This week on CC Unplugged, we are fresh off the heels of PAX Australia and Comic-Con- and with that comes some new events and opinions that Dustin Spencer, Luke Halliday, and Andrew Day have come together to speak about. We also touch up on the normal gaming relating jargon, Power Rangers being our closet fandom, and talk about some upcoming titles and how life is treating us in the world of Animal Crossing. It is a pretty interesting gathering, so make sure you give this show a listen.
So grab a power coin, tell Your Friends, and prepare to get UNPLUGGED!
Be sure to listen to our past CC Unplugged episodes here.
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It was recently announced that the 2013J-Pop Summit Festival will be receiving a number of new performances thanks to Toyota and Studio4˚C teaming up to present Peace Eco Smile (PES) during the event. PES take place in a large tent stationed in the center of the festival where a number of events will be held, including live appearances by special guests of honor, music video screenings and more.
Some of the artists that will be performing at the PES tent include girls band LoVendoЯ, which features Reina Tanaka and Marina Okada on vocals and Yuki Uozumi and Marin Miyazawa on guitar. The band will be making their debut in the US on Saturday July 27th. Performance and meeting times with LoVendoЯ can be found below:
LoVendoЯ Talk & Music Video Screening
TOYOTA x STUDIO4ºCMeets ANA Tent Saturday, July 27; 11:00am – 11:30am
LoVendoЯ & Sweety LIVE Performance Pagoda Stage Peace Plaza Saturday, July 27; 5:00pm – 6:00pm
LoVendoЯ LIVE Performance Union Square Sunday, July 28; 2:30pm – 3:00pm
LoVendoЯ Merchandise Sales & Autograph Session
TOYOTA x STUDIO4ºCMeets ANA Tent Saturday, July 27; 11:30am – 12:00pm
Sunday, July 28; 5:00pm – 6:00pm
※Autograph session limited to the first 50 customers who purchase a LoVendoЯ CD.
Also performing at the PES tent will be the band Sweety which features Yurika Takagi, Yui Hasegawa and Sayaka Takenouchi. These three made their debut with the ending theme to Sengoku Collection, “Unlucky Girl.” The three also work as voice actresses in the anime industry. Performance and meeting times with Sweety can be found below:
Sweety LIVE, Talk & Music Video Screening
TOYOTA x STUDIO4ºCMeets ANA TENT Saturday, July 27; 2:30 pm – 3:00 pm
Sweety Talk & Music Video Screening
TOYOTA x STUDIO4ºCMeets ANA TENT Sunday, July 28; 12:00pm – 12:30pm
Sweety Photography, Merchandise Sales & Autograph Session
TOYOTA x STUDIO4ºCMeets ANA Tent Saturday, July 27; 3:10pm – 3:30pm
Sunday, July 28; 12:30pm – 1:00pm and 4:30pm – 5:00pm
Besides these performances, there will also be panel discussions about the Peace Eco Smile Project: Next Generation “Cross Collaboration.” The event, sponsored by Toyota Motor Sales & Marketing, will allow people to speak with numerous directors from Studio4˚C as well as learn more about this new anime series that is focused around the “joy of driving and the importance of safety.” Times for the screenings and events can be found below:
Director Hidekazu Ohara Talk Event: PES Next Generation
TOYOTA x STUDIO4ºCMeets ANA Tent Saturday, July 27; 1:30pm – 2:30pm (w/ Sweety)
Director Hidekazu Ohara Autograph Session
TOYOTA x STUDIO4ºC Meets ANA Tent Sunday, July 28; 1:00pm – 1:30pm
PES Collaboration Music Video Screenings Visitors are invited to sample dynamic music videos by a range of top J-Pop artists including LoVendoЯ, Sweety, Una, Akaiko-en, and Petit Milady.
Sweety PES Season 1 Screening
TOYOTA x STUDIO STUDIO4ºCMeets ANA Tent Saturday, July 27; 1:00pm – 1:30pm
5 PES Music Videos Loop Screening
TOYOTA x STUDIO STUDIO4ºCMeets ANA Tent Saturday, July 27; 12:30pm-1:00pm; 3:30pm-4:00pm; 4:30pm-6:00pm
Sunday, July 28; 11:00－12:00; 1:30pm-3:00pm; 4:00pm-4:30pm
As you may have heard, the first ever Japan Expo will be occurring in Santa Clara this August. While we’ve heard a bit about what type of Japanese performance groups will be attending the event hand holding events, Japan Expo hasn’t revealed what type of businesses will be attending the event.
