If you enter a Gamestop and notice a lack of Playstation Portable games, it is because of Gamestop’s announcement that one in four stores will not stock PSP games. That is 25% of all stores in the region. In a statement made by Gamestop (and published on Kotaku), a Gamestop representative noted the following:
“The consolidation is occurring to maximize the merchandising space in the smallest 25% of stores. It will also provide a greater assortment in those stores that will continue to carry the category.”
This comes as no surprise given the release of the Playstation Vita in February and the slow sales of the seven year old handheld. The Playstation Portable did have some fantastic games, including a huge library of JRPG’s, excellent first party games and, of course, Monster Hunter.
Did you have a Playstation Portable? If so, what games did you have? Give us your experiences below.
For anyone living in Beijing China, LinJie V (Five) comic show was on today, so it was another perfect excuse for the Capsule Computers Crew to attend and cover the event and check out the awesome CosPlay that was on show. LinJie comic show has always been and is the only event that is held outdoors and is the only Comic Show that is FREE to the public, YES that’s right FREE entry in, how great is that! The event is held each year in the People’s University of China’s Basketball field is, which I must say is quite large and very impressive. As always everything went down without a hitch. With special media pass we were able to get in and take a look at the event floor approx 2 hours before the massive crowds / fans and cos players were allowed it. And THANK THE ANIME GODS for that! Once the clock stuck 9am, the flood gates opened and it was on for young and old!
Today’s event drew an impressive amount of Cos-Play characters from classic Anime shows, Manga and video games. Event DEATH made an appearance! Check out the pictures taken below (link below to our full gallery images hosted on Facebook) a lot of effort and time was certainly spent into some of these outfits which I must say were very interesting and amazingly well designed. Cos-Play here at inJie V was as good as Jiong Jiong & M.Y. Comic 3 that happened earlier this year in Beijing. The great thing about attending these events is you also get to know the regulars and see what new costumes they have designed, which is always very exciting if you’re a cos-play fan.
Click on the link below to be taken to our Facebook gallery page for LinJie V Comic Show
As the Mass Effect 3 release date approached, Razer announced a literal heap of devices they would be releasing in partnership with BioWare. N7 branded mice, controllers, even bags, were all going to be shipped out to the world at large. The Razer Chimaera wireless headset was among this plethora of peripherals, and the device bears the high standardof quality set by Razer, now with a Mass Effect flourish.
The moment you receive the box for the headset, you’ll be floored. It is by no means small, and the package is designed to show off the Chimaera, while at the same time art from Mass Effect 3 surrounds it. Earth is burning, and the headphones within will help you put out the fires. As you eagerly unravel the packaging, you’ll be treated to the various staples of Razer customer service. Instruction manuals, Razer stickers, and a “Welcome to the Cult of Razer” message await you. Also inside is the all-in-one charger/wireless tower for the Chimaera.
The stand itself is a bit clunky, but it is small enough that you should easily find some space around your television cabinet or desk. The bonus for having to make the space is, of course, that there are no annoying cables tying you down. It was nice to be able to shift position without worrying about pulling the headset out of the Xbox or getting a wire out of my play space.
The problems begin and end with the next phase of the unboxing, however. There are a lot of cables that come with the headset, each having a various purpose depending on how you want to experience your games. Whether it’s by plugging the headset directly into your controller, playing it through a TV-charger connection, or having the charger plugged directly into your Xbox. While the variety is appreciated, the minimalist style in which the instruction manuals literally illustrate the set up of the device is ultimately confusing. Especially because in some cases, like if you want to use the headset for a PC, the instructions are shown, but not all of the cables required are actually included with the Chimaera. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel misled at that point.
But what came next surprised me more than my disgruntlement. When you finally get everything working and you put on the headphones, you’ll forget any frustration that may have been caused by the installation of the device. Before it even starts playing sound, the Chimaera rests comfortably on your head and around your ears. Where some headsets can feel uncomfortable after a while, the Chimaera is the leather couch of audio devices. You could wear the thing in your sleep and hardly feel it. Granted, if you rolled onto your side then you probably would have some issues, but the point is you can put the headset on for hours at no discomfort – a plus for those weekend marathon gaming sessions.
Then the audio kicks in. I can honestly say the sound quality is beyond anything I expected.
