Page 4888 – Capsule Computers

Persona 4 Animation Volume 1 Review

-

January 19, 2013

Persona 4 Animation Volume 1
Studio: AIC ASTA
Publisher: Madman Entertainment
Format: DVD, Blu-Ray (Reviewed)
Release Date: January 9, 2013
Price: $39.95 – Available Here

Overview:
What makes for a good adaptation? How does one bend one medium into another? Persona 4: The Animation asks this question to its audience, albeit complete unintentionally. It takes a popular video-game and simply reproduces it as an anime series, this isn’t so much an anime as it is a game without interactivity. So really now the big question is; does it work?

Story:
The answer is no. Persona 4: The Animation isn’t necessary bad, but as an anime series it just doesn’t quite work. For starters the biggest failure with this series is the fact that it relies on the audience having had played the game upon which it is based to really fill in the pieces, seemingly skipping a number of crucial story-telling steps. This over-reliance on the audience have prior knowledge of the material is an error that can come with adapting material such as this.

That isn’t the end of it though, the hero of the series appropriately named Yu, serves as the players avatar in the game, here he is nothing but a blank face that utters a few lines here and there seemingly devoid of any emotion or thought. It is rather ironic that for a series called Persona the protagonist seems to have nothing even close to resembling a personality. While this works in a game, it does not work at all in an anime series. In a game you can escape into this character and they become you. However in anime form such interaction doesn’t exist, anime just isn’t an interactive medium.

Problematic as all that may be it still is not all there is. Perhaps the most significant factor of why Persona 4 doesn’t work as an anime is the fact that it is just so painfully monotonous and at times just downright boring. The reasoning for this is simple, most of what we see feels like a collection of cut scenes surrounding gameplay with the actual playing aspect removed entirely, leaving nothing but cut scenes the sloppily play out one by one. The real heart of a game is how it plays, after all games are reliant on interactivity to work, anime doesn’t work in the same way. As you can imagine if you take the game out of a game there isn’t much left over and such is the result of Persona 4: The Animation, an anime series so depressingly void of any kind of life.

Without a doubt, Persona 4: The Animation is not recommended for the uninitiated, though fans of the game would undoubtedly get a real kick out of seeing things in anime form, even if it isn’t too greatly different from what they have played in the past. This really is a series reserved for the initiated.

Visuals and Audio:
While Persona 4: The Animation doesn’t hold up well in terms of plot it does feature some of the most awe-inspiring visuals in recent memory. The array of colours and fluidity to the shows proceedings is simply remarkable and a sight to truly behold. The character designs are well conceived albeit at times forgettable, but they feel decidedly at home with the world of Persona 4, both in its gloomy gray areas and flamboyant splash of colour that stand in juxtaposition to one another.

The soundtrack for this series is another real highlight. In fact this OST is almost too good for the content it is backing. I’m more the certain the majority of it is lifted directly from the game, much like seemingly everything else was. Regardless it does a great job supporting the action on screen. In terms of voice acting, the English dub for the anime is fairly average. There is a lot of wooden acting and awkward delivery, making for some strange viewing. It does the job however and that is about the best compliment I can give this dub.

Extras:
Madman have done an impressive job with this release in terms of bonus content, however where they have left the product down is the inexplicable episode count comparison of the Blu-Ray to the DVD release of volume 1. Why does the Blu-Ray only have 9 episodes while the DVD has 12? Aren’t Blu-Rays meant to hold more data? I found this absolutely peculiar and to be honest rather disappointing. Despite that there are some decent extras on this Blu-Ray release such as the directors cut of Episode 1, textless themes, a special drama called ‘Jikken-Kun’, Japanese commentaries and of course trailers. Its a decent amount of bonus content, but the difference in episode count is really quite puzzling and leads me to recommend the DVD over the Blu-Ray for content alone.

Overall:
Persona 4: The Animation is an adaptation that ultimately bound itself too strongly to its source material resulting in what can only be described as a grand mistake. This was not a game that should have been so literally transferred into anime form, it needed to be bent into the shape of an anime, not forced into it.

One could make a case that this is not an anime series for those who aren’t Persona 4 fans, but I will claim on the contrary that catering to such a small quantity of people is never a good idea as it leaves many on the outside. A great anime would invite all viewers into the fold, Persona 4 however keeps them at a distance for fear of having to actually explain things to those who don’t already know what is coming.

While Madman has done a decent job with this release, the Blu-Ray version is undoubtedly lacking comparatively with the DVD release in terms of content. Although the Blu-Ray is priced cheaper than the DVD, for those who would rather not wait for episodes, the DVD is the best option. If you are a Persona 4 fans, this might be something you’d like to add to your collection, however it is not recommended to those without any prior knowledge of the franchise as this is not a series that takes kindly to those new to it, which is a shame to say the very least. This had to potential to be a brilliant series given its excellent source material, but it isn’t, because it didn’t care to be anything other than a cheap aborted version of Persona 4.

Persona 4: The Animation is an anime severely lacking in one crucial thing – Ambition.

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

Shakugan no Shana S Review

Travis Bruno

-

January 19, 2013

0

Shakugan no Shana S
Studio: J.C. Staff
Publisher: FUNimation
Format: Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack
Release Date: January 22, 2013
Price: $34.98 – Available Here

Overview:
Whenever there is a large enough gap in-between releases of any media, it is should be expected that publishers may be concerned that fans may start to wander away from the series. This is especially true when it comes to the anime world where many alternative programs air as competition every four months. As such, a three year gap between anime seasons could be devastating. To avoid this issue, J.C. Staff chose to create another release of Shakugan no Shana, called Shakugan no Shana S between seasons 2 and 3. Now that FUNimation has brought this OVA collection overseas, is it worth your time? Let’s find out.

Story:
As I mentioned earlier, the Shakugan no Shana S series is an OVA series. What this means is that the four episodes found on this release are actually short side-stories based off the Shana universe. As such, of these four OVAs only the two “Overture” episodes follow an actual plot while the other two simply follow the life of Yuji and Shana when Denizens or Crimson Lords aren’t breathing down their necks.

