Ride to Hell: Retribution, the upcoming action game from Deep Silver, has a little more information for hog-lovin’ hellions today. Players will be able to create their own motorcycle using a large variety of different parts within the game. You can customize the handle bars, engine, and more to make the bike that suits your tastes.
Retribution will take players on a road trip into a world dominated by motorcycle gangs and violence, where a man proves his worth with the roar of his engine and the weight of his fist.
Ride to Hell: Retribution will make its way to the Xbox 360, PC, and PlayStation 3 in North America and Europe in June 2013. It’s companion title, Ride to Hell: Route 666 is in the works as well. For more information, be sure to check out their official website here.
Good news for fans of the anime series Gargantia as it appears the series will receive a spin-off manga not unlike the spin-off manga which was just announced for Valvrave the Liberator, another mecha series airing this season.
The Gargantia spin-off manga will follow the popular character Bellows. She soon became a fan favourite for her no nonsense attitude, love for salvaging and for being well endowed. The manga will follow Bellows origin story leading up to her salvaging discovery of Ledo’s Chamber mecha.
The manga will be titled Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet: The Headwater’s Bellows. Stay tuned for more information on this as it comes to light.
Indie developer Survivalist Games has released their inaugural title, Shelter, for iOS and Android devices today.
Shelter is a collectible card dueling game set in a zombieapocalypse. It features a graphic novel art style and plays like a hybrid of collectible card games and castle defense games.
Features of Shelter include:
Deep but accessible game-play. Easy to learn. Hard to master.
More than 100 game cards.
Integrated deck builder for deeply customisable play.
Graphic novel & comic inspired hand drawn artwork.
Compelling story and characters.
5 Campaign levels including a free roaming level (with more to come).
Library Wars: Love & War Volume 1 Author: Kiiro Yumi Illustrator: Kiiro Yumi Publisher:Viz Media/Madman Release Date:February 10, 2013 Price: $14.95 – Available Here
Overview Library Wars is an interesting manga for a number of reasons. First of all it is loosely based upon the highly popular light novels series of the same name. It also happens to be a shojo series which in and of itself is an interesting choice considering the high concept of the series. Perhaps the most interesting part of Library Wars is how it manages to be both simultaneously cliche ridden but also feeling absolutely fresh. It is a tight rope walk to say the very least but Kiiro Yumi manages to keep her balance throughout this entire first volume making for what is a great introduction to what looks to be an intrigue filled romantic tale of love and war.
Story For a shojomanga, Library Wars has a surprising high concept. The idea is that the government has let the censors run wild and they are deciding that all manner of books should be destroyed, often for very frivolous reasons. In order to prevent books from meeting the fire, Libraries have become militarized to protect books against the censors. There is a great deal of intrigue there and Kiiro Yumi does a good job of revealing a little about it in this volume without giving it all away too soon. There is still a lot to learn about this world and the titular ‘library war’ that it is waged in and that is just fine.
We meet protagonist Iku Kasahara in training to become part of the Library Defense Force. She wants to fight to protect books much like her hero and ‘prince’ did. The main mystery of this volume revolves around who this man may be, but there is more than enough hints as to who it could be. The prince of her past saved her book and touched her on her head, a touch that she fell in love with. Of course over the course of this volume several guys touch her head making her wonder if they could be her prince. It does seem pretty evident however that the prince is none other than her superior Dojo. Time will tell if that turns out to be the case though.
The story progresses quite quickly in this first volume with Iku being recruited to the Library Defense Force only three chapters in after a reckless act of trying to stop the Media Betterment Act from taking a child’s book. She is recruited alongside a perfectionist by the name of Tezuka, he naturally despises the hapless Iku and looks to undermine her at every turn much to the chagrin of his superiors. It looks that Tezuka will continue to serve as Iku’s rival in the coming volumes and he certainly makes for a nice antithesis of Iku who is by and large a complete screw-up albeit one who tries her best and refuses to give up.
There was an interesting atmosphere to the proceedings of Library Wars that I feel I must mention. The libraries are considered to be a place of freedom in this manga yet there was a strange sense of claustrophobia in the library scenes, almost as if they were trapped. I’m not sure what Kiiro Yumi was trying to convey with this tone and atmosphere but it certainly gave the feeling that the Library Defense Force isn’t as free as one would like. I’m interested to see that explored more in future volumes.
