After some severe technical issues with computers exploding, Godzilla rampaging and something involving space aliens we’re finally back with a new show! We have Rebecca Fernandez fromConvict Interactive on to talk about their up coming game, Triangle Man. We get into some April fools (this show was recorded at the beginning of the month) and talk about Capsule Computers new documentary webseries The Uncanny Valley
Cast: Alexis Ayala, Philip Federico, Ben Webb & Rebecca Fernandez from Convict Interactive
Music for this podcast is from J. Arthur Keenes Band
Thanks for listening and let us know what you think!
In an announcement made today by Sony Pictures Television (SPT), Crackle is expanding to Sony’s Blu-ray players, BRAVIA televisions and Network Media Players in Australia. Crackle is SPT multi-platform video entertainment network which offers ad-supported full-length movies and television series to all consumers free of charge. The latest announcement expands the service from an already impressive device lineup, including Crackle’s website (www.crackle.com), Xbox LIVE, Apple (iPhone, iPad, iPod touch) and Android.
Crackle’s ad-supported service provides consumers with a collection of Hollywood movies in genres including action, comedy, crime, horror, thriller and sci-fi, plus hit TV series and award-winning Crackle original programming – all of which can be accessed online, via mobile, and now, on a broad selection of connected devices in the region. Crackle can be accessed from the Video section of BRAVIA Internet Video devices. Titles are refreshed monthly with movies and TV series from studios including Columbia Pictures, TriStar Pictures, Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics.
Have a 3DS, but have no nice storage options at the moment? Well, hold on to your wallets as Bluemouth are soon to have you covered with their newly announced line of Super Mario 3DS cases and accessories, which are due out this May and show some love to Mario, Peach, and Yoshi.
Details for each set of merch can be seen below:
Super Mario Mini Sling Bag – $29.95
For Nintendo 3DS, DSi, DS Lite, DSiXL
Collectible sling bag features 2 compartments with interior pockets
Holds any DS system and up to 18 Game Cards, 2 Replacement Styluses, 2 Full Size Styluses, cords and more
Classic Super Mario themed interior with nostalgic storage pipes and bricks
Comes in Mario, Yoshi & Peach
Universal Super Mario Starter Kit– $24.95
For Nintendo 3DS, DSi, DS Lite, DSiXLIncludes:
two-sided system storage soft case
2 Power-Up Styluses
Cleaning Cloth
Touch-Screen Protectors
Not a bad bunch of swag. You can check out the official listings for each item at Bluemouth’s official website (Sling Bag and Starter Kit), and now officially keep an eye out for this lot as everything you see above will be hitting store shelves soon.
Showcasing an amazing array of nitro powered curling penalty kicks that would make even David Beckham proud, Freekick Battle by Gamevil hits the spot when it comes to creativity and aesthetics. With plenty of different customisations to a wide variety of characters the simple and intuitive one touch controls will never get tedious as you compete in single player matches and hone your skills enough to get online and battle against others in match play. Check out the trailer below and let us know what you think of Gamevils latest addition to their already huge library of mobile entertainment.
For more information and to see the entire Gamevil library visit www.gamevil.com and above all have fun and kick those balls hard
Sony Computer Entertainment America has revealed that June 4 will be the day they conduct their E3 media conference. The date happens to be the day before the official start of the gaming expo. As for the time, it will start at 6pm PDT and will be held at the same venue SCEA held the conference last year. Below are times for those outside of the Pacific timezone of Los Angelas:
Sydney – 11am Tuesday June 5 AEST
Tokyo – 10am Tuesday June 5 JST
London – 2am Tuesday June 5 BST
US Eastern – 9pm Monday June 4 EDT
As for what SCEA will revealed remains somewhat of a mystery, but a few games should be revealed or expanded on. The Last Of Us, the next Playstation 3 game from Naughty Dog, will make an expected appearance. Other rumoured titles include God of War IV and the rumoured Playstation All-Star fighter. A collection of Playstation Vita titles and a few Playstation Move titles should also make an appearance.
The first trailer detailing the story behind the Playstation 3 exclusive Sorcery has been released. The trailer reveals the main character as Finn, an apprentice to a powerful sorcerer named Dash. Taunted by the talking feline, Erline, he leaves the confines of his master’s home and travels to the Land of the Restless Dead. While there, he accidentally releases the Nightmare Queen from a spherical prison. She takes over the land and it is up to Finn to defeat her, using the Slumbering Key to aid him.
