Do most anime follows the same structure for their opening theme song videos? Well judging by youtuber Kickinthehead’s eye-opening opening theme compilation/deconstruction there is indeed a common structure that the majority of anime studios utilize for their anime openings.
The structure seems to be as follows: Birds soar into the air, long shot of sky/location, characters running, characters close up, character looking out to distance, shot of cast of characters, action shots, rapid fire flashbacks, characters walking, characters running towards one another, possibility of holding hands and finally the end shot.
Of course not all follow this formula but many do. Don’t believe me? See for yourself in the video below. Check it out and let us know what you think in the comments section.
Hitman Absolution (check our review for it here) has brought Agent 47 back to the limelight, so it was of course only a matter of time before we started to see some re-releases of the classic Hitman titles. Amazon has now listed a trilogy for both the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, which contains Hitman: Contracts, Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, and Hitman: Blood Money.
Along with the trio of titles will come an art book for around $40, which is a decent enough deal. Right now, Amazon have the listing to release on January 29th, but take that date with a grain of salt as Amazon love to create “placeholder” dates that may be inaccurate. Click here to check the listing for yourself.
December 13th has finally come and that means that DreamWorks Animation’s latest Rise of the Guardians is now in theaters in Australia. A little about the film:
“An epic adventure that tells the story of a group of heroes – each with extraordinary abilities. When an evil spirit known as Pitch lays down the gauntlet to take over the world, the immortal guardians must join forces for the first time to protect the hopes, beliefs and imagination of children all over the world.”
You can find Capsule Computer’s own review of the film HERE, but the movie isn’t the only fun that can be had as the Official Website also has plenty of additional content for the kids to have fun with HERE. Or check out the film’s Facebook page HERE. Lastly, viewers can check out the Secrets of the Guardians Featurette embedded below (viewable for AU viewers only though).
Wondering how much time players have logged into the latest Assassin’s Creed game so far? Well, look no further as Ubisoft has not only released the information, but placed it into a nifty image so players can find what they want with a glance. With about 87.5 centuries of gameplay under the collective player base’s belt in single player and multiplayer combined, it looks like Ubisoft has some solid numbers. While the bulk of play time is definitely in single player, it is also important to note that with more than 2 million multiplayers it more than doubles the number of players from the previous game Assassin’s Creed Revelations.
However, the most impressive number for Assassin’s Creed III is absent from this image as the game has sold more than 7 million copies now worldwide a little more than a month after release. This makes it the fastest selling game in Ubisoft’s history. Ubisoft must be pretty pleased with how it has turned out so far, especially with the stiff competition this year and the numbers will probably go up even more after the holidays finish up.
Big Sky Infinity, the newest release from indie developers Boss Baddie and VooFoo has launched today on the PlayStation Network for both PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita. Big Sky Infinity, the follow-up to Really Big Sky, is one of the first games to utilize the cross buy initiative, allowing players to have the game on both the PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 3 for a single purchase price.
The game touts Cloud synchronization, 4 player local play on the PlayStation 3, asynchronous multiplayer on the Vita, and adaptive, randomized gameplay to ensure you never play the same game twice. The game will be available for £7.99 in the UK, €9.99 in the EU and $9.99 in the US, with European PlayStation Plus members having free access to the game for a limited time starting December 12th 2012. (click here)
Check out the launch video below to be hypnotized by the colors and lured into grabbing this beautiful, fast-paced game.
Yesterday, we here at Capsule Computers were given the opportunity to preview the latest build of one of THQ’s biggest projects, Metro: Last Light. This “hands-off” demo was commentated and played by Creative Manager Jeremy Greiner, who took us through a number of different elements of the game as well as three very different levels to demonstrate the variety in environments. And I have to say, it’s all looking very impressive.
Our demo begins with hero and protagonist of the first game, Artyom, crawling through a vent (a very detailed vent full of cobwebs and rust I’ll give it that), and into our very first level of the game, an old run-down Metro maintenance facility. Anyone familiar with the original Metro 2033 game will instantly be able to recognise the minimalist HUD, the atmospheric apocalypse vibe and of course the attention to detail present in the game. Environments looked absolutely gorgeous throughout our entire hour long presentation and sound design is no miss either.
