Last night at a popular restaurant in Sydney was the final round for the Australia-wide tournament for the iOS game, Fruit Ninja. In Fruit Ninja, it is the players objective to slice as many fruit as possible using their fingers across a touchscreen to build up a highscore and dominate the leaderboards. In Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney a finalist was selected to represent their state in the grand final held here in Sydney.
It was at this event that Capsule Computers had the opportunity to sit down and chat to the CMO of HalfBrick Studios, Phil Larsen, and discuss a few points on Fruit ninja and the company.
Zen Studios has announced a new tower defense/2D destruction/RTS game called CastleStorm, which will be coming to almost every digital platform. In a press release that only mentioned the XBLA version, Zen Studios has been confirming more platforms to the list via twitter including, but probably not limited to: PS Vita, 3DS, and mobile platforms.
CastleStorm sees a war between knights and vikings as each side builds up castles and then attempts to thwart their opponent’s defenses. Featuring a plethora of units for production and resource management to fund them and overcome the onslaught of the enemy. Players can get a first look at gameplay with the trailer below, but Zen Studios will be showcasing a demo of the game and its features at E3 2012.
It was approximately 6:30pm on the 30th of May when one of Australia’s more awesome tournaments were being held. This tournament encompassed many of the countries major states in a search for a Master Ninja. A Ninja so masterful that they would be able to conquer to the top of board in one of the most popular iOS apps, Fruit Ninja.
The top competitors from three states, NSW, QLD and Victoria were all present at this event in what would become the most masterful of Ninja showdowns, ever. Representing each state was Contsu(Spelling and pronunciation assistance required, it’s what it sounds like in my recording and similar to what I heard whilst I was there)? from Brisbane, Tashi (Taji?) from Sydney and Jess from Melbourne.
The event started off at a casual pace, members of the community and media coming in and winding down, getting an opportunity to relax. We were even bale to play the game on some iPad devices that were hooked up to some kiosks to showcase our Ninja skills. Now I assumed that I was doing okay with my not-so-bad 300-400pts, but later on when I saw the finalists playing, I suddenly knew that I had met players with a lot of game. Anyway back on story.
During the evening there were many shows that had been taking place. My favourites were when the culinary staff came out, dressed as Ninjas, and did some Fruit Ninja style cuts on some pieces of fruit. Unfortunately for some of us audience members at the front, we did catch some fruit with our groins. Fruit like watermelon and bananas. In the groin.
Another favourite show of mine at the event was when they had a school of guys doing Tae-Kwon-Do come out and perform some acrobatic-jutsu that wouldn’t be too effective in the middle of a fight. I had actually spoken to some of them earlier and they were a pretty nice group of guys, they could probably kick your ass too. Unfortunately I don’t think there any actual real Ninjas at the event, which was kind of a shame. The Tae-Kwon-Do students (and myself(I briefly studied Ninjutsu)) were the closest things there.
We also managed to grab an interview with the CMO of Halfbrick, Phil Larsen, which will be available for everyone to watch at this link. The interview itself was pretty short, but I think that there is some good info for everyone out there who is interested in these kinds of things.
After a couple of rounds it was time for the finals, where the three finalists combatted for the top spot to win a trip to Japan, home of the legendary Ninjas. Hopefully this trip to Japan will spark some interest in Ninja culture with the winner and may even pick up the art themeselves. But whatever they get up to over there, we wish them all the best and the most fun that they can have. The winner of the finals, after a highly intensive battle, was Jess who won with over 3k (cumulative) points. Congrats to you!
I had actually spoken to the winner briefly after the event and found that she was quite ecstatic to have won. Who’d have thought that being good at a game could lead to winning a championship and heading to overseas? I bet Jess didn’t, but now she does.
The event ended on a fairly nice note with the staff of Halfbrick cutting into their massive cake that was provided to them by one of the guests. It was a magnificent cake, I have to admit. I was blown away when I actually learned that what the cake was was actually a cake. I assumed it was some kind of ornament or decoration. Props to the cake maker!
Overall it was an incredibly interesting night and one that I’ll probably not forget (even if I had 12 glasses of wine) and I would love to be in attendance for more events like this in the future *cough cough*. Seriously though, it was an incredibly fun experience and congratulations to all of the finalists and in particular the winner.