The trailer also shows some of the gameplay elements, as well as some in-game cutscenes. The overall feel of the game seems to target a younger audience, which could mean that we might have another Medieval Moves. However, looking at the moving animations of Finn, there is a possibility that the game may not be on rails, which pulled back the potential of Medieval Moves. Sorcery will be released exclusively for the Playstation 3 on May 22 in North America and May 23 for Europe and PAL territories. The Playstation Move is required to play the game.
Computers are vastly complex devices that are becoming more and more complex each passing generation. Unfortunately this means that many people may be unable to keep up with the growing knowledge-base that may be required to operate even the most simplest of applications. Whilst the top computing vendors are working towards a more simplified system that anybody can pick up and use, computing is still almost as complex as it was 15 years ago.
This is where the HOMEKEY comes into the situation. A basic USB stick that you plug into your computer that has everything you need in a simplistic interface that can be easily accessed as needed is probably something that many users will be looking for. The device is designed to run on nearly any working computer and that means that even older machines may be able to run it’s applications.
The device runs an Operating System known as ENVELOPE by circumventing the HDD as the boot device and going straight into the 16GB USB. ENVELOPE is based on Linux Mint and offers a very simplified User Interface that is uncluttered and points straight to the tools that the end user will use on a regular basis. All work is stored on the stick.
The RRP of the HOMEKEY is £69.95 without support and £89.95 with support. The simplicity software comes with pre-loaded video tutorials and a step-by-step colour manual covering every task you can do in the beginner mode.
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Enhanced Edition Developer: CDProjekt Red Publisher: Warner Bros. Games Platform: Xbox 360 (reviewed), PC Release Date: April 17, 2012 Price: $59.99 (Available Here)
Overview
It’s not every day that an RPG like The Witcher 2 comes around. The gritty, realistic world is portrayed is more reminiscent of Game of Thrones than it is Warcraft, and everything from the themes, to the politics, and, yes, to the sex, makes it a game that earns its Mature rating. The Witcher stunned reviewers and players last year when it launched on PC, but does the same ring true for the newly released Xbox 360 version? Or is this yet another poor attempt at cashing in on a port?
Story
The Witcher 2 puts you firmly in the boots of Geralt the monster hunter, otherwise known as a Witcher. When Geralt becomes involved in plots that involve military invasions, regicides, and some subtler subversions of power, he quickly starts making big decisions and fighting world-altering battles.
The various regions of Aedirn, Temeria, and Vergen are each unique in their culture. For example, Vergen is a dwarven mining town, and you can tell. The disgruntled miners are much more uncouth than the people in the more civilized villages of the game, and the entire geography of the town is based upon connecting it with its central quarry. Decisions such as that can hinder gameplay when you’re running around trying to find people, but the payoff is that the world just feels real. You’ll become fully immersed in the reality of The Witcher 2, and there’s no shortage of side-stories and characters around, and some of these can be as interesting as the plot threads wound by the main story.
Along the way, Geralt will be confronted with some major decisions, but there’s no morality meter here. The Witcher 2 intentionally keeps the questions it asks of Geralt and your/his moral fiber in the gray area, and presents the consequences of those in game. For example, the aforementioned town of Vergen can be ruled out of someone’s game almost entirely based on a choice made earlier in the game. Instead, that part of Geralt’s journey will take them to another part of the world entirely. Additionally, during high-pressure situations, like a battle, there’s a limited time to make your decisions, which means you’ll be going with your gut reaction a lot more often than you would in other games that freeze entirely when the conversation options pop up.
All in all, The Witcher 2 weaves a fantastic, mature yarn that will keep you wrapped up in it right to the very end.
Gameplay
Combat is the bread and butter of a Witcher: there are all manner of beasties to be sliced and people who are “monsters” (kind of a cop out, but I let that one slide) to be diced.
Thankfully, The Witcher 2 is an action-based RPG; a port to Xbox involving quickslot bars and thirty different action buttons might have been a little hard to pull off, but the game transfers over fantastically thanks to its focus on moment-to-moment action. This is no mindless button-masher, however. The difficulty of The Witcher 2 can be brutal even on easy, and the game heavily emphasizes a flow through combat. Dodging, striking, parrying, casting magic, striking again – you won’t survive if you don’t vary your tactics and stay in constant motion, Geralt may be a heavily enhanced monster-hunter, but he’s still a sack of meat and can easily get overwhelmed if he gets himself surrounded or knocked to the ground.