Jeremy decided upon an attempt at stealth play, showing off the various improvements to the entire system since the previous game. As he entered a room full of Communist goons, he eloquently pointed out the several different ways a player could traverse the combat environment. Go directly up the middle for a full frontal assault or slide into the sewers and take your enemies out one by one so they’ll never know you were there. Various alternatives also dotted the garage with paths running along either side of the room and many opportunities for bloody mischief on each and every one. Players can now flip switch boards in these areas to turn off all the lights not powered by a generator or operated by human hand. Even those gave little trouble however, as Jeremy demonstrated after killing a lone guard that the flashlight mounted to his helmet could also be shot out. Individuals lights can be turned on and off at will, so if you don’t want to attract any attention whatsoever this tactic can come in pretty handy if your enemies manage to run the power back on.
You may also recall the level of frustration you would feel as you attempted to knife someone in the back, only to have them turn around and somehow make every single enemy in the level aware of your presence, despite how quickly you finished him off. Both those faults have disappeared from Last Light altogether and it is with great style that they are fixed. Enemies can now be stealth killed by Artyom with the push of a button (as long as they haven’t detected you that is) and lone enemies will no longer bring down the masses just because you mistimed a head shot. Demonstrated in game, Artyom simply tapped a soldier on the shoulder and when he turned around in surprise a quick strike to the neck took him out for good. While bodies cannot be moved, players can loot them for ammo and grenades, while taking out their personal lights to prevent drawing undue attention.
The AI in the game has seen an enormous improvement as well, with enemies now reacting in several different ways to disturbances, rather than simply peaceful and hostile. If you make a noise or turn off the lights in a part of the level experiencing technical malfunctions for example, enemies will usually either ignore it or simply attempt to fix it. Other ways include how they will radio in to check on soldiers periodically, meaning that if four out of seven of their comrades are lying face down in the mud, they’ll always eventually know about it. Soldiers once alerted to your presence will never stop being suspicious even if you hide out in a dumpster for a while. As Creative Manager Jeremy Greiner put it, “If someone tried to kill me I don’t think I’d ever forget about it,” which of course rings true with the realistic feel that THQ is going for in this game.
Enemies will also use cover effectively and sometimes even use it against you in a fire fight. At one point in the demo, a Communist soldier pushed over a book case in an attempt to land it on top of Artyom and injure him. Enemies themselves are affected in more ways than one when it comes to stealth and real full force combat. Initiate a shoot-out and your foes will take more bullets than when they were unaware of you, utilising a kind of ‘adrenaline’ system, encouraging you to stealth it up every now and again as heroes must. Turn the tide of battle against them however, and some soldiers will attempt to surrender to you, allowing you to take all their gear and do what you want with them. Jeremy opted to stab them stating, “he said don’t shoot me,” which I guess is quite true.
Gamers may be wondering about the unique moral system of the first game, in that certain actions you performed during Metro 2033 would result in one of two different endings. Last Light looks to continue this system in a more unique way. With the developers saying that they wanted people to play more “in the moment” rather than worry about what sort of karma they might want to achieve by the end game. But by doing things “in the moment” players might look back on a past action and think they could have handled the situation far differently.
Showing off the in-depth detail and time the developers put into each weapon, time was slowed as Artyom reloaded a familiar pump-action bolt gun from the first game. With this slower speed we could see tiny individual moving parts you just didn’t even notice when reloading the gun normally and it was explained that each piece of the gun is actually a real moving part, spring and all. Okay well not real, (it is a video game after all) but to the point where they all move in sync and create the necessary actions needed to propel a proper, loaded bolt on its way. This is instead of the regular FPS fashion that we see now days, blocks of plastic painted by textures with added in spark effects for drama. Noise in the game is also particularly impressive, with the infamous Bastard making a very loud and dare I say it ‘authentic’ return to the sequel. It sounds like it has real kick and proper impact, slightly different to the weak sounding original. There’s cursing, muttering, explosions and howls all recorded with what must be some pretty impressive equipment. This noise compliments the absolutely gorgeous visuals of Metro: Last Light which were apparently only running on “modest PC specs”. The lighting in particular is beautiful, with faint lines of sunlight cascading through trees and both artificial and natural light reflecting in puddles above and below ground. If you’re a visual buff you really need to see this game for yourself to believe it. Running on the ‘Aurora’ Engine, really not enough good can be said about the level of detail seemingly capable with the software, all with no noticeable drops in frame-rate.
In the second level, we visited a hub town, levels in the game where you can restock, buy more equipment or attachments and participate in mini-games, all whilst being lost in the heavy, dripping atmosphere the game does so well. NPCs will sometimes speak in Russian or other times in English, depending on their personal preference (with some swapping fluently between the two) and all cycling through a range of different conversations or going about their daily business. The unique bullet currency returns in full force, with pre-war bullets being traded as money when buying new weapons or attachments and ammo for your current gun. These bullets can actually be used in your regular gun for a significant boost in damage but of course that means that you are literally shooting your money away.
