What’s better than the age old time-killer Solitaire? Having PopCap put their own spin on it, of course. Today, PopCap have launched Solitaire Blitz for Facebook, which will let users try to match cards and collect treasures as fast as they can, with full bragging rights included.
Much like all the other Blitz titles, Solitaire Blitz will have a 60 second timer and has players rush to match cards in an up-and-down sequence, unlocking silver which can be used to get boosts for even higher scores. Decks also display a 20th century art and literature theme, and there is even a fully orchestrated soundtrack that players can get lost into as they get sucked in to the addictive gameplay.
“We’ve taken the world’s most well-known card game and created an exciting new social version using PopCap’s incredibly popular time-based Blitz mechanic made famous by Bejeweled Blitz and Zuma Blitz,” said Scott Willoughby, marketing manager for PopCap Games. “We’ve evolved a traditionally solitary pastime into a friendly, shared experience that’s fun for all ages.”
Now go, play until your eyes burst and collect all your loot before your friends catch on. You can find the new app here and check out how the game works in the trailer below.
Any real fan of racing games will tell you how important the soundtrack can be to set the intense fast paced action and really give atmosphere to the whole experience. Namco Bandai, not wanting to be left out of the mix, have revealed a powerhouse of music with a heavy bass and electronic influence that will feature in their upcoming racer Ridge Racer Unbounded. The soundtrack will be a mix of licensed music from well known established artists as well as giving some emerging talent a little bit of exposure, and will include tracks taken from throughout the franchise history, plus some new compositions.
The licensed music on the soundtrack of Ridge Racer Unbounded comes courtesy of Grammy award winning dubstep producer Skrillex, featuring the tracks “Kill Everybody” and “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites”, as well as The Crystal Method and Noisia and The Upbeats. Other artists included on the monster soundtrack include the ultra respected Scratch Perverts, Unknown Error, OVERSEER, RuN RiOT and Ever Never.
Franchises such as Ridge Racer which have stood the test of time are never complete without that touch of nostalgia that allows older games to rekindle the excitement of their long lost youth. Ridge Racer Unbound has stayed true to its roots, including musical scores from throughout the franchises 18 year history. Hiroshi Okubo, responsible for the games audio from its inception, along with his team have also produced some new tracks to fully compliment the already packed sonic selection of tracks.
Ridge Racer Unbound looks amazing so far from the screenshots and Namco Bandai have stated that it will also feature complete vehicular and enviromental destruction. Theres nothing like crashing into a building at 200kph only to bounce off with no damage to either vehicle or structure. Also featuring a City Creator, players will be able to design their own city tracks and upload them online, challenging others to tackle their creations.
Namco Bandais Ridge Racer Unbound will be available for all Australian and New Zealand gamers from 29th March. For more information on the game please visit
The new Audio Presets Community portion of the Turtle Beach website has been unveiled to gamers around the world. Players that own the Turtle Beach series of products will have access to this area that allows players to share preset audio equalizer levels with each other for many popular titles.
The XP500, XP5 and the Delta headsets will now be compatible with a ‘Advanced Sound Editor (ASE)’ software suite run on a PC for on the fly tweaking and modification of the players audio experience. “Titles for which presets are currently available on the site include The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Batman: Arkham City, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Battlefield 3 and Uncharted 3, amongst many more.”
So be sure to check out the Turtle Beach Presets community for access to these services.
Namco Bandai Games have released two new character trailers for the forth coming and much anticipated anime fighting game, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations. The two trailers focus on the storylines of two fan favourite characters. Those two characters being Zabuza the dangerous swordsman and Jiraiya the former sensei of Naruto.
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations is the latest instalment of the long running Naruto fighting game series and for the first time crosses over between both Part 1 and 2 of Naruto, featuring characters in their younger and older forms.
You can check out both trailers for Naruto Generations below. The game is set for release on the 29th of March for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. Be sure to let us know what you think in the shoutbox and comments section.
Ubisoft have today released a teaser trailer for their upcoming iPhone and iPad racing platformer MotoHeroz. The trailer can be seen below and features some in game footage of the game alongside some extra details of the games features.
