The third episode in a series of developmental diaries for The Last of Us, courtesy of Sony PlayStation and Naughty Dog, called “Death and Choices” is available to watch embedded below this article. These videos offer a glimpse at an extended behind-the-scenes look to be made available on the game disc come its release on June 14th.
We previously shared the first episode in the development series – “Hush“ – which gave insight into the design and creation of the infected, and then episode 2, “Wasteland Beautiful”, which focused on the environmental design in the game and nature’s reclamation of civilization as we know it. In “Death and Choices”, we investigate what it means to be a survivor in this world and how Joel and Ellie cope with the harsh realities of a post-pandemic society. We experienced this for ourselves, hands-on, when we previewed two levels from the game: Lincoln and Pittsburgh.
If you’d love the chance to see the design, technology, and ideas from both Naughty Dog and PlayStation that shape The Last of Us with a documentarian’s approach, you should definitely check out these videos as they are released. Watch “Death and Choices” below, and stay tuned to Capsule Computers as we update you on all future entries in the series.
Pokemon: Rival Destinies Collection 1 Studio:OLM Inc. Publisher: Beyond Home Entertainment Format: DVD Release Date: February 6th, 2012 Price: $23.99 – Available Here
Overview
The Black and White saga has seen a major revitalization of the long-running Pokemon anime series, breathing fresh new life into a series that had grown somewhat stale over more than a decade on the air. Here we are now in the second arc of the Black and White saga and the standard set in the previous arc continues on in strong force showing that what’s old is once new again.
Story
The general Pokemon episode formula has by and large been twisted turned and with a new lease on life Rival Destinies continues the impressive storytelling trend set by the Black and White arc. With an emphasis on overarching plot-threads and a greater variation in types of stories being told, Rival Destinies is a marked improvement upon the solid ground covered in the previous arc.
While the first Black and White story arc floundered under production issues and some false starts (the Venipede Stampede fiasco), things are back in full force here, with Ash and friends being confronted with all manner of new challenges in their way.
With hopes of making it to the Unova League, Ash battles Gym Leaders, faces fierce rivals and even confronts three Legendary Pokemon in what amounts to a very exciting series of Pokemon adventures.
What makes this particular collection of Pokemon special however is the emotional notes that it touches upon. The emotional moments were something that previous sagas in the Pokemon anime have lacked, thankfully the Black and White saga saw the return of them. There is a particularly poignant episode tackles the topic of pokemon abandonment. It was a touching episode that really showed that Pokemon as an anime is capable of being far more powerful than it often appears to be.
Ultimately the high point of Rival Destinies collection 1 is the way it develops the friendship between our three heroes and their pokemon. Ash, Cilan and Iris have become quite a tight trio, giving the sense that these three have all taken very different paths and been with many different people throughout their lives but everything has simply led them to each other. Their friendship has substance and that trumps most children series on TV these days.
It must be said, Pokemon is just as fun as it always has been and it remains one of the most enjoyable children’s anime of all time. It would be difficult to NOT recommend this to the kids of today. Pokemon is a series with a sentimentality and sense of adventure that will enchant children unlike any other anime will.
Rival Destinies is simply another chapter in this beloved series and that is perfectly fine. The fun of Pokemon is universal, even in its worst episodes it still manages to retain what makes it so much fun, that childish sense of adventure and curiosity for the world at large and the creatures and people that live in it. Pokemon may get older each and every year, but Rival Destinies shows that getting old isn’t always a bad thing. Pokemon: Rival Destinies is fun and that is really all the matters for Pokemon. As long as it is fun then Pokemon will never truly grow old, it will stay forever young at heart.
Visuals and Audio
In glorious high-definition the Pokemon series has never looked as good as it does here. The visuals are crisp and well animated, bringing the world of Pokemon to life in greater depth than ever before. The scenery of the Unova region is beautifully captured in all its vibrant wonder. The consistency in animation is impeccable, something that OLM should be commended for considering this is such a long-running series.
The soundtrack for Rival Destinies is likewise superb, taking many nods from the Pokemon: Black and White video-games in composition. We also see the introduction of a new opening theme song which is every bit as catchy as the last theme if not more. I can guarantee you will be singing along with it every single time.
All in all it a great production effort on Rival Destinies and it really goes to show just how far this series has come in its near 15 years airing. The quality of production is simply top notch.
