Filmmakers Jeanette Garcia and Daryl Rodriguez, from Miami are creating a documentary on the history of video games, with the help from Kickstarter. The film is said to star many gaming innovators such as Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell, Activision co-founder David Crane, Centipede co-creator Dona Bailey, Adventure creator Warren Robinett, Night Driver creator Dave Shepperd, Atari VCS Donkey Kong programmer Garry Kitchen and many others.
The first chapter in the documentary series is World 1-1 and focuses on Atari, how Atari created a new industry, and follow video game history from Steve Jobs to the first popular home console. Using a combination of interviews, archival footage, and reflection, it retells the story of the roots of our favourite past time.
In World 1-1, we will see the early games that existed before the arcade era. We will also see how innovative Atari was to create the games industry years before it should have happened and follow the highs, falls and devastating mistakes that almost destroyed the entire industry.
Australia will be premiering the opening of a new cinematic experience, ‘TILT Action Sports Film Festival’, from November 11-15 this year. Sports fans can expect to see the world’s biggest surf, skate and snow icons, including; Mick Fanning,Tony Hawk, Danny Way, iconic film director, Taylor Steele and many more sporting heroes featuring in the documentary action films.
Presented by Sony Action Cam and Garage Entertainment, with support from Event Cinemas in the nation’s capitals and a host of regional independent theatre’s; TILT aims to create an extreme -double feature- sports movie experience for only $15 (concession) and $20 (adults) per night.
Michael Lawrence, Director of Garage Entertainment stated, “TILT Festival is a festival of stories, for movie-goers who love stories. Rather then being about action sports, these films are some of the most compelling stories behind its stars, set against a backdrop of adventure that will visually inspire. TILT brings these films to the big screen – where they belong”.
As shown in the preview trailer below, the film festival dedicates a double-feature film each night for the main sports themes:
11/11-Snow: McCONKEY (feature length documentary about the late freeskiing and ski-BASE jumping Shane McConkey)
12/11-Skate: Bones Brigade (story of Tony Hawk, Rodney Mullen), Waiting for Lightning (biopic about Danny Way)
13/11-Surf: Serendipity (Anthony Hussein Hinde’s journey of discovery in Maldives), Innersection: Black (debuts 13 sections of pure surfing footage filmed globally in Taylor Steele & Nathan Myers open-source free-surfing comp)
14/11-Snow: Few Words (Candide Thovex’s highs/lows as a world champion freestyle/free-ride skier), Into the Mind (exploring how athletes overcome the fatal risks to achieve their sporting goals)
15/11-Surf: Fanning the Fire (celebrating Mick Fanning), Missing (Taylor Steele’s film inspired by Fanning, who takes a life changing global adventure over 21 days)
‘TILT Action Sports Film Festival’ will run in the following locations; NSW Event Cinemas (Bondi Junction, Cronulla, Newcastle, Shellharbour) and Independent Cinemas (Avoca), VIC Village Cinemas (Jam Factory, Geelong), SA Event Cinema (Marion), QLD Event Cinemas (Coolangatta, Pac Fair and Noosa), WA Event Cinema (Innaloo) and TAS Event Cinema (Hobart).
Don’t miss out on the epic sports adventure this November, book your TILT tickets here.
Alrighty. Here we are once more to look into the ongoing experience that is Kill la Kill. It’s Episode 3, following on from Episode 2 (see I can count) and it’s time to take a little look into that leader we all love to hate: Satsuki Kiryuin.
As the episode begins we are treated to a flashback and get to see Kiryuin back when she was a cute little kid, not the stern faced, totalitarian leader we all know today. We learn that she was promised a Kamui of her own, named Junketsu (Purity), as her “wedding dress” and is more than a little ticked of that someone in the world beat her to the punch and wore one of these powerful garments…and you do not want to tick this lady off.
Doing things in half measures never works
We jump back to class, which is once again about Germany, with Ryuko staring daggers at her “teacher” Mikisugi. After following instructions he left pinned to Mako, poor girl, they meet to discuss the whole Kamui situation and the information he promised her for serving that tennis pro some justice. After he makes himself a little to comfortable, Mikisugi explains the make-up of the Goku Uniforms. As it so happens there exists a material known as Life Fibres which can draw out the potential in humans. One Star Uniforms are 10% Life Fibre, Two Star are 20% and Three Star are 30%. However, the Kamui are revealed to be a startling 100% comprised of these wonderful fibres…hence the power.
