This Spring, Frogger is coming back for it’s 30th anniversary and it’s way bigger than its original release. Frogger Hyper Arcade Edition is set to be released for Xbox Live Arcade, Playstation Network, WiiWare, and smartphones, Frogger: Hyper Arcade Edition takes it way further than just hopping across ponds and roads.
Adding all new modes including but not limited to Tile Capture, Battle Royale, and Freak Out as covered in a press release from Konami. Competitive is also in the cards for the game as it will allow players to go against friends or the CPU in up to 4 person play matches. But, the game goes even father than just new modes and also allows for different skins ranging from the original Frogger, to a neon style epitomizing Hyper Acade, to other Konami mainstays like Castlevania and Contra.
The latest issue of Magazine Special announced that it would be starting a new series in the next issue, out April 20th. The series will be titled Puchi Puchi Tan Tan Puchi Tan Tan. While the title doesn’t give away much about what the series could be yet, the creator is Tozen Ujiie, known for Seitokai Yakuindomo, a continuing manga series that began in 2007 and received a single season anime in 2010.
For those that don’t know, Seitokai Yakuindomo is the story of Takatoshi Tsuda, a high school boy, who is one of the first boys to attend the newly co-ed Ōsai Academy, formally an all-girl school. Joining the student council mostly as a male representative, he finds the girls on the council to be very dirty minded and becomes the butt of their playful teasing.
An amazing series itself, it sets a high standard for Puchi Puchi Tan Tan Puchi Tan Tan, that hopefully it can live up to.
You may know Halfbrick as the Australian studio that made the well-known Fruit Ninja game, that has spread from mobile to Kinect, or even their more recent Jetpack Joyride. Well, they’ve just bought Onan Games, which you shouldn’t kick yourself for if you don’t recognize it off the bat.
Onan Games is a company based in Spain whose major claim to fame is Mandreel. Mandreel is a special piece of work that lets users write in a single code base, but still allow support for multiple platforms, instead of having to work at porting it from one platform to another after the fact.
What does that mean for Halfbrick? That they can now more easily spread their games from mobile apps to the web and continue to do so for future releases.
What does it mean for us? That pretty soon we might not need Android, iOS, or Kinect to go ninja on some fruit or joyride on a jetpack.
In what would be a victory for Sony, the Playstation Vita has picked up the Red Dot Award in Innovative Product Design. The award is given out by Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen of Germany and it is internationally recognised award. The judges of the award consist of people in the fields of product design, communication design, and design concepts. The PS3 Wireless Stereo Headset, PS3 Wireless Keyboard and PS3 3D Display had also won awards in design quality.
The announcement that the Playstation Vita will receive these awards were accompanied by a comment by SCE President Andrew House:
To be recognized for our commitment to product design by leading industry experts is a fantastic achievement for SCE. We are particularly thrilled with the reaction and expectation to the recently launched PS Vita in North America, and Europe, the ultimate portable entertainment system, especially the introduction of innovative new ways to play and interact. Winning a red dot award for product design further establishes PS Vita as the must-have portable entertainment system across the world.
To bring in the scope of the Vita winning these awards, the Red Dot Awards brought in 4,515 entries from 58 countries. Only 67 products were given an award in design and Sony has picked up four of them, with their new handheld gaming device the highlight. A great achievement by Sony Computer Entertainment and the designers behind the Vita.
For those who still remember Final Fantasy Versus XIII and are waiting for news on the game, Testuya Nomura has some bad news. In the latest issue of Famitsu, Nomura reveals that there is a demo that is nearly ready for demonstration, however, the original timeline in that demonstration has been shifted, delaying the reveal due to an “unrelated circumstance.” An interesting reason for a delay, which will certainly frustrate some fans of the game, who have heard nothing since last year’s trailer at the1st Production Conference.
This is the last of the Fabula Nova Crystallis games that needs to see a release. So far, three games have already been released under that banner. Kingdom Hearts fans would also be frustrated at the announcement since the game development team’s next project happens to be Kingdom Hearts 3. Hopefully this delay will not be long since many would want his game to be out the door some in the next year or so. Final Fantasy Versus XII was announced alongside Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy Type-0 (known as Final Fantasy Agito XIII) back in 2006 at that year’s E3. This will be the sixth year the game has been languishing in development.
If helicopters were not enough for your vehicle appetite, then get ready for some more vehicles for Prototype 2. Coming in this time around is the armoured personnel carrier (or APC for short). Just like the choppers, you can ride it or you can destroy it with one of Heller’s shapshifting powers. The APC doesn’t lack any firepower either, with a rapid fire weapon as its primary and the TOW system as its secondary.
