This week on Anime Say!I’m back with my thoughts on the Devil is a Part Timer anime. Devil is a Part Timer is a comedy anime that follows the Demon King as he gets a part time job at MgRonalds. It is a bizarre concept to say the very least, so what did I think of Devil is a Part Timer? Watch below to find out.
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What do you think of this anime impression? Let us know in the comments section below.
Nintendo have released a brand new trailer for the highly anticipated Wii U title Pikmin 3. The newest trailer gives a detailed look at the gameplay of Pikmin 3, showcasing the game’s new features as well as highlighting just how generally awesome Pikmin is.
Pikmin 3 is a difficult game to classify but it does require a lot of strategy in order to progress in the eerily familiar world of Pikmin as you can see in the trailer. Pikmin can be used for combat, construction, transport and all manner of other tasks. Pikmin 3 is of course the long awaited third installment of the franchise.
Pikmin 3 is slated for release on July 26th, 2013. Be sure to check out the trailer below for a look at what you can expect from this game.
A short while ago, the Vocaloid Night team have shared a new teaser image for their upcoming event hosted by SMASH! on their official Facebook Page. This image is similar to the previously released images of the show, but is a lot more condensed and is straight to the point on what people can expect from the Vocaloid themed dance party.
Vocaloid Night 2013 is a dance party themed on the Vocaloid phenomenon. It’s most popular creation, Hatsune Miku, is a highly regarded pop icon, not only in Japan; but around the world. The event is coming to Darling Harbour on the 10th of August. Pre-sale tickets are at $50.
This week’s Deal of the Week doesn’t go to one particular item, but Greenman Gaming’s 666 Sale. For the rest of the weekend, GMG has 6 deeply discounted titles on sale for 6 hours.
Amazon’s Summer Sale is in full swing this week, here are the best of the best!
I feel this bundle contains some of Rockstar’s best titles. The bundle contains Bully: Scholarship Edition, Grand Theft Auto Vice City, Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, Max Payne 2, and Midnight Club 2.
Not much information has been released at all since Focus Home Interactive and GIANTS Software announced that Farming Simulator would be making its way to console this year. While then all they really had to offer were some screenshots and promises about what the new version of the game would include, this time there is a trailer showing off some of the new features, mainly the new American setting that will accompany the usual European.
From the trailer this Farming Simulator for consoles is looking pretty good and it is nice to see the American farmland finally getting represented, plus it doesn’t hurt that it doubles the available land to farm. The equipment selection is still as vast as ever the trailer itself featuring the Case IH Axial-Flow harvester and the Magnum 340 as just a taste of those players can get for themselves.
Those wanting to see what the console version of Farming Simulator will have to offer can view the trailer embedded below. Farming Simulator will be releasing onto Xbox 360 and PS3 the first week of September.
Last time publisher Nordic Games was releasing information on their upcoming point-and-click adventure The Raven – Legacy of a Master Thief, it was in the form of a free graphic novel, while this time they have a full trailer featuring in-game graphics and commentary. The commentary is thanks to Executive Producer Marco Rosenberg of developer KING Art Games, and covers the influences and some of the features of their biggest adventure game ever.
Drawing from both Agatha Christie stories and 60’s – 70’s gangster films, The Raven – Legacy of a Master Thief is set to provide upwards of 20 hours of gameplay (depending on optional puzzles), with the developers also working to ensure that all the puzzles would feel realistic and logical within the game. Even more interesting is that the game will offer two different viewpoints as players will control the investigators and then the gangsters.
Players wanting to check out the trailer and commentary for themselves can find it embedded below. The Raven – Legacy of a Master Thief will feature 3 chapters with the first chapter releasing July 23rd, 2013 for XBLA, PSN, PC, Mac, and Linux.
Overview
While the backstory for indiePub’s newest game may not be the most original, their goal of tying several unique mechanics together while sharing an overarching narrative is a lofty goal. How does Capsizedhold up? Does it rock the boat or should you save the life raft for something else? Let’s find out.
