We recently posted news that international chart topping rock band Linkin Park would be once again providing a song for the Medal of Honor franchise. This time the song is ‘Castle of Glass’ and the game is Medal of Honor: Warfighter.
EA Games have now released a brand new trailer showing behind the scenes of the amazing collaboration that is sure to excite fans of both Linkin Park and Medal of Honor.
The behind the scenes video which can be seen below, features Mike Shinoda and Chester Bennington of Linkin Park discussing the collaboration and what they hope to achieve with it. Let us know what you think in the comments section.
Puella Magi Madoka Magica is not your standard Magical Girl (Mahou Shoujo) series. It takes the elements of a Magical Girl show and then does a complete 180degree spin on it’s tone and direction. The result is a series that may irk some viewers, but has ultimately led it to an incredibly large fanbase. Also Kyubei is awesome.
Story
Puella Magic Madoka Magica is a series that centers around the lives of a few middleschool girls that accidentally become involved with the world of Magical Girls and Witches. By the beginning of the second volume, they’ve become deeply invested into this world that they have only just found out about.
There is a small amount of assumed knowledge on the audience with this being the second disc of a 12 episode series of episodes that tell a story across a multiple episode arc, so new viewers to the series will probably not want to start with this disc. But for those of you who do I shall give you some of the assumed knowledge you need right here. *spoilers*The two female leads need to make a wish to become Magical Girls and they still have not made that wish despite it being a fairly long time frame between receiving the wish and also their friend and Magical Girl trainer Mami is dead *end spoilers*.
This series is probably one of the few series on any medium where I have consistently yelled at my monitor for the characters doing something completely stupid. I have also yelled at my screen for the girls constantly saying ‘Magical Girl’ at least once per sentence. If there was a counter in the series for each time the phrase had been uttered, it would be at a pretty high point by this time.
However, other than those negatives, this disc is actually where the story starts becoming interesting. The series seems to have moved away from a happy and charming feel and has moved towards more of what the opposite of what a Magical Girl series should be. There is a lot of dark themes this time around, but it isn’t until the eighth episode that they show finally shows it’s true colours and becomes it’s most interesting. Also, Kyubei is an awesomely Lawful Evil cat. Love that troll.
Visuals
Puella Magic Madoka Magica is a very mixed bag when it comes to the visuals. On the one hand, the characters and often times, even the animation can be quite lacking. But on the other, you have these amazingly beautiful battle scenes that are pure bliss.
I found that as the disc progressed, the tones and animation increased in complexity. For instance, as the story became darker and darker, so too did the animation style. having the animation reflect the story is something that I feel is important for an Anime series to convey, and this one starts doing it well by around the mid-point of this disc.
And that brings me to one of my biggest problems with the series. It takes so long to start becoming good visually outside of the battles. I know that this is a review for the second disc, but it’s the second disc of a whole and if it’s taking 7 episodes to reach some kind of visual equilibrium across the series, then you’re doing something wrong. On it’s own though, volume 2 is incredibly strong visually… with exception to that one scene where they’re sitting in a cafe and their heads make them look like Donkey Kong.
Leaving this section on a high note, let’s talk about those battles. Fans of the series will already know how they look and feel, but I feel that this disc blends in the unique look of a Witch battle with the dark tone that the series has headed down quite well. Opposing that, we have the battles between then Magical Girls themselves outside of the Witches dimensions that seem to get pretty hardcore. The battles in this series are easily its biggest asset.
Audio
The audio in Puella Magi Madoka Magica is probably one of it’s strongest points. In this particular volume we have had some amazing audible moments, particularly where the score is concerned.
For instance, in many scenes, the background score is highly noticeable and adds an amazing emphasis to what you’re seeing on screen. This is especially prevalent in the action scenes and some of the chaotic moments towards the end of the disc.
Many people already hate me for saying this, but I preferred listening to the English dub over the Japanese dub with subtitles. The reason for this is that the Japanese voice actors have this insane ability to shriek whilst talking when portraying younger characters, which Madoka Magica is full of, and as a result of this, I had incredibly sore ears after listening to it. The English dub however, is much less shrieky and cutesy, leaving my ears feeling unmolested.
I want to end this section with the following message: The ending theme is awesome! Much love for it!
