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Ninja Gaiden 3 Review

March 29, 2012

Ninja Gaiden 3
Developer: Team Ninja
Publisher: Tecmo Koei
Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 (Reviewed)
Release Date: March 20, 2012
Price: $59.99 – Available Here

Overview:
Ever since Ninja Gaiden was released on the original Xbox it has been known as a series that offers not only plenty of action but also a very brutal level of difficulty and even more brutal swordplay. This stayed true in the sequel and the various remakes it has seen over the years.

Under the multiple re-releases of previous games fans were eager to see where Ryu Hayabusa would go next and Tecmo Koei has delivered that story in the form of Ninja Gaiden 3. However there have been more than a few changes to the formula many of us know and love. The question is however, do these adjustments make for an even better game or will they leave a bloody stain in our memories?

Story:
Nearly any gamer who has played a Ninja Gaiden game before should know that Ryu Hayabusa has killed a lot of people… in fact he’s probably killed enough people to equal the population of a small country over the years and in Ninja Gaiden 3 we are presented a story that tries to humanize this previously unfaltering killing machine.

However in Ninja Gaiden 3 we see a ninja who is finally seeing that perhaps slicing and dicing every living human being in sight isn’t a good idea as Ryu is given a curse that taints his body with a red arm that slowly grows more tainted every time Ryu kills another person. While one would think that this is a great way to humanize the previously masked killing machine (Ryu removes his mask from time to time), it falls far short of its goal.

While players would expect to see at least some sort of choice provided here or some consequences for murdering everyone in sight, there is no harm done or even a way to avoid killing everyone. As players fight countless soldiers there will occasionally be some who are crawling away asking for mercy, though there is no detriment or bonus for choosing to kill or spare them. At the very beginning we are given a normal soldier begging for his life, even removing his ski mask in an effort to plead for his supposedly existing family. However the only option the player has here is to slowly walk forward and chop the man in half. No choice, no options, just blood and brutality.

To top it off, the game’s storyline is very thin and predictable at best. Players will easily be able to tell what will happen before it happens and there is practically no mystery to be found here. To make things worse, the story is told in a heavy handed manner that occasionally slows the action to a crawl by providing back to back cutscenes or literal slowdowns in combat courtesy of Ryu’s cursed arm which grow to be tedious.

Audio & Visuals:
If there is one thing that can be said for Ninja Gaiden 3, is that it really makes combat thrilling visually. As players wade through the multitude of enemies they battle against they will slice through them with fluid combat and plenty of blood flying everywhere. It is worth noting that for some strange reason, dismemberment has been entirely removed from Ninja Gaiden 3. Instead players are meant to experience a “steel on bone” feeling. For what it is worth, this focus on simple combat damage instead of dismemberment does make the battlefield seem a bit more realistic and visually pleasing as blood flies everywhere when you slash your enemies to death.

The same unfortunately can’t be said for the game’s environments which range from being decent looking at best to bland and boring. There is a decent amount of diversity to be found in the battlegrounds but it is just a shame that they couldn’t be given more detail to provide a visually pleasing experience.

While the game may look great visually, there are only a few highlights to be found in the game’s sound department. As players battle enemies they will occasionally leave a few wounded ones in the melee and these soldiers can crawl away from combat begging for their lives or crying in agony. This is a major highlight to the combat as it makes it feel like a real battlefield at times.

Unfortunately the same cannot be said about Ninja Gaiden 3’s voice acting as nearly all of the characters lack emotional depth with their performances, making it even harder to become interested in what is being said at any given time. Nor is there anything special found in the musical score either as we see the standard action music applied in Ninja Gaiden 3 that you would find in nearly any other action title.

Gameplay:
At its core, Ninja Gaiden has always been an action title that featured difficult combat and a slew of weapons and abilities to deal with the deadly foes put in your path. Unfortunately that core gameplay has changed significantly. In what perhaps is an effort to make the game more available to those who have never played the series before, Ninja Gaiden 3 features much more streamlined action at the cost of variety and excitement.