While Iku is seemingly at odds with nearly all of the other cast in the manga, she does manage to find some understanding with Tezuka and Dojo by the end of this volume, how long that will last is another question altogether. Regardless this was a fun first volume that set the stage for things to come by building up the world and concept of Library Wars as well as developing its characters beyon the cliche situations they often find themselves stumbling upon. There is potential here and I look forward to what lies ahead for Iku and her many princes.
Artwork Visually Library Wars is your standard shojo fare. There isn’t anything particular unique about it, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The shojo style of big expressive eyes and stunningly handsome bishonen is well served here to supplement the romantic elements of the manga. It is simple and neat with a great measure of detail to environments as well as characters themselves. The character designs are likewise simple yet distinctive enough that they leave an impression. Yumi does a good job framing and creating atmosphere with her art, but never verges on brilliance instead resigning to a more safer aesthetic. I’m hoping to see her flex her artistic muscles a little more in the future as there is a potential here that she doesn’t seem ready to reach for, but with a little more confidence she could create something genuinely beautiful.
Extra Content Library Wars volume 1 has a few little extras for readers to take a gander at. I personally found the numerous author comments throughout the volume to be rather enlightening about Kiiro Yumi’s thought process while working on the series. Yumi wants to do the original light novels justice and constantly doubts herself and questions whether she is actually good enough. It is a compelling inner struggle that really shows on the page. There is also a bonus omake chapter and even a message from the original creator of Library Wars Hiro Arikawa, which serves as an excellent exclamation point to all of Yumi’s commentary. Yumi doubts herself but Arikawa sees something special in her. It was a very interesting read an a welcome addition to this volume.
Overall What we have here is a manga that shows a lot of potential. Library Wars has all the right tools to be a great shojo manga, this entire first volume was really all about setting the stage for things to come, so it will be interesting to see whether it puts those tools to use in the future. For now it is hard to tell where Library Wars will go next, there doesn’t seem to be an endpoint it is heading towards and it doesn’t appear to have a whole lot of direction, but as an introductory volume Library Wars volume 1 does a great job at creating intrigue and building its foundations. It is a fun volume of manga that while not as thought-provoking as its concept promises to be manages to be quite a delightful read none the less.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Plants vs Zombies are expanding to the Facebook garden. The new game takes the classic Plants vs. Zombies gameplay and moves it on an adventure across the country. Popcap has created new plants, zombies, and characters to collect and use. The soundtrack has been expanded to add new tunes and a new twist to the traditional gameplay has been added as zombies can now invade from all directions. Once players are finished keeping zombies off their lawn, they can help build their town and send visiting zombies to their friends’ towns.
Contains Commander: Conquest of the Americas with the Colonial Navy DLC, East India Company Collection, Naval War: Arctic Circle, Pirates of the Black Cover with the Origins DLC, Ship Simulator Extremes, and Victoria II with a House Divided DLC.
Greenman Gaming has their vouchers going on this week. Take 20% off most orders with GMG20-JLKSA-7A8HA. Many pre-order titles are 25% off with GMG25-PLPFE-BCSAS.
Get Games is running their Get Loaded promotion again this weekend. This weekend’s theme is 2k Games. The deal is much better compared to the last one. Buyers have three options, get XCOM: Enemy Unknown and Borderlands 2 for $30.00, choose two older games for $10.00, or buy all the games for $48.00. Obviously, the $48.00 deal is the best for those who do not own all the titles, however if you are just looking for XCOM: Enemy Unkown, I recommend trying Amazon instead.
Naruto: Volume 60 Author: Masashi Kishimoto Illustrator: Masashi Kishimoto Publisher: Viz Media/Madman Release Date: March 10, 2013 Price: $14.95 – Available Here
Overview
Naruto has been around for a very, very, very long time. It’s been around long enough for someone like me to be able to say; “oh yeah! Naruto! I used to read that when I was a kid“, so fairly old. Not only is it old but it’s also good, great even. It’s survived many years and there is no real slowing down for the franchise, not one bit. We’ve seen Naruto grow both physically and mentally over the years, we’ve seen him make friends and lose some and we’ve seen him save the ninja world on several occasions. Naruto Volume 60 begins to show us his connection with the 9-Tailed Fox who’s been around longer than he has. Read on to see what I thought of the Volume.
