As we’ve seen before with Colette, Namco Bandai are releasing trailers featuring specific characters from Tales of Symphonia and Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World. The latest character to be highlighted happens to be the female ninja who was sent to assassinate Colette only to have a change of heart and assist the group in their journey.
I’m talking of course about Sheena Fujibayashi. You can check out the video below to see her in action and keep an eye out for Tales of Symphonia Chronicles when it is released in the West sometime in 2014 exclusively for the PlayStation 3.
As Tecmo Koei announced yesterday, Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate will feature 231 costumes on disc, a major upgrade from the game’s original 114 costumes. Today the Japanese branch of the company released a new trailer showing off some of the new costumes that will be in the game, which appear to be race queen outfits for the female members of the roster.
The video can be seen below while the game itself, which features not only new costumes but also more playable characters, more gameplay modes and plenty of other adjustments, will hit store shelves in the West sometime in September for the PS3 and 360.
For many of you, the name Steve Ballmer may not ring a bell. However he is the decade long CEO of Microsoft and it appears that he will now be on his way out. In a message sent to his employees Ballmer said that “There is never a perfect time for this type of transition, but now is the right time.”
Once a replacement is found, Ballmer will be leaving Microsoft. As for who will be making the decision to choose Ballmer’s replacement, a committee including Bill Gates and many others have been organized to see who will take his place. In a rather interesting sign of the times, perhaps thanks to the Xbox One’s initial issues, Microsoft’s stock actually rose a few percent as this news was revealed.
Whenever fans of a game or show like a character enough, they’ll occasionally create an outfit to cosplay as that character. However to craft your very own real-life suit of armor takes things to a whole new level. In an effort to promote Dark Souls II, Namco Bandai commissioned a professional blacksmith to create a real suit of armor based off of the armor that the warrior has been wearing in all of Dark Souls II‘s promo material so far.
The full seven minute video can be seen below. As for the game itself, it is set to be released on the PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 in March 2014.
Library Wars: Love & War Volume 3 Author:Kiiro Yumi Illustrator: Kiiro Yumi Publisher:Viz Media/Madman Release Date:March 10, 2013 Price: $14.95 – Available Here
Overview Library Wars has had some teething issues with volume 1 and volume 2, but with this third volume things are beginning to click for the oddball shojo manga. The series has always been somewhat rocky in terms of balancing its high concept with its romance elements, but with this volume the balance is just right. The stakes are higher than ever and Library Wars is finally at long last kicking things into gear.
Story One thing that has hampered the last two volumes of Library Wars was the incredibly low stakes, even when we got our first taste of the titular war there was never a sense of danger or excitement. All that changes with volume three, which is finally starting to reach its potential.
Iku and Dojo’s burgeoning relationship is thrown through the ringer once more with neither being able to see the other’s perspective. The romance aspect of the first volume is revisited with Dojo taking center-stage in this volume and the story is all the better for it. Of all of Iku’s potential princes, Dojo is the one that she undoubtedly connects best with. He is easily the deepest male character in the series and is one that is still shrouded in a great deal of mystery.
The war over censorship takes a turn for the worse in this volume, with the violence being kicked up a notch, showing the murderous extent that the enemy will go to in order to censor these books and by extension the world. There is real stakes here and that is something the series has sorely needed. We have needed to feel for these characters and with this volume we are finally starting to have a reason to.
Kiiro Yumi is finally beginning to grasp the story she is trying to tell and this volume shows that things are finally beginning to fall into place now. With the wild cliffhanger this volume concludes with, the series is finally paying off for all its wheel-spinning in the first two volumes. Library Wars has just suddenly got a lot more intriguing and thank god for that.
Artwork With this volume Yumi has noticably improved with her frame-work and action sequences. In the past the action and panelling of Library Wars came off as resoundingly amateurish, however that is no longer the case as they have improved wonderfully here. There is a sense of movement to the art that the series just hasn’t had up until this point. Not only that but the detail in the art has remained consistent which is definitely a good thing. Yumi tries a few new techniques in this volume, breaking out of the comfort zone the series has been in and it is to great effect. Undoubtedly the art of Library Wars has increased in quality with volume 3.
