As many of you may know, Suda51’s games are some of the most unique offerings in the video game industry, but they also happen to do rather poorly when it comes to sales. However it seems that he may have quite a hit on his hands as Grasshopper Manufacture’s Lollipop Chainsaw has shipped over 100,000 units in Japan alone.
To honor this achievement, Kadokawa Games, publisher of the title in Japan, will be holding an event they are calling the “Lollipop Chainsaw Summer Appreciation Festival.” This event will take place at the publisher’s Tokyo offices and both Suda himself and the ever popular Jessica Nigri will be in attendance. Plus you may even get some goodies while you are there, though it is unfortunate that for probably 99.9% of you reading this, there is no way you can actually be there… Either way, it is great news to see that Lollipop Chainsaw is seeing a decent amount of success.
Offering players a chance to put on a different costume for their favorite fighter is always a plus, especially in most 3D fighting games where a different costume really means a new costume, not simply a palette swap. Though if the current trend in costumes is anything to go by, it seems the most popular alternate costumes are pieces of swimwear.
Today Namco Bandai revealed that those who pre-order Tekken Tag Tournament 2 will receive the “big bikini bundle” DLC which will unlock over 100 swimsuits. It is hilariously worth noting that this does include the male cast and even the animals as well. So… a kangaroo with a speedo on perhaps? Well, if that gave you a bad mental image than check out the trailer below, titled “Tekken Bad Girls,” to clear your head.
SuperBot announced last weekend at EVO 2012 that they would be revealing 2 new characters at the San Diego Comic Con. True to their word, SuperBot announced that Cole McGrath and Jak & Daxter would be joining the All-Star roster.
As many of you probably know, Cole is the main character from inFamous, though from the gameplay trailer shown below, it appears that he will only be available as Good Karma Cole so those who preferred being evil in inFamous may be out in the cold on this one. As for Jak & Daxter, it appears that Daxter will be simply a cosmetic choice while Jak will be doing all of the fighting. With PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale’s release date growing closer, who else do you think will be announced before the title’s release on October 23?
Episode 51 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 51 (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 22nd JULY Good luck to all!
The 51st episode of the high-octane, adrenaline pumping super-happy-go-awesome podcast is finally here! This is that one podcast where everything is just amazing and that you all wish that you were actually watching being recorded. So come along and join us for a brilliant time.
Cast: Luke Halliday, Dustin Spencer and Evan Brander-Jones.
Music for this podcast is from Sonic The Hedgehog 2 and The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess.
Thanks for listening and let us know what you think!
Send all your video game or podcast questions, hints, suggestions and feedback to [email protected]
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT
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 for the weekly question and SPECIAL CODE, once you have it send us an email with your name and address to [email protected], make sure you include the secret code. 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.
Thanks for listening. Copyright Capsule Computers Pty Ltd – All Rights Reserved.
All Other Samples Are Copyright And Property Of Their Official Copyright Holders.
Welcome to Capsule Computers’ weekly anime segment, Anime Say! This week, I teamed up with that crazy little imp known as Benjamin ‘LinkageAX’ Webb as we headed the Sydney Manga and Anime Show (SMASH!) for a very special episode of Anime Say!
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.
Karaoke, the act of singing your favourite song without the lyrics in the background. You can do it in private, you can do it with friends and you can even do it in front of strangers in a karaoke bar. In fact, for those who were at SMASH! 2012 it was entirely possible to sing in front of complete strangers. Well, there wasn’t a karaoke bar at the event. Instead, it was a karaoke competition, with the winners receiving vouchers for anime and manga purchases. With karaoke being popular in the Land of the Rising Sun, it was no surprise that it was a Japanese-centric event.
There are two forms of the competition: Singles and Duets. Before the Final itself, all competitors had to go through the Heats, a qualification round of sorts. The heats for the single competition ran for two hours while duets on had an hour on heats. Four heats were reserved for the single competitors while duets only had two, all at 30 minutes each. The field whittled down to two for the final for both single and duet competitions. It was these two for both competitions that would eventually fight in the final.
The final would be held later in the day at the main stage, right before the closing and awards ceremony. The crowd that filled the main stage for cosplay event was long gone, but there were still some hanging around. Not a bad crowd for the four finalists. First up were the single competitors. The first competitor was Lynneal Santos with a rendition of Shounen Yo Ware Ni Kaere from the anime Mawaru-Penguindrum. She sang quite well, with an excellent voice. She was into it as well, which was good. The second contestant, Jennifer, sang Sousei No Aquarion from Genesis of Aquarion. She was excellent as well. The singles final would be a tight one.
