Gamelion Studios, the developers of Monster Shooter and Doodle Fit, has announced their newest game releasing for iOS will be coming out May 1st. What’s the game? A z-scrolling platformer called Crazy Kangaroo, featuring a kangaroo named Barney who’s out to make his way home after escaping some poachers. But, it’s not a merry journey back as Barney needs to avoid the dangers of the wild, including hunters and drowning.
Crazy Kangaroo covers three different worlds, power-ups like Sugar Rush and Multi-Score, more than 50 levels, and leaderboards so players can see how they stack up. The game controls entirely by tilting, both forward-and-back and left-to-right, to guide Barney’s hops from object to object. If you like unique platformers with fun graphics, check out Crazy Kangaroo for the iPad, iPod, and iPod Touch when it releases HERE.
Steel River Games have released their first commercial indie game, The Court Jester. The Court Jester is a story-driven 2.5D sidescroller, with plenty of magic and action to keep you entertained.
Domitian is a disgruntled court jester who has decided he should be emperor, however, after some not so fortunate happenings, he makes a deal with a fallen god to get some powerful magic to help him take on his enemies and clear his route to emperor position. The Court Jester has an in-depth storyline, with some pretty dark humour that just makes the whole thing more hilarious.
With over twenty levels spanning over six diverse environments, a quirky little story line with some memorable characters, an unlockable higher difficulty mode, boss rush, and survival mode, Court Jester is sure to be a fun little indie game.
Check out the trailer for the game below!
For a free online demo head on over to THIS SITE. The game is available NOW for Mac and PC for the low price of $2.99 – Get it HERE
Some news reminiscent of the great Montgomery Burns complaining of getting screwed over $3 in taxes despite all the corporate and financial loop holes his creative accountants have devised, except replace the great man with our beloved producer of world dominating gadgets, the wonderful Apple. While noone can be criticised for trying to keep as much of their hard earned money away from the taxman as possible which is fair enough by all standards, Charles Duhigg of the NY Times has released a report questioning many of the companies latest, albeit completely legal tactics. He describes Apples tax avoiding practices as “spectacularly creative”, resulting in the company having a global tax rate of 9.8%, allowing them to save 2.4 billion dollars, being less than half that of Walmart at 24% and most other major corporations.
According to Duhigg some of the more creative practices employed by Apple include finding ways to allocate up to 70% of its profit margins outside the US, despite the majority of its executives and product designers residing there. The article in the NY times reports Apple using offices in Nevada to house a company named Braeburn Capital to collect cash generated in the US by the company, thus avoiding Californias tax and falling under the zero corporate tax jurisdication of Nevada and its laws. All the while that Apple are claiming low cash flows in California they are collecting tax credits for Research and Development purposes there to the tune of $400 million over the last 15 years.
Internationally, Duhigg says Apple have pioneered an ingenious scheme nicknamed Double Irish with a Dutch Sandwich that many accountants from other major firms have said they learnt from Apples methods. It involves routing money generated from US inventions through subsidiaries in Ireland and the Netherlands and then through to the Caribbean. The extent to which Apple use this method can be explained by the fact that from an accounting perspective, Ireland accounted for 30% of Apples total revenue, which is a little hard to fathom unless Bono is downloading billions of copies of his own music to hear his own voice. All of this is done to take advantage of the exceptionally low rates of tax in many of these regions. Even salespeople working in high tax regions act on behalf of Apples subsidiaries in low tax regions making them eligible for that countries rates. Apple themselves have noted that many iTunes sales occur legally in Luxembourg as they offer tax incentives for any company that processes its transactions there, a simple process when selling a digital product.
While not having to answer to anyone due to the company breaking absolutely no laws, they have responded to the NY times report, which you can read in full here, although it doesnt really address the question asked of the company.
Grumpy Mouse have decided that Christmas has come early, because they’ve made their game, Stunt Mouse available for free in a Lite version. The original app is still available, with additional levels not in the Lite version.
Stunt Mouse is an action puzzle game, with fast and furious game play, as well as cute cartoon graphics and a funky soundtrack. You get to take control of Stunt Mouse as he makes his way though each level, avoiding obstacles and collecting coins for his little mouse-y self. The point of the game is this: use different strategies to try and win as many trophies as you can, with five available in total.
