For a long time now, the Hatsune Miku has been extremely popular in Japan and her popularity in the West has been growing at a steady pace, so steady in fact that she’s been used in advertisementsbefore and various concerts have been held for her fans.
However, despite her growing popularity in the West, the video games created using her and other Vocaloids have never made it to the West. Now however that all may change, as earlier today Sega posted the above image on their Facebook page saying that “Like and Share if you want Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F for PS3 in the west!”
While this is far from a yes or any specific confirmation, this is a great sign for fans as last year, Sega actually had a playable versionof the Vita version of Hatsune Miku: Project Diva f available at E3 and at the time of this writing, Sega’s image has been shared over five and a half thousand times and liked over seven thousand times.
Update: For those unaware of what this title may offer in terms of gameplay, I have provided a new trailer containing over twelve minutes of gameplay footage below.
Introduction
We here at Capsule Computers are no strangers to internal debate, being a group of persons with similar tastes, but not one minded. It stands to reason then that every once in a while a debate may spring up during general conversation, related or deriving from news on any given day.
Recently, it came out that Telltale’s The Walking Dead game (full article) had finally received a rating in Australia after being rejected initially. Though surprisingly to the already existing MA15+ rating instead of the brand new R18+ rating. Why had it not received this intially? Needless to say discussion brought up other seemingly mishandled ratings and the debate went from there.
The Host
So all you silly lemmings, let’s take a look at this – – shall we? Ratings!? What are they, why do they exist? What are some obnoxious examples that we all disagree with. I’m Benjamin Webb and I’ll be the one adjudicating the upcoming mess. I’ll let you guys take it from here.
Color Coordination:
Name
Role
Color
Benjamin Webb
(Host)
Green
Joshua Moris – JoMo
(Player 1)
Blue
Simon Wolfe
(Player 2)
Red
Well how the heck did Naughty Bear: Panic in Paradise get an initial E 10+ rating?
Cause it’s a cute widdle bear, silly.
That game is all about killing, suicides, and doing very bad things to teddy bears.
Who plays with teddy bears and wants them to commit suicide?
The kind of people that enjoy Conker’s Bad Fur Day.
— Do you guys even debate? No points awarded anywhere. —
Pre-teens should not play that game.
— Negative one point to JoMo for being a pretentious twat. —
As long as there is no blood, the rating fits. That’s how giving ratings works.
Psychologically, that’s (explicit) up. Naughty bear is clearly made for an adult audience given the content. Visually seeing a “bear” shove another “bear” into an open lawn mower…
— Point 1 to Simon. Josh, man, I see this on cartoons all the time. Especially the ones dedicated to hyper-active children. —
What about visually seeing a mouse replace a cat’s cigar with dynamite?
De-sensitization of violence at its finest being distributed to children and that too was intended for an adult audience.
— Point JoMo. —
It was intended for both adult and child. Some of the things for one age group to enjoy or both.
I can agree with that; however, death does not truly exist within many of these cartoons like Tom and Jerry. This game is visceral in its display and graphic on the intent of killing. I suppose it could be debated what is worse, but with a child’s mind so drastically picking up everything a game like Naughty Bear displays is totally unsuitable.
— Second point JoMo, scores are tied. —
Fair enough, but any child for which it is unsuitable generally isn’t going to the store to buy games by themselves. If they are, they have bigger troubles.
Then again a child does not need to go out and buy it at a store with online markets and a parent’s credit card.
— JoMo is on fire. Like, almost literally; can someone please put him out. Another point. —
As this title is online over Xbox Live.
True, but still parents can and should know what their kids are playing/purchasing.
— Simon making a comeback. One point. —
And what it sadly comes down to is ignorance; I met a mother that asked me if I thought Dishonored or Black Ops II was suitable for her child of 13. I said no. She said this back, “Well, all of his friends are getting it. And it will keep him occupied.”
Then the option to go with is Dishonored, because the killing or not is an option unlike Black Ops II.
