Well, it seems that Konami’s month of horror is going to be one game short… or you could even say they’ll have an overdue book because the rumored delay of Silent Hill: Book of Memories has turned out to be true. Konami has responded to website RipTen with the below statement:
Unfortunately Book of Memories has been delayed. Stay tuned for a more formal announcement.
At the moment Konami has yet to stick a new release date for Silent Hill: Book of Memories but retailers are listing the release anywhere from the middle of April to May 31st. Now it is worth noting that ever since Silent Hill: Book of Memories was given its first trailer many many months ago, it has not appeared anywhere since. Perhaps fan outrage has made Konami choose a different approach to this title? We shall see.
The Coon brings some good news with him today, courtesy of Comedy Central of course. This important news that The Coon has brought us straight from the winter town of South Park is that we can expect to see South Park: Tenorman’s Revenge land exclusively on the XBLA on March 30th.
This nice little bit of news gives us a very brief time to run out and purchase some Microsoft Points, though Comedy Central didn’t reveal how much fans can expect to pay when the game is released. Regardless of price, fans will likely devour the game as they will be able to play as Stan, Kyle, Kenny and of course Cartman as he faces off against Scott Tenorman and his army of soulless Gingers.
Adam’s Venture Episode 1: The Search for the Lost Garden arrived on Steam for the first time today, so fans of action puzzle games should take a look. Developed by Vertigo Games, Adam’s Venture Episode 1 let’s players experience the adventures of Adam Venture in the middle East during the 1920’s, while he attempts to uncover the location of the Garden of Eden.
The game was built with the Unreal 3 Engine, as a family friendly adventure that features Adam Venture and his girlfriend Evelyn with puzzles to solve, secrets to find, and mysteries to uncover. Though the game was originally released in 2009, added for the Steam edition of the Adam’s Venture are 17 achievements to gain throughout the adventure.
While it is only the first episode that has been added to Steam, hopefully if it goes over well there will be plans to bring the other 2 episodes to Steam as well. Adam’s Venture Episode 1: The Search for the Lost Garden can be purchased on Steam temporarily with a 20% discount: Here.
Sega has revealed new details on Phantasy Star Portable 2 during a media briefing where the game was the main topic. The game will be free to both download and play, which is good for those who prefer the free-to-play method of online gaming. However, Sega added that the game will use the item transaction method, which means that some items will need to be purchased with real world money in order to use them.
Sega has also revealed a third platform for the game: smartphones. Both the iOS and Android will receive Phantasy Star Online 2 but it will be different than the PC and Vita versions of the game. There will be no cross platform play with the PC and Vita versions and it will offer character creation that is simpler than the other two. It will arrive in between the PC version (Summer 2012) and the Vita version (Spring 2013).
An open beta, which was promised by Sega, will begin in late April. The server will be open for 24 hours per day, unless maintenance requires the server to be offline. Story elements will be included in the beta and it will be open for 100,000 players. Of course, this is for the PC version of the game.
The sequel to the popular Wii title Epic Mickey has been officially confirmed today by Disney Interactive Studios. The sequel unlike it’s predecessor has been confirmed to be multiplatform and will aim to outdo itself in terms of content with a plethora of new features that will please fans of the first title who just couldn’t get enough of the ‘epicness’.
Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two as you can tell from the title revolves around two characters, besides the titular Mickey Mouse will be Oswald the Rabbit, making his long anticipated video-game debut. Mickey and Oswald together with their handy paintbrushes will embark on adventure that could only be described as ‘epic’.
No release date has been confirmed for the title as of yet. What do you think of Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two? Are you excited for Oswald the Rabbit? Isn’t he just ‘epic’? Let us know in the comments section below.
Bodyguardz UltraTough Full Body Clear Skin for the new iPad
Developer: Bodyguardz
Specs
Durable, Ultra-thin, Clear Protectors
1 Complete Set Per Box
Lifetime Replacements
30-day Money Back Guarantee Price: $29.95 USD Buy it Here
The screen protector market is an extremely saturated place. It seems like every company has their version of either the traditional static cling screen protector or the nearly indestructible vinyl style films that were originally designed to protect vehicle parts. Quality of these products varies wildly, from the screen protectors that can be snagged on eBay for a few pennies to 30 dollar premium kits. Bodyguardz hails from Draper, Utah in the US, proudly owned by women. Starting from their original vinyl style wet apply films for smartphones, Bodyguardz has expanded to static cling style protectors, skins, and cases for a variety of tablets, smartphones, and electronic devices and recently acquired the company earjax to expand their product line. Today we are reviewing their UltraTough Full Body Clear Skins kit for the new iPad.