The first of these OVAs finds Shana and Yuji sifting through the massive collection of treasure tools that Friagne happened to gather in his life time. While sorting through these treasures, a special tool called Reshuffle activates and Shana and Yuji’s bodies are swapped. After learning about their situation, the two must try and fix the situation, however doing so may be harder than they think. This OVA follows plenty of gender/body-swapping clichés where these two must try to act like one another and also deal with being in the opposite sex’s body. This results in plenty of comedic and awkward moments and some mild development for Shana.

As for the second OVA, we find Wilhelmina concerned over Shana’s strange secrecy lately and after coming to her wits end, she enlists the help of the person she dislikes most, Yuji, to try and figure out what Shana may be up to. This time around we see Wilhelmina taking the spotlight alongside Yuji and it is certainly interesting seeing these two have to interact closely for once.

Finally the last two OVAs tell one complete story where viewers see Shana hunting down a Denizen in the recent past. This is before Shana ever met Yuji and therefore still features a cold personality. To get into the case, Shana rather horribly steals the life of a young girl who had become a Torch because of the Denizen and begins to track through her memories and close relations to find the culprit.

The story told within these two OVAs is hauntingly similar to what may have happened in the case of Yuji if only a few factors had been different. As we see Shana assume the role of this young girl who once had her whole life ahead of her, it is hard not to feel saddened by the loss of life and happiness of those around her. For in the end, viewers know the ultimate fate of a Torch and those around them, but even with this knowledge it is hard not to be emotional once everything is said and done.

Ultimately, Shakugan no Shana S feels like a miniature slice of what makes the Shana series enjoyable as a whole. Half of the offering focuses on slice-of-life events mixed with romantic comedy and the other half deals with mystery, a bit of action and plenty of drama. While there pretty much is no combat found within this release, this slice of Shana is certainly worth checking out as not only do fans receive more of the Shana and Yuji action they have come to expect, there is also an enjoyable story concerning Shana’s past. Thanks to this however, except for Wilhelmina all of the side-characters are pushed to the side for only bit-parts and at this point, only extremely well-versed viewers will understand the events in this release. Also it is worth noting that while the exact placing of each OVA in the story can be difficult to place, viewers are left with a clear transition and hint into the third and final season of Shakugan no Shana.

Visuals:
Considering the fact that Shakugan no Shana S was originally released in Japan as an OVA series, each episode was released roughly four months after the previous one. As such J.C. Staff had plenty of time to make sure that these episodes came out with the best quality possible. The amount of attention paid throughout these OVAs is clear as not only are the visuals crisper, especially noticeable on Blu-ray, but they also feel more modernized and colorful.

While the first two anime seasons felt a bit rough around the edges whenever anything slice-of-life was focused on, the basic quality presented in Shakugan no Shana S remains quite high and improves greatly for dramatic sequences. While minimalistic in action, the overall attention to detail throughout these four OVAs is higher as the animation team appears to have avoided cutting corners in facial animations and other character details due to time constraints.

Audio:
With the release of Shakugan no Shana S, as always, viewers can expect to find both the original Japanese voice track as well as the newly recorded English voice cast by FUNimation. Over the course of reviewing the past movie and complete second season of Shana, Josh Grelle’s voice work as Yuuji either has grown on my or he has found the proper way to get into the character as he seemed to fit well as Yuuji’s voice.

As for the rest of the cast, it was enjoyable hearing Carli Mosier’s Wilhelmina take a leading role this time around and of course, Cherami Leigh continues to impress as Shana’s voice actress. Also, special mention should go out to Josh and Cherami for their work with the character voices during the body-swapping incident.

The background music found throughout Shakugan no Shana S is more of the standard fair that viewers have heard throughout the series at this point and is suiting at best. Though the inserted song “Portamento” by Kawada played during a dramatic moment in the Overture arc hits hard. As far as the opening and ending go, both songs are once again performed by Kawada as the opening is titled “Prophecy” while the ending is titled “All in Good Time.” Compared to past themes, the opening theme feels a bit out of place but suitable enough for dramatic reasons while the ending theme fits well.

Extras:
As far as bonus features go, FUNimation has provided a small set of extras for Shakugan no Shana S. There is you’re standard textless opening and closing songs as well as trailers for other FUNimation releases but there are also four Shakugan no Shana-Tan specials, totaling roughly twenty five minutes long, found within this release.

If you’ve seen the Shakugan no Shana series before then you may already know what to expect, but for everyone else these Shana-Tan specials feature a chibi-miniature version of Shana going through certain parts of the story with more attitude than before and the rest of the main characters also are placed in strange situations. It is worth noting that these Shana-Tan specials only feature the Japanese dub and of the four, only one serves to provide a little bit of backstory, however it is mostly for comedic purpose as it focuses on Tanaka and Satou while the rest of the cast boos. With this collection of Shana-Tan bonuses nearly running the length of an entire episode, there are plenty of laughs to be had as these bonuses are downright hilarious at times.

Overall:
Shakugan no Shana S feels like a proper title for this collection of OVAs, as the release feels like it could simply be called Shakugan no Shana Slice or Shakugan no Shana Sample. Viewers are treated to what could have been four standard episodes mixed into the standard Shana seasons, as we receive equal amount drama and mystery as well as romantic comedy and slice-of-life events. With the English voice cast hitting their stride with the Shana series, Shakugan no Shana S is a bundle of everything that makes Shana great. With the English voice cast hitting their stride and the finale on the way, the Shakugan no Shana S: OVA release couldn’t have done a better job reminding fans why they enjoy the series.

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

Majikoi Oh! Samurai Girls Series Collection Review

Benjamin Webb

-

January 19, 2013

0

Majikoi Oh! Samurai Girls
Studio: Lerche
Publisher: Madman
Format: DVD
Release Date: Out Now
Price: $59.95 (Buy Here)

Overview

An Eroge by the name of “Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai!” was released by an adult developer over in Japan called Minato Soft. The title is translated as Seriously! Please Love Me in English, but the title in Japanese is cut down to Majikoi. Since then, the story has been adapted into an Anime series that is less risque (but still pretty risque) than the game was. This review follows the Anime adaptation and not the VN.

