Earlier this year Elite had to remove its Retro Games from the App Store due to some ownership issues of the game Tales of the Unknown. However, you’ll be pleased to note that Summer Games, a game that was previously included in Retro Games, will be re-released for the iOS on the 20th of July 2012, one week before the opening of the summer London Olympic Games.
Not only will you get Summer Games when you buy the app, but also another nine 8-bit home computer classic games for FREE. And each month more classic 8-bit games will be added as in-app purchases, going up to 100 games in total.
So what are you waiting for? If you’re an 8-bit fan and would like to venture back to a time when games were more charming and not as easy to tell what you are looking at, then make sure to head on over to the App Store and buy Retro Games!
Retro Games will be available on the App Store on July 20, with three different versions. There is Retro Games for the iPhone, Retro Games HD for the iPad, (which will both be $0.99) and Retro Games Free for the iPhone.
Project Zero 2: Wii Edition Developer: Tecmo Koei Publisher: Nintendo Platforms: Wii Release Date: June 28, 2012 Price: $79.95
Overview
Project Zero 2, or Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly, is a game that originally came out in 2003 on Playstation 2, with a ‘director’s cut’ released on Xbox in 2004, and finally now in 2012 for Wii. It has been acknowledged as one of the scariest horror games, which is no surprise given that it is done in the Japanese horror style. So how does it compare in this remake? Does the Wii help or hinder this game?
Gameplay
Project Zero 2 has the same basic storyline as it’s predecessors, with you playing as Mio, who follows her twin Mayu to find a hidden village that is full of spooky happenings and ghosts around every corner. Why they don’t immediately turn and run away is beyond me, but then if every character in a horror game or movie paid attention to logic and fear then it would end five minutes in.
You are both put up against a whole bunch of ghosts, with the only weapon you have to fight them being a Camera Obscura, which exorcises any ghosts you take pictures of. And you don’t just have to take one picture, you have to get them in your viewfinder, wait for your Spirit Charge to fill up, and then take a photo. That will take a certain amount of energy off them, and then you have to keep going until you take all their energy off, which can take a while if you’re going up against a strong ghost. One upside is you can catch a few different ghosts at the same time if you line them up right, and when you’ve got a few villager types after you this is extremely handy.
The controls are fairly simple to pick up, even though the tutorial drags through them slowly and the wording is a bit confusing at times. Once you’re half an hour in the gameplay controls should be easy enough to understand, but using them is another story entirely. As per usual with the Wii controls, you’ll find that trying to move the camera, or the character, is a little like trying to describe a Renaissance painting to a blind person. You can sort of get there, in a vague sort of way, but it’s utterly frustrating and you’ll often just end up cursing at the screen.
Given that the game is made up of tense, high stress moments, the last thing you want is to have a drifting controller. This is aggravated by the fact that you can aim your camera with your nunchuck as well as your remote, so you have to constantly check yourself to ensure that you are aiming it the right way. And when a ghost is bearing down on you, moaning, while your remote vibrates in your hand in a panic, that gets a bit much. But in a totally awesome way. Unless your controller is being frustrating, in which case any fear you might be feeling is overcome with frustration.
There are a few save points, but not until you start exploring the entire village. You’ll definitely want to keep saving once you finish important events. Especially since the suspenseful slow pace of the game means that you can’t just skip through things quickly. I mean, she takes five seconds with each action she does, as the game builds up the suspense of ‘ooo is there a ghost behind this?’. And in terms of suspense building it works, but not when you’re playing it the second time through.
There is also a Haunted House mode that can be played with two players. This involves three on-rails type of games and the aim of them is to make it through sections collecting items and taking photographs, without showing fear. And before you wonder how a Wii detects fear, it’s done by how much you shake the controller. Which, even hearing the instructions, is setting itself up for failure. In playing through the game the issues become glaringly obvious, but it’s a fun thing to play through with a friend, and certainly could be improved with better controls.
Visuals
This is not a game you want to play if you get scared by the horror genre. The game immerses you immediately, and the cut scenes just serve to add to the tension. The graphics are quite well done, and it feels like a Japanese horror film, with a couple of scare moments, and an overall spooky feel. They’ve certainly carried off the horror part ridiculously well.