Extras
It is somewhat unfortunate that such a brilliant release as this lacks any real special features across its three discs which it is comprised of. It is hard to determine why it is that Beyond Entertainment have repeatedly opted against bonus content on their DVD collections for the Pokemon series, but it is by and large a moot point when there is 25 episodes in one nice little package such as this. For the price point you can’t beat it. Beyond Entertainment consistently release quality products for incredibly reasonable prices, Pokemon: Rival Destinies collection 1 is now different.
Overall Pokemon: Rival Destinies is a fine direction for the Pokemon series to take. The storytelling is more detailed and features a sense of purpose that the series hasn’t had since the show’s first season. It knows what stories it wants to tell and it has a ferocity to it in getting them right. The overarching stories such as the one involving the legendary trio are well done and have level of grandeur that would feel very at home in a Pokemon movie rather than the Pokemon TV series, which shows just how greatly this series has improved over the years.
Like a fine wine, Pokemon has truly aged tremendously. It has gotten through its growing pains and has a level of freshness that has been long overdue for the series. The Black and White saga continues on in strong force, proving that while nothing is perfect, sometimes a spot of good fun can go a very long way and that is what Pokemon: Rival Destinies is – pure fun.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Gamers looking to purchase to a collectors edition for the latest Total War game, Total War: Rome II might need to consider getting around to it a little bit quicker than they’ve already been. This is due to the incredibly large amount of collectors edition pre-orders taking place with over half of all collectors editions having been already pre-ordered by gamers in the US.
Total War: Rome II is looking like it’s the biggest Total War game yet in terms of pre-sales, with gamers pre-ordering the game on a scale of six times more than they have for previous Total War entries. To quote Sega:
Today SEGA revealed that ROME II is already the fastest pre-ordered Total War game to date, with over six times the number of gamers ordering the title in its first official week as did for previous title SHOGUN 2.
Gamers should be sure to check out the trailer for the Greek Statues pack, embedded below, which comes free to gamers that pre-purchase the title before release.
I remember years ago when Cars first came into theaters, I was curious of just how far Disney would take the brand and if we would start getting animated feature films about grass, buildings, or planes. Well, that has been answered, as Disney’s Planes hits theaters this September, and it is voiced by none other than Dane Cook, who is known for his “comedy” and other films such as Employee of the Month.
Now, the good news out of all of this is that we are going to be getting a video game adaptation that is packed full of features. Here are the first details:
From above the world of “Cars”, “Disney’s Planes” video game takes players on a high-flying, action-packed, fun-filled adventure with Dusty, a big-hearted, speed-loving crop duster who is voiced by actor and comedian Dane Cook. Players will take to the skies with Dusty and other characters, including Ishani, voiced by actress Priyanka Chopra; Echo, voiced by actor Anthony Edwards; and Bravo, voiced by actor Val Kilmer, as they embark on global missions, air races and grand adventures around the world.
In “Disney’s Planes” video game, players travel through breathtaking environments and play as one of 10 cast of characters on console and one of 6 cast of characters on handheld in either single-player on all platforms, or race against one another in two-player drop-in and drop-out gameplay on console. Players will roll, turn and loop their way through mission-based objectives in exciting modes of play including a narrative based Story mode and a score-based mini-game that challenges the player’s precision flying skills called Balloon Pop. The exploratory Free Flight mode and racing based Air Rallies mode are exclusive to the consoles and the objective achieving Challenge mode is only offered via the handheld platforms.
You know what I smell? Potential. I love Diddy Kong Racing, and this is already giving me that kind of vibe. Disney have proven themselves as capable of making decent licensed romps in the past, and if they pull off a winner here, I might just go watch the film in celebration of their efforts as we need more adventure/racing games in the sky. You can expect Disney’s planes to hit all platforms this fall.
The two gave us their time to talk about the new academic partnership between the two entities as part of the PlayStation First Academic Partnership Programme. This is a big opportunity for higher education organisations (AIE being the first in Australia) to receive development kits from Sony to be integrated into the curriculum so that their students may acquire hands-on experience working with the hardware and learning about computer engineering, programming and software development in the process.
You may listen to the audio interview directly above to find out all there is to know about PlayStation First. The partnership officially launches today, May 20th.
