It was previously revealed the Nobuhiro Watsuki’s classic samurai manga Rurouni Kenshin would be getting live-action treament. Through a Japanese variety show, we now get some new footage of the live-action adaptation of the Rurouni Kenshin manga.
The trailer features Himura Kenshin and company both in battle and out of battle as well as some brief close up shots of each actor in character in the trailer. Fans of the manga are sure to be delighted to see their favourite characters brought to life in this live-action adaption.
Be sure to check out the trailer for the live-action Rurouni Kenshin below and let us know what you think in the shoutbox and comments section. Stay tuned for more live-action Rurouni Kenshin news.
Tonight, at 8pm Tokyo time (10pm AEDT), Sony Computer Entertainment Japan will be hosting a web broadcast called ‘Playstation Vita Game Heaven.” Here, Sony Computer Entertainment will be announcing new games for the Playstation Vita as well as provide update on yet to be released games. The webcast will focus on the Japanese market, so the probability of any new Western oriented games will be low. For those who want to watch it, here is the official site.
A few game creators have been announced to appear on the broadcast. These include:
Satoshi Sakai (Phantasy Star series)
Katsura Hashino (Persona series)
Toshihiro Kondo, Ken Nakanko (from Falcom, developers of Legend of Heroes)
Takanobu Terada (Super Robot Wars series)
This blog will start at 9:55pm AEDT. This will be an old fashion live blog, which means that you will have to hit F5 for updates. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure that you won’t have to spam the button.
The live blog follows…
9:52 – Hello and welcome to Capsule Computer’s live blog on the “Playstation Vita Game Heaven” webcast. It will be interesting to see what is announced tonight. Should be a good show.
9:56 – If you want to make any predictions or comment during the blog, you can below. It will be interesting to hear what you think will be revealed tonight.
10.07 – So, there seems to be an intro video showcasing what “Game Heaven” will show. Phantasy Star, Persona 4, Super Robot Taisen, Gundam, Legend of Heroes and Metal Gear Solid will be shown, alongside their respective designers.
10:11 – It looks like “Game Heaven” may be a series of video posted on the official Youtube channel (which is right here). So sit tight as I go through the different announcements.
UPDATE: you may notice that I do not have the time next to the game announcements. That is because of the nature of the announcements being a series of video rather than one streamline webcast like Nintendo Direct. So, on with the announcements.
UPDATE 2: I will post the videos in a separate article after the completion of this article.
First up, we get to visit the offices of Sega as they reveal that Phantasy Star Online 2 will be heading to the Playstation Vita. Vita players will get to team up with the PC players as they will be on the same server. You can also use the same character on both versions. Neat.
Next, Namco Bandai reveals that they will be bringing a Super Robot Taisen game to the Vita. There is gameplay footage in the video (this turns out to be the PSP game Super Robot Taisen Z2 running on the Vita. Apologies).
Our third video will be looking at Metal Gear Solid HD Collection, introduced by Hideo Kojima. Of course, there is talk of the Transfarring feature, which is done over Wi-Fi. The save files are saved on cloud storage, so you can play wherever you are. There is gameplay footage and a release date: June 27.
Now it is time for some Persona 4: The Golden, due out June 14. Katsura Hashino, the producer of the game, shows off some of the gameplay. He also talks about the game’s development. No real news from Atlus, more behind-the -scenes stuff. Still, worth watching for gameplay and some artwork.
The Legend of Heroes: Zero no Keisei Evolution is the next video. Some of the mini-games are being talked about, as well as the amount of voice work done with the game. There is also some game footage. Also being reported is the fact that Evolution was meant to be a PSP game, but UMD space was a factor for the project to be moved to the Vita. Interesting.
Gundam is next from Namco Bandai, who are now working on two PS Vita games. It will be titled Gundam SEED: Battle Destiny. The representatives are very happy with the addition of the dual sticks, as is everyone else. They also have a release date: June 7. Gameplay is also shown.
The next video is Keiji Inafune teasing a title for the Playstation Vita. He did slip that he was working on a Vita title at the GDC, so this video confirms it. No specifics were revealed, however.
The second last video is all about the UMD Passport Program. It shows how to use the program, developers who are supporting it and a new addition of games and they are major ones. It also gives info on the 1,000 yen PSN voucher Sony is giving away. Here are the notable games that will be added to the UMD Passport Program:
Monster Hunter Portable 3rd
Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G
Last Ranker
Rockman Dash 2
Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker
Tokimeki Memorial 4
Tactics Ogre
Final Fantasy Tactics
Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy IV Complete Collection
Final Fantasy II
Dissidia Final Fantasy
Dissidia Final Fantasy 012
3rd Birthday
Final Fantasy Type-0
Ys I & II Chronicle
Ys 7
Legend of Heroes Sora no Kiseki
Little Battler eXperience Boost
The last video reveals a project called Project Discovery, a collaborative project between Kadokawa Games and Sony. Watching the trailer, it could involve Vita owners and content creation. It will be coming soon.
