Humble Bundle is expanding yet again. Humble Bundle has provided indie developers with a Humble Wdiget button that sold the developer’s game at the developer’s site. The widget has existed for quite some time now, but Humble Bundle have lacked an actual storefront to sell games. Today, that has changed with the launch of the Humble Store. Buyers can now purchase indie games from The Humble Store and support charity as 10% of every purchase will go to support American Red Cross, Child’s Play, Electronic Frontier Foundation, World Land Trust, and charity: water.
To celebrate the opening, several great titles are 50-75% off, with each new day adding more titles. If you’ve been on the lookout for Euro Truck Simulator 2, now is a great time to buy as it is 75% off for the first time. The new store will run in conjuction with the regular Humble Bundles and the Humble Weekly Sale. Check out all the sales at the new Humble Store webpage.
Action space simSkyjacker is making its final push to the end of its Kickstarter campaign. The action space sim is based on Project Lead and author Eugene Zhukov’s book series Abyss Lights. Players will take on the role of a space pirate and the only human in the entire galaxy. Players will murder, kidnap, rob, and fight their way to the top of the Pirate Stock Market, the market where people buy the services of pirates to do less than savory jobs.
The game supports solo, multiplayer, and co-op play. The game’s beta is slated to start in April 2014.
Skyjacker is its last eleven days of their Kickstarter campaign. Copies of the game start at $30.00 USD. Also be sure to vote for Skyjacker on their official Steam Greenlight page.
Khaba Developer: Hello There.se Publisher: Hello There.se Platforms:iPad (Reviewed) Release Date: Out Now Price: $3.99 – Available Here
Overview
Khaba at first glance is a small puzzle game, but once you scratch the surface there is a lot more than meets the eye. Anyone who has played the board game Khet (or any of its alternatives) will have Khaba be immediately familiar to you. Much like the board game, you use various items to reflect a beam of light around the puzzle-room to complete your objective. The fully voice acted story and alternate endings really make Khaba shine against other mobile puzzlers.
Story
You play as Michael, an excited and ambitious explorer who has managed to fall into the ancient pyramid of Khaba. As he bends the weak ray of sunlight to help him escape the maze-like tomb, we learn that Michael’s life is somewhat troubled, and you really do begin to feel for him as a character.
While Michael’s story is one thing, we also learn about the Egyptian Pharaoh who imprisoned himself within the magnificent structure. A lof of the back-story is told by the players as the collect the three scarabs located in each level. The storyline told by the Scarabs offers an insight into the game’s world, so there is a real reward for collecting them all. There are also a variety of alternate endings for Michael depending on how well you completed the puzzles, and how many scarabs you collected etc. This incentivises you to go back and play the game all over again.
Gameplay
Khaba is a fairly simple puzzle game with a tremendous amount of depth. The aim is to escape the pyramid tomb you are trapped in by guiding beams of light. These beams destroy certain blocks, reflect off pillars and unlock the door at the end of each level. You primarily place and angle the light-reflecting pillars to complete the puzzles.
The difficulty curve in the puzzles can be a little jarring. The first half a dozen or so are fairly simple, and will only take you a few minutes to complete, but the game takes a very sudden shift and the puzzles becomes far more complex. A few levels in, a second type of light, known as Dark-Light is introduced. Dark-Light is cannot pass through normal light (and vice-versa) which really shakes up how you tackle the puzzles.
Later levels also add three scarabs per level, and these scarabs tell a small section of the story once you manage to shine a beam of dark-light concurrently through all three. It is not a requirement to collect these, but their telling of the story makes them feel more tangible and worthwhile than typical 3-star objectives in other mobile puzzle games.
Visuals & Audio
Khaba is a relatively simple-game that offers a top-down view for its puzzles. This offers a gameplay advantage as you can see where the beams of light are directed etc, but also allows Khaba to maintain a high level of graphical fidelity. The backgrounds and objects all stand out and look like the ancient Egyptian Pyramid that they represent.
One thing to really mention is that Khaba is completely voice-acted. This may seem like a little thing, but it really goes a long way to help immerse yourself in the game. It is especially unusual for this type of puzzle game to be completely voice acted, but the result is well worth it and it is one way that Khaba separates itself from other mobile puzzlers. As I played throught he game, I found myself caring for what happens to Michael, and a lot of that comes down to the fact that I could hear him, hear what was happening and hear how it affected him first-hand.