Read on for my thoughts.

Story

Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinsai! follows the story of a group of students at the martial arts high school, The Kawakami Academy. These students are a group of girls and one guy named Yamato. Yamato is a guy that is really nothing too special in regards to fighting, in fact he is frequently attacked by his sensei (often incorrectly phrased as teacher, giving you this weird vibe throughout the show in the dub) in order to satiate her own fighting spirit. Even though this character is nothing too special outwardly, inwardly he is pretty cool. He has insane strategy skills and he has an alpha-as-heck personality that draws in all of the girls.

Yes, this is a harem Anime, with the main character being the man choice for every other girl in the story. And to be honest, the Harem aspect of this series is played through for 7 of 12 episodes until episode 8 comes along and the main storyline kicks in. And even then, it’s still harem-y. I don’t want to spoil the end, so you’ll have to watch to find out the choice that Yamato makes between the slutty girl, the shy girl, the lesbian girl and the foreign girl. I may be forgetting one…

The Eroge visual novel follows many different paths and while I haven’t played the game, I can only assume this Anime series follows one of the storylines, or has it’s own ending. Fortunately the Anime is hilarious and the storyline definitely benefits from this. The only issue I’d mention, like I did up there, is that the main story kicks in kind of late. I think it may have been better if they spread the comedy episodes between storyline episodes, but eh, it works this way.

Oh! There was that one other issue where a large emphasis is placed on how the school operates really early on, but is seemingly dropped or pushed into the background (like really far back) for the rest of the story. I would have loved to have seen more inter-school politics and wars, but that never happened.

Overall, for an Anime series adapted from an Adult Visual Novel, the story stands on its own just fine. While it is a little harem-y, it is still an hilarious watch from a story perspective. Things become a little heavy at the end, but the humour is still there.

Visuals

Visually speaking, Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinsai! is quite hilarious. I think that with this series, it’s the visuals that really push the comedy elements forward and everything else exists to further the physical comedy within the show.

The best example of this is that one episode where the school is engaged in this festival celebrating what is essentially the male genitalia. Everything in that episode is a purely visual gag with supplementary audio work and story details. The town celebrates this appendage with various consumables, memorabilia and shrines crafted as giant “mushrooms” based on certain male models. And oh my god, that episode had every kind of visual gag you could think of. Small Mushrooms, girls suckling mushrooms, Loli holding mushroom making Lolicon almost die of bloodloss, and so many more that I can’t even go into detail with.

Trust me on this, if you’re watching Majikoi, you won’t be unentertained from a visual standpoint. Every episode is just a buildup of laughs after a buildup of laughs. The only reason you wouldn’t enjoy this show is if you don’t find low-brow humour hilarious. And really, who doesn’t find it at least a little funny?

This show also has a lot of the female anatomy on display throughout it. This is in-line with the shows background of being based on eroge novel, but it a lot more toned down in the Anime version. However, there are a bunch of hilariously perverse moments that you just can not help but laugh at the whole time. I could really use entire chunks of the Anime here as an example, but I’ll just point out a character to look forward to. The girl with the blue/purple hair. Keep your eyes on her. Hilarity ensues.

Audio

Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinsai! has some of the most hilarious dialogue I’ve seen released on a licensed work in quite a while. Every joke is hilarious and even when the characters aren’t joking around, they’re usually doing or saying something that has an amazing comedic effect on the audience.

I particularly like the way characters interact with each other through the dialogue in this series. While each female character seems to only exist for Yamato, they all still seem to have a pretty decent relationship with each other, up until towards the end anyway. The one issue with the dialogue though is that the girls keep stating their attacks as they do them. I know that this is a trope of Anime and is probably a parody in this show, but it just doesn’t work for some reason.

The series also comes in both Japanese and English audio tracks. While I’m not entirely sure if the Japanese voice actors are the same as in the Visual Novel, they still sound pretty good. I have to admit though, that the English cast did a pretty good job of following the characters and had some pretty decent timing.

Extras

Majikoi has a bunch of extras that can be found on the second disc of the series as Special Features. These include a kind of recap like thing where the characters discuss the episode that corresponds with the track number, trailers, clean opening and closings and Japanese promotional videos. The cover also has some pretty nice artwork on the flip-side of the packaging. Umm… Maybe pretty nice is an understatement…

Overall

Majikoi Oh! Samurai Girls is an insanely hilarious series that any Anime fan will get a laugh out of. While it is not a quintessential Anime, or even one that would be regarded as important to watch, you would still be missing out by skipping this series. What would you be missing out on? Laughs. And really, what’s more important than laughter?

Incipio LGND Hard Shell Convertible Case Review

Jamie Laike Tsui

-

January 19, 2013

0

LGND Hard Shell Convertible Case
Developer: Incipio
Platforms: iPad 2-4
Price: $34.49 Get it Here

The LGND is a nubuck suede folio case with a hardshell back. It comes in four colours, red, pink, gray, and black. The case distinguishes itself from other folio cases with its unique origami style cover that provides a surface to prop the iPad up in two different viewing angles.

Installing the iPad into the LGND was extremely easy. The iPad simple snaps into the hard shell case where it is held into place by two lips running on the long sides of the iPad. The grip was perfectly balanced with holding the iPad tight with requiring herculean amount of strength to pry the iPad out of the case.

The LGND’s nubuck suede holds up to serious wear and tear decently. Through some extremely rough handling bouncing around in a backpack, I managed to break in the front cover. It emerged with some minor friction wear on one of the corners of the front folio, some stray threads on the edges of the case, and lines on the suede from where it was scratched. Although the lines were slightly darker than the rest of the suede, the blemish on the finish could be barely felt. Unfortunately, these lines are pretty common with suede materials, so if you are extremely religious about having your case hide every bump and scratch, the LGND may be a poor choice.

The front cover has magnets to activate the Smart Cover features of the iPad. The magnets in the cover are completely hidden. They are not noticeably poking out underneath the interior cover like some cheaply made cases. When closed, the cover aligns well with the iPad and does trigger the Smart Cover function unnecessarily.