I sadly accept this as a undeniable truth as to where our society is going to as a whole. Desensitized to killing with increasingly younger children picking up these games to be “occupied”.
— JoMO negative one point, trying to tell a parent how to raise their child. —
Simon Wolfe: That’s just like our generation had parents turning on the TV to whatever to keep us “occupied”.
Joshua Moris: I would hope they didn’t turn it to violent killing or porn; as video games are graphically becoming.
— JoMo another negative, I’m pretty sure most now 20-30 year old gamers grew up on games just as violent. —
No, it was turned to whatever was popular. But, you’re missing the point, the same thing occurs with every generation, it’s just a new medium to deal with. People want easy answers, like that mother asking YOU what to buy HER kid. It shouldn’t matter what content is in a game or what it’s rated, it should be parents keeping unhealthy material from their kids, not the gov or developers.
At the same time as I agree with your statement of unhealthy material; I still believe that parents require education from some source about these video games before they decide to purchase a game for underage personnel.
— Simon plus one for common sense. —
Game ratings have those, parents for the most part seem just ignore it.
I undoubtedly agree with the fact that so many in the public deliberately overlook or even disregard such ratings. The idea is that this public form of identifying ratings has become nothing more than a cancer/death warning on the side of a cigarette carton. Personal accountability is up most important for being a parent in the past, present, and future. (Here comes a potential resolution or hanging question) But does this potentially damaging content for younger audiences need to be written/presented more clearly in our technologically advanced society in more than just a “stamp”?
— A stamp is better than what they’re doing to cigarette packets over here. Do you want games to be as heavily policed as cigarettes, is that what you’re implying? No points given or taken. —
Unfortunately as little as the “stamp” seems to be doing currently, any attempt at presenting such a disclaimer or rating more clearly would do nothing more than become overlooked in time. Imagine online content, such as PSN or XBLA games going so far as requiring a read and understand screen about the products content before progressing. This would benefit by adding an obstacle, but over time would simply become another screen to click through, that could be just as easily overlooked as the current rating system. In the end, no change can be made to make such “stamps” more clear that wouldn’t just act as a quick fix that loses its effectiveness down the road.
As I understand from your statement, any disclaimer would be similar to putting a Band-Aid on a severed limb. I remain strong with personal beliefs towards this subject of identifying a clearer disclaimer or rating system, but as we both have stated people will ignore such attempts of clarity. I suppose my point is that gamers, developers, and parents need to continue to vocalize their concerns for the development/ratings of video games with questionable content accessible to younger generations.
Indeed, the ESRB rating for North America and similar ratings around the world do the best they can to accurately label games for the content they contain, such as alcohol or drug use, adult themes, varying levels of violence, but they only do as well they are read. As responsible gamers, it is our duty to make sure these are utilized to their full potential and deny those looking for easy answers, it’s on the back of the box read it.
— And the end of that spiel the following points were given. Two for Simon Wolfe, Two for JoMo. While it’s agreeable that people will skip the reading process, it’s also agreeable that people will know what is best for themselves. As gamers we need to stop forcing things on people and instead get them to learn about the content.
So now for the winners to be announced. We have, to the right, JoMo on 0 points (it doesn’t matter what the scores were during the match, these change because I say they do) and on the right we Simon Wolfe with 4 points. I’m to the left.
So congratulations to Simon! You win an untamed Panther and the ability to go on to the next round. JoMo, you get to pick the next topic. Adios! —
Stay tuned for Episode 2 where Simon will defend his point on a random topic selected by JoMo! Until next time “Play Hard or Don’t Play at All!”
Welcome to another episode of Xbox Live News with Pipper! This week we can expect a little bit of old – very old – and a little bit of new. Sega is dominating the Deals of the Week with discounted prices on old games which should be free by now. Once again Games on Demand has added quite a few games to make your digital collection of titles grow a bit with Far Cry 3, Forza Horizon, and Hitman Absolution. Read on to get the scoop!