Meanwhile at the Sewing Club Hideout…
An experiment is taking place. One to create a new weapon, a uniform with 50% Life Fibre purity. Deciding to sew the uniform onto a captive student, it is then decided that this was indeed a bad idea, as the student begins to hulk out and go on a rampage. The situation is contained by the mysterious Houka Inumuta, after which he ponders the ability of some to wear the 100% pure Kamui when their 50% test was such a failure. Makes ya think doesn’t it?
A new power is born
Bringing it back to the flashback, Kiryuin decides to visit her old home and change up her wardrobe a little. Declaring that she will embrace even shame to further her goals, she dons the second Kamui and reveals her true power…and much, much more.
Without going into too much detail, Kiryuin and Ryuko meet once more…and it’s a lot more violent this time. It’s Kamui vs Kamui and no one is holding anything back…intentionally. Senketsu reveals to Ryuko that she has not been using her true power in her previous fights. It appears that her embarrassment may be limiting her acceptance of her true Kamui form and all the awesome, sexy strength that comes with it. So after coming to terms with the visual nature of Senketsu, Ryuko unlocks some wicked power and continues her fight with the President. It’s pretty cool. After some epic blows are dealt by each contender, the fight is called of…for now. Kiryuin decides that if Ryuko longs for a rematch, she will first have to battle her entire entourage of faithful lackeys. Ryuko gladly accepts this challenge, exclaiming that Kiryuin must reveal the truth to her when she wins. With the terms set and desires burning strong, it’s looking to be an all out school rumble.
Mako takes the stage
All in all, Kill la Kill continues full speed on its path through crazy awesome town. This episode does however provide us with some more details regarding the power of clothing and the truth behind the mysterious Kamui. Still not sure why papa Matoi made it so revealing…I’m just chalking that up to an anime trope at this point. Swords clashed, fabric shredded and teachers stripped…pretty standard really.
Ace of Diamond Episode 3 – Not Qualified to be a Pitcher?
At every turn, Ace of Diamond throws a curve ball that knocks all expectations right out of the park. It isn’t often that a sports anime can truly provide genuine and impactful surprises, but such was the case with the latest episode of Ace of Diamond.
Expected Eijun to join Seidou’s Baseball Team and quickly get involved in some games? Well that doesn’t look to be the case. Rather then having Eijun make it onto the team and start playing for Seidou, he has some major obstacles thrown his way. Due to some hazing from upper classmen, Eijun makes a terrible first impression on the teams coach and instantly mires himself as nothing but a kid running laps, not even worthy of being a bench warmer in this tough coach’s eyes.
We come to fully understand how difficult Seidou Academy is going to be for Eijun when we learn that the team has over 100 players in their roster, but only 9 can play in games. The cream has to rise to the top one way or another and it is not gonna be an easy road for Eijun. After failing a throwing test from Coach Kataoka, Eijun is told that he must give up on playing as a pitcher. The tragedy here is that Eijun’s natural curve ball pitch worked against him here, if he had thrown a straight ball it would not have been a problem. But we get the sense that Kataoka is more aware of Eijun’s talent than he lets on.
Eijun struggles to adjust to the tough nature of Seidou Academy and must come to the harsh realization that maybe his dreams are simply out of reach. He carries a heavy burden indeed but we see that he is resolute to fulfill his promise to his friends back home. He is set on becoming Seidou’s ace. What the coach has to say on the matter, means nothing to Eijun. He will become the ace of the diamond, that much is true in his mind at least.
Interestingly this episode isn’t exactly focused primarily on Eijun’s struggle to win over the coach, but rather it focuses on building the setting of Seidou Academy and its expansive cast of characters. We are introduced to several characters that look to be major players in the series moving forward. We met Kazuya last week, but this time around we meet Eijun’s room-mates and of course their no nonsense coach. Each character is pretty well detailed in the episode and we get a greater look at this intriguing school.
