TEAM NINJA AND DARK HORSE COMICS KICK OFF YAIBA: NINJA GAIDEN Z DIGITAL COMIC SERIES
Comic-Inspired Action Title Confirms New North American Release Date
Team NINJA and Dark Horse Comics today launched the three-part YAIBA: NINJA GAIDEN Z digital comic series, providing insight into the backstory in three revealing vignettes. Yaiba takes a break from slaughtering zombies in the debut issue to tell the tale of how his often bloody sword became to be known as “Heartless” as he recounts the story to Miss Monday. Initially released digitally with an all-new full color print comic to be available with the game, as it launches on its newly confirmed North American release date of March 18, 2014, the series is brought to life by Writers Tim Seeley and Josh Emmons, Artist Rafael Ortiz, Colorist Carlos Badilla with special cover art by James Harren. The comic will be available for free download at the Dark Horse Digital Store, www.digital.darkhorse.com, as well as through the Dark Horse Comics app (available through iTunes & Google Play). Additional information can be found at: https://digital.darkhorse.com/profile/4128.yaiba-ninja-gaiden-z-1/.
In YAIBA: NINJA GAIDEN Z, players will battle fierce zombies as Yaiba, a cyborg ninja who will do anything to get revenge and stay alive. Cleaved in two, he is brought back to life with cyber-technology. Brandishing his ninja sword and the mecha weapons in his cyber arm, he slaughters zombies with brutal, over-the-top abandon. Step into a stylized living comic book where stunning graphics depict a world gone mad. Hordes of undead can only be stopped by Yaiba’s willingness to use any means necessary to get the job done. Will he kill by turning his cyber arm into a razor chainsaw for slicing up undead—or just rip off an opponent’s arms to use as zombie nunchucks? Both possibilities fill Yaiba’s heart with twisted laughter in this collaboration between famed developers Team NINJA and comcept’s Keiji Inafune.
YAIBA: NINJA GAIDEN Z will be available for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and Steam® (PC) March 18, 2014. This title has been rated M (Mature) by the ESRB
Warhorse Studios Launches Kickstarter For Kingdom Come: Deliverance
Sets US$500k (UK £$300k) Goal To Fuel Ongoing Investment in the Game
Prague, Czech Republic – January 22, 2014 – Today Warhorse Studios launched a Kickstarter for Kingdom Come: Deliverance, the AAA PC and next-gen console title slated for a 2015 release.
Game Director and Lead Designer Dan Vávra explains: “So far US$1.5m has been invested into Kingdom Come: Deliverance, largely from a single investor outside the games industry. This is a big and expensive game, and we could hardly hope to raise the entire budget needed on Kickstarter alone. Since game publishers are not throwing money at us, we’ve made a deal with our investor: if we raise the relatively reasonable sum of US$500k, it is proof for him that the game has potential, and he would continue to finance us. Anything over the sum we’re asking for will allow us to create additional content and a better overall product.”
Kingdom Come: Deliverance is an open world, action-adventure RPG developed by a veteran team composed of talent that played key roles in the Mafia, Crysis, ArmA and Operation Flashpoint franchises. Set during the Holy Roman Empire during the late Middle Ages, Kingdom Come: Deliverance is rich with historically authentic characters, themes and warfare.
Based in Prague, Czech Republic, Warhorse was founded in 2011 by Dan Vávra, creator of Mafia and Mafia 2, and Martin Klíma, formerly of ALTAR (Original War, UFO trilogy). The team, including Lead Designer Viktor Bocan (Operation Flashpoint), has ramped up in 2013 to include an experienced roster of industry veterans, with a combined track record of dozens of games published and millions of copies sold. For additional information, please visit www.WarhorseStudios.cz.
TECMO KOEI EUROPE ANNOUNCES DOWLOADABLE DEMO FOR TOUKIDEN: THE AGE OF DEMONS
Hertfordshire, 21/01/2014– Tecmo Koei Europe is pleased to announce the release of an extensive free-of-charge demo for upcoming title ‘Toukiden: The Age of Demons’, which is being developed for the PlayStation®Vita handheld system.
