EA released two trailers for FIFA 14 and Need for Speed Rivals. The FIFA 14 trailer is the latest in the Producer series of videos that give gamers a peak into the development of the game. In this video, the developers sit down to talk about the new collision avoidance system and how players can move their body to keep control of the ball after impact.
Need for Speed Rivals’ new trailer demonstrates the Need for Speed Network. Players can check out their friends scores and challenge new rivals through the Network. While racing, players can use a mobile device as a second screen to navigate the streets and plan routes. Players can also help their friends while they race with buffs like nitrous refills.
Anuman Interactive and Microids, the company set to distribute the new Nancy Drew games, have announced that their newest adventure game, Dracula 5: The Blood Legacy, is out now! The game is available on PC and Mac in English, French, Italian, Spanish, and German.
The Blood Legacy picks up where Dracula 4: The Shadow of the Dragon left off. Players will take on the role of Ellen, who’s back at the New York Metropolitan Museum with the odd painting she’s tracked around the world.
The game officially released on December 2. It’s available on the game’s official website here. You can also check out the trailer below this article.
PLAYSTATION®4 (PS4™) GLOBAL SALES SURPASS 2.1 MILLION UNITS FOLLOWING EUROPE, AUSTRALASIA AND LATIN AMERICA LAUNCH Strong momentum for the PS4™ system continues following record-breaking launch
Tokyo, December 3, 2013 – Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) today announced that cumulative sell through for the PlayStation®4 (PS4™) computer entertainment system worldwide has surpassed 2.1 million units*1 as of December 1, 2013. The number includes the 700,000 units sold through in Europe and Australasia launching on November 29. The PS4 system became available on November 15 in the United States and Canada and on November 29 in Europe, Australasia and Latin America and is now available in 32 countries globally.
“PS4 delivered the best launch in PlayStation history with the North American release and we’ve continued this incredibly successful start in Europe, Australasia and Latin America,” said Andrew House, President and Group CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. “Demand remains incredibly strong and continues to overwhelm the supply worldwide, but we are diligently working to meet those growing demands and to deliver additional PS4 units to our retail partners throughout the holiday season. We are extremely grateful for the passion of PlayStation fans and thank them for their continued support.”
PS4 consumers embraced the deep social capabilities offered by the PS4 system, including heavy use of live broadcasting on Ustream and Twitch and sharing content through Facebook® and Twitter. PS4 gamers have demonstrated particular interest in the new “SHARE” button on the DUALSHOCK®4 Wireless Controller, with more than 6.5 million shares captured.
Gamers worldwide immersed themselves into the PS4 system’s launch lineup of over 20 titles*2 from some of the world’s best developers, including blockbuster titles such as Call of Duty®: Ghosts from Activision, Assassin’s Creed® IV: Black Flag™ from Ubisoft Entertainment, NBA® 2K14 from 2K, Battlefield 4, FIFA 14,Madden NFL 25 and Need for Speed Rivals from Electronic Arts, as well as exclusives Knack™, Killzone:Shadow Fall™and Resogun™ from SCE Worldwide Studios (SCE WWS).
The PS4 system’s games portfolio expands in 2014 with games like the highly anticipated franchise favorite inFAMOUS™:Second Son and MLB 2014: The Show from SCE WWS, as well as brand new IP including Destiny™ from Activision, Watch_Dogs™ from Ubisoft Entertainment, and The Order 1886 and #DRIVECLUB from SCE WWS. All of these titles showcase the power of the PS4 system with breathtaking graphics and breakthrough gameplay experiences.
Looking ahead, the PS4 system will evolve through PlayStation’s cloud gaming services, available in the U.S. in 2014. Based on Gaikai Inc.’s cloud-based technology, the service will enable users to have access to a catalog of critically acclaimed PlayStation®3 (PS3™) games on PlayStation 4 and PS3, followed by PlayStation®Vita.
