Pokemon fans down under will be happy to know that a new distribution event is headed their way. Starting March 4th, the Forme-changing Melody Pokémon Meloetta will be available via download from specific retailers, available to all who own a copy of Pokemon Black/White or Black 2/White 2.
So what does Meloetta have to offer?
Striking a chord between its two distinct Formes, Meloetta hits all the right notes in battle. Meloetta fights as a Normal- and Psychic-type Pokémon in its Aria Forme. Though Aria Forme is powerful in its own right, Meloetta can change mid-battle to its Pirouette Forme, taking on new strengths and weaknesses as it becomes a Normal- and Fighting-type Pokémon. Meloetta is the first Pokémon able to change its Forme and type during battle using a specific move, and its Pirouette Forme is the only Pokémon with a Normal- and Fighting-type combination.
You can find Meloetta at selected EB Games and Target stores in Australia, and selected JB Hi-Fi stores in New Zealand, from March 4th until April 19th, so mark your calenders and get ready to add another notch to that Pokedex. Requirements for this event can be found below, and you can find a list of participating locations here.
To receive Aria Forme Meloetta during the distribution time period, fans will need the following:
• A Nintendo 3DS or Nintendo DS system
• A copy of the Pokémon Black 2, Pokémon White 2, Pokémon Black, or Pokémon White game
• The Pokédex within the game
• No more than 11 Wonder Cards in their possession
eFusion MMOG, a European publisher of massively multiplayer online games, revealed today gaming media will be the targeted recipients of Closed Beta keys for the upcoming Dragon Nest Europe.
Beginning February 12, everyone will have the opportunity to get a beta key from Dragon Nest‘sofficial website. Players interested in possibly getting an early beta key can check out their Facebook page. A little bit of incentive is being tossed at the community as well. If there are more than 8,000 concurrent users in the beta, the databases will not be reset when the game officially launches on March 6, 2013.
Dragon Nest is a free-to-play online action RPG. It was developed by Eyedentity Games. It features dynamic action oriented gameplay. With the game being released in several countries, it has drawn more than 200 million gamers worldwide with 800,00 concurrent players.
PopCap has recently launched the beta for their Facebook title, Hidden Agenda. And I have acquired much needed information from the stealthy hands of Hidden Object Executive Producer, Kurt Busch. Hidden Agenda has been discovered!
Question 1: I would first like to begin by asking, “Who are you, and what is your role in the creation of Hidden Agenda?”
I’m Kurt Busch, the Executive Producer for Hidden Object games at PopCap and the General Manager of the Vancouver studio. My role in the game was to build a team to take everything we learned creating successful HOG franchises like Mystery PI and Vacation Quest and bring this sort of fun to Facebook. About a year ago, we built a small team around Rick Davidson, the Game Director, and started experimenting with what worked best.
Question 2: According to the initial screenshot release, animals were depicted as the community population. What drove the theme of animal characters?
This was suggested by Nelson, our Lead Artist on the project. His idea was to make everyone animals but treat them as regular characters – no corny animal names or gags. As soon as he did this, everything seemed different. Characters immediately became more sinister, or silly, or endearing.
Question 3: Continuing from the previous question, is there symbolism behind the chosen characters and the roles that they play?
We were working with the idea of two competing families and – as it worked out – all the members of the progress-driven family wound up being carnivores and all the members of the traditional family were herbivores. This wasn’t intentional, but it shows the kind of message you can get across about a character just by trading on what different animals represent. When the head of a family is an apex predator, you know you should really watch yourself around him. Incidentally, we weren’t entirely consistent on that division.
We leave it to the player’s imaginations as to whether the characters are actually animals, or if this is a metaphor for their human personalities. We’ve found that players have an immediate rapport with the characters without requiring a lot of description or dialogue. When you see a lion, you immediately assume he’s forceful and aggressive and at the top of the food chain. Then to add a layer of depth, we created a hidden agenda for every character in the game – something that each character is hiding but the player can discover.
Question 4: Will Hidden Agenda be exclusive to Facebook? If so, why was this venue chosen over the more traditional PC/Mac release?
It’s launching as a Facebook exclusive and it was designed specifically for the way people play Facebook games. In our regular PC/Mac titles, the Hidden Object experience is very casual and relaxed. It’s all about taking your time to discover all the visual little nooks and crannies of a scene. On Facebook, it’s more about dropping into this little world a few times each day and making progress on unraveling the town’s many secrets. Also, we wanted to try building a game where we could roll out new content and mysteries every week instead of every few months.
