Normand Corbeil, the French-Canadian composer who created the amazing and moving score for Quantic Dream’s ‘Heavy Rain’, has passed away.
Corbeil had been battling pancreatic cancer for almost 6 months before sadly succumbing to the illness at the age of 56. We learned about his passing through this thread entry on the Cancer Forums, reportedly made by his son – Laurent Bastien Corbeil. Normand has an extensive resume, with 37 film/TV projects and the one credited video game project being Heavy Rain (also co-composed the music for ‘Indigo Prophecy’), which he won a BAFTA for in 2011. He was working on the score for the upcoming PS3 exclusive Beyond: Two Souls before his passing, which is also being developed by Quantic Dream.
Here is a comprehensive list of his award nominations/wins. Quantic Dream has also made a statement, which reads:
Over the past eight years, Normand had grown to become an integral part of our team. He had co-composed the original music of ‘Fahrenheit’ FAHRENHEIT (Indigo Prophecy) and was the composer of HEAVY RAIN. He had started working on Beyond.
Normand was not only one of the most talented composers of his generation; he was a formidable person, kind and humble.
His son has since spoken to Polygon, making this statement, “Normand was a great composer and an amazing father. We urge anyone who’s been touched by his music to donate to pancreatic cancer research. The survival rate for this horrible disease is still far too low.”
I, personally, am very much saddened by this news. I think that Heavy Rain’s score is one of the most brilliant, effective and perfect companions to a visual media ever, and just as good as a separate collection of music. He was a musical genius in my books, and I am terribly disappointed that we will not get to hear more of his outstanding work in future projects. More so, I am extremely sorry for his family’s loss. Please, give the Heavy Rain soundtrack a listen, although the sombre tone of the score is especially emotional given the news.
Smut Peddler Author: “Various Hands” Publisher:Iron Circus Comics Release Date: September 2012 Price: $30 BUY HERE
Overview:
Smut Peddler was a short lived digest-sized minicomic series released in 2003 by Saucy Goose Press. It was a sex positive comic series written for female interest in sex, and for men looking for something different from the usual smutty goodness of the erotic comic market. Now we have a new edition to the series, “Smut Peddler: Impeccable Pornoglyphics for Cultivated Ladies (and men of exceptional taste!)”. Comic books are far from having normal things in them, and even further when you look at erotic comics. This book does not cover things that are completely new to the comic industry, there are stranger and stranger thing every day, but it does cover them with the intention to appeal to both (all?) genders. If you have lived a rather bland life in terms of discovering sexuality, this book is pretty safe for getting a glimpse into a lot of different things.
Story:
Smut Peddler is a collection of short stories in graphic novel form. It covers a huge array of settings from fantasy to scifi to things set in the real world. There is a disabled man having his first gay sexual encounter that depicts the fear, hesitance, and confusion along with the intimacy and happiness that comes along with such an experience. A forest nymph comes to terms with how she is different from the others, and finds someone who is compatible with her special features. There is hetero space trucker sex, robot lesbian sex, gay old timey sex, old timey transgendered gay sex (I think), hetero incubus sex, lesbian tree sex, hetero we are trapped on an alien planet sex, and so much more. My point being is a lot of different types of sex is covered, not just one kind with one type of coupling.
The stories are what many people would consider to be “safe” or “trigger free” to read, in that even when there are times of dominance or questionable consent the story goes out of its way to show that every character enjoys their part in the story. On top of that, you are actually interested in the development of the story and characters even within the short time you are able to know them. Some stories have no dialogue at all, while others have talkative characters. Both ways tell the stories they want to tell in interesting ways. Many erotic comics often have no intimacy in them where the point of view is simply just seeing a woman and a faceless man, or a floating penis that impales things/people while the narrator says supposedly sexy things. Not true in Smut Peddler. You are always reading the story of a couple (or more) developing some sort of connection be it for a moment or permanently.
Visuals:
Smut Peddler is not colored, but the artists do not make me feel like I am missing anything. Each short story is written and drawn by a different artist, so they each have their very own way of drawing. One comic can be drawn realistically, while the next will be highly stylized. It is wonderful how the style of drawing actually adds to the setting of each story, and makes each one memorable instead of it all being mixed together post reading.
There is a style of drawing for every taste out there: Over simplified, manga style drawing, retro comic style, one is even reminiscent of the Archie comics style. It is amazing to me how each style perfectly fits the setting and tropes of each story. The manga style comic fits with it’s Hentai like story (sorry no tentacles), while a cuter more innocent story will be drawn more cartoony.
Overall:
Smut Peddler is a solid set of stories that dabbles in many different worlds of sexual fantasy, but never dives too deep. It is a great introduction to new things for people new to the comic scene or new to “the scene”. Each story pops from each other, but none are less interesting than the other. The characters are relatable and easy to connect with as you read their short stories, and makes the collection as a whole less scary to approach. This is a really safe entry for anyone willing to try new things.
While Dr Kawashima’s Devilish Brain Training: Can You Stay Focused is quite a long name, the arrival of the new brain bender is certainly worthy of note. As many of you know, Devilish Brain Training is the predecessor of the DS Brain Age line, and will put a new spin on the franchise – adding punishment to the formula, where players must avoid distraction in order to finish a puzzle.
Yes, it’s quite a concept, but for this series, I would say this more demanding turn fits in perfectly. Today, it was announced that Dr Kawashima’s Devilish Brain Training will be hitting shores on April 12th, while North America is still scheduled to see a release on February 10th.