Himalaya Studios have created an enhanced edition of the 2006 PC release, Al Emmo and the Lost Dutchman’s Mine; a classic adventure game that tells the story of an out-of-luck middle-aged man Al, who gets wrapped up in a thousand-year-old Aztec curse while trying to impress a sultry lounge singer.
Al Emmo and the Lost Dutchman’s Mine has been transformed from the “golden age” of adventure gaming to cater towards the present generation gamers. As illustrated in the gallery below, the Al Emmo Enhanced Edition features over 120 hand-painted backgrounds, more than 15k frames of fluid character animation, and unique messages for practically everything you click on.
A brand new voice actor for the titular character, Al Emmo
Classic 2D-animated cut-scenes
20 achievements
Sierra-style scoring system, with 500 points to win
Higher-resolution graphic options for more detailed characters
UI and graphical tweaks to enhance gameplay
Don’t miss out on your chance to support Al Emmo and the Lost Dutchman’s Mine, by voting through Steam Greenlight here. The enhanced edition is currently available for only $9.99 on Desura and Zodiac, $11.99 for the full game and soundtrack on IndieGameStand and free trialvia Himalaya Studios.
CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED SKYLANDERS SWAP FORCE™ SET TO RELEASE DECEMBER 5th ON NEXT-GENERATION CONSOLES IN AUSTRALIA
Highly-Rated Kids’ Game will be One of the Few Family Launch Titles for Next-Generation Platforms This Holiday
Sydney, Australia – December 4th, 2013 – The critically acclaimed video game Skylanders SWAP Force™ from Activision Publishing, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI), is set to release in Australia December 5th for the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system and Xbox Oneall-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft. Skylanders SWAP Force is the third installment of the top selling kids’ video game franchise of 2013. 1
Hailed as “The Best Skylanders Game Yet” by Ninemsn with Sydney Morning Herald saying “SWAP Force has made a convert of me “and “Kids will love this” by Melbourne’s Herald Sun, Skylanders SWAP Force is one of the highest rated kids’ games of the year and one of the few kids’ titles available on the next-generation of video game consoles this holiday. The game, which “sings on next-gen” according to online gaming site Kotaku.com, is already positioned to be a must-have game this holiday, having been named in the 2013 Toys“R”Us® “Top 10” on the company’s Christmas Toy List.
Skylanders SWAP Force pushes the boundaries of innovation and imagination with an all new play pattern – swapability – that allows gamers to transform 16 SWAP Force™ characters into more than 250 unique characters by swapping the top and bottom halves of the toys. Building on the franchise’s signature gameplay and collectible toy experience, the game takes kids on an all-new adventure with more than 30 new characters each with unique powers and personalities. Additionally, fans can play Skylanders SWAP Force on next-generation consoles with their entire collection of 100+ characters from SkylandersSpyro’s Adventure® and Skylanders GiantsTM.
Optimized for next-generation game systems, Skylanders SWAP Force features an all new graphics engine that delivers high-resolution visuals that bring to life amazingly detailed characters and richer environments to deliver a high level of visual fidelity that immerse players in the game like never before. The game runs in native 1080p on both next-generation consoles, further bridging the gap between a video game and feature film experience.
About the Skylanders® Franchise
The award-winning, billion dollar Skylanders franchise pioneered the toys-to-life category in 2011 with the debut of Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure. The game originated a new play pattern that seamlessly bridged physical and virtual worlds across multiple platforms and became the top-selling kids’ videogame of the year. In October 2011, Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure was named Toy of the Year by K-Zone, and in October 2012 Skylanders Giants™ was again named Toy of the Year by K-Zone. The next innovation in the franchise Skylanders SWAP Force was developed by Vicarious Visions, an Activision studio. The game is rated ‘G’ by the Australian Classification Board. For more information, visit www.skylanders.com.
About Activision Publishing
Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision Publishing, Inc. is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and leisure products. Activision maintains operations in the U.S., Canada, Brazil, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Spain, Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, Singapore, mainland China, Hong Kong and the region of Taiwan. More information about Activision and its products can be found on the company’s website, www.activision.com.
