As many of you may already be aware, Nintendo’s Wii U system launched yesterday in North America and if you happened to be one of the lucky consumers to secure one of the consoles before they became sold out everywhere then perhaps you will be interested in checking out a game from Namco Bandai called Tank! Tank! Tank!.
Tank! Tank! Tank! provides a place for up to four players to destroy giant alien monsters together or fight against one another using a variety of crazy tanks and weaponry and players can even place pictures of themselves in the game with the use of the Wii U GamePad’s camera.
If you still had any concerns that Atelier Totori wouldn’t look great on the PlayStation Vita then perhaps the below video will put your fears to rest. Today 4Gamer released over ten minutes of gameplay from Atelier Totori Plus and in this video we are shown nearly every aspect of the game including battles, exploration and alchemy.
Atelier Totori Plus will feature a number of new outfits, including various bikinis for Totori to wear, new alchemical recipes as well as new party members and DLC from the PS3 version of the game all for free. Currently Atelier Totori Plus is set to be released on November 29th in Japan and so far no Western release has been announced.
Today Sega opened up a strange new teaser website in Japan which can be found here. Currently little is known about what this game may be outside of the fact that the site is dubbed “A.D. 2021 Tokyo” and the fact that the artwork on the website shows what appears to be giant flowers growing in Tokyo while dragon-like creatures fly overhead.
As you can see on the teaser site, the game will be fully revealed in Weekly Famitsu which will be released on Thursday, but leaked on Tuesday as is standard with Famitsu issues. There have been some rumblings on Japanese websites that this game could be Seven Dragon 2020: 3rd Encount and given the look of the artwork, they are probably right.
If you happened to update your PlayStation Vita today you may have noticed that the system’s web browser has been optimized to run faster. One thing you may not have noticed however is the fact that the web browser can now be used while you are in the middle of playing the game.
Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida revealed on Twitter today that the browser has become a “small app” which will be usable without quitting out of other programs making it easier to use and a great tool for those who may rely on walkthroughs to complete games. It is certainly great to see the browser on the Vita made more viable and with this update also adding in PlayStation Plus for the Vita, gamers will be very busy tomorrow once the first six free Vita games are made available for subscribers.
Online Passes have become something of an unfortunate reality in the gaming world as nearly every company has adopted them in some form, whether it be locking out multiplayer content or single-player quest-lines. In fact, Square Enix had previously planned on locking out players from Hitman: Absolution’s Contracts multiplayer mode if they didn’t have an online pass, but it turns out that the company has changed their mind.
IO Interactive revealed on their blog that they “actually planned to have this mode accessible via a code in the game’s box but we really want to make it available to anybody that plays the game — so we want to take a new approach.”
In fact, the company goes on to say that anyone who picks up the game in North America will automatically see the game mode available in the game’s main menu and those outside of North America will be able to download the Contracts Pass for free. This is certainly a great move by the company in the eyes of fans who have likely grown tired of the entire Online Pass system and will be able to avoid such issues and get back to assassinating people as Agent 47.
Or who knows, maybe you did ask for it? Well, either way, Sony has chosen that the next step for the Uncharted franchise is a card based game for the PlayStation Vita. Now don’t worry too heavily over this one, as it is not a full retail title. To be a bit more specific, Sony Bend revealed today that Uncharted: Fight for Fortune will be released as a digital download on December 4th for a price tag of only $4.99.
Fight for Fortune will feature card-based combat with various hero, villains, mercenaries and artifacts from the series taking the form of cards. If you are curious about how this could possibly work then you should check out the below trailer which will show off how some of the game is played. It is worth noting that anyone who has played Uncharted: Golden Abyss will be able to use any gold they have in that game to help them fight in the card game. So… with Sony pushing a card game out on the Vita, perhaps we should hold out some hope for Compile Heart’s Monster Monpiece?
If you happened to pay attention to Nintendo’s Black Friday bundle last year then you will probably notice that the bundle this year is remarkably similar to the previous one. Not only does it come with the same Flame Red 3DS color but also the same game, Super Mario 3D Land.
It is worth noting though that while last year’s release included a physical copy of Super Mario 3D Land, this time around the game will actually be pre-installed on the system. It is also worth noting that the system’s bundle has seen a $30 drop in price and will now sell at a suggested price of $170 instead of $200.
Some exciting Christmas announcements from 2K Play and Nickelodeon with the announcement of a Dora the Explorer extravaganza starting off with Team UmiZoomi and Doras Fantastic Flight and coming soon, Nickoledeon Dance 2. Join Dora exclusively on the Nintendo DS for an amazing adventure or bop to the beats as Nickelodeon Dance 2 delivers double the characters and beats then the original which we all know means double the fun. Featuring hits from Bubble Yuppies, Team UmiZoomi, Dora, The Fresh Beat Band and many more, Nickelodeon Dance 2 will be available across Australia and New Zealand come November 23rd.
We were gratified to discover that children, older siblings, parents, grandparents and school teachers all embraced the ‘get-up-and-move’ fun of Nickelodeon Dance. With Nickelodeon Dance 2, we expand that magic with new characters, songs and twists,” said Steve Lux, Vice President of Business Development for 2K Play. “On the portable front, games based on preschoolers’ favourite new Nickelodeon properties, such as Team Umizoomi, provide the perfect opportunity to play learning games on the go.”