The front cover folds with the help of several indentations on the cover to create a stand. It is held closed with the same magnets used to trigger the Smart Cover features of the iPad. This provides for a relatively stable platform for viewing and typing. The hands free viewing angle is perfect and for the most part stable. Its only weakness is an accidently push down and outwards can cause the magnets holding the origami fold together to disengage. Unfortunately, the typing angle was a little too steep for comfortable typing on the iPad. It was great for putting beside the breakfast cereal in the morning to catch up to the morning newspaper, but for regular typing I found myself propping the case on a thick book to make a more comfortable typing experience. My only other quibble with the origami folding system was every once in a while, I have to fix the fold or else one corner will fold in and the other will fold out. It’s an extremely minor annoyance, but when it does happen it interrupts the smooth movement to prop the case up.

The interior of the case is a soft microsuede material that Incipio uses for all their folio cases. It is a very fine suede material that is suitable for iPads without screen protectors. Short of catching some sort of grit between the cover and the screen, it should not scratch off the oleophobic coating used for the iPad. It feels a little sticky which will improve the grip on your iPad when having the folio cover completely opened.

The back is a hard plastic shell with most of the back covered in the same nubuck suede that covers the front of the case. The hard shell case has great coverage on the bottom of the case, even having an extra piece to protect the gap between the speaker and the bottom edge of the iPad. In contrast, the top of the harshell is completely open. There is one large cut out for the microphone, headphone jack, and power button. I found this choice to be curious considering the high level of protection on the bottom of the case. I would have preferred for separate cut outs for each part of the iPad on the top. However, this is a minor issue considering the corners, which are the most vulnerable to damage, are fully protected. It would require a good amount of terrible luck to drop the iPad at the perfect angle to hit the exposed portion. The cut out for the volume and mute switch is one large hole which is a good balance of size and protection. It does not interfere with the operation of those two functions. The camera hole does not interfere with the camera either.

Nubuck suede covers the whole back portion of the hard shell that comes in contact with a table when laid down. The suede further extends as a joint to the front cover. The coverage on the back adds a lot of scratch protection for the hard shell case. However, due to the grippy nature of nubuck suede, the case does not slide well when rested on a table. This could be a good or a bad thing, depending on your preference. I personally prefer a case that slides around easily because I have a habit of sliding my iPad into my bookshelf built into my headboard at night.

Size wise, the LGND is one of the slimmest iPad folio cases I have worked with. Due to the edges of the folio being glued down versus folded in and stitched shut, the profile is very thin and feels great in the hands. The materials used are light and will add very little noticeable weight to the iPad.

The LGND is a good case if you do not mind your case bearing the battle scars of life. Although the case holds up relatively well, it shows the wear and tear its experience rather obviously. The edges have minor fraying that appears as small threads and the nubuck suede clearly shows every ding and scratch that has ever touched it. However, after all the abuse, the case still held up. This case will put up with a large amount of wear and tear, but will look beaten. The design of the hard shell back is a little confusing; the bottom of the case is incredibly well protected while the top’s protection is a little anemic. However, overall the case provides excellent protection for the iPad. The angles provided with the case are fantastic for viewing, but most people will find it too steep for typing. Even with the noticeable battle scars, the LGND is probably one of my favourite cases for the iPad due to its excellent balance between its small size and the level of protection offered.

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

MasterAbbott’s iOS Game Suggestions #47

Philip Federico

-

January 18, 2013

0

Welcome back for this week’s iOS Game Suggestions. If you missed or are new to the suggestions, click on the link below and check what cool games you should be picking up for your iOS along with the introduction and disclaimer on how the suggestions work. (suggestions 1 has the disclaimer and how it all works)

MasterAbbott’s iOS Game Suggestions

An average week on iTunes, not a lot of titles but as always there certainly is a few must buy games this week in all departments, FREE, 99c and over 99c. This week i’ve suggested a total of 15 great quality titles. Make sure you check them all especially Temple Run 2, Tin Man Can, Heroes and Castles, Final Fantasy All The Bravest just to name a few.

Break down below :

6 – FREE Games

5 – $0.99c Games

4 – Over $0.99c Games

As always for this week’s suggestions are all new titles that you should take a look at and consider spending your hard earned iTunes cash / time on. Well the Free games just below certainly should all be given a shot as they won’t cost you anything!

For The Cheapskates – FREE GAMES

	MASTERABBOTT’S FREE GAME PICK OF THE WEEK! Temple Run 2 – Price : FREE – Publisher – Imangi Studios (The sequel to the smash hit phenomenon that took the world by storm! With over 170 million downloads, Temple Run redefined mobile gaming. Now get more of the exhilarating running, jumping, turning and sliding you love in Temple Run 2! Navigate perilous cliffs, zip lines, mines and forests as you try to escape with the cursed idol. How far can you run?!) on iPad & iPhone. GET IT NOW FOR FREE
	Rise Of The Blobs – Price : FREE – Publisher –Robot Invader (You’ve never seen a puzzle game like this before! Waves of hungry blobs are making their way up a column towards our stranded marshmallow hero! Help Marsh Mal survive the invasion by filling blobs with fruit and popping them in massive chains. Once you’ve mastered the basics, a collection of other game modes are waiting to challenge you in new ways. You ready to rise to this colorful challenge?) runs on iPad & iPhone. GET IT NOW FOR FREE
	Fridge Words – Price : FREE – Publisher –Thumbstar Games (Fridge Words is a multiplayer word game that absolutely anyone can play! Each match you and your friend begin with the same set of alphabet fridge magnets and have one minute 30 seconds to make as many high scoring words from them as possible.) runs on iPad & iPhone. GET IT NOW FOR FREE
	Ninja Inc – Price : FREE – Publisher –Our Palm / Hao Yun (Long long time ago, a sudden outbreak and wide spread of biochemical crisis imposed deadly threat to all human beings. Bloodthirsty zombies attacked the city and occupied the buildings. As our hero, literally the CEO of Ninja Inc., your mission is to lead an army of Ninjas to fight against evil Zombies, take back your hometown and establish a solid base for Ninja warriors. In the name of justice and world peace, let’s fight bravely till the end, and enjoy fantastic adventures in this exclusive Ninja’s world on our palms!) runs on iPad & iPhone. GET IT NOW FOR FREE
	Undead Soccer – Price : FREE – Publisher –Bulkypix (Protect the world with your only weapon left : a soccer ball !!! After you had been banned from a match, you were waiting with anger in the athlete room. You walked back to the field because it seemed to be too quiet for such a big match and found everything has changed. All players, referees, and audiences became zombies!! Now you have only two things left with you; a soccer ball and a trashcan lid. Use them as your weapon and your shield. Your soccer skills will save you from these cruel zombies!!) runs on iPad & iPhone. GET IT NOW FOR FREE
	Downfall: Clash Of Factions – Price : FREE – Publisher – Playmore (Downfall: Clash of Factions is an addictive mixture of strategy, combat and cooperation. Join a Faction or create your own and fight the battle to rule the earth! Someone bothering you? Deploy a tank battalion to take them down! Need more food for your troops? Take it. In this world, power prevails. Is your City under attack? Get your Faction members to reinforce you and take your enemy down!) on iPad & iPhone. GET IT NOW FOR FREE