The kit comes in a small box suitable for display in a retail store. Inside the box contains the two clear skin pieces neatly rolled up, a small sheet of paper containing application instructions, and a bag containing two packets of application gel, a small microfiber cleaning cloth, a plastic squeegee, a Bodyguardz sticker, and a wet screen cleaning wipe. This wipe is similar to the wipes you get at a restaurant to clean your fingers with.
Application instructions are rather simple in theory. First turn off your iPad. With wet fingers, pull the film away from the backing paper then apply 5-7 drops of the application gel onto the sticky side and spread around the film until you fully coat it. Then lay down the film into position. Once you are happy with the positioning, wrap the squeegee card with the micro cleaning cloth and squeegee out the excess application gel and air bubbles from underneath the film. Turn over your iPad and repeat. There will be some cloudiness, haziness, and small air bubbles when initially applied. In most cases, all of it will disappear in 48-72 hours. You will be able to turn on your iPad after 30 minutes. Although two packets of application gel is included, one packet of gel should be enough to apply both films with a little bit to spare.
One of the features that differentiate Bodyguardz from their competitors is their application gel. This gel is alcohol and water based, similar to the disinfectant gel that has appeared everywhere since the SARS epidemic of 2003. According to Bodyguardz, this speeds the curing time needed for the films as alcohol evaporates faster than water. In execution, this does speed the curing time; however I found I needed more gel than the recommended 5-7 drops to keep the whole film properly lubricated. I found applying 5 to 7 drops and spreading it around a third to a half of the film then applying another 5-7 drops to finish coating the film provided better results and preventing the film from drying out prematurely, only using 5-7 drops caused the gel to dry too quickly and allowed my dry finger tips to contaminate the adhesive. Also, I found the gel made adjusting the film once it was laid down onto the device more difficult than the traditional water and baby shampoo method that most companies use. For a device as large as the iPad, I appreciated the faster curing time as the traditional water and baby shampoo method often requires three to seven days of curing time. The faster dry time is a bonus for applying films to curved devices like the new iPad as it is easier to make the curved edge pieces stick to the device. No more whipping out a hair dryer to make those curved edge pieces tacky enough to stick!
The haziness really does disappear in time. I found mines took a little over 48 hours to completely disappear. Most of the air bubbles also disappear in that time, however I have two small stubborn air bubbles that have shrunk a little but never completely faded away. There is very little orange peel effect on this skin and is optically clear. For the exception of the spots where the adhesive was contaminated, the film does not take away or distort the Retina display of the iPad. A big plus considering the new iPad’s selling point is the Retina screen!
The film is extremely smooth once properly cleaned, however there is a slight friction that can catch the fingers. It didn’t interfere with any intense games of Fruit Ninja, but it may annoy some users who are used to the icy smoothness of bare glass or a high quality static cling screen protector. On the other hand, the slight friction is great for the back portion of the screen, making it easier to get a strong grip on your iPad and preventing your expensive iPad from slipping from your grasp. In fact, resting the iPad flat on my palm, I could tilt my palm until the iPad was at least 80 degrees from the floor without any slippage.
The cut of the back piece is perfect, providing excellent coverage without too many small and complicated cuts for the curved corners of the iPad. The front however is cut slightly small. This makes it slightly easier to apply but at the cost of being half a centimeter short of covering the whole glass surface. This isn’t a huge issue as the uncovered surface area really small, but some people may disagree with Bodyguardz decision. Thanks to the pliable plastic nature of the film, the Clear Skins film is extremely resistant to scratches. Short of taking a sharp knife and slicing into the screen protector, the film will survive most scratches. It won’t protect your iPad from a fall, but it is thin enough to be compatible with the Apple Smart Cover and doesn’t hide or take away from the iPad’s aesthetics.