One issue I had is that it is extremely frustrating to change the camera angle. You can only really do so very slightly and with great pains.
Audio
The soundtrack does well to build up the tension as well, with an overall creepiness to it, and the moaning and wailing from the ghosts. When you’re in battle with a ghost you better find a way to lighten that tension or distract yourself, or you’ll find yourself gripping that Wii remote for dear life. Not only is there the ghost wails, the background music, but also a heart beat, and a vibration on the Wii remote to make sure you can really feel and hear it everywhere.
There are times that the music gets a bit much though, since every time that Mio does anything, including opening a door to an empty room, the same suspenseful sound byte is played. After a whole bunch of actions that result in the same sound it does get a bit old, but when it is set to something actually happening it works really well.
The characters talk in a dubbed overly English accent, which is a bit funny to listen to at the beginning but you get used to it over time.
Overall
Project Zero 2 is a game that certainly deserved a remake, for those who didn’t get to play it the first time around. The remake has updated features that help a bit with its user friendliness, however the controls let the game down and detract from what is otherwise a thoroughly immersive experience.
If you were a fan of the original, or just a general horror genre fan, this is definitely a game you should look at getting. As long as you can be patient with the controls, that is.
Make up an excuse to tell your landlord, be prepared for second and third notice bills in the mail, reduce your diet to two-minute noodles and water, and let your wallet perform stretches in anticipation of the workout it’s about to receive: Steam have started their massive half-yearly sale.
For a week or so in July and December, Steam give pretty much all their prices a good slashing. Right now, you can pick up fantastic titles for under five bucks each, including Half Life 2, Portal 2, Darksiders, Star Wars: Force Unleashed II and Trine 2.
Or save up to 75% on a range of recent releases, including Rayman Origins, Skyrim, Modern Warfare 3, Back to The Future and Total War: Shogun 2. OR pay even less when you buy a bulk pack, with companies like Ubisoft, 2K, THQ and id Software offering packs of their best games for crazy discounts.
Keep an eye on the store page over the next week as well, as these prices fluctuate. Steam are giving users the opportunity to vote for which games they’d like to see as featured sales. Every eight hours, the game that receives the most community votes will be made available for 75% off for the next eight hours.
Steam are known for their creative and super successful approach to sales, and I know I’ll be buying more this week than I can play in the next few months.
You may have caught wind yesterday that at the San Diego Comic Con two new fighters were announced for Warner Bros. and NetherRealm’s new fighter, Injustice: Gods Among Us. These fighters were Nightwing and Cyborg.
At the time of announcement we knew only a little bit about how these characters would look but today Warner Bros. released a slew of screenshots featuring these two showing some of their abilities off. Currently Injustice: Gods Among Us is set for release sometime in 2013 on the PS3, 360 and also the Wii U, however those who are at the San Diego Comic-Con convention or will be attending sometime during this week can try out the game at DC’s booth #1915.
Next month, New Super Mario Bros. 2 launches on the 3DS and will bring all of it’s loot with it. We know all about the coin gimmickry in this installment, but Nintendo have now released a trailer to show off the gameplay in action.
It looks like your solid platforming fare with the previously announced coin collecting in tow, but this trailer goes a bit further and shows the new White Tanooki hat power-up, which features the classic run and fly mechanic for players who are stuck in a level. Remember the “P” in Super Mario Bros. 3? Well, it’s like that, but with invincibility. New Super Mario Bros. 2 launches on August 19th for the 3DS.
If you are curious about who will be writing the storyline for the upcoming Tomb Raider reboot, then you may be happy to hear that the person taking the role as lead writer is none other than Rhianna Pratchet.
Some of you may know Pratchet’s work with games such as Heavenly Sword and Mirror’s Edge. Pratchet is a big fan of the original Tomb Raider series, stating that she grew up with the series. She went on to say that “Seldom do we get the opportunity to re-imagine and reinvent a legend, so getting my narrative hands on Miss Croft was a once-in-a-life-time opportunity. It was going back to the genesis of videogame action heroines and exploring how to make such an iconic character meaningful and relatable for gamers today.”