The demo will be available through the PlayStation®Network on the 29th of January 2014 and it will serve as an excellent method of introducing players to the vast and beautiful world of Toukiden.
Spanning the entire first and part of the second chapter of the game, this comprehensive 10 hour sample will also include full access to character customisation, all six weapon types and equipment upgrades. It also allows for a trial of the online environment, which plays a pivotal role in the enjoyment of Toukiden. In the full version players will be able to team up with up to three others to try and defeat the Oni. To give prospective fans the opportunity to fully appreciate the battle system and co-op, the demo will allow up to seven multiplayer missions to be completed.
Players can carry on their save data-equipment, obtained weapons/armour/mitama, materials (up to 30 slots), story progress, and a part of their Haku (in-game currency)- to the full version of the game.
Following a ground breaking success in Japan, with sales over 470,000 units (a feat all the more impressive for an original IP) Toukiden: The Age of Demons is bringing the fight for survival across Europe on the 14th February 2014.
To aid Slayers in the beginning of their journey Tecmo Koei Europe announced a series of in game pre-order bonuses. Specifically, those who pre-order Toukiden through the Playstation Network® will receive the Mitama of Momotaro, a warrior’s soul that will strengthen the player’s skill, along with a piece of armour (cat ears). Furthermore, there will be two additional pre-order DLC packs, one including the Mitama of Niijima Yae and a piece of armour (fox mask) and one including two extra mission collections. These will be available through Game, Amazon and independent retailers through Centresoft.
Set against a backdrop inspired by various historical periods of Japan, Toukiden tells the tale of humanity’s last stand for survival. When monstrous demons (Oni) of varying strength and size invaded the world through cracks in space and time and started attacking humans, the only opposition came from the Slayers; a caste that has always secretly protected mankind from their murderous intent.
Eight years after time warped and Oni appeared, a brave young Slayer embarks on a journey to thin the numbers of the enemy and help humanity survive. Players take the role of this young warrior and can fully customise their characters, weapons and armour and form a group of hunters to take down the destructive Oni.
ABOUT TECMO KOEI EUROPE LTD.
TECMO KOEI EUROPE LTD. is a publisher of interactive entertainment software for current generation consoles, handhelds and digital download content based in Letchworth, Hertfordshire, UK. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of TECMO KOEI HOLDINGS CO., LTD., headquartered in Yokohama, Japan. TECMO is best known for the Dead or Alive® and Ninja Gaiden®series. KOEI is best known for its Dynasty Warriors® and Samurai Warriors® franchises. On April 1, 2009, TECMO KOEI HOLDINGS CO., LTD was established as a result of the TECMO, LTD. and KOEI Co., Ltd. merger. More information about TECMO KOEI EUROPE LTD and its products can be found at www.tecmokoei-europe.com.
Wargaming has announced that its free-to-play MMO World of Tanks has set a new record in Russia. On January 19th, the gamers playing concurrently on the Russian cluster reached over 1,114,000 million.
Andrei Yarantsau (Wargaming VP of Publishing) said:
“In 2013, we put a great amount of effort into growing World of Tanks, enriching it with new gameplay features and content. Tankmen on the Russian servers all play at different times of the day and although their overall number has long since surpassed several million daily active users, the PCCU has been hovering around 900,000 gamers for the past few months. Finally, we’ve breached the one million mark. We are set to scale even greater heights with considerable improvements planned for World of Tanks in 2014”.
Combined with players from across the globe, virtual tank users mass over 75,000,000, a number that is growing fast. Check out the screenshots below and head over to the official site to see what all the fuss is about. Hint: It’s tanks.
After months in development, the guys over at Cyanide Studio and Focus Home Interactive (who have previously collaborated on Of Orcs and Men) are prod to showcase the first screeenshots of their upcoming game; Styx: Master of Shadows. Players will take on the role of the world’s first goblin – Styx and take advantage of his centuries of training in the arts of stealth, theft, and murder. in a combination stealth infiltration/RPG game.
