Looking for a new slim way to protect your favourite device while adding a splash of colour and personality? BodyGuardz has you and your device covered with their new Armor Rindz skins. Most skins like to brag about how minimal their “orange peel” effect is. BodyGuardz Armor Rindz are PVC based skins that are thin and feature an intentional citrus peel textured film for maximum grip. Available in five bright colours for most portable devices, people will swear their are holding an actual citrus fruit peel when they touch these Armor Rindz. As an added bonus, BodyGuardz is including their famous ScreenGuardz HD Anti-Glare/Anti-Fingerprint screen shield with every Armor Rindz kit along with their 30 day satisfaction guarantee with lifetime replacements. Prices for the Armor Rindz vary depending on the device.
Need a new puzzle game? Looking for a demo of a great puzzler to check out before you plunk your hard earned cash down? GAMEVIL has released a free version of their hit puzzle game Cheese Please Lite. Available on the iPad, iPhone, and the iPod Touch, Cheese Please is a charming puzzle game that shares a similar motto as Go, minutes to learn but a lifetime to master. Players guide Lola the mouse through devilish mazes riddled with electric walls and deadly traps to Lola’s favourite food, cheese. The game is Retina compatible and can be downloaded from the App Store here.
With E3 practically right around the corner it would seem obvious that many publishers would be keeping their best announcements under wraps until the event begins and they can reveal it in front of the masses. However it seems that Kojima Productions can’t wait to show off Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.
Hideo Kojima revealed today on his Twitter that the company will be releasing footage from the E3 demo ahead of E3. The exact date of the reveal was not released, but the above image of the demo screen was revealed as well via Kojima’s phone. It is worth noting that Kojima also referred to Raiden as “Black Raiden” though he can’t say why he is called that at this time.
It was recently revealed that Sony was also planning on releasing Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time on the PlayStation Vita the same time that it would be released on the PlayStation 3. At the moment there still isn’t a solid release date except later this year, however today Sony uploaded a trailer which gives us a quick look at what the game will look like on the Vita.
Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time will feature some six-axis control, cross compatibility saving and probably more features they are currently keeping on the down low. The trailer can be seen below, though if that is how Sly’s voice will sound in the final product then I am not a fan.
Love bumper style cases? Love the style of full bodied cases too? Don’t have the money to buy one of each to suit your style? LUXA2 has ingeniously solved the problem for you. Their new Alum X All Aluminium iPhone 4/4s Case is a bumper case that can be converted into a full case with out any tools. CNC machined out of premium aluminium, the Alum X is like with shock absorbing cushions to save your phone from nasty falls, maintain your phone’s signal strength, and protect your phone from being scratched during installation. The Alum X has precise cut outs, allowing all ports and buttons to be easily accessible while maintaining compatibility with most aftermarket headphone plugs. The case is available in red, silver, and gun metal with no word on pricing. The case will be available for purchase soon through Thermaltake’s online store or a dealer near you.
Remember how Adult Swim previously said that they would be keeping the shows that would air during the newly established Toonami block a secret until the air date? Well it turns out that that isn’t quite true. Today it was revealed that two brand new anime will be included in the broadcast alongside a few older shows.
The two shows which will be included in the broadcast are Deadman Wonderland and Casshern Sins. The fact that Deadman Wonderland is part of the broadcast is very interesting because, at least so far, FUNimation has yet to even set a release date for their English release of the series, meaning the show will be airing on television before it hits shows.
It is worth noting that, at the moment, a number of shows from Adult Swim will be airing during the block as well, such as Bleach, Ghost in the Shell, Cowboy Bebop and FMA: Brotherhood. The reason for this is apparently due to the fact that Toonami has “very, very little $$” and that the television block “will need ratings success to receive more funding for new shows, more [mascot character] Tom animation, etc. I’m thankful for the $$ we’ve gotten, but it isn’t a lot.” So that means that if fans wish to see more new shows then they must support the channel.
If you could call a console by the types of games that are available for the device then perhaps they could call the PlayStation Vita the PlayStation Port. Then again the initials would end up being PSP again and that would probably confuse people when they want to go to the store and pick up the Vita so that they can play all of the ports of games that exist on the handheld.