As a bonus, Bodyguardz customer service is top notch. Their customer service is great. I had questions about the haziness of my film and was able to get in touch with them through their live chat and get answers quickly. In addition to great customer service, buying a protector from their site or an authorized dealer gives you access to their lifetime replacement guarantee and the Bodyguardz Advantage program. The lifetime replacement guarantee allows owners to purchase replacements at a heavily discounted price as long as you are willing to send back the original film to Bodyguardz after receiving your replacement. For the new iPad films, replacements can be ordered for $9.95. Of course warranty replacements are free. In addition to the lifetime replacement guarantee, the Bodyguardz Advantage program provides a 20% off discount to all future purchases from Bodyguardz from their site.
Bodyguardz packs in a high quality product and a great customer service experience behind their product. The film is easy to apply, although I believe their instructions could be tweaked slightly for better application. The Clear Skins is optically clear and extremely scratch resistant; however it comes at the cost of a bit of friction when swiping your finger across your iPad. Of course, since both pieces are made from the same material, this improves the grip on the back of the iPad. Even without the Bodyguardz Advantage program and the lifetime replacement guarantee, I would strongly recommend the Bodyguardz UltraTough Clear Skins. The lifetime replacement guarantee and the Bodyguardz Advantage program just makes the UltraTough Clear Skins a killer deal.
Square-Enix and Bioware are teaming up to bring the legendary N7 armour from the Mass Effect universe to their latest entry in the primary Final Fantasy series, Final Fantasy XIII-2. Players may remember this particular piece of clothing as the primary armour Commander Shepard wore throughout their adventures in the Mass Effect trilogy.
The armour is going to be released on the 28th of March, 2012 and will cost approximately $3.50 Australian on the PSN, or for 240 points on the Xbox Live Arcade. Take a look at the screenshot below for a visual clue as to what they will look like.
Developer: MeYuMe Publisher: Xtremics Ltd Platforms: iPad, iPhone (Reviewed), iPod Touch Release Date: July 20, 2011 Price: $0.99 Buy it Here
Overview
A great board game can stand the test of time. To this day, ancient games such as chess, go, and checkers are still played around the world. Many civilizations still have a board game still played centuries after their creation. Modern day has brought us games like Monopoly, Settlers of Catan, and Risk. There are a lot of excellent board games out there. So RoboChess has big shoes to fill; can it stack up to the giants? Or will it fade into iOS obscurity?
Visuals
RoboChess provides very simple no nonsense visuals. Robots are in a cutesy anime style and the UI is cartoony. The menus in contrast are very industrial and dark. Unfortunately, none of RoboChess’ graphics looks optimized for iPad or iPhone Retina displays, let alone the new iPad’s Retina display. iPad support is strictly in the ugly iPhone mode. It would have been nice to see more effort in supporting the iPad’s larger screen. The current implementation seems to be more of an afterthought.
Audio
The sound effects are appropriate to the Robot theme of the game. Many actually remind me of noises made by old dial up modems. The music however is completely forgettable. This may partially be due to the fact the music volume is extremely low. Thankfully you can play your own music as you play RoboChess. You won’t be missing much if you do play your own music.
Gameplay
The most important part of a board game is the game play. After all, the good old board game that we used to store in boxes and actually have parts made out of trees and possibly plastics and metals didn’t come with a fancy soundtrack or mind blowing 3d graphics. Unfortunately, RoboChess fails to shine in this regard. There are three game play modes that all happen in the hexagonal board. Siege mode is a checkers like mode with a slight twist of chess. Each player is given five pawns and a king piece. Each piece is able to move one space per turn; pieces are destroyed when they are surrounded by two enemy pieces, one on each side. Game continues until either all the pawns on one team are destroyed or the king is destroyed. Heat Centre is the next mode, utilizing four pawns per side. The centre becomes a safe spot for a pawn, and movement must be made between one of the two outer rings or the heat zone. Pawns become vulnerable to attack when they enter the centre ring. The last mode is racing. Similar to Chinese Checkers, each team gest three pawns and a goal at the other end of the board. No pawn can be moved in two consecutive turns. The teams race to move all their pawns into the goal. Unfortunately, even with three different modes with very different rules, RoboChess fails to shine. Racing mode is extremely simple with very little strategy involved, feeling more like an afterthought tacked onto the game to pad the features list. Heat Centre is slightly more interesting, but can quickly boil down to a deadlock by design. The main attraction without a doubt is Siege mode. This is probably the most entertaining and challenging mode in the whole game. Unfortunately, the mode’s balance feels off. For starters, it is the only mode that does not overlay the board layout onto the playing field. This leads to serious confusion when making decisions on where to move. The board size itself always seems to bounce between too small to maneuver without making a purposeful suicide move in the beginning of the game, to too large to end the game in a reasonable time without forfeiting the game by the end. Unfortunately the gameplay falls square into the lower limits of mediocre.
