Today Tecmo Koei had some new information and a lot of new assets for Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z. For that first part, the company has revealed that the game will feature a retro side-scrolling “Ninja Gaiden Z” mode with 8-bit cut screens and a stylized user interface.
It is also worth noting that the game will feature a few downloadable costumes and one of these happens to be a costume of Beck from Mighty No. 9, which looks absolutely terrifying in this game. To go along with this news the company also released a handful of videos and a number of screenshots which you can see below. In these screenshots we also see Miss Monday, a Forge Industries engineer that has brought Yaiba back to life through cybernetic enhancements.
It looks like the first piece of DLC for Dead Rising 3 will be dropping next week. Today Capcom has revealed that the DLC “Operation Broken Eagle” will be released next week for $9.99, or for free if you picked up the $30 season pass.
The DLC will place players into the shoes of a brand new character named Adam Kane who is a Spec Ops Commander. The mission will follow Kane as he tracks down the President of the U.S. who has went missing and it will include five new weapons, a new vehicle, a new outfit, and a new combo weapon. If you haven’t picked up Dead Rising 3 yet you can read our review of the game hereor download the 20 minute timed demo from the Xbox One marketplace.
YAIBA: NINJA GAIDEN Z GOES RETRO AS TEAM NINJA DIVULGES FIRST DETAILS OF “NINJA GAIDEN Z” MODE AND DLC
Team NINJA today revealed the first official details and an all-new trailer detailing the retro-stylized side-scrolling “NINJA GAIDEN Z” Mode which will be included in the upcoming YAIBA: NINJA GAIDEN Z. Accompanying the new trailer are a variety of screenshots and information about Yaiba’s rage mode, entitled “Bloodlust”, and his cybernetic-savvy companion, Miss Monday. Additionally, in collaboration with comcept, “Beck” the main character of Keiji Inafune’s Mighty No.9 will make a cameo appearance in the form of an alternate costume for Yaiba. The DLC release of “Beck” will be followed by a Camouflage costume for Yaiba as well.
The new “NINJA GAIDEN Z” Mode expands the YAIBA: NINJA GAIDEN Z experience allowing Yaiba’s over-the-top zombie chucking antics to spill over into an all-new 3D side-scrolling realm. Brought to life through classic 8-bit stylized cut screens and UI, this new mode will have Yaiba battling though hordes of elemental zombies, mechanized enemies, and other familiar baddies reminiscent of a certain 8-bit ninja’s plight (ahem) as he racks up more mad points with every brutal kill.
To get through this side-scrolling gauntlet, Yaiba will have to push himself to his own limits employing all the dirty tricks of his trade. Whether it be by chain flail or cybernetic rocket punch, no amount of zombies have a prayer when face to face with Yaiba’s homicidal rage.
Fortunately for Yaiba, he will not be tackling this slaughterfest alone. Miss Monday, an engineer for Forge Industries who brought the pieces of Yaiba back to life with cybernetic enhancements, will be there making sure all of Yaiba’s cybernetics are operating at their peak performance levels as he tears through these hordes of zombies. Sure, she doesn’t really care too much about right, wrong or duty, but maybe because of this, she has an easier time dealing with Yaiba’s ”special” attitude.
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 upcoming 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 4, 2014. This title has not yet been rated by the ESRB. Additional information about Mighty No. 9 can be found at: http://www.mightyno9.com/.
While we have known that EA Sports is currently working on bringing out a new UFC title sometime Spring 2014, we haven’t seen much about the game outside of a few snippets of gameplay footage. As such, those who are interested in the game will be happy to hear that the company has released two screenshots for the game, making them the first in-game images of the title.
These screenshots feature Jon Jones and it sounds like the company will be revealing the game’s roster over the course of the “next few months.” The will feature over one hundred different fighters including female fighters. Check out Jon Jones’ bio below
Jon Jones
Nickname: Bones
Current Record: 19-1-0
From: Rochester, NY USA
Fights Out Of: Endicott, NY USA
Age: 26
Height: 6′ 4″ (193 cm)
Weight: 205 lbs. (93 kg)
Strengths: Wrestling, Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai
Not only is Jon “Bones” Jones the youngest champion in UFC history, but with virtually no gaps in his game, the Light Heavyweight title-holder is considered by many to be the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. At the age of 26, and hailing from a family of athletes—both his younger and older brothers currently play in the NFL—Jones has nothing but time ahead of him to polish his skills. This young superstar’s potential is limitless.