Extras
Unfortunately for anyone expecting a massive list of Special Features from this series you will be disappointed in the incredibly lacking extras section. On the entire disc I could only find the usual Madman trailers and a clean opening sequence. I suppose that this is kind of average, but, a series with as large a following as this one would probably have been satisfied with just a little bit more.
Overall
Puella Magi Madoka Magica is finally becoming interesting enough to warrant a purchase. Whilst the show still has some issues that stop it from being perfect, namely in the visuals and story, the amazing soundtrack more than makes up for this. Also the dub is pretty good… don’t watch the Japanese audio track if you’re adverse to shrieking schoolgirls and bleeding eardrums.
I’d have to say that if you were put off by the show in the first four episodes, it probably isn’t worth your time to continue watching this series into this disc. However, if you found even a little enjoyment from this, definitely continue into this disc as the show becomes a whole lot better.
This weekend on the 11th of August, EBGames will be holding their Coins Rush event for 40 of Mario’s biggest fans. The day will begin with a Coin hunt throughout the city (hope no passerby’s find them, bling) and will also have some fun gameplay challenges and an opportunity to win prizes and streetpass with other gamers present on the day.
There are also some amazing prizes. Players will be split into teams and will be participating for the chance to win a 3DSXL and New Super Mario Bros 2 for each member of the team.
Here are the locations and times for interested parties –
The Coin Rush will start at 10am from EB Games locations in the following cities:
1. Melbourne: EB Games: 67 Swanston Street Melbourne 3000
2. Sydney: EB Games: 76-81 Bay Street Ultimo NSW 2007
3. Brisbane: EB Games: 245 Albert Street, Brisbane QLD 4000
Hopefully there is a decent turnout and everyone gets a plethora of Streetpass hits. Edit: The 40 participants have already been selected, anyone else that turns up will be a spectator only.
Today Tecmo Koei in North America had a few things to show off. Before we get into the juicy bits, they revealed the North American version of the Dead or Alive 5 box art which can be seen to the right. It is interesting to note that the box art is nearly entirely the same as the Australian box art, however rather than featuring both Kasumi and Ayane standing in the center, with Kasumi in-front of Ayane, it only features Ayane in a fighting pose.
Now what about those special Collector’s Edition swimsuits that will only be available for those who happen to buy the Collector’s Edition version of Dead or Alive 5? Well today Tecmo Koei revealed the first images of these swimsuits which can be seen below. It is worth noting that these pictures can be clicked to be seen in full definition and that the Collector’s Edition will cost $79.99 and include a number of other bonuses such as a steel case, an art book, poster and even a soundtrack.
Update: Tecmo Koei had a minor issue with the North American box art released yesterday and have since revised it to include Kasumi, making the box arts the same for both regions mentioned above.
Symphony Developer: Empty Clip Studios Publisher: Empty Clip Studios Platforms: PC Release Date: August 6, 2012 Price: $9.99 Buy it Here
Overview
Symphony is a music driven vertical shooter in the similar vein of indie darlings Audio Surf and Beat Hazard. Like these games, Symphony uses the user imported tracks to create unique levels. Symphony also adds RPG styled items and upgrade system, creating unique items with each song that can be equipped on player ships. Is this enough to set Symphony apart from its predecessors?
Story
Symphony has a very simple plot. A demon has captured the Symphony of Souls and is absorbing music to take over this universe. Players will need to battle demons found randomly in Symphony’s levels and free the Symphony of Souls.
I personally found the plot a little thin. Although the story is not the star of the show by any means, I found myself longing for more explanation. The evil entity mocks me, taunts me, and even bargains with me; however I am left wishing for more. On one hand, the fact a game of this genre actually includes a story is impressive, especially since the plot makes great use of the whole use your own music deal. However, in the end it the plot feels like a last minute afterthought that deserves to be more fleshed out.
Gameplay
Symphony is a vertical shooter that has taken inspiration from such games as Rez, Children of Eden, and 1942. Players can either choose music from the healthy sized Symphony soundtrack or provide their own music. I was caught off guard as there was no options section in the first main screen of the game. To reach the options, players need to start a new game, scan their music files before they can access the games options. I found this was a little strange. The first thing the game does is to scan the computer for audio files and quickly creates a library. I did not have to set anything up, although there are options that can be accessed later to tweak and adjust the folders scanned. Considering the hefty music library I keep on my computer, this process was done quickly. I soon discovered upon loading up the game that the actual analysis of the track is done before a track is played, although this adds a few second pause before a level is loaded, this cuts down on the initial load time. There are two main filters and two sub-filters. First of all, it is possible to view every single song in the library. For those with larger music libraries will quickly want to switch to either the “Filter by Artist” or “Filter by Album” section to chop down the list to a more manageable size. One filter I wish was added was a “Filter by Album Artist” as I found filtering only by artist meant songs featuring another artist in the Artist tag would be separated from the rest of the songs by that artist. In addition to filtering by Album and Artist, players are able to filter by All items and Owned Items. The All Items filter shows all items discovered by completing a song’s level and Owned Items shows all the items purchased.