While past titles may have made life difficult for Ryu whenever to many basic enemies appeared on the screen at any given time, Ninja Gaiden 3 has streamlined the combat so much that simply mashing the weak attack button is enough to get you through most encounters, with a few hard attacks thrown in for kicks. On the normal difficulty many gamers will find that they barely need to worry about their health gauge as they dish out death with their katana.

It is worth noting that you also get very used to that katana, as it will be practically the only weapon you will be using throughout the game. Unlike in past games where Ryu carried around a small arsenal of weaponry, Ryu only has one weapon this time around. Though for some reason there are some free weapons on the way as DLC but why they were not included in the vanilla game is anyone’s guess. Besides his katana players will also be able to throw shuriken and use a bow to deal out damage long range. Also gone are the collectibles and nearly every single one of Ryu’s ninpo attacks minus the ability to summon a fiery serpent dragon that will kill all nearby enemies with the same recycled animation again and again.

To make up for its lack of difficulty and uncomplex combat Ninja Gaiden 3 has seen fit to throw countless enemies at you. There will be plenty of times you will slice through nearly fifty people and become curious as to where their confidence comes from. In fact, the game follows a very linear path where players will simply run down the set path and clear out enemies in each area. Rinse and repeat nearly the rest of the game.

One interesting mechanic included into the game is the way that players are given a small cinematic experience every time they deal a mortal blow to an enemy. The camera will zoom in and provide a close-up of Ryu’s blade ending another person’s life. While it is interesting, it is used extremely often and grows to be tiresome in larger fights as enemies will gladly take advantage of the zoomed in camera to sneak in some cheap attacks.

With barely any combat variety to speak of, weaker and less challenging enemies and linear pacing, Ninja Gaiden 3’s combat is a shell of what it used to be. Rather than providing a new and unique experience it has degraded into a simple hack and slash game that only gets exciting whenever a boss fight presents itself. These boss fights are usually always unique and provide a thrilling change of pace from the monotony of basic combat as most of them feature exhilarating action sequences that will leave a smile on your face.

Outside of the single player mode, Ninja Gaiden 3 provides us with an interestingly titled online mode that is called Shadow of the World. This gameplay mode allows players to take on challenges with others in co-op or face off against each other in battles to the death. These multiplayer modes offer level progression that provides some new costume pieces and other things when you level up, though customization is very weak.

The co-op action is interesting enough and gives players “contracts” that set certain conditions for combat, though the actual combat feels like two separate people fighting near one another instead of together. The versus mode places players in team battles though nearly all matches are extremely convoluted and often turn into repetitive button mashing in the hope of stabbing the other person before they stab you. All in all the online modes offer a small distraction from the single player mode, though there is practically nothing redeeming to be found there.

Overall:
Ninja Gaiden 3 takes the formula of past Ninja Gaiden games and pretty much tosses it right out the window. There were so many things that fans will be looking for in this game and they simply will not find them as they no longer exist. While there is still enjoyment to be had in the fluid combat and the intriguing brutality of the new “steel on bone” system there are only a few exciting moments sprinkled on a mediocrely bland experience.

Mario Party 9 Review

Michael Irving

March 29, 2012

Mario Party 9
Developer: Nd Cube Co.
Publisher: Nintendo
Platform: Wii
Release Date: March 2 (EU), March 8 (Aus), March 11 (US), April 26 (Jap)

Overview

Of Mario’s various ventures, the Mario Party series is perhaps the most quickly dismissed amongst gamers. Announced very quietly at E3 2011, Mario Party 9 was lost amongst some huge titles, and to many, it will probably seem like a pointless iteration of the series. On a console notorious for mini-game compilations, how relevant can yet another party game be?

In short: Very.

Nintendo take care of their first-party franchises, and Mario Party 9 is a lot more fun – and more innovative – than you might expect.

Gameplay

There’s almost no story, but in games like this there’s no need for one. The game is framed by something about Bowser stealing the stars out of the night sky, and carelessly leaving them in easy reach of our heroes. Whatever.