The first game to get the Chimaera treatment from me was Mass Effect 3, and boy did the headset make me feel like I was right there. The sound design in Mass Effect 3 was much improved over previous games, and the Chimaera really brings that out. Every shot of the Mattock rifle felt like someone was shooting a gun two feet away from me, every rising orchestral tune swept me away moreso than it had before, and, most strikingly, the quality of ambience shot up. It’s not that it wasn’t there on my first playthrough, it’s just that I could now hear it in all its glory.
I then gave FIFA 12 a go, and the same applied there. Sounds I didn’t even know were in the game were clear as day all of a sudden – the solid “poof” when someone hit the ball and the crowd chants that are layered on top of the basic “Wooaaahhh” in the background, to list a few examples. So it was all the more satisfying when winding down a 1-0 game because every pass completion that kept the ball away from my opponent resulted in a “yeah!” from the spectators. The Chimaera added that little extra spice to the virtual football experience, making something new out of something I’ve been way too familiar with over the past eight months.
The last game on the whirlwind tour my eardrums were going on was The Witcher 2, and there the difference was especially obvious. There’s so much hustle and bustle in any of the locations within the game, and whether it’s the animals in the forests, vendors in the city, or the clash of swords the Chimaera amplifies it all. The world of Temeria went from looking real to feeling real. And while that may be a subtle difference for some, it genuinely helped to get me immersed in the little things of the game. I found myself exploring far more than I usually do, really just taking it all in.
Above I mentioned that you could play with the Chimaera on for hours, but it will also make you want to play for hours. For better or worse, the device effectively blocks out the world around you and places your two feet firmly into whichever virtual world you are exploring at the moment. So whether you’re smack-talking on Call of Duty‘s multiplayer or saving the galaxy from the Reapers in Mass Effect, the Chimaera will make you feel like you are right there in the room yelling at a fourteen-year0-old from Sweden or telling the Illusive Man that he needs to stop being a douche.
The microphone on the Chimaera is also great, though filtered through the internet, there’s probably not much difference on the end of whoever you’re playing on Xbox Live. What’s handy, though, is that muting the mic is as simple as lifting it back into its original vertical position. There’s nothing much simpler than that.
While the Mass Effect 3 Razer Chimaera isn’t the most straightforward of products to set up, particularly if you were hoping to use it for your PC, once it’s been installed you’d be hard pressed to find a headset that can match its sound quality and comfort. If you love total immersion (and let’s face it, if you’re getting a Mass Effect themed piece of peripheral you probably do), then the Razer Chimaera will be one of the best things that has happened to you since the end of Mass Effect.
Oh, and it also comes with a code for some Mass Effect 3 multiplayer goodies, just in case the stylish N7 on your earbud wasn’t enough.
Around this time last year we had just started to discover that Nintendo had a new console ready to show off at E3 2011. The console that was ultimately shown however left more than a few gamers with a bad taste in their mouths. Now heading into E3 2012, it is the perfect opportunity for Nintendo to correct that.
As many would recall the console appears to be little more than a beefed up Wii with an iPad for a controller. Okay, that’s a little too harsh, but the fact remains that it didn’t look like much of a significant upgrade from the Wii besides the inclusion of the new controller. That’s not all though, the name of the machine itself is literally the Wii U. This in itself is more a problem than it is a blessing.
Nintendo flat out need to redesign the console itself and create an entirely new name for the console. The reason why this is a necessity is the fact that the console will be confused for a simple remodel of the Wii. The general consumer does not read websites such as this religiously and does not follow the latest news on the industry, unless Nintendo makes it clear that this product is something entirely new, the Wii U will not make a significant impact out of the gate.
So how does Nintendo show the common consumer that this is something new and worth their money? Redesign and rename the version that they have currently shown us. Give it a new and exciting look, and give it a name that won’t be instantly associated with a very console that launched 6 years ago. The common consumer is not interested in buying a new model of a product that they have most likely had for years and long gotten bored of. Nintendo need to give them something new. They need to give them something that they ‘haven’t’ already got.
With E3 2012 now under a month away, all eyes will be on Nintendo and their upcoming console. Will they show us a new model and a new title? This particular journalist can only hope so. Sound off in the comments below with your thoughts.
The Bluecoats: North vs South Developer:Anuman Interactive Publisher:Microids Platforms:PC (reviewed), iOS, Mac Release Date:10 May, 2012 Price:$9.99 (PC) $3.99 (iOS available here)
Overview
The Bluecoats: North vs South might ring bells on a couple of levels. On the more obscure, French level, Bluecoats was an incredibly popular comic strip. Secondly, it was one of the first turn based strategy games, released in 1989 on the Commodore 64, NES and several other platforms.