Deals of the Week
Name
Discount Dates
Price
NiGHTS into dreams…(Sega)
Mar 6 to Mar 11
400 (50% off)
Sonic the Fighters (Sega)
160 (60% off)
Fighting Vipers (Sega)
160 (60% off)
Virtua Fighter 2 (Sega)
160 (60% off)
Virtua Fighter 5 FS (Sega)
400 (67% off)
Karateka (D3 Publishers)
400 (50% off)
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure (Capcom)
800 (50% off)
New Releases
Mass Effect 3 players will be happy to receive a free “Reckoning” DLC as well as new content with “The Citadel” for 1200 MSP.
The biggest news that is going to be hitting Xbox 360 is the launch of Gears of War: Judgement on March 19th. At the game’s launch, a VIP Season Pass will be available for purchase for 1600 MSP which totals an overall saving of 20% future content releases. The content will include access to six multiplayer maps, two new modes, and nine exclusive unlocks for Gears of War: Judgement.
Geared up yet? Go grab your controller, and “Play Hard or Don’t Play At All!”
Just a few days ago it was revealed that the Fairy Tail anime would be coming to an end on March 30th. However shortly after that news was revealed, Hiro Mashima, the creator of the Fairy Tail manga and author to the series, stated that he had “some good news” to announce at some time in the future.
Well today Hiro Mashima updated his Twitter with a couple of updates letting fans know that there is still good news on the way. To be a bit more specific, he mentioned in Japanesethat “it’s actually not over yet. I can’t say more, but I hope you watch the rerun starting on April 4 and wait for the day I can announce some good news.” Knowing that English fans have despaired over the end of the anime, he even tweetedin English that “Anime is not the end. Don’t stop believing.
This is good news for fans, many of whom have reasoned that, because the anime is so close to the original source material, the anime is simply taking a break to allow the manga’s story to develop at a reasonable pace and once the story is far enough ahead, the anime will resume. This is likely the case as the Fairy Tail series is in the middle of a major story arc and inserting filler episodes would not only destroy the series’ pacing but the importance of the current arc.
Indie game developers Fei Hu Interactive is following in the footsteps of many indie game studios by turning to crowd funding to help raise funds for their game. Fei Hu has started an IndieGoGo campaign for their prison based RPG Prisonhood. The funds will go towards porting the game to Android and Facebook along helping release a major content update.
Rewards include in game currency and exclusive Prisonhood collectibles like trading cards, t-shirts, and even an NPC named and designed after you. The campaign is a flexible funding campaign, meaning all money pledged towards the campaign will go towards the campaign, regardless if Fei Hu are able to reach their $50,000 goal or not.
Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Plus Developer: Team Ninja Publisher:Tecmo Koei Platform:PS Vita Release Date: February 26, 2013 Price:$39.99
Overview: Everyone loves a classic and in the video game industry, many fans have clamored for certain titles to return to their roots or despaired when things have been changed in their favorite franchise. As such, whenever an older title is released with even moderate upgrades, fans of the series usually rejoice as it is a chance to play something they used to love on a current generation system. As such Tecmo Koei has taken to porting Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, the port of Ninja Gaiden 2 and bring Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Plus out to Vita owners and fans of the Ninja Gaiden series. However is this port decent enough to purchase?
Story: The storyline for this port is the same thing that fans have already experienced twice already from the previous version of the game, but in case a newcomer chooses to enter at this point, the game follows Ryu Hayabusa and takes place roughly a year after the events of the first game in the series. A CIA agent named Sonia has come looking for Ryu and when she is attacked by ninjas from the Black Spider Ninja Clan, Ryu must set out to save her.