With ten levels in total, and over twenty Game Center achievements, this all will make a fun little play through. Plus, it’s Facebook integrated so you can brag on your friends’ News Feeds about how awesome you are as a stunt mouse.
Check out the trailer below!
Stunt Mouse Lite is available NOW for iPhone, iTouch and iPad for FREE – Get it HERE
Publisher: EA Sports Developer: Platform: Xbox 360 (reviewed), PS3, PC Release Date: Available now for download for FIFA 12 owners! Price: 1800 Microsoft Points ($15.99 US)
Overview:
So after controversially deciding to release EURO 2012 as an expansion to FIFA 12 rather than a separate game, EA Sports have unleashed the DLC into the marketplace for download, essentially adding three modes and 53 (not all licensed) teams. Expedition mode is the main attraction for the release, yet does it live up to it’s hype? Keep reading to find out.
Gameplay:
In terms of the actual matches, match engine, control system etc. it’s identical to FIFA 12. To be honest I don’t see why you would expect anything different if it’s an expansion to FIFA 12, so I’ve got no complaints there. If you wanted the bugs fixed from FIFA 12 you’ll just have to wait until FIFA 13.
Expedition mode was the one thing that really caught my attention for this release, adopting a mode similar to World Tour in FIFA Street but with way more players to build your team with and using real reserves instead of created characters as your initial team. It sounded like a really good idea and I was pretty excited, yet skeptical. Unfortunately my skepticism was more appropriate as the end product was rather disappointing. Your matches are limited to 2 minute halves, which I didn’t really mind given the amount you have to get through to unlock players. My first issue, which I anticipated, was having to play many lowly ranked teams. When you unlock a “road” to a semi-decent team, you have to beat them three times just to get one of their stars. It all gets too laborious for my liking, especially when you lose matches. The overall goal of collecting “mosaic” pieces also seems a bit dull and I felt there could have been a greater incentive to beat all the teams….three times each…
Another issue I have with the release is the fact that some of the teams aren’t licensed. Notable examples include the Welsh national team who contain superstars such as Gareth Belth, Aaron Rumsey, and Craig Belmont. Whilst I realise it doesn’t matter that much, the price of the DLC doesn’t seem quite justified, especially given the full licensing we usually enjoy with EA Sports.
Audio and Visual:
In terms of audio, there hasn’t been that much done to the game. The soundtrack that accompanies the mode is just the FIFA 12 one. It would’ve been nice if they included a few new songs to freshen it up a bit, given the amount of hours (or more solid months) that I’ve spent listening to the FIFA 12 one whilst playing. The commentary has been marginally altered, with a few (and I really mean a few) new comments about the tournament, but no real difference. It would’ve been nice to have a bit more history and stats integrated into the commentary to acknowledge the EURO tournament and just provide some more entertainment to spruce up the unaltered gameplay.
The menu design and graphical elements of EURO 2012 is very contrasting to the subtle style that FIFA 12 has, and in does somewhat give the sense that you’re playing a different game, until you get on the pitch of course. The one bonus is the addition of the eight official stadium from the tournament, which are adequately represented and definitely give the game a much needed point of difference. Even with these however the atmosphere is bland and doesn’t feel much different to a regular league match (or even 3rd division match) in FIFA 12.
Overall:
EURO 2012 is still a solid extension pack for FIFA 12, and to be honest I don’t think having it released a full standalone title would have been that much better. The addition of all the EURO nations is always fun (even with the odd lack of licensing for some), and the new stadiums help spice things up a bit. Expedition mode is a neat idea and is fun for a while, however I can’t see many people bothering to complete it (unless you’re really into your 360 achievements..).
At the end of the day, EURO 2012 is nothing spectacular and whilst it does add a bit more longevity to FIFA 12 (not that it needed an excuse), it stil falls a bit short. The pack, especially the online part, will probably be much more useful once the hype starts for EURO 2012, but it’s up to you to decide if the price tag is worth it.
Elite Systems Group have released three new retro games, for all of you retro game fans out there who love them some 8-bit goodness. And there is nothing quite like getting nostalgic on your iOS device – be it iPhone or iPad. The apps are near-100% original, just getting a bit of an update from their 1980s versions.