Overall
In an attempt to be the next chess game, RoboChess falls flat on its face, barely clearing the bar into mediocrity. Two of the three gameplay modes are completely forgettable; the main attraction is poorly executed. The audio is unexceptional, and the graphics are simple and do not take advantage of the iPhone’s Retina display or the iPad’s larger screen. Maybe if it was free RoboChess would be worth a download just to try. But even at the low price of 99 cents, I could not recommend RoboChess.
Saint Seiniac’s rejoice! A new trailer has been released for the eagerly awaited sequel to the 1980’s legendary shonen anime series Saint Seiya.
The latest trailer for the sequel known as Saint Seiya Omega can be seen below. The trailer shows off never before seen footage of the new series. Fans of the franchise should be able to pick out who is who in this colourful trailer for Saint Seiya Omega and may even spot a cosmos burning.
Saint Seiya Omega is the first televised Saint Seiya series in 23 years and will premiere on the 1st of April as part of the Spring 2012 series. No confirmation of a Western simulcast has been announced, but it’s always a possibility. Check out the trailer below and stay tuned for more news of Saint Seiya Omega.
Yakuza: Dead Souls Developer: Sega Publisher: Sega Release Date: March 13, 2012 Price: $59.99 – Available Here
Overview: Even when zombies first became popular upon the creation of George A. Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead,” they never reached such a high level of popularity as they do right now. There are countless movies created involving zombie outbreaks, tons of books and even more video games offering everyday people a chance to fight against the living dead in numerous ways.
However while most of these zombie outbreaks are unique in their own ways, none of them have ever had to face off against the hard-boiled gangsters that make up the Yakuza. While Sega’s Yakuza series has always been one that offers a brilliant storyline with plenty to do, however this time around Kamurocho has been infested with zombies in Yakuza: Dead Souls. Does this spin-off on the standard Yakuza experience with a sprinkle of zombies offer a compelling experience or one that should be left to rot?
Story: It is clear from the on-set that Yakuza: Dead Souls is going to be different than anything previously experienced by the Yakuza fanbase. The Kamurocho district has become infested with flesh-hungry zombies and the infection has spread so rapidly that the only way to contain it was for Japan to deploy the JGSDF (Japan Ground Self-Defense Force.) However their inability left only one solution, to wall off the infected areas of the city in a quarantine zone.
Though as one may expect, zombies always find a way to reach the populace and there are only four men left who can try and turn the undead tide and possibly save the day. My personal favorite, Shun Akiyama from Yakuza 4, longtime main character Kazuma Kiryu, machine gun arm toting Ryuji Goda and the slightly psychotic Goro Majima must work together to try and save the day. With zombies and various Yakuza members facing off, how deep could this story possibly be?
While the basic premise for Yakuza: Dead Souls reads like a bad B-Movie plot, it thankfully goes above and beyond the call of duty and provides a compelling experience that demonstrates that a zombie game can actually have an interesting and well developed storyline. Whereas most zombie games tend to be generic and repeat plenty of clichés, Yakuza: Dead Souls’ pedigree for having an intricate storyline with plenty of drama makes for a stand-out zombie story.
To make things even better, there is plenty of comedy sprinkled throughout the entire game. Practically none of the comedic situations or jokes fall flat and Yakuza fans will love every second of it. Those who have never touched a Yakuza title won’t be missing out on much either as there is only a minimal amount of knowledge needed about past titles to get the most out of what Yakuza: Dead Souls’ story has to offer.
Visuals:
One of the main ways that the story is told is through various cut-scenes featuring detailed characters with expressive faces. These cut-scenes are enjoyable to watch with their high level of production, which is great because there are plenty of cut-scenes to watch as you progress through the game.