Those who are familiar with the Corpse Party franchise probably know that the developers took a bit of a break from creating horror games and took a swing at a romantic comedy title based off the events from the original Corpse Party title. This game was called Sachiko’s Game of Love – Hysteric Birthday 2U and it looks like it won’t be making its way to North America and neither will Unchained Blades Exxiv, the next game in the Unchained Blades series originally brought to the West by XSEED.
This news comes from the company’s Facebook where fans asked about both titles with Hysteric Birthday 2U receiving this response “No hope, at least in terms of not by us.” and the Exxiv request being answered by: “Afraid we have no plans to pursue Exxiv.”
This move may disappoint a few fans, but the Corpse Party decision is probably a smart one as the title is more of an option spin-off and is far different from what Corpse Party fans would be expecting and considering a brand new title is being made for the Vita, it might best to wait until that one.
That sure didn’t take long. Persona 4: The Ultimax Suplex Hold has been released to various arcades in Japan and while it was expected that Atlus had made a new opening movie for the game, we weren’t expecting the video to make its way to the internet for a little bit, but it seems that it is already available.
The new opening video for Persona 4: The Ultimax Suplex Hold can be seen below and in it we see most of the characters from the past game make an appearance and Junpei Iori and Yukari Takeba also appear at the end of the video. Currently the Japanese home release of Ultimax Suplex Hold is set for Summer 2014.
TransGaming Inc. have partnered up with 2k games to deliver the successful sci-fi shooter The Bureau: XCOM Declassified on Mac.
Vikas Gupta, TransGaming CEO, stated, “We collaborated with 2K to deliver the same intensity that fans have come to expect from The Bureau: XCOM Declassified, now for the Mac platform. With sole publishing and distribution rights for the title on Mac, TransGaming continues to solidify its position as the leader in the Mac gaming market with an impressive game portfolio and our innovative Cider technology.”
The Bureau: XCOM Declassifiedfollows the origin of the underground XCOM organisation and its secret mission against the daunting threat of extra-terrestrial species, during the Cold War. The third-person tactical shooter invites players to join special agent, William Carter and use his “Battle Focus” ability to control squad mates and launch calculated attacks, in order to advance the enemies and defend Earth.
The Bureau: XCOM Declassified is now available to download hereat the Mac App Store for $34.99, and is coming soon for Mac on Steam by Valve.
Wolf Children Studios:Madhouse, Studio Chizu Publisher:FUNimation Format: DVD Release Date: November 26th, 2013 Price: $29.98 – Available Here
Overview
Mamoru Hosoda already has a good record as a director with his films The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and Summer Wars, the latter being the stronger of the two. Now his newest has been released to North America and we can see how it stacks up to all the praise and awards it has received. Is this another gem that deserves the space it would take up on a shelf, or is this something that doesn’t quite live up to the the hype. Let’s look at what Wolf Children has to offer.
Story
Despite the title, the main focus of Wolf Children is actually Hana, who is in fact the mother of the titular characters. The film itself starts off with the story of how she met the father of her children, her a college student in Tokyo and he working multiple jobs and sitting in on classes in his off time. They end up falling in love and staying together even when he reveals that he is a wolf man. Interestingly, the father is never given a name throughout the film only being referred to as him, he, or father to the children, which does a good job of not undermining his presence, but re-enforces the idea that he was just a regular person even when being part wolf.
Eventually the two have two children, a girl first and a boy a year later and the movie begins to show the troubles that Hana will face for the rest of her life. Being too afraid to go to a hospital or seek a midwife, as they don’t know if they will be born as a human or wolf, she studies home birth on her own and handle it themselves. This foreshadow is strengthened when Hana loses the wolf man and is forced to raise their children on her own. Then chronicles the struggles that Hana faces within the city until she decides it would be best to move out in the country where they would be more secluded.
