Are you ready to swing through Manhattan like never before?
It seems the movie franchise isn’t the only Spider-Man getting a reboot – the games are as well! I’m sure we can all agree the make-or-break point in a Spider-Man game is when a developer fails to capture the feeling of you actually being the famous web-head and if Spider-Man 2 did anything right it was the free-roam sandbox feel of navigating a city.
Well Beenox are taking a risky move that could pay off splendidly – by completely rebooting and redesigning the way you navigate around Manhattan. In this new gameplay video Executive Producer Brent Nicholas talks about changing the camera and navigating the city with interesting new changes that focus on more adrenaline-filled and acrobatic maneuvers that look pretty bad-ass as well as an insight into combat as well. Make sure to check out the trailer below as it’s looking amazing!
The Amazing Spider-Man: The Video Game will swing stores around the same time as the film on 6/26/12 on PC, PS3, Wii and Xbox 360.
The follow-up to Amnesia: The Dark Descent is a game we can only assume is so terrifying they had to give it a ridiculous name to take the edge off: Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs. Frictional Games are again behind it, but they’ve also brought in indie studio thechineseroom, the team behind the quietly moving Dear Esther.
I loved the first game, despite not being able to finish it. Not because it was particularly challenging, but because it was so stressful to play. That sounds like a bad thing, but I love the fact that a game can invoke such strong feelings – even “negative” ones – in a player. There’s a thick air of tension over the whole experience, which sticks closer to true survival horror than any other game that dares label itself as such.
The teaser trailer below shows A Machine For Pigs will feature the same mind-destroying scares: the disturbing last scene is reminiscent of much of the first game, which I’m still recovering from.
Gamescom, one of the worlds largest gaming events is held in Cologne, Germany from August 15th to the 19th and gets games and developers into the one room for people to preview from the media. At these events some of the biggest news comes out about upcoming franchises and sequels, as well as other big news.
At this years Gamescom, EA are going to present, showcasing some of their upcoming titles such as – “FIFA 13, Medal of Honor™ Warfighter, Need for Speed™ Most Wanted, Crysis® 3, SimCity™, and others.” Keeping up to date with this event is going to be important to gamers who wish to learn more about those titles.
On Gamescom EA had this to say –
‘Gamescom is a pillar for our industry’, said Jens Uwe Intat, Senior Vice President of EA European Publishing. ‘The show is truly unique in its capacity to draw both industry and consumers to a showcase of the year’s hottest entertainment offerings and we’re looking forward to being there in force again in 2012’.
So be sure to check back here around Gamescom time for any updates and news coming from the event.
Adventure Time: Righteous Quest 2 Developer: Bamtang Games Publisher: Cartoon Network Price: FREE – Play Game Online Here
Overview:
Oh Adventure Time, probably on of the better absurdist shows on TV, which makes it easy enough to make games out of. Other shows have it hard as they are simple filled with throw away jokes and random situations, where Adventure Time will have random situations that are presented in a linear fashion that are actually building on each other. Adventure Time: Righteous Quest 2 is the sequel to Adventure Time: Righteous Quest that followed Finn and Jake on mini-adventures that came pretty much straight from the show. Those interested can find the review of the first HERE.
The first one was pretty decent for a flash game based off of a television property, but did it warrant a sequel and does the sequel warrant a view itself? To find out just what this game holds in store for potential players, read on.
Story:
As stated before Adventure Time is filled with plenty of random quests that Finn and Jake have embarked on, which makes it pretty easy to build a game around it. This time around though there are a lot more levels and a lot more material pulled from the show, though chopped up to fit in the confines of the games story. Levels begin with a one-panel run-down of what’s going on to explain not only what’s going on, but what Finn and Jake are trying to accomplish.
There are actually a total of 5 levels and a boss fight in the game, each level having really it’s own story and tie to the show with the boss fight related to the final actual level. Because of this, there actually is a bit more story than in the first game, and surprisingly doesn’t have anything to do with the Ice King. In total, the levels range from fighting Candy Zombies, saving the Hot Dog Princess, collecting Finn’s Power Rings, climb the highest peak in the Ice Kingdom, and retrieving Jake’s viola from Marceline, who is this game’s boss fight. So more or less the usual day for these two and actually pretty interesting range to keep players more or less entertained.
Gameplay:
Even more surprisingly than not fighting the Ice King is the fact that the game doesn’t just copy/paste almost everything from the first game. There are a lot more things to collect and even better a map to select which level the player wants to play as some areas are unobtainable in the first time through until Finn can collect some special abilities. Completing specific tasks in levels can open side/secret levels for Finn gain upgrades such as a rusty sword to replace the snowballs and finally the ultimate wizard power to basically become invincible and destroy anything until it runs out and has to recharge. These are very welcome changes and actually work a lot better than the system in the first game where you look for the same number and kinds of items in every level, so definitely better in that respect.
