With Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes announced over the weekend and the fact that it is being developed by Kojima’s Fox Engine alreay revealed, many people have been wondering if Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes is actually the mysterious “Project Ogre” that is also being described as an “open ground” title developed with the Fox Engine.
However it seems that those two similarities are simply coincidence as Hideo Kojima stated on Twitter that “Project Ogre is what the project that Ogre appears. Ogre does not appear in “MGS Ground Zeroes” trailer.” He actually seemed quite frustrated with his tweet, so it seems that people have been pestering him about this quit a lot, though it seems that all those questions have just been answered.
Today Sega revealed a new trailer for their “Heritage Collection” of games which will be released in the next few months. This Heritage Collection includes NiGHTS: into Dreams, Jet Set Radio and Sonic Adventure 2 and each of these games have been shown off in the trailer which can be seen below.
What is most interesting about this video is that it has revealed that Sonic Adventure 2 and NiGHTS: into Dreams both will be released in October at some point. As for Jet Set Radio, it was already known that the game will be released on the PlayStation Plus on September 11th while everyone else will be getting it on the 18th or 19th depending on their console, while Vita gamers have to wait until October 16th.
It seems that a small amount of Resident Evil 6 copies have been stolen somewhere in Europe and now the thieves who somehow acquired the games are now selling them. Originally it was thought that a retailer in Poland had simply broken street date by a month but Capcom has confirmed that these games were actually stolen.
In a statement to Eurogamer, Capcom stated that they are ” currently undertaking a thorough investigation into reports that Resident Evil 6 is being sold ahead of its official October 2 release date” and at the moment all the company can add is that “it would appear this unfortunate incident is limited to a small quantity of stolen copies of the German USK PlayStation 3 version of the game.” Currently a copy of the title is on eBay, though who knows how long that will legitimately stay up at this point.
Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted 3D Studio: Dreamworks Publisher: Paramount Pictures Format:Cinema Release Date: September 13, 2012
Overview
Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted is the latest in the Madagascar film franchise. The CGI film follows a the story of Alex the Lion and his fellow Zoo escapees as they travel around Europe to both avoid capture from the menacing racist stereotype and to secure a path back to New York and their home at the Zoo. As a comedy film, this movie is supposed to deliver on laughs as well as provide a cohesive narrative that makes sense within it’s world.
Does the film deliver on it’s premise? Read on to find out.
Story
Madagascar 3 follows the primary cast of the Madagascar franchise, which seem to feature: A Lion, a Zebra, A Hippo, A Giraffe and a multitude of other characters, such as Penguins and Monkeys, as they try to find their way back to their home Zoo in the city of New York. This adventure of theirs takes them on a journey through Paris and after some initial trouble, join a circus.
The story of the film has a fairly approachable premise and can be enjoyed without seeing the previous films. However, I’d say that if you’ve seen the previous films, you will probably find this film slightly more enjoyable than if you had not seen them. For instance, I haven’t seen a Madagascar film beyond the first one and I had no idea why the stuff happening at the beginning of the film was even happening for. Why were these animals trying to get back to the city, why is there an Oceans 11 reference? Luckily, this is all explained in the film.
What I -really- didn’t like about this film was that it relied far too much on the comedy to drive the story, rather than combining the elements more subtly. Throughout most of the film it felt like I was being forced to laugh, rather than having the film approach me in an amusing manner. “OH HEY HE’S USING A BANANA MACHINEGUN, LAUGH PERSON IN THE AUDIENCE, LAUGH. IT’S FUNNY BECAUSE IT’S A MATRIX REFERENCE WITH BANANAS”. Some people will probably like that, however to me it just felt like it was really forcing laughs for no other reason than to have the team do something funny to make the story go onto the next bit that the team will use comedy to escape from.
To be honest, the movie went on with that formula right up until near the end when suddenly there’s this emotional scene that’s supposed to resonate with the audience. However, what I took from that scene was that it was some kind of forced scene that didn’t fit in with the rest of the film. When you’ve set up an entire film to go a certain way, it’s a bit odd when there’s a scene or two that does not fit that mould. The reason for this, I feel, is that going from something as intense as laughter, to something as differently intense, like sympathy, is much harder to do when you believe that everything is supposed to go one way.
Overall the story has a pretty decent arc that entertained the audience. Was it as laugh out loud as the film plays itself up to be? Not really. However, some people did actually laugh in a few spots, so maybe I’m the odd one out (unlikely).
Visuals
Before I talk about the visuals, I want to point something out about the version of the film that we were shown. In this version, we were shown the 3D edition of the film, so it may just be that the 2D version is much more vibrant than the 3D version.
For those who have yet to witness anything about the Madagascar series, you will quickly realise that this is a CGI film featuring animals that have the voices of humans. Now with CGI, it is possible to make impossible things happen to possible things in a way that would not be possible in reality. Things like an aeroplane helicopter thing that would not fly under any kind of realistic circumstances.
