Australian video game retailer GAME has gone into administration, leaving the future of its 500 employees and 92 stores at risk. Accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has been appointed voluntary administrator of GAME Australia, which confirms earlier rumors that the video game retailer had entered administration.
In a statement released by PwC administrators Kate Warwick and Greg Hall, they express their concerns for the video game retailer and have stated that the administrators aim to maintain ‘business as usual’ for its customers.
However, GAME Australia is yet to confirm the impact of its administration on its products and on the status of thousands of dollars worth of customer loyalty cards, pre-orders, gift cards and in-store credit which all hang in the loom.
In a statement provided on GAME’s website, the company is still honouring pre-orders on Diablo 3 and Max Payne 3 – two high profile games that are set to be released later this week, however they are unable to refund customer’s pre-order deposits and it is unclear whether or not they will be honouring other new game releases in the future. Though PwC states that they are “working on schemes aimed at giving customers some return on these claims if they are used to make additional purchases.”
In regards to Diablo 3’s launch tomorrow, GAME has stated via their Facebook page that “Customers who preordered online will receive the game via the post in the usual way. Customers who preordered in-store will need to check with their local store regarding availability.”
This is not good news for Australian gamers with the future of one of Australia’s largest video game retailers hanging in the balance. The best advice for gamers who have loyalty cards, pre-orders, gift cards and in-store credit with GAME is to contact their local store for further details regarding their situation.
Square Enix have just released their end of year figures for the year ended March 2012, and things are looking up for the Final Fantasy developer. After losing over twelve billion yen in the year ending 2011, the company has now reported a net income of just over 6 billion yen.
This improvement is being put down to increased console sales of games such as Deus Ex: Human Revoloution and Final Fantasy XIII-2, with increased output to web and mobile platforms also boosting numbers. With Hitman: Absolution and Kindgom Hearts 3D due for release in the coming months and the Tomb Raider reboot in the pipleine for Q1 2013, Square Enix can probably look forward to another profitable year.
And they aren’t the only Japanese developer reporting stronger numbers. Namco Bandai also recently released figures indicating a net income of 19 billion yen, another vast improvement on the previous year. Once again this increase is being put down to big sales across a handful of titles, with Dark Souls and Ace Combat amongst the big earners.
Now since this has yet to be confirmed by Square Enix USA, take this as you will, but the creator of Kingdom Hearts, Tesuya Nomura, recently when interviewed by Famitsu magazine let slip that the upcoming Kingdom Hearts 3D will be getting a demo on the North American 3DS eShop.
In the translation of his interview, which you can see here, Nomura stated,“We’ve decided to distribute a KH3D demo in North America as well as Japan, you can play part of Sora’s scenario in Traverse Town. So if your friends haven’t played it yet, you can recommend it to them.”
Let’s just mark this as a strong possibility of being real since it comes from the mouth of the creator of the game itself, but as always until we get an official announcement from Square Enix USA, we will file this under ‘rumours’.
What do you think of Kingdom Hearts 3D being released in demo form on the North American eShop? Could this lead to other Western countries also getting the demo? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
Total Drama Island: Wild Beast Hunt Developer: Cartoon Network Publisher: Cartoon Network Price: FREE – Play Online Game Here
Overview
Total Drama Island is based around a reality TV show that is a cross between a school camp, and Survivor. So it is practically a dream for flash games, given that the whole show is made up of mini games. So, will Wild Beast Hunt translate as well as it sounds?
Story
In Wild Beast Hunt you play as the beautiful and crazy Izzy (or assuming so since she is in the icon, you don’t actually see who you are) as she seeks to take down all the cute critters in her line of sight. The story line? Well, you have a limited amount of time so you better get that crosshairs moving.
Gameplay
Wild Beast Hunt is an arcade style shooter (with darts in the place of actual bullets, and the animals magically disappearing when shot). You have a field of vision that is slightly larger than the screen, so hovering your mouse over the left and right side of the screen will allow you to see a bit further. This isn’t too large though, in fact most of the time you don’t need to move your vision unless you’re looking for a darts refill box.