So, that’s it for Playstation Vita Game Heaven. I hope you enjoyed this article bringing news of various Playstation Vita projects that are underway or near completion over in the Land of the Rising Sun. Some may be disappointed that there was no mention of a certain portable giant of a game. I’m sure it will be out soon.
Music Unlimited, Sony’s music on-demand service, has made its way to the Playstation Vita. With a global library of 15 million licensed songs from all of the major labels, leading independent labels, and major publishers worldwide, the Music Unlimited service offers users convenient access to the entire music catalogue and millions of other tracks on a wide range of mobile and in-home devices, anytime they want. This is no surprise as both the Playstation 3 and Playstation Portable also supports the service.
The application is free to download, however, consumers will need to subscribe to the service in order to use it. There are two subscription plans available: Basic and Premium. The Music Unlimited Basic plan provides ultimate convenience to enjoy your own music and ad-free radio Channels at a great price. Users can use Music Sync to match songs and playlists from a PC to your personal cloud library and access across all supported devices, including other Playstation devices. The music channels are categorized by genre, era and mood. The Music Unlimited Premium plan is ideal for music lovers who want full control of the entire Music Unlimited collection, including premium channels and on demand access to millions of songs in the catalogue. New subscribers are welcome to try the Premium plan for free in a 30 day trial period.
The application is now available on the Playstation Store on your Playstation Vita and is supported in the following territories: Australia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, and United States.
An independent developer by the name of Superplay Games has just released a new game onto the App Store.  Sky Defenders will allow gamers to experience “nostalgic, ’80s arcade-era gameplay, modernized by the iOS motion controls and contemporary cartoon-style graphics.”
In addition, players can “take on the role of a superhero defending the city from invading hordes. Flying high above the streets, gamers use tilt controls to navigate the skies and destroy enemies in order to protect the city below. Each superhero features its own unique power-ups, offering players multiple ways to chain together combos and rack up huge point scores in their quest to survive and wipe out the opposing forces. Sky Defenders also features an online leaderboard so players can post their high-scores and challenge their friends to try and beat them.”
“Our first mobile title, Cosmonauts, was a huge hit with fans and the nostalgic gameplay seemed to really resonate with a lot of players,” said Paul Della Bitta, president and co-founder of Superplay Games. “We modeled it after some of our favorite, old-school arcade games, and then updated it with great, cartoon-inspired graphics and motion controls to add a modern twist.”
Some key features of the game are:
Top-down Survival Gameplay:Â To dodge and defeat waves of enemies, superheroes and heroines must maneuver the skies, collect power-ups, and chain together combos in order to rack up points and survive as long as possible
Motion Controls:Â Players control their superhero by tilting the iOS device. With precise acceleration and movement, players must hone their flying skill in order to boost their score and top the leaderboards
Collectible Power-ups:Â Players can gain an extra edge in combat by collecting power-ups, which are unlockable by racking up big point totals or through in-game purchases
Facebook Integration: Sky Defenders syncs with Facebook so players will be able to compete head to head with their friends on the game’s leaderboards.
Sky Defenders can be bought for $0.99 on the App Store for any iOS device that has been upgraded to 4.0 or above.
Vessel Publisher:indiePub Developer:Strange Loop Games Platforms: PC (coming soon to consoles) Release Date: March 1st, 2012 Price: $13.49 (BUY NOWÂ – 10% off during launch week!)
Overview
Vessel is a puzzle platformer, featuring the heavy use of various forms of liquid, as well as the AI of creatures made up of these liquids. The first game by Strange Loop Games, Vessel features 4 experienced creators, some previously from EA, brought together by this single project, and working together to make one original, beautiful game.
Story
You are M. Arkwright, inventor of the liquid automaton, Fluro. With this new technology you have changed the world, and Fluros are used as labour from factories and orchards, to mines. Over time, however, the Fluros have begun to change; their behavior and even shape evolving and branching out unpredictably. This has caused problems for the industries that use them, Fluros wreaking havoc and generally not doing as they’re told. So you’ve taken it upon yourself to get these places working again, while investigating and harnessing these new forms.