Shortly after rescuing her, it is revealed that the Black Spider Ninja Clan has set out to steal an ancient treasure which has been protected by the Hayabusa clan for years. If the Black Spider Ninja Clan manages to retrieve this demon statue, they plan on using it to revive a terrible archfiend capable of destroying anything It touches and turning the world into a living hell. As such, Ryu and Sonia travel through numerous locations trying to put a stop to the Black Spider Ninja Clan’s plans, but when more mysterious foes appear things start to appear grim for the pair. Can Ryu put a stop to these plans and prevent the resurrection of the Archfiend?
Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Plus’ storyline offers nothing new in the way of narrative and even the expanded side missions featuring Ayane, Momiji, and Rachel have already appeared in the first port of the title. To begin with the storyline for this sequel was far from stunning but worked well enough, but those entering into the series for a third time should prepare for a lot of repetition.
Visuals: Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Plus looks great on the PlayStation Vita’s smaller screen when it works right. The levels the player makes their way through are well designed and varied and the combat has a nice flow to it that is only marred whenever the game begins to falter. As far as character designs go, details have been diminished from previous releases but the characters still are rather impressive and there is plenty of gore to go around as limbs are separated, heads smashed to chunks and brutal “Obliteration” attacks are quite impressive. Also it is worth noting that the cut-scenes are still very impressive looking, though it appears they are pre-rendered as Ryu’s costume does not shift to match the one the player is wearing, though perhaps this is a good thing as you will soon find out.
However all of those aforementioned things often fail to impress thanks to the game’s terrible framerate and often horrific resolution. For some odd reason, perhaps to save the game from dipping so low in frame rate, the character models often become very jagged, so much so in some cases that it appears that the game is being played on a PSP. This happens during most action sequences whenever Ryu is fighting a number of opponents and nearly all of the time when players are in the new “Tag Mode” gameplay option.
It is worth noting that, again for an unknown reason, turning the first and third person camera speeds up to their highest setting does rectify a few of these issues, but even with the camera speeds turned up to max, the framerate issue continued to persist and often resulted in fights occurring in slow-motion. Ninja Gaiden has always been about trying to keep things fast paced and somewhat fluid, but unfortunately this frame-rate and anti-aliasing issue during battles often results in a slow and sloppy looking mess.
Audio: Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Plus features some impressive sound effects that make it so the brutal combat always feels rather visceral. Slicing through enemies, blocking incoming attacks, using ninpo and more all sound rather impressive on their own and the intense combat is made all the better with the addition of these sound effects.
Unfortunately the game’s background music is very forgetful and the game’s English voice acting is similarly forgetful and dismissive. It is also worth noting that, likely due to limited space or something else, the Japanese voice track has been completely removed from this version of Ninja Gaiden 2, so gamers are stuck with the run-of-the-mill English voicework.
Gameplay: Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Plus still remains a title that features difficult combat that relies upon not only defending yourself often but making sure that you are well stocked as far as health and energy items are concerned. The reason for this as that even the most basic enemies can be deadly and even more so once they’ve been removed of a limb or two.
However it is worth noting that since this is Ninja Gaiden “Sigma” there are a number of balance changes to make the game a bit easier. Even though enemies still are rather aggressive, their ferocity has been dumbed down a bit and the game contains a “Hero” mode that makes the game much easier for newcomers.
Whenever the frame rate stays consistent, battles have a great flow to them thanks to an expansive combo system and numerous weapons at the player’s disposal. Besides Ryu’s basic sword, various weapons such as tonfas, a staff, claws for Ryu’s hands and feet and others become available, each with their own strength and weakness. However again, the frame-rate issue tends to worsen whenever larger weapons are used so sometimes players not only have to deal with the enemy’s on-screen but the slowdown as well.
Besides the basic gameplay that we’ve already seen before, there have been two gameplay modes added to Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Plus in the form of Tag Missions and Ninja Race. Tag Missions involve the player selecting two characters (Momiji, Rachel and Ayane included) they will take into battle against waves of opponents. The fight is scored, but it is worth noting that players will often have to struggle to finish these missions, not due to difficulty, but thanks to terrible partner AI.