Question 5: Since the title will be released on the social network, how will interactions between friends help propel a player’s progress? Will there be rewards for helping others like “energy boosts” to extend the playing experience?
You can help out your friends in a number of ways. If you choose to join a crew to inspect a crime scene, you’ll make progress in finding clues more quickly. In the town meta-game, you’ll be able to find specific items for your friends. Eventually, we’ll give you the chance to hide objects in your friends’ towns. We also have some very creative ideas that will definitely help you out if you’re playing with friends who are around the same level as you.
Question 6: Being free-to-play will guarantee more casual players to dive in Hidden Agenda. What is the affordability for the premium content?
Hidden Agenda is divided up into Jobs and Cases. Jobs are sort of scavenger hunts in the town that let you earn currency, energy and special investigative gear like fingerprint kits and security camera tapes. You can always buy these items if you want to do fewer jobs.
Cases are mysteries made up of multiple Hidden Object scenes. Each case has an additional premium scene, meaning a special Hidden Object Screen. Finding all the clues in it will give you access to special graphic novel pages that tell you more of the backstory behind the characters and the case.
Question 7: I haven’t heard of this game being developed in rumblings anywhere, and it is being released in early 2013 – not far away. Has there been a hidden agenda for Hidden Agenda?
Well, we ARE a Hidden Object Games studio! We should be able to hide stuff. We started doing prototypes with a small team back in late 2011. We tried a Blitz model and decided that didn’t work. Then we tried a more traditional, case-based PI game and we felt we were a lot closer. When Rick and his team joined in late January, he started exploring the idea of creating a world where EVERYTHING – the scenes and the town and the tasks – became a Hidden Object Game. We tinkered with a town-building mechanic and decided it got in the way of the whole-world-is-a-HOG approach. Then we just kept our heads down and worked away. We’ve been in closed beta within PopCap for the last few months and just started opening it up to the public recently.
Question 8: Like other hidden object games provided by PopCap, can we expect cameos from Bejeweled and other titles?
Yes you can. Don’t be surprised if you find a Zombie on your lawn.
Question 9: Beyond the hidden object content, how many types of alternative mini-games will be available?
Every part of the game is a Hidden Object experience, but that doesn’t mean every moment of gameplay is a traditional Hidden Object scene. The entire meta-game is made up of different types of scavenger hunts throughout the town, and these weave in elements of memorization, matching and general hunting around.
In terms of the traditional HOG scenes, we’re launching with a conventional seek-and-find mode and a Blitz mode. We’re implementing a Spot-the-Difference mode for early in the year. We have a couple other modes that we’ll roll out later in the game.
Question 10: Hidden object games are not necessarily known for having extensive playing time. How will Hidden Agenda combat repetition and extend the playability for its players on the social network?
Most Hidden Object games on Facebook have turned the HOG experience into a sort of memory game to promote repeat playability. This has turned into some fun moments in some games, but we approached it differently. We make the repeated investigation of the scenes an opportunity to uncover new clues to advance the case. And the team brought the HOG experience out into the town, with repeated quests to find objects, suspects, friends and characters. When you’re exploring the world in Hidden Agenda, you’re always trying to find something.
That concludes the interview with PopCap’s HOG Executive Producer Kurt Busch. Since you have gathered some classified “interrogation” information, go on over and check out Hidden Agenda on Facebook (here).
THIS is our Hitman?! Meet the new Agent 47 everyone!
So, it was announced today, via Deadline, that the Hitman film reboot is going into full motion with Paul Walker cast as Agent 47…
The script is being written by the screenwriter of the first film (which was a critical failure), Skip Woods, as well as Mike Finch. It will be directed by commercials director Aleksander Bach in his feature-film debut. (Now, I just want to iterate that the following is my opinion alone here, and I am not necessarily representing the site’s overall opinion.)
It’s funny because, according to the article, Fox International Pictures sees this film as a potential hit, especially in the international market, based on the video game series’ sales numbers in those overseas regions. But, they haven’t seemed to consider that those same fans of the franchise might not be receptive to this casting choice…and I think I’ be safe in saying that’s an understatement.
