Today NIS America has released their first anime film in the form of The Princess and the Pilot. Ever since the company started bringing anime to North America in late 2010, they have released a number of anime series however this is the first time that they have brought over an anime movie.
The Princess and the Pilot follows the story of a young fighter pilot who must fly the princess of the Levamme Empire through warring airspace in an effort to put a stop to the war. However their journey will be one marred with battles and who knows what type of changes will occur on their journey.
As standard with an NIS America anime release, The Princess and the Pilot comes with premium edition packaging including a hardcover artbook, an oversized chipboard slipcase and a few on-disc extra features. It is worth noting however that the release is Blu-ray only and no DVDs will be included.
Today NIS America released their second English trailer for Time and Eternity and this time around the company has focused entirely on the game’s combat system. As you can see in the video below, the combat will feature the player battling one on one against enemies and timing attacks and dodges properly while also using various time manipulation mechanics to your advantage.
As for the game itself, players play as Princess Toki who also has an alter-ego named Towa. Toki must travel through time and change the events that occur in the past to prevent her fiancee from being killed during their wedding.
Auto Club Revolution Publisher: Eutechnyx Developer: Eutechnyx Platforms: PC (Web) Release Date: May 1, 2013 (Live Status) Price: Free to Play – Here
Overview
One of my favorite racing simulations happens to be Gran Turismo 2. Starting from the ground up, you were forced into races that you could not dare to win separating the weak-minded from the determined few. This difficulty propelled endless tiring hours of dedicated gameplay to achieve success through tuning up lower horsepower vehicles. Not only that but in certain races, you could win a new model for your garage. Auto Club Revolution manages to emanate some of these features, but to what extent?
Gameplay
Racing controls are fairly standard with players using the (W,S,A,D) as: accelerate, brake/reverse, steer left, and steer right. The (spacebar) is considered the manual brake offering a powerslide or drift in accordance with the player’s velocity. As with other racing titles, the vehicle camera can be altered to several views showcasing two third person views and as well as first person alternates by clicking the “C” key.
Being a “Free to Play” title, Auto Club Revolution contains purchasable content from the get-go. Players can literally purchase their success by snatching up the best vehicles and upgrade them with real money. Having the highest tiered cars available at the initial log-in can truly deter one’s playing experience – difference between earning and acquiring. Purchasable success provides an uneven market giving this racing simulation an undesirable attribute. For those that have extra cash and want to put money into Auto Club Revolution, there is still an aspect of level grinding, but winning races with high tiered cars will propel that.
A factor that plays in against those purchasing high tiered cars is the implementation of VPR “vehicle performance rating” restrictions in multiplayer races. As your car’s VPR increases, the performance output becomes much greater in terms of acceleration, top speed, breaking, handling, and cornering. The restriction entails that there be a minimum and maximum VPR for a race leaving overpowered or lower VPR vehicles out of the runnings. A 20+/- differential can mean a win or a loss, but this is where player expertise comes into play. Vehicles with a higher top speed will excel on straightaways, but a high acceleration will do wonders on a map trialed with corners.
Instead of winning cars after races, Auto Club Revolution incorporates the use of renting vehicles after attaining certain levels. The normal gestation of an activated rental car is 24 hours in your garage. After the time has passed, the car will no longer be available for use unless it becomes purchased. With that being said, players can race with the rental but cannot upgrade nor customize its look during the trial period. Keep in mind that not every new level will unlock a rental car, but they can provide an inside look for what higher rank vehicles feel like. Achievements work normally with a rental car, so try and gain all the extra “credits” and experience while available.
As we have previously established, car models can be purchased though the payment of real money or in-game awarded credits. Real money can be spent on E-Bucks which allows players to buy higher credit items providing convenience. New car class levels will unlock as a player attains ranks and therefore affects what cars can be purchased with in-game credits; however, E-Bucks can be used to purchase high class cars immediately. To put the game’s attrition value into perspective, players will have to spend around 20,000 credits for a class D car purchase. Faster cars can become quite costly when players only gain a minimum of 300 credits per race. The prestige cars can cost from 725 – 2,000 E-Bucks, and for only $5.99 you can attain 1,175 E-Bucks. Though you will certainly not need to race 60+ games to reach 20,000 credits, the seed has been planted in understanding the concept of “free to play” vs. “pay to win”. Achievements for each individual car can reward players upwards of 2,500 credits for completing objectives during races, slightly diminishing the heavy grind for the free to play gamers.
With E-Bucks players can purchase items called “perks”. Perks can increase the returning yield of experience and.or credits earned during races. Some perks will allow you to gain 100% more experience in 24 hours or even for a stretch of 7 days. The gap has just increased for those that pay or just play.
