For limited time only, Jovian Minds has unleashed a free download for their iPhone and iPad App – Trouble in Tin Town. What in tarnations is this game about? Let’s ask one of the U.S. presidents to find out this answer.
Abraham Lincoln happens to make his appearance as one of the three leading campaigns of this toy ridden story. Tin Town has some unsettling mysteries, and who could be better to find the truth to the problem? In Lincoln’s Dilemma, toy Abraham must utilize his diplomacy or weight of his axe to unfold a conspiracy.
Other campaigns follow the stories of King Kandyheart and Finneas T. Rex and their exploits in the land of Tin Town. These tales will have you discover the lost lady named Sugar Sweet Lips, and unravel the murder of pet beetle named Ray Ray. Find more information or download the game for iPhone/iPad at the App Store.
Remember Trouble in Tin Town is only free for a limited time! And let’s give a special thanks for Abraham Lincoln’s birthday that could make this possible.
When Final Fantasy X HD was announced for the Playstation 3 and Playstation Vita at the 2011 Tokyo Game Show, many questioned whether it will be a remastered edition with updated graphics or a full remake. According to Taiwanese website Gamer, the game will be the latter, confirmed at the 2012 Taipei Game Show.
Square Enix’s Shinji Hashimoto was the one who confirmed that the game will be a remastered version in the following quote:
“It’s being developed as an HD Remaster, but the visuals will be much more beautiful than before. Please look forward to it!”
This is a bit unfortunate. After the announcement, there were rumours swirling around that the game was to get more than a graphical overhaul, However, if the visual comment is true, then it could be concluded that the Crystal Engine and the Luminous Engine will be used to develop the game’s visuals.
Would you have preferred a full HD remake or is a remastered version the way to go? Give us your thoughts below.
Sony Australia have revealed that the Playstation 3 is the top console of 2011, beating both Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Nintendo’s Wii, driven by a 24.85% year-on-year uplift in unit sales. This brings the total sales of the Playstation 3 to 1.5 million. Strong first and third party games are surely the reason for the strong sales of the Playstation 3 last year. In terms of software, the number one software title of 2011, Activision’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, also sold the greatest number of units on the PS3 format, which is quite a surprise. It also delivered the greatest unit and value share to the Australian games industry, at 25% and 31% respectively. This involves the aggregates of platform hardware, software and peripheral device sales.
Michael Ephraim, Managing Director of Sony Computer Entertainment Australia, had this to say about the strong position of the Playstation 3:
“Despite a very eventful year, these results signal the PlayStation platform’s leadership position in the interactive games category in Australia. The uplift on PS3 sales was no small feat, in fact, our percentage year-on-year unit growth was triple that of our nearest competitor. In 2012, we plan to further drive this position through our commitment to what PlayStation does best – delivering our customers quality, immersive entertainment experiences that set the benchmark for others to follow. This vision is both in the home, and very soon, on the go with PlayStation Vita which launches on February 23.”
The Australian sales can be seen as a positive for Sony Australia. Is this a great sign for the Playstation Vita, which launches on February 23? Michael Ephraim seems to think so as he talks about the upcoming handheld:
“We are leaders in interactive home entertainment. Now, there is a portable step-change coming. This year, PS Vita will provide the gold standard for customers who are seeking connected, uncompromised, immersive portable games experiences. When you look at the kind of gameplay possible with titles such as Uncharted, mobile devices just can’t deliver the breadth and depth of games experience that PS Vita can. Plus there’s Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity and integration of popular social apps such as Facebook, Twitter and Skype, which customers expect from a portable device.”
Sony Australia has also revealed that revenues through the Playstation Network have been on the up year after year. The Playstation Network (which will go through some changes), provides games, TV, movie and music content, despite premium pricing for new release Playstation 3 titles. Another strong year for the Playstation 3 and with the release of the Playstation Vita and more first party titles, the Playstation brand will only get stronger in 2012.
Namco Bandai recently released a commercial for the hotly anticipated Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.
The commercial shows off Naruto the series titular protagonist in his multiple forms (young Naruto, time-skip Naruto, one-tailed Naruto, six-tailed Naruto, and Naruto in Sage Mode and Nine Tails Chakra Mode) as he combats some of his greatest rivals in the history of the Naruto series, including Pain and Orochimaru.
You can check out the commercial of Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations for yourself below. Be sure to let us know what you thought of it in the shoutbox and comments section.
The Devil Inside is the latest horror film to jump into the found footage/exorcism genre. Already released for some time in the US, the movie has made back it’s $1 million dollar budget more than fifty times over and has attracted it’s fair share of controversy.
Shot in a mockumentary style, the film follows a young woman from Italy on her journey to find the truth about her mother’s hellish exorcism, which resulted in the murder of three people and sent her mother to a psychiatric hospital in Rome.
Capsule Computers has some exclusive footage for Australian horror fans, so make sure and check out the clip below for a closer look at The Devil Inside.