Moving on, it appears that the PlayStation Vita port of Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath will be available in June and Oddworld: Munch’s Oddysee may also be out in June for the PS3 and 360. These tidbits of information come from the PlayStation Blogcast where Just Add Water CEO Stewart Gilray himself said that the companies intention is to release the game in June. So, what port do you think we will see next? Perhaps a port of a port? Then again, you can’t have portable without port in there…
Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker Studio: Oxybot Publisher: FUNimation Release Date: May 29, 2012 Price: $34.98 – Available Here
Overview: Over the past two decades a new entertainment industry began taking the world by storm and has shown no sign of stopping since its rise to mainstream popularity in the ‘90s. The rise of the video game industry has provided billions of people a chance to take their entertainment to a whole new level. With the rise of video game popularity, certain franchises and developers have become popular enough to receive spinoffs in the forms of books and movies.
One such franchise is EA and BioWare’s Dragon Age. There have been a few books written that take place in the series’ universe and even a webseries. Now even a Dragon Age movie has been created in the form of Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker and FUNimation has brought the movie over for fans in North America. The question is however, while most videogames that are adapted from movies are usually terribly received and offer a minimalistic amount of enjoyment, does a movie derived from a video game franchise offer an enjoyable viewing experience?
Story: Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker follows the story of a Seeker girl named Cassandra Pentaghast. The Seekers are the go-to force for “The Chantry” which is lead by a woman known as “The Divine.” The Chantry protects the people and tries to keep the peace the best that they can, however to do this they must police the mages in the world for they believe that their magic arts could potentially unleash a blight upon the world.
While most mages have accepted Chantry control and have joined the Circle of Magi, there are a number of mages who refuse Chantry rule. These mages have turned to the dark and wicked ways of Blood Magic. While the Chantry possesses a number of Templar soldiers to keep the peace, the Seekers do their best to put a stop to any and all Blood Mage activity.
However order is without corruption… even a holy one. After the Seekers manage to save a young Elven girl named Avexis who had been kidnapped by a cult of Blood Mages who wished to use her special abilities to control dragons, Cassandra’s world begins to twist in on itself. After the Elven girl is kidnapped once again and her mentor is slain Cassandra is forced to join forces with a young Circle Mage named Galyan. The two of them quickly learn that the Blood Mages are working together with someone from inside the Chantry. Learning this fact, the two team up to discover who has betrayed the Chantry and prevent them from using Avexis’ powers to assassinate the heads of the Chantry.
Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker excels at having well defined and simplistic characters which are offered just a hint of backstory. Cassandra may be a powerful warrior who is able to defeat large opponents with acrobatic flair, but there are chinks in her armor. Cassandra’s tragic history not only makes her battle against Blood Mages more personal, but also allows for Galyan to work alongside her and develop beyond their simple “odd-couple” dynamic.
With a number of decent twists as well as enjoyable characters Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker offers an entertaining experience. Obviously fans of the Dragon Age series will derive the most enjoyment out of the movie, and these fans may also be a bit curious as to where Dawn of the Seeker falls in the Dragon Age time-line. Those who have played Dragon Age II may recall that Varric has been captured by the Chantry and was being asked for information about “The Champion” Hawke. It just so happens that the same person doing the questioning is the very same Cassandra Pentaghast from this movie. As such this places the movie before the events of Dragon Age II.
Now those who haven’t played a Dragon Age game before can still find plenty to enjoy as Dawn of the Seeker does a decent job explaining everything in the Dragon Age universe that plays into the movie. Obviously there are a few things that newcomers may miss out on but this is to be expected. Ironically, considering Dragon Age: Origins isn’t specifically linked to Dragon Age II, Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker may be a great jumping-in point for those who wish to get into the franchise.
Visuals: Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker isn’t quite an anime movie nor is it a video game cutscene, instead it appears as a combination of both. This creates an interesting combination that unfortunately doesn’t always work out in the movies favor. The human characters themselves have plenty of subtle touches in their design but overall appear very superficial and smooth. On the other hand, all of the creatures that we are treated to, especially the dragons, are given extensive detail and look absolutely amazing in motion.