That was until today when the company revealed that not only will big names such as FUNimation and Viz Media be attending the event, but also Kinokuniya Books, which is one of the largest Japanese bookstores in the US, the Japanese External Trade Organization, a non-profit Japanese government organization that promotes investments between the US and Japan and Deleter, the premier supplier of manga art materials will also be attending the event. These companies will all be at the event and will likely be holding special events at their booths throughout the event which runs from August 23rd to the 25th.
Also attending the event are a number of vendors who will be selling numerous anime goods including hats, bags, PVC figures, clothing, doujinshi and more. The full list of current vendors attending the event can be found below:
The Making Of video series for Beyond: Two Souls, the latest from Quantic Dream, has just released the second video today. While last time it it focused on The Origins of the story and game, this time it is all about the gameplay, which anyone that has played a David Cage game will know how different and important that is.
While many games today prompt many a quick-time event for players to react to, including Quantic Dream’s previous Heavy Rain, the video shows off what Beyond: Two Souls is looking to do different. Without listing the prompt, the game is designed to make players react without the need to tell players to do so. The idea being to make the controls intuitive to the player without the need to blatantly display them.
Those wanting to check out the Making Of video for themselves can watch it embedded below. Beyond: Two Souls is set to release October 2013 exclusively for the PlayStation 3.
The people at Team NINJA have been hard at work making sure that Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate will not only prove better than the original Dead or Alive 5, but Dead or Alive 5 Plus as well, which is no easy task. The key of course is to ensure that everyone playing is able to do so exactly the way they want. So, Team NINJA, with publisher Tecmo Koei, have given the details on some of the new features fans will be able to find in Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate.
Players that aren’t so interested in online play will be happy to hear that Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate will be getting new offline game modes. Team Fight mode will task players will building a whole team of fighters to face off against another player or the computer, as can be seen in the image above teams can have upwards of 7 fighters. With this in mind players will have to plan accordingly as opposed to sticking to only a few favored characters.
To help players out to get started Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate will also see new and advanced Tutorial mode to ensure players are being as resourceful and possible. Combo Challenge mode can prove to be an excellent test for what players have learned as they try to streak together all the moves they can like tag combos. Ultimate also sees the return of items for the Survival mode, meaning that defeated enemies can drop one of nine special items like the watermelon for refilling life to the fullest.
Customization will also be a fairly large part of the game, as players will be able to choose fighter’s costumes, hairstyle, and animation. While the new “Pop Idol” sets have already been announced as pre-orders there are plenty more options as costumes can be transferred. Players will also have more to try and achieve for customization in the form of Titles, with almost 1000 titles and plenty for each character. This additional customization will be even easier to see and experience with Movies, allowing players to re-watch entrances, victories, and scenes with the characters in the new customizations.
Players looking forward to all these new features will be able to check them out for themselves when Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate releases at the beginning of September for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
It seems that with half the year over its time for Capcom to show off a bit more for what they got coming up. An announcement has appeared on the Capcom Online Games website informing of a conference that Capcom will be holding on August 1st in Japan. The details of the conference itself can been read from the image below.
For those that can’t read the Japanese on the image, it states that Capcom will be announcing 13 new games during the conference. Which sounds great until the part about how they are not console games like Dead Rising 3 and Ultra Street Fighter IV, but web, smartphone, and social games, like the kind of stuff they have on the Capcom Online Games website.
But, all games have their market in this day and age, so it will be interesting to see what Capcom has in development. The conference will be at 17:30 Japan local time on August 1st, when we can find out more about these new PC web, smartphone like Android, iPad, and iPhone, and social games.
There are mods out there that cater for everyone’s likes and dislikes, and there are many mods out there that have changed gaming experiences for the better, or the worst. Just recently Medieval II: Total War’s ( available on PC)mod Hyrule: Total War has just reached it’s 3.0.1 patch. Hyrule: Total War is a conversion for Total War that sees a vast majority of the many iconic races from the Zelda universe represented as armies left to the disposal of the player. Players can chose to assemble, command and ultimately use the armies to defeat their enemies, and completely mess with The Legend of Zeldatimeline.
