Skullcandy‘s crown jewel in their line of gaming headsets is now available. The PLAYR 1 is a Dolby 7.1 Surround Sound wireless headset over a crystal clear 2.4 GHz channel that is compatible with the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Mac, and Windows. It features a wireless base station/stand with an adjustable microphone, three EQ settings, and Skullcandy’s signature Supreme Sound. The engineers at Skullcandy worked closely with the team at ASTRO Gaming to create a high quality headset at a more accessible price point compared to ASTRO’s wireless offerings.
The PLAYR 1 is available for $179.99 USD at Skullcandy’s webstore and Best Buy. It is available in white and black. Best Buy is also offering an exclusive blue version of the Skullcandy SLYR wired headset for $79.99 USD.
Welcome to another episode of CC Indie Spotlight with Senior Editor Jamie Laike Tsui where we demo the latest and greatest of indie gaming.
Today’s episode features Hacker Evolution Duality from exosyphen studios, a hacking themed puzzle game that recounts the early days of hacking hero Brian Spencer. It is the third game in the Hacker Evolution series and a modern reboot. The iconic console and its long list of commands have been replaced with a modern GUI. The gameplay has been revamped to address concerns from the first two games.
Hacker Evolution Duality is available on Steam for $19.99. It is compatible with Linux, Mac, and Windows systems. Find out more about the game at in our review.
After it was detailed that newest Sherlock Holmes game Crimes & Punishments would be using the Unreal 3 Engine instead of the engine Frogwares was using from before, there were probably some fans that wondered how this would impact the familiar deductive detective. As it turns out, this change may be more benefiting than just the pretty detailed graphics.
Frogwares and publisher Focus Home Interactive have announced that in addition to the new greater detail, players will be able to fill the shoes of Sherlock just a bit better with the inclusion of 14 investigative mechanics for him to utilize in his cases. Fans can surely recall as the detective could infer about characters with a simple glance over, which will be present in Crimes & Punishments.
While these gameplay mechanics and details will be covered when Crimes & Punishments is shown off at E3 2013 next week, players can check out some more screenshots from the game by clicking them in the gallery below. In addition to what will be gone over at E3, more screenshots and videos showing off these mechanics can be expected until Crimes & Punishments releases this year for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.
It was already easy to see that LEGO Marvel Super Heroes was going to be larger than life with its huge characters like Hulk, but now it seems the game will be out of this world as well. As seen in the newest screenshots the Marvel super heroes will be making their way to Thor’s home of Asgard to help defend its people from his brother Loki.
With plenty of screenshots showing off a variety of heroes and villains, including a couple of different Mark armors of Iron Man and The Destroyer, TT Games has shown just how great they are at capturing not only the characters, but the locations as well. The Rainbow Bridge captures the same great look as the Thor film as does Asgard itself.
Players wanting to check out all the new shots of the characters and Asgard can view the full sized screenshots by clicking on the images in the gallery below. Though more can be expected to be seen next week as TT Games and Warner Bros. have announced that LEGO Marvel Super Heroes will be making an appearance at E3 this year. Otherwise the game proper is set to release this Fall (Spring in Australia) for consoles Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii U; handhelds DS, 3DS, and PS Vita; and Windows PC.
After being announced near the beginning of March, players can finally see a bit more of Bound by Flame with these new screenshots just released by Focus Home Interactive and Spiders Studio. With a bigger budget and development cycle than their last game Mars War Logs, players can expect to find plenty of interesting creatures to face, as well as choices in this Action RPG.
While these two screenshots do show off some pretty impressive monsters, players can expect to see even more from Bound by Flame at E3 2013 where it will be presented for the press. Those wanting to get a better look at the new creatures can click on the images above to see the full size screenshots. Else they’ll just have to wait until E3 next week, or when Bound by Flame releases at the end of this year for PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3.
Live from the Headquarters of Bohemia Interactive, the development team behind Arma 3 will host a second pre-E3 hangout on Saturday June 8th at 17:00UTC (Sunday June 9th 03:00AEST). This second livestream will showcase the Combined Arms Package, to be available in the upcoming Arma 3 beta, as well as providing a brief glimpse at Altis, the roughly 270km2 island from the full version of the game. Mission Designer Tom Ryan and several other Arma 3 developers will complete multiple playthroughs of the new Beta mission, placing an emphasis on the dynamic gameplay.
In further anticipation for the upcoming E3 event, Bohemia Interactive has also released 12 screenshots. These images are taken from both the Beta and full versions of the game, intended to explore the newest instalment in the Arma series.
