Action enthusiasts will be ecstatic to hear that Nitro Circus will be touring down in Australia again come May and June. Featuring tricks and stunts using BMX and motor bikes, plus huge 50 ft ramps, Nitro Circus has announced their touring schedule as follows:
May 11-12 – Brisbane
May 18-19 – Sydney
May 25-26 – Melbourne
June 1-2 – Adelaide
June 9 – Perth
Ticket sales for past shows have been through the roof and shows have been selling out, so be sure to secure tickets for your city of choice today through Ticketek here.
Anyone who can’t wait until they’re in town this year or missed the show last year can purchase the Nitro Circus: Life in the Circus DVD from the 2011 tour. The 2-disc DVD also includes cut scenes, previously unreleased footage, and behind-the-scenes all for RRP$38.99 at retailers.
EA has partnered with TOMS in support of the annual One Day Without Shoes event. One Day Without Shoes is a yearly event raising awareness about the millions of children around the world who live without proper footwear, exposing them to the dangers of injury and disease. Every set of TOMS shoes purchased means one pair of brand new shoes will be given to a child in need.
To help TOMS in their cause, Sims FreePlay players can take off their shoes and go barefoot on April 10th at 12am at the user’s own time zone to support the cause. Sims who participate will get a free pair of TOMS shoes in game as thanks for participating in the event. This is a great way to participate in the event if players are unable to do so in their lives outside of The Sims FreePlay.
Specs: Display: 9.7 inches (250 mm) multitouch display at a resolution of 2048 × 1536 pixels with LED backlighting and a fingerprint and scratch-resistant coating Processor: dual-core Apple A5X system-on-a-chip Memory: 1 GB RAM Weight: Wi-Fi model: 1.44 lb (650 g) LTE model: 1.46 lb (660 g) Dimensions: 9.5×7.31×0.37 in (240×186×9.4 mm) Back Camera: 1080p HD still and video camera 5 MP, 30fps and 5× digital zoom Front Camera: VGA-quality still and videocamera, 0.3 MP Sizes: 16, 32, and 64 GB Colours: Black and White
The new iPad has been a conflicting release. Some feel this is purely an incremental update that is a massive disappointment, others feel this has been the biggest and most impressive update to the iPad line, similar to the jump between the iPhone 3GS to the iPhone 4. There are two main questions that need answers when it comes to the iPad. Should you buy one? And if you have an iPad 2, is it worth your while to upgrade?
Aesthetically, little has changed from the iPad 2. The new iPad has the same curved aluminium back that houses the camera on the upper left hand corner. There is a rocker switch for volume and a slider switch that can be assigned to either mute the iPad or lock the iPad’s screen rotation. This can be changed in the Settings application on the iPad itself. The sleep button is located on the top of the iPad, above the camera. And of course, the iPad’s iconic home button is located in the bottom centre of the front of the iPad. The only physical difference between the iPad 2 and the new iPad is the fact the new iPad is only slight thicker and heavier than the iPad 2 to accommodate for the larger battery and screen on the new iPad. Personally, I do not notice the weight difference between the two devices. Due to the fact the new iPad is only slightly thicker than the iPad 2, most accessories designed for the iPad 2 will fit the new iPad. Screen protectors, skins, and loose fitting cases will fit just fine. Most Smart Cover type accessories will work too, however there are reports of malfunctioning Smart Covers. It has been theorized that it is related to the magnet polarity used in the early Smart Covers that is causing the issue. My Smart Cover purchased in August 2011 has no issue with the new iPad.
