Monster’s latest collaboration has finally come to the market. The EA Sports MVP Carbon Headphones are on ear headphones driven by a 30mm driver and controlled by the new Gamebox mix amp. The headphone is capable of virtual surround sound through Monster’s HDHS system. The sound signature has been tweaked by EA’s sound engineers. The headset is compatible with all major consoles, portable consoles, and most smartphones. When used with a smartphone, gamers can accept and end calls using the control pod.
The EA Sports MVP Carbon Headphones are now available through Monster’s webpage for $269.95 in white and black. The headset will be released in Australia soon for $329.00 AUD.
The top Call of Duty teams from Australia and New Zealand are set to battle it out on the 15th of March to decide which two teams will progress to the finals. The two winning teams will then travel to LA to face off in the Call of Duty Championship of 2013, presented by Xbox tournament. After some lengthy and suitably brutal qualifying matches, the teams that will compete in tomorrow’s tournament are:
Seraphic Nexus
Immunity
Insurgency
Cruelty Incarnate
AuRa eSports
Uprising
Adamant
Hostile
Interested gamers that want to watch the LiveStream and the games as they happen can head on over to Twitch TV ,while all the up to date rankings, leader boards and stats on the Championship by Xbox can be found at Call of Duty ELITE and the Australian Cyber League websites.
Can’t get enough Call of Duty? Tune in next week to check out two major eSports comps, which feature 16 more teams in their battle for a position in the Call of Duty Championship’s. The Major League Gaming 2013 Pro Circuit Winter Championship of Dallas, Texas occurring from March 15-17th, and The Electronic Sports League World Championship tournament, from March 16-17th, located in Cologne, Germany. With each competition earning an additional eight teams their place and their trip to Hollywood.
The full Call of Duty Championship begins in early April, with developers Treyarch and publishers Activision eager to see just which team will come out on top as the best Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 players in the world and earn their share of a one million dollar purse.
The Invincible Iron Man has already been revealed for Marvel Heroes, but now his armour has gotten a trailer as well and it’s looking pretty awesome! The trailer (featured below) not only reveals gameplay of Tony Stark’s alter ego in action but also a variety of costumes players can suit up in, including both suits from the comics as well as the films. The upcoming MMO is set to feature 8,000+ characters and will also be free to play and will contain a story inspired by some of the most iconic events in Marvel’s cinematic history. So get ready to suit up true believers!
Until then, Marvel Heroes is set for a Spring 2013 release date.
New details have come to light on the Assassin’s Creed III downloadable content The Tyranny of King Washington. A new trailer and screenshots have been released both of which focus on the DLC’s introduction of invisible eagles that can assist Connor, because invisible wolves just wasn’t enough for our friendly neighbourhood assassin.
The Tyranny of King Washington is a three part DLC series for Assassin’s Creed III the first part of which has already released on consoles and PC. The following is the release details for The Tyranny of King Washington:
Episode 1: The Infamy is available now on Xbox 360, PC and PlayStation 3.
Episode 2: The Betrayal will launch on Xbox 360, PC on March 19 and on PlayStatio 3 come March 20.
Episode 3: The Redemption will hit Xbox 360, PC on April 23 and on PlayStation 3 on April 24.
Be sure to check out the invisible eagle screenshots and trailer below for a look at what to expect from The Tyranny of King Washington.
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 Developer: CyberConnect2 Publisher: Namco Bandai Games Platform: Playstation 3 Release Date:March 5, 2013 Price:$59.99 – Available Here
Overview:
It has been 10 years since the first Ultimate Ninja game was released. Since then the Naruto series took the world by storm and all that has brought us to Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3, a game that feels like a culmination of 10 years of gaming, 11 years of anime and 16 years of manga. It can’t get more definitive then this.
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 is the ribbon on top of what has been an all in all brilliant fighting game series. It is hard not to feel that for the Ninja Storm series this is CyberConnect2’s ultimate jutsu.
Story: Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 adapts later parts of the Naruto Shippuden series, focusing primarily on the Five Kage Summit Arc, Birth of Naruto Arc and the long awaited 4th Great Ninja War. Fans of the Naruto series would know that these arcs in particular contain some of the most interesting stories in the long-running series.