Indie development company Nine Dots Studio isn’t completely new to the scene. They released their rookie game, Brand, in May 2012. Currently working on their sophomore release, GoD Factory: Wingmen is poised to do some interesting things.
GoD Factory is a unique blend of the multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) genre and space combat simulation. Nowadays, it’s rare that you see a space simulation game come out at all, much less combined with another category. Still, with the recent surge of interest in MOBAs thanks to League of Legends and DotA 2, GoD Factory has a real chance to hook a core audience and keep them coming back.
First, let’s go through a brief overview of how GoD Factory works. When you enter a match, you’ll choose two different ships to take into battle with you. When the match starts, you’ll select one of those ships to take command of while the other sits in the dock, poised for combat. You’re free to fly back to base and swap if you ever have the need.
The ultimate goal of each match is to destroy the other team’s carrier ship while defending yours. This is easier said than done. Each carrier ship has six “integrity points.” These can be taken out two different ways. First, each carrier has a huge cannon that is set to fire every three minutes. When your carrier is hit with a cannon blast, it loses an integrity point. Those cannons can be damaged to slow the firing speed to five minutes, though.
Second, you can take out one of several other key areas on the ship, and these have other adverse effects. For example, taking out the hull of a ship will cause every other part on that ship to take 33% more damage, or taking out the shield generator will cause damage to each of the other parts of the ship.
Most every part on a carrier will require more damage be dealt to it than a single gunship can do before it runs out of ammunition. This ensures that players will either have to work together to take out opposing carrier parts or go back, restock on ammo, and makes multiple runs.
For a game that’s still in the alpha stage of development, GoD Factory looks fantastic. Each ship has an impressive level of detail, right down to the various moving parts on the ships’ wings. The skybox universe surrounding the battlefield feels completely engulfing and believable – almost like you could reach the planets in the background if you flew that direction long enough. Nine Dots claims there is still more work to be done in the graphics department. Given those claims, I can’t wait to see how the finished product looks.
The game offers up a wide variety of control schemes. While most MOBAs offer point-and-click with an isometric view, GoD Factory is, at its core, a space flight simulator. They offer the keyboard-and-mouse combo, an Xbox controller-compatible setup, and two different joystick configurations. Without access to a flight stick, I can tell you that the controller is easily preferred over the keyboard-and-mouse. Though I’m sure the folks at Nine Dots will tighten it up, in its current state the mouse just feels too floaty and unresponsive. Though the controller is preferred, you may have to do some tinkering with the configurations to find a setup that suits your style.
Control schemes aside, the flight controls feel great. Everything is responsive. Zipping around the battlefield doing barrel rolls and the like are spot on with other space simulation games on the market today. When you add-in the special maneuvers (side drifts, 180-degree turns, and more), the game starts to feel more and more like a Star Fox game, and that’s a good thing.
Arguably, one of the biggest draws to GoD Factory is the deep customization the game offers. Even with an early build of the game, the options are almost overwhelming. You can build four species, or archetypes, of ships. From there you’ll have access to several different options within eight different ship parts, as well as customization of special abilities and weapons. Take the fact that you’re going into battle with two different ships, and your options for the battlefield are tremendous.
LAN works well for this early build of the game. Given that, though, creating a match solo and jumping in (or playing “offline” for that matter) is a lonely venture indeed. It would be nice to see the bots to fill empty slots in the future. The inclusion of a few other game modes and single player scenarios (or even an entire campaign) would be an incredible boost in appeal for the longevity of the title as well. It would also be nice to see the ability to add space debris (wrecked ships, asteroids, etc.) to the map to change things up a bit.
Overall, the early look at GoD Factory: Wingmen proved to be an encouraging experience. It’s been a while since a good space simulation hit the masses. The design of the game promises to keep dogfights fast and intense while applying pressure with the carrier ships. The game also feels like it would excel with Team Deathmatch and a few other classic modes, but what Nine Dots Studio has put together so far is quite fun. Once online multiplayer is available, I could seriously see a core group getting hooked on Wingmen. When you toss in an upcoming shop, progression system, and more deep customization options, you offer something for fans to really cling onto. It’s impressive to see what can be done by a team of six in only nine months. We can look forward to release sometime this year.
If you’re interested in checking out more on GoD Factory: Wingmen, be sure to check out Nine Dots Studio’s official website here. You can also follow them on Facebook. The game is currently up for voting on Steam Greenlight, so be sure to head over there and vote for it as well. For all future coverage of GoD Factory: Wingmen, be sure to keep up with us right here at Capsule Computers.