Of course, the first film broke $100 million and people were complaining about Timothy Olyphant being cast back then too – I personally think Olyphant is an amazing actor though. So, there’s a good chance that this “reboot” will still make it’s production cost back in box office sales, and possibly make a profit, thanks to the average movie goer (and teenage girl). But, why alienate the very audience that put the games – the source material – on the map?
Why not cast a great actor, who can carry an action film (alone) and has been proven to be able to play a bad-ass, like Mark Strong. Mark Strong is one of the busiest actors in Hollywood for a reason; he’s that good. And he looks almost exactly like the character design for Agent 47! I usually give the benefit of the doubt, but you could be blind and still see this is a mistake. End rant. Let us know what you think about this casting news in the comments below. Have any alternative choices in mind?
Playstos has released a demo version of their upcoming title – Real World Racing. The title is a top-down racing game that features real topographic maps taken from satellite imagery. The developers have done this to give players the feel of racing in our physical world. Touched up with 3D environment effects, racing from a bird’s eye view will have you looking at cities around the world in a different perspective.
RWR Open Beta Demo Features:
Online Multiplayer up to 16 players
3 Tracks from the final game, set in Rome, Berlin and London
6 Cars from the middle point class in the final game
Single Player Arcade Mode
Time Trial Mode
Garage for car browsing and customization
To gather further analysis of Real World Racing take a look at our preview of the title (here). Play the open beta demo by downloading the title at the Real World Racing website.
DanceDanceRevolution Classroom Edition was announced and released as a means for schools to encourage their students to have healthy activity through the means of the game. The game itself was helped funded by The California Endowment for their Building Healthy Communities plan and now the game has been integrated into all eight middle schools of the Fresno Unified School District.
Hoping to set the trend for the rest of the state of California, the Fresno middle schools students will utilize DDR Classroom Edition, which tracks steps, body mass index (BMI), and caloric burn rate. What makes this somewhat different than your standard DDR game is that instead of limiting the game to a maximum of 4 pads for players to use, DDR Classroom Edition allows up to 48 wireless pads to track each student’s progress separately.
It’s great to see games being shown in a positive light to help school kids to get more active and hopefully to live healthier lives, as one of the main targets for improvement DDR Classroom Edition hopes to help is childhood obesity. Time will tell if DanceDanceRevolution Classroom Edition is everything they want it to be, so here’s to all those kids in the Fresno middle schools. Get up and get down.
Frogwares Studio is ditching their homemade engine and taking up the Unreal Engine 3 for their latest addition to the Sherlock Holmes franchise, Crimes & Punishments. Boosting graphical quality and detailed environments, the Unreal Engine 3 will break players away from sidelining the investigations to become fully involved. Crimes & Punishments puts the player in the driver’s seat with several crimes to solve where decisions provide multiple conclusions.
Those that appreciate the traditional Conan Doyle’s novels will be please to hear that the story for Crimes & Punishments has taken the same route. To catch a glimpse of the coming title gaze at the screenshots provided below. Follow Frogwares’ progress of the title at their Twitter (@Sherlock_Game) or Facebook (here).
So we know that Dead Island sold well enough to warrant a sequel, seeing as that will be coming out April. But just how many copies of the first game have been sold since its original release back in September 2011? Well, according to publisher Deep Silver the game has just passed 5 million copies sold, including retail and digital versions of the game. Seeing as those sales cross 17 months, that is a pretty solid worldwide sales rate.
Deep Silver, and its parent company Koch Media, are fairly impressed with their numbers and are hopeful that it will translate to good sales for Dead Island Riptide when it releases. But not to be thought of as a one-trick pony Koch Media’s International Commercial Director Menno van der Bil has stated that, “Further new IPs with an innovative angle and maybe even a surprising touch can be expected from Deep Silver.” Plus with their acquisition of Saint’s Row and Metro, they now have already established IPs to be part their “overall IP strategy”.
Namco Bandai have announced that they have commenced a 50% off sale for selected titles and DLC on the PlayStation Network. The discounted titles range from PlayStation 3, PSP and PS Vita games as well as DLC of course.