Once a song is selected, the game will analyze the track momentarily and generate a unique level. The game is broken down into three colour coded states. Blue state represents a lull in the song, purple state represents the transition between the lull and the crescendo, and red state represents the most intense portions of a song. Enemy movements, aggression, and spawn levels rise and fall according to the state of the music.
Symphony has six difficulty levels, ranging from “Pianissimo” or very soft to “Fortissimo” to very strong. In the beginning, only Pianissimo will be unlocked, but as pages of the Symphony of Souls are rescued, more difficulties will be unlocked. The difficulty ramps up extremely well. Consistently reaching all goals for one difficulty level means reaching the first goal for the next highest difficulty level should provide a mild challenge for the most part. As the game progresses, new mini bosses are introduced, each with their own behaviours. The variety of mini bosses provides much appreciated variety in Symphony. The Demons that serve as level bosses have a variety of behaviours too. You will fight each demon type three times in a row before a different, more challenging variant appears. Having a Demon spawn in the level will cause the final score to not count towards the leaderboard, but in return the level will provide almost an additional 100,000 Inspiration for the level.
The in game currency for Symphony is Inspiration and Kudos. Inspiration is earned from the scored achieved in a level. Kudos however is a set reward based on reaching two possible milestones in a level set out by the difficulty of the level. The higher the difficulty, the more Kudos earned. To unlock a weapon usually ranges around 70,000 Inspiration. Upgrades will require a set amount of Kudos and Inspiration to purchase. Each song unlocks an item. The player’s ship has four weapon slots that can be equipped. Although I had the impression each item would be 100 percent randomly generated in the vein of Diablo, it turns out each level provides a random weapon. Most of the time, they will be exactly the same as similar named weapons, however, once in a while a rare item will drop that will have a marked visual difference and a power buff. Although there are a large variety of weapons and items that can be found in Symphony, I did not appreciate finding the exact same Shotgun for the thirtieth time after pouring hours into the game.
The controls are incredibly well thought out in Symphony. Weapons can be set to auto fire constantly, toggled by clicking either the left of right mouse button to auto fire, or can be fired by pressing and holding one of the mouse buttons. Some weapons are best saved to be shot at the correct time while others are best spammed. This control scheme makes incredible amount of sense. Symphony is an incredibly well polished and tightly balanced gameplay experience.
Visuals
Symphony is a beautiful game that takes great inspiration from Rez, Child of Eden, and Geometry Wars. A game in full swing is a beautiful example of frantic chaos in action. The game runs extremely smoothly with no visual hiccups, frame drops, or slowdowns. The enemies have varied looks that can be quickly identified. I appreciated the colour coded system to represent the intensity of the music. However my only gripe is the fact missiles are depicted as a reddish orange colour. Once the action hits the red phase, I found it extremely difficult to spot the incoming missiles. I would prefer to see the missiles set to a different and more obvious colour. Overall, Symphony is an incredible visual experience that fuses well with the music.
Audio
Symphony ships with a strong soundtrack of the top indie artists in a variety of genres in addition to providing the opportunity to add your own music. The library of sound effects for weapons firing, ships exploding, demons talking, music being tweaked is extensive. There are also very generous settings to tweak the balance of sound effects and music in Symphony. I personally found the default setting of “+30 sound effects” to heavily overpower the music and eventually found my happy balance at “+30 percent music”. Symphony’s audio quality is spot on and does not fail to impress.
Overall
Symphony’s retail release is an incredible game. It is little wonder why it impressed the judges at the Indie Game Challenge. The game is perfectly balanced in its difficulty and its fusion of an audio/visual experience. There are some minor gripes that include a story that feels like an afterthought and a need for a more obvious coloured missile. However, it is an absolute pleasure to lean back and watch Symphony in action. Watching enemies move in the beat of the music and follow the intensity of the music is an absolute pleasure. For $9.99, Symphony is priced spot on and a must buy for any fan of music or vertical shooters.