The countryside sees the vast majority of the story, as the children are faced with growing up part wolf and must find their place in the world with their mother at their side trying her best to guide them. Even with the explorations of the growth of each child into who they will become, either wolf or human, Hana is still the main focus as it all echoes back to her in the way only a mother can feel. The story and growth the kids and their mother experience provides a great emotional that can easily echo back to the struggles of almost any mother, single or not even without having to raise wolf children.
Visuals
Those that have seen Summer Wars will have a good idea of the quality of the animation in Wolf Children, just without anything as impressive as the online world of OZ. The character and setting animation is on par with the real world animation on Summer Wars, but the added detail that went into the wolf man and children’s various transformations. The initial transformation of the wolf man himself is beautifully done, with a slower transition to show off just how much of him is changing. While the transitions themselves after that are covered or blocked in some way, the initial one sets the stage for the viewers to fill in those own gaps.
The look of the characters is very simple and very real world, for everyone except the children, which fits well with how the movie portrays everyone. The designs for the children themselves does a great job color coding them to easily tell them apart even when wolves, but look great at every stage of their development from toddlers to young adults. This attention to their design makes up for the lack of the flasher animation from Mamoru Hosoda’s prior films.
Audio
The voice acting for both the Japanese and English are good, but there is a great deal that changes for the English translation to fit the lip flaps. Because of this, the Japanese really seems to be the superior version of the audio. However, even though those viewing with the English voice acting may miss out on specific details and nuance left out of the translation it is still a great experience for those that don’t normally watch movies with subtitles. The best of the voice acting is for Hana though, as she is perfectly represented as just a woman learning and guiding her children and not necessarily the standard “mother figure” creating a great dynamic for her.
The music throughout the movie is very quality work as well, but the stand out piece is “Okaasan No Uta” sung by Ann Sally. The lyrics being written by Mamoru Hosoda himself do an amazing job encapsulating not only the movie and the characters’ growth, but the emotions invoked throughout the story as well. The use of it throughout the movie to carry some heavy lifting during montages is excellent, but having the song in its entirety run over the credits make it a fantastic capstone to the experience.
Extras
Collected on two discs this release finds fairly standard audio commentary by the English dubbing team as well as the trailers for it and other recent FUNimation releases. The second disc however is packed with the greeting the Japanese crew gave to the different showings Wolf Children had over the course of 2012, from the Japan premiere, to the world premiere, to other special events it was shown, at all offering insights from the director and Japanese voice cast. To cap it off there are also the director’s cut of the Japanese trailers done in two different ways, one focusing on the children and the other focusing on Hana.
Overall
This is a story that viewers of both anime and movie in general can watch and enjoy. The animation is well done and featuring a song specially written by the director himself to fit the story, characters, and feelings. This is a great movie that is but one step down from Summer Wars in a few areas, but a big step up in others. This is not a story just about Wolf Children, but the struggle they and their mother faced together to become who they are.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Microids has recently released their new casual time-management title Gas Station – Rush Hour! and it looks like players will definitely be on their toes for this one. Available on iPhone and iPad and Android devices, players must manage a gas station with the main goal of optimising the mass of clients that arrive during rush hour and scoring the most amount of cash possible.
Players will need to pay special attention to each client to ensure they don’t grow impatient and are left satisfied. The type of vehicles that come through the gas station indicate the behaviour of that customer, for example firemen expect to be served first while big rigs are huge consumers of gas and will be at the pump for a while. The game has two distinct modes in rush mode and history mode. Rush mode works as described above with the game being over once three clients have not been served, while history mode has you complete one of twenty four missions. As you progress through the game and earn money, you can use that to further optimise your business by purchasing new items such as additional registers or extra parking places.
Gas Station – Rush Hour! is available as a freemium title from the App Store and Google Play with PC and Mac versions coming soon. A $1.99 paid version is also available. Check out the trailer below to see the game in action.
