The Giant 8 foot Mech will be available at both events. At PAX East, HAWKEN will be playable in the Meteor Entertainment booth 1080, Asus booth 762, Logitech booth 1056, and at the Machinima booths 613 & 712. Attendees can also sign up to play HAWKEN at the Gunnar booth 374 and Nvidia booth 862. You can also pick up HAWKEN swag for purchase at the We Love Fine booth 593.
After that, all the fun goodies will be send to GDC in San Francisco to be shown to the fans on the west coast. HAWKEN has won GDC’s “Best in Play” Award, judged by GDC organizers and Gamasutra editors. To Play HAWKEN at GDC, go to the play area at Kiosks 18 and 47. There will also be a Rixty Panel on Thursday at 11am in room 3018 in the west hall that will have Mark Long, CEO of Meteor Entertainment, discussing Launching Games in Emerging Markets.
Fans of Captain Marvel, or Shazam as he is called now, will be happy to hear that his main antagonist will be joining the roster to NetherRealm and Warner Bros’ Injustice: Gods Among Us. Today over on the Injustice: Gods Among Us Twitter page the above image showing off Shazam’s Egyptian arch-enemy Black Adam was revealed.
At the moment, the only media showing Black Adam off is that image, though he apparently has the same powers that Shazam has, including the whole yelling “Shazam!” to activate his abilities, though his powers are derived from a different source than Captain Marvel’s.
Today Namco Bandai has released two gameplay videos of Tales of Xillia featuring the English voice cast and translated battle system. These videos not only show off the game’s Double Raid Linear Motion Battle System which allows two characters to team up against an enemy at the same time but also highlight a specific character in combat, the first being Jude and the second being Milla.
Outside of these videos, the company also released a number of English screenshots which can also be found below. Currently Tales of Xillia is set to be released sometime this year, though a specific release date has not been announced.
Today the official website for the upcoming Hayate no Gotoku! Cuties released the first promotional video for the anime which will begin airing on April 8th. In the video we are given a chance to listen to the anime’s opening theme which is being sung by Shizuka Itou, who also voices Hinagiku, and is called “Haru ULALA ♡ LOVE yo Koi!!!”
Hayate no Gotoku! Cuties is meant to be only a ten episode anime series which will focus on a different heroine each episode and unfortunately from the looks of the video, the visual quality of the series has dropped even lower than what was shown off in Hayate’s third season.
Last weekend in Cologne, Germany the UK’s best Call of Duty: Black Ops II players battled it out to find out who was really the best of the best and who would make it to the final round. The teams have been narrowed down to Europe’s top eight, and representing Team UK is Fariko.Dragons. Made up off Pete ‘Melo’ Riley, Andrew ‘Amaze’ McClure, Luke ‘Luke’ Edwards, and Samuel ‘Biss’ Bissell, they are set to show Hollywood and the rest of the world along with ANZ TEAM (article here) on whose who when it comes to Call of Duty. The finals are set to take place on April 5-7 and 32 teams go head to head to show their skills for not only the bragging rights, but also for a sweet $1,000,000 prize.
Also representing Europe will be the Irish team Epsilon, who actually overcame Fariko.Dragons in the European finals, also securing their place in the million dollar finals. The 32 teams have been narrowed down through intense play from the original 200 teams competing across the continent to the teams that made it to the European finals. After making it through all the stiff competition you can be sure these teams are not going to go down without a fight.
All the highlights of the tournament can be seen via the Xbox Live or at www.callofduty.com, which packs in exclusive interviews with the makers of the game as well. Who do you think will win? Let us know in the comments section below.
Today is an exciting day for fans of the newest Tomb Raider title, as Square Enix has unleashed today three new map packs for the multiplayer portion of the game. The new pack is entitled The Caves and Cliffs Multiplayer Map Pack, and it will be released exclusively for the Xbox 360 (initially) for the low price of only 400 Microsoft Points. UPDATE: We have included the newest multiplayer trailer at the bottom of this article.
All three included maps are usable within the games four multiplayer modes, and see the games Scavenger group go against the crew of the Endurance. The areas will vary from map to map and should offer challenging play for hardcore fans. Scavenger Caverns is one of the additions to the game, and is an underground level made up of winding caves leading to what the Scavengers use as an underground prison for those unlucky enough to come across them. Cliff Shantytown is another included level that is a Scavenger settlement built high on cliffs and has some deadly surprises included within. And lastly there is the Burning Village map, where combat takes place within the confines of a Japanese village turned inferno as players try to outwit their opponents and still avoid the fire hazards along the way.
