The ESET UK Grandmasters tournament event, Insomnia48 had 20,000+ concurrent viewers tune in to the event live across the internet this past weekend. The Insomnia48 event was broadcasted live over twitch.tv and showcased the StarCraft II tournament which was to celebrate the launch of Heart of the Swarm, the first expansion pack to the StarCraft II game.
On the event, a representative had this to say:
“The ESET UK Masters has once again proven to be a tremendous success, drawing unprecedented numbers via Twitch and live at Insomnia48 itself,” Said Quinton Watts, VP Marketing and Sales, ESET. “It’s clear from the high turn-out, community support and intense excitement levels that things are going to get better and better for eSports in the UK.”
The winner of the tournament was the player Snute, from Norway, who had taken down the favoured champion, BlinG. As a complete total, users watched 225, 861 hours in total across the entire event; streamed across twitch.tv. Also check out our review for StarCraft II Heart Of The Swarm here.
Fans of Persona 3 are excited about the upcoming movie based from the video game, due to be premièred in the autumn anime season this year.
The official website of the movie, entitled “Spring of Birth” contains information about the cast and crew, and a short promotional video. The excitement for this movie has been increased by the announcement that the cast members for the film will be the original voice actors from the game, and Meguro Shoji, who provided the music to Persona 3 and 4, will be composing the soundtrack for the movie.
The website has recently announced that the movie will be on an exhibition in the upcoming Anime Content Expo in Japan on March the 30th and 31st.
The film will be directed by Akitaya Noriaki, who was involved in episode directing for Fate/Stay Night, Dead Man Wonderland and Bakuman.
Ashes Cricket 2013 will be coming this winter and will be the first instalment of the series. 505 games announced today that Mark Nicholas, David Lloyd, and Michael Slater will be voicing commentary in the game. They are the first set of confirmed commentators, with more to come.
“Whether listening on the radio or watching on TV, commentary is a key part to the overall experience,” commented Ralph Pitt-Stanley, General Manager for UK & Export at 505 Games. “It was therefore important we faithfully replicated this in ASHES CRICKET 2013 and with Bumble, Nicholas and Slater we have three of the finest and most loved commentators in the game today.”
To find out more about Ashes Cricket 2013, go to their website here.You can also follow their Twitter here, or check them out on Facebookhere.
Paramount Pictures have released the Red Band trailer for their upcoming action-comedy – based on a true story – Pain & Gain, starring Dwayne ‘The Rock ‘ Johnson and Mark Wahlberg.
The Michael Bay directed film is coming out on August 8th this year, and is an obvious departure for the blockbuster director (although, as evident by the camera shots used in its trailers, he still shot it like a pure action film). This Red Band trailer, which can be viewed at the bottom of this article, gives a much better indication of the film’s sense of humour and should not be viewed by those under the age of 17. Personally, I was disheartened by previous promotional footage for the film, but it is now clear that much of the good stuff was restricted because of its mature nature.
I guess a “raisinette” joke is to be expected when dealing with body-builders…
Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams Developers: Black Forest Games Publisher: bitComposer Games Platform: XBLA (Reviewed), PC, PSN Release Date: March 21th, 2013 Price: 1200 MS Points – Available Here
Overview
While originally released for the PC back in October of last year, Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams finally made its way to consoles, so that those that aren’t as interested in PC gaming would be able to get their hands on the title that found success through Kickstarter. Finally back on consoles since the release of the original The Great Giana Sisters, just well how does the game stack up as an XBLA title?
Story
Opening up to sister Maria being kidnapped into a dream world with sister Giana jumping in for the rescue, the main component of the story is based around Giana trailing behind and trying to catch up to save her sister from a dragon. What makes the rescue most difficult is the fact that the dream world itself is a nightmare reflected by the contrasting personas of Giana. Switching between “Punk” Giana’s nightmare of fairytale fantasy and “Cute” Giana’s nightmare of gothic fantasy will be the only way for Giana to make it all the way to save her sister. While the story itself is simple and straightforward it is also elegant in its execution, so that the main focus is the gameplay itself. With short cutscenes that are straight and to the point, dialog is completely avoided to provide an experience that can be enjoyed by anyone that picks up the controller.