The second two spots were the duet finalists. The first duet went out with the song Only My Railgun from one of my favourite animes of all time, Toaru Majutsu No Index. The performance was not bad, but the singing lacked the power it should have had. With that said, their routine was choreographed quite well. As for the second pair, they went with Trust Me from Durarara. The performance, to put it bluntly, was bad. The performers did miss a few of the lyrics often and they read their lyrics from their hands. At the end of it all, the single final was great, but the duet could have been a little better. With that said, it was quite enjoyable and fun.
Riding on the back of our last article on Steampunk, we have been in contact with the ladies that ran the Steampunk Panel and have compiled a list of some great places for people to pick up some nice gear for their costumes. What’s great about a list like this is that is a really good indicator on where to start to find supplies needed to create an incredible costume. I think that both amateurs and professionals would be interested in these locations.
To quote Mel (One of the hosts at the panel) –
In Sydney: Army Surplus & Disposals – there are a few of these around and they’re great for finding things like pouches, holsters, binoculars, compasses…all kinds of things. They’re definitely worth a look. Reverse Garbage – two in Sydney, both are fantastic. A cheap way to source components for gadgets, but they also occasionally sell things like leather offcuts, foam, fabric samples, paint – everything you could need for a steampunk outfit! Gallery Serpentine – heaps of clothing in the Victorian fashion, for both men and women. The best place to source a corset in Sydney (you can even request specific materials, or source your own). You can also find a lot of steampunk-esque shoes, gadgets and jewelry there. http://www.galleryserpentine.com.au/ Paddy’s Markets – most Sydney-siders are pretty familiar with the markets, but they’re a great place to source things like pocket-watches and leather items. AHW Creations – based down in the Rocks, they make some incredibly detailed jewelry and accessories. http://www.ahwstudio.com/
Online: Etsy (http://www.etsy.com/) – the online market for homemade crafts, type “steampunk” into etsy and you’ll have literally tens of thousands of results. Jewelry, customised goggles, harnesses, clothing, weaponry…absolutely everything. Steampunk Emporium (http://www.steampunkemporium.com/) – full sections for both men and women, covering everything from clothing to accessories. They’re fantastic for inspiration too. Instructables (http://www.instructables.com/group/steampunk/) – the steampunk group on Instructables – a website known for its multitude of tutorials – has a lot of helpful tricks and hints in creating your own items. If you have a burning need to make goggles that light up or a ray gun of your very own, this place will help. YouTube (www.youtube.com) – never underestimate the power of youtube tutorials. I learned to weather my accessories from a youtube tutorial, and that’s an essential steampunk trick! It’s also great for inspiration, as you’ll find a lot of completed costumes on there.
I think that even having some kid of list on where to find supplies is a great thing to have. I know that I’ve frequently gone looking for tutorials on things and they’ve always had some kind of assumed knowledge component to them where they expect you to know where to find certain things or know how to do something from a level higher than you are. Thanks ladies on getting this list to us.
SMASH! is usually all about Japanese culture, especially anime and magna. You have anime screenings, cosplay competitions full of anime and manga characters, even artworks of anime and manga characters. However, SMASH! seems to be somewhat more. While it isn’t the focus of the convention, this editor discovered another love: video games. Located in the Vendor Hall, the gaming arena hosted a selection of video games for the fans enjoyment. With that said, no gaming companies were showing off any new games as the gaming area was brought to SMASH! by the Sydney Gamers League (SGL).
What did attendees have a chance to play? Well, nothing upcoming, which isn’t a surprise but it is a little bit of a disappointment. Considering the SGL brought the gaming area to SMASH!, it would have been interesting to see a deal being made between SGL and an upcoming competitive multiplayer game, which was the focus on the gaming area. What would have been a shock would have been an appearance of Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale. Yes, it is wishful thinking, but it would have fitted what was on offer.
So, what was on offer? A lot of competitive multiplayer games of course. Attendees could get their hands on Street Fighter X Tekken, Super Smash Brothers Brawl, Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm and much more. Outside of fighting games, Mario Kart Wii made an appearance, as well as Halo: Reach. A surprise addition was the Kinect. Yes, Microsoft’s own motion camera was at SMASH! 2012. The only game available, however, was Kinect Adventures, the bundled in game. Even FIFA 12, a game I would never associate with an anime and manga convention, made an appearance.