It takes the American Civil War as its backdrop, dropping players onto a map of the United States where they must takeover territories and conquer forts to win the day. This version – released on iOS and PC and Mac with an Android release in the pipeline – has obviously been tweaked from its 23 year old original form. The graphics have been improved and gameplay changes made to offer a more accessible experience.
Gameplay
Dumped on a map of the not so United States, players must capture individual territories and wipe out enemy forces. Different states have various strategic advantages and disadvantages, including forts, railways and ports. Holding two forts linked by rail will generate gold for your revolutionary coffers and a port will drop off reinforcements every now and again. Alongside these map features are several randomised game changers that can be turned on or off as you see fit, allowing for a bit of variety to the game’s singular mode. Both sides can be hindered by attacks from Indians or Mexicans on border states, or units can be held up by a passing storm. These little mechanics add a drop of chaos to a game that is otherwise mostly about who can buy the most troops from the shop fastest.
States held by the enemy can be taken without a hitch if there is no opposition on the square, but any fort or enemy unit will kick off one of the three mini games found within Bluecoats. Attacking or being attacked by a unit will bring up a fast paced battlefield, where you can order cavalry, cannon and infantry to attack. There are a small number of terrain features to take note of here and also the ability to surrender – both highly useful things to be aware of if you’re in a tight spot. The right unit pairings are fairly easy to come across and when you’ve got that nailed confrontations are usually pretty straightforward.
Taking or defending a fort kicks off a third person shooter section where your one trooper must fend off thirteen enemy soldiers. Although a bit tricky at first, once you get used to the rhythm of the enemies popping in and out of cover it is fairly easy to win. A nonsensical limit to the amount of time you can crouch feels like an incredibly forced way to add tension to what is otherwise a static fight, but it’s certainly a more efficient way to defend your territory than the sometimes unpredictable battlefield mini game. I eventually stopped defending my forts with a unit and just let attacks go straight to the shooter mini game.
The third and final mini game, in stark contrast to the other two, hardly ever appears. Either defending or attacking a train, this one remains fresher by virtue of its relative rarity. The three mini games form much of the games playtime, and as soon as you get the slightest of upper hands being so well practiced at them makes much of the challenge disappear.
Luckily you can change the start date of the game, giving either the Confederates or the Yankess more power and territory to match up with the historical events of the war. Sadly that’s pretty much all the influence the conflict has on the game, and other than the visuals you would be hard pressed to realise that there’s any sort of comic strip influence here.
There are no other modes to the game, so other than tweaking the difficulty and experimenting with the random elements and limited strategy, there isn’t much to do if you’re after something for long gaming sessions. The lack of any multiplayer at all is also incredibly strange – the game would benefit enormously from it. That said the enemy AI is very good – it’ll certainly take a few tries to get the best of it. Winning however is a bit of a let down, much of the tension having gone by the time you’re wiping out the last of the enemy units, and the complete lack of stats or rewards at the end doesn’t help matters – Bluecoats is certainly a very simplistic experience.
This is also something of a strength for the game however, which undoubtedly makes it more suited to portable platforms, especially the larger screen of the iPad. The game is overpriced for the PC platform for sure, but as an armchair distraction or commute filler Bluecoats would fare much better. The gameplay does provoke some strategic thinking and the mini games fare well enough over one off play sessions.
Audio & Visual
Graphically Bluecoats has been given a nice bright lick of paint, with cartoon strip style characters offering a little bit of charm. The music adds to the cheerful tone of the game, and is all Civil War marches and trumpet calls. Sure it’s appropriate to the theme, but your highly likely to switch to your own music after a short time – things get repetitive fast! The sound effects haven’t had the same attention as the animation either, so there’s not much to be lost by hitting the mute button. As a package Bluecoats is bright, cheery and ultimately inoffensive – it’s just a shame it doesn’t have a bit more character to it to take away from the fairly limited gameplay.
Overall
A cheerful distraction that will appeal to fans of strategy, Bluecoats is simply limited by its age. It’s crying out for a multiplayer mode and a bit more content – but for small sessions it does a solid job of making you think on your feet. The iOS version makes far more sense to buy than the PC, and iPad owners will probably get the best out of it. The mini games certainly make for an unusually mixed strategy experience, just make sure not to get too good at the shooting and turn the difficulty up!