Gameplay
This switching between her personas is the key component to the gameplay as each persona is equipped with a special ability that aids in solving the puzzles and overcoming the obstacles Giana must face, such as platforms only usable to one persona. While “Punk” Giana is armed with the more ferocious ability to dash in any direction, bouncing off walls or defeating enemies, “Cute” Giana can twirl through the air carrying her farther through the air and safely around dangerous terrain. While each persona is the host of their specific ability, an interesting aspect of gameplay is that the world can still be twisted between personas during their use, so “Cute” Giana can start twirling and change into “Punk” Giana creating another layer to the puzzle solving.
The controls themselves with the Xbox 360 controller function wonderfully with face buttons controlling jumping and each special ability, while the triggers are reserved for twisting the world around Giana. Those familiar with the controller should have no issue being able to pick up the controls right away, though getting used to Giana switching personas on the fly when pressing the button to use an ability does take a little getting used to, however after mastering becomes second nature. There doesn’t seem to be any way that controls could be moved or changed to improve functionality at all and feels perfectly designed for consoles.
Besides just puzzles and obstacles, Giana faces a whole host of enemies as well, that also change with the environment, from owls and knights in armor hassling “Punk” Giana to devils and skeletons harassing “Cute” Giana. As the enemies themselves change with the environment, the game looks to color to indicate how specific enemies move about, as some will remain on platforms and others will drop down to the next. This provides a unique solution to a unique problem in aspect to the game itself for how to handle varying enemies, and is a solution easy to understand as well.
Along with the enemies in each level are the gems, that Giana collects along her journey to save her sister. Coming in three different colors, the gems add a collectible aspect that reinforces the twisting nature of the game world. While the blue gems can be picked up by either persona, yellow gems can only be collected by “Cute” Giana, and red gems by “Punk” Giana. Not only do the gems provide a main component by requiring enough to face bosses, they take the collection aspect in a different turn, instead of simply how can Giana reach up there, but how can “Punk” or “Cute” Giana reach up there.
With all of these different aspect as well as big boss battles, Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams provides even more with additional modes. While Score Attack and Time Attack change the goal of each level to see how well a player can do, Hardcore Mode and Über Hardcore Mode are where fans of older games with crazy high difficulty will get the more fun, frustration, or both. While Hardcore Mode tasks players with completing each level in a single life, Über Hardcore Mode tasks them with beating the entire game in a single life, which is pretty crazy for a game where one hit means death without a pink gem shield. Those that like to have more to do in levels after finishing the campaign will find plenty here.
Visuals and Audio
As almost every aspect of the game rests on the contrasting personas as well as the environments they must traverse, it’s great to see that the visuals are of such great quality. The screenshots here are a perfect representation of the visuals in gameplay, which are absolutely awesome to see as Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams is one of the best looking games to come to the XBLA so far this year. What’s more, the visuals aren’t the only aspect that twists with Giana as the soundtrack features “Cute” and “Punk” music that also match the environment, though players that prefer one can set up the music to a single option throughout. The visuals and audio not only highlight, but add to the unique gameplay.
Overall Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams is a great platformer that not only works well on the Xbox 360 and with the controller, but provides gameplay that doesn’t get stuck behind or nailed to a narrative. With outstanding looking visuals and a soundtrack that not only fits, but morphs to match the game world, platforming fans that missed the PC release and are looking for a campaign with unique gameplay and plenty of additional content should be able to find it here. Plus, with controls that perfectly suited for a controller the game fits right in on the XBLA.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
The latest installment in the beloved Sly Cooper franchise, Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, has hit stores across Australia as of today for both the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita.
PlayStation Australia have released a vignette trailer for the game which features titular character Sly Cooper projecting his thoughts on the game through psychic vision to viewers. You can check out the vignette trailer below.
