Lights! Camera! ACTION! Today marks the release of the latest The Sims 3 expansion from EA, The Sims 3 Movie Stuff. Now you can bring the glitz and glamour of Hollywood into your Sims’ lives! Ever dreamed of being a film star? Live vicariously through your Sims!
Iconic genres are represented via three unique themes: Comic Book Blockbusters, Western Epics and Creepy Features. Players can set the stage for a tailored story within these genres by picking and incorporating various pieces of decor, clothing and other items. Have a superhero that needs their own signature lair ala Batman? Want to dress your Sims in old Victorian garb? You can do that and more in your pursuit of the perfect feature motion picture.
This is the silver screen manifested on your own home computer screens. The Sims 3 Movie Stuff is now available for purchase online and at retail stores worldwide. For those who purchase The Sims 3 Movie Stuff via Origin, they will also receive The Director’s Set, which includes multiple exclusive items and props.
The Island: Castaway 2 Developer:Awem Studio Publisher:G5 Entertainment AB Platforms: iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad) – Reviewed on iPhone Release Date: 12th September 2013 Price: Free – Available Here
Overview It’s time to go back to the island…before you even went there…it’s a prequel thing. Explore the island as Yati, a tribe child, as he journeys towards his future. Plagued by visons from the spirit world, just what is he to do? And who are these mysterious strangers who have ventured to the island?
Story The game opens with three sea faring voyagers, sent to a mysterious island to retrieve a sample of water. However, there is foul play afoot as hidden agendas and greed take hold. In addition to the water sample, two of these men seek something more, something valuable: Gold. The men break into a hidden chamber filled with golden idols, only to be stopped by a local tribesman. Then…it was all a dream, a premonition really.
The game then cuts to Yati, a tribe boy said to have dreams of the future. With that in mind, and after talking to some of his friendly tribe members, it is decided that it is time for Yati to become a fully fledged tribesman. In order to do so however, he must complete three trials. Once he does so, Yati must pick his life’s trade, be it warrior, gatherer or even shaman. But when strangers visit the island, Yati has yet another issue to deal with.
Over the course of the game, Yati engages in conversation with a number of various tribe members. The first time they are spoken to, a small text block appears explaining some details about their past. Whilst this does provide some characterisation, they never really go beyond their roles.
Gameplay Essentially the game boils down to fetch quests. Many, many fetch quests. Speak to someone, find out what they want, go get it. That’s the game. Despite the variations on what and how you’re supposed to gather something, the gameplay becomes repetitive fairly quickly. I mean, why exactly does one person need a salad made from six pieces of fruit? That’s a lot for one kid to eat…and collect.
One feature that helps alleviate the frustration of the quests is the map itself. By bringing up the island map, you can simply click on a characters respective markers, expressed as a star, Yati will automatically walk towards them. However, as you run around the island, Yati’s health bar will decrease. This can be annoying. The bar drains fairly fast, requiring you to eat in order to replenish energy. The controls can also be a bit of an issue, where tapping on the small screen is not too precise. This often results in overshooting your intended destination.
As the game progresses, Yati gains a number of new tools and abilities. One of the earliest skills gained is cooking. As you complete certain task, you gain access to new recipes, allowing you to make various dishes, each of which provides a larger health boost than individual foods. Yati also gains access to physical abilities such as fishing, planting and tree chopping, all of these things allow you to proceed with your tasks and make the tribes people happy. Amongst these physical tools, Yati also gains access to potions. These have varying effects and are brewed via a recipe. They grant powers such as faster running, shielding from animals and even teleportation, helping you move around the island with less hassle.
Visuals and Audio Castaway 2 features a crisp and clean visual style. The island itself is very vibrant, it is a tropical island after all. Whilst characters are conversing a picture of them will appear, providing a more detailed look at them not possible via the regular game view. The characters themselves are also fairly unique from one another, adding variation. Food also receives the same treatment, receiving a more detailed picture in the menu. Delicious.
Being that you are a tribe member on a tropical island, the music is very simple, yet upbeat. Bongos and flutes play heavily in the soundtrack, adding to the tropical island nature of the game. Castaway 2 also features voice acting which is…OK. Whilst not expressly bad, it’s not particularly good either. A lot of the time you can tell that the voice actors were reading off a script. Characters often sound flat, which takes away from the attempts to add a sense of personality.