For The Bargain Hunters – 99c Games

	Momonga Pinball Adventures – Price : $0.99 – Publisher – Paladin Studios (Join Momo in the first episode of an epic adventure to save his tribe. A band of owls turned the momonga village to ashes. The owls took the momongas and vanished. Momo barely survived the attack. After the raid, Momo was found by a wandering panda in the outskirts of the village. A scar went deep from the top of his head to the tip of his tail. The panda, a Lorekeeper, took up the task to save the creature.) runs on iPhone & iPad. BUY NOW
	Rocket Island – Price : $0.99 – Publisher – Handy Games (The End is near! The Moon becomes our refuge! Natural and cosmic disasters threaten your island. Rescue the inhabitants of this steampunk world and launch hundreds of rockets to the moon. Beat the high scores of your friends before the island is swallowed by the sea. The fate of our world lies in your hands!) runs on iPad & iPhone. BUY NOW
	Zen Training – Price : $0.99 – Publisher – Forest Moon Games / Josh Presseisen (Zen Training combines clever puzzle dynamics in the style of a rhythm-game. The game is set in a classic Japanese Zen garden and is based on the concepts of Order and Chaos. In the heart of the garden there is a maple tree around which are located 5 stones with 5 different colored symbols to which correspond “mana stones” falling from the tree. The player’s task is to match symbols and colors in order to promote Order and Harmony, flowing trough an infinite series of standard and bonus levels.) runs on iPhone & iPad. BUY NOW
	Infestor – Price : $0.99 – Publisher – Ravenous Games (Get ready for a fun puzzle platformer created by the award-winning studio Ravenous Games! As the INFESTOR you need to reach the exit in each level by taking over your enemies and controlling their body. Each human has a special ability associated with it that you will need to take advantage of to overcome obstacles.) runs on iPhone & iPad. BUY NOW
	Tin Man Can – Price : $0.99 – Publisher – Chillingo (Hover through four imaginative worlds and get Tic home safely. Soaring through the cosmos, unicycling HoverBot Tic was homeward bound when a wormhole appeared, dragging him and his ship into another dimension. Help Tic survive the pitfalls of four strange colorful worlds and gather enough scattered hovatrons and fuel cells he needs to get home in one piece.) runs on iPhone & iPad. BUY NOW

For The Millionaires – All games over $0.99

	MasterAbbott’s over 99c Pick Of The Week! Heroes and Castles – Price : $1.99 – Publisher – Foursaken Media (The Undead Horde and their Orc and Goblin allies are at your castle gates, the King is on the brink of death, and only you stand between the enemy and complete annihilation! Choose one of 3 powerful heroes, summon an army to fight beside you, and defend your castle in Heroes & Castles, a seamless blend of 3rd person Action-RPG, Strategy, and Castle Defense elements!) runs on iPhone & iPad. BUY NOW
	FINAL FANTASY ALL THE BRAVEST – Price : $3.99 – Publisher – Square-Enix (FINAL FANTASY ALL THE BRAVEST is a touch-action RPG in which you continuously battle enemies to advance through the game’s many stages. Defeating foes earns you the experience points you need to level up, which in turns grants you character slots to add more and more members to your party.Combat is based on the classic Active Time Battle (ATB) system of the FINAL FANTASY series. Every character possesses an ATB gauge that displays the time remaining until that character can execute an action. When the gauge is full, simply tap or drag your finger over the character to attack. Touch multiple characters in quick succession to experience exhilarating and fast-paced battle unlike anything you’ve ever played before!) runs on iPhone & iPad. BUY NOW
	Busy Bags – Price : $1.99 – Publisher – Kaasa Solution (At the luggage reclaim of an airport every person is the same, no matter if it is a celebrity or a tourist. The wole world meets there and all have the same goal: Get the luggage quickly and get out of there. But that isn’t that easy as it sounds. Some persons have the impression that their bag is always the last one on the belt. As soon as the plane lands you are responsible to lead the passengers to their luggage. The faster they get it the better. The more patience they loose the more points you will miss.) runs on iPad. BUY NOW
	Riven – Price : $6.49 – Publisher – Cyan Worlds (Taking up where Myst left off, Riven sets an amazing new standard for design, aesthetics, and immersion in gaming. Remember Atrus’ trap book, the Moiety intervention, the mag-lev ride, the Jungle village, Catherine’s prison, Gehn’s Age, the Wahrk throne? Now the entire Riven adventure can be experienced from wherever you are.) runs iPad. BUY NOW

There you have it folks, these games should keep you busy for quite some time, well till next week at least. I’ll be back next week for another dose of iOS goodness, in the meantime if anyone would also like to suggest their own suggestions, please feel free to share them in the comments section below or in the iOS forum section on the site here.

Remember kids, Play Hard Or Don’t Play At All!