One very funny and surprisingly detailed facet of this town was the bar where you could purchase some form of alcohol shots called “Bullets”. As you drunk more and more of these, the lady to your right who was originally an old, grey haired women, slowly turned into a pretty young red-head who of course drunken Artyom took much interest in to the amusement of all watching. As his vision fades out and then back in at a later time, our (I imagine) somewhat dejected hero with the splitting headache looks upon the old lady laying next to him with fresh eyes. A hilarious jab at drinking mechanics in games if there ever were one.
Getting on to the third and final level now and my personal favourite, Artyom heads top-side to seek out a base on the other side of a swamp. To do so he has to grab some petrol on the way to power a ferry, the only way across the treacherous waters. It is here that we really see the passion and dedication that go into the game by its developers. The above ground Moscow has been totally ruined by the War and broken buildings and crashed planes dot the surrounding landscapes, with the air to toxic to even breathe. This is where Gas Masks come in to the game, which the player must wear at all times if he wishes to last more than ten seconds in this poisonous and incredibly hostile environment. When wearing a gas mask, players have five minutes to explore and collect all the things they need before their filter goes bad in the radiation, to counter this intriguing aspect of play, one must always be on the look out for more filters to take and use. Filters can be kept in your inventory so you there’s little need to worry about getting a lot more to live outside, the game makes sure that this element really reinforces the hostility of the land while still keeping it fair to the player. You won’t ever feel like you’re under a time limit to do your mission in, with filters and spare gas masks scattered strategically throughout the entire area. Why more gas masks I hear you ask? Well, when you are wearing a gas mask it can become cracked and damaged, so much so that it no longer functions properly and you’re forced to ditch it. Remember those ten seconds I told you about before? Well it’s now time to scramble for another gas mask, which cannot (to my knowledge in the demo) be carried around. This is in line with Metro 2033’s system so it is still quite reasonable. Players can now wipe their gas mask whenever they wish, which is incredibly useful when it gets coated in water, blood or mutant brains.
The air isn’t the only thing that will kill you topside. Unique mutated creatures known by the locals as “Shrimp” make their homes amongst the swampy waters and let me tell you something, they’re definitely not shrimp sized. These mutants can attack with both their many claws as a close attack and with their poison acid stuff for longer range. They seemed to emerge from the waters and reeds at random times and even Jeremy admitted that he had no idea where they were going to come from. Whether this means that he hadn’t played the level much (highly unlikely), that they spawn in at random places (slightly more likely) or that they work as a team and hunt you across the map before exposing themselves at an opportune moment (what I’m really hoping for) remains to be seen.
This above ground section really showed what I believe is the game at its best, being stalked by unknown creatures, having to deal with the deadly lack of oxygen and really taking on the full survival horror aspect that the game deserves is definitely where it shines. A surprise attack by a massive mutant when searching for petrol and a successful stand-off against hordes of “shrimp” signified the end to the demo and our time with the game.
Over the entire time I had my “hands-off” demo with the game I grew more and more impressed with the direction 4A Games is going with Metro: Last Light. They acknowledged themselves that the previous game lacked any survival horror and they are now working to add that in, a theme that so compliments the world they’ve already created (with the help of author Dmitry of course). Apparently while no supernatural elements were present in our demo (present in Metro 2033), they will supposedly be implemented in the game before release. I know I’ve said it countless times in this article already but the amount of detail in the game really is incredible. With lights and noise attracting enemies, a dynamic weather and day/night system (newly implemented for this release, spend a long time underground and it will be a different time to someone who spent a short time there), clouds that move across the sky with actual particles rather than just a skybox and the ever impressive minimalist HUD really show how atmospheric the game is trying to be.
Metro: Last Light works off the assumption that you got the bad ending in the original (that is blew up all the Dark Ones) and goes from there. While they don’t follow the story of Metro 2034, by getting the original author to help and construct a story purely for the game the developers show how much they care about the world. And such an awesome world it is too.
Metro: Last Light will release in March 2013 for PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. With the incredible detail, overwhelming atmosphere and tight gameplay we’ve seen so far this surely looks like a title not to miss.
Sony has released a few announced tied to God of War: Ascension the prequel to the God of War franchise, that will be coming out sometime next year. The announcements that Sony made in relation to the game however dealt solely with the multiplayer for the game, the first being that PlayStation Plus members will be able to access a special beta of the Ascension multiplayer on January 10, 2013.