In between clearing up the mess the rogue Fluros have made, you are also working hard back at your workshop to use what you’ve learned about their evolution to create an even more powerful, and stable, form of Fluro. And, when you have time, upgrade the equipment you’ve invented to control the fluid these creatures are made up of.
These developments and new understanding of how the different Fluros behave are told to you in a Journal, with brief but descriptive entries, along with sketches explaining how you might be able to use these new behaviors to your advantage.
Gameplay
The main thing you’ll be doing throughout this title will be solving puzzles. Using your knowledge of the behavior of the Fluros you encounter as well as manipulating the liquids they are made out of will allow you to progress to a series of machines in each area that have stopped due to the errant Fluros. Once you’ve fixed all of the machines in the stage, you’ll need to defeat a boss, or otherwise disable some big machine that was causing all the trouble in the first place.
At the beginning of the game, you invest a backpack and hose which you’ll carry around with you. This allows you to suck up and shoot out a variety of liquids, helping you out in the puzzles. You’ll also be able to “Sample” a Fluro, letting you create a completely new Fluro of varying kinds from a sample you’ve already collected.
If you are playing on the PC, and using the keyboard and mouse, you’ll be fine for the first few hours of this game. But once you start relying on the hose more and more, the controls get really fiddly to use. You effectively have to move, jump, grab, and deploy Fluro “Seeds” with one hand, and use the mouse to suck of shoot liquid.
For me, that wasn’t very practical; it took so much thinking about just to do simple tasks, so I gave up on the keyboard and mouse entirely, opting for a gamepad instead. Once I’d made this change everything was infinitely easier to control, so I’d recommend using a controller from the start.
That said, playing this game, while frustrating on some of the more taxing puzzles, was a great experience. The fluid simulation is really smooth, and is a great change from the usual boxes found in most physics puzzlers. The way the Fluros behave and react to their environment is wonderful, and figuring out how to properly harness their unique behaviors gives you a great sense of satisfaction.
There’s tons of gameplay to be had here; the amount of puzzles and content is simply amazing. There are many indie physics puzzle games out there that simply don’t have the mileage and variance to keep you going for more than a couple of hours, but Vessel is sure to tie you up for a few days at least!
Audio & Visual
The music in this game is absolutely wonderful. The soundtrack was created by Jon Hopkins, a big name in the music industry; and it shows. The music is atmospheric, pumping, moving, and above all else, beautiful. The music reacts to gameplay in such a way as to reward you with crescendos when you solve a puzzle, and giving one synergistic experience to the player.
The tone of the music goes perfectly hand-in-hand with the game itself. With a sense of heightened 3D realism to the world, each area has it’s own unique and colourful glimpse at the universe of Vessel. Everything is beautifully rendered and animated, with each object having it’s own physical presence, letting you interact with and manipulate them in easy and obvious ways.
The machinery you use, with a little tinkering here and there, is very easy to understand and utilize, leaving you to worry about solving the puzzles rather than figuring out where the buttons and levers are. The lighting is dynamic, keeping the world varied and interesting, as well as affecting the behavior of certain Fluros.
Whilst this game can be said to be a 2D platformer, the level of depth and detail within the areas is astounding; everything having it’s own 3D, stunningly realised model, even well into the distance. It’s a joy simply to exist in the world of Vessel.
Overall
This game is great. The soundtrack, art, fluid simulation, and overall attention to detail, makes Vessel a wonderful game to play, start to finish. And as the game crescendos and intensifies as you near then end, you’ll be left on a high note that will leave an impression and stay with you well after you’ve finished the last puzzle. Do yourself a favour; GET THIS GAME!
Are we long past the point of physical media on the gaming medium? Do we still need a form of data transfer between disc and machine, considering that we have a system of direct delivery from studios to consumers? Do games even need to be created as one large product, shipped and packaged to be consumed whole? What if you didn’t want the entirety of a package?
Video games these days are almost always shipped on a physical disc, inside of a case of some-kind and offering a complete experience to warrant a hefty price-tag on a purchase. But really? Do you honestly want the entire game 100% of the time? Look at all the gamers who only play the multiplayer aspect of some games (Battlefield, Call of Duty) and look at all the gamers who will ever only touch the single player aspect of others. Should they have to pay the full price for an item that they are only using 50% of?
The answer should be no, but the way games, neigh, most products are designed makes it so that the entire package needs to be purchased in order to enjoy that one component that you desire. So to combat this, I have come up with a better solution to all of our problems. Digital distribution of playable game engines for free or a minimal cost, and players simply pay for the experiences they want to access on that system. For example, somebody really loves Call of Duties multiplayer but has absolutely no desire to even touch the single player portion. Why not just sell them the multiplayer aspect of the game at ~50% of the price of the full package? With the advent of digital distribution platforms, such as Steam, this kind of delivery is possible, but it is not utilised at all by the major publishers.