To help you dominate you foes rather than barely surviving them, the game’s implemented several crafting systems. Alchemy allows Geralt to create potions from ingredients he can buy or find, and each potion has its benefits. Geralt can also create oils for his swords which will allow for greater damage or bleeding effects, and there’s also bombs and traps to be made. In short, if you invest in Geralt’s arsenal, he can become a god of the battlefield. That is not to say that combat becomes less challenging, but the more tools you have to overcome a problem, the likelier it is you’ll emerge unscathed on the other side.
Oh and there are boss fights. Would a Witcher truly be a monster-hunter if he cowed from the bigger (literally) challenges? These encounters range from interesting and challenging to boring, “please beat down my health bar” affairs, and you’ll occasionally question their necessity. It doesn’t happen to often, but the game can have pacing issues at the culmination of some quests, wherein you’ll be grinding through wave after wave of enemies or a less-than-interesting boss fight just begging to hit the next plot point. Though that serves as a testament to the power of The Witcher 2‘s story.
But The Witcher 2 is an RPG at heart, so combat is only half the experience. Almost literally.
I found myself spending as much time talking to people in town as I did slaying monsters. Beyond just learning more about the world and completing side-quests, careful exploration if the hub worlds can lead to rewards in the form of new gear, plot-related tidbits, arm-wrestling and boxing minigames, and humorous Easter eggs (such as a clever reference to The Lord of the Rings in one of the Vergen side-quests). Oh and sex.
Getting to know the characters who are friends of Geralt is an adventure in itself, and they’ll often be included in main story or side missions, marking their importance to Geralt, and to you as a player. When they get into trouble, you genuinely worry about them, and that’s something the design team over at CDProjekt should be very proud of.
Audio & Visual
The Witcher 2 was easily one of the best looking PC games ever to be released, but there are definitely fewer bells and whistles on the Xbox, particularly with regards to the lighting. Texture pop-in is also frustratingly common, even if you do install the game onto your hard drive. It’ll occasionally happen in-cutscene when the camera cuts to a character, and then when the camera returns to him/her later on in the same cutscene it will happen again.
There’s also the black wall of a loading screen as you pass between areas, and though the load times are generally bearable, it would have been nice to be given something to stare at other than the empty blackness currently present in game. It does a lot to hurt the immersion so well established by the game’s story and design.
Those complaints aside, The Witcher 2 is still a gorgeous game and the sound design is also top notch. The sounds, themes, and voice-acting are all of a generally high quality. Though it’s easy to see that the game was created by non-English speakers as the timing of jokes or sarcastic comments from characters can sometimes feel a little off. Regardless, the game has wonderful production values and it is definitely one of the better looking games on the console. Just not the best looking.
Overall
The Witcher 2 Enhanced Edition for the Xbox 360 set out to bring an amazing PC experience to the home console, and, in most cases, that experience has been well and truly preserved. If you enjoy mature stories (a la Game of Thrones), decisions with consequences, hardcore action games, or good games in general, do yourself a favour and get The Witcher 2. It will provide you with hours upon hours of great gameplay and narrative, and at the end you’ll be pining for more.
The case on your iPhone 4/4s is just as much of a statement about you as it protects your devices from scratches and impact. Most cases tend to favour the safe colours of black and white, while a few brave others leap into bling and glitter with reckless abandon. But what if you want to break out of the black and white trend but aren’t ready to use your iPhone case as an emergency disco ball? Bodyguardz not only has your phone covered, it has your sense of style covered to.
The Bodyguardz MyKase is a customizable slider style case for the iPhone 4/4s. The base package is available in either matte black or gloss white. Both base packages include one matte black, one glossy white, and one glossy yellow back plate. The base package is available for $29.95 and additional back plates in other colours are available separately for purchase for $9.95 each. If you’re unhappy with just a single coloured background or you really want to make the MyKase the extra personal flair, custom back plates are available through Bodyguardz’s website for $19.95. You can put any image or design onto the back plate as long as the image isn’t copyrighted.