Extra Content Much like the previous two volumes, Library Wars volume 3 features an impressive amount of bonus content throughout. Included are small comedy 4koma between some chapters, author comments placed throughout and even two full fledged bonus filler chapters. This is more than the average manga offers and it does well to add more bang to your buck for Library Wars.
Overall Library Wars takes a turn for the better with its third volume and it is a turn that has been a long time coming. The potential that the series has shown is finally close to being reached. With the cliffhanger this volumes leaves us on, volume 4 is pegged to be an interesting one to say the very least.
While the series has been a mixed bag for the early goings of its run, it is now balancing out quite nicely and finding its footing at long last. Library Wars volume 3 appears to be a turning point for the series. It is an oddball shojo series without a doubt, but it can be a lot of fun because of that. Yumi has finally found her confidence as a mangaka and this volume hints at bigger and better things to come.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
If you happen to own a copy of Dragon’s Crown, our review of which can be found here, then you may have noticed that both versions of the game now have a new patch waiting to be downloaded. Rather than simply fix bugs and tweak some of Dragon’s Crown‘s gameplay, Atlus USA has also added a few new features to the game. The full list of changes can be found below:
[Bug Fixes]
Stabilized network connectivity during online gameplay.
[New Features]
Hidden items can now be uncovered by simply moving the finger cursor over their location.
The item hotkeys can now also be accessed by holding the L1 Button (PS3)/L Button (PSVita).
Dagger and Bomb items can now be thrown diagonally by pressing Up on the Left Stick + Triangle button.
An option to fix all items at once in your bags has been added to Morgan’s item shop.
In the Options Menu, you can now select the area you wish to be matched in for online play.
[Feature modifications]
Arrow drops will increase according to how many Elf characters are in the party.
The visibility of inventory Runes while the player is near the bottom of the screen has been improved.
Other tuning and minor improvements to various gameplay elements were made.
Also to help out those who are trying to reach the pinnacle of power, the company has also released suggested skills for each class:
Join Capsule Computers editor Joe Morgan as he recaps all of the video game, anime, movie, and manga reviews for the week of August 11 – August 17, 2013. This feature is intended as a way to give you, our readers, a quick recap of every game we’ve reviewed on the site each week. The goal is to let you get the review information you want in five minutes or less.
As you may know, the first ever Japan Expo USA kicked off today and we now have some of the first announcements from the event have been made. Yen Press held their panel today and during the panel the company announced that they have acquired the license to release Reki Kawahara’s Sword Art Online and Accel World light novel series in North America.
Besides these light novels, the company also said that the manga arcs for Sword Art Online Aincrad and Sword Art Online Fairy Dance will also be released as well as the Puella Magi Madoka Magica: The Different Story manga series. Currently the first volume for each of these light novels and manga are currently planned for release sometime early in 2014.
Rockstar Games have updated theirGrand Theft Auto V Travelogue, showcasing three new areas of recreational activity for GTAV fans to explore in Los Santos and Blaine County, before the game is released next month on Xbox 360 and PS3.
The beautiful West Coast destination offers:
Exclusive Country Clubs: Los Santos Golf Club provides members with an exclusive V.I.P experience; where custom and formality are prioritised, women are carefully selected and you can privately tee off with the privileged and pompous.
Local Artisans: join the customer wall of shame at the local tattoo parlours, Ink Inc or Blazing Tattoo, and let one of the talented and highly-trained artists help you make a decision that will last forever.
Serenity & Wellness: visit the Master Private Yoga Instructor, Fabien LaRouche to practice deeply spiritual poses that you can contort your body into; including the Downward Facing Camel, Punching Starfish and Lucky Triangle.
Trevor: Cut Here
Before Grand Theft Auto V‘s release September 17, go to the official GTAV website for further updates on the travelogue and official artwork for Grand Theft Auto Online and Trevor: Cut Here.
Check out the Grand Theft Auto V screenshots in the gallery below and let us know what you think of the upcoming game in the comments section below.
Incipio’s DualPro iPhone 5 Case is a plastic hard shell case with a silicone core. It is available in a large variety of colour combinations, from the plain black on black to the eye catching Cherry Blossom Pink on Charcoal Gray.