MotoHeroz takes the thrill of racing games and mixes it with the charm of platforming games into what is undoubtedly a unique blend of genres. It is set to race it’s way MotoHeroz style onto the iPhone and iPad on the 15th of March.
Check out the trailer below and let us know what you think of MotoHeroz in the shoutbox and comments section.
EA Sports have announced the release of the Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13 demo, available now to download for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 via the PS Network Store and Xbox Live Marketplace.
Gamers will once again have the opportunity to pack their clubs and head to the Augusta National Golf Club in the game as well as take a sneak peek at The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Resort, the host of the 2012 PGA Championship. Holes 14, 15, and 16 at the Augusta National Golf Club and the opening three holes
Check out the trailer that goes with the demo down below and go forth and download the demo now and get swinging!
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13 will be out on March 27th for PS3 and Xbox 360.
Tekken 3D Prime Edition Developer: Arika and Namco Bandai Games Publisher: Namco Bandai Games Platform: Nintendo 3DS Release: 23/2/12 Price: $32.29 – Available Here
Overview
Tekken 3D Prime Edition brings the King of the Iron Fist tournament to a Nintendo console for the second time, this time in full 3D. Primarily being a game for the home console, it’s interesting choice to bring Tekken back to a Nintendo handheld – even Yoshinori Ono (producer of Street Fighter) thought it was an odd choice (at least in the advertisement for the game). With a nearly 10 year franchise behind it, just how much punch does this portable fighter really have?
Story
Tekken fans will know the basic story surrounding the King of the Iron Fist tournament and know the back-story to characters along with their inherent rivalries. Those new to series may be a bit confused by the story, in that there is no integrated story line. The booklet contains no back-story to the cast of 41 characters, and the only means of connecting to any back-story is the film, Tekken: Blood Vengeance, which also comes on the cartridge.
The story of Blood Vengeance takes place between Tekken 5 and Tekken 6, and doesn’t really fit into the timeline or gameplay of 3D Prime. Instead, the film just acts as somewhat of a novelty – allowing players, or rather 3DS owners, to watch a decent 3D movie on their device. For a detailed review of the movie plot, you can always read our review of the cinematic release of Blood Vengeance here. Given that Tekken does have a rich back-story, it would have been nice if it was better integrated in to 3D Prime – easing in new comers to the series and bringing something new to fans.
Gameplay
Tekken fans may notice slight absence from the gameplay modes available to 3D Prime players – that being the lack of a tournament mode. This reflects the story of the game, which as I noted is oddly absent from the cartridge. There are a few main single player modes of play for Tekken, practice, quick battle and special survival. Special survival allows players to fight against a number of characters using one health bar – first 5 enemies, then 10, then 20 and so on. The more characters there are the progressively harder each individual becomes. Milestones are made throughout the survival campaign in the form of special matches, where the enemy will need to be hit a few times to cause any damage. Winning these is rewarded with Tekken Cards, which I will come back to later. Quick battle features two rounds against different levels of opponents, ranging from 1st-9th Kyu and then Dan. The more difficult they become, the more unlikely you are to play as it decreases your winnings and gives to a poor win to loss ratio – which can be seen by players you encounter online.
In terms of functionality, Tekken 3D Prime works wonderfully. I’m not sure if I am totally taken by the addition of combo buttons on the touch screen but I do enjoy the “shift” button function of the right and left shoulders. Not to mention the highly customizable button mapping, which allows placement of favourite combos on the touch screen. There are a wide range of combos to master in order to obtain victory, and the ability to move completely with the in three dimensional space, side stepping in a circle, really makes use of the 3D capabilities of the device. Don’t let the lack of single player game modes phase you too much, if you strip Tekken 3D Prime down to it’s core fighting mechanics, it’s a fantastic game.
Multi-player
Single player fighting games can only go so far. Versing the same AI over and over, upping the difficulty just to test yourself can become as tiresome as actually fighting 40 people back to back with only one health bar. Sadly, Tekken 3D Prime, while it may have a wide selection of characters, doesn’t allow you to use them online as much as a fighting game should. The online multi-player has the most painful lag I’ve ever experienced – making it slightly unfair for new comers who may just sit back in awe as their character gets pummeled in slow motion – without ever having a chance to defend themselves or fight back.