All of the action scenes are well animated and choreographed and most of the environments are exceptionally well designed. It is worth noting that Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker is quite a violent movie as it features plenty of bloody moments. There are plenty of times that enemies will be decapitated or have their limbs cut off and blood will gush forth. There is even a scene where Cassandra runs through a splash of blood and is subsequently covered in blood afterwards, similar to how blood spatter worked in Dragon Age II.
Audio: With this release of Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker, FUNimation has released both the English and Japanese dubbed version of the movie, which in the Blu-Ray combo pack features the English and Japanese movies on separate DVDs. The English voice cast is spot on and features subtle accents to match Dragon Age’s European-like setting. Colleen Clinkenbeard handles the voice of Cassandra and does a great job presenting her character while J. Michael Tatum’s performance of Galyan is suitable enough as a secondary lead.
Interestingly enough, the package of Dawn of the Seeker advertises that the show features the song, ‘Desire for Need’ by SEETHER, but the song doesn’t actually play anywhere during the movie and is instead placed at the end credits, followed by “Until the Last Day” by GACKT. These songs are quite enjoyable to listen to and it is unfortunate that there was no way to work these songs into the action sequences of the show. Instead most of the background music is relatively suitable for the situation but doesn’t go much further than that.
Extras:
Dawn of the Seeker’s special features include a couple of featurettes as well as some production art from the movie itself shown in a video. The first of the featurettes follows Mike Laidlaw, the Creative Director for Dragon Age, as he gives viewers a quick tour of the BioWare Studios in Edmonton. Fans of the franchise may get a kick out of this eight minute video but it ultimately doesn’t offer much.
On the other hand, the other featurette provides us a 21 minute look behind the scenes of the movie in Dawn of the Seeker Backstage Pass. This video includes some backstory on the three main groups presented in the movie which will help make newcomers a bit more welcome to the series as well as how the show was created. Ultimately the special features are a little thin and it is disappointing that FUNimation didn’t try to at least include GACKT’s music video for his song as a special feature.
Overall: Fans of Dragon Age may find it a bit strange that the movie focuses on what can be seen as a barely shown side-character in the series, but ultimately following Cassandra’s battle against the Blood Mages and attempts to save The Chantry from potential devastation provides quite an enjoyable viewing experience. With an enjoyable storyline, unique and well done animation and a number of exceptional action scenes against large enemies, Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker provides a thrilling viewing experience that fans and newcomers alike will appreciate.
Men In Black 3 Studio: Amblin Entertainment Publisher: Columbia Pictures Format: Cinema Release Date: May 24, 2012
Overview
Men In Black 3 is the third film in the Men In Black movie franchise based off the comic book series published by Aircel comics (later Marvel comics) with a few alterations to the premise. Rather than going for a darker, murder all witnesses tone, the movies opt for a more ambivalent approach to extraterrestrial threats as well as showcasing almost parodious comedic elements.
Taking the premise of a secret government agency set in place to monitor and police alien threats and visitations to earth, The Men In Black are the team that handles these potential threats on a daily basis. The stories told within the movies follow the agents J and K and their investigations into alien activities.
Story
The story in Men In Black 3 is one of comedy and time-travel. It follows the premise of having one of the organisations leading agents, Agent K, being removed from time by a time-travelling ex-alien convict with a grudge. With Agent K removed from his time-line, we can see which effects this has on his partner, Agent J’s, life on earth and with the MIB.
How would your life be affected by an event that suddenly saw someone that had a significant impact on your life being removed from a time since before you had even met? How would the people around you react? These, and more, are questions that the film takes on and appreciates throughout the story.
What I particularly enjoyed about this film was the way that it contrasted the life of the older Agent K of 2012 against the younger Agent K of 1969. Up until Agent J travels back in time, Agent K is shown as an emotionless old man who seems to be void of any human emotion whilst he is on a case, and is even less open while he is off one. This contrasts nicely against when After Agent J travels back in time and meets a younger Agent K who seems to be a little more into life than he was as an old man. This kind of character development is well played throughout the film by showing Agent J’s attitude towards him being comedically shocked at one point thanks to the differences.
