Legendary voice actor Goro Naya most famously known for playing Inspector Zenigata on the timeless Lupin the 3rd anime series for more than 40 years has tragically passed away due to chronic respiratory failure. He age 83 at the time of his passing on March 5th, 2013.
Goro Naya leaves behind a legacy that included roles in Space Battleship Yamato, Golgo 13, Kamen Rider, One Piece an of course Lupin the 3rd. These are of course just a few series that he graced with his voice acting talent, with his career spanning more than 60 years.
He is survived by his wife, voice actress Kachiko Hino. Before his death Goro Naya passed the proverbial torch to Kouichi Yamadera his successor as the voice of Inspector Zenigata (seen in Lupin the 3rd: A Woman Called Mine Fujiko). His final work was playing Zenigata in Lupin Ikka Seizoroi a reunion special that brought back the original cast of Lupin the 3rd.
Goro Naya will be missed by his fans around the world and his legacy will not be forgotten.
Aksys Games has not let the 2nd Anniversary of the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Disaster go unnoticed. From March 11 to March 15, Aksys will be donating $5 for every item purchased to the American Red Cross for relief efforts in Japan.
Have any games from Aksys that you would like to purchase? Follow the link (here) to browse through the available titles at their online store. Remember that every item purchased donates $5 to the American Red Cross from now to March 15. Let us all be reminded of how lucky we are to have our basic needs met every day. For this short period of time you too can donate to a good cause even with a purchase of a video game.
With Capcom set to release Darkstalkers Resurrection this week on the PS3 and 360, the company has chosen today to release the game’s launch trailer which you can check out below. In the video we see a number of the fighters going against one another as well as various gameplay features detailed, though there is a disturbing lack of Felicia.
Also, today it was stated by producer Tomaoki Ayano on Capcom’s blog that the game only features an input delay within two frames of the original arcade versions of Night Warriors and Darkstalkers 3. Anyways, Darkstalkers Resurrection is set to be released on the PSN tomorrow on March 12th and the 360 on March 13th for $15 and 1,200 MSP respectively.
Toonami has officially confirmed that Funimation’s English dub of immensely popular shonen anime One Piece will be joining their line-up. They have not yet confirmed an exact date for the premiere of One Piece but have stated that it will begin airing at some point this year with more precise details to be revealed soon.
Funimation’s dub of One Piece previously aired on Cartoon Network from 2007-2008 following the end of the heavily-loathed 4Kids dub of the series. This will be the first time in 5 years that One Piece will have aired on TV in America.
What do you think of One Piece joining the line-up for Toonami in the future? Let us know in the comments section below.
Since 2013 began, Kuroko’s Basketball fans haven’t had to deal with any issues regarding their favorite manga and anime series. However it seems that has come to an end as it has been announced that Studio You, the company that organizes the “Shadow Trickster” dōjinshi events in Japan will be cancelling the upcoming Kuroko’s Basketball event in Osaka that was meant to be held on April 7th.
This is actually the second time an event being held in Osaka has been cancelled and once again it is for the same reason. The company received various threats to the event and after the company took into consideration the other events being held at the time and various businesses, they decided it would be best to cancel the event. The company did not say when the threats were received nor what was mentioned in the threats.
To take things further, the company also requested in their announcementthat any circles that were planning on selling or giving away Kuroko’s Basketball themed merchandise at the following events should either not appear or limit the amount of product they bring: Boku no Hero Osaka de Akushu! 5, Senya Ichiya Osaka 4, Idling Attacker Osaka 2, Golden West Dai-3 Bu, Love Song Lesson Osaka vol. 3, Yaso-Inaba Matsuri Osaka, Sanjūrokkei Osaka no Shō Ni, and Kimi to no Rendan Osaka.
Screen Australia has finalised its terms for funding game production in Australia.
The funding is available in two seperate factions, Games Production, which focuses more on individuals and small teams looking to create a single project and Games Enterprise, which focuses on larger businesses increasing their scale and revenue with the hope of developing more games and providing more Australian based jobs.
Games Production applicants may request up to $500,000 dollars per project and Games Enterprise applicants may request up to $1 million dollars over a three year period. A total of $4-5 million is available for the program across two rounds per year. The deadlines for the Games Production and Games Enterprise Funding are the 22nd of April and 12th of July respectively.