Shakugan no Shana: Movie Review

Travis Bruno

-

January 17, 2013

0

Shakugan no Shana: Movie
Studio: J.C. Staff
Publisher: FUNimation
Format: DVD/Blu-ray Combo
Release Date: January 22, 2013
Price: $34.98 – Available Here

Overview:
Approaching a long running series can be a daunting task. Not only could there be hours’ worth of episodes to watch, but you also have to comprehend everything that is going on. As such, a series such as Shakugan no Shana, which has two twenty four episode seasons already translated into English, can be difficult to enter into.

However what if a movie was created to help compact events from the first season into only an hour and a half? Well you will have the Shakugan no Shana: Movie of course. The question is, does this movie serve as a great standalone piece or even an addition to the franchise? Let’s find out.

Story:
As mentioned in the overview, this Shakugan no Shana Movie serves as an introduction to the series and as such, I will first go over how a newcomer to the franchise would find the movie’s storyline as a whole. The movie follows the story of Yuji Sakai who is living an everyday Japanese high school life. However one day while he is out with a friend from school, the world around him suddenly freezes and a monstrous looking baby appears and starts devouring everything around him.

The baby and it’s accomplice notice that Yuji is still moving in this world of frozen victims and target him because he is a special type of person… a “Mystes.” Just as Yuji’s life seemed to be at an end, a fiery haired girl saves his life by defeating his attackers. This girl is named Shana and she is a “Flame Haze,” one who battles against these denizens of the crimson realm and prevents them from upsetting the balance of the world whenever they begin devouring living people for their power of existence.

Shana does this by replacing devoured humans with “Torches,” near-mindless beings that temporarily fill in for a lost life until it is no longer necessary. Yuji’s true shock comes when he finds out that he is one of these torches, but when news about his unique quality as a Mystes reaches the ears of a powerful Denizen with a wicked plan, Shana must fight to protect Yuji and the mysterious treasure he possesses.

Now as a movie on its own, Shana does a decent job introducing the very basic elements of the storyline as there is some mild character development between Shana and Yuji, an introduction to a prominent ally and some story development. However as far as introducing newcomers to the series, it does a terrible job of things.

Most of this can be blamed on the fact that, with only an hour and a half to work with, the Shakugan no Shana movie has to trim so much fat that not only are plenty of character building and explaining moments left out, a few larger pieces of the story are left out entirely. As such, anyone who would feel like jumping into the Shana series from even the second half of the first season would feel completely if their only previous knowledge from the series was from this movie.

As for those who’ve seen the series before and are looking for maybe something a little more, the Shakugan no Shana Movie focuses completely on the first antagonist Friagne. While multiple dialogue sequences and battles have been repeated, around half of the series features new combat or story involving Friagne as he unleashes an arsenal of never before seen “Treasure Tools” and more ambition than before.

Ultimately the Shakugan no Shana movie may do an alright enough job as a standalone product as it features some mild character development and plenty of combat, but as a whole the movie fails to provide much of an introduction to the franchise and unless you happen to be a major fan of Friagne and his personality, Shana’s increased screen and combat time is the only saving grace for this movie’s storyline.

Visuals:
Considering the fact that this Shakugan no Shana: Movie is actually a retelling of part of the first anime season, it seems that J.C. Staff decided to be a bit lazy this time around. You see, as I mentioned before, a little under half of the Shana Movie actually features new content while everything else is a retelling of the same events just chopped down to a bare minimum. The reason that I mention that J.C. Staff took things easy is the fact that the old content is literally recycled footage taken from the original series, with no apparent touch ups whatsoever.

This wouldn’t be too noticeable, if it wasn’t for the fact that there are noticeable shifts in quality whenever a newly animated segment appears. Not only are the character designs sharper, the special effects in the battles are better designed. Considering the original series aired back in 2005 while the movie debuted in 2007, the overall visual presentation still leaves a lot to be desired, but the noticeable improvements between new and old segments leave the movie appearing inconsistent.

Audio:
One thing that is good about the Shakugan no Shana Movie, is that despite being a poor introduction to the series as a whole, newcomers may find themselves growing accustomed to the new voice work that was recorded for Shakugan no Shana Season 2 and so on. This is thanks to the fact that this movie features FUNimation’s new cast of voice actors and actresses. While Yuji’s voice actor Josh Grelle still doesn’t manage to fit into the role the best, he isn’t as noticeably out of place this time around and of course Cherami Leigh’s take on Shana continues to impress. Although this should go without saying, this movie also features the original Japanese voice track as well as FUNimation’s English dub.

As far as background music goes, the Shakugan no Shana Movie features similar sounding, if not the same, music throughout the series but this isn’t too much of a detriment as each track usually fits well with the events occurring on screen. Being that this is a movie with limited run time, there is no inclusion of an opening or ending theme, though an appropriately emotional insert song is used during a dramatic moment, minus a decent sounding song that plays during the final credits.

Extras:
As far as bonus features go, the Shakugan no Shana Movie is unfortunately a bit sparse. Outside of your standard features such as the US trailer for the movie, trailers for other FUNimation products and the original Japanese promo videos and commercials, there are only two special features worth mentioning. These two being the Shakugan no Shana-Tan Theatrical Version and the Why? What? Shana! Ask Anything Question Box: Review Lesson.

These two bonuses feature the original Japanese voice track only, which isn’t too much of a detriment thanks to Rie Kugimiya’s voice work as Shana. The review bonus feature is pretty much what it sounds like, a brief coverage over the basic theories and phrases within the show and seemed to air before the movie itself came out. Shakugan no Shana-Tan once again features a tiny chibi version of Shana performing various acts throughout the movie in her new small body, often with hilarious adjustments and cutaways to side-characters making small gags.

Overall:
While the Shakugan no Shana Movie unfortunately offers a barely acceptable presentation of the first half of the first season of Shakugan no Shana, the story it does manage to tell is at least passable thanks to some great combat sequences and decent character development between Shana and Yuji. Meaning newcomers can find a passable anime movie focused around supernatural powers and a mini-mystery. However the use of older footage and lack of introduction to most side-characters and aspects of the series leave it as a rather bare-bones intro to the Shana franchise which is passable only for its expanded Friagne combat sequences.

