Last week, Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix was announced for the PS3, and will bundle together Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix, Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories, and Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days. Of course a lot of fans are pumped about the news, but now everyone can gawk at a new trailer that Square Enix have graced us with.
Yes, these games do look better, as the models have been smoothed out and the environments look much cleaner. What is more interesting though is that 358/2 Days will also boast all of the same HD treatment, which is a major upgrade from the DS’ low resolution. As of now, this compilation is slated for 2013 for Japan, with no word on a western localization. While you wait with hope, check out the clip down below.
Studio: Nintendo Publisher: Nintendo SPD Group No. 1 Platform:Wii Release Date: September 13, 2012 Price: $49.99
Overview
Keeping in with the natural rhythm of things, Nintendo has released yet another quirky, off-beat, mini-game filled casual title just in time for the Wii. Why all these poorly constructed music-based references you ask? Well firstly because Beat the Beat: Rhythm Paradise is all about maintaining your rhythm throughout 50 mini-games, and secondly because the only thing worse than my rhythm is my sense of humor. That being said, Beat the Beat: Rhythm Paradise is a fun, creative and interesting title worth checking out. Think WarioWare meets a more casual Guitar Hero. That’s the best way I can describe Beat the Beat: Rhythm Paradise and that still doesn’t come close.
Gameplay
Beat the Beat: Rhythm Paradise takes players through over fifty bizarre mini-games that require the player to maintain rhythm using the A and B buttons. No control sticks, motion swipes, just simply two buttons. Think that’s easy? Guess again. These levels are filled with challenges from testing see-saws with superhuman jumps, playing tambourine with a monkey, interviewing wrestlers to playing badminton mid-flight….all by pressing buttons in sync to a song. Once you’ve mastered four of these levels your then expected overcome a remix of those four songs by taking on all four scenarios to generate one track. Your actions generate the sound effects that contribute to completing the song, so timing is essential. Thankfully, visual cues are there to help you, but these are also often obstructed by objects so maintaing rhythm. It should be noted that unlike most music-based games, Beat the Beat: Rhythm Paradise doesn’t want you to look for visual clues, but instead to feel the rhythm and react exactly on the beat. This is sure to make the game extra challenging for those familiar with the concept.
Yes this title is filled with difficult challenges, but there is plenty of help for those who lack rhythm. Before each game a tutorial is presented, and if that’s not enough a demo of how to 100% complete the level is displayed as well. Furthermore, a cafe is present that gives tips to players as well as the ability to skip levels that are too hard. For a game that can be really challenging for those with no rhythm at all, the game is also very forgiving without being too easy. Nothing ever seems impossible with all these options at hand, which provides a great balance in both the difficulty and the learning curb.
Of coarse medals are present and other neat stuff to reward and unlock extra goodies throughout, some of which is the multiplayer which brings us to the game’s ultimate flaw. As a game that is essentially nothing but simple mini-games you’d expect to share the experience with your family and friends but on the most part Beat the Beat: Rhythm Paradise is a single-player experience. When multiplayer is available, it must be unlocked and is only accable for select titles and is only for two players. It is true that these games would be ruined by making them for 4 players, but by restricting it to only 2 the game feels like it’s missing something. Beat the Beat: Rhythm Paradise may be fun but it’s still a lonely experience. Furthermore, this experience can also be a short and while the presentation of each mini-game is generally creative and refreshing your still doing the same thing and that can get repetitive.
Graphics & Audio
One aspect that Beat the Beat: Rhythm Paradise that truly excels at is presentation. From the in-game graphics to the menus, everything is bright and bursting with colour. The art design couldn’t get any cuter even if they tried and the animation is equally as beautiful. The audio is equally as impressive, filled with catchy tunes with both Japanese and English soundtracks available for play straight from the get go. The sound effects intwine with the music as well, so what you do actually helps make the song. A perfect example of this is the game ‘Double Date’ where a ball is kicked which actually becomes the song’s snare. It’s a very creative element for a music-based video game and must be commended.
Overall
Beat the Beat: Rhythm Paradise is probably one of, if not the most unique music-based video game you’ll ever play. Filled with creativity, adorable graphics, pick-up-and-play controls and a catchy soundtrack, these rhythm based mini-games can be a pretty entertaining and rewarding experience. This interesting approach to accuracy and feeling should be appreciated by fans of the music genre. Unfortunately the life span is a bit short and the multiplayer leaves much to be desired. Regardless, Beat the Beat: Rhythm Paradise is still a solid title and is definitely worth picking up if your a fan of music titles.
The Medal of Honor: Warfighter Open Beta begins early October exclusively for Xbox 360 users. What’s interesting about this beta is that if three million users download the game before certain date, they will unlock early access to the new Linkin Park video clip. Whether or not this is something that people will be concerned about will vary.
The beta also adds a new mode called Hotspot where players have to attack and defend random points on a multiplayer map set in Bosnia. As of writing we have no idea if there will be additional maps to feature this gametype at release.
Players that pre-order the game before it launches on the 25th of October will recieve an additional map pack, if you’re in the US: called the Zero Dark Thirty (whomever came up with that name needs to be shot) map pack, while the rest of the world will recieve the The Hunt map pack.
Be sure to check out the official site for more info.
While the Tokyo Game Show wrapped up earlier today, there still are a few pieces of news that have yet to be fully revealed. Or shall we say, at least revealed in English. Japanese website Gamer happened to be in attendance during a stage event held by Sega on the last day of TGS.