As you may know, almost every anime from this season has been picked up for Western release but a few of them have not been licensed yet. One of these seemed out of place and it seems there is good reason for that.
If you happen to watch Nagi no Asukara then you can now watch the first six episodes of the series on Hulu. While this is news on its own, the big piece of news here is what is in the info section for the show. Hulu is listing NIS America as the license holder for the series. We have reached out to NIS America for comment on the series but for now you can read our anime impressions for the start of the series here.
Update: NIS America has officially announced that they have picked up Nagi no Asukara under the name Nagi-Asu: A Lull in the Sea. They are planning on releasing it sometime in the future but did not provide further details at this time. They did include a plot summary of the series which can be found below:
Long ago, all humans lived in the ocean. But some who longed for the land abandoned the water, and cast off the special raiments granted to them by the sea god to adapt them to life under the sea…
Though mankind was divided into sea and land dwellers, each with different ways of thinking, they were all still fellow humans, and they continued to maintain contact as time went on.
Hikari Sakishima, Manaka Mukaido, Chisaki Hiradaira, and Kaname Isaki live in an undersea village, while Tsumugu Kihara lives on land.
When these land and sea dwellers meet for the first time during their second year of middle school, their hearts begin to undulate like the tides.
The youthful fantasy tale of these young people’s lives unfolds in a strange and beautiful world.
The Sydney Opera House opened their concert hall this week, from December 11, 13-14, for the highly anticipated performance by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra on Haydn, Britten and Brahms variations on an English theme.
Conductor, James Gaffigan led the almighty and stunning orchestra, to celebrate the specialised types of variations across classical symphonies. Starting with the Oxford Symphony No.92 from Joseph Haydn (1732-1809), to The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra; Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcel from Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) and finishing with Johannes Brahms (1833–1897) Variations on a Theme by Haydn (St Antony Chorale).
The highlight of the concert was Norwegian violinist, Vilde Frang (featured above); who uplifted the audience with her breathtaking musical performance in the Britten Violin Concerto.
Don’t miss out on the final performance tonight at 8pm, by booking tickets herenow. For those who cannot make it, tune into the live broadcast of the concert across Australia on 92.9 ABC Classic FM.
Bound By Flame is the upcoming fantasy RPG from the guys over at Spiders Studios and Focus Home Interactive was recently announced, and already we can’t wait. Judging from what we have seen so far, the game looks like it will be a dark and gritty take on the genre, with a whole lot of demons and other undead nightmares to vanquish.
Today, we get to check out the game’s first story trailer. The video lets us in on what we can expect from the epic RPG – including some really demonic creatures and a whole lot of ass-kicking. A picture is worth 1000 words and a video is worth so much more, so check out the story trailer below and let us know in the comments what you think. Will it be the next big thing, or just another run-of-the-mill fantasy RPG to add to the list? Bound By Flame is due to launch mid-next year on Xbox 360, PC, PS3 and PS4 so remember to stay tuned to Capsule Computers for all the Bound By Flame news as it becomes available.
A week has gone past us already, and it is time for the awesome folks over at Disney to shower us with free Disney Infinity maps in this week’s Toy Box Challenge. As with previous weeks, there are five free maps for Disney Infinity owners to download, as well as a new Toy Box Submission Challenge, and a video that showcases the winners of the previous challenge. Without further adieu, lets get into it!
TOY BOX SUBMISSION CHALLENGE
This week’s Toy Box Submission challenge will be a tricky one. The theme for this week is the 2014 Fireworks Challenge! With New Years Eve soon upon us, this challenge couldn’t have come at a better time. Use the creativity-toys and action toys to make the best, and most outlandish fireworks display.
As always, you can create and share your Toy Box creations though, using these instructions:
Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii U
Bring up the Pause Menu and select “Online/Multiplayer.”