First off, there is Summer Games HD. Which is basically the Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games version before anyone even dreamed that the Wii could exist. With the classic old school controls, including a virtual joystick, Summer Games is sure to bring back some fond memories of pretending like you cold totally be an Olympian. Get Summer Games HD HERE for $0.99
Next, Pitstop II HD, where you get to race against another car on a racetrack as you try to prove that you are the most skilled speedster on the track. As with Summer Games, there is a virtual joystick, and you can customise the layout of the controls. Race head to head, and bring pride to your pit stop! Get Pitstop II HD HERE for $0.99
Finally, Leaderboard HD, the game that preceded all those Tiger Woods games. Brought to you from 1986, Leaderboard is a game in which you take on an opponent on the green and see who can get that ball in the hole faster. Get Leaderboard HD HERE for $0.99
Each of these apps are also available as in game purchases through Retro Games – Available HERE for FREE
What do you guys think? Any of these retro games that you’re keen on, or feel all nostalgic about? Are any piquing your interest? Let us know in the comments section below!
Perhaps one of the things that the Dead or Alive series is known for is having a… lets say bounce, to its gameplay. To be a bit more specific, the female fighters in the title have always had rather interesting breast physics and movement. However it appears that Dead or Alive 5 will take a different approach to breast physics this time around, as it the girls’ breast movement will not only vary by character but also what outfit they are wearing as well.
In an interview with Famitsu Xbox 360, as translated by Andriasang, director Yohei Niibori revealed the above fact as well as saying that each piece outfit will also have a varying level of transparency, as seen in the above image of Hitomi. Producer Yosuke Hayashi went on to say that, while so far all we have seen are new costumes for each character revealed so far, some older costumes will also be returning.
Nintendo have always been known to tweak the colors of their handhelds, and it looks like purple is finally making a comeback as a Joystiq reader recently caught a glance of a new listing online for a “Midnight Purple” 3DS at Sam’s Club , and you can check out the still live page for the product here.
Nintendo have already released a Flame Red, Aqua Blue, Pink, and Black 3DS thus far in the U.S., so I would say there is a good chance of seeing more from Nintendo on the subject in the coming months. I, personally, would like to see a nice platinum or gold unit released, but purple (or indigo) is classic Nintendo and it will be interesting to see if or when an announcement is made.
*Update*
Nintendo have now announced the Midnight Purple as of April 30th, and it will be hitting shelves as soon as May 20th. Click HERE for more information.
N.O.V.A 3 is the latest title in the Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance series for handheld devices, such as the iPhone, Android and iPad. The sci-fi shooter series follows the story of Kal Wardin, who is a part of the Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance. This is the third game in the series and is a near-direct continuation of the story.
The game opens with Kal crashing his spaceship into Earth after a landing gone wrong and is soon met by other soldiers who seem to be doing battle with the games enemies, the Xenos. Players are almost immediately thrown in to do battle with the enemy in what appeared to be a short tutorial section, which I found to be quite intuitive in it’s excecution. What the developers have done here is they have included the tutorial sections in the first level on the game, so you get the feeling that you’re just playing the regular game, rather than some boring mission tacked on to the game before the actual meat begins.
The levels in N.O.V.A 3 are pretty well designed. The first level is set in a major city on Earth, and it, for some reason, gave me a reminisce of Half-Life 2, even though there was a lot more action in the overall design. Each level in NOVA 3 is broken up into sections, or checkpoints, that players go through and complete before moving on to the next checkpoint. In the first level this means that you’re travelling through the streets, through building and eventually to a military base before you’re done playing through.
Combat in this game felt quite fluid and had pretty intuitive controls for a game played entirely on a touchscreen. Gamers that have played previous Gameloft shooters will have a fair idea on what to expect from the games interface, but for those that haven’t I will quickly discuss this. Basically the left-hand side of the screen is your digital thumbstick, which you can use to move in a number of directions; on your right, you have all your combat buttons, like the shoot button, an ability button just above it, a jump button below it and a weapon button at the top used for reloading and switching weapons. Of course, some players may not like this set up, or it may be too finicky on some displays – fortunately, you are able to fully customise the screen to play how you would prefer.
One of the things I noticed during my playthrough was how nice everything looked. While I know that different devices have different technical specifications and that the game might have lower graphics than that which can be achieved on the device with the highest specifications, they are still incredibly brilliant. It’s hard to compare them to the graphics of other gaming devices, but I’d say that they’re roughly Xbox360 level at a lower resolution. Similar to the 3DS perhaps? But they were much sharper, so it’s really hard to compare.