Rise of the Guardians Wii U Review

Dustin Spencer

-

January 17, 2013

0

Rise of the Guardians
Developer: Torus Games
Publisher: D3 Publisher
Platform: Nintendo Wii U (Reviewed), Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo DS
Release Date: December 4, 2012
Price: $39.99 – BUY NOW

Overview
With licensed properties, a video game adaptation has always been black or white. It’s either good or bad, and most of the time – we end up with the latter due to rushed deadlines and limited funding pumped into the development teams attached. Over the past generation, that line is starting to blur, and we are learning that there can be middle ground. You can take the risk on a licensed title and get entertainment, but the risk is always going to linger based on how much that team cared about the final product. Rise of the Guardians stands in that middle area, as it is a solid release, but fails to roam outside of it’s safe zone to pull off anything truly special. Why is that? Well, here is our review for the Wii U version of the magical Rise of the Guardians for the Wii U.

Story
For those unfamiliar, Rise of the Guardians was originally a book that seen a reworking into cinema from Dreamworks, and featured a cast of five children’s heroes. Now this tale of the children’s heroes takes on new life in a video game format. This game follows the likes of North, Tooth, Sand, Bunnymund, The Sandman, and Jack Frost as they go on a journey to stop the diabolical Pitch from invading sleeping children’s dreams and causing nightmares.

Now, there isn’t really anything special about the story, but the voice actors and presentation do a decent enough job at portraying the narrative within, so the targeted audience won’t have much to argue about when it comes to Guardians putting on a show. Older gamers who enjoyed the movie won’t really find the same charm – but Rise of the Guardians again really isn’t focused on producing anything to the quality of the cinematic experience, as it just seems to be content with it’s ho-hum delivery at all times.

Gameplay
As far as the gameplay goes, there are definitely a lot of games that come to mind when first starting out within Rise of the Guardians. You see, this romp is a top-down hack and slash, filled with some RPG elements such as leveling, ability upgrades, and a small amount of looting. Think X-Men Legends or Marvel Ultimate Alliance, but add in one extra character – as Guardians features five different heroes that can be switched to at any given time. The main objective of the game is to simply explore the five worlds the main heroes come from and partake in missions, such as fetch quests, unlocking doors, and rescuing children from the baddies that have taken shelter among each area.

Control wise – Guardians is pretty solid for what it has on display. Melees can be dished out at any time, while magic attacks can be used to dish out a ranged maneuver for the more distant encounters. Remember Cyclops using his eye-beam and Storm striking the opponents with a lightning bolt in X-Men Legends? Well, this game is no different, as each character is equipped with their own specially themed abilities that can be executed with a unique input. This can be a bit of a tap-fest, but most will catch on rather quickly as they bash enemies and collect the HP and MP that scatters about once defeated.

I may not sound too excited speaking of how Rise of the Guardians works, and that is because there really isn’t a lot to boast about. Sure, the game functions fine, but gives little reason to change characters as even though we are dealing with five different heroes, every attack begins to feel the same after a while. There is a decent leveling system in place, but it’s also rather unrewarding as aside from a few stat upgrades and new moves (that never quite come across as anything special as you earn them), nothing really changes except for the locations you do battle in. Sure, if you play for short bursts of time, the repetition isn’t as obvious, but those who are looking for a meaty and rich game to explore are not really going to find it here.

The Gamepad is the finest feature of Rise of the Guardians. This controller constantly displays everything the player needs at all times with a map, character leveling screen that allows you to assign skill points at a tap, bios, and the standard inventory that the player has acquired over time. Yes, it’s just a menu – but one done well and the effort to make this port unique is definitely something that shines through brightly. The multiplayer is also well implemented, allowing up to three other players to drop in and out of combat on the fly. Due to the rather dull gameplay – they might not stay for long, but Guardians feels as if it was truly built for multiplayer, and is at it’s most enjoyable when you are performing some magic with friends.

Visuals and Audio
Out of all of the Rise of the Guardians releases we have seen thus far across all platforms, the Wii U version is definitely the prettiest to look at. The cutscenes do a fantastic job at telling this tale with still imagery and color, setting the whole “fairy tale” mood nicely. The environments are a bit drab, but still manage to capture the essence of their inspired locations and give enough reason to try to explore every path these heroes come across due to how much detail that the developers seasoned each stage with.

The soundtrack is also well done – and makes the game feel as magical as the movie. Sure, you might not be humming the tunes after playing, but the melodies are enjoyable and help add in some extra flavor to the cozy stages that always seem to be missing proper atmosphere. The voice acting may be the highlight for the audio within Rise of the Guardians, as each member of this squad use some campy but lovable dialogue that is both believable, and fitting for the feature film.

Overall
Rise of the Guardians is a good game that simply refuses to take any risks. Thankfully, I am quite a fan of the playstyle featured, and those who take the plunge to the Pole will more than likely find some entertainment to be had in this well made – yet slightly boring adventure. It’s not that the concept feels too borrowed, nor is it that the characters are stale. Rise of the Guardians just lacks the incentive to explore it’s inspired locales and relies on only it’s pre-made cast to provide all of the charms – leaving the player with nothing but the same, repetitive gameplay outside of cutscenes. This adaptation certainly isn’t a bad experience as a whole, but definitely one to look for at a budget price.

The Guilt Trip Review

Benjamin Webb

-

January 16, 2013

0

The Guilt Trip
Studio: Skydance Productions
Publisher: Paramount Pictures
Format: Cinema
Release Date: January 24, 2013

Overview

The Guilt Trip is the film that you get to see both Seth Rogen and Barbara Streisand co-star in. From my knowledge, this is literally the only film to do so, and will probably be the last of its kind. It has the two acting as a mother and son combination that travel around the country together and comedy ensues. While it has themes that everybody should be able to enjoy, does it actually pay off for the viewer in such a way?

The film has potential. Is it good though? That’s something that I hope that you will have decided by the end of this review.

