The details are all coming together now on Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon. The Xbox Live Marketplace listing for the game has been updated with the release date, an expanded overview and clarification on the format of the release.
First off, here is the overview:
Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is THE Kick-Ass Cyber Shooter taking place on a bizarre open-world island crawling with evil. Welcome to an 80’s VHS vision of the future. The year is 2007 and you are Sargent Rex Colt, a Mark IV Cyber Commando who’s fighting against a cyborg army gone rogue. Your mission: get the girl, kill the baddies, and save the world. Experience every cliché of a VHS era vision of a nuclear future, where cyborgs, blood dragons, mutants, and Michael Biehn (Terminator, Aliens, Navy Seals) collide. Playing Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon doesn’t require a copy of Far Cry 3.
That single paragraph is full of so much information…
The game will remain an open-world experience
Sounds like “Blood Dragon” is literal…there will be blood dragons in the game!
Michael Biehn of Terminator fame will feature (and it seems that central figure on the cover was him all along)
It is a standalone Arcade title
Now, if you visit the listing itself, you will see an R 18+ rating attached to the title, and if you click through to the second Overview page, you will also see a release date of May 1st. Seems like this VHS future is nearer than first thought.
Also check out the firstleaked screenshotsfrom the retro cyber-shooter. How awesome is this?! Are you guys as excited as we are?
Remember how hard Donkey Kong Country Returns was when it released? Well, that seems to be getting a bit of a nerf when it comes to the re-release for the 3DS, as Nintendo have announced that an easy mode will be included – giving players one extra heart while playing.
To myself, it wasn’t the difficulty that caused problems, it was the waggle controls that were tacked onto the Wii version. I still respect that game for it’s own merits even though re-playability was something that I had a hard time mustering up, but the 3DS version just seems to be better as there isn’t much of a gimmick aside from the optional 3D. Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D is due out May 24th.
The Uprising DLC Map Pack is due to hit Call of Duty: Black Ops II on April 16th, and if you are curious of the contents, a rather..well, different trailer has been released to promote the add-ons. To get the info out of the way, Uprising features four new Multiplayer maps (Magma, Encore, Vertigo, and Studio), as well as the frightening new Zombies adventure, “Mob of the Dead”. Sounds pretty good.
The trailer itself plays out like a short, with two actors speaking about the brand and deeming themselves as the “Replacers” while going through many situations that are used to plug the DLC. Think of Men in Black, but without the humor of Will Smith to save it. It’s great to see these additions come to Call of Duty, but I think finding the funny of the clip below is going to be a harder task for fans to bare than the wait. That said, it is nice to see effort being put into promotion with these DLC packs, and hopefully other companies will start to treat their customers with this type of affection when it comes to add-on content in the future.
You can check out the video below or by clicking on the link here.
“This is a sponsored post but opinions are my own.”
Just a few days ago, it was announced that Double Dragon 2: Wander of the Dragons was coming to the Xbox Live Arcade. Well, the game is now available, and things are looking rather questionable.
WayForward’sDouble Dragon Neonshowed us how a remake should be done, adding in personality that capitalized on the era the franchise was taken out of. According to the translation that is on the game’s official Xbox Live Arcade page, there will be none of that as this 3D brawler has been made modern. That in itself is iffy due to the sudden release of a game announced years ago, but the description itself is one poorly translated mess that shows us that this title may be low grade in quality. If you are wanting to take the jump, you can grab this remake of the popular follow-up now. Otherwise, I would be testing the demo, as this may be a cash-grab that was pushed out the window a bit too soon.
Ms Splosion Man iOS Review Developer: Twisted Pixel Publisher: Microsoft Corporation Platforms:iPhone (Reviewed), iPad, iPod Touch, Windows Phone 7 Release Date: 28/03/2013 Price:$2.99 – Available Here
Overview:
Ms Splosion Man’s the type of girl who would really blow your mind – literally. Since the game debuted on XBLA in 2011 (which by the way, you can read our review here), Ms Splosion Man has gained a notable fan base and a reputation for a pretty damn good platformer. Years later, Ms Splosion Man has gone mobile with a few changes for better or worse. Regardless, there aren’t many platformers on the iPhone these days of this quality and is a must-buy for platform fans.
