The incredibly famous game Okami has now been released with HD textures and updated gameplay on the Playstation Network. Okami was originally released in 2006 on the Playstation 2 to a staggeringly positive reception from critics and gamers alike. The game features a cell-shaded graphic style and centres on the adventures of Ameterasu, the goddess of the Sun. Players take control of her wolf form and set out to take down the evil eight-headed demon Orochi who has laid waste to the native land.
In this all new version of the game, veterans and newcomers will be able to experience updated visuals with several different graphical filtering options, Move Support for controlling the Celestial Brush and added Trophy support (including a shiny Platinum).
Okami HD has just been released and can be bought off all regions of the Playstation Network for $19.99.
Football Manager 2013 Developer: Sports Interactive Publisher: SEGA Platforms:PC (reviewed), Mac Release Date: November 2, 2012 Price:$79.99 (HERE)
Overview
It’s finally here. Where fans of football turn up regularly for the arcade-style simulations of FIFA and Pro Evolution Soccer, the hardcore wannabe managers all know that the Football Manager franchise is where they can get a fairly realistic feel of what it’s like to be the man on the sidelines, watching as the team he has trained and prepared for weeks and months go out there and play using the tactics he has devised. The game’s player/back-room staff database is so in-depth that some Premier League clubs, like Everton, use it to do their preliminary scouting.
The question is: does the 2013 iteration of the franchise bring anything other than an updated roster to the table?
Gameplay
The answer is, unequivocally, yes.
For the die-hard fans who dig the total immersion provided by previous Football Manager titles, there’s not too much to report on. The interface is more streamlined and easy to use, but that’s not to say there’s less to do. In fact, in the normal game mode there’s added depth to the assistant manager systems and you’ll also be given cues on player body language to help you decide what direction to take in your pre-game and half-time team talks. It’s easier to use and everything you love (and a little bit more) is back.
That’s not what is game-changing, though. Where Football Manager 2013 truly lifts itself above previous titles is in the new modes it provides.
The first of these is lifted directly from the mobile version of Football Manager, but despite its uninspired origin, it does provide an inspiring refresher to anyone feeling a little burnt out from partaking in season-long campaigns on the football sim. Challenge Mode drops players into challenging (I think that’s how they came up with the name) scenarios where, as managers, they must scramble to achieve a short-term objected with the team they are provided. Objectives like avoiding relegation with just a half a season to go and navigating the squad through an injury-ravaged period are the go here, and these bite-sized (comparatively) modes go a long way to testing your Football Manager mettle, while at the same time avoiding you the usual, never-ending, months-long campaign of the basic mode.
The other mode is also notable for its ease on your precious time resources. Football Manager Classic is like playing the standard game mode, except you’ve got a lot less to manage. Your youth and reserve squads are left to your assistant manager, team-talks play a very diminished role, training focusses will be team-specific rather than centred on catering to your individual players, and press talks will come a lot less often and be a lot shorter.
Essentially, if you don’t mind not micro-managing every detail of the squad, this mode is for you. The focus is almost solely on the first team, and despite the streamlining, this mode has is, like the standard mode, never-ending. This means you can still establish a long and distinguished managerial legacy and become the next, albeit virtual, Sir Alex Ferguson – you just won’t have to deal in the every day mundanity he does. After all, you’re not getting paid millions to manage these teams, you deserve a bit less tedium.
I would be remiss not to mention the oft-praised Football Manager database. It’s back, it’s bigger, and Everton are probably still using it. It seems silly that something so detailed and immense is practically taken for granted at this stage, so I’m writing this just to assure you: it’s all still here and it’s all still ridiculous in scope and detail.
The Football Manager franchise was not really in need of a Renaissance, but Sports Interactive delivered one anyway, and boy did they deliver. Football Manager 2013 has everything a wannabe manager could want. If you’re into the game as it was, you have that option (with even more to manage), but if you were looking for a more bite-sized experience or a less involved style of management, then the game delivers exactly that.
Here’s a tag-line for you SEGA: Football Manger 2013 – More Choice Than Mancini’s Bench.
Audio & Visual
Football Manager is, at its core, a menu-surfing game. There’s no talk of light diffusion, depth of field, field of view, or low frame-rates here. But hey, the interface sure looks good.
In fact if I had to describe the interface of the managerial simulation in one word, it’s be “slick”. Everything is neatly labelled, ordered in a sensible manner, and easy to use. You can hardly tell this is a game with layer upon layer of databases, tactics, and other options that you could be sorting through at any given moment. The only issues I had with the game’s interface is the frequent stops in time-lapse that occur when it shows you results from matches that just don’t matter to you or your managerial campaign and I had trouble sorting through the immense amount of player dossiers at first.
The in-match audio for Football Manager 2013 is solid, though it won’t knock your socks off. For this outing the game is absolutely devoid of music or audio while you take part in hours upon hours of menu-surfing. It’d be good if the game could distinguish itself on that front as well as with its unique gameplay, but for now your own iTunes tracks will have to do.
Just a quick personal recommendation: while in menus, play some mellower music, and while your team is playing switch to your epic/workout playlists. It definitely adds to the overall experience to have the appropriate mood music.
Overall
Football Manager 2013 is a game of vast scope. What’s great is that it’s not just about options on how to manage your team anymore, it’s options on how you’d like to play the game. There are a few issues with how the game actually simulates matches in that it all does look and feel very “gamey”. Perhaps next year’s iteration should focus on that all important part of the simulation. After all, it’s not just Manager, it’s Football Manager. The beautiful game needs to feel like it actually would in real life.
That aside, this is the most polished, vast, and easy to use entry in the series to date. If you go on and on about how you’d manage Arsenal better than Arsene Wenger, now’s your chance to prove it.
Finally after being announced several months ago, players and fans of ThunderCats can get their hands on the ThunderCats DS game as it has just come out today for Nintendo DS. Featuring Lion-O as he uses the Sword of Omens to defeat the forces of Mumm-Ra on an adventure that follows the events of the ThunderCats animated series.
Lion-O doesn’t fight alone however, as he can call upon his companions Tygra, Cheetara, Panthro, WilyKit, and WilyKat to aid him in his adventure. Each with their own unique attacks, Lion-O can call upon them to help him in different ways along the side-scrolling adventure.
Now available in North America, interested players can purchase the game for $29.99. Those wanting to see a bit more of the game can be sure to check out the game’s website HERE.
The latest issue of Japan’s Jump magazine contains some great news for fans of the Dynasty Warriors series. As you can see from the scan to the right, a new Dynasty Warriors game has been announced and while it may say that it is Dynasty Warriors 7, it is in fact Dynasty Warriors 8 for us in North America.
Little is known about the title at the moment, though the Jump advertisement is saying that it has only been announced for the PlayStation 3 and it will contain the highest number of military commanders out of all of the game’s previously released in the series. Dynasty Warriors 8 is meant to be released sometime next year.
If you placed Assassin’s Creed 3 into your PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 today then you may have noticed that there was a day-one patch for the game. While this is not unusual considering most titles feature a patch at launch, what is unusual about the patch is just how massive it is.
To let fans know what has been fixed with this patch Ubisoft has released a large list containing the various fixes that will be applied with the patch. It is worth noting that the patch list below does contain spoilers for certain missions so you should read them at your own risk:
Bug Fix
Animus Synching tutorial, fixed an issue where the player could think he’s stuck in an infinite loading when getting to Boston after the end credits
Fixed a bug where counter-killing with the bow does not always work
NPCs spawned too far away could end up being of the wrong type
Camera could remain stuck after the player being respawned
Player could remain stuck after diving from a waterfall
Player could remain stuck if he exits a slopped hay stack at a certain angle
player would always get immediately detected when performing an unarmed stealth assassination in another guard’s back
Under rare circumstances, the crowd would stop spawning
Fixed an animation glitch when interrupting the reception from high profile jump
Fixed various occurrences of missing sounds
In some cases, the Animus Database sound ambiance was not stopped when exiting
Various stats and leaderboards were not showing up properly
Online shop could sometimes appear empty if fetching the data from Xbox Live is taking too long
Mission “RETURN TO ABSTERGO” – fixed a bug where the player would lose control over Desmond during a fight if he lures and kills some guards in the wrong area
Mission “A DEADLY PERFORMANCE” – Mission would not continue if the player decides to climb the wall instead of using the ladder
Mission “JOHNSON’S ERRAND” – fixed a bug where the game would remain stuck if the player runs during the black screen that occurs after exiting the tavern
Mission “THE SURGEON” – Charles Lee could fall in the water and die while following the player, causing the mission to fail, if the player decides to take a certain path that involves jumping over the water
Mission “THE SURGEON” – fixed a bug where we would show the desync effect if the player throws one of the target in the water, even though the mission is not really failed
Mission “WELCOME TO BOSTON” – The courier side-quest next to the general store would not start properly
Mission “EXECUTION IS EVERYTHING”, fixed a bug where the mission would not continue if the NPCs you are eavesdropping react to a dead body
Mission “THE BRADDOCK EXPEDITION” – Mission would not continue if the player kills all enemies in the camp, killing the required target last, without triggering open conflict
Mission “FEATHERS AND TREES” – NPC’s would not detect beams properly, preventing them from performing the trunk around move
Mission “FEATHERS AND TREES” – Mission would not continue if the player doesn’t follow the expected path
Mission “HUNTING LESSONS” – Mission giver could not be there if the player goes away and comes back
Mission “SOMETHING TO REMEMBER”, fixed a bug where the screen could become all white or black for the remainder of the mission if the player set his brightness option to anything else than the default value
Mission “ON JOHNSON’S TRAIL”, fixed a bug that could cause the optional objective “Use powder kegs to destroy smuggled cargo” to not be saved properly if the player reloads during the mission
Mission “THE TEA PARTY” – Optional objective “Dump crates of tea in the water” could not be completed if the player threw all crates before having killed all guards
Mission “THE MIDNIGHT RIDE” – Mission could not be completed if the player interacts with the delivery quest giver along the way
Mission “BRIDEWELL PRISON”, Player could remain stuck prison cells
Mission “PUBLIC EXECUTION” – Crowd NPCs could be spawned in or walk through a cart during a cinematic
Mission “SOMETHING ON THE SIDE” – Optional objective “Perform a successful static eavesdrop” could not be completed.
Mission “MISSING SUPPLIES” – Optional objective “Do not hide in the hay cart while following the convoy” not being saved properly if the game is reloaded during second part of the mission
Crash Fix
Possible crash that could happen if the player blends in a crowd group where some NPCs haven’t spawned yet, and while blended performs a kill.
Possible crash that could happen if the player triggered a loading while being in a covert escort formation with his brotherhood trainees
Possble crash that could happen when calling a brotherhood trainee with the snipe ability
Naval Mission
“OAK ISLAND” – Player could pass through the ground when diving into the cave
“OAK ISLAND” – Wolves could stop attacking the player and remain stuck
Possible crash if the player spams the swivel guns with the semi-automatic cheat enabled
Homestead
Mission “HAPPY EXPECTATIONS” – Game could remain stuck on a white screen when starting the mission
On the Homestead, fixed a bug where the player could remain stuck if he performs a corner pose on the left side of Norris’ cave’s entrance
Side Quest
Brawler Challenges 3 – Task “Own every weapon available in the stores” would not complete when the player expects it to.
Fort Monmouth and Fort Division – Quest objectives would fail too early without the fort resetting properly
New York delivery mission – Game asked for a different item (deer heart) than what was showed to the player (venison)
New York Liberation Missions – Possible that the game would wrongly display that 2 of the districts were completely liberated when it’s not the case yet
Upcoming game from publisher Deep Silver and developer Techland, Dead Island Riptide, has been more than confirmed with a launch date for April 23rd, 2013, but Special Edition bonuses as well. Unfortunately, the Special Edition is only available through select retailers, EB Canada, GameStop, Amazon, and Best Buy, but pre-orders in the US will net you the SteelBook while still available in addition to the bonuses.
So, what all is included in this special edition? Well, for those interested in zombie decimation there are exclusive weapon mods, for those interested in planning out their survival there’s a digital strategy map, and for those interested in looking good there’s a unique character skin. However, like the SteelBook, the Special Edition is also limited in quality, so even though the game doesn’t come out until April, players wanting to get those bonuses should act fast to make sure they can.
Be sure to look for more information as Dead Island Riptide gets closer to its release for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.
After it was unceremoniously leaked out by various promotional posters, RockStar Games has chosen to make the release window for Grand Theft Auto V official with an official poster of their own. Today the company released a promo image for the game which can be seen to the right featuring a blonde in a bikini with smart phone as well as the Spring 2013 release window.
They also revealed that they are planning on allowing gamers to pre-order the game on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game on November 5th. It is worth noting that a PC release has not been announced yet at this point.
EA is not leaving the three new Google Nexus devices out of the party. 13 big EA Mobile titles will be part of the release line up for the new Nexus 4 and Nexus 10 when they ship to consumers on November 3rd. In addition, 20 EA titles are currently available for the Nexus 7.
Headlining the release will be Need For Speed: Most Wanted, EA Mobile upcoming octane fueled racer. Also, big hits such as The Sims FreePlay, World Series of Poker, Theme Park, and Tetris Free will be part of the initial titles ready for the new Nexus devices launch. “We love the choice that Google’s new Nexus line-up gives our fans—it aligns with EA’s vision to make the best entertainment available on any device no matter where people want to play,” said Nick Earl, SVP and General Manager of EA’s all-digital All Play Label. “EA is especially thrilled to take advantage of the speed and graphics of Nexus 10 with new games like Need For Speed: Most Wanted.”
My Little Hero crushed the Korean App store in May, but unfortunately the NCsoft Mobile Division was shut down and the game was taken off the app store. ACNE Play has decided to re-release the game under their own account and revive the My Little Hero hype. Since May, ACNE Play has been hard at work adding a new world to explore and Game Center achievements to earn.
Due to the original purchasers unable to get copies of the new My Little Hero game, ACNE Play will be making the game free for the first week of release to allow those who originally purchased the game a chance to get a new copy and for new players to check the game out for free. My Little Hero will be re-released November 1st, 2012. In the mean time, check out the trailer below.
In an absolutely unexpected move, Disney have purchased Lucasfilm Ltd for $4.05 Billion dollars AND announced that Star Wars Episode VII is set for a 2015 release! Let me give you a moment for all of this to sink in…
Now that you have recovered from being blindsided, lets go over the implications. Disney purchased Marvel back in 2009 for around $4 Billion dollars and since then they have given us the Avengers, one of the best hero collaboration movies to come out in recent times, if not ever. It also takes away total creative control from George Lucas, who will still stay on as a creative consultant. This means that we may see a return to that Star Wars magic that was the original trilogy. This may also mean that we never have to see Jar Jar Binks, ever!
Could you imagine what a director like Joss Wheddon or J. J. Abrams could do for the Star Wars franchise now that George Lucas no longer has a monopoly on the a galaxy far, far away? And what could we expect to see? The struggles of a New Jedi Order? A civil war within the New Republic? The adventures of Han and Leia’s kids; Jacen Jaina and Anakin? We will only have to wait two short years to find out. One thing is for sure, it has restored faith in this fanboy that Star Wars has a strong future.
Star Wars episode VII will go up against the Avengers and the Justice league movie. Are you happy with the news? Let’s here your thoughts in the comments
The latest issue of Japan’s Jump magazine contains some great news for fans of the Dynasty Warriors series. As you can see from the scan to the right, a new Dynasty Warriors game has been announced and while it may say that it is Dynasty Warriors 7, it is in fact Dynasty Warriors 8 for us in North America.
