in a handful of areas, players are dropped right into the same map they have played through before. The game still runs incredibly smoothly whenever a lot of action is happening at any given time which is a nice touch. As far as the new equipment and Kane go, they have a nice look to them though the firearms are all predictable and bland looking while Kane looks great but fits the standard soldier look.
As far as the voice work is concerned, we hear only a minor amount of dialogue considering there are only a few cutscenes in the DLC and two of them are narrated by the man watching the cameras. The voice work provided is handled well enough but does nothing to stand out.
Overall Dead Rising 3: Operation Broken Eagle does offer a few fun new toys to play with and a decent side-attraction for fans to play through, but coming in at a price tag of $10 with only a minimal amount of content on offer it is a shame that there couldn’t have been something else done with the story. With a very short playtime and barely any story to be concerned about, Operation Broken Eagle could easily have been a lot more but merely settles on being adequate at some things while falling short on others.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Yielding from Eastern Europe, independent game developer Beatshapers Ltd has announced that their upcoming title – Ready to Run – will be available as a PlayStation 4 exclusive. Remember playing with your R.C. cars and track sets? Well, Beatshapers is trying to bring out the retro feel while imbuing a futuristic mojo into this ‘furious’ title. Let’s see what unique selling points it has to offer:
Highly responsive arcade R.C. cars physics
15+ futuristic looking radio-control cars with various designs available to play
Single city environment featuring endless tracks configurations for different race modes.
Real-time and asynchronous multiplayer modes.
Various scoreboards with filters, with an emphasize of PSN friends.
Stay tuned for more Ready To Run news and take a peek at their teaser video below!
Famed 