Gameplay:
Ms Splosion Man is as simple as it is fun. Believe it or not, but in Ms Splosion Man, you play as….Ms Splosion Man – a hyperactive, scientifically created, female person-thingy that can blow herself up and survive because she’s made out of explosions or something. Whatever, it doesn’t matter. What does matter is that a bunch of mad scientists are trying to stop her from getting through cleverly designed platforming levels that are filled with creative and unique puzzles. Players simply tap virtual buttons to move the adorable suicide bomber left and right and tap the screen to ‘splode which will launch her up in the air. Like jumping, but cooler. This can be done up to three times and single handedly becomes the only logical explantation for double-jumping in video game history. These explosions must be timed accurately, giving the game a sense of much-needed rhythm. So not only do you have to be smart with your jumps, you got to make it flow well too. The best part about naviagting these greatly designed levels is that the controls are so precisely accurate that your always feeling comfortable within the game world. This may seem like such a standard thing, but I’ve found many platformers fail to do this on mobile devices so this is a huge plus. What works so well for Ms Splosion Man is how well everything is mixed together – It’s fast paced gameplay but it requires rhythm and brains. What? Yes. It’s a wacky combination but it feels natural and most importantly fun. With 50 levels across 3 worlds complete with boss battles, Ms Splosion Man is more than generous when it comes to content.
The mobile port of Ms Splosion Man is very faithful to the original XBLA title. The gameplay for the most part feels spot on. The biggest flaw in the game however is a new feature – in-app purchasing, freemium style. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against freemium games when they are fair, but I have this silly belief that freemium games should be free. So with Ms Spolosion Man being a $3 title it’s a bit much to ask for more money, especially when some of these purchases are around the $5 mark. This generally wouldn’t be frustrating, but with Ms Spolosion Man the entire game has been redesigned around this model and interferes with the gameplay – all with the intention of sucking money out of your pocket. No longer do you unlock levels, now you purchase them with in-game currency. If you can’t afford them, you’re forced to replay levels you’ve already completed to earn the cash or make an in-app purchase which is probably what the developers are hoping you do. This is pretty disappointing as if the developers could have just left the game how it was, but now the game is slightly more frustrating when it never needed to be. Top it all off, Ms Splosion Man can get incredibly difficult especially towards the end, so replaying these levels can on occasion be undesirable. However not all of these in-app purchases are bad, as new power ups and such are available to purchase which is pretty sweet as these aren’t forced on the player at all.Furthermore, exciting new challenges have been thrown into the game to help you earn currency to pay for these, which adds a brand new level of depth and challenge to the game which is a nice touch.
Audio & Visuals:
This is one hell of a beautiful game, and I’m not just saying that because of Ms Spolosion Man’s ‘splodin body! Everything looks just as remarkable and charming as the XBLA title, with fluid animation to go with it. What’s impressive is there is a ton of action going on the screen and there is never any slow down at all. To capture all this action, the screen is zoomed out quite far. This may be annoying for some players but it’s for gameplay purposes so it’s forgivable. Audio is also a stand out of this title, with girly pop culture references and humor spoken throughout, and nifty songs about everybody loving doughnuts and such. It’s rare to find a game that has audio that captures the same charismatic elements of it’s quirky style, but Twisted Pixel have hit the nail on the head with Ms Spolosion Man.
Overall:
Without a doubt Ms Splosion Man is one of the best platform titles on iOS devices. The amount of charismatic character in the game’s quirky design is so engaging that it alone sells the game. But throw in excellent level design and comfortable controls and we have one hell of an awesome cocktail mix. However the in-app purchases seem a little bit too much which will create a little frustration for some gamers and may steer others away. That being said, it is for the most part a very faithful port of the original XBLA title and is a hell of a lot of fun to play. Ms Splosion Man is ‘splodin with goodness and is a guarantee to blow you away!
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
The crossover game featuring characters from SEGA, Capcom and Namco Bandai (and being developed by the latter) is set to launch across North America on the 25th of June. A European release date was also set however only a much more broad ‘Summer 2013’ window was announced.
Project X Zone is a strategy RPG and allows you to create your very own dream team of your favourite characters with over 50 playable characters and another 150+ characters from various series being included through cameos and the like. The game stars characters from many famous series such as Street Fighter, Tekken, Megaman, Resident Evil, Devil May Cry, .Hack//Sign, Rival Schools and more. These characters are able to create special attacks thanks to the “Cross Active Battle System” when paired in certain combinations.
Namco Bandai has detailed some story details for International audiences:
The ancient treasure called the “Portalstone” has been stolen and a rift in time and space has allowed crossovers from various universes. The ambitions of various people, organizations and creatures have become intertwined, turning this incident into a great source of turmoil. The past, future, and even distant worlds from other dimensions have been drawn into what will be become a long journey for our heroes.
Seems pretty standard for the story of a crossover game. Apart from the variety of characters being mixed together, the game also features a mix of some of the best music from across the Namco Bandai, SEGA, and Capcom game library.
It’s great to see some more International releases coming out of Japan and hopefully good sales will pave the way for future Japanese only titles to be brought over. Who from the dream roster are you looking most forward to playing? Let us know in the comments below.
The Showcase of the Immortals Wrestlemania 29 is only a few hours away airing today: Sunday 7th April, 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m . PT / USA with some epic matches lined up and the highly anticipated main event rematch between WWE Champion The Rock and John Cena.