Overall The Island: Castaway 2 is alright. Though the quests get repetitive fairly quickly, the game continues to add elements in an attempt to spice it up a little. The additions of tools and potions do add to the gameplay, but they too become routine. Having said that, it’s not a bad casual game. Explore the vibrant island, the mystery of Yati’s power and discover what the strangers are up to. Play for fun, just don’t expect an intricate and perilous tale.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Bethesda has announced that The Elder ScrollsAnthology is now available in Australia and New Zealand.For the first time in the history of the award-winning series, every iteration of The Elder Scrolls series will be compiledin one complete PC collection. Along with all five PC games, the anthology also includes the official add-ons for each title. Lets run through the list shall we:
Arena Assume the role of a lone prisoner and travel to Tamriel’s most famous and dangerous sites to collect the shattered Staff of Chaos and save the Empire from the evil Imperial battlemage, Jagar Tharn. The Anthology features the original version of Arena and will launch within a DOS emulator.
In all its DOS glory
Daggerfall The ancient golem Numidium, a powerful weapon once used to unify Tamriel has once again been unearthed. In the power struggle that follows, the King of Daggerfall is murdered and his vengeful spirit haunts the kingdom. The Emperor Uriel Septim VII sends you on a heroic path to put the king’s spirit to rest and ensure that the golem does not fall into the wrong hands. The Anthology features the original version of Daggerfall and will launch within a DOS emulator.
Tomorrow and tomorrow and Morrowind
Morrowind To fulfill an ancient prophecy, the Emperor sends you, an unknown Imperial courier, to the island of Vvardenfell to rid the land of Morrowind of a dark curse. Through a series of dangerous and magical quests, you are transformed into one of the Empire’s most enduring heroes. Also includes: Tribunal and Bloodmoon add-ons, plus The Elder Scrolls Construction Set.
Oblivion With the Empire ready to crumble, the gates of Oblivion open and demons march upon the land. In the shadow of evil, a hero will rise from the ashes of a fallen Empire. You must find the true heir of the Septim line and restore him to the Imperial throne, while unraveling the sinister plot that threatens to destroy all of Tamriel. Also includes: Knights of the Nine and Shivering Isles expansions.
This is a Fus Ro Deal
Skyrim Dragons, long lost to the passages of the Elder Scrolls, have returned to Tamriel. The future of Skyrim, even the Empire itself, hangs in the balance as they wait for the prophesized Dragonborn to come; a hero born with the power of The Voice, and the only one who can stand amongst the dragons. Also includes: Dawnguard, Hearthfire, and Dragonborn add-ons.
The Elder Scrolls Anthology will also include five physical maps, detailing the lands of Tamriel, Iliac Bay, Morrowind, Cyrodiil and Skyrim. Packaged together in an exclusive premium collector’s, the game will cost AU$99.99 and NZ$124.95. For more information, visit the official site. The scrolls have foretold…
Space Engineers is a sandbox game about engineering, construction and maintenance of space works. Players build space ships and space stations of various sizes and utilization (civil and military), pilot ships and perform asteroid mining.
Space Engineers is in alpha stage of development; core gameplay mechanics are mostly completed and, though its still far from complete, as Marek Rosa, the founder of Keen Software states, the video below shows a pretty full package already.
Keen Software is confirms that Space Engineers is “soon” to be available on Steam Early Access for the PC; other platforms have yet to be announced.
From what Marek Rosa states, Space Engineers takes the groundwork that Keen Software laid for Miner Wars and builds on it immensely.
“After finishing Miner Wars 2081, we could have proceeded with a sequel or an MMO, but we felt that first we need to focus on construction and sandbox mechanics, integrate them into our VRAGE engine, build a game that represents them in a best possible way – “Space Engineers” and then reuse them in our future games: a sequel to Miner Wars 2081, an MMO or something else.”
Thanks to a range of classification issues, Saints Row IV has seen an unusually long delay in Australia. But today gamers here can now play it on the Xbox 360 and PC, almost a month after our review. PlayStation 3 players unfortunately have to wait until September 20 which is over a week from now.
In Saints Row IV, the leader of the Saints has been elected to the Presidency of the United States. After an alien invasion, players wield various superpowers and fight to free humanity from alien Zinyak’s mental grasp.
Deep Silver and Volition have also released an accolade trailer which you can check out below.