Overall
The interesting thing I found that when playing the game was that despite how difficult some puzzles were, It always felt very relaxing. There is never any pressure put on the player to accomplish things in a certain time limit, so there is in turn no stress but make no mistake, Khaba is a puzzle game through and through, and one with quite a harsh difficulty curve. If you don’t like head-scratchers then this one probably isn’t for you, but if you are the type that loves a challenge, and loves to think outside the box, then Khaba is well worth your time.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Striker Soccer 2 Developer:Chillingo Publisher: Chillingo Platforms: iPhone, iPad (Reviewed) Release Date: Out Now Price:FREE – Available Here
Overview
Striker Soccer 2 is a portable, on-the-go game for soccer fans. With an impressive line up of leagues and teams to choose from, the game could very well appeal to the die-hard soccer fans looking for some bite-sized football. However, the game has a very pay-to-play and even pay-to-win feel to it that really detracts from the overall experience.
Gameplay
SS2 is a soccer game, plain and simple, and it does this relatively well. You control the player either holding or closest to the ball at all times, and the game is relatively intuitive for pinpointing where a kick will land and as such the closest player to switch to. Controls are simple too, with an on-screen joystick and two buttons (one for pass and the other for score). The buttons are large enough and placed in a convenient enough spot that you will not have any trouble moving your player around the field.
The game contains four main game modes; Competitions, Friendly Match, Kids Friendly and Challenge Mode. The first three of these have you playing games of soccer against an AI opponent, with the Kids Friendly mode having the players move on their own (requiring you to just kick and pass). Challenge mode is definitely the meat of the game.
Challenge mode has you playing the role of a coach, guiding his players to success, and you do this by having them complete certain goals or certain actions under different circumstances. The first challenge has you leading 2-0 at the end of the first half, and you need your players to maintain that score until the end of the game. Challenges like this offer a change of pace from the typical game-based modes.
Soccer fans will love the variety of different team and league choices for them to play as. The game features 17 different leagues, each containing 4 different teams for a grand total of 68 different teams. While there is a tonne of variety for players, there is no real difference between them all aside from cosmetically.
SS2 has what is becoming a mainstay of free to play games; the energy bar. Your complete energy bar of four games. Each game costs one use of this energy bar to play and it doesn’t matter if you complete the game in question or only spend a few seconds in it, the energy is expended none the less. Energy can be replenished over time (25 minutes for each game) or by spending your in-game coins or real world dollars on replenishing it. While the energy bar is a mainstay now, only getting 4 uses out of the game before you are stuck waiting is a bit of a hard hit, and definitely makes it feel pay-to-win. In addition, the completion of every game brings up a giant, full-screen sized add for another game and clicking on this add will take you straight to the app store page. It is impossible to get around these adds without closing them, and sometimes you will also be treated to a 12 second trailer for a game too.
Visuals & Audio
Visually, SS2 is a little bit lacking. The textures are bland and plain, while character models are blocky and jagged giving the game a very low-res appearance. While there is a lot to be said for the way the game looks, impressively there are a full roster of players running around at any given time, and the game hardly ever suffers from lag or frame rate issues. However, these rosters of players all look almost identical except for the slight skin colourations between them.
There is a constant dull roar of the crowd which helps to set the tone and feel of a soccer game, but is quiet enough to not interrupt or annoy you while you are playing. There is not much in the way of music presented in SS2, which means aside from the dull roar, the only real sound you will hear is that of the ball being kicked.
Overall
SS2 is best described as a bite-size mouthful of soccer for on the go, and to that end it does its job well enough. Soccer fans will get a kick out of the 60+ teams available, and the challenges should keep them coming back for more. However, the game’s pay-to-play style doesn’t gel with me personally and the massive advertisements between average matches really detract from the enjoyment of the game.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
With the Christmas holiday season approaching next month, Transmission presents viewers with two new movie releases; Almost Christmas on November 27 and Stuck in Love, now available on DVD and Blu-Ray.
Almost Christmas, featuring Paul Rudd (Anchorman 2) and Paul Giamatti, is an offbeat comedy about two men who, under unusual circumstances, become business partners selling Christmas trees in New York City during the holidays. After being released from prison, Dennis (Giamatti) is desperate to re-connect with his family, and must turn to his estranged wife’s partner, Rene (Rudd) in order to rebuild his life.
Stuck in Love, featuring Greg Kinnear, Jennifer Connelly and Kristen Bell (Hit and Run), follows the drama of the Borgen family and their triumphs and failures with love and romance. The father, Bill (Kinnear) is an acclaimed author, still obsessed with his ex-wife (Connelly) and currently seeing his neighbour-with-benefits, Trica (Bell). The daughter, Samantha (Lily Collins) is publishing her first novel and is determined to avoid love at all costs; even with a diehard romantic (Logan Lerman) courting her. The son, Rusty (Nat Wolff) is an aspiring fantasy writer, who is encouraged to gain more ‘life experiences’, only to discover love and heartbreak.
