If you happened to pay attention to the last anime season, you may have noticed that a certain anime called Danganronpa was part of it. Well if you didn’t watch it, then we have some great news for you as the game that the anime is adapted from is currently being localized for release in the West and the first English screenshots for it have been released.
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc’s screenshots can be seen below where players can also find introduction images to each of the characters that will be in the game, except for the main character oddly enough. Of course, even if you did check out the anime and have spoiled yourself, now we’ll have a chance to see how everything unfolds in greater detail when Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc is released by NIS America on the Vita in early 2014.
Kill la Kill Episode 4: Dawn of a Miserable Morning
So it’s been established by this point that Kill la Kill is insane. We’ve got super powered fabric, a school following a totalitarian regime and students who accept all of this in their daily lives…also there’s a dog in a hoodie. Well my friends, Episode 4 takes the cake and throws it straight into Ryuko’s face, diverging a little from the previous episode in it’s most over the top, insanity driven story yet. Can you survive?
We all know that being late to class is a bad thing. Not only do you miss out on that precious knowledge, but you also interrupt the class and people ask you why you were late. It’s a whole thing. So, naturally, in a school where everything is turned up way past eleven, tardiness carries a little more weight to it. In what is known as “No-Late Day” the No-Star students of Honnouji Academy must put their school life on the line and make it to school before the bell rings. Being the sadistic people they are, Satsuki’s lackeys lace the entire city with a plethora of traps to whittle down the pack of poor students. Imagine a theme park, only with a lot more spikes…and crocodiles.
Still, it’s not the most embarrassing thing she’s worn
As if matters weren’t bad enough, Mako’s mother has decided on this morning, at 4am mind you, to wash Senketsu. Ryuko is naturally panicked at this revelation, as Senketsu prays for help as he is wrung, batted and ironed…though he finds the last one kind of nice. Deciding that her pyjamas are good enough, Mako drags Ryuko into the mass of students, beginning their perilous journey. This episode does a great job of showing just how over the top the series is whilst also providing information about what is considered the norm for the poor students. As ridiculous as all of the traps are, they show just how sadistic the higher starred students are, turning a simple trip to school into a no holds barred game show from hell. Not only that, it also show just how much control they have over the entirety of the city, transforming the streets into walkways of drill and tigers without any repercussions. Satsuki is one damn powerful student president.
The only way to travel
After picking up fellow student Maiko Ogure, who injured her arm in the trials, the three girls proceed through all manner of traps, tricks and obstacles. Alongside this, Mako’s father and brother, along with Guts, attempt to deliver Senkestu to Ryuko. Sounds simple enough right? Nope. Due to some accidental…slippage, Ryuko’s pants ride a little lower than they should whenever Mako’s family gets close. Being the anime guys the are, they naturally become distracted and ram into a wall at 60km/h…so yeah. Duty to deliver said uniform is passed from father, to son, to dog as their wandering eyes put them out of commission. Typical anime stuff.
This episode also shows us a little more of Senketsu as a character and not just a powerful piece of clothing. He is a lot more animated than he has been before and presents a more comedic character, playing the straight man amidst the chaos as Ryuko does. It is also revealed that Senkestsu can be awake in his regular mode and that only Ryuko can hear him when he speaks. After some events which I will leave unspoiled, though I’m sure you’ll guess watching the episode, Senketsu notes how he specifically likes Ryuko’s blood.
Everybody has their limits
Overall, Episode 4 followed a style closer to Panty and Stocking than Gurren Lagann. Throughout the entirety of the episode, the characters are presented in chibi forms of varying detail, immediately letting you know that this isn’t going to be a serious story…well, a less serious story than usual. The visual style of the episode imbues humour into every scene, even when things get intense. Though those moments are few and far between this episode. This is also definitely a tale where Mako is in her element, smiling through the number of dangerous trials and continuing to be cute and oblivious. So sit back and relax as Kill la Kill takes you on a journey of trickery, insanity and deus ex machinas. By this point do you really expect anything else?
Tiger & Bunny: The Beginning Studio:Sunrise Publisher: Viz Media Format: DVD, Blu-ray (Reviewed) Release Date: October 1, 2013 Price: $24.98 – Available Here
Overview While Tiger & Bunny may have had an excellent first season, Sunrise has yet to provide a follow-up season and instead they have focused on bringing out a couple of movies. The first of these movies happens to be Tiger & Bunny: The Beginning. Now with a rather large following in the West and Viz bringing the movie to North America, is it worth picking up?