We are now in week two of Nintendo’s 8-Bit Summer, and Ninty have got quite a lot to offer this week in their download scene. The two most notable are Kirby’s Pinball Land and Sword of Hope II, which both seen life on the original Game Boy. Now, Kirby’s Pinball Land is pretty self-explanatory for all of the unfamiliar, and features three tables based on the Dream Land universe, with all of those classic foes in tow. Sword of Hope II came out a bit late for the platform, and is a very classic take on an adventure-RPG, with a young Prince Theo of Riccar trekking out to save a Kingdom. Kirby’s Pinball is priced at $3.99, while Sword of Hope II is a buck lower at $2.99.
Johnny Kung Fu is priced at $5.99, featuring a Donkey Kong/Game & Watch game design blended with beat-em up mechanics. It’s definitely worth a look for those of you with a retro tooth, and was published by UFO Interactive.
Do you like Japanese School Girls and blackjack? Well, you’ll be happy to know that Sweet Memories: Blackjack offers both, featuring anime characters that the player can learn more about as they play their hands. It’s a unique game, and a cheap one at that as this 3D hybrid is only $3.99.
For $1.99, strategy fans can now get their hands on Candle Route, which boasts some waxy, crayon visuals and over 100 levels. Also for the same price (and DSi platform) comes Ace Mathician, which is a learning title with a twist, and lets players assist a Koala in gaining fruit by solving math problems.
For the Wii, Frogger: Hyper Arcade Edition has landed on the Wiiware for 700 points, offering a much more updated take on the classic with up to four player street-crossing action and plenty of new modes. Finally, the SNK classic The King of Fighters ’96 has hit the Virtual Console for 900 points.
Mighty Switch Force is back yet again though, and this time it’s on sale for a much lower $2.99 price tag. After the recent DLC we got for free just a couple weeks ago, this may be the best three dollars you can spend on the eShop at the moment as this is an amazing deal for an utterly brilliant game. Offer is valid from 9 a.m. Pacific time on Friday, July 13, through 9 p.m. Pacific time on Sunday, July 15.
Yes, another jam-packed week for the eShop yet again. What do you plan on splurging those points on?
Remember when the 3DS was in a slump? Well, that is a distant memory now, as Nintendo have now revealed that the 3DS has sold over 5 Million units to date in the United States alone. Not too shabby at all, considering many called the handheld a “doomed” device.
Here an official statement from the big “N” themselves on this landmark:
“Nintendo 3DS is entering the next phase of its life cycle with new hardware, new games and proven franchises. This milestone shows we’ve got a great foundation to build from,” said Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “The game lineup for Nintendo 3DS last holiday season was one of the strongest in our history. We’re poised to top it this year. Every week, gamers will have the best franchises in the world in a glasses-free 3D experience that can’t be found anywhere else. Add Wii U into the mix and it’s a great time to be a Nintendo fan.”
As many of you know, the 3DS XL is due out next month, along with New Super Mario Bros. 2, which should see these numbers rise even greater. On top of those releases, both Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon and Paper Mario: Sticker Star are prepared to lead the 3DS’ software for the holiday, which makes it a great time to invest in the glasses free platform.
Welcome to Capsule Computers’ weekly anime segment, Anime Say! This week, I reveal my Top 3 Anime of Spring 2012 as well as what I am following in Summer 2012.
Got any questions for Anime Say? You can send me a tweet on my official twitter or alternatively drop me an email at [email protected]. I will do my best to respond to your tweets and emails as well as try read some out on the show.
What do you think of the latest episode of Anime Say? Let us know in the comments section below.
You have to admit, there probably hasn’t been a better use of the song “Wimoweh” than how it was used in the trailer that can be seen below. The trailer itself features plenty of action, explosions, a bit of gameplay but mostly some good ol’ fashioned humor.
This trailer is probably one of the best ones we’ve seen for Borderlands 2 so far and with the game’s release set for September 11th, we will probably see at least a few more of them before the game hits store shelves. It is worth noting that those who do pre-order the game will receive a number of bonuses however, so don’t sit there with your money in your wallet, go drop a bit of cash on it and secure yourself a return trip to Pandora.
Welcome to Capsule Computers’ weekly anime segment, Anime Say! This week, I reveal my Top 3 Anime of Spring 2012 as well as what I am following in Summer 2012.