Here is some more info on the APC and how you can destroy it:
The APC is a TOW launching, personnel carrier that you can take for a ride to soak in all the rapid fire enjoyment its primary weapon provides. Ripping off its secondary weapon–the heat seeking TOW Launcher–gives you mobile use of an accurate weapon that will leave your targets with little hope for survival. This vehicle goes nicely with a Hammerfist Finisher. Rip the turret off that smug APC to smash it into a fiery mess with its own amputated limb.
Look out for Prototype 2 on the Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and PC on April 24. In the meantime, enjoy a couple of screenshots of the APC below.
Unit 13 Developer: Zipper Interactive Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment Platform: Playstation Vita Release Date: 6/03/2012 Price: $39.99 (Available Here)
Overview
Zipper Interactive are no stranger to shooters. They are behind the SOCOM games and the massive online first person shooter MAG, which allowed 256 players in one game. Now they are back with Unit 13, their first game on Sony’s newest handheld, the Playstation Vita. Unit 13 follows the said unit in a variety of missions, as well as assassinating targets considered too dangerous for the world. With two sticks to contend with, as well as graphical powerhouse and a touch screen, can Zipper Interactive create a great third person shooter or with they fail with their mission?
Gameplay
The third person action of Unit 13 is perfect for the Playstation Vita. The main focus of controls is the dual sticks on the Vita. The left stick controls movement and the right stick controls the camera. For the first time on a handheld, it is great to have a set of controls that are reminiscent of third person action games on the consoles. Of course, this isn’t the only game that features such controls, with Uncharted: Golden Abyss another example. Zipper Interactive have also blended both traditional controls and touch controls with excellence. Reloading and interaction with the environment are located at natural points on the touch screen, with swapping weapons, cover and other actions given a home on the action buttons. The blending of the controls is seamless and easy to learn and use.
Unit 13 features 36 missions for the player to conquer. These contain a variety of objectives, from covert missions to run and gun missions. There is no story as such, as these missions are separate from each other. However, they vary in difficulty and in length, which is perfect for portable gameplay. You also get to choose which operative you take on the mission, however, the game gives a recommended operative to take on the mission. Each operative levels up individually, which helps unlock weapons for the others to use. After completing these missions, each player is given a star ranking, which can be posted on an online leaderboard. A points system will bring back players as they compete for the high score.
In addition to the 36 missions in the main mode, there is another single player mode that involves assassinating highly sorted targets, known collectively as High Valued Targets. There are eight of these missions and are unlocked after meeting certain requirements, including completing the main missions. These are usually more difficult than the main missions, so be prepared to bring your tactical mind to the mission. The game also uses the Vita’s connectivity features to bring co-op multiplayer and daily missions. There is no competitive multiplayer included in the game. However, the daily missions are a good idea. It increases the longevity of the game as well as bringing a fresh challenge every day. These missions can be received via 3G, bringing a new meaning to portable gaming.
Unit 13 does have a few faults in its gameplay. First up, there are instances where the AI acts quite odd or quite inconsistent. One covert mission had me in a scenario where two men were right next to each other and I wanted to shoot them down both. I shoot one down with a shot to the head and the other did not react, which is unrealistic. There were times where the man would be alerted, hence the inconsistencies. However, the AI issues are quite minor, as it doesn’t happen often enough to break the game. In fact, the AI is fine. If I miss a shot with a silenced pistol, the man would react and search for the source of the bullet. They do give up quite easily, I would admit, even in harder difficulties.
Some missions will have your chosen operative to forgo regenerative health and go with the classic health bar. With every shooter game featuring regenerative health, I am glad some missions scrap regenerative health. It allows players to reach for their survival instincts and proceed with a tactical thought process in order to complete the mission. Of course, checkpoints between objectives refill the health bar. Speaking of regenerative health, it is only useful if you only get out of the gunfire. No matter the difficulty, the player could be down in a few shots. Despite that, Zipper has brought the console experience successfully to the portable arena.
Visuals and Audio
The visuals of Unit 13 are great. Character models are polished and detailed. Do expect to see the same enemy mission after mission in terms of regular goons. Each operative has their own distinguished look. So do the main targets in both regular missions and High Value Target missions. There are a few different settings, but they do get recycled and are usually buildings, which gets old very fast. There aren’t any missions in the jungle or somewhere different, just buildings and structures. Animations run quite smoothly, with the frame rate rarely dropping. There is very minor lag, so it won’t be a game breaker.
The audio of the game fits in with the operative theme. The background music features heavy beats and strong synthesising to evoke the atmosphere and mood of an operative. The sound effects are fine. A gun shot sounds accurate, as well as shots coming from accessories, such as the silencer attached to the pistol. The voice acting is quite good. Each operative has their own voice actor, bringing each of them some sort of personality. Most of the regular enemies have the same voice most of the time, but it is nice to hear some small, friendly chatter between men on the same side.