However, I did find that even with the 3D glasses on, the movie was still quite vibrant and pretty. And as anyone who has seen my Quakelive config will tell you, I like bright and pretty. However, this is no more prevalent than towards the end of the movie where the cast has seemingly created some kind of neon-circus that is incredibly glowy and awesome. If I owned a circus, it’d look like that one featured in the film.
Audio
In this film, at least in a cinema, there wasn’t really any point that I could complain about with the films audio quality. Also, some of the songs featured in the film were quite amusing, especially Afro Circus, Polkka Dot. However, this does not mean that there were not some faults.
The first fault I want to talk about are some of the forced jokes. I don’t know why, but it really felt like a lot of the jokes were being told just because someone told the writing staff to be a little more funny. As someone who writes for a living, I can attest to how easy it is to write a bad joke under pressure to be funny. As an accurate example, pay attention to some of the community written Cracked.com articles.
The second and more prevalent of the faults are the overuse of the Emperor/King dudes songs. He -really- needs some new content, I mean, I’m pretty sure he sang all those songs in the first movie. Apart from his terrible songs, the rest of the films insert songs are pretty awesome. I particularly liked where they stuck in Katy Perry’s ‘Firework’.
Overall
Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted is probably an entertaining comedy for people that are into that kind of thing. I, however, was not amused by the movies reliance on comedy to push the story and will likely not be watching this film again. Fans of the series will definitely think the opposite of me as it’s filled with the kinds of things that they’d like based on the previous films.
GOSICK Collection 1 Studio: Bones Publisher:Madman Entertainment Format: DVD (Subtitles Only) Release Date: July 4, 2012 Price: $59.95 – Available Here
Overview: What is it about mysteries that captivate us? Why do we as a species find that mystical unknown so curious? GOSICK is an anime series that focuses on this concept. From the very get go, we’re asked, why do we seek answers for questions? Just like the students creating their own answers for the mystery of the new exchange student, we try to figure out the answer to the mysteries that GOSICK gives to us. So let me ask you, why do we so search for answers? Why must a mystery be solved? This is the mystery of GOSICK.
Story:
The set-up for GOSICK is relatively complicated despite the fact that it holds nearly all it’s cards close to it’s chest in the early going, leaving everything (that’s right you guessed it) a mystery.
We begin with a new student having moved from Japan to the fictional and vaguely European country of Saubure. The student is named Kazuya Kujo or as the student body has dubbed him ‘The Black Reaper’. Kujo finds himself unfairly ostracised by the rest of the students at the school as they believe him to be ‘a traveller who brings death’ as mentioned in some local folklore. It’s really just these kids giving the foreigner a story, because to them he is a mystery. They don’t want to know him, because they fear him, but at the very same time they are curious about him, because they don’t know him. That is the nature of a mystery. It’s not a mystery if someone isn’t trying to solve it right?
Kujo eventually meets a mysterious doll-like genius girl by the name of Victorique. She has a brilliant mind, but doesn’t seem to get outside too much. Kujo soon becomes swept up by her ‘mystery’. He wants to know more about her, but she’s a hard case to crack. Thus sets up the series premise, two enigmatic characters team up to solve enigmatic mysteries in a Gothic/Victorian styled setting. The best part of this is that it feels so organic and natural, it does not once feel forced and the characters are developed enough for us to take a genuine interest. Not only are the mysteries they tackle captivating but the mystery of these characters themselves is as equally spellbinding.
As you can imagine the series implements a mystery of the week structure, with every episode or few episodes featuring a mystery for the enigmatic duo to solve. It’s a proven formula that works and in GOSICK it’s no different. If you love cleverly composed mystery stories with excellent characterisation and writing, then GOSICK will be nothing but a joy to watch for you. It is addictive in nature and just keeps throwing mystery after mystery at viewers and begs them to solve it alongside Victorique and Kujo. It’s all so simply yet oh so clever.
Visuals and Audio:
GOSICK is a series that looks absolutely gorgeous. It’s visuals are very nuanced and imaginative and really bring life to the country of Saubure and it’s inhabitants. The most impressive part of GOSICK’s artstyle though is how incredibly varied it is, while never once missing a beat. The setting may change quite often but regardless of how different each may be they are each as detailed and imaginative as the last. Which is an impressive feat in and of itself. Not just that but the character designs are excellent. They are very unique and undoubtedly memorable (particularly that of Victorique).
Unfortunately the audio is a real misstep. More often than not the soundtrack seems incredibly poorly timed and sadly not very well composed. It just doesn’t ever feel like it truly fits the action playing out on screen. It’s almost superfluous to it even. Some scenes would play so much better without the disruption of the forced backing tracks. While the incidental music leaves a lot to be desired the opening and ending theme songs fit the series perfectly. I particularly grew fond of the opening theme throughout this collection.