While players do have a chance to switch characters, the partner AI often will die, be revived and die once more. It is also worth noting once more that the game’s abysmal frame rate issue, even with the camera acceleration fix, tends to peak during these tag team fights. Of course even if you do manage to finish a stage, there isn’t even an online leaderboard to compare your score with. Though the lack of any online co-op for this mode is baffling, then again the entire title lacks online compatibility.
As for Ninja Race, players must navigate their way through entire levels within a time limit that can only be extended by acquiring green essence from slain enemies. Interestingly enough, players also have to use this essence to pull off their strongest attacks by sacrificing time. This makes for some quick decisions, but again, there are no leaderboards for bragging rights and frustrating dips in frame-rate can ruin a good run.
Overall: Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Plus has hints of greatness but unfortunately this port of a port fails at even handling itself well on Sony’s latest handheld. While the action can be great at times, and frame-rate issues are somewhat alleviated by camera adjustments, the title becomes nearly unplayable at times thanks to consistent problems. While Ninja Gaiden 2 may have entranced fans five years ago, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Plus pales in comparison to the original and feels like a shoddy port of a great game.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Available today in Australia is the first Sims 3 expansion of 2013 – ‘University Life’. New Zealand will be receiving the expansion pack tomorrow.
Available for Mac and PC in stores or through Origin as a digital download, The Sims 3: University Life includes a new ‘College World’. Players can make their sims leave home and pursue their higher education. They will attend classes, prepare for exams, make new friends and dabble in different social groups and activities (doesn’t delve too far into the ‘fraternity’ way of life mind you).
It will be as memorable for your sim as that time in your life was to you…if sims had memories. The expansion gives your sims the opportunity to learn new skills and experience new objects and activities specific to your sims’ chosen majors. Enhance your sims’ lives and further their education today!
Star Wars Pinball Developer: Zen Studios Publisher: Zen Studios Platform: Playstation 3 Release Date: 27th February, 2013 Price:$9.99 – Available Here
Overview:
Zen Studios have made a name for themselves with their incredibly polished and addictive Pinball game series known as Zen Pinball. The Zen Pinball series has seen its fair share of iterations with a variety of popular franchises getting the Zen treatment. The latest of which is Zen Studios take on the Star Wars franchise, Star Wars Pinball.
This is not the first time Zen has ventured into adapting a popular franchise to the Pinball table, having previously brought the world of Marvel’s Avengers to players to great success. After such a run of successful Pinball games, how does Star Wars Pinball compare?
Gameplay:
Star Wars Pinball comes with three tables for players to sink their teeth into. Each table has quite a different feel and layout to it. One is based upon The Empire Strikes Back, another based upon Clone Wars and the last one is based upon the character Boba Fett. They all make for interesting pinball tables and provide their own challenges and strategies.
What Zen Studios have done with Star Wars Pinball is polish the existing formula they have crafted for the Zen Pinball games and given it a new coat of paint in the shape of Star Wars. Now this isn’t a bad thing whatsoever, if you have played the Zen Pinball games in the past you will know what to expect, but at the same time you shouldn’t expect to be surprised as it is really more of the same. More of the same is good however considering the overall quality of the Zen Pinball games.
The game does feature some fairly compelling multiplayer gameplay which can be played in several different ways. The first option is simple split-screen multiplayer which is great to play locally and challenge a friend in a game to reach a certain score or a game of whoever can get the highest score in the allotted time. You can also play in a hot seat mode which requires use of one controller and switching between players. I think that this mode was a great addition as it allows for multiplayer for those with only one controller, its an ingenious move on the part of Zen Studios. The final multiplayer mode is of course your standard online fair through the PlayStation Network.
At its core Star Wars Pinball is nothing we haven’t seen before from Zen Pinball. But there really isn’t anything else you could ask for in a pinball game. Zen has spent quite some time perfecting their formula and should be commended for that and if they continue to pump out pinball games as fun as this then it doesn’t matter if its the same old song and dance. Its a good working formula and at this point deviating too much would be a detriment. Sometimes staying the same is better and in the case of Zen Pinball that much is indeed true.