If playing Worms on your Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PC, Mac, iPhone, DS or PSP wasn’t quite enough yet, well… maybe more Worms isn’t the best course of action. Seek help.
For the rest of us, the deadly dirt-dwellers have found a new platform to host their squishy warfare: Facebook. The beta has just opened, and Team 17 are inviting interested players to try it out, before it goes properly public later this year. Follow the link to join up.
Best played in hot-seat fashion, Worms was always a social kind of game anyway, but the Facebook version implements mechanics that seem to be shoehorned into anything adapted for social media platforms. The video below gives an idea of what to expect: it’s pretty much the classic 2D gameplay, with things like experience points and coins to be earned from kills, and spent on new weapons and customization options.
Sign up and give it a go. It might be a good way to settle Facebook disputes among friends.
Indie Game Challenge award winning game Symphony was released to the public today. The vertical shooter feature unique levels generated by the music file chosen by the user. Each level creates a unique item that players can equip and upgrade. Symphony also includes a full soundtrack full of music from top indie artists spanning from classical to rock music. Each song has a leaderboard allowing players to compete for the top score. Players will have to battle through enemy demons to rescue the “Symphony of Souls” to reclaim their music.
Symphony is available for $9.99 USD across many digital download partners including Desura, GameFly, Origin, Steam, and GOG.com. More information can be found at their website here.
Episode 54 of the Capsule Computers Gaming Podcastis now live. Each week, thanks to Razer, we will be giving away a prize a week competition held through Capsule Computers Gaming Podcast.
To win, simply listen to the podcast EPISODE 54 (download here from iTunes) for the weekly question and SPECIAL CODE, once you have it send us an email with the Special Code, your name and full address to[email protected].
At the end of the week, a winner will be randomly selected from the pool of entries. The winner will then be announced on the next podcast. This week, we’ll be giving away the awesome Razer Electra gaming headphones, thanks to our good friends at Razer. If you have yet to listen to Capsule Computers Gaming Podcast you can do so HERE.
This week’s Competition end on the 12th AUGUST Good luck to all!
Great news for all you God Of War and iFamous fans out there, Sony have announced both the inFamous collection and God Of War Saga will be making their way to the US on the 28th of August priced at only $29.99 each.
Details on both below :
inFamous Collection will include the following :
inFamous
inFamous 2
inFamous: Festival of Blood and extra missions
God Of War Saga will include the following :
God of War
God of War 2
God of War 3
God of War: Origins Collection – God of War: Ghost of Sparta & God of War: Chains of Olympus
Bonus Content and a voucher for a one month trial of Playstation Plus
No details have been provided for when this collection will be available in AU/EURO but we’ll keep you posted once Sony releases further details.
My Little Pony; Friendship is Magic (V2) – That’s What Friends Are For Studio: Hasbro Studios Publisher: Madman Release Date: June 20th, 2012 Price: $19.95 – Available HERE
OVERVIEW
When watching a show like My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic it’s best to not be too self conscious about the show’s original subject matter. It is after all, a children’s TV show about a line of toys intended for young girls, right? Well, the internet in general probably has something to say about that. Following the explosion in popularity that MLP:FiM received after its original airing, calls for DVD collections soon followed. Released in conjunction with the first DVD volume, this second volume of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic continues the stories of Twilight Sparkle and her friends as they solve the various problems around Ponyville, and aim to teach a few simple life lessons along the way. Sound too girly for you? Well man it up, and don’t be too quick to judge a show simply by its cover. Or overabundance of the colour pink.
STORY
Like the first DVD volume of the series, the second collection: ‘That’s What Friends Are For’ features 5 individual episodes that explores the town of Ponyville with its ever colourful lead cast. Unlike the first DVD collection however, this particular volume aims to be far more light-hearted than the first. After the original 2 part origin story arc in the first volume, the plot of the show was later broken down into small tales that can be told and resolved in the space of a single 22 minute episode. Each of these episodes stands individually of each other, and could honestly be aired in any order as a result (making it an ideal cartoon to be aired over the TV). As a result, no viewers should feel obliged to watch the episodes in any particular order.