While at first Ace of Diamond appeared to be your standard sports anime with a hint of something special, we seem to be heading into territory reminiscent of something like Silver Spoon. This baseball school scenario is certainly a fresh idea and it is hard not to be swept up in the antics of Eijun on his path to becoming a ‘legendary ace’. The question does remain though, when will we see some baseball action?
Thus far we have seen plenty of theory behind the sport and gotten a glimpse at why these characters love it so very much, but we have yet to see a proper game play out. Will Ace of Diamond being playing the long game or will we get straight into the action sooner rather than later? It remains to be seen where Ace of Diamond will head from here, but for now Eijun’s struggles to make it onto the team are thoroughly engaging.
The take away here is the sense of realism to Ace of Diamond that eclipses its theatrics. Not all hopes and dreams are able to accomplished, sometimes life gets in the way. It looks to be the story Ace of Diamond aims to spin, a bittersweet tale of sacrifice.
To celebrate the recent release of FIFA 14 – and in the name of competitive spirit – EA Sports has announced the launch of Thank FIFA 14 it’s Friday, or #TFIFA14IF, where players are challenged to compete and win in FIFA 14 play-offs, or pay the penalty. Sounds more ominous than it is…
To accompany the launch, FIFA Apology Rules – a set of competitive challenges that friends can assign to each other should they lose their FIFA 14 showdown – have also been established. From the tricky, to the flat out wacky, these are very social and ultimately add to the fun of the festivities. EA Sports would love players to hold their own FIFA parties and create their own additions. They’re also encouraged to share photos and videos using the hashtag #TFIFA14IF, the best of which are to be shared with the community at large on the EA Games Australia Facebook group. Here are a few examples:
Give your friend a “WAG” makeover
Strike a pose like a model on a magazine cover
Bow down and worship your winner five times!
Arbie Artinian, EA SPORTS Label Marketing Manager, said;
The competitive spirit fuelled by a game of FIFA has been around for as long as the game itself. Now with the FIFA Apology Rules and Thank FIFA 14 it’s Friday movement, we are supporting our community in taking this up a notch. With a whole new level of realistic gameplay, enhanced ball physics, new venues and more teams from across the globe to play than ever before, FIFA fans now have the opportunity to take the game to a whole new level, and put their skills in the spotlight via a friendly #TFIFA14IF showdown.
EA Sports will also be setting these challenges across its live and outdoor FIFA 14 program, featuring a range of FIFA Apology tasks alongside the FIFA 14 Vans as they take the FIFA competitive spirit across the Australian Eastern seaboard.
There is nothing like the roar of aircraft engines done right in videogames. Particularly when it’s the humble splutter of propeller-driven planes. Wargaming has released a new video for flight combat MMO World of Warplanes, giving us an insight into how their audio engineers recorded real engine sounds at Planes of Fame Air Museum in Chino, California. See it below!
The video shows off the accuracy of engine and afterburner sounds from different camera angles in-game, recorded right from the tarmac of the airstrip. World of Warplanes is available to play for free on the PC.
We had a lengthy interview with the guys from Wargaming at EB Games Expo 2013 about the upcoming Tankasia Tournament. Be sure to check it out!
No developer has been quite as busy as Creative Assembly lately. In what must have been the biggest post-launch hangover in recent times, they’ve been slaving away, ridding Total War: Rome II of its numerous bugs and issues. Despite this, other post-launch plans are still going ahead with the release of the Seleucid Empire Pack for free and a Steam Workshop Mode Update.
The Seleucid Empire are renowned for their civil engineering and make use of professional cavalry regiments. The free update features unique units, building and tech trees as well as a new wonder, the Paradise of Daphne.
Equally as important, the fifth major patch is included as well promising to fix more performance issues and improve gameplay balancing. Notable fixes include faster Campaign AI decision-making, a loading auto-save crash and Campaign UI optimisation that improve frame rates. For full patch notes you can visit here.
Also included is Steam Workshop support and activation of the mod manager in the Total War Launcher. Be sure to check out our review of the strategy game from last month.