Screenshot Exclusive to CAPSULE COMPUTERS.Click to open in a new tab.
In this iteration of the series I noticed that there is a larger emphasis on abilities. Over the course of the game, players will gain access to various abilities and during my playthrough I got to manage two of these. The first is a kind of ‘Force-push’ like technique that forces enemies forward and causes them to be temporarily grounded and stunned. This is of great use in those instances where there are many enemies in front of you and you need to force your way forward quickly to avoid a quick death. The second technique I got to use is a kind of slo-mo/ bullet-time type of technique where you slow down the game to assist in you in combat. Of course, there is a price to pay for using these techniques, and they come in the form of a reduction in your shield temporarily. This introduces a kind of give and take feel to the game, where you have to decide if the trade-off is worth the outcome. Maybe using the slo-mo in a firefight with a group of enemies might better than having to keep stopping and popping, but maybe it wont be as good for a small amount of stronger enemies who will rip you apart if you fail.
Weapons are something that every soldier needs on their mission and in my session with the game, I got touch a fair few of these weapons. When you start, you have access to an Assault Rifle and a Pistol. However as you progress, you gain access to more and more weapons, such as the Shotgun, Rocket Launcher and Sniper Rifle. What I really liked about the weapon system in this game is that you could hold all of your weapons at the same time, much like classic shooters. This meant that at no time were you under-equipped for a situation, unless you had spent all of your ammo for a particular weapon. However, I found that the game was quite litterous with ammo, meaning that if I looked in the right places, I would always usually find some more.
I’m not really the most avid handheld gamer, I most definitely prefer gaming on my PC, and I find that most handheld games seem to lacking in a certain kind of grip of friction that most games need in order to keep a player interested. Fortunately, NOVA 3 has this friction and almost right from the start I was hooked. A lot of games, especially nowadays, seem to focus on trying to do everything. They want that cinematic experience, they want to be like a movie, they want to be like a game, they want a quality story that rivals Shakespearean literature. NOVA 3 knows that it is a game. This doesn’t mean that it’s lacking in any of the previous regards, it just seems like it was built with the fact that its a game in mind, instead of a run-in to contend with in the Oscars.
N.O.V.A 3 feels as though it is going to be a great game from what we’ve played of it so far and can’t wait for it to be finally released.
Additional Details for game when it launches –
Even more weapons, like ice guns and flamethrowers
Plethora of enemies and environments
12 Player multiplayer
– With vehicles
– 6 Game Modes
– Class Customisation
Overview
Who would win? That age old question has been asked for centuries when it comes to just about every past warrior known to man. For the past three years, Deadliest Warrior has been answering with recreations of battles, where knowledge of weaponry is combined with dramatizations, enabling an audience to finally know the victor to the feuds that never were. 345 Games seen the potential with the concept, and aided in bringing the television show into the video game world two times now, with both Deadliest Warrior: The Game and Deadliest Warrior: Legends, which were released originally on the Xbox Live Arcade and Playstation Network.
After finding success, a retail version has now been delivered, bringing together both titles and a bevy of extra features to the fans in one small package labeled Deadliest Warrior: Ancient Combat. Are these two Warriors enough to compete on shelves? Let’s find out.
Gameplay
The first thing you should know about both Deadliest Warrior titles within Ancient Combat is that they both fall into the fighting game genre. When first hearing about the weapon based combat mixed in, I went into the first title expecting to see something like Soul Caliber. I was wrong with that comparison completely however as Deadliest Warrior: The Game and it’s sequel are very far away from the traditional fighter as there is no rush to deplete any HP bar, and instead require the player to simply take out their opponent as quickly as possible by using the arsenal provided. Forget about combos, or any other traditional fare as well, as the main concept of each match is to simply out power the opponent by using the weapons provided, while defending against incoming attacks. These unique core mechanics stick throughout both titles on the disc, but each game still plays quite a bit different from the next.