Story

The Guilt Trip is a story about this guy who is a scientist. This scientists invents a new kind of super-cleaning spray that is completely safe, even to consume. So he embarks on a trip to sell this new product to as many companies as possible that would be willing to take it. The only problem here is that he is no salesperson. In fact, he is way too focused on all of the details that nobody cares about that he practically bores his clients to sleep with his presentations. After one of his sales attempts, he takes a short respite at his mothers house and this is where the main part of the story begins.

While this is a road trip movie, there’s something about it that doesn’t feel all that road-trippy. I mean, yeah, the duo do travel through a wide array of destinations and they do get into a bunch of mischief and some emotional things happen, but it seems like all of these things were planned somewhere, rather than having some kind of organic accidental plotting to it. I feel that too many things happened in the course of the story that were just bound to happen because some manual somewhere says that it was supposed.

I think that pretty much sums up this entire movies experience. It’s like it was reading off of a manual and then adapted it to fit the story. Stop at Vegas, check. Grand Canyon, check. Bar fight, check. Sexy dude hitting on woman, check. Falling out of initial party and then reconciliation within the next 10 minutes, check. Damn man, I pretty much just wrote out the entire movie based on a bunch of cliches. Whoops.

This isn’t to say the story doesn’t have its moments, Barbara Streisand and Seth Rogen have an amazing chemistry as mother and son and the story literally focuses on them the entire time. However, I honestly felt like I had seen this movie before; which I can’t tell if it’s a good thing or bad thing. Neutrality ensues.

If you’re okay with cliches, you’ll enjoy the story here. If not, then you’d be best spending your money on other things.

Visuals

Visually, this film doesn’t really push the boundaries of cinematography, but I don’t think it has to. Each scene is represented quite well and I think that fancy camerawork may have acted against the film overall.

For a movie that featured a strip club, there was a surprising lack of nudity involved. This may sound really nitpicky, but how am I to believe that this is a real strip club without some nipples and possibly vaginas? Actually this is a common theme throughout the film, a lot of the scenes didn’t quite live up to what they were supposed to be about. Like that casino in Vegas. There was all of one scene that established the location as a casino and then there was like, a little bit roulettes and then that’s all. I would have loved to have seen a little more details put into making each location believable over the course of the film.

The biggest gripe for me, visually, is that each scene is over way too quickly. It’s like, hey we’re at this point n– Oh! Wait! Next scene! This could have been avoided if the cut just a little bit at the start of the film as there was a few completely unnecessary scenes around there. Or maybe even if the film had a longer run time. I mean, it has both Seth Rogan and Barbara Streisand, this could have been a hit if each scene was just a little longer and everything was established better and the pacing was more normal. But nope, quick editing, short scenes and not enough time to take stuff in.

If you have a short attention span, this film will appeal to you from a cinematic standpoint. If you love attention to detail and the like, not much can be found here unfortunately.

Audio

I think during the film the audience laughed a maximum of three times out loud and I did once at an inappropriate moment. For a comedy film, the audience should have been roaring the entire time, but this didn’t seem to be the case at all. This makes me a little bit sad when a film featuring both Seth Rogan and Barbara Streisand can’t make me laugh at all. Something is very wrong with the world.

The best part about this movies audio though, was all the mother and son banter between Seth and Barabara’s characters within the film. I’m not going to say it was perfect, but it was somewhat believable. To be honest, I think that they both nailed what little there was to their characters and pretty much carried the rest of this poorly edited film.

Overall

Overall The Guilt Trip was an okay movie at best. It wasn’t a movie that was boring, but it wasn’t a movie that was exciting either. The movie definitely suffers from some poor direction and even poorer editing. However fans of both (or either) Seth Rogan and Barabara Streisand will probably find some amusement in the interactions between the two characters that they portray. Ultimately this is a movie that you would want to avoid seeing in the cinema unless you’re a die hard fan of either actor or are bringing a bunch of friends out with you. Wait for the Blu-Ray release for sure.

Injustice: Gods Among Us European Release Date, Collector’s Edition Detailed

Zac Elawar

-

January 16, 2013

0

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Entertainment have officially announced the European release date of April 19th for Injustice: Gods Among Us, 3 days after the U.S., as well as detailed the Collector’s Edition.

While Warner Bros. Games is releasing various editions as a mirror image of the release of Mortal Kombat, Europe and presumedly other PAL regions will not be receiving the Battle Edition in local stores. The Collector’s Edition also features a different statue to the U.S. version, as was the case with Mortal Kombat. The Collector’s Edition will set you back £74.99 (€99.99).

The contents of the Collector’s Edition can be viewed in the image above, or you can check it out in the gallery directly below along with different box shots. Although the game is also releasing on the Wii U, this Collector’s Edition will only be available for the Xbox 360 and PS3.

Injustice: Gods Among Us U.S. Release Date, Collector and Battle Editions Detailed

Zac Elawar

-

January 16, 2013

0

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Entertainment have officially announced the U.S. release date for Injustice: Gods Among Us, as well as detailed the Collector’s Edition and the newly revealed Battle Edition.

The game will be available April 16th and Warner Bros. Games is releasing various editions – a mirror image of the release of Mortal Kombat – with the U.S. Collector’s Edition featuring a different statue to the European version and the Battle Edition featuring a custom Injustice ‘Fight Stick’ as it’s centerpiece. The Collector’s Edition will set you back $99.99 while he Battle Edition will understandably cost a heftier $149.99.

The Battle Edition’s fight-stick is made by Performance Designed Products (PDP), who also created the Mortal Kombat fight-stick. PDP is a U.S. based company, as are Netherrealm Studios, and so the design and layout of the stick will be American, no different to MK’s in regard to the concave buttons and big bat control stick.

The Collector’s Edition’s contents can be seen in the header image, whilst the Battle Edition’s contents can be seen in the image directly above. These editions are now available to pre-order and whilst Injustice is coming out for the Wii U, these editions are only available for the Xbox 360 and PS3. The Battle Edition is exclusive to Gamestop and apparently EB Games stores, so hopefully we in Australia may be able to buy it locally.