One last qualm I must mention however is that this release only features a Japanese language audio track. That means there is no English dub on this release which of course can make this a deal breaker for some. But of course the purists out there should have no problem with that. If you prefer watching your anime in English unfortunately this particular release of GOSICK is lacking that. As you may or may not know this is one of Madman’s sped-up releases and much like the also recently released Blue Exorcist, is getting a sub only release with a dub release some point down the track. So if you can handle waiting for the complete release, do so.
Extras:
Disappointingly GOSICK Collection 1 is incredibly light on bonus features. There is a reversible cover for the case, some trailers, promo videos and of course textless opening and ending theme music videos. This is all standard stuff and for those of you disappointed by the lack of an English dub on this release I don’t imagine the lack of special features is going to give you any reason to not just wait for the eventual dubbed release.
Overall:
GOSICK is an enigma. There is something so unbelievably addictive and captivating about it, that just takes grasp of you and doesn’t let you go. It is a mystery and you will want to solve it. But as much as you want to, you won’t just yet. There is still a whole other collection left for that.
So what exactly is it about mysteries that we find so engaging? Well it’s simple really, we all want that intangible ‘something’ that exists outside of our immediate understanding. We want to know that which we do not already know. GOSICK dangles those intangible ‘somethings’ in front of viewers constantly and that’s part of what makes it so engrossing. We don’t know what that ‘something’ is, but it’s the search for that magical unknown entity that we simply cannot resist. GOSICK understands this. GOSICK is this. Give in to that unknown. Give in to GOSICK.
Superbot Entertainment are announcing characters left right and centre as another two characters have been revealed for Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale. Nariko (Heavenly Sword) and Sir Daniel Fortesque (MediEvil) are the two latest character reveals. While they are both swordplay masters, where their character uses the sword as a primary weapon, they do offer a range of attacks, as with the other characters. They both received a character trailer over the weekend, which can be seen below. Nariko and Sir Daniel wrap up a week where four characters were revealed. Evil Cole (inFamous, the trailer is below) and Raiden (Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance) were also announced over the week.
Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale will be released for the Playstation 3 and Playstation Vita during the week of November 20 (North American release date) in the West, a one month delay from the original release week of October 22. The exception is Japan, who receive Playstation All-Stars on November 8. Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale will feature Cross Play with both versions of the game as well as being the first game to be released under the Cross Buy promotion, where one version is free with purchase of the other version.
Ubisoft’s ZombiU just keeps turning up the tempo. With every trailer released the Wii U exclusive shows off more brutality, more scares, and more on edge survival. This time around it’s an escape from Buckingham Palace, arriving with a packshot for the game in tow.
It’s not that there was any doubt as to the intended audience for this title, but seeing what’s going to be sitting on store shelves certainly hammers home the slightly more ‘adult’ than usual target that Zombi U hopes to ensare onto Nintendo’s fresh hardware.
There’s certainly a growing emphasis on the London setting of the game, with one of the Palace Guards even gracing the cover- will the royal family be making an appearance in another scandalous outing?
Make sure and check out the latest video below for the latest dose of ZombiU action.
Welcome to the eleventh episode of CC Powerslam, Capsule Computers Wrestling Podcast! In our eleventh episode, the CC Crew discuss the aftermath of WWE’s Summerslam PPV.
Cast: Luke Halliday, Philip Federico and Dustin Spencer
Namco Bandai has chosen to do something almost unheard of in today’s world of gaming. They are actually offering a service that will “track personal statistics against the world, create and manage teams with friends, compete in online events and discuss intricate strategies” for absolutely nothing! Remember when this used to be something that companies used to do before laying down a price on everything?
Well Namco Bandai is going to be offering the World Tekken Federation for free with every new copy of Tekken Tag Tournament 2 and players can link their Xbox Live gamertag and PSN account to the service and track their stats in real-time. As for the game itself, Tekken Tag Tournament 2 will be released in North America on September 11th while Australia will be getting it on September 14th on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and a later release on the Wii U.
The next little vignette in Halo 4’s video series, “Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn” has been revealed and those eager to view it can check it out below. This time around we see a short minute and a half clip of two recruits preparing for the next day’s cryo sleep, however for one of these soldiers it is his very first time.
In an attempt to settle his nerves, he asks his roommate about what cryo sleep feels like, and from what she tells him, I don’t think he is going to be sleeping well on that night. Those interested in checking out the very first full episode of Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn will have to wait until October 5th when the first episode kicks off.
Ubisoft’s ZombiU just keeps turning up the tempo. With every trailer released the Wii U exclusive shows off more brutality, more scares, and more on edge survival. This time around it’s an escape from Buckingham Palace, arriving with a packshot for the game in tow.