The titles on discount for 50% off are as follows:
PlayStation 3:
RIDGE RACER 7: 3D License Version – $9.99
NAMCO MUSEUM ESSENTIALS – $4.99
NOBY NOBY BOY – $2.49
ONE PIECE: PIRATE WARRIORS – $24.99
PlayStation Vita:
RIDGE RACER – $12.49
TOUCH MY KATAMARI – $12.49
PSP:
SOULCALIBUR: Broken Destiny – $19.99
TEKKEN 6 – $19.99
NARUTO SHIPPUDEN: Ultimate Ninja Impact™ – $19.99
DLC:
ACE COMBAT ASSAULT HORIZON DLC – prices between $1.99 to $7.49
Dark Souls: Atorias of the Abyss – $7.49
ONE PIECE: PIRATE WARRIORS DLC Pack – $7.49
What do you think of Namco Bandai’s 50% off PlayStation Network sale? Will you be picking up any of these titles? If so, which titles? Let us know in the comments section below what you think of this awesome sale.
Domo: The Journey Developer:Playlithium Publisher:Horse Feathers Inc. Platforms:iPad, Ipod Touch, iPhone (Reviewed) Release Date: 21/01/2013 Price: $1.99 – Available Here
Overview:
For those unaware, Domo is the beloved mascot of Japanese television station NHK, where he often stars in his own stop-motion sketches during commercial breaks. In the western world however, he is pretty much just a less-feminine Hello Kitty. Domo has been starred in various forms of media from english manga to even video games (mostly on the DS), now Domo hits iOS devices in Domo: The Journey. Unfortunately however, the entertainment value is much like that Domo keychain I once owned: pocket sized.
Gameplay:
Simply put, Domo The Journey: is your typical generic platformer with no aspirations to be anything more. You have an virtual D-pad to move your character around, and you have to get to the goal at the end of the level. Sometimes you can get power ups like a guitar or a camera to fend off enemies, and these have to recharge. Those two sentences pretty much describe the entire game’s premise. The controls are clunky and unresponsive at times, and occasionally collision detection can be an issue. Jumping isn’t flawed, but it is does take some getting used to as while Domo can double jump, his second jump is significantly shorter than his first, which players may take some getting used to. Level design is uncreative and at times seem unorganized with just a bunch of platforms thrown onto the screen randomly, especially in the later levels.
On occasion the game will try and freshen things up with things such as a Donkey Kong-styled mining cart or snowmobile levels, but these fail to make the game any more fun or less frustrating. On rare occasions there are boss battles,which are not always at the end of each zone, that require little strategy and frankly aren’t any more exciting than the standard stages. The final boss in particular is pretty stressful as much like the rest of the game it’s filled with bugs and collision detection issues that just make you want to scream. You’d think this game had no testers at all…but according to the credits there was three of them. A shop is also available to buy upgrades and such, but these are all extremely over priced. Thankfully you do get some credits for free each day, but this doesn’t help too much. So unless you want to slave away for unnecessary long periods of time your be forced to buy coins with your real money (freemium style) which not only seems unfair, but also unnecessary. Either that or you go without, your choice.
Audio & Visuals:
Domo encounters similar problems with the audio & visual aspects along his journey. While the music may be uninspired it isn’t terrible, but the sound effects could use some improvement. Hearing Domo jump for example is an odd and annoying noise and being a platformer that’s one sound effect the developers should’ve had nailed from the get go. The worst offender is the animation, which tends to be very choppy; and not in the cool stop-motion animation way the original Domo sketches are like. Alongside collision detection issues, animation responses can be off, so knowing when either your or an enemy is damaged can occasionally be a problem. Also if you lose one life there is a death animation, but if you lose all lives it cuts straight to the game over screen. It’s a small nit-picking problem, but Domo: The Journey is filled with small issues like these. Aside from that, stages are rather static with not much going on. Art design and colors do the job right, but keep in mind the main characters are licensed by NHK so it’s not much to credit the developer on.
Overall:
Long story short, Domo: The Journey is an unpolished disappointment with very few redeeming qualities. Gameplay is buggy, controls are stiff, collision detection can be a problem, animation is choppy, sound effects could use some improvement and makes little to no attempts at doing anything creative. Even the most hardcore Domo fans will be let down by this title. If this was free or $0.99 maybe it’d be easier to go easy on this title, but keep in mind it’s on sale for $1.99 and is filled with problems. Better luck next time Playlithium.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
THIS is our Hitman?! Meet the new Agent 47 everyone!