The movie is released nationwide on March 1, and you can find the official Facebook page here.
Final Fantasy XIII-2 Developer: Square Enix Publisher: Square Enix Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 (Reviewed) Release Date: January 31, 2012 Price: $59.99 – Available Here
Overview:
Final Fantasy XIII was a game that was met with derision amongst the gaming community as a whole. However while some people may have thought that the original game was terrible, this reviewer never thought that it deserved some of the hatred that was thrown its way.
Still… FFXIII did suffer from a number of problems that fans grew to hate, and one of these issues was the linear path that gamers were forced down for nearly the whole game before finally opening itself up near the end. While this was great for those who loved the storyline, others grew to hate the title thanks to the lack of exploration and straight-line paths.
When it was announced that Final Fantasy XIII would in-fact be getting the second ever direct sequel in the Final Fantasy franchise, many fans were worried that Square Enix would repeat the same mistakes, however mistakes made in the past can be corrected in the future. Is Square Enix’s Final Fantasy XIII-2 everything an RPG fan would want or have the past issues returned again in this installment?
Story:
In a complete flip from the last title, Final Fantasy XIII-2 sees players taking the role of Serah, the younger sister of Lightning. While in FFXIII Lightning was focused solely on saving her younger sister Serah, this time around players will be on the search for Lightning as they play as Serah.
Final Fantasy XIII-2 picks up a couple of years after the events of FFXIII and the fall of Cocoon. However not everything is as we may remember, in fact Serah herself seems to be the only one who remembers the exact events of the last game. Lightning is believed to be dead and gone; however Serah dreams that her sister is still alive and battling against an unknown warrior for the fate of the world. In the midst of this battle a young man falls from the skies and her sister sets him on a task.
This man is named Noel and he is a time traveler from seven hundred years in the future where he is the very last human born and perhaps one of the last humans in the entire world. Lightning has tasked this mysterious time traveler to find Serah and help her save the future. Someone or something has changed history and thrown the entire timeline of the universe out of control, causing multiple paradoxes all across the timeline and distorting reality. Serah and Noel must now travel together to fix these paradoxes and try to change the bleak future all while trying to save Lightning.
A direct sequel to a highly developed game focusing on a time traveling storyline could potentially cause disaster. Many fans could easily be worried that Square Enix would simply re-use old environments from the past title and copy and paste entire segments of FFXIII into the sequel and treat it like traveling through the past. However gamers can throw that concern into the past because Final Fantasy XIII-2’s time traveling storyline works amazingly well.
There are a few areas that are revisited, but you will be hard pressed to find anything that appears similar to what was shown in Final Fantasy XIII here. In fact players will spend most of their time traveling to new locations in the future, sometimes hundreds of years in the future. Rather than trying to play off nostalgia from the last game, the game creates an enjoyable atmosphere where players will be eager to see where they will be jumping to next in the timeline.
Every time the player selects a new gate to travel through, they will be given a brief summary of what they can expect to see in that area which only heightens the anticipation as familiar characters names are mentioned. Being able to jump in to the future and see how certain memorable characters have changed over the years is just as much as a joy of seeing the world shifts in multiple ways.
Perhaps the biggest question on everyone’s minds however is how linear is Final Fantasy XIII-2? Now the answer isn’t as simple as yes or no. There is much to do in the world of FFXIII-2 and plenty to see. Players are still kept on a bit of a guiding path however they can branch out as much as they want, even returning to past areas and changing what they do there. So linear this game is not. In fact, those who explore the world and do various side objectives and side stories will benefit the most out of the story.
While initially this was one of my personal concerns about the series, the focus of only having Serah and Noel as the protagonists for the series has done wonders for the way the characters are fleshed out in this game. Final Fantasy has always been a story driven franchise and the amount of character development we see for Serah and Noel is amazing. On the other hand, everyone who is not part of the main cast is simply left to drift along the timeline with very little character development or even any backstory. Old friends Snow and Hope will be mentioned occasionally and even met with but see barely any emotional connection. In fact, the time traveling saleswoman Chocolina seems to receive more characterization than they do.
While the time traveling theme of Final Fantasy XIII-2 is well told, there still are a few parts that are simply nonsensical and can be very confusing at times. One of the things that have been improved over the last game is the dialogue in the title. Most of the dialogue between the characters is enjoyable and full of emotion, also there are now Live Trigger events tossed in occasionally that allow the player to choose a specific question to ask that can help steer a conversation a certain way.
Now while it should be obvious considering this title is a sequel to Final Fantasy XIII, but the game’s storyline is unfriendly to those who have not played the first game. There are plenty of flashbacks thrown in to help explain some details but much of the information is simply glossed over. As such, new players will still find an enjoyable story here but will be confused by a few phrases and terms that are tossed around quite often but never focused on. New players should not be put off by this however and returning fans of the series will find a decent, albeit occasionally convoluted story with two impressive main characters with a wide range of emotions.