“Nickelodeon is so excited to release another round of award-winning, breakthrough preschool games with 2K Play,” said Sherice Torres, Senior Vice President of Home Entertainment, DTO and Videogame Licensing, Nickelodeon Consumer Products. “There’s no better way to celebrate the holidays than with Nickelodeon video games.”
Doras Fantastic Flight sees the popular character team up with the maths gurus of the UmiZoomi as they practive their Maths and problem solving skills. Nickelodeon Dance 2will keep kids and adults of all ages on their toes especially with the introduction on the freeze mode, similar in nature to musical statues.
Nutty Fluffies Developer: Redlynx Publisher: Ubisoft Platforms: iPad (Reviewed), iPhone, iPod Touch Release Date: November 6th, 2012 Price: $0.99 Get it Here
Overview
Developed by Redlynx, the studio behind Trials Evolution, DrawRace 2 and MotoHeroz, Nutty Fluffies is a physics based action game featuring a motley crew of adorable stuffed animals riding the roller coasters of an amusement park that has been shuttered for the year. The simple one touch controls make it easy for anyone to pick up and play. The game features some adorable graphics and challenging levels.
Story
Nutty Fluffies does not have a story, it has a premise. A bunch of stuffed animals that are sold at the souvenir stand come to life after the amusement park closes for the season. They start riding the roller coaster to keep themselves occupied while the park is closed. I suppose it is a good enough reason than any to watch small stuffed animals careen down roller coasters.
Gameplay
The game is an extremely simple game to learn, swipe forward to get the engineer to lean forward and speed up the rollercoaster cars, swipe backwards to lean backwards and slow down. Tap the bottom left button to activate the special ability that runs on a short cooldown. The controls are responsive and the physics is extremely consistent.
There are currently four chapters with six to eight coasters each to master. Each of the four chapters has a distinct theme. I am a little disappointed there is only one chapter full of wooden rollercoasters, but unfortunately steel rollercoasters make for a more challenging game with their
Unlocking the next coaster requires coins so replaying previous levels are encouraged. The first run will have four rollercoaster carts to load up with stuffed animals with an extra cart added for each successful run up to a total of ten carts. There are three power ups that are available depending on the level, jump jets, rocket boosts, and magnets. There are five stuffed animals with a variety of bonuses to choose from. The basic stuffed animal is the mouse which costs nothing to load into the carts but has no special bonuses and provides only two extra hearts for bringing the mouse into the unloading zone. Each of the four stuffed animals that come after the mouse will cost a certain amount of coins to load into the cart but provides a larger completion bonus and special bonuses for things like navigating through loops and jumps. I found using these special animals was a poor idea unless I had completely mastered the track as making a hard landing or crashing out and failing to complete the track wasted my hard earned coins.
I will admit to a morbid satisfaction out of the gameplay. I was one of those obsessed with creating the perfect theme park in Rollercoaster Tycoon. I never spent massive amounts of time fussing over rollercoasters to create the ultimate death machine and I never really understood the appeal. After playing Nutty Fluffies, I have come to realize the game is just plain fun no matter if I guide my fluffies to the unloading zone or crash them in a horrible manner. Maybe the comical blood-free bouncing of stuffed animals in a terrible crash relieves me of the guilt I would feel watching people crash on Rollercoaster Tycoon, but no matter what, Nutty Fluffies is just darn fun.
Visuals
Nutty Fluffies is a colourful cartoony game. It is very child friendly with bright, eye catching colours and big eyed animals. The graphics never skipped a beat or suffered from any slow-downs. The camera zoomed out at the right times to provide a good view of the action. The game translates well to the smaller iPhone screen and is optimized for the iPhone 5 widescreen and the iPad Retina displays.
Audio
The soundtrack and sound effects are spot on, creating a wonderful amusement park atmosphere. There is a wide variety of sound effects to keep things interesting. Nutty Fluffies is definitely a game you can enjoy with the sound on. It isn’t necessary to plug in headphones to enjoy the game, the speakers will suffice.
Overall
It could be extremely easy to write off Nutty Fluffies for its silly and simple idea and presentation. But as they always say, don’t judge a book by its cover. Nutty Fluffies masterfully combines cartoony graphics, simple controls, a brilliant idea, and great sound into one excellent package. For $0.99, there are plenty of levels with tons of replayability built into the game. The nag screens to make an in app purchase of coins is relatively low, only showing up once every several rounds, however I would have preferred no nag screens at all. There are enough levels to take up hours of your time and Redlynx is promising more level packs in future updates. I highly recommend purchasing Nutty Fluffies for a family friendly game everyone can enjoy.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Marvel’s Avengers Initiative for mobile platforms as part of the Marvel XP universe has a new Lite version of the game released on the iOS platform. The Avengers Initiative is an episodic game series for mobile devices and features iconic Marvel characters taking on an invasion of enemies in the Marvel Universe.
What’s interesting about the XP universe is that players are able to connect their gaming experiences between the Facebook version of the game and the Mobile platforms. Players can check out the full version of the game here. For the new lite experience, check out the link here. You can also check out our review for the game here. Note: These are for the iOS versions only.
Or who knows, maybe you did ask for it? Well, either way, Sony has chosen that the next step for the Uncharted franchise is a card based game for the PlayStation Vita. Now don’t worry too heavily over this one, as it is not a full retail title. To be a bit more specific, Sony Bend revealed today that Uncharted: Fight for Fortune will be released as a digital download on December 4th for a price tag of only $4.99.