There is a timer, a set amount of darts, and then you’re off. The range of animals increases as you get progress through the levels, of which there are six in total. While that may sound like nothing, each level can take a little while to master, given the range and huge amount of animals you end up encountering. By the end of the game you’re so swamped with critters that you can spray the screen with darts and hit a few out of mere luck. But that’s a waste of darts, and isn’t recommended.
There are the fast moving animals and the slower ones, with the slow ones requiring a couple of darts to take down, and with each dart they move a little faster because when something’s firing at you that is the automatic response.
There is a set number of animals in each level, and they pace back and forth on the screen until you hit them with a dart and they fade slowly from existence. There’s probably some people out there who would be uncomfortable with the target demographic, young kids, shooting poor helpless squirrels, but let’s be honest that’s better than them shooting people. And the game is fairly clear that they are firing darts, which is obviously the kinder way to do it.
The game did experience some lag when I was playing, which actually came in handy because it let me take shots that had previously eluded me. Once you hit about level 3 you’ll find that the game hits a bit of a plateau. New animals are still being introduced at this point, but they are large and lumbering and simply walk along the ground. Given that I found the hardest critters to be frogs, that moved fast and jumped in an awkward pattern, I thought that perhaps the order of the animals’ introductions could have been shifted around with the larger animals coming first and the small nimble ones being introduced later on.
Visuals
The graphics follow the same style of the show, and the animals are charming enough, going around for their little forest romps. The background is a set image, and even though you are technically staring at the same scene for however long you play the game for, it isn’t really a bother since you’re far more focused on what’s between your crosshairs.
Audio
The soundtrack is a little jazzy sort of soft snare-drum number accompanied by animal sounds. It doesn’t distract from the game at all, and adds a forest-y vibe. As someone who is quite picky with game soundtracks, I found nothing offensive about this one, though neither does it add anything useful to the game apart from maybe heighten your tension at taking that last shot.
Overall
While the game does a good job of keeping you occupied and invested while you’re progressing through the levels, I’m not entirely sure about the replay-ability. Once I completed the game I didn’t really find myself wanting to go back and give it another play through to see if I could top my score. Once I had finished it, I felt like that was enough dart-ing of tiny woodland creatures for one day.
Still, for what it is it works very well. There’s a big variation of creatures, a good time limit, and (usually) a good supply of darts. Which will at first seem excessive, and in the later levels are very necessary.
Total Drama Island: Wild Beast Hunt is a great way to pass the time with a classic arcade shooter and a popular franchise.
In unfortunate news the new Tomb Raider reboot, which wowed the crowd at last year’s E3, has had its release date delayed until first quarter 2013. Originally the game was set to be released later this year, third quarter 2012. The announcement was made by Darrell Gallagher, Head of Studio at Crystal Dynamics, on Eidos Games’ official forum.
In a message addressed to the Tomb Raider Community, Darrell Gallagher stated “Our priority now is to make sure we fully deliver the very highest quality game. In order to do this, we have decided to move the game’s release date by a few months, from Fall 2012 to the first quarter of 2013.”
This news comes in light of Irrational Games’ announcement last week that their highly anticipated game, Bioshock: Infinite would be delayed until next year.
Darrell Gallagher’s full statement regarding Tomb Raider’s delay can be read in full at Eidos Games’ official forum.
A trailer for the upcoming live-action film adaptation of Kyoko Okasaki’s classic Helter Skelter manga has made it’s way online in anticipation of the films premiere next month. The trailer which can be seen below features a brief behind the scenes glimpse of the film as well as the full length cinematic trailer.
The film, which is set to premiere on June 14th in Japan, follows the story of Ririko a model who undergoes extensive plastic surgery in order to attain her beauty. The plastic surgery clinic in which she got her work done suddenly becomes under investigation for dodgy business practices. Shortly after Ririko’s beauty begins to fade as her body deteriorates and with the loss of her beauty comes the loss of her sanity.
Check out the trailer below and let us know what you think of Helter Skelter in the comments section.