What happened during this stage show you ask? The announcement of Hatsune Miku Project Diva F on the PlayStation 3 sometime next year. This announcement came from a pre-selected Twitter question that was then answered amidst a number of other questions posed by Twitter users.
Many of you know that Hatsune Miku Project Diva F was originally a PlayStation Vita exclusive and was released in Japan a few weeks ago. It is currently unknown what type of improvements will be made to the PS3 version of the game, though given the fact that DLC for the Vita version is already planned, it could contain everything in one package.
Unfortunately there was no mention of an international release for the title, nor the PS Vita version of the game during the show, but given that both the PS3 and PS Vita are region free, gamers can still freely import the titles at an additional fee.
Well, we know what will be the big ticket of the holidays. In under two weeks, the Wii U has sold out of day one pre-orders at retailers such as GameStop and Target, with the premium bundle now being sold out at nearly every retailer under the sun.
GameStop have taken it upon themselves to create a waiting list for its PowerUp Rewards customers, who will be able to put no money down and be added to a list that will save them a spare console when the next shipment rolls in. Hoarders are for sure a bit responsible for the quick sell-outs, which could very likely end up causing huge mark-ups on third party auction sites before the holidays. I am now glad I opted to pre-order within the first week, as it’s going to be a madhouse come black Friday.
In the lead up to the launch of Football Manager 2013, developer of the franchise Sport Interactive’s Studio Director Miles Jacobson has been seen narrating a number of video blogs highlighting some of the titles newest improved additions, tweaks and features. In the newest episode, Miles answers many users wishes for a less complicated comparison system, which with the introduction of bright bars to indicate players statistics gives an immediate visual cue as to performance and abilities. Much more detail has also been given to the players individual role within the team with statistic now reflecting that players performance within that role as well as being able to compare 2 players abilities in a particular position. All of this combined with easy to read visuals has been done to give players more confidence and ease of use within the signing and buying decisions.
As well as being able to make more detailed and informed decisions about their playing squad, users can now for the first time ever in the franchise also easily compare staff to vastly improve team performance. Take a look at the trailer and get excited for a new season of Football Manager.
It seems that everyone in Tokyo was at one place this weekend, and that place happened to be Tokyo Game Show. Today the Computer Entertainment Supplier’s Association announced that this year’s TGS drew in a record number of attendees with 223,753 people attending the show over the weekend, including two of our staff members who spent quite some time roving the grounds. You can see some images of their time during the event hereand here.
This shows a period of continued growth for the event over the last three years, whereas 2011’s attendance made it to 222,668 while 2010 had 207,647 in attendance. To go along with this announcement the company also revealed that Tokyo Game Show in 2013 will be held at the Makuhari Messe in Chiba, Japan from September 19 to the 22nd.
While there hasn’t been any news about Project X Zone making its way out of Japan, many gamers thought that it would simply be impossible thanks to the fact that the game contains characters from not just one, but three different publishers spanning across multiple franchises. In fact there are so many characters that listing out the franchises alone would create a massively long list and to top that off, there are still characters being revealed as late as last week!
Now with the game set to be released on the Nintendo 3DS in Japan on October 11th, it seems that at least one man high-up on the publishing ladder is doing his best to make sure Project X Zone makes it to the West. Katsuhiro Harada, the producer of the Tekken series, has revealed on Twitter that he has been pushing to localize the game.
He stated that “I proposed localization of Project X Zone.” and went on to say that the company has “Not decided yet, but It will be realized if I continue proposing.” This would certainly be a monumental effort if the game does get localized, and it will be interesting to see if Sega and Capcom will help promote the game if a localization does come to pass.
Resident Evil 6 is the dramatic and horrific fear inducing blockbuster entertainment experience of 2012, delivered by The Godfather of Survival Horror. Take a look at the most recent Live Action TV Trailer entitled “Cries For Help” As the commercial progresses you can certainly feel the goosebumps on your arms and neck starting to tingle!
Some of the Key Features of Resident Evil 6 below:
• 4 closely interwoven scenarios each with their own protagonists and challenges, come together in Resident Evil to reveal the truth about a global bio terrorist attack
• Experience the horror of Resident Evil 6 from three different perspectives. Feel the intense fear as Leon investigates the President’s murder; the horrific action as Chris fights in China and the tension as Jake escapes from Eastern Europe.
• Team up and share the horror of Resident Evil 6 with online co-op action for up to 4 players
• Face unpredictable enemies in Resident Evil 6. Zombies that run, jump and wield weapons plus the deadly J’avo that, when hit mutate into any number of hideous forms.
• Check online stats, progression and compare to friends on the free residentevil.net service
Keep up to date with the latest info here at Capsule but also on the Official Resident Evil Facebook and Twitter Pages.
If you happen to be a fan of the Phi Brain: Puzzle of God anime then we have some good news for you. The Anime World + blog of NHK has revealed that the anime will be getting a third season sometime in 2013. Currently the second season of the anime just wrapped up today and has been streaming free on Crunchyroll.
It is worth noting that Sentai Filmworks already owns the license for both the first and second season of the show, so it would be quite a surprise if they didn’t pick up this third season once it becomes available. Any Phi Brain fans surprised to see a third season of this show or is this something that many viewers probably should have expected?