Can the WWE Champion The Rock cement his legacy by taking down John Cena for the second time in a row in the main event of WrestleMania 29 at MetLife Stadium or will John Cena get the redemption he so desperately wants and needs by finally beating The Rock and writing off his loss to him as last year’s main event at Wrestlemania, only time will tell.
Check out all confirmed matches for this year’s Wrestlemania 29 below.
WWE Champion The Rock vs. John Cena The Undertaker vs. CM Punk Triple H vs. Brock Lesnar (No Holds Barred Match; If Lesnar wins, Triple H must retire) World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio vs. Jack Swagger Randy Orton, Sheamus & Big Show vs. The Shield Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett vs. The Miz (Interactive Pre-Show Match) Ryback vs. Mark Henry WWE Tag Team Champions Team Hell No vs. Dolph Ziggler & Big E Langston Chris Jericho vs. Fandango Tons of Funk & The Funkadactyls vs. Team Rhodes Scholars & The Bella Twins
You can order Wrestlemania 29 by going to WWE.com via their PPV page here. Be sure to also check out the special one-hour Interactive Pre-Show, which streams live starting at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT, as well as the Post-Show! For more information check out the official WWE.com Wrestlemania site here.
Who do you think will win the main event at Wrestlemain 29? Will it be The Great One, THE ROCK or John Cena? Let us know what you think about that match and any other matches in the comments section below!
Bakemonogatari Part One Studio: Shaft Publisher: Hanabee Release Date: Out Now! Format: DVD Price: $49.99 (Buy Here)
Overview
Bakemonogatari is one of those Anime series that has a pretty large following but, from being on the outside, you’ve always wondered why that was the case. I mean the title itself doesn’t really sound like one that would stand out, even more, if you were to only watch clips or a trailer to the show, you’d probably choose to skip it. I know I sure did.
My interest in this Anime series began when someone I was once close to started talking about it like it was the best thing since sliced bread. It was better than Evangelion they claimed, even stranger they said. But was it really? I don’t think so.
However, as a package, Bakemonogatari is still a pretty good series for anyone to get into. Read on to find out why.
Story
Bakemonogatari follows a small cast of characters that seems to grow as the series progresses. The story begins with Koyomi Araragi at his school when he saves a girl falling down from the top story of a stairwell. What made this odd is that the girl, Hitagi Senjyogahara, was completely weightless. It is here that the story of Bakemonogatari begins.
It might sound like this is heading in the direction of some kind of monster of the week series, but really it isn’t. Instead the storyline of Bakemonogatari is spread into arcs where the main characters investigate into paranormal occurances that happen to other characters in the series. So far, after each investigation, the list of main characters have grown to include the character that’s case has just been solved.
What’s particularly interesting is that not all of these situations are solved through violence. In fact, throughout the entire run of the first part of the season, there is only really one significant fight scene (and it’s kind of bloody). The only other fight scenes of note are comical violence against minors. Instead, the cases are solved by having the character infected with the curse or whatever having to do something significant to fight off that curse. For one character it’s returning to her home, for another it’s confronting the girl she is madly in love with.
Of course, this is a SHAFT series and as such, does bring a lot of bizarre elements into the story mix. In this world, things like vampires, ghosts, and gods seem like the norm. Or at least this is the case for the main cast of characters. I don’t know what it is about the world-building in the series, but something just seems a little unnaturally off about the world the characters live in.
Visuals
Quick cuts the Anime. Like really, the director of this show uses these cuts more than Michael Bay himself. The first five minutes of the first episode left me with a gaping headache due to all the cuts and perspective changes. Eventually they settled on a view from the perspective of the protagonist, but it didn’t cure my head.
The show itself is full of such strange direction, which feels really unnatural for an Anime series to have. Maybe it was to fit the tone of the unnatural feel of the show, or maybe it was just to give me a headache. Who knows. It’s SHAFT, its fans will eat it up as brilliance.
That’s actually one of my main gripes with this show actually, the fact that the show has so many strange visual techniques shoved into it in an attempt to feel more brilliant. It’s like the team behind this show got together behind the seasons, had some really nice weed, and then collectively decided that whatever they came up with whilst high was brilliant. No it was not brilliant, you’d have to watch most of the quickly flashing panels of words in slomo to be able to read them and not only that, they get longer too.
This was obviously lifted from the superior Evangelion movies, however, the novice director was all like “let’s lift this straight from there, the fans think Eva is deep, so if we steal their cinematography, we’ll be deep too”. I hate to use memes in reviews, but I think that the Anime meme “2deep4u” suits this show perfectly, at least in the visuals department.