The MyKase is constructed out of solid plastic with rubber strips on the inside of the case to ensure the case keeps a tight grip on your iPhone. To install the MyKase onto your phone, simply separate the larger top half of the case from the bottom half of the case, slide your preferred back plate into the outside slot of the MyKase, your phone in the larger inner slot of the MyKase and carefully slide the smaller lower half into place. The bottom hole cut into the case for the 30 pin docking port will fit the Apple sync cable your phone came with, but the older larger sync cables and third party cables may have problems. The case is also too big for most docks. These situations are the times that slider cases really shine. Simply whip off the bottom half of the MyKase and dock your phone, once you’re ready to go, pull your phone off the cable or the dock and slip the bottom half of the case on. The choice to use a smaller bottom half and adding rubber strips to the inside of the case makes it quick and easy to get unhindered access to the 30 pin docking port.
There is one large hole on the side of the phone to accommodate the mute slider switch and the volume buttons. Because one large hole is cut instead of two, the MyKase is compatible with both versions of the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 4s. On the top of the case is two holes cut for access to the sleep/wake button and the headphone jack. There is enough room to comfortably depress the sleep/wake button without exposing too much of the phone. I really appreciate the roomy cut out for the headphone jack. The hole is large enough to accommodate almost every headset plug I could throw at it. The only headset jack that failed to fit without modification was the Shure SE215 plug. However the iPhone compatible wiring for the Shure SE215 fit just fine. Larger jacks designed for high end headphones and canalphones may have some trouble fitting the hole in the MyKase and will need either modification to slim the plugs or an adapter. There is a very generous camera hole cut out in the case. In my testing, it does not interfere with the operation of the camera or the flash, even using the white case.
The MyKase feels really good in the hand and extremely sturdy. The plastic used in the case doesn’t feel cheap and only bends slightly when pressure is applied. There is a nice lip in the case that provides protection for your screen when you lay it down on a table screen down. It’s generous enough to give a good bit of clearance from the table but not so high as to get in the way of using the screen. Although glossy back plates look great, I chose to stick with the matte black back plate because I am absolutely in love with the matte texture. When I first touched the back plate I was almost sure I was touching some sort of microfiber fabric until closer inspection. The matte hides fingerprints like a champ and adds a little bit of grip to the case. I would have love to see matte finish be made available in other colours I love the feel of it so much. Swapping back plates is a cinch as you just need to pop off the bottom of the case, pull out the old back plate, and slide in the new one, and then replace the bottom of the case. Although I tend to favour sticking to one colour combination for weeks on end until I get sick of it, those who want their case to match their outfit will appreciate this fast switch.
One thing I did notice is that thicker wet apply type screen protectors will make for a tight fit. Bodyguardz recommends using one of their screen protectors that are case compatible. These screen shields are cut slightly smaller to accommodate cases. However, using one of the thickest screen shields on the market, I was still able to slide in my iPhone 4 with a little force and very mild bubbling of the screen shield. Taking it off was a completely different story. The bottom half came off easily enough, but taking off the top half initially it required two people to coax the iPhone out of the case. But once I realized I simply needed to pull back very gently on the top lip of the case, I was able to slide my phone out of the case with a little pressure but without assistance. I tested another iPhone 4 with an anti-glare static cling type screen shield and it was able to slide off and on with ease with zero bubbling.
Overall Bodyguardz has a great product in the MyKase. The case is solid, is easily customizable, is compatible with a great deal of headphone jacks, and if you’re willing to take off the bottom of the case, is compatible with many docks and sync cables. Both the matte black and glossy white base packages are a great choice, but if I had to choose one over the other, then I’d pick the matte black hands down. That matte texture is an absolute winner. At $29.95 for a case and three back plates, the Bodyguardz MyKase is a good deal. However the extra back plates at $9.95 feel a little steep to me. I’d be a little more willing to spend $19.95 for a custom back plate to really make the MyKase mine. If you are looking for an easily customized case to fit your fashion needs, then the MyKase should be on the top of your list.
Only a development team like Bethesda can upload one image to their Facebook page and simply say one word… “Tomorrow” and set the internet aflame with rumors as everyone tries to analyze the above image and see what exactly will be announced or revealed tomorrow.
The picture shown above shows a male character in what appears to be CGI rendered. The announcement of the first Skyrim DLC would certainly please fans, though it is worth noting that the first two DLC packs are exclusive to the Xbox 360 for 30 days before they can be released on the PC and PS3.
Do you believe this announcement will be some Skyrim DLC? Perhaps a new Fallout game? Or something else entirely?
Universal Super Mario Starter Kit– $24.95