The big upgrade from the iPad 2 is the new Retina screen. Although most will say “new Retina screen, big stinking deal,” I must say this Retina screen is in fact a big stinking deal. The original iPad and the iPad 2 screen used a 1024 by 768 resolution. This resolution could be often found in ancient monitors from the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. It is an impressive feat of technology none the less considering the hulking size of those CRT monitors. However the new iPad crams an impressive 2048 by 1536 resolution in the same sized screen. This provides a 264 pixels per square inch, double the PPI of the old iPad screens, but less than the iPhone 4/4s’ 326PPI and still short of Apple’s original definition of a Retina screen, 300 PPI. Apple claims the reason why they still refer to this as a Retina screen is the fact that the iPad is usually held further away from the eyes than an iPhone type device. Whether you want to chalk this up to slick marketing or plain old lies is purely up to you. Apple says they have improved the colours in their new screens, making the new iPad screen an IPS LED screen. Now I admit I have just thrown out a lot of jargon in the last few sentences. So for those less technically inclined, all this sums up to a screen that has generous viewing angles, more accurate colour than most commercial LCD monitors, and a razor sharp display. Although not many games have been released with iPad Retina support at the time of this article’s writings, the screen shines at reading text. Before with the old iPad 2, small text would often require zooming in to read it clearly, now with the new iPads screen, I can zoom out to shrink the text and still read everything clear as day. This screen looks like a good book printed on high quality paper. The casual eye may not necessarily notice the changes at first glance, but anyone who has used the old iPad screens for any length of time will notice the difference. The only downside of such a high resolution is that most apps and newsstand items have not yet caught up to the new Retina screens. However, this is a matter of time as many major apps such as Twitter have already pushed out their Retina updates and more apps are updating every day.
In addition to the nicer screen, the new iPad features twice the RAM as the iPad 2, bumping it up to 1 Gig and boasts a four core GPU and an improved dual core A5X CPU. Current benchmarks show the CPU to have the same CPU speed as the iPad 2, but the big difference comes from the improved GPU and RAM. Benchmarks have been a mixed bag. Some benchmarks have shown the new iPad blowing the Tegra 3 out of the water; others show the Tegra 3 doing better than the iPad, other showing them neck to neck. In general, the Tegra 3 in the Asus Transformer Prime seems to take the crown for pure CPU processing power, while the iPad crushes the GPU performance tests. In HTML and Javascript performance, both devices are neck in neck with the slight edge to the new iPad. Most games are currently unable to make full use of the new iPads upgrade specs, but publishers are working quickly to push out games that take advantage of the new specs.
Gamers have been complaining about the new iPad’s heat issues during processor heavy usage. Consumer Reports has run tests that involved running Infinity Blade II for 45 minutes with Wifi on and 3g and 4g off with the iPad 2 and the new iPad unplugged and plugged into a power source. They found the new iPad to be up to 12 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than the iPad 2 and the heat distribution to be uneven across the iPad. Apple says the new iPad is meant to shut off at 95 degrees . I personally have noticed the new iPad to be warmer than the iPad 2 while gaming, but personally find the new iPad not too hot to hold at its hottest. There have been reports that after a few full charge cycles that the heat problems have improved. Whether this is a few isolated cases or a widespread result has yet to be determined.
The new iPad’s camera rocks. Let’s be honest, everyone was disappointed the iPad 2’s camera after the iPhone 4’s impressive camera. So for the new iPad Apple brought out the same iSight camera technology as the iPhone 4s but dialed it down to 5MP and allows for 1080p shooting. Most people get too hung up with the megapixel number; a high quality camera at lower megapixels will be vastly superior to a crappy camera with really high megapixels. Although anything can be better than the iPad 2’s camera, the new iPad’s camera is a thing of beauty. Photos come out nice and crisp, and it is an absolute joy to look at them on the Retina screen. If you can get over how awkward and ridiculous you look when you take photos and videos with an iPad, then you are in for a treat with the new iPad’s camera.
The other big sell for the new iPad is the LTE or 4G support. I personally do not have an iPad 4G, so I cannot give a review to the speeds. However is important to note that LTE support is not working outside of the US and Canada at this point. This is due to a difference of frequencies used for LTE in North America than the rest of the world. There is no word on when this will change.
The new iPad is probably the best table device out there today. The Retina screen is jaw dropping amazing, games will benefit from the improvements underneath the hood, and the camera is a giant improvement from the one included in with the iPad 2. The big question is should you buy it. If this is your first tablet, or you’re looking to move on from your Android tablet or iPad 1 then the new iPad is a no brainer. However if you’re upgrading from an iPad 2, then the decision will be more personal. If you’re happy with your iPad 2, then stick with it. Just make an effort not to look at the new iPad’s screen to ensure you don’t accidently fall in love with it. However, if you read heavily, game a lot or do any other activity that would benefit from a better and sharper screen and you have the extra money to spare, then upgrading to the new iPad is a smart choice.