That’s not all though, if you purchase the PlayStation 3 version of Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time you can download the game free on the PlayStation Vita. That is two for the price of fun!
Be sure to pick up a copy for Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time now in stores across Australia.
Attention: Rangers of Australia… Metro: Last Light is coming May 16th, and if you haven’t pre-ordered already, now you have more incentive to do so.
Deep Silver and All Interactive Entertainment have confirmed the bonuses for pre-ordering Metro: Last Light from two of our biggest video game retailers: EB Games and JB Hi-Fi.
Pre-ordering from EB Games will net you the Ranger Mode DLC and the acclaimed Metro 2033 novel (paperback). The Ranger Mode DLC is recommended for veteran rangers only as it provides the ultimate challenge, featuring a HUD-free display for increased immersion, deadlier combat, and dramatically limited resources. On the bright side (of what little light is left in this world) owners will benefit from a unique Ranger load out, which includes an exclusive weapon; the Russian AK-SU, and will also be rewarded with 100 additional military grade rounds from the get-go. Pre-ordering from JB H-Fi gets you the Special Edition in-game RPK light machine gun and a Metro LED handheld torch.
As mentioned, Metro: Last Light will be available nation-wide on May 16th, for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.
New information on the Xi3 Piston has been passed along to us via an anonymous source that has provided some pictures and information on the new console after they attended a private event to showcase it.
There will be three different modes for the console: Desktop, living room, and “virtual reality”. It was not said what exactly “virtual reality” was, but it seems promising and is being shown as a portable option for the X13. You will also be able to play games from every platform of all time according to the following statement by our source:
“He said that they used to be roms/emulators, but declined to say how exactly they were packaging them now, but it doesn’t sound like emulation. Said they were playing some of the oldest games at the office. Would not mention titles, mentioned working with developers.”
There will also be content pre-loaded on the Piston which will include free games and other content including free to play games. There was no explicit mention of any titles.
During the Q&A there was no explanation on how the Piston or the OUYA were going to do “virtual reality”, but the people working on the Piston liked what the OUYA was doing. On the topic of the Piston being a “Steam Box” the representative said they consider any 32 or 64 bit computer a “Steam Box”. Their biggest hurdle is that a lot of people don’t even know the Piston exists, because most of their focus has been on business. The Piston was designed for the best components with the least amount of heat generation, and they believed that AMD was the best option because of their combined chips.
Gameloft have just dropped a major bombshell for mobile gaming fans. They have announced that they will be releasing a Iron Man 3 tie-in game for mobile devices within the iOS and Android platform.
They plan to release Iron Man 3 on iOS and Android in the just a few weeks time on April 25th just ahead of the film’s release on May 3rd. You can check out the exciting pulse-pounding action of Iron Man 3 on mobile in Gameloft’s trailer for the game below.
The game itself looks to be a lot of fun and very faithful to the world of Marvel’s Iron Man. With the ability to play as the iconic and legendary superhero Iron Man gamers are sure to be addicted by the thrill this Iron Man 3 game looks to bring.
What do you think of Iron Man 3 coming to mobile devices? Be sure to let us know your thoughts on this major announcement from Gameloft in the comments section.
NAMCO BANDAI Games America has announced the release of A-MEN for the PlayStation 3 on the PlayStation Network. A-MEN is an action-puzzle game that allows you to control multiple soldiers at once. You will solve puzzles in expansive worlds that have a retro style.
When a major explosion at the A-Corp factory releases hundreds of A-droid soldiers, it will come to you to chase them down using your wit and skill! Avoid traps and use them to your advantage! Tackle missions solo or go head-to-head with a buddy. You’ll enjoy figuring 40 levels of mayhem!
Previously, A-MEN was released on PlayStation Vita. This new version includes full 1080p HD, new action-based multiplayer modes, and more trophies. It’s rated E10+ by the ESRB and costs $9.99.
You can check out NAMCO BANDAI’s site here for more information, or get the game on the PSN here.