No, Mario Party 9 is all about frantic multiplayer fun, spread across over 80 co-operative and competitive mini-games that focus on skill, strategy, and luck, all wrapped up in an interactive board game.

The ninth iteration of a franchise (and that’s not including handheld versions) could reasonably be expected to do nothing more than polish the formula, upgrade the visuals and throw in a few gimmicks. Mario Party 9 actually shakes things up a fair bit, changing key elements that have remained unaltered since the first game.

Play still resembles a board game, as players roll dice to move around a path, land on spaces with various consequences, and regularly partake in crazy mini-games.

However, gone is the dollar/cent relationship between stars and coins: this time players simply compete for “Mini Stars”, picked up at certain points along the path or won in mini-games.

But the real game-changer here is that each player no longer makes their own way around the board: all four travel together, taking turns driving a vehicle. Players of earlier Mario Party games might be sceptical of how this works – including myself at first. Much of the series’ gameplay revolves around racing each other to a certain point, and sabotaging each other’s efforts based on relative location. How could this work when you’re always at the same spot as your opponents?

While travelling together does promote a higher degree of co-operation than in previous games, there’s no shortage of ways to troll each other. It just works differently. Having each player take turns at determining the direction and distance everyone will travel encourages competition, as players try to achieve conflicting goals at each other’s expense. Say there are Mini Stars on the road ahead, but you won’t reach them on your turn. Rather than continuing that way and allowing an opponent to claim the prize, you choose to turn left, down a more punishing path, forcing the next player to deal with the consequences.

Designed for this type of scenario, the boards allow for strategy to play a greater role than pure dumb luck. As such, the boards are livelier than ever, with regular events and mini-games triggered from certain spaces.

And that’s really the focus of the package: the mini-games. This time around, more than 80 different activities have been crammed into the game, and generally, they’re more enjoyable than the standard Mario Party fare. That’s not a criticism on previous games, but a compliment to this one – whether players are working together or duking it out, it’s never dull.

Whether you’re fighting to push each other into lava, dodging Bullet Bills, bowling for Goombas, Searching for Toad, counting characters, or just racing in classic Mario platformer style, the games are basic at first glance, but often hide a surprising depth beneath the surface. Skill, strategy and chance all have their place.

The mini-games you play are no longer dictated by the spaces each player lands on. You don’t even play a game after every player has had a turn any more. Instead, specific spaces will trigger free-for-all, team, 1 vs 3, or battle mini-games. Competing against or cooperating with other players will vary depending on the game, so sometimes it may be necessary (in our household, at least) to take a dive in a game, to ensure a particularly disliked opponent doesn’t score any higher.

One of the new ways of encouraging cooperation is to have all four players team up to take down a classic Mario enemy. These Boss fights are triggered at the halfway and endpoint of each board, and are among the most fun mini-games on offer. They’re structured as an interesting middle-ground between competition and cooperation: players scramble for the same goal of reducing the boss’ health bar, with more stars awarded at the end to players who deal more damage or deliver the final blow.

Interestingly, there’s less of a focus on Wii remote “waggle” than in Mario Party 8. Many games will simply use basic movements, have you point at the screen, or turn it sideways to use as a classic controller. With the gimmick of motion controls relegated to the background, the gameplay is allowed to shine. Where it’s used, motion works well, but it isn’t shoehorned into every mini-game.

The game can be played on your own, but that’s not the focus here. I tried single-player, out of necessity for this review, and found it quite dull. No, this is a game best played with friends in the same room.

The multiplayer Party mode, which is essentially what I’ve described above, is the meat of the game, but there are other modes. Solo play has you play through each board with three AI-controlled opponents – one of which is a minion of Bowser. If that character wins, you must replay the board to proceed to the next one.

You can freely play any of the mini-games, or use wins to decide outcomes in other meta-games. There’s a bingo variant, and an interesting tetris-like game, that has the winner getting first pick of blocks, arranged to complete a square grid before your opponents complete theirs.

Visuals & Audio

The game has the standard colourful Mario visual style, with detailed character models and environments that invoke memories of previous adventures through the Mushroom Kingdom.