Fans of the cult classic comedy series Daria are in for a real treat come May 2nd, when the complete series of Daria is released in a special edition box set exclusive to JB Hi-Fi, courtesy of Beyond Home Entertainment.
The special edition box set will come with a rare collectable Daria T-Shirt that will only be available at JB Hi-Fi stores. Daria: The Complete Animated Series will sell for a mere $49.95 and will include all five seasons of the series alongside both movies and a plethora of exclusive on disc extras.
This is the definitive release of Daria that fans of the 90’s comedy have been waiting for. You can pick it up when it hits JB Hi-Fi stores come May 2nd, or whatever…
From the creators of Nuclear Dawn and Caveman Bob, rComplex is now available exclusively for iOS devices. It is a complete imagination of the 2009 indie game of the same title that follows the running man as he attempts to escape from the tentacles chasing him. Guide the running man through highway chases on motorcycles and dilapidated factories. Based on the Unity 3D engine, rComplex offers a high quality soundtrack scored and recorded by Roger Hicks aka Rekcahdam of 25 year legend fame among other indie game projects. Android , Windows, and Mac versions of rComplex will follow soon. rComplex can be snagged from the iTunes store currently at an introductory price of 99c. Regular price will be $1.99.
When THQ and Vigil Games summon you to a Gothic mansion in order to play through one of the levels of Darksiders II, your first instinct is to say, “I’d like to live out my days without endless nightmares and trauma, thanks,” but such is life (or in this case, Death).
As I sat down to play the game (in a chair made of such fine leather that I could hardly twitch without ridiculous amounts of squeaking) two things became immediately apparent to me: anyone who’d played the original Darksiders would feel right at home in the sequel, but the game also felt much more fluid and organic in its delivery of the dungeon-running content.
Unlike the hulking tank that was War, the protagonist of the original game, Death is a much more agile character. From the off, I was vaulting over objects, wall-running, and just generally moving through the dungeon’s environment in a way that was far more engaging than simply running from point A to point B. Yes, there was still a dungeon map that generally involved platforming corridors and combat arenas, but the it was the variation and dynamism of traversal that really kept things fresh.
The second thing that immediately stood out was that Death was not alone. He and the hulking Karn, who is one of the Makers (picture giant, Scottish blacksmiths and you pretty much get what they look like), were travelling together in order to reach a gargantuan tree. Why they were doing so was kept a mystery, but the catch was that to get there they had to collect three heartstones and reactivate a massive Guardian golem. The idea of your character even working with someone is completely novel, as War spent most of the first game impaling anyone he met with the pointy end of his sword. Death, on the other hand, is a character far more willing to barter, negotiate, and work with others. Perhaps he had a better Kindergarten teacher.
Regardless, you and Karn buddy up to retrieve the heartstones, and in the process he’ll help you murder some corrupted Guardians and hurl you across chasms you would otherwise be unable to cross. So yes, much like Darksiders, Darksiders II takes a lot of cues from the design of The Legend of Zelda: collect a number of items within a dungeon, grab new gadgets to help in combat or platforming, get a story point, then rise and repeat. Where this formula can often get tedious in the first game (or even in Zelda for that matter), the level I played bucked that trend thanks again to the dynamic way in which dungeon traversal takes place. You never quite know what challenges lie around the corner, and the game makes sure to keep you on your toes by requiring you properly time button presses while jumping about. There’s no auto-parkour button here.
The combat is as fluid as it was in the original game and slashing at enemies with Death’s trademark scythe feels as satisfying as it should. On top of that, Vigil has implemented new RPG systems into the sequel. Death can pick up loot in the form of new armour and weapons and he can also level up (which comes with all the associated bells and whistles: new abilities, skill trees, etc). This means that if you have a certain play style, you can cater Death’s items and abilities to your liking. I generally prefer all-out offence in these types of games so I chose weapons that gave me life back every time I hit opponents and upgraded abilities that did damage over large areas. But if you prefer dodging and quick counters, there’s a skill set for you, too. It’s not overly complex, but it’s deep enough to give anyone playing the freedom to tailor their experience how they see fit.
Of course, after all the heartstones are returned, something goes wrong and Death ends up having to fight a gargantuan Defender. It wouldn’t be Darksiders if there wasn’t a huge boss involved.