The game follows multiple characters from a variety of different viewpoints with the majority of the game revolving around titular protagonist Naruto Uzumaki. Despite the fact that the game drops players in at the end of the overall plot of Naruto Shippuden, it does an admirable job at giving them a good understanding of who’s who and the situation at hand. Much of the backstory comes in the way of flashbacks (a stable of the Naruto series) and works to give players that are new to the series an idea of the story thus far.
It must be said however that much like an RPG game the story scenes between battles are often quite long, some even weighing in at nearly as long as an episode of Naruto itself. This is of course not too great an issue as it can be skipped. It may feel a little drawn out however if you want to get the best of both worlds in terms of story and combat.
Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 does do something interesting in terms of it’s Story Mode though. At certain pivotal moments the game gives the player to choose two different paths (often to do something alone or with the help of others) which does affect the story in some ways. While these ‘Ultimate Decision’ portions are more superficial than anything and usually only exist to provide greater or less difficulty to the gameplay they are a nice addition to the story that give a sense that your choices do matter although in the long run they don’t really hold any significant bearing on events.
The story overall is quite well done and some of the more emotional moments (Naruto’s parents sacrifice) are truly touching. It carries the spirit of the anime and manga to perfection and is truly engaging throughout.
Gameplay:
This is where Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 truly shines. What CyberConnect2 have done here is polish the existing formula to damn near perfection. With the introduction of a number of new gameplay elements the overall experience has been greatly enhanced and made far more intuitive and stream-lined.
The main fighting sections can be played in every mode of the game and is the part of the game that many would know it for. With a large array of characters to choose from, there is an incredible amount of variety to the gameplay as nearly all characters excluding other versions of a character are entirely unique. Each has their own abilities, style of combat and movement. It makes for what some intense, fast and often unpredictable battles.
In terms of character variation this does cause some balancing issues. For example characters such as Kiba and Kankuro are almost never at a disadvantage and are capable of pulling off a near infinite string of combos that will leave little opening for attacks or substitution dodge. There are ways to combat such characters but they are definitely more powerful than they should be.
A new introduction to the combat mechanics is the ability to get a ‘ring out’ victory. While this is not an easy means of victory, it can happen often accidentally. Some stages have invisible walls that can be smashed in order to send your enemy out of the arena for a victory. It doesn’t add a lot to the already polished gameplay but it is still nice to have another way to win a fight.
The Free Battle mode which is essentially your standard combat mode, has a number of options available in terms of customization for what type of battle you’d like to have. You can play simply against computer players, local multiplayer or even simulate a computer vs computer match. There is also the ability to hold a fighting tournament with a selection of characters.
Much like the Free Battle mode, the game’s Online Battle mode largely revolves around standard combat but of course with other players online. You can play in ranked match or player match and accumulate experience points and level up as well as customize your player card.
Besides those two modes there is the Ultimate Adventure story mode which is really the centerpiece of this jam-packed game. The Ultimate Adventure weighs in at an impressive 20 hours. You take on the role of a number of different characters including: Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke and even Might Guy just to name a few. As you play through you unlock more characters to use in other gameplay modes and earn ‘ryo’ which is the points system used across all three modes (earning certain amounts of ryo can also unlock characters).
While the story mode largely comprises of extensive story sections and adventure portions (throughout Hidden Leaf Village or other locales) there is also Dynasty Warriors-esque fighting portions of the game that pit you against a number of enemies as you go from one point to another with a major fights even appearing within these sections.
The Ultimate Adventure does feature an original ending to the 4th Ninja War arc which will surely be divisive among series fans but it serves as a nice capper to what is truly an incredible journey.
Even after finishing the Ultimate Adventure mode and unlocking all the characters, the game has an incredible amount of longevity with its Free Battle and Online Battle modes. Both modes in and of themselves are incredibly enjoyable and provide a limitless level of playtime to Ultimate Ninja Storm 3.
What really unifies all the different aspects of Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 is just how polished it is. This game is really the perfect Naruto game, it is hard to imagine how it can get better than this. It’s a wildly fun thrill-ride that does its source material justice.
Visuals and Audio:
Aesthetically Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 is a visual beauty, with its cell-shaded graphics that share the feel and style of the anime series upon which it is based it is hard not to be absorbed into the world of ninjas. Each stage is well conceived and is gorgeously detailed and rich with character of its own. Characters are well designed and serve as excellent representations of their anime counterparts.