Consider a University student who cannot afford the full price of a video game, also doesn’t have the time for a single player campaign, but also doesn’t like the current multiplayer offerings on the market. He then hears about this mod or independent addon for a particular engine. Under this new system, he could just purchase the game on the developers website, add the module to the engine and start playing. I think that this kind of system would do wonders for the independent game developers around the world.
To make this clear, this is how the system would work –
First the developer makes a game engine or distribution service, lets use Epic as an example and call it Unreal Engine Epic Drop.
Bioware comes along and says “Hey, I like this engine and system, I’m going to make Mass Effect 4 for it and distribute the single player and multiplayer aspects of the game across this”
Epic then says “Yeah, sure”
Bioware then sells the entire package for $50, but also separates it for how much value each component represents, so like $30 for single player and $20 for multiplayer.
Epic finished Unreal Tournament 4 and it has multiple game types.
Epic sell UT4 DM for $5, UT4 CTF for $5, etc. etc.
They also release Tournament Mode (single player) for $10 which only includes the components that players have purchased.
Everyone has a cheaper gaming experience and an experience that they actually like. No use paying for components that you’ll never touch (VCTF, augh…).
Of course, there would need to be a united distribution system, like Steam, for this to work 100% perfectly, or else peoples computers would jam up with all those different distribution platforms. Though, this is just one solution to this problem.
What does everyone else think, leave us a comment below with your opinions.
The Playstation Suite software development kits, which will allow development of games for both the Playstation Vita and Playstation Certified Android devices, will being its roll out phase this year with the release of the open beta in April and the full version later in the year in an announcement at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. Through the introduction of these SDKs, there will be a more streamlined developmental environment for content developers and further expand the world of PlayStation to open operating system based portable devices.
The roll out of the open beta will be open to developers in the United States, United Kingdom and Japan, with support for additional countries later on. The beta will be offered to developers free of charge. Developers will also be able to conduct performance verification of their content developed with the open beta version on PlayStation Vita. This will be followed with the release of the full versions of the development kits later in 2012. These will be offered for US$99 per annum, which is not a bad price.
PlayStation Certified devices include the Xperia arc, Xperia acro, Xperia PLAY, Xperia acro HD, Xperia S, Xperia ion, “Sony Tablet” S and “Sony Tablet” P, with more surely added in the future. These will be alongside the Playstation Vita, Sony’s newest handheld gaming device. Supported content will be available in Japan, United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, Spain and Australia by the end of the year.
Casshern Sins – The Complete Series Studio: Tatsunoko / Mad House Publisher: Siren Visual Release Date: October 21, 2011 Format: Blu-Ray Disc (Reviewed), DvD Price: $79.95 (Buy Here)
Overview
Memory is such a fickle thing, it works some days, others it works not so well. It is entirely possible for a human to lose their entire memory and have to start their life experience from scratch. What about your memories? Are they important to you? If you could choose to forget them, would you? Are you able to comprehend the loneliness that would accompany such a loss in life data? What if you alone were the one who caused the destruction of the entire world? Is this something that you would like to remember?
At it’s core, these are the concepts that Casshern Sins is made up of. These are the questions that viewers can expect to answer while following along this journey. At it’s core, the loneliness, the conflict, the anguish that comes with losing ones memories are the things the comprise the core concept of this series.
Story
The Ruin is a plague upon the world in Casshern Sins, the background threat that will soon fall upon all sentient robotic life on the planet. This threat was created by the lead hero, Casshern, as he killed Luna – The Sun named Moon – on an assassination mission of unknown origin.
It is in the beginning episodes of the series where the melancholic, yet serene, mood is set for this tale of atonement for a forgotten sin. And related to this is one of the reasons I absolutely loved the series, the story is something you know from the start, you know the reasons why the world is sad, you know why it is that there is still this sense of serenity to the world. All of the information relevant to these aspects are given to you right from the start. You know that it’s Casshern that ruined the world, you know that everyone is so melancholic because they have to face the prospect of certain death. Yet, the contrast to this is what gives the show it’s serenity.
Across the breadth of the story are a plethora of interesting characters that have made (or at least made an attempt at) living their now shortened lives to the fullest, rather than spending it moping. Whether it’s searching for salvation, or doing something as creating something beautiful to fill the void of the emptiness, the serenity that comes along with the sadness of these individuals is quite engaging.