The street pass function is based on sharing 700 cards. It’s possible to equip three to your profile for sharing when out and about, but sadly I have not met anyone else with a 3DS in a long time. This also makes local multi-player games a little difficult too – I can only hope it has a lot less lag then its online counter-part. While some of the drawings are pretty cool, there isn’t all too much to do with this street pass function and I have a feeling you can unlock all 700 cards on your own by playing survival mode.
Visuals and Audio
Visually, 3D Prime is a work of beauty. If the movie acted as a pure novelty, think again. Having used part of the game cartridge to house a movie meant having to increase the game to 60 FPS, which runs beautifully in 3D. Having three dimensions adds real depth to the title, and matches the ability to move through the whole space. The environment is fully interactive, player’s can slam their opponent to the ground, breaking it or even falling down in to a second level. The background music always fits perfectly with the environment, with a few randomly placed humour soundtracks thrown in – for example the fields with yodeling music. The voice acting is fantastic and supports the character design well, which should be noted has not been changed significantly from previous Tekken titles. This is a level of detail I am usually used to in full-scale adventure games, not handheld fighting games. Bravo Namco, bravo.
Overall
Visually stunning, boasting some of the most remarkable 3D I have seen on the 3DS, with a soundtrack to match, Tekken 3D Prime Edition is indeed a fantastic title for the 3DS. However, for Tekken fans it may be slightly disappointing. The fighting mechanics are fantastic, but the serious lack of single player options coupled with the poor multi-player mode means this title is in serious danger of infrequent play. 3D Prime will be great fun while it lasts; my only concern is just how long will it last?
Guess what. It’s finally out. That’s right, the first big blockbuster release of 2012 has hit at least some of the worlds shelves. North American gamers can now get their hands on a copy of Mass Effect 3, with Australia and New Zealand following on March 8 and March 9 respectively. The final chapter in Commander Shepard’s journey is by no means limited to the retail game, with Bioware’s new Galaxy at War feature bringing several other ways to contribute to the final outcome of the main game, including the iOS app Mass Effect Infiltrator.
For the first time ever the series comes complete with up to four player co-op, which also contributes to the Galaxy at War readiness rating. Keen fans of the series will of course have got their hands on some of this portion of the game already, it having been released alongside the playable demo a few weeks ago. Expectations are certainly running high, so keep an eye on Capsule Computers to see just how well the game does to match them.
The Hunter Studio: Screen Australia, Porchlight Films, Jetty Distribution Publisher: Madman Format: DVD, Blu-ray (reviewed) Release Date: February 8, 2012 Price: $39.95 (available here)
Overview:
The Hunter is the first major feature film from Australian director Daniel Nettheim, starring Willem Dafoe (Antichrist, Spider-Man) , Sam Neill (Jurassic Park) and Frances O’ Connor. This Tasmanian set drama is based upon the novel of the same name by Julia Leigh, and sees Dafoe’s character Martin plunge into the wilderness in search of what is thought to be the very last Tasmanian Tiger. The ‘some mysteries should never be solved’ tagline hints at the pervasive atmosphere of unease and mystery that runs through the film, and The Hunter is certainly a tense and at times highly emotional journey. The story is a fairly simple one but well told, backed up by highly engaging characters and a couple of great performances.