Then select “Toy Box Share” > “Disney’s Toy Boxes” > “Submit to Disney.”
Follow the prompts. You’ll be asked to give your Toy Box an original name and description. Choose carefully – they will be shown to everybody if your Toy Box is featured.
iPad
Bring up the Pause Menu and select “Toy Box Share.”
Then select “Disney’s Toy Boxes” > “Submit to Disney.”
Follow the prompts. You’ll be asked to give your Toy Box an original name and description. Choose carefully – they will be shown to everybody if your Toy Box is featured
TOY BOX COUNTDOWN
This week’s Toy Box Countdown features the top 5 user generated maps that were submitted to Disney for the previous Gonna Wreck It Challenge Check out the video below to see the top 5 entrants in the challenge. All of which you can download right now!
You can check out last week’s winning Toy Box maps here.
That’s another week of Disney Infinity updates for you passionate Disney fans out there. Were you happy with the Toy Box Countdown winners? Will you be downloading any of the maps (wither from the winners, or from Disney)? Let us know in the comments below, and remember that for all the Disney Infinity news as it becomes available, stay tuned to Capsule Computers.
Take to the seas once more in Assassin’s Creed: Pirates. Ubisoft’s latest entry in the hugely popular franchise has you helming your own pirate ship in search of adventure, challenge and booty. Having its own story separate to the events of Black Flags, yet set at the same time beings more life to the world of the 18th Century Caribbean, but sadly the game itself lacks any real substance and is mostly focused on the naval battles, which are a vastly different and a lot more watered down than those found in Assassin’s Creed III and IV.
Story
Assassin’s Creed: Pirates takes place on the Caribbean during the Golden Age of Piracy in the 18th century. This places it roughly at the same time that Edward Kenway and his crew were sailing the seas in Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. However, the two protagonists don’t cross paths, and Pirates is a story unto itself.
Abstergo Industries is after the treasure of a legendary French pirate captain; La Buse (or The Buzzardfor us English speaking folk) and knows the best way to do it is, you guessed it; by using the Animus. Much like your journey into the memories of Edward Kenway in Black Flag, you will step back in time and relive the memories of a young, brash pirate captain by the name of Alonza Batilla, who knew La Buse before his rise to infamy.
The game opens with Batilla being saved from a military ship by La Buse before being gifted his own ship, crew and a new lease on life. The stubborn Batilla follows La Buse despite the latter’s instruction that he not do so – and the two become better acquainted and develop a friendship as the story progresses, with La Buse serving as a mentor for Batilla as he grows in skill and wisdom in the world of piracy.
As you play through the game, you learn more about La Buse, Batilla and the mysterious treasure that Abstergo is so hell bent on finding. While enjoyable, the story isn’t the strongest in the Assassin’s Creed franchise, but it more than gets the job done. Batilla is a hot-headed, brash and stubborn young captain who openly challenges the Royal Navy, even when La Buse strongly cautions him against doing so. He has a lot to learn about the high seas, but as the game progresses we begin to learn more about him as a character and enjoy his progression into a more level-headed captain (albeit still with a hot-streak) and a better leader to his men.
Gameplay
Set among the islands of the Caribbean, you take control of your ship and sail forth to adventure, challenges and treasure. Your ship controls much the same as in Assassin’s Creed III and IV, with various sail speeds, which impact on how maneuverable your boat is. Pirates features an array of rather large maps for you to explore at your own leisure while also completing the game’s many objectives. Since moving among the map may be too slow for some people, they have implemented a map-based travel system, where you draw your course on the game’s map and your ship follows along. This allows you to carefully navigate your way around enemy ships, or other encounters you may wish to avoid.
If you choose the old-fashioned, manual route of moving your ship – you will steer left and right by sliding your finger across the screen to turn the wheel in that direction. You can operate the ship from a first person view, placing you directly in front of the wheel, or by zooming out which allows you to see more of the world around you as you cruise across the sea.