Story For those who don’t know, in the world of Tiger & Bunny a few select people have developed special abilities. These people are called NEXT and while some abilities are useless, many NEXT have turned to a life of crime with their new found powers and the best way to take down a super powered criminal is with a superhero, thus Hero TV has been formed.
Hero TV follows the exploits of a number of super heroes that have been sponsored by various companies around Sternbild City as they rescue innocents, capture criminals, and compete against one another to see who will be the “King of Heroes” by accumulating the most points by performing the aforementioned acts more than the rest of the heroes.
The veteran hero Wild Tiger, also known as Kotetsu Kaburagi, has been struggling in the rankings in recent seasons as his sense of justice often gets in the way of actually successfully capturing criminals and he often leaves swathes of destruction in his wake thanks to his NEXT ability which increases his physical abilities a hundredfold for a five minute span.
At the close of the last season, a new hero saves Kotetsu from danger and is introduced as a new hero named Barnaby Brooks Jr. Kotetsu then learns that his company has been bought out and he must now report to a new hero sponsor, but things only get worse when he learns that he will be the assisting member in the first ever hero team where he must work with Barnaby who happens to share the same NEXT ability that he does.
Now if that introduction sounds familiar there is a good reason for that, and that reason happens to be because Tiger & Bunny: The Beginning is half introduction of already seen material and half new material. The first half of the movie basically runs through the first few episodes of the Tiger & Bunny anime series with only a few re-done sequences which take a look at how Kotetsu lost his wife and another look at how the heroes interacted with one another which wasn’t shown in the series.
Outside of that, the entire first half serves as somewhat of an introduction to new viewers, but almost entirely repeats things returning fans have seen at this point. Even the introduction falls short in a number of areas as anyone looking to get into Tiger & Bunny will need to watch the full series to follow a number of plot points which are only hinted at in this movie.
As for the second half of the movie, we see Kotetsu, Barnaby and the rest of the heroes track down a new NEXT criminal who has stolen a precious item. While this sequence works nicely to show how the trust between Kotetsu and Barnaby is being built and how the heroes are at odds with one another, it is a rather simple case with little actual development outside of the minor trust building.
This means that while it is nice to catch a look at some new scenes, such as seeing Rock Bison’s NEXT ability outside of his armor, a look at Blue Rose’s costume change, and other little snippets, Tiger & Bunny: The Beginning feels like a recap with an extended episode tacked on at the end as it serves very little purpose in the overall story of Tiger & Bunny that viewers have come to know at this point in time.
Visuals Although the story might not be the most enthralling for returning fans, one thing that Tiger & Bunny: The Beginning excels at is some rather stunning looking animation. Outside of the extra special features, it must be said that the Blu-ray for this movie is highly suggested thanks to the extensive amount of detail that Sunrise has put into almost every aspect of this movie.
The wide-ranging color palette works to the benefit of the movie, especially in the latter half and the meshing of CG costumes and standard animation continues to impress throughout the film. The company has also resisted the urge to simply re-use old footage and have redone the first part of the film from scratch with everything from the highly detailed city of Sternbild to the outfits and powers that the characters use looking gorgeous on screen.
Audio As one would expect, Viz Media has been able to retain all of the original voice actors who handled the English dub for the anime series and they have reprised their roles to perfection. Kotetsu and Barnaby’s banter still plays well in English and even though the company chose to dub Blue Rose’s tiny performance into English the song is handled well. Of course for those who wish for it, the Japanese audio track is also available.
The same themes from the anime have been re-used for Tiger & Bunny: The Beginning and while it is nice to hear these old tracks, they probably could have used some revisions or made a little more impactful as the only truly striking musical moment occurs during Kotetsu’s memory of his wife. As for the opening and ending themes, they have been changed up for the movie with “Linear Blue wo Kiki Nagara” by Unison Square Garden and “Earth Diver” by Novels taking their respective places.
Extras As far as bonus features go, Tiger & Bunny: The Beginning actually comes with an entire Blu-ray full of extra content. On the first disc which contains the movie there is a standard collection of bonuses such as a special pilot trailer and the original pilot trailer, the promo video, commercial collection and theatrical commercials all presented in Japanese. Also found on this disc are the clean versions of the opening and ending themes as well as a “Weekly Hero Countdown” which features the top five heroes as voted on by the fans.
The second disc which is focused entirely on extras features the World Premiere Event which is over two hours long and features not only performances by a number of bands but also appearances by cosplayed actors, the voice actors themselves and much more, making it a real treat for fans of the series. Following that there is a few minute long US Premiere Event, a highlight reel from Anime Expo 2012, a few images of production art as well as a Japanese Ustream special digest.