The fight itself really took advantage of every ability and gadget available to Death at the time, but it never felt overly punishing when I made a mistake. There are enough health potions lying around to keep you going, and even if you do get hit by the boss, the game still gives you the opportunity to pull of whatever trick is necessary to bring him down. Does that make it too easy? No. Rather, I think it allows the gamer to really explore and think about the strategy involved in taking out the boss. When you’re not being forced to constantly reload a checkpoint, you’re far less likely to turn to the internet for answers.
All in all, Darksiders II looked the part of a successful sequel: everything that I liked about the first game was still there, but the experience was so much richer and more fleshed out. Here’s hoping that level of quality remains consistent throughout the game.
At a secret location earlier this week, Capsule Computers were given the opportunity to play through the upcoming Darksiders 2 video game, featuring Death – One of the four horsemen. Unlike most game sequels, Darksiders 2 runs parallel to the first game and may even cross over at certain points. Even better than that though, was that we managed to get an interview with the awesome Jay Fitzloff the producer at Vigil Games for Darksiders 2. During our interview we uncover many important aspects to the game as well as insight into the games overall development. Is Darksiders 2 an RPG-ification of the Darksiders franchise? Was that intentional? Most importantly, is there any useful information presented by the interview? Find out in the video embedded below.
If it was bad enough that Bleach and Beelzebub are also ending this week, TV Tokyo have dropped yet another bombshell – Gintama is also ending.
In what can only be called a shocking turn of events, in the latest edition of Weekly Shonen Jump it has been confirmed that Gintama will end this coming week on it’s 252nd episode which will be titled ‘Gomen Nasai (We’re Sorry)’. It appears that TV Tokyo has confirmed this last minute and no word of this decision was given to Sunrise (the studio who produce Gintama) ahead of time, evident through the next-episode preview of episode 251 which did not make any note of it being the final episode and listed the episode title as ‘Mitei (To be Determined)’.
This is certainly sad news for fans of this offbeat comedy anime series. It is unknown whether the anime will return from the dead like it had previously done before, but for now all that is confirmed is that the end of the anime. The series will be replaced by the Gon anime series.
What do you think of Gintama getting the axe? Let us know in the comments section below.
The Hunger Games Studio: Lionsgate Publisher: Lionsgate Format: Theatrical Release Release Date: 23nd March 2012
Overview: The pop-culture magnet may have attracted an anomaly with the 2012 film adaption of The Hunger Games. Based on the book of the same name, the film succeeds in creating a adequate mirror representation of society through a neo-dystopian viewpoint; Exploring complex themes contrary to the one-layered-ness of other popular literary adaptations. Throughout the course of the film you witness the brutality and hardships of life not too dissimilar to ours – With the idea of social division and subjugation by an oppressive government forming part of the necessary catalysts for action.
The Hunger Games attempts to dispel a lineage of youth oriented films that have come before it, breaking away from works that the general public have often associated it with – i.e. The Twilight Saga. It does this by overtly being a visual representation of many forms of ideals – ideals which aim to open eyes and minds to prevalent issues and consequently incite change.
In this particular instance pop-culture has retained its position as an effective tool for promoting a ‘teen-oriented film’- albeit a social discourse cleverly disguised as a film – to the dismay of many – who more than likely were expecting a simple love triangle with the watch words, sparkly sparkly.
The creator of the series Suzanne Collins states that if there was one thing that people take away from The Hunger Games is that they question how the story might be relevant in their own lives – and if they notice injustice; what would they do about it.
Story: The Hunger Games is set in a post-apocalyptic North America which has been reformed into the country of Panem. A civil war involved the thirteen districts of Panem revolting against the ruling order based in a futuristic city – known as the ‘Capitol’. As punishment for the revolt – the 13th district was destroyed and an annual event known as the ‘Hunger Games’ was created –(in the vein of gladiatorial games) The districts all pay a yearly sacrifice to the Capitol in the form of their tributes – children who will die in the Hunger Games – which is a televised event.
