Sony Computer Entertainment are very excited to announce the release of Gran Turismo 6, the latest in the franchise’s line of high-quality racing games, in stores all across Australia. Fans can start revving their engines in anticipation of one of the greatest driving game experiences to ever be released. Gran Turismo 6 boasts over 1200 raceable cars within the game as well as the choice to race on some of the worlds most famous circuits including Australia’s very own Mount Panorama. With a highly-improved physics engine and suspension models, Gran Turismo 6 is definitely a great big step forward for the racing game genre. Smartphones and Tablets will also be thrown into the gaming mix with a whole new level of connectivity that, up until now, has really never been utilised.
To coincide with the games Australian release, Sony Computer Entertainment Australia in conjunction with the City of Bathurst have unveiled “Gran Turismo Drive”. Shane Jacobson, who you may know from Top Gear Australia, alongside the Mayor of Bathurst have headed this little unveiling and share the excitement of all Aussie racing fans who are raring to experience the twists and turns of Mount Panorama in all its glory without even having to leave their living rooms. Shane Jacobson himself had this to say: “To know now that there are going to be people driving on Bathurst, it’s been our dream as Australian motorsport fans and now the world gets to realise it”.
Gran Turismo 6 is now available throughout Australia for the PlayStation 3 and can be purchased at any good video game retailer. Racing fans can choose to purchase the standard version of the game which will sell for $99.95 or the GT6 Anniversary Edition which will come with everything you can see in the above image and will sell for $114.95. Head down to our Featured Video Section below to check out the Gran Turismo Drive unveiling and don’t forget to hit up our comments section to let us know what you think.
“No offense, but you are stupid.” Only Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) can get away with saying this to a man’s face… well, perhaps GNN news producer Freddy Schap (Dylan Baker) is the only guy who would take it!
In the new Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues clip released by Paramount Pictures entitled “I’ll Take The Job” – embedded at the bottom of this article – the great anchor is given a proposal that he initially laughs off, until he sees the cashola! Cha-ching! Ron’s obviously all about making that money. And so what seemed like a ridiculous idea – a 24-hour news station – has now become part of Ron’s reality. Check it out below, along with the last clip which shows the moment Ron meets the “best in the biz” Jack Lime (James Marsden).
With over 1200 cars available, brand new world-famous circuits to race such as Australia’s own Mount Panorama and improved physics for the tyre and suspension models, Gran Turismo 6 is the next step in the evolution of virtual racing.
To coincide with the games release, SCE Aust. and the City of Bathurst unveiled Gran Turismo Drive at Australia’s home of motorsport, Mount Panorama Motor Racing Circuit with the help of racing veteran and gamer, Shane Jacobson. The immortalisation of the franchise at the physical track is testament to painstaking process and detailed recreation of Mount Panorama in GT6.
“To know now that there are going to be people driving on Bathurst, it’s been our dream as Australian motorsport fans and now the world gets to realise it,” said Jacobson.
Click here to see the unveiling ceremony of Gran Turismo Drive.
Gran Turismo 6 delivers the most complete and expansive racing game on any console. A new compact game engine will improve operation and increase the flexibility to expand it with downloadable content. The game is also set for expanded connectivity with other devices such as smart phones and tablets and increased social and community functions.
Gran Turismo 6 is available from today across all major Australian retailers. Fans of the franchise can choose from the GT6 Anniversary Edition (RRP AUD$114.95) or the Standard Edition (RRP AUD$99.95).
DISCOVER THE MUSICAL ADVENTURE OF BEATBUDDY: TALE OF THE GUARDIANS NOW ON THE MAC STORE
Bring in the holiday with some head-bopping beats! Today the musical action-adventure Beatbuddy: Tale of the Guardians is now available in the Mac Store. Developed by German indie developer THREAKS, Beatbuddy: Tale of the Guardians combines stunning hand-painted artwork with crazy arcade gameplay and unique music interaction.
Winner of several game awards and currently nominated as Best German Game at the German Developer Award 2013, Beatbuddy: Tale of the Guardians is a one-of-a-kind experience. Take the roll of the groovy ethereal, blue creature – Beatbuddy – who is awoken from his eternal slumber in order to save the underwater world of Symphonia from losing musical freedom forever. Beatbuddy’s quest takes him to a series of worlds where he encounters vibrant characters, such as Harmony, Clef, Trebble, and Quaver, who aid him as he opens paths and solve puzzles on his journey.
The exclusive music in the game is composed by trending artists like Austin Wintory (Journey), Sabrepulse (Chime), Parov Stelar and many more.