Overall If there is anywhere that Tiger & Bunny: The Beginning delivers it is with its visuals and bonus content offered. Sadly outside of that, a new look at some of the heroes and an emotional moment for Kotetsu, the movie only offers about forty minutes of new footage which sadly feels like an extended episode which adds little to the franchise. While the English cast does a great job with the characters, it is sad to see that the movie offers little more than a return of a familiar cast to fans and a poor introduction for newcomers.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Disney Interactive have re-introduced their popular Facebook game, Words of Wonder to the App Store for iOS devices, and announced that the puzzler will be available soon for Android.
Words of Wonder invites players to explore a storybook universe, whilst helping Watson the Owl break the grey curse; by creating words, matching letters, overcoming obstacles and completing the story to reclaim colour and animation within the magical pages.
Words of Wonder features:
More than 70 levels at launch, with monthly content updates
Play a single game across Facebook and mobile devices
Verse Facebook friends to compete for high scores
Unlock new power-ups and strategic score bonuses
Supports English, French, Italian, German and Spanish
Enter the storybook world and discover Words of Wonder on iPhone and iPad herefor free now!
Bohemia Interactive and Andrew Gluck (a.k.a. Dslyexci) released a new SITREP (SITuation REPort) video on ArmA 3 today. The video highlights the upcoming single player campaign slated for release on October 31st and new tools for modders. Additionally, Gluck covers the how ArmA 3 has grown in the last decade.
ArmA 3 is the latest title in Bohemia Interactive’s long string of combat simulators. The game takes players to the islands of Altis and Stratis, which cover over 290 km² of territory. Players will have access to over 20 vehicles that will take them around the sea, land, and air. The game’s armory is stocked with over 40 different real life weapons to use. Steam Workshop is fully integrated into the mod tools, which allow modders to create the scenarios of their dreams and players to access new content all the time.
Rain Dance Studios, the indie developers behind Between Me and the Night, had big news to start off their IndieGoGo campaign. Experienced musicians Chipzel and David García are joining the team to provide two distinct soundtracks. David García will be handling the main soundtrack and all the sound effects. His past experience includes work on Deadlight and Rime. Chipzel is a popular chiptune artist found on Bandcamp. He will providing the soundtrack for the playable arcade games found in Between Me and the Night.
Between Me and the Nightis an adventure game exploring the fine lines separating sanity and madness. The game is based on the day and night cycle, with players safe to explore during the day while chased by nightmarish monsters in the evening.
The team is seeking $70,000 USD at the official IndieGoGo page to complete the game. The completed game will have no DLCs and is currently on Steam Greenlight.
Square Enix has shared a set of new screenshots for the upcoming high-definition remasters of Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2, featuring Bahamut, Anima and more. Be sure to check them out below.
First announced back in September 2011, there is still no exact international release date but a release window of this winter (or summer, in Australia) is expected. The latest trailer shown was during Tokyo Game Show 2013.
Visual learner? Check out our video unboxing and review below!
Logitech’s long running G series of gaming accessories received a major refresh this year. The G100s took over as Logitech’s budget gaming mouse designed for RTS and MOBA games. The mouse features a traditional ambidextrous design with two programmable sensitivity settings, an invisible optical sensor, and a special hydrophobic and oleophobic coating.
The Logitech G100s is packaged in a simple box. Flipping open the box’s front cover reveals the mouse. Inside the box is the mouse, warranty information, and set up guide.
Installation of the G100s is very simple. Plug in the mouse and it is ready to go. The most noticeable feature of the mouse is actually the lack of distinct red glow of optical mice. The Logitech G100s actually uses a special Zero Delta optical sensor that does not project any visible light.
The sensor is capable of detecting 250 dpi to 2500 dpi, which is plenty for most RTS and MOBA players. However, high sensitivity FPS players may find the G100s’ sensor a little lacking. In my testing, I found the sensor to be accurate and smooth. The two preloaded sensitivity should work for most users. However, users can install the optional Logitech software to change the sensitivity settings to their preference.