It looks pretty good, but with the usual qualifier “for a Wii game”. It won’t blow away anyone used to HD visuals, but the graphics perform well to vividly present the Mario universe. Of particular note are the character animations, which give a cartoony fluidity to their movements and add a whole lot of character.

That sense of character is only improved by Charles Martinet’s efforts giving voices to half the cast. The various grunts, cries, catchphrases and cheers present the characters with their own identity, even if they all perform equally on the playing field.

Every character, enemy, pickup, and setting in Mario games have their own iconic sound effects, and as usual, these are all present and accounted for. The pleasant “Ding!” of collecting coins, the satisfying “Plonk” of hitting a Goomba with a shell, the “growing” sound when a mushroom appears; the sound effects are as much a part of the experience as the iconic look of the items and characters.

Mario Party 9 also upholds the tradition of remixing classic Mario tunes: there are several great new versions of the Overworld and Underworld themes from the original Super Mario Bros – pieces of music synonymous not only with Mario, but the entire medium of video games.

Final Comments

Mario Party 9 will probably fall under the radar for many players, but on a console notorious for shovelware mini-game compilations, Nintendo once again prove that they are masters of their own first-party domain.

There are few games on the Wii – or any platform, really – that foster frantic, same-room multiplayer quite so well. You know what you’re in for, but there are enough changes to warrant another go of the series. Get a few mates together with some drinks, ignore your prejudices and just have some fun.

Mardock Scramble: The First Compression Review

Jahanzeb Khan

March 29, 2012

Mardock Scramble: The First Compression Review

Mardock Scramble: The First Compression -Complete Edition-
Studio: GoHands
Publisher: Madman
Release Date: 21/03/2012
Price: $29.95 Available Here

Overview:

Mardock Scramble: The First Compression is a Japanese animated feature film that serves as the first in what will be a trilogy of movies. The second movie in this trilogy, Mardock Scramble: The Second Compression has already been released in Japan. The movies are based on a Japanese novel series of the same name, and they follow the original story and premise closely.

The complete edition of Mardock Scramble: The First Compression has now been released on DVD, and it not only includes the original Theatrical version of the movie but also the Director’s Cut version.

Story:

Mardock Scramble: The First Compression takes place in a distant future where technology and science has allowed for some great innovations in robotics, artificial intelligence, and medicine. Even with such great developments, criminals have exploited these innovations to conduct heinous crimes. The movie portrays a rather interesting world with some interesting laws and regulations.

The movie takes place in a fictional city called Mardock City, and focuses on the life of Rune Ballot, a 15 year old girl with a difficult life to say the least. Rune comes from a truly broken home, with her older brother locked in prison and her drug addicted and abusive parents barely alive in the hospital. Her relationship with her family is also far from being normal as she was a victim of constant incestuous sexual abuse from a very early age. With such a poor upbringing and the fact that she couldn’t go to school, she had no choice but to engage in illegal prostitution services as a minor to survive in the real world. Needless to say, her life only got worse and it hit its lowest point when she was taken in by a powerful and wealthy businessman and gambler, Shell Septinous.

Early on in the movie you learn that Rune trusted Shell to take care of her both financially and emotionally. She however finds herself betrayed within the first few minutes of the movie as Shell, after engaging in sexual intercourse with Rune, attempts to murder her by locking her up in his car, which fills up with poisonous gas and then explodes. Shell is revealed to be serial killer who takes in a prostitute only to murder her, after which he erases his own memory and moves on to his next victim. Rune was supposed to be just another victim, but luckily for her someone was watching the horrific events transpire and make the save, an independent scientist who goes by the name of Dr. Easter.

While she was effectively killed in the explosion, Dr. Easter was able to somehow reconstruct her as a cyborg being under a unique protocol. Her role now is to work with Dr. Easter in a legal case against Shell, in hopes to bring him to justice for his heinous crimes. However, court proceedings are complicated because Shell has no memories of his past and Rune must dig deep into her dark past and share it with the world. Things also get even more complicated outside the court room as she takes on some truly disgusting and depraved adversaries.