Starting with the successful Arma: Cold War Assault (originally titled Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis) in 2001, Arma 3 is the latest instalment in Bohemia Interactive’s award-winning tactical military shooter series for PC. Set in a Mediterranean sandbox of over 290 km², featuring 40+ weapons and 20+ vehicles, Arma 3 provides an authentic, diverse and open combat experience. The game features a wide variety of single-player and multiplayer gameplay, as well as limitless options for content creation.
Livestream II is set to last about an hour and will be broadcast on the official Arma 3 Twitch.tv page, with open conversation via Twitch Chat and Twitter. While your waiting, check out Livestream I: Scenario Editing Tutorial. Visit the official site for more information and to play the available Alpha version. In the meantime, catch a glimpse of Arma 3 below.
Heaven’s Lost Property the Movie: The Angeloid of Clockwork Studio: AIC Publisher: Madman Format:DVD, Blu-ray (reviewed) Release Date: May 22, 2013 Price: $29.95 – Available Here
Overview Heaven’s Lost Property, also known as Sora no Otoshimono, is a popular romance series known for its harem elements with plenty of fan service. Its popularity is suprising too, given how Madman has brought us both seasons and the movie in virtually record time.
After two seasons of ecchi-harem fun, we have this movie which is part-recap but also offers a new look at the tale through the eyes of a side character, Kazane Hiyori, and her feelings for the main protagonist. Is this what fans of the series wanted?
Story As a movie tie-in to an established series, it’s almost mandatory for you to have seen at least a season of Heaven’s Lost Property. It assumes you know about the world, characters and relationships as the antics resume straight away. Now that we have prerequisites aside, let’s dig into the story that we’re left with.
Sakurai Tomoki is once again the centre of attention as he tries to balance his ideal ordinary life with the three Angeloids introduced in the first season. Ikaros, Nymph and Astraea are powerful yet submissive entities who are typically controlled by a master and happen to be well-endowed. Throw a jealous childhood friend, Sohara Mitsuki, and Sakurai’s perverted nature into the mix and you have a harem circus. Things launch right into hilarious antics, which was unexpected as they were genuinely funny and wove a few references to other classic anime.
The first half of the movie, while outrageous and amusing at times, feels like one big filler episode. Scenes go from one situation to the next with no real substance or plot foundation. Occasionally, the humour in these scenes is lost and you’re left waiting for something, anything to happen or make you laugh. All throughout you see the unremarkable Kazane Hiyori admiring Sakurai from afar (despite the obscene situations he gets himself in). Hiyori is the typical nice and modest girl who is too shy to confess and who the main protagonist is nice to, but is otherwise too thick to notice her feelings.
The second half of the movie, casually spoiled by the blurb on the back of the box, sees Hiyori revealed as having a “deeper, more dangerous link to the Angeloids” as she “tries to kill Sakurai”. Just after Hiyori confesses her raging love for Sakurai her life is cut short by the front bumper of a speeding truck. It turns out her real self was sleeping as an Angeloid of the Synapse who now awakens and commences spatial annihilation.
While this twist is interesting and turns the movie to a darker affair, the resolution stays resolutely cliche. Heaven’s Lost Property does best when it sticks to outrageous fan service but stumbles around with a weak plot once it starts to take itself seriously. The story is a unique spin on what fans have seen of the series so far, but few will see it as a highlight of the experience, and will likely enjoy it for the laughs and to see their favourite characters again.
Visuals The main appeal of anime movies, particularly those that include recaps, is higher quality animation. Instead of stretching the studios budget with X amount of episodes, 96 minutes is real potential to shower the fans with eye-watering quality. That was the case with other recent movies such as Unlimited Blade Works, where the studio painstakingly tried to improve the look and feel of the TV anime series they were responsible for earlier. Sadly that’s not the case here as the visuals are almost identical to the TV anime. That’s not to say it’s bad, because it’s fine, but you wouldn’t be able to tell you were watching an anime movie rather than a standard episode from the visuals alone.
The Angeloid of Clockwork stays true to Heaven’s Lost Property’s style of animating funny situations with chibi character art. This is done so often sometimes it can be strange seeing the main character drawn normally. The visuals are standard hallmarks of a lighthearted anime that is built on fan service with the occasional action thrown in.