I think that on some level, we can all relate to the characters in this show, even the bad-guys who seem to do nothing but want to kill and eat Casshern. I mean, like, the concepts shown are things that we have to deal in our day to day life, like making the mundane fun and having to cope with the loss of a departed family member. These are all things that we can, at the very least, sympathise with in some way.
Visuals
Watching Casshern Sins is like participating in sex you shouldn’t be having. It is really that good. When I say this, I’m not referring to any kind of gratuitous sex or hentai material, but rather the visual style and quality of art within the show. Every character in this show has some degree of sex-appeal, every background is a sexy montage of barren wastes and even the visual themes and effects are very beautifully done.
But what I really mean here is that a lot of the actions that the supporting characters make are very titillating without being gratuitous. A lot of people reading this might sound disgusted, but I have to say, that I have never been even partially aroused by the prospect of a young-ish looking female character having her hand sucked on by a robot. Yes there was some blood here, but if this show was not drawn so sexually, I doubt I would have had such a strong response. Another perfect example of this is early on in the series where Casshern meets this female robot who is obsessed with making a bell. That character was walking sex. Her every movement, her every word, her behaviours were all done so sensually that you wish that you were the main character in that situation, she could turn you into her bell.
I feel I must stress this point though, there is no explicit sexual material in this show and the material that is within it never goes beyond kissing (except for that one exception where the other leading females psyche is trying to tell her something), but it is very sensually articulated. It’s hard to describe without going into abstract concepts, so you’ll just have to watch it.
Whilst watching Casshern Sins, I also could not help but get a very Megaman-esque vibe from the series. The facial artwork and Cassherns poses, in particular, really struck me as reminiscent of Zero from the Megaman Zero series of games (not so much the X Zero, he wasn’t as sexy). I think that people who enjoy the artwork of the Megaman series of games will probably really love this show.
Audio
What I found really spectacular was the way audio is used in Casshern Sins. And even more so was when it was often not used. Sure, anyone can make a scene emotive and and entertaining with a background track and some dynamic sounds, but it’s the silence in Casshern Sins that really catches you.
What I mean by this is that the audio staff have used silence as a story telling tool to convey the sense of helplessness and loneliness in a particular scene. A perfectly good example that pops up immediately is when Casshern is fighting a group of robots in a meaningless battle. The background music stops, there are only the sounds of the battle and it’s this that adds to the tension and the overall feel of helplessness across the battle.
The series is also incredibly well voice acted with the cast giving an incredibly believable performance that at no point feels unnatural or flaky. The audio is also presented in 5.1ch surround sound, which sounds amazing across a setup of that nature. I don’t think anybody will be disappointed in this series audio-wise.
Extras
Casshern Sins comes with a few extras spread across halves of the series. These are definite value-added bonuses that should keep you watching a short while after you have finished the main series.
These extras are –
Part 1 Extras –
Pre-Air Event
Textless Songs
Part 2 Extras –
Mini Concert
Original Commercials
Textless Songs
I found these additions to be quite entertaining, but the best extra is, in my opinion, the slip-case/box that the complete series is collected within. They could have easily have just paired this series off in a slim-pack with all 4 discs, or maybe even a fat-pack. But nope, box. Which is awesome. I wish more companies still did these.
Overall
Casshern Sins is an amazing anime series wrapped up in an amazing package. This isn’t just a series for Anime fans, it can be enjoyed by anyone. In-fact, I would advise viewers from outside of the genre to pick this up as their starting Anime series, it is seriously that good. It is also one of the better examples of the medium and a proof that not all Anime is cute-girls and tentacles.
In less than a week a Yakuza game unlike any other will be released in North America. Why is this one different than any other Yakuza game? Well because rather than dealing with people, this time around you will have to deal with undead people.
How will you be dealing with these zombies you ask? Well if you were to pre-order from GameStop before the game is released you will be able to receive five bonus costumes, eight bonus weapons and a slew of additional content. You can see some of this content in action below in what has to be the most patriotic video game trailer I have ever seen.
Gotta admit, when you have nearly the entire world playing your game the only way to advertise the next iteration of the series is to take it to another level… the space level… Today a huge piece of promotion for Angry Birds Space was released that not only involved the co-operation of NASA but also the International Space Station.
In the video below you will see a live Angry Birds demonstration and physics lesson from astronaut Don Pettit while he is in space. Talk about awesome huh? Besides that video, a few details were released about Angry Birds Space. The game will feature
This teaser for Angry Birds Space not only has the cooperation of NASA, it was filmed on the International Space Station, featuring 60 levels, new birds, new abilities, secret bonus levels and various gravity tricks.