While the movie runs for just a little over an hour, it still manages to tell a very strong and compelling story. We really get to see some significant character development, in particular we get a good insight into the horrible anguish and emotional pain that Rune has to deal with and how she now has to adapt to life as a resurrected cyborg. Her new body grants her some physical enhancements, and she even befriends this rather peculiar A.I technology that can morph into any object of her desire. They have a very interesting relationship and dynamic, and their interactions are perhaps one of the sweeter and uplifting moments of the movie.

Mardock Scramble is not for the weak of heart, and in particular the Director’s Cut version contains some very graphic and disturbing sexual content. This content is vastly toned down, but still implied, in the Theatrical version of the movie but even so still retains a lot of the gore, nudity, and strong sexual themes. You need to be able to stomach this sort of thing and in particular the scenes that depict the sexual abuse and torture that Rune Ballot had to endure. The movie and its characters portray a very depraved and sadistic side of humanity, and as such, results in a very powerful and adult storytelling.

Mardock Scramble tells a very moving story that will surely have a significant impact on you. If you can look past some of the dark and twisted themes, you’ll find yourself fascinated by how a young girl, with such an awful past, now has a second chance at life and must now fight to set things right for herself. One thing worth noting is that the movie ends on an abrupt cliff hanger, but it’s nothing to be upset about as there are two more movies that will move the story forward to a proper conclusion.

Visuals and Audio:

Mardock Scramble is a beautifully drawn and animated feature film with some amazing set pieces and cool special effects. If anything, its aesthetic and style is most similar to the legendary and iconic Ghost in the Shell anime, as it’s very dark with a slick futuristic vibe. It’s a brilliant production with a stellar art direction and superb character designs.

The soundtrack is powerful too, complementing the dark and yet emotionally tragic nature of the story and has a beautiful credits theme song. The English dub has been masterfully done and one of the better ones I have listened to.

Extras:

In terms of extras, there really isn’t much here apart from the usual trailers. As I mentioned at the start, you get two versions of the movie which is a pretty generous enough for a home release of an anime movie. The Director’s Cut adds several new scenes which are really intense and graphic in nature, which is why it’s good to have the original Theatrical version of the movie that is significantly toned down and thus easier to watch for viewers who cannot stomach intense and explicit adult content.

Overall:

Mardock Scramble: The First Compression is a truly deep and adult example of Japanese storytelling. It packs a heavy emotional punch and the characters are really compelling. It’s beautifully produced animated movie backed by a surprisingly excellent English dub. The subject matter is dark and twisted, but they are necessary elements in telling a truly powerful story and portraying a very complicated characterisation. It will make you depressed and show you some horrific things, but it will leave a mark and have an emotional impact that only the greatest of anime can have.

Adam’s Venture Episode 1 Review

Simon Wolfe

March 29, 2012

Adam’s Venture Episode 1: The Search for the Lost Garden
Developer: Vertigo Games
Publisher: Iceberg Entertainment
Platforms: PC (Steam)
Release Date: March 23, 2012
Price: $4.99 – Available Here

Overview:

Lost locations and hidden treasures are a tried and true formula for action adventure. Mixing in different ancient histories as a context is one of many ways of keeping it more or less fresh between different quests and adventurers. Indiana Jones is one of the most iconic in recent history, but there are plenty more and as long as the troupe doesn’t grow stale there will continue to be more.

Adam’s Venture Episode is a venture in this classic formula and by designing it as an episodic series it leaves it open to smaller more focused games than a full game that may attempt to cover too much or not enough. Setting it in the 1920’s fits the pulp novels that coined the genre. So where exactly does the first episode of Adam’s Venture lay between Indiana Jones and pulp novels?

Story:

Adam’s Venture Episode 1: The Search for the Lost Garden tells the story of Adam Venture, less searching for the lost Garden of Eden, but more trying to enter after they have already found it. He is joined by is girlfriend Evelyn, oh ho, Adam and EVElyn out for the Garden of Eden; the professor; and his dog, Digger. But, as stated before there isn’t any searching for the garden, thy know exactly where it is, it’s simply getting the door open that’s the kicker.