The storyline element of time-travel was one that I thought was played quite well in this film. One particular scene that I found to be quite memorable was one where Agent J is fighting a particular Alien and he purposely takes hits from the enemy in order to travel back in time and use that same sequence against it. This is something I would like to see in some more videogames and movies.
The story in Men In Black 3 is one that is certainly enjoyable and is often quite humourous. However, it does feel that it is a little quick, but I’m not sure if that’s out of enjoyment or a short running time.
Visuals
Visually Men In Black 3 is a fairly amazing film. And what I mean by this is that it was bright, colourful and vibrant to look at, even while wearing 3D glasses which can often screw with the colours of a film.
What I found particularly respectable was that everything in the film felt very Men In Black. A fear that I had going in was that because of the time spent between movies, things may not have been redesigned as well which could have impacted on the films aesthetics.
So what makes a Men In Black film aesthetically Men In Black? It’s gotta be the black suits, right? Sure that’s part of it, but maybe there’s more. How about that MIB control room and how it’s all white and far more technologically advanced than regular technology? Surely that’s a part of it. Shiny Alien weaponry with more power than 1000 suns? Those are there too. Aliens! Aliens are it aren’t they? Not entirely. The aesthetics of Men In Black encompass all of these things and more and it is something that the third movie got right. This film, visually speaking, felt just like a Men In Black film.
What a lot of people might notice with this film is a lot of the visual references to past events. Like, for instance, Agent J has a picture of Frank the dog alien thing above his bed and Agent K has an opening wall full of guns like the one seen it Men In Black 2. The movie is littered with throwbacks like these, particularly towards the start, and will stick out to anyone that has seen the first two movie recently.
The last thing I want to talk about with the visuals is the additional 3D option. Sadly, like most 3D movies, the novelty wears off quite quickly and it feels like you’re just watching a regular film after a short while. Also, the 3D is never really fully utilised to its maximum effect. I’d say watch this in 3D if it’s available to you, but you’re not losing anything by going with the 2D option.
Audio
Audibly, Men In Black 3 is pretty good. making it’s return is the instantly recognisable Men In Black theme tune (not the song by Will Smith) in the movies score. I actually quite like the way they used the theme in this film, giving Agent J’s investigation an even more authentic feel.
Even better than the familiar score is the way everything in film sounds. The Aliens have their particular quirks, each weapon has it’s own sound and of course, the neuralyzer has it’s usual memory wiping sounds. I feel that if they had of changed any of these things, the movie would have lost that usual MIB charm and would have been the worse for it.
What I absolutely loved about the film though, was the way audio was used as the basis for comedy within the film. A familiar scene is at the start when Agent O begins to quote an alien verbatim and begins garbldeygooking. It was so hilarious, the thunderous laughter said so.
Overall
Men In Black 3 is an entertaining film to watch that will not only keep you laughing, but will also keep you engaged in the story that spans multiple timelines. Nothing particular about this movie changes the franchise, but it does evolve it. Fans of the first two movies will absolutely love this film.
Halfbrick’s casual/mobile gaming masterpiece Fruit Ninja celebrates its two year anniversary this Thursday May 24th. And to celebrate, Halfbrick is to release a brand new update for the game making Fruit Ninja even bigger and better than before.
New characters and new power-ups will be added to the game. Travelling merchants, Gutsu and Truffles, join Sensei in the dojo and bring with them the new Gutsu’s Cart menu, where players can buy three new power-ups: Berry Blast, Peachy Time and Bomb Deflects.
But how do I pay for these exciting new power-ups you ask? Well the new Fruit Ninja update also introduces Starfruit, the new Fruit Ninja in-game currency which is collected at the end of every game based on your ninja skills.
Fruit Ninja is available for download through iTunes App Store for iPad, iPhone and the game is available for Android devices as well.