These extra levels should whet the appetites of gamers as they await future DLC. Additional information on the DLC or for the game itself can be found at the games website atwww.tombraider.com, or you can visit the developer’s official site, www.square-enix.com.
Bundle in a Box is back with their latest pay what you want indie bundle. The Cerebral Bundle celebrates clever and unique games. All buyers will receive interactive fiction Necrotic Drift Deluxe, puzzler Dedale De Luxe, retro RPG Phantasmaburbia, artful storytelling game Dinner Date, and puzzler Vampires!. Those who beat the average will receive sci-fi epic J.U.L.I.A., dystopian point and click adventure game Reversion – The Meeting, point and click thriller Cognition, Episode 1: The Hangman, and call centre adventure game I Get This Call Every Day. The very same call centre simulator that resulted in indie developer David Gallant fired from his day job. Check out our review of Cognition, Episode 1: The Hangman here.
All games included in the bundle are available for Mac, Linux and Windows. The Cerebral Bundle is once again in support of The Indie Dev Grant and The Hellenic Centre for Mental Health and Treatment of Child and Family. Buy your bundle here.
Pixelry’s Kickstarter campaign started today. Evelend Games is looking to raise £23,000 to complete their game. Pixelry is about a young knight working his way up from small local jousting tournaments to the big tournament hosted by the king. Our hero seeks the princess’ hand in marriage and must impress her father for his approval. the game is presented in a SNES-esque graphic.
Evelend Games are looking to improve the over all polish of the game with the money. This means better audio and visuals, deeper gameplay elements, and enhanced enemy AI. If they are able to raise more than their asking amount, they have a long list of stretch goals they would like to accomplish. Goals includes Linux, Mac, Android, and iOS ports, better character customization, new minigames, and multiplayer functionality.
eFusion MMOG, a European publisher of massively multiplayer online games, earlier announced that special Easter contents and events have been launched in their free-to-play MMO FPS BlackShot Europe.
BlackShot Europe has been updated with a seasonal Easter theme which brings new in-game content for players. Players can enjoy two new maps, one is LRT in Team flag mode which is based on the Malaysian model of the Light Rail System. The other is the modified Factory map in Team Death Match mode. A new sniper rifle, a new SAW and a new rifle have all also been added to the weapon store.
In extra special Easter seasonal style, at the launch of the update the game is holding a special egg-hunting event in game. Those who play BlackShot Europe every day for five days in a row can receive Daily Easter Eggs, which inside players can find some terrific items during the Easter season. As some added fun, players can wear in game Bunny ears and also explode Easter Egg Grenades instead of regular ones.
Toriko: Part 3 Studio: Toei Animation Publisher: FUNimation Format:DVD Release Date: March 19, 2013 Price:$39.98 – Available Here
Overview: There are many reasons to fight, especially in a shōnen series. Perhaps a loved one is in danger or your homeland is threatened, sometimes there are those who simply travel around testing their strength against other fights around the world and sometimes it is simple as fighting for food. However rather than fight due to starvation, the combatants in Toriko hunt their prey down simply to enjoy their deliciousness. While Toriko Part 1 and Part 2, the reviews of which can be found hereand hererespectively, may have been slightly undercooked, is Toriko Part 3 the delicious entrée fans have been waiting for?
Story: It goes without saying that jumping in at this point with no previous knowledge of the series would leave viewers with quite a few questions. This is doubly so for Toriko Part 3 which continues the Century Soup story arc which began in the closing episodes of Part 2. Toriko Part 3 picks up immediately where Part 2 left off and while Part 2 may have consisted of plenty of explanation about Gourmet Corps’ goal, the “Gourmet Cells” which make Toriko and other Gourmet Hunter so strong and a few other things, Part 3 focuses heavily on combat.
While things may start off rather tamely in Toriko Part 3, with Toriko and the rest of the surviving hunters taking down a deadly creature for dinner, things escalate quickly from there on out. With Gourmet Corps’ Vice Head Chef Tommyrod and his two assistants closing in, Toriko must face off against one of the toughest opponents he has ever faced.