The game also is notable for its great artistic style in its menus and loading screens which are a luscious array of colours and visual bombast. It makes surfing menus more enjoyable than you’d expect simply due to the admirable visual display.
Ultimate Ninja Storm 3’s soundtrack is beautifully directed and composed, creating a stunning mix of energetic and ephemeral. There is a lot to soak in aurally with this game. There is also two audio dub tracks, one is the original Japanese and the other features Viz Media’s English dub cast. I played primarily with the English cast and found them to be well suited to their characters with some done superbly such as Brian Donovan’s performance as Rock Lee and Liam O’Brien as Gaara.
Overall:
Without a doubt, this is the pinnacle of the Ultimate Ninja series. It could even be argued that this is the best Naruto game period. CyberConnect2 have clearly put their all into this game and have created what is ultimately an incredibly enjoyable fighting game at its core. Whether you are looking for a good Naruto game, an awesome fighting game or even just a great game in general, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 will not disappoint. If you have yet to be taken by storm by Naruto this game will blow you away. It just doesn’t get any better than this – Believe it!
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Gogogogo.com today announced Tata Blitz, a new and exciting free to play browser-based 2D third person shooter. The new game is displayed in a lively and comical cartoon style and features a variety of interesting maps, characters, weapons and more.
Tata Blitz offers a large collection of maps where players will experience its colorful and interesting scenic world. From the magnificent Egyptian pyramids, to Dracula’s mysterious castle, a dark foreboding swamp and more are all waiting to be discovered.
The game contains a variety of interesting weapons including firearms, thrown and close range weapons. Firearms are used for remote strike force and include pistols, machine guns, shotguns, rockets and more for players to choose from. Thrown weapons are middle range weapons with a striking force and include grenades, smoke, plank bricks and even mobiles. Close range weapons offer a melee strike force and include daggers, choppers, pipes and even a saucepan.
Apart from the variety of maps and weapons, Tata Blitz also offers players a variety of custom suits and items to spice up the action and differentiate themselves from other players.
Gamers interested in seeing the game in action can view the trailer below.
To sign up for the exclusive pre-closed beta test visit www.tatablitz.com.
It looks like the whole “Idol” part of Hyperdimension Idol Neptunia PP’s title will be the main focus of the game. Details for Hyperdimension Idol Neptunia PP have been revealed and this time around it looks like rather than an RPG or something similar, the game will be structured like an Idolm@ster game.
An online listing at HMV for the game has provided a number of details. Players will be playing as a producer who can choose four different CPUs to create a show with and players can increase the stats of their CPUs by using the game’s adventure mode. These stats will help raise the CPUs idol status and it looks like that the idols may just fall in love at some point if the player handles things right.
Since the game is for the PlayStation Vita, it looks like players will be able to use it to touch the CPUs in various ways and they will react differently depending on where you tap them. The game’s character models are being created by Tamsoft who has handled the Dream C Club games.
Well, it is that time of the month again, and Nintendo have hit refresh on their monthly Club Nintendo Rewards, bringing out four new digital offerings that members can redeem those coins for. This month, Mario Tennis has made it’s return to the rewards program, and can be purchased for your Wii or Wii U for 150 coins.
Yes folks, 150 is the lucky number this month, as that low amount of coinage is how much all of these rewards cost. Super Punch-Out! is also available for the Wii’s Virtual Console, and for 3DS owners, you can snag 3D Classics Kid Icarus and the addictive Starship Defense, all of which expire on April 7th. So not a bad lot, and a good way to cash in the coins. Go, download and enjoy these classics while they are still available.
BIT.TRIP Presents… Runner2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien Developer: Gaijin Games Publisher: Aksys Games Platforms: PlayStation 3, XBox 360 (reviewed), Wii U, PC Release Date: February 26, 2013 Price: $14.99 – Buy Now
Overview
In a day and age where rhythm games, as this generation has known them, are on the decline, the development team at Gaijin Games are looking to shake things up a little bit. Gone are the days of plastic guitars and drums sets. Instead, BIT.TRIP Presents…Runner2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien looks to rekindle the days when rhythm games made their home on a controller. Does Runner2 stay in step with the days of glory or has it lost that lovin’ feeling? Let’s find out.