Story
As your ship was making its way through space, something hit it, causing it to come crashing down on a nearby planet. In a quick bid for survival, you jumped into a life pod and jettisoned your way from the burning craft. Once you came to, you noticed that, amidst all the wreckage, several of your fellow crewmates were missing. Alone on a foreign world, you set out to gather the survivors back together and devise a way to get off this hostile, unknown planet.
Gameplay
At its core, Capsized is two-dimensional platforming game, but there are so many layers wrapped around it, you could never separate them. Your basic maneuvers are fairly similar to any other platformer: run, jump, and shoot. As a space traveler on a distant planet, though, you’ve packed a few additional tools in your escape pod to help out.
Most notably of your unique tools is an energy grappling hook. This lets you pick up rocks or other environmental objects and use them as cover or toss them to take out enemies, trigger traps, or activate a pressure plate – all physics based. It’s also fun to use on creatures themselves. You can throw them into walls or at other enemies for an entertaining way to eradicate pests.
In most platformers, you’ll be able to shoot up, down, or in front. Capsized takes that to the next level by using the right analog stick to control the direction you’re aiming. This allows for some deft maneuvering in intense firefights, which can be welcome when you’re surrounded on all sides. The unfortunate side effect is that it makes the game feel as though it was intended for a mouse and keyboard. It’s still a fantastic mechanic, but it can actually feel a little too accurate at times, so you may overcompensate.
Thoughtfully, the developers thought aim overcompensation may be an issue, so they gave you a button to simply target an enemy within your line of site. This is wonderfully helpful, to the extent that it may be the single most useful button in the game. It doesn’t muck up the difficulty in the process though. The game still provides a great challenge with the help.
Combat has a great flow to it. This is especially true when you’ve got a lot of foes and some room to maneuver. Mow ’em all down if you want! Can’t do that? Activate your jet pack and fly around, dodging and returning fire. It’s a satisfying engagement every time.
The game isn’t terribly long. They advertise that it’s “more than a dozen levels,” which is as accurate as they can get in marketing lingo. From start to end, the campaign will take no more than 4-5 hours to finish. In this case, that doesn’t feel too short. It manages to tell a full narrative arc and keep players engaged in the gameplay without wearing out your welcome.
Levels are well-designed affairs. Each one has its own unique objectives and mission layout that help keep things interesting. There are also several hidden areas in each mission that are worth your time to find. Many come with extra lives or ammunition for rare weapons.
The weapons in the game also have a great variety to them. There are over half a dozen different guns and on top of that, every gun (sans your primary blaster) have alternate fire modes that can really help out in a pinch. It’s fun to play around with everything and the game throws enough at you that you’ll have to experience multiple weapons to survive.
The enemies in the game are also wonderfully varied and, at times, downright vicious. Tribal aliens with bows or magic, alien wolves that charge, parasitic flying creatures, and poison gas are only a glimpse at the dangers you’ll face in Capsized.
Visuals & Audio Capsized is a wonderful looking game. From the hand-drawn storytelling scenes to level and creature design, nothing feels like it lacked attention. Characters and particle effects pop and draw attention constantly.
Though the world is mostly blues and greens, stages have enough variety to keep your eyes satisfied. Seeing the in-game physics help cement the world around you, too.
There isn’t a wide variety in the soundtrack, but what they’ve got works quite well for the mood of the game. It never feels out of place and helps drive the pace of the gameplay forward. Weapons fire a great sense of satisfaction thanks to great sound design as well.