Beatbuddy: Tale of the Guardians is available now for $9.99 on the Mac Store. In addition, a free demo of Beatbuddy is available on Steam – click HERE for more information. (store.steampowered.com/app/231040/)
To stay updated on the latest game announcements, check out Beatbuddy: Tale of the Guardians’ Facebook page, the irreverently funny THREAKS News show, and follow the development team @BeatbuddyGame.
The main character designer for the 3DS RPG game Bravely Default: Flying Fairy, Akihiko Yoshida, has announced his departure from Square Enix. Yoshida has committed 18 years of amazing design work for the Japanese company. His contributions span a multitude of games since joining Square Soft in 1995, including titles such as Vagrant Story, Tactics Ogre, Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy XII. His departure was announced in a message contained in The Art of Bravely, the official art book for Square Enix’s Bravely Default.
“This is a personal message of mine, but I’d like to say thank you for all the support these past 18 years. I have decided to leave Square Enix, but I believe our relationship will continue going on.
And as long as I’m needed [laughs,] I will continue working on the Bravely Default series. Thank you for your continued support.
Bravely Default main character designer & lead artist,
Akihiko Yoshida”
Akihiko Yoshida was currently working on the game’s sequel, Bravely Second, however, Square Enix is yet to confirm if he will continue working on the game. Western versions of the game are set to release this year on October 6 and October 7 in Europe and Australia respectively and February 7, 2014 for North America.
Wooden Sen’Sey, action-platformer is now available for purchase on Steam, and to celebrate, you can get it here for 20% off for a limited time only. The game was developed by Upper Byte, a small French indie studio manned by two men and a coffee machine.
Set in a unique “Japan Steam Rock” universe, the game flaunts exciting gameplay and beautiful 3D graphics. You play as Goro, a village chief in charge of keeping his villagers happy, but when they run out of SeY juice, the villagers become grumpy. It is Goro’s task to defeat the baddies around his village and to collect SeY juice for his people. Wielding his sword and grappling hook, he seeks SeY juice to return his villagers back to their old, happy selves.
The game offers a different gaming experience to players that try out Wooden Sen’Sey. The game integrates classic platforming mechanics with new unique twists into the gameplay, creating an unforgettable experience as you battle your way through the different levels.
The Monster Hunter franchise has really gone crazy with the collaborations lately. In the past few months we’ve reported on news about Monster Hunter joining up with series’ such as Mario, The Legend of Zelda and even the Anime Silver Spoon for what seems like a hot pot of crazy cameos and outer-series appearances, well the people over at Capcom have just announced that they have plans for there to be a Fire Emblem Awakening addition to the online monster-fighting game; Monster Hunter Frontier G.
Yes it’s true, Chrom and Lucina will be making an appearance as costumes for your Hunters to wear as they take down anything that stands in their way. While Monster Hunter Frontier G has already been released on the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, there is still an iteration to be released on the Wii U and THAT’S the one that will be hosting the Fire Emblem costumes in all their fantasy glory. Unfortunately there hasn’t been a release of any images yet but hopefully we’ll be seeing some soon.
In a move many of us were waiting for, Square Enix has released Final Fantasy VIII on Steam for PC as a digital download and priced at $11.99. This comes a year after Final Fantasy VII was released on Steam with similar optimisations. Check out the trailer and screenshots below.
First released in 1999, the RPG was the fastest selling Final Fantasy title up until Final Fantasy XIII and sold over 8.5 million copies worldwide. The game is optimised for today’s PCs and will feature upgrades such as cleaner visuals, achievements as well as gameplay additions.
The Magic Booster lets players expand their spell inventory while the Chocobo World is being released in the West for the first time. Originally a Pocket Station game, players control Boko the Chicobo who embarks on a quest to find MiniMog and is helped by Moomba and Cactuar.
For more info visit the new website of Final Fantasy VIII’s re-release.
