I’m sure many of you have now heard about the events in Florida, and there is a good reason to start preparing for a Zombie Apocalypse. The first rule of thumb is to aim for the head with any undead – which is exactly what CatFoster Media’s Zombie Burst for the iOS is all about.
Zombie Burst puts you in the role of a sole survivor after a massive outbreak, with each zombie dawning a pimple-esque cranum. As you might of guessed, you must pop each zombie’s skull in order to survive in the city of Chicago, with leaderboards and plenty of extra content to keep you busy during the battle.
Extra features Include:
Four Zombie Classifications to Annihilate: Pea Head, Brains, Gallon and Dome – each has its own unique strengths and characteristics that make it difficult to catch and kill
Goo Galore: Every bursting brain splatters goo on the screen making it increasingly harder to see the enemies; be quick to clean the screen or suffer deadly bites
10 Levels: Destroy thousands of zombies through 10 challenging unlockable levels, each set in environments inspired by real Chicago locations and landmarks from a dismal bathroom and monumental movie theater to a glowing gas station and legendary Lower Wacker Drive.
Lethal Leaderboards: Become the ultimate zombie destroyer and track your achievements and rank in Game Center; increase your standing as you replay unlocked levels
Bonus Content: Keep the zombie battle fresh with new levels, characters and in-game content released through updates shortly after launch.
See? You can fight the danger at home, without any worry of having your face eaten off. Zombie Burst is now available in the AppStore for just $.99, and it would be wise to grab a copy now while the resources are still among us. You can also check out the official trailer down below.
For those on a mobile device, you can buy the App by following this little link. Enjoy!
We have 2 the awesome Wraith Red Naga Hexcourtesy of Razer.
Razer Naga Hex – Wraith Red Edition to fuel your blood frenzy in hack n’ slash games. The best weapon to cut down hordes of monsters crawling out from the depths of evil is now available to gamers in an all-new blood red color. Made especially for hack n’ slash, MOBA and Action RPG games, the Razer Naga Hex Wraith Red edition sports the same devastating 6 mechanical side buttons as the original Razer Naga Hex. Bind a hotbar of skills or inventory items to rapidly unleash hell on boss runs and maintain effective crowd control as enemies attack from all sides. Having the 6 crucial commands so close to your thumb allows for rapid actuations and enemies dead faster than they can react. check out http://cult.razerzone.com/2012/05/01/the-naga-hex-now-in-wraith-red/ for more information.
All you have to do to win is to simply leave a comment below on why you NEED this awesome Razer product.
2 Lucky winners will be drawn at random on the June 8, 2012. Good luck to you all!
**SPECIAL NOTE**
Competition is open WORLDWIDE. When you enter please leave a VALID email address and also mention what part of the world you are from.
My Monster Rancher, which was recently released on Android, now has its own Facebook page. According to the About section,
“My Monster Rancher marks the first time the beloved monster breeding series is on a smartphone. Fans of the series will recognize popular critters such as the adorable Mocchi or the devilish Suezo. Use your wits as a breeder to train and battle your monsters, or send them on adventures looking for hidden treasure. Visit your friends and work together to see who can be the best monster rancher in the world!”
If you need to stay on top of all the My Monster Rancher news though, this Facebook page will be right up your alley
On May 31, 2012 at 10:30PM, Pacific Standard Time, Konami will be hosting their second annual Pre-E3 Show that will “dazzle fans and gaming enthusiasts with advance showings of the new releases, exclusive game trailers and insightful interviews of key titles that will debut at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles, CA.”
“KONAMI’s annual Pre-E3 show underscores the company’s commitment to providing the biggest and best content that fans have been waiting for throughout the year, in advance of the world’s marquee video game conference,” said Tomoyuki Tsuboi, President of Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc.
What do you hope they show? Which Konami game are you most looking forward too? Share in the comments below.
Over the past few weeks Nippon Ichi has been teasing a mysterious PlayStation Vita game, providing almost zero information about the game except for one teaser image. However today this week’s Dengeki PlayStation has plenty of information for those eager to learn more about this mysterious title.
Andriasang reports that the game’s title will be Tokushu Houdoubu (Special Report Division). The game’s genre is meant to be adventure, but supposedly it will not play like a normal text adventure title. The game will revolve around reporting and allow players to experience television production. In fact, it appears that portions, if not the whole game, will place players behind a camera viewfinder. Interesting…
There likely is more to the title which hasn’t been revealed yet, but it is worth noting that Nippon Ichi has been working with the Nagoya television studio to make sure everything is authentic. Currently the game is set to be released on August 23rd in Japan.
Last month Gust released their first PlayStation Vita title, Surge Concerto Ciel Nosurge which turned out to be quite a surprising success in Japan. Some may not remember, but back when Gust first revealed the game they stated that it would be part of a series of games.
Well it turns out that that is actually true as Gust has announced in Dengeki PlayStation that the second volume of Surge Concerto Ciel Nosurge will be released on June 28th in Japan. Currently no information beyond the game’s release date is known besides the fact that the title will contain a few new characters. Expect some more information in the coming weeks and maybe even a localization announcement of the first title.