The Hero of Time has decided to go back in time, a decision that ultimately sent Hyrule into chaos. The all important major wars that were once decided have fallen undone, allowing fallen armies a second chance at the critical events that had once taken place in Hyrule. This is where it is up to the player to chose how to rewrite the history of Hyrule. Pretty exciting, hey? There are many paths to chose from. The player is able to stick with the proper path and smite the evil in the name of Farore, Din and Nayru, or they can completely mess with the history of Hyrule and have Ganondorf’s Gerudo forces bring about a new age of leader ship. Players can see the Gorons march from Death Mountain and rebuild their lost empire, watch the Zora’s clear Hyrule of impure creatures and create a new order of purity and players can even go against nature and destroy all life as the infestation of Gohma.
Check out the video below.
With the many races to chose from, there are so many possible outcomes. Players can ultimately chose to lead Hyrule in an age of golden peace, or dominate it in their names. Hyrule’s fate is in the hands of the player.
Deus Ex: The Fall is a new entry in the Deus Ex franchise, having ties to characters from Deus Ex: Human Revolution, but focusing on a new hero and storyline introduced in the Deus Ex: Icarus Effect novel. Upon its announcement and reveal by Eidos Montreal, the game was met with vehement negativity. Why? Because people are ignorant. No resources – besides consulting – were taken from the core team and their likely efforts towards a future Deus Ex title for consoles and PC as the game was developed by N-Fusion Interactive and the folks at Square Enix Mobile. The question now, however, is: were those quick to disparage it right to do so in the first place? And, will I be eating crow?…
Story
Ben Saxon is a former British SAS soldier who was part of Strike Six and “Operation Rainbird” during the Australian Civil War. The story starts with Saxon telling his side of the events that occurred in the lead up to his defection from the Tyrants – an independent paramilitary group headed up by Jaron Namir. Strike Six was ambushed; shot down in their transport plane and wiped out by a drone aircraft. Namir found Saxon, the sole survivor, burned and suffering from terrible limb injuries and took him to the hospital. Upon waking up, Saxon was offered a spot in the Tyrants. He would go on to take it, on one condition: Namir promise they find who killed his crew. Years have passed since that alliance was made, and eventually broken, the reason for which is played out here.
While Saxon has some unfinished business with the Tyrants, he also has something more immediate and pressing on his mind – the shortage of Neuropozyne (Nu-poz). There’s an experimental alternative called Reizene, but there are reports of potential side-effects. This issue was referenced in Human Revolution, but not explored much. Here, it’s a driving force and one of the main focuses as every augmented man and woman is in danger of having their implants rejected (Darrow Deficiency Syndrome – DDS), including our main protagonist and his partner Anna Kelso (also from the novel). The story feels much more directed than Human Revolution, maintaining the political edge, but focusing on its personal effects.
Gameplay
This was always going to be where Deus Ex: The Fall could, indeed, fall. But thankfully, most established mechanics by Human Revolution have made the transition intact. N-Fusion have gone to great lengths to ensure there is little frustration in the controls by offering multiple methods of navigation, shooting, camera-work and cover use. The U.I. has also received an appropriate overhaul to accommodate the touchscreen control scheme, with full HUD customisation enabled as the gold-bordered buttons can be rearranged how you see fit.
The targeting mode can be switched between auto and tap. Auto does not mean lock-on in the traditional sense as your reticule does not automatically follow the highlighted enemy through all movement. It also doesn’t mean that you need not worry about manual aiming all together, because even when both parties are standing still, simply holding the shoot button with them in your sights will aim at their mid-section, which isn’t exactly effective. Movement can be achieved through using the virtual joysticks, or either single or double tapping a spot on screen. Cover can be entered in the same manner, with an “auto leave cover on tap” option available to you.
Look inversion and sensitivity settings are present as one would hope. The ability to auto rotate the camera and add a second fire button (for lefties or those who find it more natural) rounds out the control variables. Even with all these choices, shooting can still be a pain, especially at first and when not in cover. It takes some serious acclimatization. The highly impatient could rage quit after their first gunfight, but should just keep at it, and maybe modify their HUD. While in cover, you should make use of the second fire button on the left hand side of the screen (by default). I think the difficulty stems from console shooter-fans having to dissociate the left side from the left trigger on a controller, which is ordinarily for zoom. Other than the shooting mechanic, all other interactions play flawlessly with touch because they are pretty basic in nature already.