Adventure Time: Explore The Dungeon Because I DON’T KNOW! Developer: WayForward Publisher: Namco Bandai (Europe), D3Publisher(North America) Platforms: PlayStation 3 (Reviewed), Xbox 360, Wii U, 3DS Release Date: 21st November 2013 (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360), 12th December 2013 (Wii U, 3DS) Price: $57.99 – Available Here
Overview
One of the very few good Cartoon Network shows that is present in this day and age, Adventure Time came almost out of nowhere and exploded into popularity in such an extravagant way which, if you’ve seen the show, is exactly the way they would have wanted it to be. Created by Pendleton Ward, this show began its run in the April of 2010 and still to this day we’re all seeing brand new episodes every week, each more insane than the last and audiences of all ages are absolutely in love with this show. Adventure Time has branched into many different mediums like apparel, action figures, video games, the list goes on. With two console games under its belt at this point in time, as well as some browser based titles and some iOS titles, Adventure Time: Explore The Dungeon Because I DON’T KNOW! has instilled excitement into fans, with its four player co-op and it’s extensive dungeon crawling it truly seems like a perfect Adventure Time game.
Story
Adventure Time itself has a very unique way of storytelling; it starts off as something quirky but small yet grows into something that you’d sooner find in a fever dream rather than in a TV show aimed at children and sometimes it can become a little overbearing but that’s the show and that’s also its appeal. The game is basically like that, it starts off simply with Bubblegum Princess calling for help from within the kingdom walls, obviously Finn and Jake (the main characters) rush to the Princess’ side, she explains that every enemy of the kingdom that has previously been defeated is locked up in the enormous dungeon below the castle and, slowly but surely, they’re starting to revolt and escape…that’s where you and your friends come in.
You can choose between a handful of Adventure Time favourites and you also unlock some along the way while you go through the story, characters don’t entirely matter within the story, you can choose whoever you want and still feel included, so they’ve done that correctly. The overall story is completely original and is also written by the series creator which is fantastic for fans of the series because that way you know for sure that it will be silly, quirky and all your favourite characters will still be as appealing as they are in the series.
As you travel through dungeons, slashing and bashing everything in your way, you come into contact with bosses and sub-bosses which you will remember from the TV Show, most of them have some sort of dialogue that relates to the overall story too so I guess you can say they’re not just there for the sake of it. Without going into a great deal of detail I’ll say without a shadow of a doubt that there is nothing wrong with the story throughout this game, you’re given just enough of a reason to actually play through the game and just when you hope for some sort of cut scene or character interaction, boom, it’s there to keep you interested.
Despite the fact that you constantly go on little side missions for a bunch of the cast, the story in its entirety floats along with you like a happy little cloud, you remember what’s going on and what you are ultimately heading towards time and time again, and I think it’s just a nice reminder that you’re actually playing this game for a reason and, just a bit of forethought, you NEED that reminder the more you play this game.
Gameplay
Dungeon crawlers are fantastic little games that are pretty much guaranteed to keep you busy for hours on end, what this game does better than anything else is bring friends together to make playing it all the more better but before I get into that allow me to give a basic explanation of how the game works: You begin each of your gaming sessions in a small overworld populated solely by familiar characters, each of these characters do different things for you when spoken to; some may give you quests, some may swap out with the character you’re currently in control of, some may beef up your character to make them stronger and some may sell you items.
Once you’re done with with the overworld you head into the levelled dungeon areas where a great deal of the game is played, this is where you travel through dungeons and mazes while fighting off hordes of enemies one level at a time. Obtain gold, pick up weapons and stat buffs, find hidden areas with rare treasures…I think you get the gist of it. Back to the overworld you can equip tokens to your characters to make them faster, stronger, more sturdy, etc.
It’s repetitive to say the least. As much as I love this franchise I have to be honest in a review and the honest truth is that it gets boring after a while. Now I played this game with a fellow Capsule Computers employee and it did make the gaming experience better as we sat back and laughed at each others on-screen antics and the antics of the characters themselves, us both being Adventure Time fans really added to the experience and I can NOT imagine playing this game alone.
I really feel like this is what WayForward were going for while creating this game, it is ONLY local co-op which forces friends to be physically near each other, something I feel a lot of games are lacking in this day and age, it’s also the aspect of this game that enticed me the most, being able to sit there with good friends and enjoy a simple game is one of the greatest gaming experiences I can think of. Unfortunately for the game it gets highly repetitive and I understand that “highly repetitive” is a very common insult to give to a game but this one truly felt as though it was getting old. All I can say is; if you can get a whole bunch of happy-go-lucky friends together to play this game…you should, it will definitely make it a whole lot better.
Every character you could be within the game differed slightly which gave you the option to play in different ways; some had more health, some were close-range fighter while other were long range, some could block and dash, others could absorb projectiles, what I’m trying to say is that WayForward gave these characters individual traits so that these characters weren’t just re-skins of a basic animation, it gave you a reason to think twice about who you’d choose and, while playing with friends, it added a level of strategy to the game; having a person who can absorb projectiles being a shield for another who was a long-range attacker is just one example and it was one that we actually used while playing so I can tell you first-hand that there is a certain degree of strategy to it.