Hetalia Axis Powers Complete Series Studio: Studio Deen Publisher: FUNimation Release Date: March 6, 2012 Price: $44.98 – Available Here
Overview: Stereotypes can sometimes be a terrible thing. However these stereotypes can sometimes be used for some of the best lighthearted humor around. This just happens to be the case with the Hetalia series as a whole. With its unique origins as a Japanese webcomic, turned manga turned animated series, Hetalia has become quite a hit in Japan and gained even more popularity in the West.
In fact we have already seen the release of a movie called Paint it, White! and the start of the Hetalia World Powers series, the reviews of these can be found here and here, released here in North America. But what about the release that began it all? FUNimation has released a collection featuring the complete series of the Hetalia: Axis Powers which combines the previously separately released Season 1 and Season 2. Does this unique brand of humor still deliver? Let’s find out.
Story: Hetalia is a bit of a strange show to say the very least. The main story focuses on the various nations who took part in World War II and the various events which occurred around that time period, both pre and post war. However rather than focusing on the events of that occurred in those nations and how it affected people, Hetalia creates literal personifications of each country. These personifications include practically every stereotype imaginable for the country they are named after. However this works immensely in the show’s favor as many viewers will find it hard to not laugh at least once every couple of minutes.
Considering Hetalia focuses around the nations involved in World War II, most of the nations included are those who were in the Axis Powers (Italy, Germany and Japan) and the Allied Nations (America, Britain, France, China and Russia). However most of the attention is focused on the hilariously cowardly and accident prone Italy and Germany who constantly tries to take care of Italy because he is his first and only friend. These two are given some of the best arcs of the series simply because their personalities are near polar opposites of one another.
Each nation’s personality can play a bit off of their pasts, such as America always trying to be in charge and taking credit for everything, France being weak and blaming others for his failures, Britain’s inability to cook, Japan’s passive aggressiveness and standoffish nature, Russia’s creepy statements and more provide plenty of gags. Every nation has miniature storylines of their own which usually only last for a few minutes but often pay off in laughter.
However there are a number of longer storylines which run alongside these mini-stories and can span multiple episodes, though this is usually because they will only take up a minute or two of that episode’s time. One of these is Chibitalia, which is focuses on when many nations were still young and Italy was just left behind after his Grandfather Rome disappeared. The Chibitalia storyline actually runs the longest out of all of the story arcs presented in the series, as most of the five minute episodes provide simple laughs that include a multitude of various nations.
Nearly everything in Hetalia is done with plenty of comedic humor, but obviously some people may find themselves a bit offended if they can’t take some light ribbing about the various countries. Also considering the fact that a large amount of the comedy is based off of historical events, those who aren’t familiar with their history may not understand a joke’s set-up or even the joke itself.
Visuals: Unfortunately the fact that Hetalia was originally shown in Japan as a webshow only, the series features some rather large drops in quality at parts. The main characters look great for the most part and follow your standard stereotypes as far as appearances go. However there are plenty of times when the animation will become super deformed into white blobs with faces or appear chibi-like in an effort to sell the humor.
As a whole the series also tends to re-use the same simplistic backgrounds quite often and in fact there are plenty of scenes which are actually replayed over and over again in the same exact fashion. These recycled scenes may be interesting at first as the viewer will be curious to see if anything has changed, but after the fourth time it becomes disappointing.
Audio: As one may expect with a FUNimation release, Hetalia Axis Powers: Complete Series comes with both the original English dub and the Japanese dub. However these two voice tracks are as similar as night and day in their quality. While the Japanese voice work is adequate enough, one of the most humorous parts of Hetalia is the fact that all of the characters have been given accents which match with their nation. These accents can provide a quick laugh all their own. As such, the English voice actors pull off these accents nigh flawlessly with only a few small inconsistencies here and there.
Over the course of the fifty two episodes included in this package the ending music changes between three different tracks. Each of these ending songs features one of the Axis countries, usually Italy, singing in Japanese, with light-hearted and comedic lyrics. There are also a few English songs included as well, sung mostly for comedic purpose in the first half of the series.
Extras: With this release of the Hetalia: World Series Complete Collection there are also plenty of extra features to go along with the standard content. FUnimation has provided audio commentaries for the following episodes: 2, 9, 12, 16, 31, 36, 42 and 46. These commentaries add more to the humor of the original episode as we get to listen to various members of the English cast voice their opinions of the show and discuss various inside jokes.
To go along with these English commentaries there are also plenty of Japanese extras as well. Each of these Japanese extras such as comments by the Japanese Director Bob Shirahata or talk with Japanese voice actors are in Japanese with English subtitles only, which can provide a decent amount of enjoyment for those who love Hetalia, but overall can be passed over with ease.