Choosing weapons, executing a takedown, picking up items and completing hacks are intuitive and simple (most require a single tap). There are a couple exclusions though: jumping and a familiar inventory. Jumping isn’t even really necessary here and would surely be cumbersome (you can still vault over cover). The inventory has been heavily altered – boiled down to a few quickslots for weapons and consumables that must be assigned. Having no limits on how much you can own simultaneously means micro-transactions are made viable. You can use in-game credits – can be earned, found or bought with real money – to buy within the “Inventory” tab of your pause menu. But don’t worry, those credits will be piling up through gameplay, especially if you’re an explore/completionist.
Visuals and Audio
Visually, The Fall is 100% consistent with Human Revolution, whilst also feeling fresh with regards to its new environments – Panama, Costa Rica and Moscow. Graphically, 3D models are low-poly and everything is understandably and expectedly scaled down in comparison to its console/PC brethren. The voice acting and music, however, is on-par with that of Human Revolution’s. Now, that is not necessarily a good thing in regards to the former…finding actors who can perform accurate accents doesn’t seem to be a strength of Square Enix/Eidos Montreal. It’s a little better in this instance, but the only real difference when it doesn’t work right, is now it’s South American accents being butchered, not Chinese.
Overall
Deus Ex: The Fall is a more than worthy addition to the series and its lore, for a very reasonable price of $7.49. Does it play as well as its console and PC predecessors? No, of course not. Does it look as good? Hell no. But you know to expect that from mobile platform titles. However, having said that, Deus Ex: The Fall holds up better than virtually every other attempt to translate a AAA console/PC franchise to mobile. Its shooting may be flimsy at times and difficult to acclimate to, but in all other respects, it retains what made Deus Ex: Human Revolution so great…and you don’t have to worry about forced boss battles; everything can be achieved through stealth. You may not have asked for this, but if you play it, you’ll be happy Square Enix didn’t listen to you.
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“What exactly is this ‘Oculus Rift’ thing I’ve been hearing about?” If you’re asking yourself this question, then allow us to enlighten you about one of the most unique and highly praised pieces of gaming tech to be on show at E3 2013. The Oculus Rift itself is a new type of headset that aims to expand gaming interaction and immersion by the use of full panoramic vision in virtual reality. This virtual reality technology features full 3D capability, and head tracking motion, moving the camera and angles in accordance with the users head motions. A “Best-in-show” award winner at E3, the Oculus headset was also one of the premiere exhibitor items on show at the first ever PAX Aus held last weekend in Melbourne. There, I got to try out the VR headset for myself and weigh in my two cents to the gaming community.
Now before the hardcore gaming fanbases mentally groan and dismiss it as “just some silly gimmick”, it’s worth checking out both the official Oculus Rift site and various Youtube demos to see what it’s all about. When most people think of the term “Virtual Reality gaming” most minds are drawn back to the horrendous performance of Nintendo’s Virtual Boy in the ages of consoles past. This was a question raised during an extensive media-access session where some of us got to try out the headset for ourselves, with some help from the developers. Nate, who was taking us through the demo laughed and said “That’s a question we get a lot. Whenever somebody thinks Virtual Reality, they think ‘Oh god, the virtual boy.’ But big difference is that nowadays we have the proper HD visual and head tracking technology to create truly immersive VR. And the community response overall has been really positive.”
This was true. What really surprised me when I first walked the halls of the PAX Aus Exhibitor Hall were the consistently gigantic lines out the front of the Alienware booth where the Oculus was available for a public demo.. Members of the gaming public were more than willing to stand and wait over an hour to play with this new little gizmo. The floor game on offer wasn’t some basic tech demo either. It was Team Fortress 2 of all things, FULLY ADAPTED for use with the Oculus.
When we had the chance to sit down and play test the Oculus for ourselves, we got a much more personalised and in-depth look into the technology that what was being demoed on the Exhibit floor. There were two machines set up for us to test and play with. It was explained that one was for a gameplay test of a game in development called Elemental. The other demo was a fully 3D cinema simulation.
My first reaction to see the headset, (having very little experience with this myself) was how compact and simple the design was. I was honestly expecting a more complicated looking machine with much larger dimensions. To slide the device on, players were required to place their eyes into a pair of lenses, similar to binoculars. As soon as I did myself, my first immediate thought was: “HOLY CRAP, I’m in Skyrim!”
Okay, while that was not true, the demo game on offer was called Elemental, and it was highly reminiscent of an Elder Scrolls game. The first scene set the user outside a set of snow covered ruins. The textures were in surprisingly high definition HD. My very first reaction was to reach out and grab the falling snow, the graphics were just that convincing. While it didn’t have the feel of real snow, the immersion factor was immediate. Head movements matched the camera movements instantaneously. At no stage did wearing the headset feel disorienting or uncomfortable. The field of vision was extended into the player’ peripheral sight and adjusted based on head movements.