The funding is looking to encourage the creation and retention of original IP, support business growth and assists developers to increase the ambition and quality of their games. Games can be made available for any platform and must release to the public. Games can not be advertisement games or be based around gambling.
Securing funding from Screen Australia was a big win for the industry as games developers struggled for years to be recognised for their efforts. Funding for other types of media such as movies and television has been available for many years.
Budding game developers can head over to Screen Australia for the full details of the funding programs available.
Rolling Hero Developer: Game Play Squad Publisher: Chillingo Platforms: iOS (reviewed) Release Date: March 14, 2013 Price: $0.99 / £0.69 (BUY HERE)
Overview Rolling Hero has actually been around in the form of a Flash game for some time now. It’s the sort of game that fits Chillingo’s style quite well. The game is comprised of short, quick levels with more to go back to once you finish it, should you choose. So how well does Rolling Hero make the jump from Flash to iOS game? Will he roll into the annals of history as a legend, or should he be bowled into a ravine? Let’s find out.
Story Rolling Hero has a story, but it serves as nothing more than a device to give some semblance of setting. Redman, a large, angry, spike-covered chap kidnaps the hero’s girlfriend and it’s our duty to go get her back. It’s a worn path, but that’s ok. Rolling Hero doesn’t really need a story anyway.
Gameplay Rolling Hero‘s gameplay is fairly straightforward. When you press on a side of the screen, the world will rotate in that direction. Gravity will then send our protagonist rolling away with the slope you’ve just created. The interesting thing about tilting the screen is that getting through all of the stages will require you to maneuver the hero using these mechanics, often ending up with some crazy results.
There are five worlds in Rolling Hero, including one that will require some extra diligence to unlock. Each world contains a dozen levels. Each level is sort of its own unique contained gravitational field. Should you fly off it going one direction, there’s a chance you can use gravity and the rotation mechanic to pull the hero back onto solid ground. It makes for some wacky moments that can be pretty fun, though ultimately it never really presents any challenge.
Each level will contain an exit, oftentimes a key you must work to attain, and flowers scattered throughout the level. You’re ultimately scored for each level based on how quickly you can finish the level and you’re given bonus points for each flower you collect, with a big boost coming your way if you get every flower on a level. Once you work through the game, these flowers will help extend the life of the game, since it will be going back to get these little collectibles that really drives you to figure out each level.
Levels generally take no more than 15-30 seconds to work through if all you’re trying to do is getting the key and get out of dodge, even with enemies and traps placed around the level. As previously mentioned, ensuring you get each flower will add a little more playtime to the game, but this will ultimately be sort of game that’s a perfect fit for someone looking to burn a minute or two in line at the supermarket.
Visuals and Audio Rolling Hero has the same sort of visual feel as several other titles published by Chillingo. Cut the Rope most immediately comes to mind. A soft color palette and cutesy cartoon-like visuals welcome players as you set out to save your lady from Redman. Even the spikes and fire traps feel like they’re coated in a harmless layer of charm. It will really draw you in and make you feel all warm and fuzzy.
The audio in Rolling Hero fits right alongside the visuals. Tunes are light, mellow, and inviting, yet each world’s theme has a feel appropriately unique for it. Sound effects are amusing as well. Listening to the hero give a little sigh and an unseen crowd give a sympathetic “awww” when time runs out or you pop helps add even more charm to the game.
Overall
Overall, Rolling Hero is a good game. It doesn’t really do anything that breaks new ground, but the variety of the puzzles in the level and the collecting mechanics add welcome value to the game. Wrap all of that in a layer of adorableness set to match a kitten playing with a ball of yarn and you’ve got a package that anyone in the family can enjoy.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
A game based on toys may not sound unique but the interesting thing about ‘Cling!’ is that it’s based on the mechanics of a toy. After watching those sticky plastic toys that would climb down your wall, the developers at First5 Games knew how they wanted their game to feel.
So how does it work, surely we’re not flinging Gack-like blobs onto stuff and giggling as it clumsily falls into a pile of laundry? ‘Cling!’ is being referred to as a pegformer; as you navigate the world your character inhabits by grabbing onto pegs (geddit?). The usual platformer trappings such as spikes, electricity and giant falls threaten your existence. You are one of this lint magnet toys striving to find your owner in a dangerous world.