Where’s My Dollar Developer: TopGameFree Publisher: TopGameFree Platforms: iPad Release Date: May 2nd, 2012 Price: $0.99 Get It Here
Overview
Finding money on the street is fun. TopGameFree attempts to recapture the joy with their new game Where’s My Dollar. Inspired by Where’s Waldo, can TopGameFree bring joy to players everywhere?
Story
The beginning of the game starts with a letter requesting the player, a detective, help the banker Dr. Za. He has lost his set of US dollar bill proofs through his travels and now hires the player to seek out the dollar bills scattered around the world. The story is there just for some mild backstory.
Gameplay
Where’s My Dollar is a hidden object game similar to the Where’s Waldo series of books. There is only one type of hidden object to find which are dollar bills. The game is spread across 12 levels with six locations. Considering each level needs to be completed in only a few minutes, the length of Where’s My Dollar is very short. Dollar bills are scattered around the background in various places. The difficulty of finding the dollar bills range from extremely obvious to next to impossible. Although the game advertises the positioning of the dollar bills as “all random” which is only partially true. After a few levels, players will discover there are 40-45 possible places that the bills can be randomly scattered to. Once the positions are memorized, the game becomes ridiculously easy. Unfortunately, to memorize all of those positions, players will have to burn up several magnifier abilities to find the next to impossible hiding spots. To worsen the problem, the game constantly blows leaves and clouds of fog throughout the level. These disruptions not only block the view but make it impossible to click on bills that are even partially covered by the clouds. The fog and leaves are frustrating and rather pointless, especially since there is a fan power up to blow away the fog and leaves.
The game initially comes with a couple fans, magnifiers, and stop time power ups. Use them all up and you will need to pay real money in the form of an in app purchase to get more. Alternatively, players are forced to play the game for several minutes for a random power up. As each time a power up is collected, the time required to play the game before earning another random power up grows. What irks me the most about Where’s My Dollar is the fact it is designed to frustrate the players into making an in app purchase. The fog clouds and leaves can be completely removed from the game, as long as players are willing to fork over five dollars to get unlimited fan power ups. Another five dollars for infinite magnifier power ups that will turn the game into a pointless mash the magnifier button mess. Where’s My Dollar is a shining example of in app purchases gone wrong.
The controls for Where’s My Dollar is not much better than the rest of the game. Dollar bills are extremely small and the hot zone where they can be picked up is just as small. On top of this, there are problems relating to the fog clouds and leaves blocking the bills from being tapped. In the end, tapping bills is more of a hit and miss sort of affair. This would not be a huge issue if it was not for the fact missed taps that are not blocked by leaves or clouds are penalized by knocking two seconds off the remaining time for searching. To get a good score, dollar bills must be tapped in quick succession for bonus points, therefore the hit or miss controls make the game unnecessarily harder than it already is.
The camera controls also need work in Where’s My Dollar. The default level of zoom is fine for the most part, but it is impossible to zoom the camera out and hold it there. To view the play area zoomed out, players need to pinch the screen and hold it there. Once the player releases the pinch, the screen snaps back to the regular level of zoom. I found this particularly annoying since zooming out to see the larger picture is extremely helpful for finding the last few missing bills. Overall, Where’s My Dollar is short and repetitive with poorly implemented controls that tries its best to push in app purchases on the player.
Visuals
Where’s My Dollar has some beautiful backgrounds to search for dollars. The art style reminds me of the hand drawn children’s books that I used to read in kindergarten. Unfortunately, the backgrounds are extremely lacking in quantity. There are a total of six backgrounds to stare at with two levels each. Although at default zoom the backgrounds look fine. But zoom up close in an attempt to find dollars and you discover pixelization and blurred images. Sadly, the images are only optimized for the default level of zoom.
The level of difficulty the dollar bills that are scattered around range from too obvious to next to impossible to find. Some bills are so dark they are barely noticeable as dollar bills are then hidden in shadowed areas so dark that if the screen’s brightness is too low, it is practically impossible to find without the assistance of a power up. Worse off, some bills are improperly clipped, displaying only half a bill when there is nothing in the background that would warrant half a bill sticking out. A good example is the Stonehenge level where there is the odd half a bill stuck to the front of a stone pillar. Unfortunately the only good thing about Where’s My Dollar’s visuals is the background and it is extremely lacking, capped off at six different backgrounds. Where’s My Dollar is extremely disappointing in the visual department.