After a short movement tutorial, I was transported into the inside of a Volcano, where before me stood a black clad knight with glowing red eyes, called a Lava Warrior. At this point, two thoughts crossed my mind: “What is that?!” and “THAT NEEDS TO DIE.” It was at this stage when a controller was slipped into my hand and a simple pull of a trigger fired a barrage of magic missiles at the static target. All of the shots made ricocheted off the armour and proceeded to bounce around the gigantic cavern, my head and eyes tracking the movement in glorious HD. It wasn’t only the physics engine that stood out. The volcano’s ambient glow, particularly off the lava made the place feel legitimately warm. Despite the fact I was sitting in the middle of a busy exhibition hall with a funny looking headset over my eyes, I felt like I was truly about to go into a real epic battle. This was a sense of immersion like I’d never experienced.
After a little free flying by way of the controller (directed by my head movements of course), I was disappointed to have to return to regular boring reality. Following the Elemental demo, I sat down to test out the second demo, the Virtual Cinema 3D. This demo was also outfitted with sound output. Again, like before the head tracking system worked like a charm, but this time I found myself placed in a giant empty movie theatre with the trailer for Man of Steel. What blew my mind this time was the fact that a completely normal video like the Man of Steel had been adjusted to accommodate the Oculus’ panoramic vision.
The entire experience had been extremely enlightening. Having only heard about the Oculus in the simplest of terms prior to testing it, I admit I was dubious. Nate, the team leader, said that the technology still had a way to go, but did mention that numerous developers, chief among them being Valve had expressed very strong interest in this technology. One has to wonder if the upcoming steam box might be Oculus compatible. However, from what I experienced in a short 20-minute demo, my opinion is that this technology is most certainly a game changer. This is not just a new type of screen, or some new motion gimmick, this awesome technology really could revolutionise the way we approach immersion in our video games. Nate put it best, saying “You have movies which tell stories. Then you have games that let you play stories. THEN you have VR, where you are IN the story.”
Get used to hearing the name of the Oculus Rift. This reviewer gets the feeling it’s going to be a big topic for discussion amongst gamers in the months and years to come.
At PAX Australia 2013 in Melbourne, Nintendo Australia had a number of games on show at their exhibitor hall booth. One of those games was the hotly anticipated upcoming 3DS title Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds. We were able to get our hands on the game and found the game to be one of the highlights of Nintendo’s booth.
Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds is the follow-up to 1992’s A Link to the Past. So roughly 20 years later was the time right to link back to the Legend of Zelda series past? Well after getting my hands on A Link Between Worlds, the answer is a resounding ‘yes’, this is the top down Zelda we have been waiting for.
Upon the initial reveal of A Link Between Worlds, I was skeptical of its visual aesthetics which seemed somewhat rubbery and far out of the trusted wheelhouse for the Zelda franchise. However upon sitting down with the game and getting a feel of it, all those qualms were quelled. The visuals are delightful in motion and work incredibly well with the 3D function of the console.
The game plays just like top-down Zelda games of old, providing a sense of nostalgia that is well earned. There are a number of interesting features of the title, but I think the 3D function adds a greater level of depth to the game that is simply remarkable. It is definitely a game that puts the 3D function to great use, especially with puzzles that use the depth as part of their design. It makes for a fresh feel to the traditional top-down Zelda style and that is something the series has long needed.
A Link Between Worlds features a slightly revised version of the Link to the Past overworld, some changes are present which seems to signify that the game takes place a little while after the first game. It is however unknown how far after and if the Link and Zelda of this game are the same as seen in A Link to the Past. The Dark World is also present in the game much to fans delight.
So how do you make the old hat new? It all comes down to small changes not grand ones and A Link Between Worlds is definitely a number of small changes. It feels very much like the traditional top-down Zelda games, but it is the small changes that make all the difference in this game. If you are expecting something radically different, that is not what this game offers. It is a fresh take on the classic style of Zelda, that feels just as familiar as it does fresh.
Ultimately, The Legend of Zelda franchise is always must-play series for Nintendo fans and A Link Between Worlds is another title in to add to the Zelda history books. It won’t blow your mind, but you’ll undoubtedly have a good time with this game. A Link Between Worlds is a must-play game for the 3DS.
As you may have heard, the first ever 