Kamurocho has obviously seen better days and this is most evident whenever players switch from a quarantined zone full of destruction and zombies to the normal un-infected segments of the district. The zombies you are facing off against are also varied well enough with multiple versions of simple zombies and plenty of outrageous special zombies to face off against.
However there is an issue when it comes to the amount of zombies you can experience at any given time. Unlike most zombie games, Yakuza: Dead Souls experiences slowdowns in frame-rate whenever a mob of zombies is encountered and the player begins fighting them. This is even more evident whenever explosives are used as it will bring the game’s pace nearly to a halt until it catches up.
Audio:
Now anyone who has played a Yakuza game in the past should understand that Yakuza: Dead Souls offers no English voice track, however most fans will obviously prefer it that way. Instead we are provided a cast of characters who reprise their voice actors from past games and offer us the same high level of quality one would expect from the Yakuza team.
Gameplay:
Yakuza: Dead Souls is quite different from your standard Yakuza game in a number of ways, especially right down to the core. Rather than focusing on brawls with fists and various weapons the title focuses heavily on guns. To help spice things up, each of the four characters have their own special weapons such as Goda’s Gatling gun arm, Akiyama’s dual wielded pistols and Majima’s shotgun. While these are the characters’ signature weapons, up to four different guns can be equipped at any given time and you can also apply various upgrades to any equipment you buy.
There is a bit more to Dead Souls’ combat than just shooting as players can still take on the undead with their fists as well. Players can still pick up various items around the environment and use them to return the undead to death. This also means you can run into combat with a garbage can or something similar and take out zombies as well, though there are even more crazy weapons to use but that is for you to find out. This provides an enjoyable and exhilarating option for zombie killing outside of using guns, which is a great thing because the shooting mechanics in Yakuza: Dead Souls are severely lacking.
Before I go into how simple and bland most of the shooting mechanics are, there is one mechanic that is not only enjoyable but provides a bit of cinematic flair to your zombie slaying. As you deal out damage and kill zombies you will fill up a Heat Snipe gauge. When it is full you will be able to use a special attack that will target an explosive item in the environment to cause a nice explosion that will take out multiple enemies. These explosives can range from gas cans laying around, to a broken down motorcycle or even grenades tossed into the air by a companion.
While that mechanic does make things exciting from time to time, the standard zombie shooting appeal wears off very quickly. You see, Yakuza: Dead Souls uses a third person shooting mechanic and allows players to aim with a simple press of the back left shoulder button. However aiming is practically useless, as well as clunky to use as there are much easier options available. The reason for this is the fact that there is no reason to even aim properly besides just facing in the right direction.
While some may find it easy, this new mechanic takes nearly all of the difficulty out of the game when facing normal zombies. It is so easy in fact that players can simply run around outside of aim mode and keep pressing the shoot button and your character will automatically aim at the closest zombies and take them out while still running. Those concerned about their accuracy or even headshots need not worry as nearly all the shots will hit and you will even pull off headshots from time to time, making combat too simplistic.
The only time the combat is spiced up is when a special zombie or a boss is encountered. Players can encounter special zombies (a few of which bear striking similarities with other games’ special zombies) which may require only headshots to take down or can summon more zombies until they are defeated. The bosses are also very enjoyable to face as they are obviously a bit more difficult and can provide a challenge.
When you aren’t facing off against the various undead you can still spend plenty of time doing various side-quests and mini-games in Kamurocho. Players can take on a slew of side quests that range from just zombie fighting, to fetching items, some escort missions and even some crazy ones that will give players a good laugh. Rarely do you see variety in side-quests, let alone ones found in a zombie game but Yakuza: Dead Souls will give you plenty to do on the side. Of course you can also spend some time gambling at a casino, going to karaoke or spending some time with some Hostesses if you fancy some non-undead company.
Overall:
Yakuza: Dead Souls offers quite a hefty amount of playtime for a game focused around zombies, with the main story reaching 14+ hours of gameplay and plenty of side-quests and other distractions to keep you busy. Rarely do we see a zombie game with a great storyline however if any series could pull it off, it is the Yakuza series. Some may be a bit put off by the simplistic combat and the occasional slowdowns but there is still a great looking game beneath all of that rotting flesh.