Feature:
Martin David (Willem Dafoe) is hired by a military biotech company to track down what is believed to be the last remaining Tasmanian Tiger. The animal, believed to be extinct, holds in its DNA some useful secrets that the company will do anything to get their hands on. Martin is given strict orders – collect blood, hair, skin and organ samples, destroy the rest. That David takes on the job of hunting a species to extinction with no visible qualms establishes the dichotomy of his character. This is a man willing and able to kill efficiently, a loner who demands that he has no guide, yet he also befriends the family that he lodges with in the Tasmanian wilderness, and shows a good deal of heart in his dealings with them. The film too is a thing of two parts, with segments alternating between Martin tracking the elusive Tiger in the wilderness and spending time with Lucy (Frances O’Connor) and her two children. There’s a small subplot involving the logging of the local forest, but the greenies vs loggers battle is nowhere near as interesting as Martin’s own journey, reduced as it is to a conflict between bogan beer swilling loggers and fireball twirling hippies
When Martin arrives at the family’s home, it’s to find the two children running wild and the mother closeted away in bed. The kids are quick to ask if Martin is there to look for their father Jared, who they say has been up in the hills for a ‘long time’. Sam Neill plays against his usual Hollywood schtick as Jack, a rather creepy neighbor who reveals that Jared has in fact been missing for a year and is presumed dead – building on the sense of foreboding by making some pointed allusions about Jared’s similarities to Martin. This echoes the general feeling of unease that runs through the movie, which gradually unfolds to reveal an interesting if not unique story.
There are some big emotional kicks hiding in here too, with things becoming ever more complicated as David grows closer to the family, affecting his hunt for the Tiger. The affection and warmth he shows for the two children and their mother is in sharp contrast to the man who always hunts alone, setting vicious metal traps and gutting wildlife for his lures. Dafoe turns in a great performance as Martin, managing to balance the two sides of the character into one believable whole, steering well clear of any melodrama and making Martin a character who quietly steals his way into the audience’s affections. Frances O’Connor and Sam Neill also impress, but are outshone by the two young child actors – the girl in particular is fantastic, pulling off precocious without the usual added dose of irritability.
The last half hour of The Hunter turns what would have been a good film into a great one, and although it could veer too close to overly emotional for some, I was shocked by how much of an impact the final few scenes had on me. There is absolutely a pay off for all of the quiet tension building and subtle character work: if The Hunter manages to grab you in the beginning then the end will certainly become the tragic highlight of the film.
Audio & Visual:
The Hunter is a beautiful film , especially in pin sharp Blu-ray. The wild and rugged beauty of Tasmania is in full force here, with Martin’s journey lasting long enough to guide us through the harsh change of seasons. There are some fantastic shots of the strangely intimidating landscape, including some beautiful but danger filled moments in the snow and lashing rain – the Tasmanian Tourist Board couldn’t ask for more! The cinematography too, adds to the sense of unease that grows throughout the film, and is complimented by some fantastic choices in audio.
When Martin is in the wilderness the lack of dialogue and sparse sounds of modern life are drowned out by the wilderness, by birdsong, animal calls and the forest. What man made sounds there are come with all the greater impact, shattering the quiet yet tense atmosphere of the wilds. There are some very atmospheric pieces of original music within The Hunter that bring with them a subtle melancholy and sense of tragedy. These pieces are held to a counterpoint by the use of a couple of popular songs in key scenes with the family, with one Bruce Springsteen track in particular making for a memorable character scene.
Extras:
A half hour making of documentary explores the films roots in the novel of the same name, and also provides some welcome information about the Tasmanian Tiger for those not already in the know about one of ecology’s great tragedies. The animal has taken on almost a mythic status in Tasmania, and despite the fact that it is declared extinct, there are always fresh if unconfirmed reports from locals of sightings. It’s a reflection of the film’s success that watching this extra I was keen to agree with the locals interviewed by the film makers, who on the whole have faith that there are some Tigers still out there.
Three samples of music highlight the wonderful soundtrack for the film and are accompanied by galleries of stills taken from the main feature. There’s also an audio commentary with director Daniel Nettheim and producer Vincent Sheehan, which nicely extends to the handful of deleted scenes. The two are keen to dish out interesting details about the making of the film and are fairly easy to listen to.An ATOM study guide and Madman trailers also accompany the main feature.
It’s a good enough selection for the release, although the incredibly slight colour differences in the menu text makes it quite hard to see what you’re selecting.
Overall:
The Hunter can add itself to the ever growing collection of great Australian films. If you let it sweep you into it’s quiet yet dangerous world there’s a lot to be had here, and as a newcomer to Australia I’m glad to have watched it as an introduction to Tasmania and the Tiger. Dafoe anchors the film very well with a quiet but highly expressive performance which reflects the film as a whole – not brash or loud or flashy, The Hunter is a subtle, well written film packed with tension and plenty of moments that are both uncompromising and unpredictable.