Customization is one of the most highly regarded features and is necessary for the title’s continual improvement. Players are able to take advantage of coloring/detailing their car at no cost with basic kits. A basic color palette is given as part of the natural appeal that the vehicle has, but the more palettes can be acquired through E-Bucks or credit purchases. Additional features through detailing are also available like comical art, country flags, and even custom tire wheels. To further include the idea of customized racing, cars can be upgraded according to individual parts of the vehicle – like Gran Turismo 2. The only lacking characteristic is that the upgrading portion is fairly generic across the board for each vehicle.
A negative outlook in customization in regards to detailing, a player must completely exit out of the current detailed section before moving to another side of the vehicle. Auto Club Revolution should take note from titles like Midnight Club or Need for Speed who make this process more fluid and enjoyable. Any ounce of repetition or extra steps should be eliminated to make customization more enjoyable.
Auto Club Revolution encompasses many mechanics dealing with physics. One aspect that may seem faulty at times is the the minimal loss of speed when colliding with a wall or buffer. Some collisions reduce the speed by a mere 20 mph when the vehicle clearly connects with a physical object. However, the physics truly come into play when cars collide with one another. Depending on the user’s handling prowess and sometimes pure luck, a wreck can be devastating and/or advantageous for competitors.
During races players can enable penalties. Penalties encapsulate a player’s abilities to stay on the track (cutting corners) and to avoid wall collisions. When penalties are enabled, players who fail to avoid walls or keep to the track will receive added time to their given lap time or have the lap time excluded from fastest lap leaderboards. Thankfully, you can choose not to have these annoying penalties on. Some people just need to crash into walls!
Audio/Visuals
The correlation between actual sounds and visual expectancy is a bit deceiving in Auto Club Revolution. Crashing into cars or any object should visibly take a toll on a car’s aesthetics. The audio component matches what players might perceive to be occurring during a collision, yet the visual component lacks a certain reality lacking in most racing simulations. I suppose those that want to see their car turn into mush should play the Burnout series.
Beyond in-game graphics, the user interface must be taken into consideration. In junction with a web browser, the title does well to accomplish a public forum in displaying an approachable medium. Those new to the title can get started by walking through visual tutorials and find important aspects through the “Help” menu. Easy navigation and offering active learning deliverables are key to make the game appear user friendly.
Overall
Eutechnyx is able to deliver a product – free of charge – to the vast public. Offering a title that is free to play means that the company still needs to acquire revenue in some fashion. In this case, Auto Club Revolution caters more towards players that pay to gain instant access to prestige vehicles. Advances can be made easily by attributing real money for in-game perks and acquiring upgrades for minimal effort. However, this does deter the effectiveness the title will have on those that are strictly free to play. The community is relatively new and thus a growing membership is needed in order to maintain the game’s online persona.
In conclusion, Auto Club Revolution takes what others games have modeled as the typical standards for the genre and incorporated them into a public market. While customization, level grinding, and vehicle acquisitions are at the title’s forefront, the title loses its flavor with easy access purchases. Earning a car carries more weight than using money to purchase it.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Remember Meexplores a future where technological advancements have seen the way people share their experiences move from the social networks we all use today to a world where everyone’s every waking moment is recorded. It’s the year 2084 and these digitised memories can now be sold, bought or traded. The corporation Memorize is driving this memory-based economy with its Sensen device, which is implanted into nearly all of the world’s population.
The development of the Sensen engine and the subsequent dominance of Memorize are charted in this intriguing interactive journal of its creator: Antoine Cartier-Wells. Further insight on the man and his motivation to create the next generation of social networking are exposed in a short film produced by Devin SuperTramp. [UPDATE]The short film was a tad late being uploaded, but it is now here. Check it out directly below.
The Social Revolution – Remember Me
Check out our extensive preview of the first four chapters of the game. Remember Me is scheduled for release on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC in North America on June 4th, Europe on June 7th and Australia/New Zealand on June 6th.
Konami Digital Entertainment willreveal their key E3 titles via their third annual Pre-E3 presentation on June 7th, alongside giving updates on already announced and anticipated games. The online showcase will be used by the publisher to debut exclusive trailers, footage, interviews and news on a wealth of IPs.
The 2013 Konami Pre-E3 Show will begin at 19:00 CEST (03:00 AU time) and can be viewed at www.events.konami.com, or alternatively, live-streamed over on the CBS Interactive owned GameSpot website or Xbox LIVE app. The extensive presentation will provide insight into upcoming titles from Konami’s social games studios, including behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with Producer Kei Masuda regarding the next edition of the Pro Evolution Soccer series.