UPDATE:Kevin Conroy just joined Twitter, and one of the very first things he did was clear up any confusion by explaining that he was NOT referring to Arkham Origins, but Rocksteady’s next-gen Arkham title instead…he then deleted the tweet because he obviously shouldn’t be mentioning a title that hasn’t even been announced. Yikes. Seems Batman’s weakness is Twitter. Roger Craig Smith, best known as the voice of Ezio Auditore from Assassin’s Creed, will be voicing Batman in Arkham Origins.
It was widely reported that the famed voice actor would not be reprising his role as the masked hero in the newest entry in the Batman Arkham series. However, Kevin Conroy himself has today proved those reports false.
During a Q&A panel at Comic Con in Dallas, Kevin Conroy told the crowd he had been working on the next Arkham game for the past few months and was not able to talk about it due to a Non Disclosure Agreement. Conroy goes on to decribe the upcoming title as an unbelievable game with a huge cast and big story.
This is great news for fans of the Batman series and should please all of those who like consistency between games in a series. Conroy has voiced close to every animated and video game adaptation of Batman since 1993.
Batman: Arkham Origins is due for an October release and stars a younger Batman than we’ve known as Origins predates all other entries in the series. You can check out some screens and get more information on the game in some of our previous reports. Stay tuned to Capsule Computers to check out a full length trailer of the game that should be revealed sometime today.
It was announced on Saturday, through the second volume of BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger’s Novelization, that the long-awaited BlazBlue Anime series has been Green-lit.
Calamity Trigger…Epic name, hopefully an epic anime.
Toshimichi Mori, the designer of the BlazBlue games, has been known to want and long for this Anime adaptation since 2010. Zen United, the European partner to Arc System Works who made the game, responded to this “want” by setting up and launching an official “BlazBlue Anime Series” petition to support the game’s adaptation. Clearly this was a good move because people definitely went for it and now we’ve got ourselves another fighting game Anime in the works.
Judging from the image of the news the Anime is going to be based on the first game of the series which was BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger which has debuted as an arcade game way back in 2008. I’ll make an educated assumption and say that if this gets enough of an audience and a general love for the series we may be also seeing some of the other games in the franchise get adapted.
Stay tuned for more info as it is released and don’t forget to hit up our comments section below.
I’m going to take it from the very beginning with this one: Pokemon Tretta is an arcade game, so far only seen in Japan, that allows you to collect and battle your favourite Pokemon in an odd yet really cool way. To play the arcade game you simply need one or more of the pog-like, Pokemon discs that you get, at random, every time you play the arcade game. You put money in, it dispenses a random Pokemon and you’re on your way. These little coins/discs are also like memory cards for the game that store your Pokemon’s level as you fight and win. Kind of quirky, kind of awesome. You can have as many of these discs as you like but you can only use three at a time. That’s the arcade game.
I would love to see something like that here.
Now that you know about the arcade machine let me tell you about the new Software/Hardware combo for the 3DS: Because of the Pokemon Tretta Arcade Machine’s popularity in Japan the Developer Marvelous AQL has begun developing the Pokemon Tretta Lab for the 3DS. It uses the same discs as the machine, in fact the two are to tie in with each other almost directly. The add-on to your 3DS allows you to organise your Pokemon Tretta Discs. It is a pairing of hardware and software; the software will be able to be purchased through the Nintendo eShop which actually comes with the Hardware and several pucks.
The Pokemon Tretta Lab sports three different modes to be used along side the Arcade Machine and the Pokemon Discs: The first is the Tretta Analyzer which is basically like a “Status” screen for your pucks. It shows you the level, the type, the stats, etc. Much like a normal Pokemon game. The second is the Type Checker. This allows you to compare two different Pokemon and see if their Type Combination matches up. This surely would prove to be helpful in battle. The third is Auto Battle. You scan two discs and the game will show them battle it out. Basically this Add-On is more for preparation than anything else.
The system Add-On and pucks are shown below:
Pikachu is and will always be the star of the show.
This is all set for release, in Japan, on August the 10th of this year and will be available for both the 3DS and the 3DS XL. Now even though we’ve seen nothing of this nature hear in Oz it’s still interesting and my hopes are still high that maybe, one day, we’ll see something this awesome in local arcades.