The release of the iPhone 5 has brought a change in Incipio’s packaging. Gone are the slightly dangerous clear plastic box in favour of a package design that is best described as a plastic sardine can. The edges in the new packaging are duller and allow easier access to the contents. A sticker is cut and the plastic cover can be removed like a pull tab tin can lid. The case is securely attached to the box which require a good bit of force to “pop” out. As a person who has been cut several times, including one unpleasant incident that drew blood, with previous packaging, I thoroughly approve of the new packaging.
Inside the package is the case and the usual Incipio pack-ins. Along with the case, the DualPro contains a cheap screen protector, a microfiber cleaning cloth, and an application card. The screen protector is the crystal clear type and works well considering it is a freebie.
The case itself is a two piece case. The bottom-most piece is a silicone sleeve that fits around the iPhone 5 and a rigid polycarbonate piece that Incipio calls “Plextonium” that fits over the sleeve. Installation is a simple affair. Simply slip the silicone piece over the phone, line up one of the long edges of the phone to the plastic piece, and snap the polycarbonate piece over the silicone. The silicone has indents and a small rectangular Incipio logo that will ensure the plastic cover sits correctly. The silicone is stiff enough that there is few problems with the plastic shell pinching the silicone against the phone. The core also has enough give that the fit is well balanced. The core will not look baggy like a teenager wearing his father’s suit to his first interview or too tight like an overstuffed sausage.
Removing the case is just as easy. Pulling on the edge of the plastic piece out and away from the phone will cause the plastic piece to pop off. It takes a reasonable amount of force to remove and is practically impossible to remove without intentional effort.
The silicone core provides drop protection for the phone. It is thick enough to survive drops that would result from every day use. The silicone layer in the corners are a little thin compared to the top and bottom edges. The plastic frame envelopes most of the case, leaving thicker silicone for the top, bottom, and a small portion of the side. This allows access for the Lightning port, speakers, headphone port, mute switch, and all of the buttons. The case is very friendly for those who like to rest their phone face down on tables. Not only is there a generous lip on the case, the silicone actually extends to the front of the phone. The coverage reaches the proximity sensor and the home button respectively. The screen will rest about a millimeter from the surface of the table when placed screen down.
The plastic frame is coated in a rubbery material. It provides a little extra grip in the hand but is still slick enough to slide into a pocket without snagging. The silicone is of high quality as it has maintained its shape and a reasonably slick surface that does collect pocket lint like cheaper quality materials.
Nice sized ridges are cut out in the silicone to represent the volume and sleep buttons. I found it extremely easy to manipulate the buttons by feel when my phone was in a pocket or a bag. The cut out for the mute switch is generous which allows even a thumb to flick the switch. The headphone port has a healthy sized cut out that will accept many different cable sizes. Because Incipio’s silicone material has some stretch to it, even the my thickest cables designed for home entertainment systems could just barely squeeze its way through the provided hole. With that cable, the core did push the cable back out a little, but it was still able to make a clean connection. The largest headphone cable should have no problem with the Incipio DualPro case.
The camera hole is a large and generous sized cut out in the back of the case. My test unit is a neon yellow silicone core with a gray plastic frame which initially made me worry that it would potentially lead to problems with the flash. However, the silicone hole is cut larger than the plastic frame’s hole and ringed with a matte black plastic which results in no problems with case related flash glare.
In terms of thickness, the Incipio DualPro is an average sized case. The case is pretty light at 1.1 ounces which is a very usable weight for every day purposes. It adds 5.1mm of depth to the iPhone 5. In hand, it felt about as thick as an iPhone 4 with a slim case. Although it may not fit in the front pocket of your favourite tight skinny jeans, it will fit in the front pocket of most pants. The rubbery matte finish on the plastic shell is a pleasure to hold. It feels silky soft without being slippery. It is actually a bit addictive to touch.
The Incipio DualPro iPhone 5 case is an excellent general purpose case. The case is available in a plethora of colour options that will suit everyone’s fashion style. Priced at $29.99, the DualPro is definitely on the higher price range. However, the quality of materials is high. The silicone core performs well with none of the problems associated with cheaper materials, like the inability to hold its shape, excessive stretching, and stickiness. Plus, Incipio throws in a screen protector to provide all round protection for the device. The case feels great in the hands and can withstand a few mild bumps and drops. The DualPro is highly recommended for any iPhone 5 owner needing a little extra protection.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
As you may know, the first ever Japan Expo USA 