Audio
The sound in The Angeloid of Clockwork, while not note-worthy, is solid with no gripes throughout the feature. The voice acting of both dubs stay true to the original anime series. The Japanese voice track gets an extra point due to a hilarious song at the start of the movie that is best heard in its original language. The sound track was suitable but hardly remarkable and none of the tracks are something you’d be humming to yourself or chasing down in the foreseeable future.
Extras There are a few welcome extras included with this release, most notably the U.S. commentary of the English voice cast which provides some amusing insight. The rest of the extras are a mix of trailers and teasers, both English and Japanese. Standard releases of anime movies are often very bare-bones, moreso than this reviewer wants them to be, and this is almost the case here. But as mentioned, the above additions are a nice bonus.
Overall Think of Heaven’s Lost Property the Movie: The Angeloid of Clockwork as something that simply complements the two seasons Madman has already released. It isn’t by any means “standalone” whatsoever, nor is it a continuation of the series. You have to wonder then what the studio wanted to achieve with the Angeloid of Clockwork. It does provide an alternate viewpoint through another love interest, essentially unlocking a new “arc”. While the romance reaches a point that’s actually fairly cute, it doesn’t develop far enough for you to feel attached to the sudden plot change in the second half.
Do you love Heaven’s Lost Property and simply get a kick out of watching the characters fool around, seeing up-skirts with a bit of action at the end? By all means check this out as this was clearly made for the fans in-mind. Unfortunately that also means it was made with no thought for the outside viewer either, meaning it’s a confused and underdeveloped mess for everyone else.
See here for another take by Travis Bruno on Funimation’s release.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
The Last of Us is one of the most highly anticipated titles in recent memory, and Australians won’t have to wait very long to get their hands on the survival-action game.
On June 14th, Sony will be releasing the title in-stores and digitally through the PlayStation Store, and to commemorate its launch, Ricky Cambier – Game Designer at Naughty Dog Inc. – flew Down Under for a couple special evenings.
On the night of June 4th – as part of the Vivid Ideas event line-up – Ricky was the featured guest in a panel discussion called ‘The Making Of… a blockbuster game‘. I was lucky enough to attend and gain some insight on the creation of the game, and the whole developmental process. You can check out the highlights (and try to spot me in a green hoodie and black cap) in the video directly below.
‘The Making Of… A Blockbuster Game’ Vivid Ideas Panel
From the early ideas that inspired us through to all the final details, we’ve worked hard to bring to life the vision for The Last of Us. We’ve made sure it’s something we are proud to deliver to our fans. It’s really gratifying that people will finally be able to play the game, to get inside the story, and to experience the world we’ve created where a genuine feeling of survival is brought together with action gameplay. – Ricky Cambier
Then, the next night on the 5th, Sony held a community launch event at The Standard here in Sydney. I also attended this event, which was decorated amazingly well, with vines, leaves, graffiti and even had “military personell” with “attack dogs” (in quotes because they didn’t really prove that…thank God!). A highlight video can be viewed embedded below.
The Last of Us has a recommended retail price of $99.95 and can be pre-ordered here.
New footage has been outed for the upcoming grand strategy game for the PC, Total War: Rome II, focusing on Egypt’s stoic queen, Cleopatra. You can check out the trailer below.
After securing her place as leader of the ancient civilisation with the help of the armies of Caesar, Cleopatra stands at a crossroads. It seems it’s up to the player to decide Egypt’s fate. If you take on the role of Rome’s emperor will you continue to foster the alliance? Or will you flatten her rule under the feet of your mighty legions?
SEGA have recently announced a collector’s edition that’s selling out real fast. For us Aussies it seems like EB Games are out of stock but JB Hi-Fi is still accepting pre-orders. If you’re still sitting on the fence check out this earlier footage of the Battle of Teutoburg Forest.
Rome II will be out September 3 later this year, let us know if you’re part of the mad scramble trying to upgrade their gaming PCs in time.
After becoming the 2013 NBA MVP, Lebron James will also be awarded the cover spot on the upcoming NBA 2K game, NBA 2K14.
This is the first appearance on Lebron ‘King’ James on a video-game cover and to celebrate there will be a special ‘King James Edition’ of NBA 2K14 also released. The following content is available as part of the ‘King James Edition’:
10,000 Virtual Currency to get a jump start on the competition;
Extra content for the new Path to Greatness mode;
LeBron James unlocked in Blacktop Mode;
The all-new LeBron James Signature Skill available for your MyPlayer.
The game’s boxart can be seen to the right showcasing Lebron James in a victorious pose, presumably after winning a match.