Almost Christmas will be available to rent and own on DVD (RRP $29.99), Blu-ray (RRP $34.99) and Digital copy from November 27 and Stuck in Love is now available to rent and own on DVD (RRP $34.99) and Blu-Ray (RRP $39.99) and Digital copy.
Capcom, the industry giants behind the upcoming Xbox One title Dead Rising 3, have released a gameplay video that gives you plenty of chances to see new protagonist Nick Ramos in action as he mows down, dismembers, crushes, and otherwise demolishes zombies. If The Walking Dead‘s cast had some of these goodies, the show would’ve felt more like Arnold Schwarzeneggar’s The Running Man than the dire situation they’re in.
The video, which you can see in the player below this article, shows off over 18 minutes of ways Nick takes out the undead. Sledge hammers, guns, and modified vehicles are just a few of the tools at his disposal.
For more information, you can check out the official age-gated site here. The game drops on November 22 right alongside the launch of the Xbox One.
Eleven Arts and Funimation have just announced that the third film in the Rebuild of Evangelion quadrilogy, Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo, will be screening at participating theaters in the U.S. and Canada this January 2014. The animated blockbuster earned over 5 billion yen or US$52m at the Japanese box offices.
Eleven Arts is also screening Puella Magi Madoka Magica The Movie – Rebellion in December and previously released Space Battleship Yamato in October.
While it’s said to be distributed mostly in English, a number of theaters will be screening the film in Japanese with English subtitles. Evangelion: 3.0 was screened in Australia and New Zealand earlier this year as part of Madman’s Reel Anime 2013 program.
Set 14 years after the events of Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance, the film shows the earth in ruins with everyone changed except for Shinji Ikari who has no idea what has happened. Old friendships are now woven with distrust as Shinji is treated like a prisoner and the world spirals once again toward destruction.
Be sure to visit the official U.S. Facebook page for the movie and Eleven Arts for screening details as they’re made available.
PAX Aus 2014 may be just a little under a year away, but with the dates and location set those hoping to attend can now purchase their tickets. With the new location for next year’s convention there will be plenty more space, up to 50% in feature areas and three times as much theater space.
In addition to the standard Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Three Day badges, Penny Arcade is offering a new badge has been added this year by way of International Three Day, to ensure those wanting to fly into Australia will have equal opportunity to purchase tickets. This wanting to accommodate is also the reason for such advanced purchase of the tickets.
Those interested in getting their tickets for PAX Aus 2014 right away can head over to the website to Register and those needing to reserve rooms at nearby hotels can find them through the conventions booking partner OzAccom. PAX Aus 2014 will be taking place October 31st through November 2nd, 2014 at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre.
PlayStation 4 is still going strong with the #4ThePlayers marketing and Sony has released two new videos about some other 4’s that will be coming out for the PS4. The first video to come out was an interesting viral video for Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. It looks like it wasn’t lost on the makers just how nice nicely dressed all the ancestors of the Assassin’s Creed series, depicting the newest protagonist as a tailor in the video embedded below.
While the first one is fairly clever, the second video is much more in depth on the tech of the PS4 and the other game, Battlefield 4. Featuring Creative Director Lars Gustavsson from DICE, it gives the low down on what they were able to achieve thanks to the additional hardware of both the console and controller. Those wanting to find out for themselves all about Battlefield 4‘s tech for the PS4 can watch it embedded below. The PlayStation 4 will be launching the end of this week November 15th, 2013 with both Assassin’s Creed IV and Battlefield 4 as launch titles.
One of the problems I find with official anime websites is the fact that most of them don’t come with English translations, this can cause difficulties for those who don’t speak or read any Japanese. Luckily this won’t be the case for Samurai Flamenco fans as there is an official anime website for all of its western viewers.
The English version of the website follows the same style as its Japanese counterpart with fully translated text, with nearly all sub categories featured western fans won’t feel like they are being left out. There are slight differences to both websites; the Japanese character section for example has all the characters in full colour whilst the English version only has the outlines. Specific categories are also inaccessible on the English website; both the Music and Books section have been shaded grey and unable to click on, whether or not they will be made available in the future is anyone’s guess.
Despite these set back, fans will be filled with joy when they click on the Specials and see all the paper board messages and cast comments fully translated. The cast comments feature the seven main voice actors/actresses giving their opinions about the series and what the fans would enjoy from it. The paper board messages section contains written messages and sketches from various members of staff, with my personal favourite coming from the Chief Producer (see below).
No it’s not THAT kind of anime, it’s about a superhero.
The anime was acquired by Aniplex and airs every Thursday through Crunchyroll, in Japan the series is running on the late night Noitamina programming block alongside Galilei Donna. Tell us what you think about Samurai Flamenco, and what other anime websites you would like to see translated, by leaving a comment down below.