Adam Venture as a character is kind of a jerk, the first conversation with his girlfriend can make one wonder what she ever sees in the guy. Come to find out that may be the point. Adam is this hot shot adventure stud and he completely buys into himself, to the point where the others can blatantly mock him and he just takes it in stride. In fact it really works, a sort of parody of the other adventurers that get swooned over. Adam is flawed and he’s great that way.

Inside the caves and tunnels Adam must work to find the pieces that will open the door to the garden, but trying to prevent him is an ancient evil, represented by a cloud of black smoke because what other form could ancient evil take? Adam must dodge traps, avoid the evil, and solve numerous puzzles to get back with the pieces and open the door back to Eden.

Visuals:

The game is truly good looking. The characters are great to look at and have an excellent aesthetic to them that pops from the scenery, without seeming out of place. The scenery is also beautiful just to look at and for a game that is almost exclusively inside a cave, the environments have a solid variety, from sandy, to crystalline, to water.

There are a few issues however, though luckily primarily minor. The opening and closing cutscenes are a bit over sepia toned, to the point where it almost seems like the options need to be changed until the gameplay starts. Besides that, the only real other negative is that Adam Venture’s cap has no under texture, which wouldn’t seem like a problem except he takes it off when moving while crouched. Several tunnels have him crouched and very close to the camera, so it’s noticeable that one can see through it’s bottom. Nitpicky? A bit, but pretty good that those are the only real negatives.

Audio:

The soundtrack is very well done and nice to listen to for extended periods without going crazy. It includes a nice balance of instruments and every piece fits the area for which it appears. It isn’t a surprise that one can actually purchase the soundtrack for the game, as it is very high quality work.

The voice acting on the other hand is not quite up to par. Dialogue is at times cheesy and sometimes the lines are read in a strange cadence that doesn’t necessarily feel natural. The cheesiness of the dialogue can kind of grow on you as the game progresses, at times thinking of silly jokes will result in them actually being said or some variation there of.

Gameplay:

For the most part the game focuses on puzzles over everything else, which is actually a good thing. The game isn’t terribly long and in fact only a few puzzles are repeated, albeit at raising difficulty. There is a bit of platforming, but it is decently straight forward. The focus on the puzzles makes it easy to get through in a single sitting, and none are overly difficult in how much brain power needed to solve them. There’s a small bit of walking and exploration, with each puzzle area having one secret that the player can find.

The game totes its motion capture and for the most part it is well done, though there are a few issues with it. Attempting to crouch while already moving causes the animation to play twice, which is small, but fine. What isn’t however is an issue the player animations causes one of the timing puzzles. A room requires 4 stands to be ignited at the same time and figuring out the order isn’t hard. The hard part is actually lighting them in time. Missing the just correct position for igniting, causes Adam to turn to face the correct position, step in the correct position, then turn to face the stand, which can be overly time consuming. Numerous attempts left the first one going out while Adam was re-positioning on the last; overall taking way more tries than it should require to get the just right positions and complete the puzzle.

Overall:

Ultimately, this is a very well put together game that may be of consideration if you enjoy puzzles and are willing to give them a couple hours of your time. $5 is a great price and is well designed for kids to play and enjoy too. What few issues it has are buried beneath the high quality, which definitely creates interest in the later episodes. All things considered anyone only interested in the puzzles can always play with the sound off.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13 Out Now

Jonno Weiss

March 29, 2012

EA Sports are pleased to announce that Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13 and the The Masters Collector’s Edition have now hit shelves across Australia.

Both games come packed with new features including a comprehensive swing mechanic revamp, including the ability for players to customise their shots and execute over 62 million combinations.
What’s more is the integration of Kinect for Xbox 360, making it the first ever voice-enabled and controller-free sports simulation.