Story
As narrator Charles Martinet recounts to the players, Commander Video finds himself in a precarious situation. He and his compatriots, hot on the heels of a maniacal enemy known as Timbletot, find themselves in an outer layer of the world known as the “Hypersphere.” Suddenly they’re struck by something known as a “nefarious un-fusion beam”. Being the hero, Commander Video shields his teammates from the blast. As a consequence for being struck by the beam, he is taken through a vortex and into a location between “the apex of light and matter.” He must find his way out of this vortex and back to his friends.
Gameplay Runner2‘s basic gameplay mechanics are simple and straightforward. That’s a big part of what makes it such a joy to play. Though you start with only the lowly jump mechanic, you’ll soon be introduced to more and more maneuvers until your repertoire is full ways to avoid danger and make beautiful music.
The player will have to jump, slide, kick, block, dodge, and more in order to navigate through each stage, which is filled with scattered gold bars for you to recover. Collect all of the gold bars in a level and you’ll receive a “Perfect” rating and the opportunity to shoot yourself from a cannon for some bonus points. The controls are immaculate, and while you may take a shot or two from an enemy, you’ll never feel like the controls were to blame.
In Runner2 there are 5 worlds, each containing 25 stages. Many have multiple paths and exits for you to explore. Each world also has a boss stage, which tends to manipulate the game mechanics in interesting ways, like changing your perspective or the direction you’re running. They’re a genuinely interesting break from the norm and keep things paced well.
As you play through the game, many of the hidden paths will lead to collectible items and retro-styled levels. These colletibles will require more time and effort, but you’ll be rewarded with extra costumes for the characters you can control. When the game begins, you’ll have access to Commander Video and Commandgirl Video, with the potential to unlock six more throughout the game. The characters and their costumes offer something different to look at as you play but they’re ultimately nothing more than cosmetic alterations and play no differently. Still, it’s fun and challenging to collect them all and seeing the new costumes in motion provides a great sense of achievement for your hard work.
Runner2 has three different difficulty settings. “Just Right” provides a good deal of challenge at times without ever feeling overbearing. “Quite Easy” is great for younger or inexperienced audiences, removing many of the obstacles and giving you a chance to become familiar with the game. “Rather Hard” requires a serious bit of willpower, but is arguably the most rewarding as allows for higher scores and more obstacles to handle. They’re also changeable between levels with the touch of a button, so you’ll never feel like you can’t progress due to difficulty.
Visuals Runner2 is one of the most visually interesting games released in quite a while. Parts of it feel almost serene, but others feel like you’re running through an abstract cubist painting. They can really play tricks with your eyes at times, but they never distract from the mission at hand or wear out their welcome, and that’s a good thing.
Character designs are bizarre bordering on weird. On top of the classic Commander Video, you can unlock a man with a hamburger for a head, a reverse merman (with parts that appear to need censoring), and more. It keeps things interesting, even though it may make you a bit uncomfortable.
Audio
More than the visuals, the audio design is so well enmeshed with the game, you’ll often forget it could be considered apart from the gameplay experience. The folks at Gaijin have done a masterful job incorporating gameplay with sound design.
Every action taken in the game is tied directly to a sound bite that’s part of the song for each level. This is a huge factor in what makes the feedback loop between player and game so strong. The more obstacles you have to deal with, the sweeter your music will be. It’s satisfying not only from a gameplay perspective, but in what must be the equivalent of a chemical high, achieved through aural means. Running a difficult level flawlessly with the volume turned up is an experience that borders on sublime.
Overall BIT.TRIP Presents…Runner2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien is a game that does so many things right, it’s hard to criticize. The visual design is a bit eccentric, but with flawless controls, tight gameplay, addicting sound design, and plenty of content to keep you coming back, anyone can have a marvelous time sitting down with this game for a few hours and losing themselves to the rhythm.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Ever since Hitman: Absolution was released last year, it seems that many people have been very busy trying to kill various targets in creative ways. So much so in fact that Square Enix has chosen to reveal various statistics from the game via an infographic they released earlier today.
It shouldn’t be too much of a surprise that the developers were able to pool all of this information together thanks to the various stats that are tracked automatically in-game. Anyways, you can check out the infographic itself and all of the various stats the company has chosen to reveal below.