Our third major Pre-E3 showcase will again premiere the very best Konami has to offer. We will give gaming fans major updates on key Konami titles, and offer unprecedented access to stunning releases ahead of the world’s most prestigious video game event.
Are you guys excited for the announcements to come? Any Konami franchise you’d like to see reborn in the next-generation? Let us know.
Turner CN Enterprises along with D3Publisher – a subsidiary of Namco Bandai Games – are happy to announced the development of Ben 10 Omniverse 2, coming to the Nintendo 3DS, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 this Spring, down under.
Based on the popular and enduring Cartoon Network program Ben 10, Omniverse 2 will allow players control of the title character as he battle the Incureans – a new intergalactic foe whose warship is infiltrated by Ben, armed with his trusty Omnitrix (a device that allows him to transform into various alien forms such as Gravattack, Four Arms, and many more). In addition to the action-brawler gameplay of its predecessor, Omniverse 2 will include chase and escape sequences, promising to make it the most kinetic title in the franchise yet. Senior Vice-President at Namco Bandai Games Europe, Olivier Comte, says;
The Ben 10 franchise has proven to be a phenomenal success for many years now, and we are of course delighted to extend our partnership with Turner on this brand new adventure. This autumn [EU/US], we will be very pleased to let players enjoy an exciting gameplay in Ben 10 Omniverse 2, the new video-game based on the latest Ben 10: Omniverse animated series.
The console versions are being developed by High Velocity Software, while the handheld versions are being developed by 1st Playable Productions, who did the previous entry.
It has been a long time coming and it took a change in publishers to happen, but Metro: Last Light has finally made it’s way to store shelves for purchase in North America. Deep Silver has released 4A Games’ sequel to Metro 2033 onto the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC though it is worth noting that the rest of the world has to wait until May 17th to pick the game up.
As for the title itself, Metro: Last Light is an exceptional experience that has seen a number of revisions over the original and while it’s storyline may be a bit iffy at times, the game’s gunplay, stealth mechanics and atmosphere make up for it in spades. To commemorate the game’s launch the company has provided the below launch trailer and if you are interested in seeing if Metro: Last Light is worth your time, you can find our full review of the game here.
Today fans of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance now have the chance to play as my personal favorite character in the game, Blade Wolf, or as he was known before meeting Raiden, LQ-84i. The DLC has been released on the PlayStation 3 where it costs $6.99 and the Xbox 360 where it will be 560 Microsoft Points.
In the DLC Konami is promising “multiple hours of gameplay” and given the fact that Blade Wolf is entirely different than Raiden, he features new attacks, new abilities and a whole new storyline that expands the character. To commemorate the DLC’s release, Konami has released the below English trailer which is a modified version of the Japanese trailer released last week, except this one is set to Blade Wolf’s in-game theme.
Rayman Legends is looking to have some pretty interesting world for players to explore and complete. In the last video released Ubisoft showed off the “Fiesta de los Muertos” world, so today they’ve got a brand new trailer showing off the underwater world of “20,000 Lums Under the Sea”.
Building on the gameplay of Rayman Origins, this water logged world in Rayman Legends features all new elements of stealth and infiltrating the enemy base as players swim through the levels. Watching the trailer, the focus includes utilizing light and shadow to bypass enemies patrolling the depths, which is pretty good as Rayman and friends are pretty useless in a fight when swimming around.
Players can watch the trailer for themselves embedded below to get a look at the water world and the new enemies Rayman and the gang will be facing in Rayman Legends when it releases in Australia and New Zealand August 29th (September 3rd in North America) for the Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii U.
The Furbottom’s Features in BattleBlock Theater have still been going strong each week since the game’s release, which have brought some of the best community created playlists for other players to play for themselves. Players wondering about how the developers at The Behemoth decide on which playlists will get featured should be sure to tune in on their Twitch TV channel for their second live stream.
While their first live stream focused on playing with the community, this time players will get to watch or chat with the devs while they play through three different playlists to decide which will be making the cut for Furbottom’s Feature this week. This live stream will see 3 devs, pictured above, playing through the 3 playlists starting at 3 PDT until 5 PDT Thursday, May 16th. All in the hopes of showing off what makes for a good playlist and worthy of a Furbottom’s Feature.
Players interested in joining in on the conversation or simply watching how bad the level designers are at other people’s level can find The Behemoth’s Twitch TV HERE. Players wanting to know more about BattleBlock Theater can find our review HERE and an interview with the game’s lead artist HERE.