Deadliest Warrior: The Game actually has HP bars, but they’re completely useless. Players are equipped with long, mid, and short ranged weapons to do battle with, and must use them accordingly to take out their foe as effectively as possible. Long ranged weapons such as throwing stars and arrows can be launched across the map for mass damage at a distance, while swords and other blades are utilized for the mid and long ranged slashes. Yeah, you can just slash away and drain the given life bar, but a good portion of the time I was able to perform a kill just seconds in as it’s very easy to perform a beheading or toss a well aimed projectile and end a match-up entirely. This takes away a ton of strategy from the overall experience, but in a way the extreme take on realism is rather refreshing to see and puts a much higher emphasis on defense.
Legends is nearly identical in terms of gameplay, but is much more refined. Instead of playing with generic personas such as a Monk, Ninja, or Apache, players can select from more famed warriors, like Joan of Arc, Hannibal, and Alexander the Great. 345 wisely rid the game of that HP bar as well, which puts the focus entirely on the kill. Grapples also replace what were once finishing maneuvers, and can allow a devastating attack to be executed in order to severely weaken or destroy a foe. Yes, you can still finish anyone off in one hit, but the animation sequence seen in grapple attacks is worth the risk of getting up close and personal.
Both titles’ main campaign mode of sorts work exactly the same as well, with the player running a gauntlet until the end. This would be fine and almost like any other fighter, but the low difficulty makes for quick matches and shortens the life of the game itself. For Deadliest Warrior: The Game’s Arcade mode, I clocked a finish of the mode in around ten minutes on normal, as most of the time, spamming projectiles is all that is needed to plow through an opposing warrior. These methods can rob you of the simulation experience that Ancient Combat has the potential to deliver, but also proves that there isn’t a ton of skill needed to succeed.
Oddly enough, even with the short Arcade mode, I still went back in time and time again. You see, half of the charm of Deadliest Warrior is getting to use the impressive variety of weapons that each character has in their arsenal. Throwing stars feel much more distinct than other projectiles like the crossbow, and the small detail in character speed and animation make each blade, axe, or spear wprth taking to the battlefield, increasing the main game’s re-playability greatly. Each title features an online mode, but as it stands, there isn’t a lot of action left on the servers and those who want to duke it out with a real person would be best to call up a friend or battle locally.
As far as extras go, Legends brings the most to the table by including a nice little time killer by the name of Generals. This strategy game has the player pick a warrior and then lead an army into battle against an opposing squad in order to claim a fort. Much like the show, each warrior is equipped with various abilities to assist in survival, and assigning the correct brigade to the appropriate terrain is crucial in order to claim victory. It’s definitely an admirable mini-game of sorts with a good number of clever ideas behind it, but there isn’t a lot of reward for success aside from a pat on the back, which makes Generals’ current state feel like a missed opportunity.
Visuals/Audio
Even though the same development team worked on both titles within Ancient Combat, it’s very easy to spot the visual differences between the two. Deadliest Warrior: The Game has a somewhat bland character design, making each warrior seem like a random enemy from a very early Xbox 360 action game. The amount of blood and thrilling animations make up for this a bit, but if you are going in for a graphical spectacle, you would be best suited to start off with Legends. Everything from the models to the arenas have been given much more detail, which makes every battle feel more authentic. Even watching something as minor as an arm ripping off looks better in the sequel, as the brighter colors and more polished appearance does wonders to give Legends a more big budget aesthetic.
The soundtrack for the game isn’t bad, but doesn’t play at all during anything than the menus. Yeah, this could very well be a huge negative for most out there, but yet again, I feel like this development decision works in the favor of the game, as for authenticity purposes, you really don’t need music to create an epic match-up. The sound effects that fill in also assist well, with the main audio capturing wind, footsteps, and swords clashing to near perfection. It really goes to show that you don’t need a song blaring to feel intensity between rivals, and the strong point of both titles is the fact that each can pull off excitement with just the warriors involved.
Overall
Licensed games are a dime a dozen these days, and if a gem is created among the lot, it’s usually due to the team behind it playing it safe and taking the clone route during development. I wouldn’t necessarily call either Deadliest Warrior title a gem, but the games packed within Ancient Combat are both fun and unique, which is definitely something you don’t see everyday in the currently crowded market of fighters. It’s almost a disservice to consider Deadliest Warrior: The Game or Deadliest Warrior: Legends serious fighting romps though, as these two are all about paying homage to the show and deliver some decent, yet somewhat bite-sized simulations to anyone who want to rip through the greatest combatants of all time.