Go out and grab a copy of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13 now and tee off on your Xbox 360 or PS3. The game will be out tomorrow in New Zealand.

UEFA EURO 2012 To Be Released As FIFA 12 Expansion

Jonno Weiss

March 29, 2012

EA Sports have announced that the official video game for UEFA EURO 2012 will be exclusively available as an expansion pack for FIFA 12 on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.

This is a logical change for EA Sports who usually release the international tournaments as a separate game entirely, however the pricing for this expansion pack is still yet to be confirmed at this time. It will be available on April 26th and we will get some more information for you guys as soon as it’s made available.

EURO 2012 kicks off on June 8th in Poland, so you’ll have plenty of time to build up your excitement for the tournament playing through as all the participating teams.

New Video Series! Support us on Kickstarter!

Alexis Ayala

March 29, 2012

So now we’ve done it. Done what you ask? Well Capsule Computers has launced a Kickstarter campaign for our new video show The Uncanny Valley! We need your help. As much as we love doing the show we need some funding to keep it going. We would love your support. But you know what? If you don’t have a dollar to spare, that’s cool. We’d still love it if you shared this with your friends to get the word out. We feel really strongly about what we’re creating here and would love to make a whole lot more of them. So check out the Kickstarter page our our facebook page and show support.

SHOW DESCRIPTION

Sometimes it’s hard to describe things. You have a clear idea of what it is in your head and the moment you try and put words to it everything fumbles out of your mouth and it sounds like nonsense. This is not what our show is about. What it is about… is, well it’s about a lot of things. It’s about life, it’s about love, it’s about you.

The Uncanny Valley is a documentary styled show that tells stories about people who love things not because they’re cool; but for the pure sake of loving them. It’s about that time you camped out in the rain for first screening tickets to Star Wars; but it’s not about Star Wars. It’s about all those hours spent putting together and crafting the perfect costume for that cosplay convention; but it’s not about anime. It’s even about how you took first place in that Starcraft competition; but it’s not about video games.

This is a show about the people who never let that childlike love of things escape.

But this is a show about them, not the things they love.

Spring Bonus out now from Hothead Games

Luke Halliday

March 29, 2012

Hothead Games have released their latest mobile game on iOS, Android and Nook devices. That game is Spring Bonus, Hothead Games’ Spring-themed puzzle game.

The game features enjoyable puzzles that can be played on the go. You can play puzzle types like Match 3 and Match 4 aiming to bring back to Spring season and ward off the chill of Winter. Spring Bonus is undoubtedly an enthralling puzzler.

You can get Spring Bonus for free on the iOS here, the Android for $1.99 here and the Nook for $1.99 here. What do you think of Spring Bonus from Hothead Games? Will you be picking it up? If so, on what device? Let us know in the comments section.

New trailer for Max Payne 3 Shows off Multiplayer

Dustin Spencer

March 29, 2012

Max Payne 3’s release date is getting closer, and Rockstar have providing a ton of sneak peeks as of late when it comes to the game’s single player mode. Today though, a new video was released that details what many will be curious about, and that is the newly implemented multiplayer mode.

I know, most of the time we see half-assed multiplayer added in at what looks like last minute for story driven titles like Max Payne 3, and most ignore the mode completely after just a few minutes spent. Rockstar do not have the terms “half-assed” in their vocabulary though, and have went out of their way to make this outing both true to the series and enjoyable to all participants.

In the video below, we get nearly three minutes of footage from multiplayer, with many features and modes detailed. The first feature of sorts mentioned is the incorporation of bullet time into the experience. When a player activates bullet time, every player in their direct line of sight also enters the slowdown, and each player must think quick to take out their targets.

Max Payne 3’s flagship mode for multiplayer is none other than Gang Wars. This mode will have story-based rounds of matches using warring factions from the single player game, where the story changes depending on the outcome of each match. Payne Killer is a bit more familiar, with two players cooperatively taking the roles of Max Payne and his partner, Raul Passos as they try to survive against waves of enemies.

You can check out the video in full below, and pick up the full monty of Payne when it hit shelves May 15th.

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