There is still a lot of platforming, Finn and Jake still have to go around levels finding things and unfortunately Jake doesn’t get anything new this time around, but in addition to the platforms to be traversed are portals that can take the two to different areas to collect more, without having to limit the full exploration to layers of floating platforms. These actually open up exploration a lot more than just having to systematically collect everything from the top level and work down or vice versa.
Audio and Visuals: Righteous Quest 2 kinda falls short on all things audio, but that can be pretty understandable in terms of space. The music is the solid acoustic guitar one would would expect of an Adventure Time game, but it can get a little repetitive as the same songs are on different levels. The game does also at least have voice clips from the show for when Finn and Jake do something special or simply progressing, but it’s really the same stuff that was in the first game. So, there really isn’t any solid improvement like in other areas.
The visual style fits the show perfectly as everyone looks exactly as they do in the show and there is quite a bit of range in terms of level designs and enemy types. There is a lot more variety in terms of enemies from those Candy Zombies, to some ninjas that Finn and Jake need to completely wipe out. It’s great to see a wide spectrum to fit the gamut of areas that players can gain access too, instead of only reusing the ones from the last game.
Overall:
This is a big improvement that fans of the first game should definitely look into. Fans of just the show should actually have some fun too as the gameplay isn’t nearly as lacking as it really could have been. As sequels go, there is plenty more added and everything that was added works a lot better than the first time around. I give Adventure Time: Righteous Quest 2
Sydney Supanova 2012 certainly had its fair share of celebrity guest appearances this year. From anime voice actors to big screen stars to cyber culture icons and everything in between, there was something and someone for every nerd, geek and fan to look forward to. Naturally as gamers, two particular guest stars caught the attention of the Capsule Computers crew. This year we were fortunate to have the chance to meet and interview Burnie Burns and Gavin Free from Rooster Teeth productions. Most famous for the production of “the popular web series RedvsBlue” the pair took some time out of their busy schedules at the event to speak with us one on one.
Michael ‘Burnie’ Burns is best well known as the voice of the snarky blue soldier Church in RedvsBlue, as well as acting as the head of Roosterteeth (at least until recently we discovered.) Gavin Free is one of RoosterTeeth’s community-fans turned employee who added his own level of fame to the company by saying “Headlight Fluid” that one time on the RT Podcast, and by being known for voicing characters within the series whom have been killed off instantly. Despite how busy their stall was throughout the day, the two seemed to be in genuinely good moods and were clearly loving the chance to meet fans in an entirely different country, outside their US base of operations.
In the interview we discussed several topics like how they were finding the Australian reception and learing about some interesting roster shuffles. Memories were revisited, advice was imparted and the interview was ended in true Roosterteeth style: With Gavin dying immediately and Burnie’s Church being his usual up-front no-nonsense self.
I’m Commander Shepard and this is my favourite interview on the Citadel. I jest, but how could I resist throwing such a recognisable line into an article about an interview with Commander Shepard (Fem- Shep) herself, Jennifer Hale.
At Supanova this weekend (2012), us here at Capsule Computers were given the opportunity to sit down and talk to Jennifer about her role as Shepard and other various facets of the gaming industry. Jennifers more recent roles include: Commander Shepard, Female Trooper (SWTOR) and Diablo 3.
Be sure to check out the interview, embedded below. Thanks for the interview Jennifer and goodluck!
Whoever thinks comics is a male game is sorely mistaken, and even those who think comics are an American industry are totally wrong. Nicola Scott, Australian and (obviously) female, is a big name in the comics industry, with a contract with DC Comics under her belt and credits for the Wonder Woman book, Superman (DC New 52), and currently working on a new series focusing on the Justice Society of America in Earth 2 (DC New 52) with writer James Robinson.
Nicola Scott went into Earth 2 and how the fact that superheroes are only just starting to appear, and that there are far fewer superhero characters has impacted Earth 2. She was also offered Animalman, which turned into one of her favourites, but she turned it down due to the fact that her art is quite clean and didn’t suit the story of Animalman well enough.
Being a woman in the industry is tough though, especially since it sometimes leads to pigeonholing. As an established artist, she is able to tell DC that she wants to do either male books, or the big females (Wonder Woman, Catwoman, Batgirl), but she has often been offered jobs that are quite blatantly given to her due to the fact that she is female. Still, that is no reason to give up on being a comic book artist, and she is clearly evidence that you can be a highly successful regardless of any extraneous factors.
The fact that she works in Australia is also something that came up, because while it isn’t that much of an issue these days with the internet and the ability to set up a drop box, in the past it meant having to send off an entire set of work through Fed Ex, with no constructive criticism along the way, and hearing back months later.