The game’s cornerstone is its naval combat, but sadly it falls pretty flat here as well. You don’t have control over your vessel during these naval battles, which quickly turns them into boring chores than fun and fully fleshed out battles. The battles require you to aim your cannon or swivel gun, fire off a volley, then dodge the enemy’s attacks while your guns reload and you do it all over again. The battles are fun in short bursts, but after a couple you can quickly find yourself getting bored and wanting to avoid them at all costs. Added to this is the fact that they are all particularly easy. Aside from the timed battles, it is almost a certainty that you will win, and it is almost as likely that you wont take any damage while doing so. Granted, for all the complaints, the battle system is rather intuitive, and can be picked up in a matter of seconds.
While Naval battles fill the crux of the gameplay, they aren’t the only mission type available to players. The seas are scattered with loot to find, races to complete and light houses to unlock (which serve as the game’s quick-travel points). There is actually a lot to do in the world of Pirates, and like most other Assassin’s Creed games, the real challenge comes from completing all of the optional objectives for each mission and gaining that 100% Sync Rate.
Pirates is a game that is optimized for the iPhone 5, running iOS 7. Due to this, it has some issues running on older hardware. I was playing on my iPad 2 and frequently found the game crashing or freezing at seemingly random times, from during missions to loading screens. Anyone running on newer devices likely wont suffer from these problems, but it is something to be mindful of if you have an older iPhone or iPad.
Visuals & Audio
Assassin’s Creed: Pirates doesn’t have the prettiest visuals on the mobile platform, but what it lacks in high-resolution textures or object models, it makes up for in sheer magnitude. A lot of data is on screen at any one time, as the maps for each area are relatively large. The ocean is littered with islands, beaches, lighthouses, and other ships – all of which are loaded into the map as you sail close enough to them. There is no delay or pop-in for the landmarks, they just seamlessly become visible as you get closer. The game also features a weather system similar to Black Flags. Adverse weather conditions change how you sail through the game, and also how the map looks. The once calm blue seas turn grey with furious waves that knock your boat back and forth.
The game’s cinematics and storyline sections are all drawn in this awesome little comic-book art style. Everything is over exaggerated, with thick lines and a lot of deep colours. It actually feels like you are watching a graphic novel come to life, and this art style goes a long way to separate Pirates from the other installments in the franchise and give it a life of its own.
If you ask anybody what their favourite part about the soundtrack for Black Flag is, you are almost guaranteed to get the answer “the sea shanties,” and thankfully, Ubisoft have kept that alive by bringing up a few new shanties for the crew to sing as you sail across the seven seas. The sea shanties are often so catchy and well sung by your cremates that you wont even realise that there isn’t much else in the way of music present in the game.
Overall
Assassin’s Creed: Pirates is by no means a bad game, and its story is an excellent addition to the world of Assassin’s Creed. Keeping it separate from the adventures of Edward and his friends brings a tonne of life to the world of Black Flags; it feels lived in, and it feels like there is more going on than just what we see as Edward. However, its shallow gameplay becomes repetitive and boring rather quickly, and the game doesn’t offer any real challenge. Still, if you are a fan of Assassin’s Creed or of Pirates in general then you will surely find some fun here – even if it is just the sea shanties.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
The original Double Dragon was an arcade phenomenon that revolutionised the beat-em-up genre. Kids would put in dollar after dollar into the machine to keep playing the story of two brothers trying to save the damsel in distress. Now, Double Dragon Trilogy allows you to relive the excitement of the first three games in the series, on-the-go and with the convenience of only ever having to pay once. Although sadly, the transition from arcade classic to mobile game has not been pretty to this once proud gaming franchise.
Story
Double Dragon tells the story of Billy and Jimmy Lee – twin martial artists who are forced to fight their way through the Black Warriors gang in order to rescue Marian – the love interest of both boys. Player one takes on the role of Billy, while Player 2 plays as Jimmy and either on your own or together, you will punch and kick your way through a tonne of thugs, brutes and bikers on the way to save the girl. The end of Double Dragon has one of the most epic twists in video gaming history, and one that even now would cause new players to gasp. If you don’t know the twist ending of Double Dragon by now, then I for one am not going to spoil it for you.