The multiplayer maps of the prequel boiled down to two variant types based on size, with large maps with plenty of open space and small maps with plenty of close-quarters combat. Other information released describes mode Team Favour Rush where players will be pitted against other teams to try and beat them a specific number of favour points from the gods themselves to earn additional customization. Though solo players should be glad to hear a special variant will allow for them to go it alone.
Players itching to see what the multiplayer will have to offer can check out at least some from the new trailer dedicated to the multiplayer of Ascension titled “Evil Ways”, which players can find embedded below. God of War: Ascension is set to release March 14th, 2013 for PS3.
Serial Experiments Lain Studio: Triangle Staff Publisher: FUNimation Release Date: November 27th, 2012 Format: Blu-Ray/DVD Price: $89.98 – Available Here
Overview:
Before getting back together to make the series Texhnolyze, reviewed HERE, writer Chiaki Konaka, producer Yasuyuki Ueda, and character designer Yoshitoshi ABe had their first collaboration with the anime Serial Experiments Lain. While their later collaboration would be a dystopian future, Serial Experiments Lain takes place in modern day. Being the series that lead to later collaborations, what is there to expect from this anime, besides the experimental style that seems to be this groups forte.
Story:
What happens when the barrier between the real world and the digital or Wired world begins to blur and disappear? Is it a good thing as people are free to truly live how they wish in either world or a bad thing for pretty much the same reason? The idea behind Serial Experiments Lain is that this line is blurring in ways people aren’t expecting as the show starts out with characters receiving emails from a classmate. Only problem is that the classmate is dead.
The show follows Lain a simple little girl that only really gets the basics of technology, i.e. she barely reads email. To the point that even though she received an email from this classmate, she didn’t know about it until other classmates were fretting over their own. This phenomenon though is all it took to get Lain hooked and set on a drive to know more and more about the Wired world and upgrade her computer more and more to access it better.
The main story of Serial Experiments Lain is dark and deep, exploring identity and how people choose to communicate with each other. While starting out to seem a little bit like an after school special about the dangers of burying yourself into the internet, the way the story progresses is extraordinarily done. Lain moves from almost a social outcast, to fitting better into the group, to outside of it from losing herself in the Wired world. Then stuff starts getting crazy, as the show doesn’t become about dangers of internet at all, but a dark mystery of just what is going on in the real world and the Wired as Lain becomes famous for things shes never done.
While it is a little confusing at times, that’s exactly other the story is supposed to be as the viewer is trying to figure out alongside Lain whether there is someone else pretending to be her or she’s just going crazy. Two of the episodes are even more unique with their storytelling, as they dump information on the viewer just like it would be like accessing it as data. Transitioning drastically from background information to the story or recapping with a series of clips as if fast-forwarding through the story.
With a story like this, Serial Experiments Lain isn’t for everyone because, while the story itself is interesting and deep, the execution is something that will confuse some, probably to a point of unwatchability. Fans of experimental or surreal anime shouldn’t have any problem though, in fact this is probably one they’ll enjoy a hell of a lot.
Visuals:
As the story is pretty surreal, the visuals of the anime are as well, which actually helps it age better. While a lot of the color is often washed out there is also a lot of layering in terms of giving depths, such as the patterns of red within the shadows visible fairly often. This results in scenes and shots that range from highly realistic to very surreal as the characters interact in their real world and the Wired.
The characters for the most part start out all looking very generic and as the show continues the variety of character design varies more and more. Lain herself stays pretty consistent between the different version, which is useful when trying to tell the difference between all of them that seem to be floating around their world. The other characters tend to be consistent unto themselves, which makes it easy to get a better understanding for who they all are, especially for the Men in Black like guys with their Splinter Cell style goggles.
Characters are the only ones with specific design either as computers being such as big part of the anime are themselves very personalized for each character. From Lain’s original “kiddy” computer fit only for email, to souped-up cell phones, to fully mobile PCs with a VR helmet, to computers taking up entire rooms the computers almost seem to be characters themselves in addition to given a glimpse into the characters that they belong to. This is an interesting side aspect to see so much work put into.
As the show goes on it continues to get darker and darker in subject matter, which is interesting since the show starts out with classmates getting emails from their dead classmate, but the show does a great job becoming darker and darker with its visuals as well. Lain’s computer overtaking her room and making it so dark and gloomy, adds much more to the scenes to imply how far she is going into the Wired.