Overall: Hetalia Axis Powers: Complete Series gives newcomers to the series perhaps the best option to find one of the funniest anime out there. The two seasons contained in this release present fifty-two five minute episodes that will leave you in stitches before you are even done with the first disc. With the massive amount of humor pouring out of the screen there are jokes for everyone, including people who enjoy sight gags, historical jokes, puns, and more. While a lot of scenes are replayed, most likely due to budget reasons, the amazing English voicework keeps each episode fresh and humorous. As it stands Hetalia may be one of the most hilarious anime out there and viewers will be doing themselves a disservice to pass the series over.
Capsule Computers recently had the chance to interview Huw Benyon, Studio Communications Lead at 4A Games, about the next entry in the Metro series – Last Light (as well as seeing a hands-off demo).
Right out the gate Benyon insisted that 4A “won’t change the formula thematically. We were very happy with the blueprint of Metro 2033, though the stealth and combat, and overall lack of polish, held the first game down.”
If the demo and interview were anything to go by, this has been radically changed for the sequel. Between tense moments with a horde of mutated beasts tramping outside, with the player waiting for them to pass (while at the same the clock is running on his air filter), and extremely poignant scenes of the day of the nuclear apocalypse, and visceral, in your face combat.
In case you weren’t getting it, this is no mindless shooter. “The world is the point of focus for us,” said Benyon, “We wanted to create a world that felt completely consistent, but at the same time we wanted it to be alien and new to people.”
One of the results of this focus was the high level of environmental interaction which took place within the game. The demo showed off the player burning spider webs, fighting through a lightning storm which had dazzling effects on gameplay, turning on lamps in darkened rooms, and so on. Even looting corpses felt more life-like than the simple pop-up boxes which are a staple of modern-day RPGs.
The game will also feature a weapon-customization system. Benyon described that as the game was taking place after a nuclear apocalypse, “The focus is really on hand-made weaponry. There will be lots of different attachments to find throughout the world.” The results of tinkering could lead to powerful weapons – he described one in particular as: “an eight shot silenced, scoped pistol”.
There were several factions in the first Metro, and they’re all going to play a role in the second game. “We wanted the factions to represent a microcosm of human society,” said Benyon, “Political affiliations like fascists, communists, and capitalists are all represented through metro stations throughout the game. In fact, we wanted the plot to evolve around what these factions were doing.”
Anyone who has played the first instalment of the series will know that the game was graphically gorgeous, and this has been true of the sequel from what we’ve seen so far. “The game runs on an in-house engine,” said Benyon, “and it’s a bit of a beast. It does, however, run a lot better on modest hardware than the first game, and gamers with the latest kit can expect to really get the most out of it.”
To cap it off, Benyon sounded off the three words he thought best described the game: “Atmosphere, Intense, and Memorable.”
Metro Last Light hits store shelves inthe first quarter of 2013.
For more on all things Metro Last Light, and all things E3, be sure to check back at Capsule Computers.
Metro: Last Light is a game that evades standard genre placing. Instead of just being a standard FPS, there is also adventure, survival horror, and a whole bunch of other genres mixed in there. Plus, there is a far larger focus on story than you’ll find in a lot of the FPS releases out there.
A huge effort has been put in the environment, that much can be seen from the gameplay trailer that THQ released for their pre-E3 event. The atmosphere hangs heavy in the air, the tension is palpable, and you can’t help but be sucked into this dystopian post-apocalyptic Russia. Everything from the screen getting spider guts on it, to flies landing on it, to the ringing in your ears from firing a big gun, is incredibly realistic. This carries on to the survival part of the game as well, with every thing you pick up being sacred, from battery charges for your flashlight to filters for your gas mask so you can breathe outside. As would be true in this type of situation, you have to scrounge for every scrap of useful items as you can and put it to good use.
The focus on the story comes from the idea of having a reason to shoot someone, or thing. There are ‘tightly scripted moments’ that keep you invested. One particular scene in the gameplay trailer where Artyom explores the carcass of a crashed plane was simply mind blowing. Words fail to describe what was one of the most absorbing and emotionally wrought scenes that I’ve seen in a game without directly involving the main character.
This is definitely a title to keep an eye out for, because these sneak peeks are only the beginning. Keep tuned to Capsule Computers for more information on the game as it comes out. Metro: Last Light is being released on PC, Playstation 3, Wii U and Xbox 360 in early 2013.
Possibly one of my favorite things about social media and digital download gaming these days is the interactivity between gaming developers and the fans. Today the official Skullgirls Facebook page asked fans the following question:
MikeZ is considering a slight speed increase for the first patch. It would be about 3% – small enough that it shouldn’t affect combo execution, but you’ll feel it when moving around. Would you like Skullgirls to be sped up slightly?
Fans flooded the page instantly with their thoughts and opinions. Within less than half an hour, 247 people voted “Yes, please” while 74 fans voted “No, thanks – I’m happy with the way things are now“.
This slight change can potentially change the feel of the game greatly, especially for hardcore fighting fans. Personally, I think it’s awesome to see a developing team like this check in to see what the fans have to say. The best part is if it sucks – it’s the fans fault for voting so!
Would you like to see a speed increase in Skullgirls? Let them know here!