This time around, the show shifts the focus of the episodes away from Twilight Sparkle and more onto the other significant members of the cast. If a viewer has been watching each of the episodes since the beginning, chances are they’ve already formed an opinion as to which characters are their favourites, as is common with many cartoons. Having the lead cast constantly tackling problems as a group generally means that no characters are given the short end of the stick when it comes to screen time, and so every viewer has a chance to watch their favourite characters.
For example, the episode ‘Dragonshy’ centres around the group of six ponies as they adventure up a mountain to deal with a particularly stubborn and inconsiderate Dragon. This episode focuses mostly on the timid and soft spoken Fluttershy, who, as the wildlife expert, is tasked with taming a fully grown foul-tempered Dragon, which turns out to me a mission she’s not all too comfortable with.
In the episode ‘Boast Busters’ Spike is given the centre spotlight as he tries to talk some confidence into Twilight who begins to doubt herself thanks to the boasting of a travelling magician. After a major mishap thanks to “The-Great-and-Powerful” Trixie’s showing off, Spike needs to teach Twilight that there’s a difference between showing off and using your talents for good, because she’s the only one with the power to stop the town from being stomped flat!
The episode ‘Look Before you Sleep’ pits Applejack’s straight-talking attitude against Rarity’s upper-class sensibilities as the pair’s differences collide to potentially ruin Twilight’s first ever slumber party. The two have to learn to get along and accept one another before they lose their friendships altogether.
In ‘Bridle Gossip’ viewers are introduced to the mysterious Zecora, a Zebra that lives outside of Pony society who has many rumours flying about her due to her solitary lifestyle. After following Zecora to the edge of the forest on the whim of one such rumour, the girls find themselves to have each been ‘cursed’ in a different way. Convinced that Zecora is the cause and against Twilight’s better judgement, the girls set out to make her undo the curse.
In the last episode ‘Swarm of the Century’ Fluttershy happens upon some small insect like creatures that turn out to be more a handful to take care of than she realised. The girls have to rally together to figure out how to get rid of them. Which would be much easier if they didn’t keep multiplying and eating everything. And why is Pinkie Pie so obsessed with collecting all of those instruments?
Each of the stories, in classic MLP fashion, end in a moral lesson of some kind that is expressed in an addressed letter to Twilight’s mentor, the Princess Celestia. While this still might seem like one of the more childish aspects of the show, the lessons learned are usually made subtley, and aren’t shoved down the throats of the viewers. Ultimately they make good life lessons for the “family demographic” and still make relevant points for adults of the modern age. Combined with the genuinely funny writing and surprisingly advanced language use for a kids show, it really can define itself as a “show for ALL ages.”
VISUALS AND AUDIO
The second volume carries over a consistent visual standard from the first. The animation is very well drawn and character designs well made. Audiences are introduced to a variety of new environments, each with their own gritty or colourful feel. A lot of animation is devoted to background occurrences and characters, making the world seem more lively, even when the show is focusing on one or two particular characters. And as before, the simple colouring of the art style is simple and enjoyable to appreciate.
The voice acting quality and music is also well appropriated, though I never think I’ll get used to that opening theme song. Upon hearing it, it just feels like an obvious reminder of the childish roots of the show. But that’s a minor complaint that can be easily over looked in the grand scheme of things. Again, due to the high quality of voice acting, and the advanced language use of the characters, it really feels like the show takes the viewership seriously.
OVERALL
It is important to keep in mind that the show’s creators probably didn’t fathom the sort of popular response it would receive from not only young girls, but from a large collection of audiences in general. Let’s face it, audiences tend to have a very black and white perspective of this series. You either like it, or raise an eyebrow at those that do. I must admit that I originally categorised myself as a member of the latter. But given time, and some patience with some of the more childish themes, the show has grown on me to some extent. Remember that at this point of the show, it was still early days, and the internet fan following had not yet fully emerged. But that doesn’t mean it’s still not enjoyable. The characters are dynamic and well developed past what was introduced in volume 1, and the stories are genuinely fun to watch. However, the ultimate appeal of this show as a whole will come down to how willing you are to sit through a few kid’s show clichés to truly appreciate it as a fun to watch show.
Today Tecmo Koei in North America had a few things to show off. Before we get into the juicy bits, they revealed the North American version of the Dead or Alive 5 box art which can be seen to the right. It is interesting to note that the box art is nearly entirely the same 