While the current generation dominated the area, a certain 5th generation console was the main focus. I talk of the Nintendo 64, the successor of the Super Nintendo. Before I get to Mario Kart 64, which was the main game at the area in fact, a second Nintendo 64 favourite made an appearance. That game is Goldeneye 64, one of the first console first person shooters to offer competitive multiplayer. People loved it as they got the chance to obliterate their friends in 64 bit glory. Of course, it was free for everyone to play on.
The main game had to be Mario Kart 64 as the SGL hosted a friendly tournament. Those who were interested registered on the day. The rules were simple to understand. Each race in the bracket was double elimination, which meant only two races (the top two in the race) would go through to the next round. Each track is chosen at random from the Star, Mushroom and Flower Cups. Eventually, only four players remained and race on one of the most famed tracks, the Rainbow Road. It was a great tournament and a great final race. The Sydney Gamers League and SMASH! organisers did put on a great gaming area, where fun was always the name of the game.
Anime music videos are a favourite pastime for many anime fanatics out there, including myself. It is a pleasure to see a burst of creativity through the use of anime music videos. The SMASH! organisers think so to, so they hosted a AMV competition. The competition entrees were submitted prior to the event, with the judges busy choosing the winners over a two week period leading up to SMASH! 2012. At the event itself, the finalists would be revealed in the Art Room to a group of AMV lovers in a video presentation, which is the only way an AMV final can be conducted.
The main awards were the genre awards. Award categories include Action, Comedy/Parody, Drama/Romance and Dance/Upbeat. Each of them had a few honourable mentions, a runner up and of course, the winner. Not all of the mentioned AMV’s were shown, only the winner. With each category, you will get the chance to check out the winning AMV, whether on this article or on Youtube. This will be the same for the special awards: the People Choice Award, Best Technical Award and the Judge’s Choice Award.
The Action category is the first of the genre awards to be announced. The winner of the Action category was ProjectBarcodeError of Canada with “Bankrupt!” with the runner up was “Save the Light” by Dean Seirafi. This is a great AMV, combining the action sequences of a collection of anime to a fitting song by Machinae Supremacy called Player One. The editing is excellent, helping establishing the tone and atmosphere. You can check out “Bankrupt!” below.
The second genre award is the Comedy/parody award. The winner of this category was “The Battle for 2000: Takoyaki Wars” by Pacotacoshell of the USA with the runner up being “Sorry for Being Hercule, Sincerely Mr. Satan” by l33tmeatwad. Using Cardcaptor Sakura, Pacotacoshell captures the charm of the small battle between Kero and Clow Cards using the Angry Birds theme as music. I see why this won the category. Watching the AMV, it captures the funniest moments between the two as they fight for food. “The Battle for 2000: Takoyaki Wars” can be seen below.
Next was the Drama/Romance award. The winner was “Magic Eye” by Shin of the USA with the runner up being “Color Music” by GuntherAMVs. Shin also entered in this category last year and took it out, making this title his second in a row. Using Steins;Gate as the anime and “No Light, No Light” by Florence and the Machine, Shin captures the drama of the anime well with excellent editing, a great choice of clips and a song that fits the whole dramatic tone. Check out “Magic Eye” at this link.
The last main category is the Dance/Upbeat category. The winner was “DISCO 4.0” by GuntherAMVs of the USA with the runner up being “Coloris” by Stephen Macfarlane. Considering what category this is, it better make someone want to dance. “DISCO 4.0” truly achieves that with an excellent choice of upbeat/dance music and a great selection of clips. While dance/upbeat isn’t exactly my favourite type of AMV (drama and action are my preferred cup of tea), it is easy to see why this was the winner. You can check out “DISCO 4.0” below.
Karaoke, the act of singing your favourite song without the lyrics in the background. You can do it in private, you can do it with friends and you can even do it in front of strangers in a karaoke bar. In fact, for those who were at SMASH! 2012 it was entirely possible to sing in front of complete strangers. Well, there wasn’t a karaoke bar at the event. Instead, it was a karaoke competition, with the winners receiving vouchers for anime and manga purchases. With karaoke being popular in the Land of the Rising Sun, it was no surprise that it was a Japanese-centric event.