Stay tuned and keep your eyes open for more news on this as it is released. Don’t forget to head to out comments section below and drop us a line telling us what you think about this.
Blade Symphony is Puny Human Games’ sword fighting game. Puny Human Games is probably best known by their previous name, Team Dystopia of the hit Half Life 2 mod Dystopia. Blade Symphony has been in development in one form or another since 2008. In 2011, Puny Human Games turned to Kickstarter to allow them to self-fund the game. Back in February of 2013, Blade Symphony began sending beta keys to their Kickstarter backers and on April 30th, entered Steam’s Early Access program for beta games. Blade Symphony is currently available for purchase on Steamfor $14.99 USD and will be priced at $19.99 on release.
The game is still under intensive development, with the game undergoing some major balancing changes in response to the community’s recommendations. However, the game is currently in an extremely polished state. There are currently three characters with distinct fighting styles, four sword types, four duel maps, and two free for all maps. There are a variety of character and weapon customization options, but none of them affect the game’s balance as they are cosmetic only.
Phalanx is the high tech fencer who specializes in long ranged thrusts. Judgement is the armoured swordsman who could be easily mistaken for a tank based on how hard he hits, however such power comes at a cost of slow speed. Finally Ryoku is the masked acrobat who is designed out confuse and out-maneuver enemies with his capoeira and breakdancing inspired animations. I found the characters to be well balanced. Practically every player will find a character that will synergize well with his or her play style. However, Ryoku is still the target of heavy changes as developers are still not happy with the character.
Blade Symphony is a third person melee game. The gameplay reminds me of the first Bushido Blade on the original PlayStation. Skillful gameplay is rewarded while random button mashers will get stomped on. Heavy, balanced, and fast are the three basic stances. Each character has a unique chain of moves that limit the amount of strikes that can be landed with a single stance. However, attacks within stances can be chained together for longer, more devastating strikes. In addition, there are separate side sweeping attacks, air based attacks, charged based attacks with three separate tiers of power, grapple attacks, and thrown weapons. On the defensive side, players can parry attacks by attacking at the same time as their opponent or use their sword’s defensive ability. Each sword type has its own set of stats and unique defensive move.
I will admit that there is probably no word in the English language to describe how horrible I am at Blade Symphony. When trying to find words to describe my performance, words like atrocious, terrible, pathetic, and plain old bad comes to mind. Even then, I found myself having an incredible amount of fun playing Blade Symphony. I found the games mentally intensive and the learning curve to be steep. Over the course of many losses, I found myself creating a play style for myself and honing it in. Blade Symphony demands a lot of focus as one wrong move can result in a game-ending flurry of chained attacks. Currently, there is no training mode, so learning must be done through trial and error in the heat of the moment.
Free for all mode is fun, but Blade Symphony is at its best in 1v1 duels. Puny Human Games has a wonderful web based stat system that tracks player performance in duels, ranking players by skill, supposedly through the Glicko rating system. Duels are intense and are fought best out of three. Duel maps have three ongoing duel areas at all times and at certain angles, I could see other duels being fought through a window. I found the game did its best to try to pair duelists of similar skill levels, but since the community is so small right now, I often found myself being paired with much more skilled players at times and getting pummeled into the ground. The Blade Symphony community offset the sting of loss. Fights often begin with a polite bow and end with “nice fight” or some other polite compliment. Although the odd player with poor sportsmanship will always appear, I found the Blade Symphony community to be friendly in general.
Blade Symphony runs on the Source engine. The popular brown palettes are tossed aside for more intense colours. The maps are designed after popular fight locations inspired by films and television. Animations are excellent, with the acrobatic Ryoku’s moves easily stealing the show. Puny Human Games puts their previous Source engine experience to good use as the game runs smoothly while looking fantastic. Blade Symphony is also great to listen to, with an enjoyable soundtrack and excellent sound effects complimenting the visuals.
Blade Symphony is shaping up to be an excellent game. Combat is deep and intense. It is not a game for those not willing to experiment and learn the hard way as there is no solid tutorial or training mode to practice important skills. However, Blade Symphony is primed and ready to help expand the melee combat genre on the PC. The future looks sharp for Blade Symphony.
Today we spoke with the Head of Academic Development for 