According to Defamer, a “source close to the show” has noted that Joss Whedon had do a full-scale rewrite on the latest scripts from the set of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Looks like ABC’s highly anticipated Joss Whedon-produced drama is in need of a superhero. A source close to the show tells us that the latest scripts that have come in have been so bad, Whedon had to pull off a page one rewrite just an hour before the table read. Given that Whedon is supposed to be transitioning full showrunner responsibilities to his brother Jed Whedon and sister-in-law Maurissa Tancharoen so that he can focus on his 83 other film projects, this ain’t a good sign.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., created for ABC by Joss Whedon, is set to premiere later this month. If the rumor is true, it shouldn’t affect the premier, but may bring problems later on.
Full Boost adds over 20 new mobile suits, totalling some 90 units which players can pilot. The following Gundam series have been confirmed so far:
Mobile Suit Gundam
Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO
Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team
Mobile Suit Gundam Side Story: The Blue Destiny
Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket
Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory
Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam
Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ
Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack
Mobile Suit Crossbone Gundam: Steel Seven
Mobile Suit Victory Gundam
Mobile Fighter G Gundam
Mobile Suit Gundam Wing
Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz
After War Gundam X
Turn A Gundam
Mobile Suit Gundam Seed
Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Astray
Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Destiny
Mobile Suit Gundam Seed C.E.73: Stargazer
Mobile Suit Gundam 00
A PlayStation 3 port of the previous game, titled simply Mobile Suit Gundam: Extreme Vs., was released in 2011. Namco Bandai has given no indication whether it will release these games overseas, so expect a Japan-only release.
Get ready to shell out a few more influence Points; Riot Games, the masterminds behind League of Legends have announced the next addition to their impressive set of playable champions. Meet Ao Shin.
In Riot’s “Champion Sneak Peek” they mentioned that Ao Shin is a powerful storm dragon and guardian of the natural world. Legend holds that when Ionia faces its greatest crisis, Ao Shin will descend from the sky. But this isn’t the first time we’ve seen Ao Shin as he made a cameo in Spirit Guard Udyr, an animated and interactive comic based within the realm of League.
Check out more of the sneak peek:
Let’s start with the inspiration for his name: Ao is the family name of the mythological dragon kings, who rule water and weather. This tells us right away that this is a powerful, elegant being, above the concerns and rules of men. Shin can mean many things, one of which is prosperity. It also means a rising storm. Ao Shin embodies this elemental duality, capable of raining good fortune on his allies and, in the very next breath, bringing stormy, thunderous ruin upon his foes.
The community’s been asking for a dragon champion for some time, but we knew we couldn’t just do any dragon. With each new champ, we try and push the limits of what’s technically and creatively possible. Ao Shin is no different. One of the challenges we’re looking forward to tackling is how to capture his unique anatomy and movement in a way that brings a new dimension to the champion pool. It’s too early to go into much detail, but we’re really excited about the ways this champion will move across the battlefield.
Ao Shin isn’t the next champion scheduled to come out, so he’s still a ways off, but it’s still exciting news. Like Riot states “Hopefully you’re as excited about his potential as we are to keep working on him!”
This October for only $0.99, the Rabbids are making space their playground. Rabbids Big Bang is being developed by Ubisoft Paris, who have handled the brand since 2006.
Key Features:
Rabbid Control!: In this physics-based game, players will pilot the crazy critters in their jetpacks, controlling their trajectory and utilising the gravitational pull of nearby planets. But you must manage your jetpack fuel consumption… you don’t want to be stranded in deep space.
150 Missions: Reaching specified speeds, bouncing off of space cows and crash-landing on various planetoids are just some of the wacky objectives to look forward to.
Customisation: Over your play-through, you will collect coins that can be used to buy upgrades for your jetpack, new disguises and outfits, power-ups and other special items.
Signature Humour: Meet space duckies, fly to cheese planets and scream Bwaaah! as you get too close to the sun and get sunburnt (how fun!).
Check out first screenshots in the gallery below, and the reveal trailer embedded at the bottom of this article.
For the first time ever in the series’ history, Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millennium Girl will have a definitive story mode. But die hard fans won’t have to worry too much as there is still a certain mode for those who like the freedom of the main Etrian Odyssey games.
This gameplay mode is the Classic Mode which offers players the first Etrian Odyssey title with only the main upgrades to the game, sans story mode. To show off the Classic Mode Atlus USA has released a new trailer for the game which can be seen below. As for the game itself, it is set to be released on October 1st.
At 