Draw Something Developer: OMG POP, Inc. Publisher: OMG POP, Inc. Release Date: February 1, 2012 Platform: iPhone (reviewed), iPad, iPod Touch, Android Price: $0.99 (HERE) or free with ads (HERE)
Overview
Draw Something is a game with two vastly different experiences, the one you’ll have with friends and the one you’ll have with random players. As you could probably guess, one of them is a spectacularly fun romp through the game’s Pictionary-based gameplay, while the other is a frustrating experience even the most patient of players will have trouble dealing with.
Gameplay
Draw Something is a multiplayer-only portable version of OMG POP’s Draw My Thing Facebook application. This in turn is based on the simple, yet hilarious fun of the game Pictionary (yes, a game that you play face-to-face with other people and not using some virtual device or other).
For those of you who may not have played any past iteration of Pictionary, it’s a game that involves one player being assigned a word and having to draw it out so that another player can guess what it is. In the case of Draw Something, it involves choosing one of three easy, medium, or hard words. The harder the word you select, the larger amount of coins you’ll receive if the other player guesses correctly. Rounds proceed only when both players have drawn a word, so depending on how dedicated the person you’re playing is, you could play one round of Draw Something every ten minutes or only once a day. After the drawing round, players will then go through a guessing round, where they’re provided with the number of letters in the word they’re supposed to be guessing and with a bank of letters from which they can drag the correct ones and put them in the right order to produce said word. Again, you’ll have to wait for the other player to finish up guessing before you can move on to the next round.
To the game’s credit, there’s a wide variety of words, including everything from basic, everyday items to celebrities such as Lady Gaga.
The aforementioned coins can be used to purchase new colours for drawing or to blow up some of the incorrect letters placed within the letter bank to aid with guessing. Aside from winning this in-game currency via playing the game, you can also lay down some real world cash to garner more coins through in-App purchases.
So that’s how Draw Something is supposed to play, and then there’s how it actually plays. When you start a game with a random player you’ll find the usual issues associated with Internet anonymity: stupid people and trolls. There are a lot of people who will simply write out the word so that you guess correctly and they can get the coins from hard words, and then there are the people who seem to not understand the most basic of drawings (I had the great pleasure of someone fail at guessing the word “ring”).
The flip side of this is that when you play with friends (there’s a great Facebook integration system included to help you connect) Draw Something can become a ton of fun. My most memorable guessing experience was when my fellow Capsule Computers Editor, Jonno Weiss, elected to draw Cartman’s ventriloquist hand-puppet “Jennifer Clopez” from South Park to illustrate the word J-Lo. Using inside jokes and things you know your friends will just get adds a tremendous amount to the experience, and speaks a lot to how the original concept of Pictionary became such a widespread game.
There are other issues with Draw Something beyond the aggravation of random players, though. If you’re in a game and want to stop drawing or guessing to move to another one… well, you can’t (short of rebooting your iDevice). This is completely off-putting and makes exiting a frustrating experience with a game-troll a bigger challenge than it really should be.
When you play Draw Something with a friend, it’s some of the most fun to be had on iOS platforms. When you’re playing with random people, the game’s flaws reveal themselves to you, and you’ll occasionally feel like chucking your device at a wall in frustration.
Audio & Visual
The game features a cutesy intro, but aside from that, audio plays almost no part in Draw Something. What does play a part is the slickly designed interface.
It’s easy to understand everything happening on screen, and being able to watch your opposite player’s guesses and drawing process is great fun and really makes you feel like you’re playing against another person. Watching their thought process is a lot more gratifying than simply getting “correct” or “incorrect” as replies to your turns.
Overall
Draw Something is a game that is equal parts frustrating and glorious fun. When played with friends it becomes possibly one of the best multiplayer experiences on the iOS platforms (minus a few polish issues), but when played against someone who you don’t know, it wins out for getting the worst out of its mechanics in almost every way. By all means check out the free version that comes with ads, and if you find you spend more time laughing with friends than struggling with randoms, then the full purchase is well worth it. If not, steer clear.