Overall
Overall, Capsized is quite an enjoyable experience that delivers its payload without wearing out its welcome. Great visual design and sound help draw you into the world on this mysterious planet. Varied levels and mission structures keep things interesting, while a fluid, satisfying combat system gives you a good sense of control in the heat of combat. The controls may take a short while to sort out, but once you’re used to them, an exciting sci-fiadventure awaits you.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
The Garden of Words Studios:CoMix Wave Films Publisher:Sentai Filmworks Format: Blu-Ray Release Date: August 6th, 2013 Price: $34.98 – Available Here
Overview
Makoto Shinkai first appeared on the anime scene with the amazing Voices of a Distant Star and in the time since continued to wow viewers with his movies. From interesting settings, to unique situations, to characters that viewers can’t help but feel for, Makoto has a way about creating a perfectly complete story in an OVA length animation. His latest, The Garden of Words, is now upon us, so it is time we find out if his spark for creating stories and visuals can still match his previous works, or if this is a miss lost in the crowd.
Story
At first glance, the premise of The Garden of Words may seem like it could be overly generic or predictable. The story of a young high school boy that starts developing a relationship with an older woman, is certainly something that could go in ways we’ve seen or heard about before, but the method of the story is so much more removed than that. The boy, Takao Akizuki, lives in his own world hoping to become a handmade shoemaker, while the woman, Yukari Yukino, is far more mysterious both to him and the viewer as neither knows who she is or what she does.
The relationship that the two develop starts from a chance encounter on a rainy day in the park, where Takao goes to avoid his first few periods of class and work on shoe designs. Here at the start of the rainy season, he meets a strange lady drinking beer and eating chocolate that he continues to see each rainy morning he returns to the park. The great boon of the movie is that it knows when to focus on something and when not to, as it is the start of the rainy season these encounters occur frequently, but much of it is covered in montage. While others might spend more time on this initial build up to pad out the time, here it focuses on only the most important parts of this relationship and allows viewers to form their own opinions on them warming up to each other.
Their relationship builds until they both find themselves wishing for rain to see the other, but when the end of the rainy season comes they find themselves separated. Takao busy with summer work, the story then focuses on Yukino and sheds light on why she has been going to the park. Because of the nature of these revelations, and how some aspects are left to viewer opinion, I’ll refrain from spoiling these, but with these revelations the story begins to build up. Ignited by an even more chance encounter, both characters are forced to face who they are in one of the most emotional scenes in a long time, capped off by a song suited perfectly to the themes of rain and loneliness.
Visuals
The animation quality of The Garden of Words is by far astounding. The attention to detail is immense as well as the realism, the surroundings refract onto the characters making them feel as if they are actually there, when many animation looks much like characters overlaid the much more detailed backgrounds. Blu-Ray is definitely the ideal because of this level of detail and how real some parts look, as on of the opening shots it was difficult to tell it was drawn.
Another interesting aspect of the visuals is the imagery, as Takao has aspersions of becoming a shoemaker there does end up being a lot of shots focused towards feet or shoes. Not really a big deal, and befitting the character, but the amount of these shots can be slightly staggering to the point of seeming fetishistic. Has a whole they have their place and definitely fit, so this is simply a heads up to keep those from getting caught off guard by this.
Audio The Garden of Words maintains its realism with its use of music, as its use it mainly limited to montages and the ending credits. The montages capture the atomosphere through the wonderful piano music that overlaps them, while the ending theme, “Rain” performed by Motohiro Hata, captures the essence of not only the rain so prevalent throughout the movie, but of a man meeting a woman in the rain and not wanting her to go. Outside of these songs the background noise is mainly the sound of the rain, but also other white noise from people talking to faint traffic. This is another small detail that helps to catch the realism and brings it to life.
The voice acting is incredible for both the original Japanese and the English dub, as the story features the two main characters so much and they are the ones doing the vast majority of the talking. Other characters range from a single line to two scenes at most, while either Takao and/or Yukino are in every scene. What makes the voice acting so incredible is not just how much is spent by the two main characters, but the tear filled climax that finds both the English and Japanese equally emotional, with both languages featuring the perfect actors to fit the emotion heavy scene.