The addition of “special moves” is, I think, something great because it breaks up the constant hack and slash of it all, though it does literally take you away from the game which means all other players stop their fighting just to watch an individuals special move, had this feature been downgraded to allow a constant flow of action it would have been mush better.
Visuals
Much like the series, this game was aesthetically brilliant! Somehow WayForward mixed both sprite animation and CG animation in a way that just worked so damn well. Everything was absurdly smooth, the game flowed so well within itself, you didn’t mind the clash of vibrant colours and the darkness of a dungeon because it looked great! The only thing I’d have to take points away for would be the art style of the “special moves”, while everything else was either pixelated or CGI, the “special moves” looked as though they were animated like the series and THAT didn’t fit, in some cases it actually looked pretty ugly but fortunately they didn’t turn up that often.
The dungeons get a little repetitive, you go through about fifteen levels before you see the introduction of water panels within levels which add the colour blue to a stage, THAT was exciting for us because we were getting bored of the dullness of the greys and blacks. Don’t get me wrong, the dungeons DO change and you’re thrown into different environments but it’s just that you’re playing for hours on end before you see any drastic change. Characters all have their little mannerisms and signature poses or dances as well as their creepy or cute facial expressions that, once again, fans of the series will find infinitely funny, much like we did. Despite what it lacks, the game is animated well, it doesn’t look dodgy as a whole and does great justice to the series.
Audio
The audio throughout this game works almost the exact same way as the visuals did. The voice acting was fantastic and so were all the sound effects and a great deal of the music throughout the game. Characters had their little quips, they sang a small tune while doing certain things, and they always had a comment that related to what you were doing in the game, it’s great! It does make you feel like you really are playing as these characters; Marceline’s “yummy” as she absorbs a red projectile, Lumpy Space Princess’ “I gotta’ tell Brad” while picking up an item, they make for big laughs over long periods of time as you and your friends start repeating the lines alongside the characters.
Unfortunately, much like the visuals, some of the music gets extremely repetitive and annoying, especially when you’re travelling through areas with no enemies making any noise to fill what becomes a sense of annoying “silence”. For the most part though, the game has a fantastic soundtrack and the voice actors and actresses do an extremely good job with the characters, I cannot fault them because it seems like they’ve gone above and beyond to really make it feel like their characters are right there with us.
Overall
Adventure Time: Explore The Dungeon Because I DON’T KNOW! is a down right great game for fans of the series, unfortunately though, people who are NOT Adventure Time fans will not be as forgiving as those of us who are, while we continue to play through because it’s simple, easy and reminds us of one of our favourite shows, others will most likely not feel that way and that’s entirely justified. One fairly big thing I want to outline before the end of this review is that, had this game been released as a downloadable title, it would have been received so much better.
If the game was released as a cheaper game just through digital distribution a great deal of the audience would have cut it some more slack, it’s a fantastic game but with the price tag that is slapped on it it’s not only going to drive people away but it’s going to force people into expecting more from it and, while that’s extremely unfortunate, it’s the honest truth. Like I’ve already mentioned several times; the game is great, it has a lot to offer and even though it lacks certain key things it is still a nice little game for a bunch of friends to get together and play.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Curve Studio’s puzzle platformer Stealth Inc. presents a second DLC expansion, The Lost Clones, which is now available at the PSN store in both Europe (£2.99) and America (USD $3.99).
Stealth Inc: The Lost Clones immerses players in the sordid and brutal history of the Stealth Inc. universe; sending intrepid clones to discover the fate of the other clones, destined to run the facilities onslaught of platforming, puzzles and traps built to destroy you.
The DLC expansion includes; 20 brand new levels, 6 brand new achievements, 25% more stealthy content and the ability to play all the levels with each piece of equipment from the main game.
Sam Robinson, Lead Designer on The Lost Clones, commented; “The two new worlds we’ve created for The Lost Clones map pack are probably the most devious levels we’ve ever created. They were great fun to create and we’re especially proud of the surprises, humour and scale of the secret areas that are hidden around these levels!”
Stealth Inc: The Lost Clones has been released with a patch for the PlayStation versions -fix a leaderboard exploit- to ensure players will be up-to-date with the original game. In addition, The Lost Clones is a Cross Buy and Cross Save title on both the PS Vita and PS3; so providing you’ve already picked up the original game, you can play the new levels on either system!