She also offered some advice for budding comic book artists, suggesting that the best thing to do is to bring a portfolio to conventions that have artists in attendance, to get constructive feedback. Being a comic book artist is something that takes a lot of learning, and developing, and getting as much help as possible is the best thing. So if any of you are interested in drawing for comic books then this is definitely something to take on board and try to employ.
Make sure to check out the rest of our coverage of Supanova, including photos of the amazing cosplayers, interviews with some of the stars and indie developers, and general impressions of the event.
Some of you may be familiar with The Walking Dead, a comic book series which as spawned into a popular TV show, that explores the adventures of survivors trying to make it through a post-apocalyptic zombie wasteland. Tony Moore is the artist behind the series, and an overall warm and friendly guy who was kind enough to be a guest at a Supanova seminar and answer questions on Walking Dead, his experience as an artist, and his thoughts on how to make it in the business.
Moore first started getting into comics at 19, with his middle school friend Robert Kirkman (who he would later partner with to create The Walking Dead) to make Battle Pope. They had both had an interest in comic book writing, but no idea of how to go about it, so a lot of it was them trying to work backwards from what finished products looked like, to the beginning stages.
The Walking Dead was something that came about from a shared love for horror movies and zombies and he and Kirkman wanting to explore what happens to the people after your standard zombie horror movie ends. He explained that his inspiration for drawings often came from real images, so for The Walking Dead he’d often be looking at photos of car accidents, crime scenes, generally gruesome stuff, and he’d take the feel of those and put them into his zombies.
He also talked about the reasoning behind the use of black and white for the series, because having it in black and white meant that it was easier to digest for readers, and the gore didn’t go over the top. It also is a bit of an homage to Romero’s Night of the Living Dead.
In terms of the adaptation of the comics to show he didn’t have much to say apart from applauding the amazing visual effects, and lightly criticizing some of the melodrama that went into it.
For those of you who are looking to get into the industry he said this:
The best business card to give to an editor is a finished comic book. Because it shows that you can get the ball to the goal line yourself. The last thing an editor wants is to have to hold your hand through the process.
Make sure to check out the rest of our coverage of Supanova, including photos of the amazing cosplayers, interviews with some of the stars and indie developers, and general impressions of the event.
Suzie Plakson is the very definition of a renassaince woman, an actress, singer, sculptor and recently a novelist. She is an impressive woman, to say the least, and she has this incredibly warm energy that just seems to fill the whole room. Upon entering the seminar room slightly late she immediately greeted us warmly, and chose to wander around in the seated area rather than remain on the stage.
She discussed a few different topics with us, such as her time on Star Trek and her contribution to the Trek universe. After all, playing four different characters across three different series is something that she alone has accomplished, and is certainly something to be proud of. Plus, she’s Marshall’s mother in How I Met Your Mother! And the cast is apparently a lovely cast and crew to work with.
With a country album under her belt, and a fantasy novel due to hit soon there’s no question that she is a highly talented woman. The novel, ‘The Return of King Lillian’ seemed to be a huge passion for her, with the idea first coming to her thirty years ago and developing gradually into what it is today. So if you are a fan of fantasy novels then you should definitely check this one out. Head on over to the webite for the book HERE, or the Facebook page HERE. She’ll also be releasing an audiobook that she’ll be recording, and given her experience in voice acting, there certainly isn’t a better person for the role.
Make sure to check out the rest of our coverage of Supanova, including photos of the amazing cosplayers, interviews with some of the stars and indie developers, and general impressions of the event.
This ones sure to be a treat for fans of the show Battlestar Galactica as we have an interview with the incredibly gorgeous Tricia Helfer. Fans will recognise her, most predominantly, as the incredibly sensual Number 6.
The interview was conducted at the Supanova Pop Culture Expo this weekend, June 16-17, 2012, and is an insightful look at Tricia’s work in film and the like. Tricia was a real joy to have interviewed and we look forward to seeing more of her in television programs and anything else she may choose to partake in.
Take a look below at our embedded interview and be sure to let us know what you think in the comments section below.
Whoever thinks comics is a male game is sorely mistaken, and even those who think comics are an American industry are totally wrong. Nicola Scott, Australian and (obviously) female, is a big name in the comics industry, with a contract with DC Comics under her belt and credits for the Wonder Woman book, Superman (DC New 52), and currently working on a new series focusing on the Justice Society of America in Earth 2 (DC New 52) with writer James Robinson.
Some of you may be familiar with The Walking Dead, a comic book series which as spawned into a popular TV show, that explores the adventures of survivors trying to make it through a post-apocalyptic zombie wasteland. Tony Moore is the artist behind the series, and an overall warm and friendly guy who was kind enough to be a guest at a Supanova seminar and answer questions on Walking Dead, his experience as an artist, and his thoughts on how to make it in the business.