Recently Japanese media site, Hachima Kikou asked it’s readers ‘What things do you hate about JRPGs?’ Their responses are both somewhat predictable but also unpredictable. The following list is not ordered and is simply a compilation of responses Hachima Kikou received, here is what the Japanese hate about JRPGs:
1. The characters are all good-looking guys and beautiful girls.
2. Movie –> Dialogue –> Movie
3. Opening chests without permission.
4. You have a bunch of characters, but only a few of them can participate in the battle.
5. The actual game contents are subordinated to the theme song, voice actress, etc.
6. About 1,200 people line up for pre-orders.
7. Hidden things you wouldn’t understand unless you read a walkthrough.
8. The protagonist always does the opposite of what I think.
9. You’re just running errands, and then before you know it you have somehow saved the world.
10. They’re called JRPGs.
What do you think? Do any of these things bother you? I know some of them give me the shits. Let us know in the comments section below what things you hate about JRPGs.
Recently My Games News Flash, a Japanese media site, asked it’s fan base ‘What Anime scenes/episodes don’t you want your Mother to walk in on?’ The results were varied and of course featured some major spoilers for some series, so proceed with caution. The top 10 scenes/episodes that Japanese anime fans don’t want their Mother to walk in on are as follows:
10. The kiss at the end of Pokémon: The Guardians of Altomare
9. The ED Theme of Rozen Maiden
8. Kaji and Misato’s Bedroom Scene in Evangelion
7. Any scene of quitting school and becoming a Hikikomori
6. Mami’s death scene in Madoka Magica 5. Any scene in Ranma 1/2 that shows breasts
4. Union scenes in Aquarion EVOL 3. All of High School DxD
2. Sex scene in any anime
1. Shinji Ikari masturbation scene in End of Evangelion
What do you think of this list? What scene or episode of anime don’t you want your Mother to walk in on? Sound off in the comments section below.
BradyGames has the ball rolling with a strategy guide for Diablo 3 at their fingertips. Ready to be published on May 15th, this official Diablo 3 strategy guide will be made available in two separate formats: signature series and limited edition. Both contain highly valuable information, but which one yields more knowledge?
The basic signature series will have coverage of the following:
Base Price: US $21.99 – Here
Walkthrough including coverage of every quest in all four Acts.
A visual encyclopedia of all 240 creatures in the game, including critical stats and detailed descriptions of special attacks, abilities, and behaviors.
A complete rundown of all active and passive skills for each Hero.
The only complete overview of the Diablo III crafting system.
A comprehensive exhaustive listing of all base equipment.
The official resource for Blizzard’s amazing new online Diablo III commodity exchange for buying, selling, and trading items in the Auction House.
In addition to the basic strategy guide, the limited edition will include even more goodies:
Base Price: US $36.99 – Here
One-of-a-kind sculptured metal bookmark featuring Diablo’s head.
Amazing hardcover featuring holographic foil, matte film lamination, spot gloss, and a multi-level emboss.
48 pages of Armor Set art unique to the Limited Edition.
Expert tips for dominating Multiplayer action over Battle.net in both cooperative and competitive play.
Receive a redeemable code for a free Flash version of the strategy guide, accessible from the BradyGames website.
Thrill seekers to the Burning Hells will be able to pick these guides up on May 15th. If you are afraid you may not obtain a copy of the guide after the release, check over at BradyGames.com to attain an e-guide if available.
Famitsu magazine have just confirmed that the next Tales Of game will indeed be part of the ‘mothership’ series, or in layman terms the main series of Tales Of games. This means that the game will not be a remake, reboot or spin-off of an already existing Tales Of game and instead will be an entirely new entry to the main series.
This news comes hot off the heels of the launch of the Tales Of countdown website from Namco Bandai which can be seen here. The clock is of course counting down to the game’s reveal next month on June 2nd at Tales Of Festival.
What do you think of the next Tales Of game being a main series title? Let us know in the comments section below.
A trailer for the upcoming live-action film adaptation of Kyoko Okasaki’s classic Helter Skelter manga has made it’s way online in anticipation of the films premiere next month. The trailer which can be seen below features a brief behind the scenes glimpse of the film as well as the full length cinematic trailer.