Overall
Unit 13 brings the best shooter experience for the Playstation Vita for the moment. Bite size missions, targets of high value and daily challenges will keep players glued to the game. Throw in some co-operative multiplayer, great visuals and audio and the fresh air that is dual sticks on a portable and Unit 13 is looking to be the best third person action game that the Playstation Vita will have. This is definitely one unit worth joining.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Content Collection is available now on Xbox360
Redeploying with an arsenal of content unlike any in franchise history, Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® 3’s first downloadable “Collection” arrives stockpiled with not only four Multiplayer/Survival Mode Maps, but two Special Ops Missions – the first time Call of Duty® has ever made Special Ops downloadable online. Armed with just this one content pack, players can choose between heading to a militarized Central Park in “Liberation,” destroying scenic vistas in a seaside Italian getaway in “Piazza,” raining glass on New York passersby from 70-stories-up in “Overwatch,” and battling beside a downed Air Force One in “Black Box.” As if that breadth of multiplayer variety wasn’t enough, fans of Special Ops can hop aboard snowmobiles to infiltrate a diamond mine in “Black Ice” or head to India, where “Negotiator” will leave the fate of hostages in their hands. In a class of its own with half-a-dozen forms of content, Modern Warfare® 3’s first downloadable “Collection” offers a range of combat and co-op the likes of which has never been seen before.
WIN: Call Of Duty Content Collection #1 pack
We have a MASSIVE Call Of Duty Content Collection jam packed full of COD goodness, courtesy of our friends at Activisionto give away and YOU can win it. The pack consists of the following!
1 x Call of Duty: MW3 on Xbox360 and 1 x Content Collection #1 Voucher 1 x Call of Duty: Black Ops Prestige Edition on Xbox360 1 x Call of Duty: MW2 on Xbox 360 1 x Limited Edition USB 1 x COD: MW3 T-shirt 1 x COD: Black Ops T-shirt 1 x COD: MW3 Beanie 1 x Limited Edition COD: MW3 cartridge tin
So how do you win? It’s easy! Just follow these simple steps:
Answer the following question and post it on Capsule Computers Facebook page. : Question : Which new multi-player / survival map from the COD “Content Collection” are you looking forward to playing online and why?
The competition ends on the 31st Of March! We’ll be picking 1 lucky winner to receive this massive prize! Keep an eye on the Capsule Computers Facebook Page as we’ll be announcing the lucky winner just after the 31st!
Do not forget that you MUST Like both pages FIRST then post your answer on the Capsule Computers Facebook wall, in order for your entry to be considered. The question once again is:
“Which new multi-player / survival map from the COD “Content Collection” are you looking forward to playing online and why?“
Make sure to tell your friends as well: like the Capsule Computers Facebook page, like the MW3 Facebook Page, then post your answer on the Capsule Computers Facebook wall. It’s easy! Good luck to all entrants!
Check out the COD Content Collection Trailer below to see all the latest maps released.
Welcome Glassbox, the new Simcity physics engine that will power one of the most anticipated returns to the industry, and EA have unveiled a new trailer showcasing the engine and what it brings to the Simcity name. Dan Moskowitz, Game Lead on the project explain some of the ins and outs of the engine and how it uses resources, units and effects to give a real one to one representation of what the simulation is doing. The environments are highly detailed and the maps clearly define the resources available to use as well as giving a general idea of the terrain right down to the structural layer of the underneath earth. He goes on to explain the importance of agents in the game which are essentially used to transport various resources and items around the virtual cities and act as a catalyst for simulations. Please enjoy the trailer and let us know what you think so far remembering this is a simulation video not a representation of the graphics engine and abilities.
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations Developer: Cyberconnect2 Publisher: Namco Bandai Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 (Reviewed) Release Date: March 13, 2012 Price: $59.99 – Available Here
Overview:
It is no stretch of the imagination that a successful media property receive a video game adaptation. Movies receive them all the time, usually resulting in a lackluster and forgettable title that damages the reputation of the original media. However there is a certain type of media which often thrives whenever a video game is made pertaining to it, and that media is anime.
While we’ve seen a few anime video games released in North America over the years, the most prevalent series is the series of Naruto games. Naruto may be extremely popular in Japan but it is just as popular here in the West, meaning Namco Bandai of course has brought over the most recent iteration of the Naruto video game series, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations. Should we believe that this is the best Naruto game yet?
Story:
Anyone who has paid any attention to the Naruto series since it began over two decade ago know everything that needs to be known about the basic story of Naruto but for those who don’t, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations won’t be leaving you in the dark, because one of the biggest changes made in this game is how the story telling is handled.
Past Ultimate Ninja Storm games featured free roaming systems where players would navigate through various environments in the Naruto world and encounter enemies that they would have to battle against. Rather than including that same free roaming mechanic again, Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations provides a streamlined storyline system full of action.