Sony‘s Worldwide Studios has released some brand new information on the world and characters of Knack – a premier first-party launch title for the PlayStation 4. Knack harkens back to the good ol’ days of Crash Bandicootand Spyro the Dragon, and for more than a few reasons – of particular note, all three IP’s were helped in being brought to life by Mark Cerny (Director of Knack), who is also the Lead System Architect on the PlayStation 4.
We played an early build of the title at the EB Games Expo 2013, which felt like a PG-rated God of War in respect to certain gameplay conventions and level structure. The game feature 2-player local co-op (which will be detailed at a later time), with a narrative told through 90 minutes of fully mo-capped cinematics dealing with Knack becoming the world’s “secret weapon” against a goblin threat, and the origins of the mysterious ancient relics that power everything on the planet. Below you will find brief descriptions of each main character; check out the gallery at the bottom of this article for screens, not only of them, but of general gameplay and the various forms of Knack himself.
Doctor – Knack’s creator is a genius but can be moody and impetuous at times. He also raised Lucas since the boy’s parents died, so he’s pulling double duty as a father figure. Although he’s not always good at it…
Ryder – Lucas’ uncle is a brave adventurer and explorer who is invaluable to the mission to defeat the goblins.
Lucas – Very level headed for such a young age, and Knack’s best friend.
Viktor – A billionaire industrialist who makes his fortune mining the ancient relics that provide power for electricity, machinery, vehicles and more. He brings his powerful robots on the expedition to discover more about the goblin threat.
Katrina – Viktor’s head of security, she’s tough and composed no matter what occurs.
Metal Knack – Very tough and powerful (and my favourite), but being made of metal also means you’re magnetic. Which can lead to some interesting problems!
Wood Knack – one of the biggest versions of Knack in the game. And while wood is easy to find, it does burn easily! That said, if you are on fire you can use that to access some extra areas…
With the next Pokemon movie on it’s way over to Australia, Beyond Entertainment (who hold the rights to distribution down here) and Hoyts Cinemas will be hosting special preview screenings all across Australia and New Zealand for Pokemon The Movie: Genesect and the Legend Awakened. The actual DVD release of the movie is set for the 4th of December and will retail for $19.95 but big fans of the Pokemon franchise will be able to see the movie early by heading to a selected Hoyts Cinema on either Saturday the 16th of November at 1pm or Sunday the 17th of November also at 1pm.
– A List Of Participating Cinemas –
As you may have noticed, some of the cinemas around the country will also be hosting a special Pokemon TCG (Trading Card Game) demonstration that will happen at the selected locations before the feature actually begins so if you’re a fan of the TCG or you think you may want to try getting into the game I suggest you head to those particular locations early to check it out. To coincide with the release of the movie there will also be the “Grand Pokemon Contest” which Beyond Entertainments in partnership with Banter Toys and Collectibles, Nintendo and Tomy have organised. They plan to give away a huge Pokemon prize pack worth $2,300 with 10 runner-ups getting the 16th Pokemon Movie on DVD. The competition will be closing on November the 24th at 5:00pm and prizes will be drawn on the 27th of November at 1:00pm. You can enter the competition on the Grand Pokemon Contest website here.
Now, just as a reminder to everyone; the special Pokemon The Movie: Genesect and the Legend Awakened movie screenings will be held at several, specific Hoyts Cinemas around Australia and New Zealand on the 16th and 16th of November at 1pm with certain locations holding a Pokemon Trading Card Game demonstration before the movie screening, the DVD release of the movie is set for the 4th of December and will retail for $19.95. The 16th Pokemon movie isn’t too far away from hitting our shores so get geared up, start training your Pokemon pals and get ready for the awesomeness that is Pokemon The Movie: Genesect and the Legend Awakened.
Ethan: Meteor Hunter Developer: Seaven Studio Publisher: Seaven Studio Platforms: PC (reviewed), PlayStation 3 Release Date: 22 October, 2013 Price: $9.90 – Available Here
Overview
French independent developers Seaven Studio have a lot riding on Ethan: Meteor Hunter. After the closure of Hydravision Entertainment in 2012, a handful of the team got their life savings together and formed Seaven Studio. Taking the indie plunge allowed them to keep Ethan: Meteor Hunter alive, and the game marks the first release of the newborn studio.