Like all Goblins, Styx has dreams of striking it rich, and the best way to do that is to infiltrate the Tower of Akenash where humans and elves hide and protect the Tree, the source of the Amber, are the best chance Styx has of quickly amassing a small fortune and, perhaps, discover more about his true origins along the way.
The game makes clever use of vertical level design as well as integrating core RPG mechanics (like gaining experience and levelling up) with a unique and interesting stealth combat mechanic to create a unique gameplay experience. We have a couple screenshots from the game, so be sure to check them out below and remember to stay tuned to Capsule Computers for all the Styx news as it becomes available.
Today NIS America has released a new batch of English screenshots for Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc which seem to cover many of the aspects of the game that players will be experiencing once it is released in North America on February 11th and Europe on February 14th. As you can see below, the screenshots show not only the investigation aspect of the game, and the cutscenes, but the various interactions players can have with the other students in Hope’s Peak Academy.
For those who don’t know, in Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc players take on the role of Makoto Naegi, a very average teenager who has been accepted into Hope’s Peak Academy, a high school for only the best minds in the nation. However once he enters the school with the rest of the class, they find themselves trapped in a battle for survival against the twisted mastermind who has taken them prisoner for a sinister game.
Today Atlus USA has announced that the official website for Tesla Effect: A Tex Murphy Adventure has launched and with this brand new website comes a bunch of new information for the game as the website features character bios and even some great looking wallpapers.
Along with the launch of the website, Atlus USA and Big Finish Games have also released a number of screenshots for the game all taken from in-game which show off the environment that players will be seeing when Tesla Effect: A Tex Murphy Adventure launches sometime early in 2014 for the PC on Steam and GOG.
Overview Everyone has a different way they like to unwind or relax and with anime there are plenty of different genres and sub-genres for viewers to enjoy. One of these happens to be slice of life style shows and while there are various takes on the genre, most slice of life anime tend to be comedies, with a number of them revolving around cute girls doing cute things. YuruYuri’s first season, our review of which can be read here, was brought to North America by NIS America last year and it excelled at providing humor and enjoyable characters and now that the second season has been released, is it as good as the first?
Story For those who haven’t picked up the first season, YuruYuri follows a group of middle school girls as they form the “Amusement Club” in the abandoned Tea Club building. The Amusement Club consists of Akari, Kyoko, Yui, and Chinatsu and the name of the club is pretty self-serving since there is no reason for the club to exist other than to provide these four girls a place to joke around and enjoy themselves.
Despite the fact that the club doesn’t really have a purpose, the Student Council, consisting of Ayano, Chitose, Sakurako, Himawari, and Rise, though she really doesn’t appear often, doesn’t have much of an issue with the club over time and now at the start of the second season everything is back to the status quo that never really changed during the first season. You see, YuruYuri doesn’t have any sort of running storyline, as it is more prone to running jokes, and it instead follows the daily lives of these middle school girls and the strange situations they get into.
What makes YuruYuri so charming are the characters in the series. You see, while we have seen many of these character types in the past, they are all taken to an exaggerated and highly entertaining point in YuruYuri. They all have ties to one another in a specific way and these ties are used for not only comedic purposes but a few touching moments as well.
From the Amusement Club we have Kyoko, a selfish but highly intelligent otaku girl that causes trouble for Yui but still cares for her as a close friend and loves Chinatsu thanks to her appearance being similar to Kyoko’s favorite anime character, Yui, a down to earth and efficient girl who plays the straight woman to most of the group’s antics, Chinatsu, a sweet looking girl that can be quite sinister at times and has a major crush, bordering on obsession, with Yui, and finally Akari, the supposed main character that is often the butt of most of the jokes in the series but remains highly energetic and peppy despite the troubles she faces.