To be more specific, players will be provided a streamlined story that moves the player from one battle to the next with exposition in-between. While some may view the loss of free roam as a detriment, the implementation of faster battles with story presented in-between in glorious fashion far surpasses anything that could have been found in a free roam mechanic that slowed down the entire process. Unfortunately this also means that the large boss battles that were found in past games have been entirely removed, which is disappointing as some of these battles were amazing experiences.
Now it is worth noting that Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations also revamps the story mode by providing a number of side plots that can be played that happen during the official Naruto storyline. This means that while you can play the original storyline of Naruto and see how everything began and follow the official storyline of the Naruto Shippuden series, these stories follow other Hidden Leaf ninjas and main characters from the game and actually are being considered canon into the Naruto storyline.
This means that even those who have religiously watched and read every ounce of Naruto’s storyline since its release can still find some new content here as they see never before seen storylines unfold in front of them. In the end there is something new here for everyone as they playthrough a streamlined story mode that does what no other Naruto game has done in the past, actually make you feel like you are fighting inside of an anime episode.
Visuals:
The reason for that is simple. In-between story mode battles players will be provided amazingly drawn anime stills pulled from the anime itself and presented in high quality. To make things even more exciting however, there is a very large number of brand new anime footage that is not only presented in HD but is also handled by the exact same team that handles the Naruto Shippudden anime. This means that the story may often present some anime storytelling and then drop you straight into your fight, making it feel like you’re actually in the anime itself at times.
The fighting itself and the character designs are absolutely wonderful to behold as every single character looks the same exact way they do from the anime. Players are presented with numerous stages to battle on with a plethora of bright colors keeping with the anime’s aesthetic.
Audio:
For a series like Naruto that has not only a devoted following who enjoys listening to the English dubs but also a vast amount of people who stay up to date with the Japanese episodes via Crunchyroll. As such there are those who enjoy both the English voice actors and those who would rather listen to the Japanese voices.
Thankfully, Namco Bandai has included both of these voice tracks and to make things even better the official voice actors from the anime reprise their roles. As an added bonus, all of the same theme songs and battle music used in the anime transitions flawlessly to the game as well.
Gameplay:
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations is one of the few fighting games out there that has a decent amount of complexity to its battle system with a whole slew of mechanics but one of the nicest features about Generations’ combat is the fact that everything feels simple to pull off without a whole lot of difficulty. This opens the accessibility of the title to practically any fan of Naruto, even those who aren’t able to enter large complicated strings of inputs to perform specific actions.
With the removal of free roam, Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations is a core fighting game that pits the player against one enemy to battle against, though each fighter can have two support characters as well. Players are given your standard attack inputs such as pressing B to begin a combo attack, blocking, ranged attacks as well as a button to charge up your chakra meter. If players choose to overcharge their chakra meter they can enter a mode known as “awakened” mode which will make some basic characters stronger, but for certain characters such as Naruto he will enter his tailed beast chakra form, increasing his power and offering new attacks. One of the newly adjusted features is the way “substitutions” work.
Substitution jutsus can still be pulled off with a press of the button easily however players are given a limit of how many they are able to use, with the meter filling up slowly as you take damage. This doesn’t mean however that there won’t be plenty of countering back and forth as you and your opponent use multiple substitutions to avoid being combo locked.
As one can imagine, every character has their own special chakra based attacks such as Naruto’s Rasengan and so on. These moves require your chakra meter to be filled up a certain amount to be used with a near fully charged meter allowing players to use a special Ultimate attack. However this Ultimate attack can easily be abused as there is no limit on how many times it can be used in one battle. This means of course that players could potentially face up to three Ultimate attacks in one battle. As such, there are plenty of times that battles are far from balanced and there are a number of characters with exploitable moves that feel cheap and overly powerful.
However you have to give CyberConnect2 credit… while past Naruto titles have had a whole lot of characters to work with already, Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations offers a jaw dropping roster of over 70 fighters that can be used when they are all unlocked. These fighters include nearly every ninja from the Naruto storyline, though it is worth noting that there are more than a few versions of some characters. Though it may be a bit obvious, Naruto and Sasuke for example take up nearly 10 roster spots on their own.
Besides the story mode there are a number of other fighting modes available for consumption as well for single player fans. There is a tournament mode, an endless battle mode that is similar to survival mode and of course the chance to face off against a buddy locally. Besides these options there is also the online mode that allows players to take their skills online. However while playing online I experienced a decent amount of lag in numerous battles and here is where the unbalanced fighting mechanics truly shine as many exploits are well known already and used often by the online community.
Overall:
Those who’ve paid attention throughout the review should easily be able to guess the words that are about to come next. Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations will likely be viewed as the best Naruto game that has been released so far. By providing streamlined ninja action with a revamped story structure and easy to understand but fun combat there are only a few things holding it back from being great.