Extras
The special features for this movie offer much more than a standard release, with two commentary tracks, storyboards, production stills from the English dub, interviews with the original Japanese actors and director, and a slew of trailers. The commentary are the most interesting as one features the English dub actors, the second features director Makoto Shinkai translated via subtitles giving more information on the process and elements of the film. The storyboards give a nice look at how the visuals progressed from throughout production, while the English dub production stills give a glimpse at the often overlooked process of their recording. The interviews give a lot more information from the Japanese actors and the director for those wanting even more, while the trailers include Makoto’s past works as well as recent and upcoming releases from Sentai Filmworks. All together providing more special features than some entire series’ of anime.
Overall The Garden of Words is a beautiful looking anime with fantastic music and actors with the ability to pull off such an emotional movie. Fans of Makoto Shinkai’s work have another great movie to add to their collection, while those that have missed his previous work have a perfect example of why is he so great at what he does. While short, a little more than 45 minutes in length, the movie feels neither rushed nor incomplete and there is plenty more value added bu the special features
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Welcome back for this week’s iOS Game Suggestions. If you missed last week’s, or are new to the suggestions, click on the link below and check out what cool games you should be picking up for your iOS device along with the introduction on how the suggestions work. (suggestions 1 has how it all works)
A very quite week on iTunes! As always, it started slow and but ended with a tiny bang! There are many must-buy games this week in all departments, FREE, 99c and over 99c. This week I’ve suggested a total of 11 great quality titles. Make sure you check them all especially… Limbo, G.I. JOE BATTLEGROUNDS, Greedy Dwarf, Smooth Operators, just to name a few.
Break down below :
7 – FREE Games
1 – $0.99c Games
3 – Over $0.99c Games
As always for this week’s suggestions are all new titles that you should take a look at and consider spending your hard earned iTunes cash / time on. Well the Free games just below certainly should all be given a shot as they won’t cost you anything!
For The Cheapskates – FREE GAMES
MASTERABBOTT’S FREE GAME PICK OF THE WEEK!
G.I JOE: Battleground – Price : FREE – Publisher –MOBAGE (Will you shout YO JOE! and take command of the heroic forces of G.I.JOE to fight for freedom?
Or will your battle cry be COBRA! as you lead the forces of Cobra to strike terror to all who oppose? G.I. JOE: BATTLEGROUND is an all-out fight to assemble and train the most powerful squads of iconic G.I.JOE and Cobra characters! Choose your side and build teams of elite soldiers and skilled agents to take on dangerous missions around the globe.) runs on iPad & iPhone. GET IT NOW FOR FREE
The Lone Ranger – Price : FREE – Publisher –Disney (Become a legend of justice in the new role-playing game inspired by The Lone Ranger movie! Saddle up and take the reins as one of the greatest Texas Rangers in the Wild West. Embark on a thrilling adventure as you protect the town of Colby, face-off in epic showdowns, and bring infamous outlaws to justice. Fight against greed and corruption in this 3d, role-playing adventure!) runs on iPad & iPhone. GET IT NOW FOR FREE
1941 Frozen Front – Price : FREE – Publisher –HandyGames (Experience mind-blowing World War 2 battles. MISSION BRIEFING. FIGHT through the bone-chilling cold of the 1941 eastern front!. OVERRUN enemy positions with tanks and infantry! TAKE out hostile headquarters with mighty bomber wings! EMPLACE your artillery in rough terrain! SUPPLY your troops with goods and ammunition! DEFEND yourself against superior numbers of enemies!) runs on iPad & iPhone. GET IT NOW FOR FREE
Hello Kitty Carnival – Price : FREE – Publisher –Sanrio Digital Europe (Hello Kitty Carnival showcases different types of exciting rides: the speedy Roller Coaster, the rotating Ferris Wheel, the spinning Merry Go Round, bumpy Cable Cars, a friendly Pirate Ship, a giant Slide, and more! There are also great carnival attractions such as Whack a Mole, Trampoline and Fortune Telling that offer fun prizes.) runs on iPad & iPhone. GET IT NOW FOR FREE