Story
I’m going to make the most educated assumption and say that if you’re reading this I guarantee you know who and what Naruto is because, honestly, Volume 60 of this manga, or any manga, is not a good place to start. I’ll take you through a bit of the story in case you’re a few volumes behind: Basically Naruto and Killer-Bee have joined the Fourth Ninja War and, using the powers of their tailed beasts, intend to end it. Quickly. The start of the volume connects directly to the end of the last in such an epic way; all the hosts of the Tailed Beasts are fighting and when I say that I mean that they’re all fighting against Naruto and Bee. What’s nine minus two? Outnumbered is the answer to that! We get to see an incredible fight between these nine behemoths that really is world-destroying, lucky the Naruto world is so big because a LOT is getting blown up. Naruto, the titular character, has really shown his maturity in the last couple of volumes and volume 60 is no different, if anything, it shows it so much more.
We see a whole bunch of the Tailed-Beasts in this Volume. We learn about their relationships with each other and with their hosts. There’s a point in the volume where Naruto and all of the beasts (and hosts) speak telepathically within a small world only accessible by the Tailed-Beasts; he talks with them, confides in them, earns their trusts and gives them his. I think it’s almost as defining a moment as the time Naruto met his father for the first time. It’s one of those things that has been around since the very beginning of the series yet was never shown in-depth until just recently and Mr. Kishimoto did it well. Each of the Beasts/Hosts had their own personalities and their own ways of talking and just their all around style which is fantastic because these people would never have met each other in the story, they all come from different countries/villages, they all have different ways of living yet they come together on the one thing they have in common; helping their fellow man. It’s just another defining part of Naruto that really hits the mark. The volume does revolve entirely, or at least for the most part, around the Tailed-Beasts talking and confiding in Naruto so it makes sense that it was done right.
Artwork
Coming from someone who both loves to draw comics and has seen Naruto from the first volume to this volume I can see how great Mr. Kishimoto has become. I believe he had mastered his style many years ago and every since then Naruto has look everything but bad. We’ve seen such beautiful art from this manga, not only does the front cover absolutely rule but, wow, the art is great. I can appreciate how hard it would’ve been to have to draw such gigantic, detailed, monsters all in the same place at the same time AND to have them moving and fighting. Well done. Though I don’t know what I expected, we’ve seen this man in full-blown action before. Because the battles in this volume are on such a large scale we get to see a lot of the open ninja world, for example; a great deal of open fields, mountain ranges, etc. This man can do no wrong when it comes to art and style.
Extra Content
Pretty standard for a normal manga release: We’ve got a little paragraph from Mr. Kishimoto himself at the start of the book, like always. We have a whole bunch of guest art before every chapter starts and that looks really nice. They’re just the normal things that have been coming with Naruto manga since day dot so I can’t say I’m disappointed because it’s not like we really expect it to be any different.
Overall
This is just an all-round great volume, let alone, Manga. Obviously don’t pick this up if you’ve never seen or read Naruto but if you’ve got a friend that’s up to date maybe just get him or her to take you through it then go pick up this Volume. It’s not particularly hard to follow but you’ve got 60 Volumes of story to wrap your head around. As a stand-alone volume: it’s just great. It’s another beauty to come from Masashi Kishimoto with great art, great story and just all around greatness. It’s Naruto, people! It’s all good! The dialogue isn’t boring nor is it annoying, you see all the characters you want to see and you have all the action you want paired with fantastic story. Pick it up, guys, it’s not something to just let slide by.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Fans of the Otome game series Hakuoki will be happy to hear that the latest game in the series, Hakuoki: Memories of the Shinsengumi, will be getting a “special limited edition” from Aksys Games when it is released sometime later this year on the 3DS.
No details were announced about whether this limited edition will cost anything extra or will be bundled with all launch copies of the game, but the limited edition will feature a Japanese Folding Fan, a Japanese-style Towel and a Men of Hakuoki Art Book. Those interested in learning more about the game itself can read about it here.
Over the last few weeks Tecmo Koei and Gust have been releasing a number of gameplay videos for Atelier Escha & Logy: Alchemist of the Dusk Sky. Yesterday we saw how gathering items will work and today’s latest video focuses on how creating items via synthesis will work.
Those familiar with the Atelier series, especially Atelier Ayesha, will notice that the alchemy is still very similar to what we’ve seen before, though it appears that an element system has been added in. As an added bonus, the video also shows how useful a created item can be when used in combat.
Yesterday we saw the first gameplay footage for the anime crossover RPG Super Heroine Chronicle and today Namco Bandai has released the first screenshots for the title. The images can be seen below and in them we are treated to a larger look at some of the characters in action. Though no new characters were revealed in these screenshots, a handful of the already announced characters have been given a bit more time in the spotlight.
As for the game itself, Namco Bandai is planning on releasing Super Heroine Chronicle in Japan sometime this year on the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita. As for a Western release… fans can only hope.
Fans of the Otome game series 