To make matters worse, when a mysterious character is revealed to be an ally named Teppei, the group learns that the Gourmet Window, the glacier which creates the Century Soup may be in trouble. With horrific foes staring them in the face, sub-zero weather conditions, the possibility of escape dwindling and their final goal possibly disappearing in front of them, Toriko and the rest find themselves in the worst possible situation yet.
If it sounds like there isn’t much story progress, that is because for the most part, Toriko Part 3 consists almost entirely of combat. The rest of Toriko’s traveling companions, Takimaru and Match are given time in the spotlight as they face off against Tommyrod’s minions and even receive a bit of character development as their backstories are explained and their reasons for tracking down the Century Soup are revealed.
The true highlight in Toriko Part 3 however is actually a villain. While past villains Toriko and the group have faced off against have always had evil intentions, Tommyrod is the first one to truly feel sinister. Because of his sadistic nature and ability to use thousands of bugs and throw their lives away in battle, his evil nature makes his fight against Toriko feel more legitimate as it actually feels like a fight with more on the line than an ingredient.
As the action heavy third part of Toriko winds down, Toriko and the surviving Century Soup hunters venture to the Country of Life. With Toriko severely injured and Komatsu set on solving the final mystery of the Century Soup, Part 3 leaves viewers with a minimal cliffhanger right at the very end of the Century Soup story arc. While it is a decent enough place for a cliffhanger, viewers will probably feel short changed thanks to the fact that the story arc that takes up the entirety of Part 3 is left hanging with only one episode left.
Visuals: Perhaps it was the focus on action more than anything else in Toriko: Part 3 but the animation quality seems to have improved for this collection of episodes. As Toriko and the rest fought against Tommyrod and his men a number of new powerful attacks were revealed and demonstrated in impressive fashion, though it is worth noting that, as the fights continued, many battle animations were re-used. Also, the colorful character design is limited due to the body suits the survivors are wearing are very bland in appearance despite their necessity.
That being said, the character designs, especially Tommyrod’s facial animations, are handled well. There is a noticeable amount of censorship in Part 3 however, with various fighters suffering heavy damage including limb loss and gaping wounds simply being displayed as casual damage. It is also worth noting that while the series retains its rich color palette, Toriko: Part 3 doesn’t cover a whole lot of ground and because of this many backgrounds in Ice Hell are re-used and only a few creatures and food designs are shown off throughout these episodes.
Audio: It should go without saying that the English cast for Toriko: Part 3 remains the same as past releases and also includes the original Japanese voice track for those who prefer it. The returning cast handles their characters well enough though the over-the-top nature of the voice work has been toned down to fit in with the more action oriented Part 3. It is worth noting that Tommyrod’s voice work plays a major part in portraying him as a cold evil creature and his voice actor helps sell the character.
Being nearly entirely combat focused, the background music for Toriko: Part 3 contains plenty of action music that is mostly forgettable amongst the clashes of battle though occasionally a track will accent the action of a specific combat sequence well. The opening song remains unchanged in Part 3 and is still “Gatsu Gatsu” by Akira Kushida and the closing song remains “Deli Deli Delicious” by Sea-A. Both of these tracks are very fitting for an anime so focused on food, though it is worth noting that the ending theme changes to “Sabrina” by Leo Ieri for the final episode of Part 3.
Extras: Toriko: Part 3 comes with a rather basic set of bonus features, including a clean version of the opening song once again and two textless ending songs, including the new “Sabrina” ending theme. Outside of that there is the US trailer for the anime, trailers for other FUNimation anime and two commentary tracks.
The commentary track for Episode 30 features Toriko’s voice actor Ian Sinclair once again, Jason Douglas who handles the voice of Match and Jerry Jewell who is the voice of Boogieyuz. The two spend a bit of time discussing the show and of course continue the running commentary theme of providing their own “Full Course Menu of Life.” Episode 34’s commentary features ADR Director Tyler Walker this time and David Wald who handles the voice of Teppei. The two discuss David’s character Teppei and various aspects of the show.
Overall: Toriko: Part 3 may not advance the story very far but it takes the background laid out before in Part 2 of the series and runs with it. By focusing almost entirely on action, the animation quality is surprisingly consistent and rather impressive at times. Pair that with English voicework that remains impressive with Greg Ayres’ voicing of Tommyrod stealing the show and you have a presentation that far surpasses past Toriko releases. While the ending of Toriko: Part 3 may leave a bitter taste in the mouths of those looking to finish the Century Soup arc, this action packed entrée is more than satisfactory.
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