These four girls’ personalities mesh so well together that a lot of the comedy that comes off the group is very enjoyable and hard not to laugh at. That being said there are a few running gags that carry over from the first season that seem to have lost a bit of their charm this time around, though along those lines the fact that they have made Akari’s lack of a presence even more of a focal point in her character has made her more hilarious than ever before. That being said, compared to the first season I found myself laughing a bit less this time around as a few of the jokes became overused.
That doesn’t even touch upon the Student Council consisting of Ayano, who happens to be a tsundere with feelings for Kyoko, Chitose, a girl with vivid fantasies about Kyoko and Ayano, and the pairing of Sakurako, an idiot, and Himawari, the responsible and smarter of the two friends. Interestingly enough, this second season gives the Himawari and Sakurako love and hate relationship a lot of focus as we not only get to see how the two interact when they are alone, a bit about their past, but even a few members of their family.
As mentioned earlier, a few of the side-characters from the first season receive a bit of the spotlight this time around. That being said, the basic focus of YuruYuri Season 2 remains very much the same as the first season. With cute girls doing cute and almost always hilarious things together for twelve episodes. The yuri aspect is played very lightly and usually only is an aspect in the back of the viewer’s mind while they watch the antics of these girls unfold over the course of the season unless it is used as part of a punchline.
Visuals YuruYuri continues to be a very charming and brightly colored anime with a lot of cute designs to offer. Although the school uniforms are rather basic, the girls are unique looking enough (outside of one for comedic reasons) to stand out and each character’s wardrobe outside of the school is rather large so thankfully we get to see more interesting character designs outside of the plain school uniform.
YuruYuri Season 2 appears very similar to the first season in almost every aspect though there does appear to be some better animation techniques at work as a few scenes throughout the season looked far better than anything presented in the first season. Also, the humorous exaggerated faces that Akari, Sakurako, and the rest of the cast make throughout this second season appear to be used a lot more, which is for the best as they usually always make me laugh.
Audio Since this is an NIS America release, YuruYuri Season 2 is only presented with the Japanese voice track and English subtitles. This is perfectly fine however as the Japanese voice actresses work great together and fit their characters perfectly and an English dub might have caused a few jokes to be lost in translation.
As far as the background music goes, it is rather standard slice of life fair though there continues to be a theme used for each of the girls played during the mid-episode eye catch scenes. The opening theme for the second season might not be as catchy as the first, but it is still very enjoyable and is sung by the Amusement Club members again while the ending theme is also sung by the voice actresses and is just as enjoyable as the opening.
Extras YuruYuri Season 2 has been given NIS America’s signature ‘Premium Edition’ treatment which means that along with a number of on-disc extras, we have some great physical bonuses as well. The on-disc bonus features are two clean opening themes and two clean ending themes, B-Side previews which are the same episode previews from the season, but with alternate dialogue, trailers for other NIS America anime and a clean episode 11 prologue, included as the episode has some Japanese credits played over the scene, though it lacks subtitles.
Also found on-disc are six ‘Video Art Book Featurettes’ which are roughly ten minutes long a piece and they each follow a different girl, or pair of girls from the cast. The video presents us with basic artwork of the girls and proceeds to present viewers with sketchwork and the animation process for various scenes the girls appeared in going all the way back to the first season.
As far as the physical bonuses go, we have a glossy slipcase featuring artwork of the Amusement Club members on both sides and the hardcover art book. The art book begins with episode summaries from one of the girls appearing in said episode, followed by character art for each of the main girls in the cast. Then there are sketches of various objects presented in various episodes followed by a number of pages of original color artwork ranging from half a page to full page images of the cast.
Overall YuruYuri Season 2 takes the same structure fans loved from the first season and kept moving forward with it while not only introducing new gags and highlighting some of the side-characters but also making us laugh all the time. While some jokes became stale over the course of this second season, the series has plenty of tried and true gags left to make viewers laugh and even a few new ones as well. YuruYuri continues to be a delightful and enjoyable slice of life comedy that can become addicting if watched all at once, partly due to the light-hearted comedy but mostly due to the series’ charming characters.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Back in 2007, Paranormal Activity took the world by storm and made audiences everywhere scream and nearly jump out of their seats. The paranormal themes, intense storytelling and found-footage style made for a perfect storm for horror fans – a type of movie that hadn’t been seen since the Blair Witch Project. Since then the franchise has gotten bigger and spun off numerous sequels. Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones is the first spin-off from the franchise’s main narrative, and while it keeps with the found footage style of storytelling, the heart, soul and terror just isn’t there anymore.