Billy and Jimmy are making a comeback….well…sort of. The classic NES version of Double Dragon is going portable, as the game is going to be hitting the Japanese eShop on February 6th. Double Dragon is following the trend of NES releases for the device as of late, which of course is only expanding the growing online service.
So why should you care about a Japanese digital release? Well, 9 times out of 10 – these types of releases see their way out west, so we should now start expecting to see Double Dragon in North America and Europe pretty soon. We will keep you updated on that, but fans of the duo can at least breathe easy knowing that a portable port is on the way.
‘Indie Animation Studios‘ have been providing art and other assets to indie game companies for a while, but now they are coming out with their first in-house project, ‘Pyroclysm’.
You can see some of the concept art at the top of the article. Pyroclysm is about defending civilizations from the onslaught of a massive meteor field travelling through the galaxy. Think ‘Missile Command’, but with a more modern gameplay twist. It’ll feature the following:
Weapons of mass destruction to defend your civilizations
Enemies that will keep you on your toes
Fast paced gameplay that will stress you out and give you that huge sense of accomplishment
An awesome soundtrack and sound effects to make you feel like you are one with the destruction
Power-ups that will help you destroy more efficiently, plus they will look really awesome
A variety of levels with different physics and weapons so that no two levels feel the same
There’s no set release date yet as the project is very early on in production. Once it’s ready, it will be available on the PC, Mac, iOS and Android platforms.
Get excited RPG fans because Namco Bandai Games have just released Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch in Australia and New Zealand. The Playstation 3 exclusive RPG comes from the geniuses at Studio Ghibli and Level-5 Games bringing together the styles of both creators.
We just reviewed Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch last night to which we gave glowing praise for its enjoyable gameplay and story filled with heart. You can check out our review here.
To celebrate the launch of Ni No Kuni, Namco will be giving players who connect to the Playstation Network two exclusive Familiar creatures for free: Draggle and Golden Hurly.
Will you be picking up Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch? Let us know in the comments section below.
It all began as a last ditch effort to create a game that would sell reasonably well in 1987, but 25 years later it stands as one of the most iconic and successful video game franchises of all time, I am of course talking about Final Fantasy.
Ever since its debut on the Nintendo Entertainment System, the series has only risen in commercial success and popularity. It was however the highly acclaimed and revolutionary Final Fantasy VII on the original PlayStation that really gave the franchise a dominating presence all over the world, and it continues to ride that momentum till this very day. The staying power of Final Fantasy really shouldn’t surprise anyone, and what’s really impressive is how Final Fantasy has consistently been an integral of part of the gaming scene in just about every console generation since its inception, and continues to do so. The series now celebrates its 25th anniversary, and there are certainly no signs of it slowing down.
To celebrate this historic milestone the Capsule Computers crew got together to talk about all things Final Fantasy. In this special feature article, and accompanying podcast, we discuss our Final Fantasy memories, the highs and lows of the series, our thoughts on the current direction and future of the franchise, and more. Read on to find out what Final Fantasy means to each of us, and be sure to listen to the podcast.
Puzzle Retreat is brought to you by the Voxel Agents, the makers of the Train Conductor series. Puzzle Retreat mixes Sudoku and Sokoban to make a new challenge for puzzle gamers. An easy to learn, hard to master game that will keep you amused. The player mist fill the holes in the board with blocks, but they must use all the blocks in a certain order. Seems easy, but all puzzles do at first.
Puzzle Retreat is available at a special launch promotion price of US$0.99 / AUD$0.99 / £0.69 / €0.89, and will later return to it’s normal price of US$2.99 / AUD$2.99 / £1.99 / €2.39. You can buy the game for iOS devices HERE.
To find out more about the game, visit the website http://puzzleretreat.com. You can also follow them on twitterhere, or like them on facebook here. You can also check out the trailer below.
GTA: Vice City is finally on the PSN, the seemingly neglected middle child of the Grand Theft Auto trilogy finally joins its siblings on the PlayStation Store. Part of the PS2 Classics collection, Vice City is indeed a classic, telling the rise of Tommy Vercetti in the city based off of Miami during the craziness of the 80’s. Including a stellar soundtrack with classics of the time.
Fans of the game are now able to go motoring again or those that missed out on it previously can finally see what they’ve been missing; cars, helicopters, and characters. The price for flight this time is AUD$14.45 or NZD$18.95 players can download the open world shooter today from HERE, but it should be pointed out that Rockstar will have more announcements for the PS2 Classics Collection soon. So, even if GTA: Vice City ain’t Mr. Right, there might be another title you’re more interested in coming down the road.
Trion Worlds, developers of Rift, have announced a release date of their upcoming title, Defiance. Defiance, an online open-world shooter will be coming to the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC on April 2nd.
Set to release 13 days before the debut of Syfy’s television series of the same name, Defiance will put players in the role of an Ark Hunter in a large open world where players “hunt alone or with others as you improve your skills and level up, unlocking powerful weapons that will help you survive the massive battles that await.”
The Syfy television show of the same name is set to launch on April 15. Defiance is now available for preorder both online and via major game retailers, and will come with a Standard, Collectors Edition, and Ultimate Edition. You can check out the official Defiance site here. A new live-action trailer was also released to allow players to get a feel for the universe and your role in it. You can check it out below.