“Taking the kids from our districts, forcing them to kill another while we watch – this is the Capitols way of reminding us how totally we are at their mercy. How little chance we would stand of surviving another rebellion. Whatever words they use, the real message is clear. “Look how we take your children and sacrifice them and there’s nothing you can do. If you lift a finger, we will destroy every last one of you. Just as we did in District Thirteen” – Katniss Everdeen
The protagonist Katniss Evedeen a young girl from District Twelve – to the surprise of all becomes the first person to volunteer as tribute when her sister Primrose is chosen through a mandatory lottery known as ‘the reaping’. Her apparent sacrifice literally stops the world as silence spreads leaving only a poignant hand gesture – a three finger salute (District Twelve’s sign of respect/ farewell) to communicate the feelings of her people.
The same hand gesture is seen after the death of her ally Rue, a 12 year old from District Eleven. Katniss adorns her body with flowers, a symbol of her innocence and humanity. She leaves only turning back to say farewell using the hand gesture. Fittingly the entirety of District Eleven reciprocates the sign. Which from this moment on would be a sign of defiance against the oppressive government – An uprising begins as people are enraged by the senseless death of a child.
The films depiction of death is brutal. Collins admits that putting kids in violent situations, especially ones involving death is difficult. In the first day of the Hunger Games eleven tributes are killed, most within the first 10 minutes of the games commencement.
The film makes allusion to constructed reality and the controlling nature of governments – namely the representation of a Big Brother form of government – through the Capitols own authoritarian rule. The film makes reference to the “Truman Show”, where like the Truman show, film makers secretly observe, plot and control the direction and actions of participants – altering the game world and creating an artificial sense of freedom. One instance being the lighting of fierce fires in order to guide tributes closer to each other – for the purpose of viewer interest and also to enforce the interests of the state.
Visuals & Audio: What the film does best is immersion. Every emotion and thought that the characters experience can also be felt strongly by viewers, the soundtrack acts as a cue for our emotions to evoke outwardly. In the scene where Katniss is waiting in the locker room; she grows more and more concerned as the countdown continues – to the point of prettification, we see this through her body language and facial expression – tight close ups accompanied by jarring audio carefully emulate the thought of death – the actress plays her role with precision. Another example is Katniss’ lullaby to Rue, who sings to the dying child as the camera in lieu of her eyes begins to focus and lose focus to represent her passing.
From many other scenes we see that an emphasis has been placed on realism. An example of this is at the start of the Games. From my experience in playing paintball; I faced a similar scenario where everyone was told to target a single person; who ran towards the centre, naturally everyone chased after him; immediately we were told that it was now a free for all – a quick bloodbath ensued. The quick deaths of the tributes in their corresponding scene and the fast handheld movements of the camera depicted battle honestly. You could be killed at anytime, from any direction and rarely shown mercy.
The horns that are sounded after the death of a tribute in all probability are an allusion to Gabriel’s Horn which is said to announce Judgement Day and can be heard anywhere and everywhere. With each blast of the horn, with every accruing death of a tribute, it signals that the end; whatever end that may be is coming closer. There is the possibility that it could be a personification of redemption, which is what the protagonists achieve after successfully winning and thus defying the government.
Overall: Certain aspects of the film stood out as somewhat intrusive, such as Katniss’ over acting after the death of Rue, she does one action being similar to the cliched “NO!!! cry” which ends in her hitting Rue with both hands and drowning her face on her body. The second is the marginalisation of the sponsors – the first half of the story involves the characters vying for support through television interviews and public appearances, however during the actual games, both and all packages which the protagonist receives are from her mentor Haymitch Abernathy or –H.
This may be due to the compression of time, in the book Katniss receives a package from District Eleven for her compassion and support of Rue, emphasising greater importance of sponsors.
The film as a whole is a beautiful piece that is a perfect example of a story with heart. The film has won our favour earning a strong recommendation.
Looking for a really tough case for your iPad 2 or your new iPad? The baseonelabs has announced the GunnerCase for the iPad. Based on the technology used in shotgun and rifle butt stock pads, the GunnerCase uses collapsing internal air cells to cushion the impact of a drop. This is a very similar idea to how modern cars crumple in certain places to protect the driver inside. This allows the GunnerCase to provide the same impact protection as a case twice as thick. Thanks to the special TPU used in the case, the GunnerCase feels like a rigid case while still providing its impressive level of protection. The icing on the cake is that baseonelabs is throwing in a free screen protector and micro cleaning cloth into the deal. No word on final pricing just yet.