Audio
What was really enjoyable about Bakemonogatari was that it uses a different OP theme for each story arc. This was at first surprising to see as it is really unusual for a show to change themes only four episodes in. However, I am quite glad that the change occurred considering that the first opening theme was the weakest in the series so far. The best OP was clearly the second because it is so fun and catchy and is completely contrary to the theme of the arc that it represents. It is embedded below this review for your viewing pleasure.
For this release, there is only the Japanese audio track available. So fans of English dubs will not be able to listen to an English track for this series. I am actually unsure as to whether one exists or not in product format from any publisher. However, a second language track is available and that language is one of an audio commentary by the cast of the series for each episode.
Extras
To be completely honest, I don’t know if I should consider this release itself as an extra, or only what’s on the disc. You see, Hanabee have released this highly sought after series as an art-book with DVD sleeves up the back of the packaging. Even further, each disc includes commentaries for each episode (IIRC). Bakemonogatari is definitely a collectors item itself, you must have this item.
Overall
Overall, Bakemonogatari is an amazing package that all Anime collectors will want to own. Hanabee have really gone above the call of duty with this release. Even though I think the quality of the Anime series is higher than usual, but not one that lives up to it’s hype, it’s still definitely a must watch series. You will definitely be missing out by avoiding this release, or by not picking picking this up while you still are able.
UPDATE: It happened again…EA has been named the “Worst Company in America” by Consumerist for the second year in a row. They “beat” Bank of America with 78% of the vote to claim the title… *sigh*.
Last year, EA was voted the winner (loser?) of The Consumerist‘s “Worst Company in America” web poll-based tournament. Now, in 2013, they may be poised to retain their title, but EA‘s Chief Operating Officer Peter Moore has come out to defend his company in their official blog, “The Beat”.
I will share with you some of the highlights of the post. First off, it’s nice to see that EA at least recognises their mistakes and the fact that they owe us more as Moore states;
Are we really the “Worst Company in America?” I’ll be the first to admit that we’ve made plenty of mistakes. These include server shut downs too early, games that didn’t meet expectations, missteps on new pricing models and most recently, severely fumbling the launch of SimCity. We owe gamers better performance than this.
But then, Moore gets defensive in a way that presents no truly valid counterpoints on some of the following “charges”, so to speak:
Some of these complaints are 100 percent legitimate – like all large companies we are not perfect. But others just don’t hold water:
Many continue to claim the Always-On function in SimCity is a DRM scheme. It’s not. People still want to argue about it. We can’t be any clearer – it’s not. Period.
Some claim there’s no room for Origin as a competitor to Steam. 45 million registered users are proving that wrong.
Some people think that free-to-play games and micro-transactions are a pox on gaming. Tens of millions more are playing and loving those games.
We’ve seen mailing lists that direct people to vote for EA because they disagree with the choice of the cover athlete on Madden NFL. Yes, really…
In the past year, we have received thousands of emails and postcards protesting against EA for allowing players to create LGBT characters in our games. This week, we’re seeing posts on conservative web sites urging people to protest our LGBT policy by voting EA the Worst Company in America.
So, here are the problems with those rebuttals. Moore tells us that SimCity‘s always online requirement is not a DRM scheme, but EA has done nothing to assure us. It’s still always online, even though it apparently doesn’t require it after all. So, make it offline and prove it’s not a DRM scheme. I could simply say “no it isn’t” to any argument… And 45 million registered users on Origin? There is that many users only because EA has pulled most of their catalog from Steam and elsewhere, and FORCES its download to even run and update its games. I’d just like to iterate that we here at Capsule Computers have had nothing but good interactions with EA Australia, and this is my sole reaction to the blog post in question.
I implore you to read the entire post, and voice your own opinions and constructive criticisms to the points made. It should also be clarified that this poll relates to the consumer world only, so companies like BP should not, in fairness, be mentioned (old example, I know). BUT, having said all of that, a game developer being named “Worst Company in America” just doesn’t sit right with me. Worse than Bank of America? I think not. I personally hope they do not “win” a second year in a row, but what do you guys think?
You all remember that awesome poster artthat was the initial leak for Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag? Now Ubisoft have released a video of legendary comic artist Todd McFarlane talking through the process of designing the piece. And of course, the video also shows him actually drawing it too!
The video, which can be seen at the bottom of this article, is a telling example of just how talented he is. The guy is practically a household name, and anyone and everyone interested in either medium – video games or comic books – should want to own one of these fantastic posters (which is double-sided, featuring the “Bloody Seas” treasure map on the other side).
And you can, but as of now, only if you pre-order Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag from Gamestop…unfortunately for non-U.S. gamers, that means we are missing out. I’m still holding out for EB Games to get some in, though in my heart I doubt it will happen. I’m not sure watching the clip below makes me feel any better about that fact either…