The body of the mouse is the classic ambidextrous design. The same design can be seen in cheap quality mice that often come free with pre-packaged computers. Do not let the simple design fool you, there is a unique feature built into the mouse. The top of the mouse is coated with a hydrophobic coating that repels water. As a gamer who suffers from a mild case of sweaty hands, I noticed that the top of the mouse was much easier to grip without the need for a rubbery coating. I felt there was a big difference compared to my previous mouse used a hard plastic coating. Additionally, the left and right mouse buttons are coated with an oleophobic coating that helps repel fingerprints. After extensive use, the mouse buttons are a little shinier than the rest of the mouse, but there are no fingerprints in sight. The coating is pretty durable, as I was unable to scrape off the coating with a sharp fingernail. The oleophobic and hydrophobic coatings are found on many products in Logitech’s G line. It is a brilliant alternative to rubber coatings.
The mouse buttons have a nice crisp click to them. The click is the same practically anywhere I pressed the mouse button down. Logitech has rated the right and left mouse buttons to last up to 20 million clicks in their lifetime. The mouse wheel is smooth. It can only roll back and forth with a slight click as the wheel is spun. I liked the feel of the middle mouse button as it provides a nice crisp feedback, unlike the unpleasant mushy feeling of some mice. However, I would have preferred a texture mouse wheel. Although the rubbery wheel provides just enough grip, textured mouse wheels are definitely easier to manipulate. The sensitivity button is well placed below the mouse wheel. I found I could hit the button with one of my middle finger joints without having to shift the positioning of my fingers. The location makes it easy to drop down to a lower sensitivity while trying to snipe, then switch to a higher one once I needed to make my escape with a different weapon in hand.
Gamers who tend to palm their mouse will have no problems with the G100s. However, due to its long design, those who prefer to use a claw grip may have some problems. I have rather small hands and had difficulty comfortably using the mouse in a claw grip.
The bottom of the mouse is covered four mouse feet. The bottom one is exceptionally generous in size. I cannot find any documentation on what the feet are made from, but they feel as slick as the PTFE/Teflon mouse feet I have used in the past. In use, the mouse glides smoothly around my mouse pad.
The mouse cable is made from plain plastic. It is roughly six feet in length, which should suit most set ups. I would have preferred to see a slightly thicker cable as the gauge is rather anorexic. There is a small strain relief located where the mouse meets the cable, which should help lengthen the life of the mouse.
I am not a huge fan of the graphic design of the mouse. The body is black with gray markings that look like the Halo series reimagined for the 1980’s. Although the design is rather subtle, I found it a little tacky looking compared to the more simple designs in gaming accessories today. Also, I am not completely sure why a running stickman was chosen for the DPI setting buttons, but I suppose there are few better icons to describe DPI adjustments.
At $39.99, the G100s is a strange mouse. There are definitely mice available with a fuller set of features that would be considered necessary in a gaming mouse. The Logitech G100s lacks macros and thumb buttons, features its competitors are able to provide at a similar price point. For an extra $10, gamers can upgrade to the Logitech G300 which will provide 9 macroable keys and onboard memory.
If you are gaming on an extreme budget or have some burning passion for the classic ambidextrous mouse design, the G100s is a good choice. It provides a solid sensor and excellent grip for a mouse with no rubber coating. Users can program two sensitivity settings in the very accessible DPI adjustment buttons. However, the mouse is missing features considered standard in most gaming mice today, such as thumb buttons and macros. For the price, the G100s is an excellent option as a beater mouse that can be taken to LAN parties, thrown into bags, and exposed to other abuses without much worry. However, as a primary gaming mouse, there are better options at the price range.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
The game is set before the American Revolution with a female Assassin protagonist, Aveline, taking players through the streets of New Orleans, fetid swamps and ancient Mayan ruins. Players will have machetes, poison dart blowpipes, a whip and dueling pistols in their arsenal. The HD port will feature additional missions that explore Aveline’s story, as well as updated world design for more gameplay options during levels.
Those who pre-order the game on PS3 and PC via the PlayStation Network and Uplay will receive 25% off, while those who purchase the season pass for Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag will get the game 25% off on release day. The comparison shot below shows how, aside from the higher resolution, the aesthetic look has also been improved over the handheld version.
Telltale Games has just revealed the above image on Twitter, teasing the release of new information about the second season of The Walking Dead point and click series. Fans of the game will recognise that hat instantly as the one belonging to Clementine. The rest of Telltale’s Tweet is just as recognisable: “Keep that hair short”.
Of course we already knew that Clem was going to feature in the second season of the game thanks to Telltale’s reveal at this year’s San Diego Comic Con, which also mentioned that Kenny’s fate would be explored. Yet to be revealed is the involvement of the characters from 400 Days, which had several different outcomes available to players with regards to who formed a group at the end of the game.
The news is scheduled to hit at noon Pacific time tomorrow for the States, which will equate to 6am on Wednesday morning for Australian fans.