Story
Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones follows the story of a recent high school graduate, Jesse and his buddy Hector. Jesse unknowingly has been marked for posession by a demon, and after being bestowed with amazing powers and abilities (like super strength) slowly falls further and further into darkness.
The story of The Marked Ones happens concurrently to the other events in the series, and has several tie in moments to the other films. Some of these seem superflous though and are implemented as nothing more than fan service. However, the film’s final scene ties it in with the original Paranormal Activity in a very cool way. If you are a fan that has watched all four movies prior then you will get a kick out of the small inclusion and allusions, but if you aren’t then be prepared for seemingly out of place conversations with characters that only exist for a brief seconds as an almost deus ex machina technique to explain the situation.
Since we see the transformation of Jesse from beginning to end, we get a unique look at how the demon posesses his victims. We also get a lot of footage that isn’t horror related at all. The balance of the movie feels way off. Instead of a little bit of an introduction followed by strong horror themes, a good portion of the film’s already short runtime (a little over 1 hour, 20 minutes) is us being introduced to the three main characters, and watching them clown around. For the most part, none of the beginning footage is even relevant to the overall plot. The massive downside to this is the fact that the “Scary” parts towards the end of the movie are rushed through and watered down, offering little to no actual scares.
Another problem with the balance of the movie is that it leaves no time to build up tension. We get a few snippets of ominous warnings in the beginning, but nothing actually horrifying happens until the last third of the movie, when Jesse has almost completely succumb to the demon. Due to this, The Marked Ones relies a lot on jump-scares and cheap screams to frighten you. Don’t get me wrong, there are more than a few actual scary moments – like seeing a witch’s silhouette in the back of a room, but these are few and far between.
Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones has a major plot problem, and it is one that is inherent to the type of found-footage approach that they chose to go with; it often doesn’t make sense for the characters to have their camera on them. Heading to a gangster party – better take my expensive video camera. Breaking into a house in the middle of the night – yeah better record every moment. My car was T-boned and my friend taken away in the back, better grab the camera as I run into the street screaming. It is necessary to keep the plot even remotely consistent, but doesn’t make any logical sense.
Visuals
The Paranormal Activity franchise is infamous for its use of the found-footage cinematic style. While previous installments implemented this through use of CCTV Cameras statically recording the events as they occur, The Marked Ones takes a different approach. Jesse and Hector carry their camera around with them, so you get a much more in-the-moment feel to the events. Sadly, this takes away a lot of what initially captured and enamored people with the franchise to begin with.
One thing that can be said though is that the camera that Jesse and Hector use is a much, and I do mean much higher quality than what Katie and Micah had set up around their house. This means that the “found footage” that is used for the entirety of the movie is much clearer, crisper and very different to the previous installments. This has both its pros and its cons.
The demon makes arguably a greater impact here than in any previous movies, and through the course of the film we see Jesse slowly succumb to his wills. This brings with it physical changes for him, like his eyes becoming sunken and darker, his posture and even the tone of his skin changing. The practical effects that are used here are really impressive and do capture the essence of his transformation.
As Jesse is slowly but surely falling prey to the demon, he begins exhibiting a wide array of supernatural abilities (which also grow more powerful through the movie). Although most of these end up looking childish and silly – like him blowing up an air mattress in one breath or being suspended in mid-air. There is also a scene at the end where the world begins to warp and it just looks like someone was messing around with Photoshop. A lot of the silliness of these visuals can be tied back to the choice of camera. In the originals, the footage was grainy and filled with static which not only helped to set the mood, but also obscure some of the details.