A puzzle platformer with a telekinetic mouse as its star, Ethan boasts fifty levels over the course of three different game worlds, with a variety of play styles to mix up the action. There’s an even balance between the puzzle and platform elements of the game, and as it is swift to tell you, “Winners don’t use drugs. They use a gamepad”.
Gameplay
The first thing to say is pay attention to that warning about the gamepad. Whilst the mouse and keyboard does work it is by no means as comfortable or as fluid as using an Xbox 360 or PS3 controller – for the best experience plug in!
As well as the usual jump and move staples Ethan also has the ability to slide, and somewhat more unusually, stop time and move objects with his mind. The ability is limited by the number of pause tokens that the player picks up, and not every object can be chucked around at will. Instead Ethan can only move certain objects within a given area, and uses up a token every time time is stopped and an object is moved.
The developers have made great use of the mechanic, throwing in numerous different gameplay styles that range from Professor Layton like block shifting puzzles to switching around platforms with precision timing. Any gaffs are quickly erased by a nifty rewind button that takes you back to the nearest checkpoint, and the ability to rotate objects is sapped of frustration by being able to snap them into the more useful angles. The physics system is very precise, and together with the tricky nature of the level design demands the full attention of the player – some of the puzzles may not be kiddie friendly and the degree of accuracy that some of the block shifting demands can be a little frustrating.
Ethan: Meteor Hunter is one of those platformers that can produce a great deal of frustration, but it is frustration of the best kind- a “I’m going to get past this if it’s the last thing I do!” kind of feeling. Whilst it starts off in a fairly kind way, the game quickly builds the challenge level -it throws in plenty of unexpected pitfalls and seemingly impossible set ups, as well as pogo stick and flying levels and chase sequences to keep players on their toes.
Puzzles and platforming sections alike are made more complex by the fact that wooden platforms will burn, metals ones will conduct electricity and some will fall apart upon landing. Timing is a must, and the puzzles are demanding enough to fire up the old grey matter.
As one trailer of the game is keen to point out, there are many and more ways to die in Ethan: Meteor Hunter. And unless players have ninja like reaction times, Vulcan logic and more luck than the Irish there is no way some of the later levels are not going to electrocute, squash, shred or otherwise kill off poor old Ethan at least five times a pop. Thankfully the check points are fair and respawning is quick, so it is very easy to just keep going – timer be damned!
As well as being ranked by time, every level also dishes out ratings based on how many pause tokens are used and the number of meteor fragments collected. The fragments can often be scattered in places that require extremely well timed platforming skills, so bundle that with some block puzzles that simply aren’t going to be cracked instantly and there is plenty of reason to revisit the levels.
Visuals
Ethan is a side scrolling platformer with a simple cartoon style reminiscent of Little Big Planet. Whilst not as detailed as Craftworld there are still some dynamic touches to the backgrounds and levels that give each of the three worlds a distinct theme. The presentation is clear and crisp, and although Ethan isn’t the most complex character model he still gets some funny death animations that add a touch of personality to the game. But why does he fall asleep so quickly? When new gameplay elements like electricity or mousetraps are introduced the visuals make the new ideas easy to grasp without the need for pace killing tutorials, allowing players to get on with the business of dying in new and unexpected ways!
Audio
The audio elements of Ethan: Meteor Hunter are solid. The effects and the music have a bit of a sci fi bent to them, and the themes for each level match up with the visual motifs of the three worlds. The music has some bounce to it which grows as you progress through the level. What the game is lacking is any vocalisation for Ethan, as kooky as his death animations are it would have been great to have some exclamations to go with them to give him a bit more personality. As it is the game is a little lacking in that department, but it’s a forgiveable slight given how good the rest of it is.
Overall
Ethan: Meteor Hunter is a great puzzle platformer that at it’s best is reminescent of Crash Bandicoot. Inject Ethan with a little more pizzazz and give the whole thing more story and humour and Seaven Studio could have a real treat on their hands. The telekinesis mechanic is implemented extremely well and the difficulty will keep even seasoned platformers on their toes. The gameplay and execution are top notch, all Ethan needs is a little more flavour.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