Groove Racer – Price : FREE – Publisher – Out Fit 7(Race 10 unique cars across 66 gorgeous tracks with a press of a finger! Awesome graphics, cool soundtrack and pick-up-and-play controls will keep your entertained for hours! Beat the clock by mastering each track to win much coveted gold trophies and to speed to the top of Game Center Leaderboards for some bragging rights.) on iPad & iPhone. GET IT NOW FOR FREE
94 Seconds – Price : FREE – Publisher –Scimob (1 category, 1 letter, 1 word to find and 94 seconds to score higher than your friends. A fruit with B? A sport with T? A mammal with D?Want to play? Then download 94 Seconds right now! More than 50 different categories: countries, fruits, musical instruments, tools, cosmetics…) runs on iPad & iPhone. GET IT NOW FOR FREE
Simpy Sudoku – Price : FREE – Publisher – The Binary Family (Simply, the best Sudoku app in the App Store. We’ve worked hard for over a year to make everything simply perfect, whether it’s service, functions, puzzle quality, design, sound, or clean visuals. Discover our new baby, Simply, Sudoku!) on iPhone & iPad. GET IT NOW FOR FREE
For The Bargain Hunters – 99c Games
Greedy Drawf – Price : $0.99 – Publisher – Crescent Moon Games (Get ready for the seat of your pants wild ride of your life – on a minecart! You know, they called me stupid when I “borrowed” gold from the ol’ hag in the forest. They called me mad when I stole the big Cyclop´s gold pouch. They called me crazy when I grabbed that golden tooth from Cthulhu. I wonder what they’ll call me when I find the Fat Dragon´s chest? You can call me greedy, I don’t care. Are you ready for the ride of your life laddy?!) runs on iPhone & iPad. BUY NOW
Limbo – Price : $5.49 – Publisher – Playdead (Uncertain of his sister’s fate, a boy enters LIMBO. – The Rest is History!) runs on iPhone & iPad. BUY NOW
Smooth Operators– Price : $2.99 – Publisher – Bulkypix (The highly addictive call center simulation arrives on iOS! Smooth Operators is an advanced simulation where you take control of a call center company and lead it to financial success! Hire employees and customize your buildings with several types of offices, facilities and accessories! Watch your company become alive and grow while your building reach the highest skyline.) runs on iPad. BUY NOW
Naughty Boy – Sligh and Shot– Price : $1.99 – Publisher – Helicium (Be a brat again who refuses to go to school! Armed with your slingshot, escape from your crazy family and destroy everything in the house! “The school bus will soon be here; it’s time to go to school!” Your objective: don’t let your family catch you; they want to send you to school. Use your slingshot to keep them away, but be careful not to fire at Buddy, your raccoon!) runs iPad & iPhone. BUY NOW
There you have it folks these games should keep you busy for quite some time well until next week at least. I’ll be back next week for another dose of iOS goodness, in the meantime if you would also like to suggest your own suggestions, please feel free to share them in the comments section below or in the iOS forum section on the site here.
Watch_Dogs Live is a Canada-exclusive app for iOS and Android devices that gives its users missions to complete that then enable them access to an event in real-life. It’s basically an Alternate Reality Game (ARG).
Now, Ubisoft has released a trailer for the inaugural mission, called ‘Cracked for Cash’. It entails the mysterious Dedsec sending codes on a daily basis, which players must use to decode every security level on the ATM account of one Michael G. Aronson, fictional CEO of MGA News. If successful, a random ATM will literally begin spewing money somewhere in Canada, and it will be broadcast live over the app.
This is the sort of thing I’d love to take part in, but alas I am not Canadian, eh? Check out the trailer below, and if you live in Berlin, London or Paris – or would be interested nonetheless – you can visit the WeareData website that presents an interactive, real-world data-map for those cities; it’s pretty astonishing.
A short while ago, the 