Audio
This is the most dialogue intensive Paranormal Activity film, and it feels much more like a typical movie that needs the characters to sell the story (instead of the story practically selling itself). Luckily for the most part the cast do a better than average job. Even though they are frequently running or acting terrified, their voices are always clear and easy to understand. The fact that the movie doesn’t use music adds to the tension (what little there is of it) and helps make it feel more grounded and real.
The Marked Ones is a movie that was aimed at a Latino demographic, and as such some sections of dialogue are in Spanish. While this again adds for a sense of realism, it takes away from the overall enjoyment in the movie; unless you actually understand the language. Some of the characters, like Jesse’s grandmother speak exclusively in Spanish so most of her dialogue goes completely unknown. However, like they say – communication is only 30% verbal, and in this instance you are able to get a relatively good idea of what is being said even without knowing the language. Still, it would be nice to actually understand the movie you are watching.
Overall
Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones offers a different take on the mythos of the Paranormal Activity Universe but doesn’t do much to further the franchise and while a different use of found footage is a nice change of pace, it just ends up offering more problems than it managers to solve. The movie’s biggest problem however is the fact that it feels off-paced and frankly not very scary. A moderately enjoable film but definitely not one to lose sleep over.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
World of Tanks Scores New Peak Concurrent User Record
Over one million players log onto Russian game’s cluster simultaneously
January 22, 2014 — Wargaming today announced that its free-to-play MMO action game World of Tanks has set a new record with a total of over 1,114,000 gamers playing concurrently on the Russian cluster on January 19, 2014.
“In 2013, we put a great amount of effort into growing World of Tanks, enriching it with new gameplay features and content,” said Andrei Yarantsau, VP of Publishing at Wargaming. “Tankmen on the Russian servers all play at different times of the day and although their overall number has long since surpassed several million daily active users, the PCCU has been hovering around 900,000 gamers for the past few months. Finally, we’ve breached the one million mark. We are set to scale even greater heights with considerable improvements planned for World of Tanks in 2014”.
The forces of virtual tankers already stand over 75,000,000 strong globally and with this continuous growth the Wargaming team remains committed to make sure the millions of World of Tanks players out there have a great experience with the game moving forward.
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About World of Tanks
World of Tanks is the first and only team-based, massively multiplayer online action game dedicated to armored warfare. Throw yourself into the epic tank battles of World War II with other steel cowboys all over the world. Your arsenal includes over 300 armored vehicles from United States, Germany, the Soviet Union, France, Great Britain, Japan, and China, carefully detailed with historical accuracy.
A flexible system of authentic vehicle upgrades and development allows you to try any of the vehicles and weapons in the game. Whether you prefer to exhaust your foes with fast and maneuverable light tanks, make deep breaches in enemy lines with all-purpose medium tanks, use the force of giant tanks to eliminate opposing armored forces, or become a heavy sniper with long-range howitzers, each unit type has its own advantages and can be extremely effective when operated by a true tank ace.
But being a great tank commander alone isn’t enough to win! In World of Tanks, it’s all about teamwork. Victory is achieved by combining your combat skills with those of the other members of your team, each playing their own role on the battlefield. Just add your favorite strategy to build your own steel empire and manifest the indisputable authority of the tank power!
Wargaming is an award-winning online game developer and publisher and one of the leaders in the free-to-play MMO market. Founded as a privately held company in 1998, Wargaming has shipped more than 15 titles and employs over 2800 people across such key regions as North America, Europe, Russia, Asia, and Australia.
Currently, Wargaming is focused on its team-based MMO war series dedicated to mid-20th century warfare that will include the company’s flagship armored MMO World of Tanks, launched in April 2011 and currently boasting 75 million players worldwide, the flight combat World of Warplanes, named one of the most anticipated MMOs, and the naval World of Warships, scheduled for release in 2014.
In June 2012, Wargaming announced the Wargaming.net Service, the epicenter of the online battle gaming universe that will gather the series under a single portal — www.wargaming.net.