Visuals:
While plenty of people had a lot of negative things to say about Final Fantasy XIII, there was one thing that was universally true about the title and that was that it was a beautiful game with amazing graphical design and cutscenes. As such one can expect an even higher level of quality from XIII-2, with every cutscene presented with magnificent quality. Square Enix’s developing team has paid an immense amount of attention to detail, so much so in fact that the character and their environments feel real at times.
Now while a number of new monsters have been included in Final Fantasy XIII-2 there are a number of monsters that returning players will recognize from the previous game as they have simply been given a minor upgrade in appearance and transferred over to this title. However this asset recycling is barely noticeable compared to the game’s beautiful and imaginative environments. All of this creates a visual masterpiece full of every color in the spectrum.
Finally some news for all you irate and frustrated parents, especially around Australia, in that Activision have announced a new wave of Skylander characters soon to be released upon the market, ready for you to Zap them up like salivating demons. For anyone who has been living under a rock the past few months, Skylanders is a new game published by Activision, featuring 32 different tangible characters that interact within the game via the portal of power. For me, Skylanders, although too easy for serious adult gamers, gets my vote as the most innnovative and immersive gaming experience for younger gamers of last year.
The new range of Skylanders features the much waited for and crowd favourite, Cynder, who is well known from the Spyro the dragon series where she was defeated and subsequently freed by Spyro from the evil clutches of Malefor. With lightning speed and darkness still remanant in her veins she is a formidable Skylander and best viewed from a distance. Also joining the adventure is Double Trouble the conjurer, always with his detonating clones at his heels. With his forearms of steel, well ice actually, Slam Bam joins the Skylanders after his home was destroyed by the evil Kaos and he drifted into their path. Cynder and Double Trouble come as single characters while Slam Bam comes as part of the Empire of Ice pack which includes an Igloo, Anvil and shield. The extra parts of the pack such as the Igloo are invaluable for opening up new secti0ns of the game, which gives even more additional content on top of that given by extra characters.
With unique abilities, especially that being the opening of new levels, each character reacts differently to their environment, and the more Skylanders you have the more lives you have, as when defeated they need to rest before being used. Each character also has upgrades and challenges that are found throughtout the adventures.
If you doubt the power of Skylanders, think about this. Around Christmas they were as close as you can get to being sold out Australia wide with shortages worldwide. Figures that were retailing for $14.95AUD were selling for upwards of $40 on ebay with some in the $70+ range. The triple packs selling for $29AUD retail went for $70 on average and some fetched over $100.
Whether Activision will release the old first wave of figures along with these im not sure but lets hope so as there are fans around the world waiting for specific characters that were only exclusively sold in cetain retailers.
According to a recent announcement in Weekly Shonen Magazine, popular manga series Negima! will be coming to an end in 3 chapters time, bringing the series to exactly 9 years since it first begun.
Negima! has had an impressive run over the past 9 years, with even an anime adaptation spawning from the manga series. The series follows Negi Springfield, a wizard from Wales with aspirations of being Magister Magi (Master of Magic).
This may be a sad time for Negima! fans, but as they say; all good things must come to an end. Since the series is soon to be ending, which girl do you think Negi will end up with? Let us know in the shoutbox and comments section.
iPhone/Android game developer, Com2uS, has announced today that they have won accolades in the 148 Apps’ Best App Ever 2011 awards. The company has picked up four different awards, with each award going to a unique title. The awards, and the games that won them, are:
Slice It!: Best Casual Game of 2011
Inotia 3: 2nd place in Best RPG (Android)
Homerun Battle 2: earned 2nd place in Best Sports game (iOS)
Heavy Gunner 3D: was 2nd place in Best Arcade game (Android)
Konami Digital Entertainment Inc. is excited to announce the release of Pro Evolution Soccer 2012 3D on the 3DS, allowing fans to experience the game like never before.
Gamers will have full control over every pass, tackle and shot through either the analog stick and buttons or by a new touch-screen control system, enabling players to use the stylus to direct their players.
“With 3D imaging capability, Pro Evolution Soccer fans will have the most authentic soccer experience short of actually stepping onto the field and scoring a goal,” said Tomoyuki Tsuboi, President of Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. “We’re thrilled to offer this new version to Pro Evolution Soccer with enhanced images to fans around the world.”
Pro Evolution Soccer 2012 3D focuses on the skills on show via a number of new, intelligent camera views that pan and swoop to cover the on-pitch action and show off the 3D powers of the Nintendo handheld. Players are also invited to hone their skills in a number of game modes.
In addition, gamers can now play against a friend in one-on-one games through both the wireless and Wi-Fi settings, while KONAMI has implemented a new take on the StreetPass system of data exchange. The Master League team data can be exchanged with other users, and fans can play against with the exchanged team. In this case, the exchanged team is to be played by CPU.