Visuals and Audio:
Aesthetically Star Wars Pinball is very nuanced, employing many little stylistic touches that will undoubtedly play on Star Wars fans nostalgia to great effect. Each table has its own unique visual style and feels like a pinball table embodiment of what it is based upon. The game also features a number of characters from the series with characters such as Darth Vader appearing in the Empire Strikes Back table and even Boba Fett appearing on the Boba Fett table. The character designs are well done and show that Zen have put in a great deal of attention into accurately depicting the Star Wars universe.
The game’s soundtrack is also done very well and captures the spirit of Star Wars with resounding success. Besides your standard background music there is a lot of character voice acting as well which is accurate to the characters and adds an extra layer to the atmosphere that you don’t usually get from a pinball game. This added level of detail is what makes Zen Pinball so special.
Overall:
Star Wars Pinball is a great example of why Zen Studios are so damn good at what they do. They make brilliant pinball games, the likes of which are simply unmatched. Star Wars Pinball seamlessly takes a beloved universe and turns it into three addictive pinball tables. If you love Star Wars or simply love the game of pinball then this is definitely something to check out. Zen Studios are really good at what they do and Star Wars Pinball may just be their finest work to date. It is polished, engaging, challenging an most of all it is a lot of fun. If you have yet to check experience the Zen Pinball phenomenon, now is the time, the force is strong with this one, Star Wars Pinball is out of this world.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Sonic Dash is due out soon for iOS devices. App focused community TouchGameplay recently uploaded a gameplay trailer of the upcoming title and made a very interesting comment on the video in response to many viewers negative comments on the game.
“I hope that the Sonic Community will like it. I know that it isn`t an Classic 2D Jump’n’Run Sonic Game but it`s still one of the better Sonic Adaptations so far on Mobile. While this is said SEGA should really consider finally to start talking about the new 2,5D Sonic Game that they are currently working on. Hopefully SEGA will announce it at the upcoming E3 so we will be able to play another Sonic Game this Year that is more like the Old School Sonic Games and less like Temple Run :D”
Seems like TouchGameplay knows about an inside project at Sega. Could this be the third episode in the Sonic 4 series, a 2.5D game based on the classic gameplay present in Sonic Generations or perhaps an all new type of title. Sonic 4 Epiosde 1 and 2 were launched about a year and a half apart so an E3 announcement would give the game a few months to build hype and release in a similar time frame. Of course this is all speculation so we will have to wait until E3 to see what else is in store for the blue blur this year! If you would like to see the trailer for Sonic Dash below.
What would you like to see in a new Sonic title ? Let us know below.
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) has partnered with Talenthouse for a very special competition to help bring to life the online multi-player experience on PlayStation Network.
The PSN Way of Play competition, hosted by Talenthouse, is looking for “creative submissions that illustrate favourite online multi-player moments.” Potential entrants across Europe, Australia and New Zealand are eligible. Never heard the ‘Way of Play’ before? Sony defines it as:
n. pl. Way of Play
A gaming mantra, related to different aspects of online gaming life, that exemplifies why playing online against – or alongside – real living, breathing people rather than computer AI is where gaming comes to life. For example:
“Couples who slay together, stay together.”
“There’s no I in goooooooal!”
“Actions speak louder than smack-talk.”
To enter, you must submit films, photographs or artwork inspired by your #WayOfPlay. The top 10 entries (one of which will be the ‘People’s Choice’ winner voted on by the public) will receive the equivalent of €1,000 cash and will have their work broadcast across PlayStation’s websites and social media pages. On top of that, ten runners up will win a PlayStation Vita and a year long subscription to PlayStation Plus.
The submission cut-off is April 7th. If you’re thinking of entering, please read this brief beforehand. For more information, please visit ‘Create for PlayStation‘.