Audio:
The character voices of the series do a fairly good job, though interestingly every episodes starts with the same two English voices regardless of Japanese or English. The first setting a creepy mood as the show is sited as taking place in present day and times and the second being an automatic program reading the episode title and number re-enforcing the electronic focus of the show. Characters themselves do a good job of fitting to their voices, however at first viewers of the English may have doubts about the flatness of Lain’s portrayal at the beginning of the show. There isn’t a big reason to worry much about this though as it is a part of her character being so detached and is in fact how to easily tell the difference of the Lains.
Music in the series does a great job just a mood and fitting the style. Well, music might not even be the correct term for some parts as a lot of the audio to provide backgrounds may not even be described as music. That isn’t a hindrance at all though and in fact helps the show to be more mysterious and eerie. The opening theme “Duvet” by British alternative rock band Boa fits well with the shows themes of loneliness and trying to fit within others lives. The closing theme “Toi Sakebi” by Serial Experiments Lain‘s lead music writer Reiichi “CHABO” Nakaido focusing on lamenting past actions and having to live with them.
Extras:
Another re-release of a much older anime, another slim selection of special extras. For the most part the extras of Serial Experiments Lain break down into 3 different types, with only 2 options of each type. First are the promotional extras, which are just a promo video and original commercials for the series back when the first came out. Somewhat short these are more actually for the soundtrack CD than the anime itself, so the best part of it is the music. Second are the clean opening and closing songs, with just 13 episodes there was only one song and one sequence for each, but now they can be viewed free of credits and other text. Lastly are the trailers, the first selection is the re-release trailer toting it’s first time on Blu-Ray, while the second are the other recent and upcoming FUNimation releases.
Also included in this complete collection of Serial Experiments Lain is a thin book that features some commentary from Saito and Ueda where they mention various notes for each episode. There is also a very large art book that contains sketches of practically everything in the show, including backgrounds, characters and other things.
Overall:
Serial Experiments Lain will mess with the viewers mind, it gives a deep thought provoking story that leaves those watching trying to piece it together. Even with older visuals, the surreal style keeps that from be any kind of negative. Those willing to give the series a try should find something that leaves them thinking even if it does somehow fail to entertain.
Indie developer Memetic Games unleashed episode one of their four part behind-the-scenes footage for Dementium II today.
The folks at Memetic Games have been working on a port of the survival horror game released for the Nintendo DS in 2010. Their work has obviously been a labor of love, but it appears they may be letting it get to them.
In the clip below, things get a little crazy around the office: dodging monsters to get their coffee and shooing bothersome pests away from their workstations. At the end of the day, though, it’s wonderful to know their families support them and their work!
Be sure to check out the video embedded below for more info.
GREE have just announced the release of a new, free-to-play title, exclusively for iOS devices. The game is called Knights & Dragons: Rise Of The Dark Prince and is a collaboration between GREE and IUGO Mobile Entertainment Inc., based in Vancouver.
Knights & Dragons: Rise Of The Dark Prince is an adventure/RPG that has players embark on a medieval journey to this once peaceful kingdom, which has been overtaken by the dastardly Dark Prince and his evil army. On your quest to save your beloved land and return justice to the state, you will battle treacherous monsters and recruit the best knights from friends’ kingdoms, all the while unlocking additional heroes to join your court and collect valuable materials to craft new armor as you prove the victor. Knights can also combine and enhance their armory to weld stronger sets and build an ultimate coat of arms, further cementing their true valor.
Eiji Araki, SVP, Social Games, GREE International, Inc. said “In Knights & Dragons, we set out to develop a fun and accessible RPG experience that delivers all the social, strategic and immersive elements that mobile social gamers love. We also wanted to bring a deeper storyline by introducing an entertaining plot, witty dialogue, playful characters and high-production art, as well as a continuous dose of new content, features and events to keep the fun fresh. We’ve worked hard to make this title more than a game, but an ongoing entertaining experience.”
As alluded to by Mr. Araki, a deep storyline with fun adventure role-playing elements is a focus for GREE, and allows you to explore magical lands, engage in hundreds of quests, build and design a prosperous and wonderous castle, and customize characters with unique and powerful armor. Knights & Dragons is also packed full of robust social features, including battling friends in weekly player-versus-player tournaments, hiring friends’ knights to use in battle, accessing leaderboards, and viewing players’ profiles and adding them as friends. There are also in-game achievements to reach.
Knights & Dragons: Rise Of The Dark Prince can be downloaded from the App Store right now, for FREE. View the gallery below for the first few official screenshots.
December 13th has finally come and that means that DreamWorks Animation’s latest Rise of the Guardians is now in theaters in Australia. A little about the film:
