Just because your video game has been in stores now for about a week and a half doesn’t mean you can’t release some new artwork to remind everyone about it! Or at least that is what Bethesda and Arkane Studios may be thinking because today the companies has released a few pieces of artwork which can be seen below.
The artwork shown are ten favorite pieces of artwork chosen by the Art Director at Arkane Studios, Sebastien Mitton. Those who haven’t bought Dishonored yet and are intrigued by the artwork shown below can check out our review here and then go pick it up since it is certainly a game of the year contender.
Skylanders Giants has finally hit the retail stores and I for one am exceptionally excited to see the multitude of changes that have been implemented to improve upon an already superbly creative and fun experience in the first installment. The fact that the game now has a difficulty setting was pure music to my ears as I could now play through and experience somewhat more of a challenge as well as getting the pure joy of having well crafted and conceptually brilliant tangible characters with which to play. The most noticeable change is obviously the addition of the 8 new giants representing the various elemental forces as well as 8 new smaller Skylanders joining the already 32 strong army.
The original clan is also back and can all be used within the new adventure, alongside the lightcore characters which have varying glowing properties when in close proximity to the portal. The rare characters have also made a comeback with Glow in the Dark figures already gracing ebays pages and being snapped up by fans and collectors.
Check out the video to see all the changes and for more Skylanders Giants information and character bios visit www.skylanders.com
Ouran High School Host Club Series Collection Studio: Bones Publisher: Madman Format: Blu-Ray, DVD (Reviewed) Release Date: September 5, 2012 Price: $69.95 – Available Here
Overview
Adapted from a manga of the same name by artist Bisco Hatori, Ouran High School Host Club enjoyed one long run on TV back in 2006. Now, the 26 episode long series can be found in one single collection, for the first time here in Australia. Animated by Bones, who also worked on the hugely popular Fullmetal Alchemist anime, Ouran High School Host Club has itself found great success and has developed into a fully-fledged cross-media franchise, with CDs, a visual novel, a live action TV series and a Film also having been released.
The series is well known for breaking the fourth wall with the audience, while also including and parodying many subcultures found within Japan. The setting of a host club lends to the thematic use of Yaoi (“boy’s love”), Yuri (“girl’s love”) and cross-dressing aspects of the overarching Otaku culture, which refers to people who have a keen interest in all things uniquely Japanese in origin and style. Being new to this sort of media, I can see how this will alienate some Western audiences, however it did not do so for myself. Read on to find out if this anime really is for you.
Story
Ouran High School has it’s very own host club, who’s activities we follow throughout the series. It’s members include: Takashi “Mori” Morinozuka, a 3rd year student at the academy, Mitsukuni “Honey” Haninozuka, the youngest of the group, the effeminate twins Kaoru and Hikaru Hitachiin, who put on the Yaoi act for their “clients”, Kyoyo Otori, Vice President of the club and Tamaki Suoh, son of the school Chairman and founder and President of the host club. One day, a poor bookish “commoner” named Haruhi Fujioka, who is attending the academy on a special scholarship, runs into the host club as she looks for a quiet place to study. After an awkward encounter with the boys, she accidentally bumps into an expensive vase that falls and breaks on the ground…changing the course of her time at the academy forever. The vase happens to be worth 8 million yen! Haruhi realises then that she is in debt to the host club, who proposition her to become the “host club dog” and become a host for them, giving her a quota as a means to pay off her large debt to the group. Of course, they do not realise that the short-haired, tomboy isn’t actually a boy!
And so Haruhi’s time at Ouran High School begins in quite the unexpected manner. It doesn’t take long for the figurative, and literal (as a visual device) light bulbs to turn on though, as the boys figure out, one-by-one, that Haruhi is in fact a girl. Of course, the naive Tamaki is the last to get it, and actually starts to blatantly develop feelings for Haruhi. Almost immediately, she becomes quite the popular host, garnering some jealousy from her peers. As the show wears on, Haruhi takes part in shenanigans to avoid a physical exam, experiences her first kiss – which is with a girl, unwillingly plays host to the group at her “pathetically small, commoner’s home”, gets a part time job at a pension and gets kidnapped by the lesbian Zuka club members. Through all of these events, and along the way to earning her way out of the club, Haruhi discovers that the group of boys she dreaded spending time with have actually become her best and truest friends.
It’s in the dynamic of the relationship between the host club members that the best comedic moments arise. Although there are hysterical moments outside of this dynamic. During a flashback scene, of which there are a few to flesh out the backgrounds of certain characters, a younger Renge skips out on tea with her Father after deciding on a whim to fly out and find the boy she wants to marry. She becomes dressed and packed for a flight in an instant, and then a plane seemingly takes off from the ground floor of the very building they were occupying like a car in a garage. Words can’t describe how perfectly executed this was. And each character is so well defined that they bring their own personality and quirks into every scene and interaction. The show may start off on a slow note for some, and may frequently seem aimless in what it’s trying to achieve, but it picks up, and the episodes get more diverse and interesting as the series progresses.
Visuals
Ouran High School Host Club is very colourful, and animation studio Bones did a great job with the animation itself. The facial expressions are so well defined and expressed, it’s quite impressive. The design and colouring of the school is so effective in creating a rich air about the place, communicating how extravagant and expensive this private school is. The purple, red and pink tones are a constant and scream a sense of royalty and sophistication in the characters. At times, and there are very few of them, the backdrops can look slightly flat, although there are less instances of this as the show goes on. Something I loved were the labels and signs that pop up during introductions and/or events. The English translations, being purposely humorous and not funny through mistranslation, made me laugh quite a bit. For instance, as Haruhi pours the club four cups of instant coffee, the label’s subtitles read “Demonstration of commoner’s coffee, by a commoner”.
One thing I couldn’t stand was the use of flashing arrows to point towards objects of interest. They are meant to be a funny device, but are actually an unnecessary distraction as the camera angles frame the focus of a shot quite well as it is. Thankfully they are not used often at all, appearing maybe a bit more than a handful of times all up. The DVD itself is in a 4:3 aspect ratio, even though I had read online that it was in a 16:9 full screen anamorphic format. Watching it on a big screen, the image does look somewhat stretched at the sides, with no black bars. Overall, however, the image quality is good, especially when considering it is a DVD release of a 6 year old show.
Audio
The audio for the series collection is in Dolby Digital, with no major issues in the mixing, or volume levels (except for the commentary tracks, which I’ll go through in the extras section). Of course, there are Japanese and English audio tracks to choose from, which you can switch between in the main disc menus. This may be one of the few instances where the English voice overs are just as good as the original’s. I think this can mostly be attested to the fantastic work of Caitlin Glass, who did the voice of main character Haruhi Fujioka. Knowing that Caitlin is also the ADR Director of the show, many might scoff at the fact that she has effectively placed herself as the focus of the show. However, once you hear her work, you’ll know exactly why it was the right choice. The rest of the cast are also fantastic, with great performances all around. When viewing with the Japanese language track, the subtitles appear in yellow at the bottom of the screen. The music is very fitting for the overall mood of the show, with the opening theme, entitled “Sakura Kiss”, and the closing theme, entitled “Shissou (Sprint)”, the original by Japanese rock band Last Alliance, both sounding very well produced, and catchy to boot!
Extras
The collection features some very good extras spread across all four discs. On disc 1, there are commentary tracks for episodes 1, 4 and 5, featuring the show’s ADR Director, and voice of lead character Haruhi, Caitlin Glass – who contributes to each of the commentaries found in this collection. Alongside her are such talents as Vic Mignogna – voice of Tamaki, J. Michael Tatum – voice of Kyoya, Monica Rial – voice of Renge and also ADR Script Writer, and Greg Ayres and Todd Haberkorn – voices of the twins, Kaoru and Hikaru respectively. On disc 2, you will find outtakes for the first 13 episodes, textless versions of the opening and closing sequences and a package of trailers for other animated movies and series. On disc 3, there is the lone commentary for episode 18, featuring Aaron Dismuke – voice of Yasuchika, and Luci Christian – voice of Mitsukuni. The final disc includes commentaries for episodes 22 and 24, with Christopher Sabat and Travis Willingham, voices of Ritsu and Takashi respectively, on episode 22 commentary duty. Mr. Tatum and Mr. Mignonga rejoin Ms. Glass for the final commentary. Disc 4 also harbours a second set of outakes for the second half of episodes, the same textless opening and closing, and a new bunch of trailers.
Peculiar, right off the bat, was the absence of the show’s subtitling during the commentary episodes on discs 1 and 2, as discs 3 and 4 did in fact have them. I don’t know why the subtitles would be used in only half the commentaries, but the inconsistency definitely disappointed me. Also, while most commentaries provided sufficient insight, episode 4’s commentary was basically a high school reunion, with constant laughter between the guests and very little talk of the creative process. Unfortunately, when there is valuable information to be given pertaining to certain dialogue or voice acting choices, the show’s audio is turned down so much that you can’t even listen to the dialogue the guests are commenting on. I can’t be expected to remember each and every line they are vaguely referencing when I can’t get a refresher and hear it for myself. The volumes just could have been balanced better.
The outtakes, however, are great all around. Really funny to hear the screwed up lines, and the relationship between the actors as they bounce off of each other. My favourite blooper came from the second episode when Kanako, a regular host-hopper, who gets past her relationship issues and is to receive a farewell peck on the cheek from Haruhi, and is told by her fiancée that “it will commemorate your graduation from being a total whore”. Of course, the real line is much less insulting, and is actually supportive. All around, there are approximately 30 minutes of outtakes…that’s quite a lot! That leaves the textless opening, closing and trailers which are what they are, nothing noteworthy there.
Overall
Ouran High School Host Club is a very funny show that, although at times can get quite awkward (looking at you twins!), does unabashedly speak to the Japanese sense of humour. The DVD transfer on this series collection may not be the greatest, but the show is quite a few years old now and if it’s an issue for anyone (which it shouldn’t be), there’s always the blu-ray option which undoubtedly has the better visual quality. The extras on this release especially impressed me as I’m a sucker for a blooper reel, and the featured outtakes for Ouran are long and hilarious. Also great to hear commentary for 6 episodes, although at times it can come across as shallow and self-indulgent. None-the-less, the passion of the creators for the series is palpable throughout. Ouran High School Host Club Series Collection is a great 4 disc set that is well worth it. Just remember, the themes may not be suitable for those under the age of 15…unless for a laugh, you want to see them utterly confused!
Rebellion has released some new free and pay DLC for the month of October.
Revealed just yesterday, players will receive the previously released pay multiplayer map, the Neudorf Outpost now absolutely free. As well as this fans can now try out the new on-line game types Dog Tag Harvest and Team Dog Tag Harvest (free-for-all and team deathmatch modes respectively). Similar to Call of Duty’s Kill Confirmed game type, players must collect the dog tags of each enemy they successfully down to score the points necessary for victory.
The Landwehr Canal Pack is the latest pay DLC offering from Rebellion Developments. This brand new single player mission requires the player to stake out a night-time Berlin as they are tasked with the elimination of three key German Generals. Players will be tested to the limits of their marksmanship abilities as they devise and execute the precise plans needed to take their targets out. Also included are three new weapons to help get the job done, with some incredibly long lines of sight apparently on offer for the most daring of WWII snipers.
The two packs both free and paid, are now available for download from Steam with the Landwehr Canal Pack running players the small fee of just £2.99 (or $4.63 AUD).
The latest, and final, expansion pack that will be coming for the Battlefield 3 multiplayer portions will be called Aftermath. In Aftermath, players will be able to access the new Scavenger gametype.
In Scavenger, players begin the map armed with only a knife. They must take survival into their own hands by searching their surroundings for newer and better equipment scattered around the Battlefield.
Battlefield 3: Aftermath comes out on the 27th of November for all Premium players. The expansion pack will cost $23.75 additionally for all non premium players to obtain access.
Be sure to check out our gallery below for a bunch of new screenshots and even further below for the embedded video.
The capital letters and full spelling were absolutely necessary for this news piece. Doom 3: BFG Edition is in stores now, this means that the remastered version of the game is available for consumers everywhere.
Doom 3: BFG Edition features not only the enhanced version of Doom 3 and it’s expansion packs, but also the first and second Doom games. The package will retail for $39.99 AUD on the PC and for $59.99 on the X360 and PS3.
On the game, Bethesda had this to say –
“Today we’re bringing back id Software’s genre-defining shooter, with the release of DOOM 3 BFG Edition” said Vlatko Andonov, President, Bethesda Softworks. “We are excited for new and existing fans to play the newly enhanced and extended DOOM 3 – and for them to have the opportunity to play the classic DOOM and DOOM 2 games.”
For more information, be sure to check out the Facebookpage.
American Horror Story has adopted a practice that is different from the usual, it’s the first mainstream show that has changed the cast, the setting and the entire feel of the show from season to season. Last season was about a family who buys a haunted house and gets more than they bargained for, this season is about an asylum.
Not only does the setting and cast change (although a lot of the cast from the first season have been kept on), but the feel of it as well. Instead of having a ghost horror, it’s more of a creepy, gory horror. There aren’t the shock suspense moments that make you jump, but instead an intense sense of unease and repulsion.
The episode kicks off with Adam Levine and his newly wed wife going on a horror tour honeymoon. Because that’s normal. They’re exploring an abandoned asylum, which gives the show a chance to shove a bunch of exposition about the history of the asylum that includes it starting as a tuberculosis ward, then being bought by the church and used as a sanitarium for the criminally insane. Fun place for a honeymoon.
They go for some sexy time in a patient chair with Adam Levine playing doctor (which I’m sure was put away as spank bank material by a few people), before they’re interrupted by a noise. So, like the odd person that she is, Levine’s wife suggests they go investigate it. They go to where the noise is coming from and his wife suggests he look inside the room to see what it is in return for a blowjob. Using the power of the iPhone, he sticks his hand in the slot while she kneels in front of him and goes to town.
Ever the cock block, something within the room grabs and yanks off Adam’s arm. Like completely off. He shoves his wife away, pulls out his bloody stump and the title theme rolls.
The opening theme isn’t quite as scary as the first season one was, that set my skin crawling – this one is just kind of creepy. It’s got all the asylum stuff, but it’s not as concise and spliced together in time with the music as the first one. That might have also been because the first one was surprising in the high quality of the horror, while my expectations were quite high for this one to start off with.
It’s back in 1964 at a gas station, with a family complaining about paying 30 cents a gallon – LOLs, oh you’re in for a shock in the coming years. And who is serving this family but Evan Peters (AKA Tate Langdon from the first season) who is now playing Kit – an older and far less emo character.
The lights flicker and I’m all ready to get a glance at some supernatural activity, but it’s just a group of guys messing with Kit and making some comments about him having a maid and chocolate, which don’t make much sense until he goes home and you see that he’s married to a black girl. Unfortunately for them, it’s not really a good time for it, and they’re forced to hide it from everyone.
They have a very sweet and beautiful relationship and- SHE’S TOTALLY GOING TO DIE
Anyway, after they get their freak on some weird stuff starts happening and there’s bright lights, some really weird stuff starts happening, and it looks like something extraterrestrial is going on. Sigh, aliens. Now, this show has always asked to stretch the imagination a bit, but ghosts I could deal with, aliens? That’s less horror and more sci-fi. I’m holding out hope that it was in his head.
We’ve returned to the asylum, though still in the sixties. Instead of the broken down wreck of a building, it’s now all new and fancy. A reporter, Lana, is there to write an article about the bakery (because all asylums for the criminally insane have bakery attachments). She is greeted by Sister Eunice (Lily Rabe, who played Nora, the original house owner in the first season) who leads her through the asylum to Sister Jude (Jessica Lange, previously Constance). Like in the first season Jessica Lange’s character is uninterested in messing around, and comes across as harsh. Although, in this season she is strictly religious, and thinks that mental illness is simply an absence of religion.
Lana isn’t all that interested in the bakery though, the serial killer Bloody Face is arriving, and she is desperate for the story. Her ambition sends Sister Jude into a rant about how she can see the sin and all that. Kind of love how Jessica Lange can switch it from someone so sinful, to someone who is the exact opposite. She still keeps that same energy and somewhat off-putting nature, but it just works very well. It’s obvious why she’s been kept on, along with her Golden Globe and Emmy win.
Bloody Face has arrived, and guess what, it’s Kit. He looks just as sweet faced and innocent as he did in the beginning, and it’s really hard to imagine him hurting innocent women. Much less, as Sister Jude reveals, his wife.
You start seeing the asylum through Kit’s eyes, such as the common room, which is full of a range of different psychotics. He’s about to turn off the music, which is super annoying, before a pretty young French girl steps in front and informs him that there are rules for just about everything and breaking them is inadvisable. Pssh, yeah no kidding.
Some angry looking guy taunts Kit about his supposed kills – including his wife – and a fight breaks out between them. If he’s going to get angry every time someone makes a comment then he’s going to be in a heck of a lot of fights. Sister Jude and two orderlies show up to break it up, her using a piercing whistle to stun everyone, and the orderlies clock him on the head before he can try to defend himself.
So Medal of Honor Fans, we hear that Warfighter is coming out in just a few days time. So EA have released a brand new Multiplayer trailer for the masses to enjoy.
In the multiplayer portions of Medal of Honor: Warfighter, players will be able to join a fireteam with their buddy and take control of one of 12 special Tier 1 operator units. This trailer showcases many of these features as well as a lot of multiplayer footage. It looks incredibly fun.
Be sure to check out the trailer embedded below for more info.
Today ROCCAT unveiled their latest mousepad, Hiro, which is shown to be one of the most durable mousepads on the market. By utilising a new bonding process, the team are claiming that this mousepad won’t ever fray or get damaged. This claim comes after their patented pair-bonding process uniquely binds the top layer material with the lower layer material to create an unrivaled durability.
The mousepad also boasts a unique silicone based surface with complex 3D patterns to assure the ultimate gliding experience on both the X and Y axis. On the mousepad, Roccat had this to say:
“With the Hiro, we are yet again bringing true innovation to gaming,” says ROCCAT Founder and CEO, René Korte. “Frayed edges are a thing of the past with this mousepad. And its groundbreaking, one-of-a-kind surface delivers speed and precision that will thrill even the most demanding gamers. We built the Hiro using only the most advanced materials and construction methods – so gamers can rest assured their pad will provide max battle durability and performance, mission after mission.”
Ubisoft have released a brand new trailer for the intriguing upcoming PS Vita title Assassin’s Creed 3 Liberation, this time focusing on the games story mode. The game itself is of course a spin-off of the full console release and features another Assassin that isn’t named Connor and happens to be a woman.
You can check out the brand new Assassin’s Creed 3 Liberation story mode trailer, which shows off what appears to be an incredibly deep story mode on par with the console Assassin’s Creed 3’s deep story about being a Native American Assassin in the Revolutionary War.
Be sure to let us know waht you think of the Assassin’s Creed 3 Liberation trailer in the comments section below.