Double Dragon II: The Revenge takes place after the events of the original, and starts with Marian being gunned down by the Black Warriors. This time, the brothers Billy and Jimmy aren’t out to rescue anybody – now they are out for revenge.
Double Dragon 3: The Rosetta Stone is the weakest of the trilogy, and that extends to its story. On the way home from a training trip, the brothers encounter a fortune teller who informs them that they must scour the world for mystical objects known as the Rosetta Stones so that they can face a mysterious new foe waiting for them in Egypt.
Double Dragon 3’s story is told very briefly through the game (as was typical of arcade games at the time) and most of it is lost in the port over, which omits the opening splash screens that preceded the original games. This isn’t too important as the opening “cut scenes” for the first two games summarise it all quite nicely. However it really creates a sense of disjointedness for DD3, as most of the story was told during those splash screens.
Gameplay
Double Dragon Trilogy takes the original, arcade version of the Double Dragon games and brings them across to the mobile platform for a new generation. However, since they are straight ports of the arcade version, a lot of the enhancements and bug fixes that came from later editions (such as the NES version) are not present, and a few new problems are caused.
The gameplay is exactly how it was back in the late 80s – a straight beat-em-up where you run sideways across the screen, kicking and punching thugs in a very Road House fashion. Several enemy types will carry weapons that you can pick up, like knives, bats and even whips, while other objects lay scattered around the world for you to throw at the leather-clad brutes who stand in your way.
Since this is a mobile game, you are stick with virtual joysticks and buttons. These are great – when they work. A lot of people are against games with virtual buttons and Double Dragon Trilogy goes a long way to give credence to their argument. Button inputs are slopps and delayed, often resulting in you getting the crap beaten out of you because you accidentally hit jump instead of kick. Compounding this matter is the fact that the DD games are notoriously difficult. However, when the buttons and stick work the game flows rather fluidly (with the exception of Double Dragon 3, which is slow, clunky and brings down the whole package).
Being a straight port of the arcade versions of the game means that it frequently asks for you to insert additional coins – a feature that is obviously not applicable in modern gaming. Sadly, this means that being killed results in you having to restart the game from scratch as there is no way of continuing without inserting coins. Double Dragon 3 also features a shop where players could originally purchase in-game bonuses like extra health, lives, weapons etc (this was actually one of the gaming industry’s first examples of in-app purchases – and gamers weren’t too fond of them back then either) that are unavailable for purchase because, well, you can’t insert coins.
For the most part, Double Dragon Trilogy brings back two great games, and an OK game and presents them for a new generation to enjoy. The gameplay mechanics that revolutionised a genre are still here, and if you grew up playing DD in an arcade then you will feel right at home.
Visuals & Audio
The audio and visuals from Double Dragon Trilogy immediately create a sense of nostaligia and fond memories of gaming’s original golden age. 16-bit sprites and pallet swap characters litter the screen in ways that would be considered cheap and lazy by today’s standards. However, DD fans of old will appreciate the fact that the visuals they grew up on have been untouched.
DD was always a game that contained a kick-ass soundtrack, and like the visuals it is awesome to see them untouched. The Midi rock-ballads that play in the background really punctuate the whole down and dirty, wrong side of the tracks game that DD is. Adding to the awesome soundtrack is the fact that the sound of punching or kicking an enemy in the stomach (or anywhere for that matter) is still just as satisfying as it always has been. Furthermore, players also have the option of switching over to an updated/remastered soundtrack to hear all those awesome tunes in much higher quality.
Overall
Double Dragon Trilogy brings together the first three Double Dragon games (with the third still being the weakest in the bunch). While age, and the transition to different platform hasn’t been overly kind to the classic series, it is still a good trip down memory lane, and a lesson in where we have come from in gaming. And at the cost of $2.99 may deter some people, but believe you me – anyone who used to play DD at their local arcade would have KILLED to only spend 3 bucks on this game.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Today Tecmo Koei had some new information and a lot of new assets for Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z. For that first part, the company has revealed that the game will feature a retro side-scrolling “Ninja Gaiden Z” mode with 8-bit cut screens and a stylized user interface.