‘Cling!’ is available on iTunes here for a measly $2.99
Swingbox Review Developer: Avocardo Jive Publisher: Chilibite Games Platforms:iPhone (Reviewed), iPad, iPod Touch Release Date: 21/02/2013 Price:$1.99 – Available Here
Overview:
Firstly, I’d like to begin this review with an apology for the lack of creative (and lame) references to rhythm and beats, as I may have used every pun possible in my recent review of Beat the Beat: Rhythm Paradise. Of coarse I could instead dish out a few jokes about ‘swinging’ or ‘boxes’ for this one, but that may be bad taste. Yes SwingBox from Chilibite Games is a game based on music and rhythm, a genre of gaming I have yet to experience on a mobile device. I’m therefore happy to report that everything works well and plays comfortably with SwingBox, but I am also saddened to say that it’s unfortunately held back by it’s presentation and a few other things as well. SwingBox isn’t a terrible game really, but it will most likely fail to pop out and engage many gamers.
Gameplay:
The major flaw of SwingBox is that while it is an original concept, it’s also not a very interesting one. Players are given a box that they must spin (or swing as I assume the developers would like to call it) and must move it according to given instructions. This is done so by simply swiping the box in the opposite direction of the desired color the player would like it to land on. In between swipes/spins/swings/whatevers the player can also rack up additional points by tapping particular notes while avoiding particular notes their not meant to do either. Like many games of this type game play can be frustrating for some at first, but in due time one can easily get into the swing of things (pun intended, hate me all you wish) and rack up some high scores. There are three main modes, classic, arcade and multiplayer. Classic gives the player a health bar, arcade gives the player a time limit and VS lets you battle against a friend or random online if you can find one.
Game center, upgrades and social media integration is also thrown in which is pretty standard these days and that’s pretty much it. While everything does work smoothly without any problems, it’s all becomes boring pretty quickly as the animation & graphics are bland and the music is unexciting. This means your just hitting doing what your told to do over and over again with nothing to entertain you. Essentially it’s the same feeling as your mother nagging you to clean your room constantly and then you finally do a rush job of it quickly to shut her up. Your not doing it because you enjoy it, you just does it because you’re told to. This is a major flaw in the game’s design. There is no motivation or reason to do anything. There’s no awesome song to look forward to and no interesting animation to entertain you whilst doing so. You’re just mindlessly swiping directions over and over again with no incentive, which gets really stale really fast.
Audio & Visuals:
I feel there’s a trend in gaming as of late that many developers spend too much time on presentation, graphics and audio but fail to give the game play the same enthusiasm. So it’s refreshing to see SwingBox has the complete opposite problem – the gameplay is fine and it has a unique concept but the audio and visual let it down, and that’s something I’m definitely not used to seeing. What’s sad in this situation is how closely linked the gameplay is to the audio & visual which brings the entire game down with it. The music is simple uninspired techno/dance inspired beats on loop with no interesting aspects to them at all. The soundtrack sounds like simple beats ripped straight out of Apple’s Garageband with only one layer of basic keys thrown over it in a quick 5 minute job. There are no vocals or changes to the beats, no drops, hooks, vocals or anything interesting at all. Things do switch up and get slightly more interesting towards the end of a level, but not by much.
Hell there’s not even a sound effect when the player lands on the correct color – something so small and simple that could’ve been added to make the game even slightly rewarding. The graphics are bland with no interesting textures or effects that grab the player’s attention. Everything looks, feels and sounds so basic and simple and therefore fails to entertain the gamer while they are repeatedly doing the same boring tasks over and over. One would think this would be a major aspect to focus on when developing a game like this but it seems Avocardo Jive thought that players would enjoy looking at a box while listening to a generic, boring audio loop would be entertaining for some reason.
Overall:
SwingBox to put it simply is a swing and a miss. Pun intended. While it does have a unique concept and working controls – this isn’t enough to make a game entertaining or fun. If you like aimlessly swiping without any incentive while listening to a simple generic beat and looking at a box then this is the game for you. Better luck next time for Avocado Jive.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Are you an avid Star Wars: The Old Republic fan? Well you may be interested in this brand new trailer that details the making of ‘The Rise of the Hutt Cartel’. This first part of what appears to be a series of trailers focuses in on the character of Makeb.
The ‘making of’ trailer gives a sneak peek of the gorgeous Taloas City and other brand new environments coming to the game. Also detailed is the story of the character Makeb and his affect on your character’s story.
Be sure to check out the new trailer for Star Wars: The Old Republic and let us know what you think of it in the comments section below.