Techland and Ubisoft are bringing Mad Riders, a new arcade racing experience, to the PC, PSN, and Xbox LIVE Arcade on May 30th, 2012, which just happens to be today. Players can check out the trailer below for the game, which is toted as being the price of a pizza ($10 or 800 MS Points), though the game at least can be enjoyed again and again.
Astute players may notice that the game’s graphics seem eerily familiar, which would make sense as these are the guys that brought us Dead Island. So, now players get a chance to race around in a world that looks just like the resort before all that undead business. If interested in checking out fast paced racing head on over to your system of choice and check it out today.
Sega as released a new video for Super Monkey Ball Banana Splitz (or Super Monkey Ball Vita in Japan) featuring a Japanese model having fun with the game. In this video, a release date for the game was revealed. It turns out that the game will come out in Japan on June 14, which pits it in the Japanese summer. SMB Banana Splitz will be available on PS Vita on October 23 in US, October 26 in EU.
Super Monkey Ball Vita will use the gyroscope as the main method of input. Players will swing the Vita around to move AiAi around the levels, collecting bananas along the way. The model featured in the video is in the picture below (in a rather interesting position), with the video following this article.
Almost 127 days to go untill the EB Games 2012 Expo in Sydney, Australia. The event will be taking place on the Sydney Showgroud at the Sydney Olympic Park from 5 October 2012 to 7 October 2012. The tickets for this event are on sale now.
There are four levels of ticketing available: general admission, a family pass for two adults and two children, a Gamer Pass which gives access to multiple sessions, and the Express Gamer Pass which provides for multiple sessions and express queue access.The Ultimate Gamer tickets sold out within minutes of going on sale, but the other ticketing options are still available for purchase.
Tickets can be purchased from any EB Games store or online at www.ebexpo.com.au.
Orcs and Goblins tend to get a bit of a kicking in games, nearly every fantasy title going will massacre a few thousand. Of Orcs and Men is putting a different spin on things, with players taking control of the green skinned goons to get their own back on humankind. An RPG coming to PS3, PC and Xbox 360, the title is due to release sometime this year.
The special E3 trailer released today shows the Orc and Goblin characters getting into the thick of things as they fight to end the war with humankind. The Orc is a bulky warrior, the Goblin a stealthy assassin. Both have been sent to kill the cause of all the greenskinned woes – the human Emperor. The world is looking pretty lush and detailed, so it’ll be interesting to see if the newly developed game engine can provide the gameplay to match.
If you happen to be a guest at the grand old event that is E3, then you’ll be able to find Of Orcs and Men at the Focus Home Interactive booth, #5436.
Last July NIS America picked up the license for Dororon Enma-Kun Meeramera, which at the time was still being aired in Japan. After many months of waiting, NIS America has announced that they will now be releasing the newly named Ghastly Prince Enma Burning Up in North America on September 11th.
As per standard with NIS America, Ghastly Prince Enma Burning Up will be given the Premium Edition treatment which includes a hardcover artbook which will show off the show’s crazy characters which includes a hotheaded demon prince, an ice princess who dresses quite lightly, a talking hat, perverted frog demon and a little human girl who just so happened to fall into the middle of their group. The show follows the story of this group as they protect the Earth from a number of demons who want to destroy the world, including plenty of strange creatures.
While everyone in Europe may have been working on building Arls into a beautiful country for over a week now, fans of the Atelier series in North America have had to wait an extra week. But after undergoing a minor delay, NIS America’s Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland has hit store shelves in North America today.
The final game in the Arland series follows the journey of the young princess Meruru who has begun working as an apprentice alchemist under Totori, the protagonist of the last Atelier title. With a number of new features including a brand new development system which allows players to build new facilities to accentuate their gameplay style. Those of you eager to see our review of the title will be happy to know it shall be coming within the next couple of days.
If you haven’t picked up Senran Kagura (well, you really only could if you happen to live in Japan) then you probably shouldn’t yet, because when its sequel Senran Kagura Burst hits store shelves it will include the original game completely free of charge. Famitsu revealed this week that Senran Kagura Burst will contain the entire game which has been upgraded with a number of features which have been added to the sequel.
This includes the 3D locker room where you can dress up your girls… Sounds fun. Interestingly enough, Burst will feature a new cast of playable characters who were originally the rivals of the original cast. Perhaps we will eventually hear about someone localizing this game? Maybe?