Audio
The audio is not impressive at all. The sounds are the same three sound effects used over and over. Most puzzling of all, when a dollar bill is found, the player is rewarded with the sound of coins clinking. The music department is not much better. Each level has its own theme song, but the player is only able to listen to it for the first ten seconds of the level before the music cuts out, leaving the player to seek dollars to the sound of the wind blowing and silence. The main theme song is the only song players are able to listen to for more than several seconds at a time in the main menu. However the main theme song sounds eerily familiar to a certain popular video game series on the Nintendo family of consoles.
Overall
I would have a hard time recommending Where’s My Dollar even if the price of entry was free, versus the $0.99 it costs to purchase the game. Where’s My Dollar is a repetitive game clearly designed to frustrate players into purchasing the in app add-ons. The controls are inconsistent at its best but are sketchy most of the time. Although the backgrounds are beautiful, there are only six of them yet there are 12 levels to play. The backgrounds get old quickly. The sound is nothing great either, the music is literally lacking as players spend a majority of the game in silence and the sound effects are repetitive. There are many 100 percent free games on the App Store more deserving of your money than Where’s My Dollar.
Hot off the heels of the new details surrounding the Pokemon Black and White 2 video games focusing around a World Pokemon Tournament, the premiere date and details for the second season of the anime series Pokemon Black and White Season 2 (Pocket Monsters: Best Wishes Season 2 in Japan) has come to light thanks to CoroCoro magazine.
The new season will premiere on the 21st of June, 2012 and will feature a story similar to the upcoming games. The first ever World Pokemon Tournament is held and many of the world’s greatest trainers are summoned to compete, thus bringing back many of fan’s favourite characters such as Brock, Misty, Giovanni, Cynthia, Gary Oak, Volkner, Steven and Lance.
Also like the games there will be a new story arc focusing on a new Team Rocket plot with Giovanni taking the spotlight. Also returning to the series is Dawn, however it is not known to what extent her return will be.
What do you think of these classic Pokemon characters making their anime returns? Let us know in the comments section below.
It has been revealed in CoroCoro magazine that Pokemon Black and White 2 will feature a plot based largely around a World Pokemon Tournament, which is the grandest stage of them all for Pokemon Trainers. The winner of which is deemed the Master of all Pokemon.
The thing that makes this World Pokemon Tournament so exciting is that it brings back several fan favourite characters of the series past such as Brock, Misty, Giovanni, Cynthia, Lance and even Gary/Blue to compete for ultimate supremacy of the Pokemon world. Of course Giovanni’s inclusion ushers in the return of Team Rocket to the series, in what manner however we do not know.
Alongside this news it was revealed that the character N from the previous Black and White games has disappeared in the time that has passed between games, his whereabouts is unknown. It is said that he will appear in the game though.
What do you think of these classic Pokemon characters returning? Sound off in the comments section below.
This year Anuman Interactive celebrates its 12 year anniversary. This is a pretty monumental event for the French software and game publisher, especially for one with such humble beginnings of only publishing for PC in their native French territory. Since that time, Anuman has grown to publish across multiple platforms and worldwide to boot.
In honor of this Anuman has revamped their logo to better fit the style and times of this modern digital age and it will start accompanying their future products. The logo’s look also fits well with their plans to focus on newer up-and-coming mobile technologies, while still keeping up with the PC, Mac, and consoles.
In all, it’ll be interesting to see what Anuman is planning for the future and definitely great to see them trying to keep it fresh and feeling young with the new logo.
Cloudberry Kingdom is working towards its September release for Steam and its December release for Wii U, though still working on possible Xbox LIVE Arcade and PSN releases. Featuring a wide variety of difficulties, don’t worry easy is included, that adapt to skill level via AI programming to actually build the levels for the players. Don’t fret about accidental impossible ones though as it is specifically programmed to have every level be possible to beat, no matter how hard.
Players that are interested however in helping out Pwnee Studios or simply reserving a copy of the game will be interested to hear about the Kickstarter they have going on currently. With backing tiers that range from just getting the game for either Steam or Wii U, to a Special Coder’s Edition of the game, to every game Pwnee Studios will make for life, to designing a hero and prince/princess to save in a mini-game for the game. Players can check out the Kickstarter page HERE.
Hot off the heels of the 
