While you will be spending most of your time in Final Fantasy XIII-2 progressing the story and battling against various enemies in the touched up battle system, there are plenty of other things to do besides that. Today Square Enix has released the final gameplay trailer and this time around it focuses on everything else you can do besides the main story.
The video itself can be seen below and shows a number of extra features such as the side quests that can be completed for rewards, as well as a casino area named “Serendipity” that contains your average slot machines as well as the exciting Chocobo Racing mini-game. Also shown is some footage of Captain Cryptic’s “Confounding Quiz” which seems to have players listen in on the citizens of a city and then track Captain Cryptic down and answer his question for an unspecified reward.
Also shown are the various puzzle sections of the game that players must solve to continue in the main story and find Lightning. As you can see in the video these puzzles vary greatly and while some may seem easy, expect some difficult ones to pop up here and there so it may be best to brush up on your puzzle solving skills as the release for FFXIII-2 is less than a week away now.
NamcoBandai recently unveiled a short teaser trailer called Detective Conan: Prelude from the Past, a video game based on the highly popular anime franchise of the same name.
Players will take control of Conan himself, a young teenage Detective trapped inside the body of his own child form. The game will star several of the main characters from the franchise, and it will involve solving cases from the franchise’s past with a new twist.
The trailer also shows bits of the upcoming movie, Detective Conan: The Eleventh Striker, and it will be the 16th movie of this franchise.
Detective Conan: Prelude from the Past is set to be released for the PlayStation Portable and Nintendo DS in Japan sometime in 2012. The movie, Detective Conan: The Eleventh Striker, will release in Japanese theatres on April 14 2012.
It seems that a semi-official successor to SNK’s now defunct Neo Geo Pocket line of handheld consoles is in the works. The device is called the Neo Geo Portable Device and is carries the official SNK Playmore licensing but apparently it is being developed and manufactured by another company (which is not known at this stage).The upcoming device has the following specs:
Screen: 4.3 inch
Internal Storage: 2 GB
Dimensions: 170x72x15mm
Battery: 2200mAh
The device will launch with 20 titles built in. These will be emulations of the arcade originals nd interestingly enough they are the North American versions with full English text, making this an import friendly proposition. These titles are:
World Heroes
Ultimate 11
Top Player’s Golf
Sengoku
Nam-1975
Mutation Nation
Last Resort
King of Monsters
Frenzy
Cyber Lip
Fatal Fury Special
Art of Fighting
Super Sidekicks
League Bowling
Metal Slug
Magical Lord
Baseball Stars Professional
Samurai Shodown
King of Fighters 94
Fatal Fury
There is no information on the price or release date at this stage.
Want to win a copy of Gun Stringer and or Fruit Ninja for the Xbox 360 Kinect? Well today’s your lucky day!
HOW TO WIN
With the new CC-Forums now live all you need to do is head on over to the forums, register and start posting. Every post you do will give you more chances to win.
Competition will run for 1 week. Starting today and ending on the 1st of February, so get cracking, register and post away. We’ll be picking 2 winners on the 2nd of February so make sure when you register its with a valid email address.
It’s been a good while since SoulCalibur has seen a Nintendo platform, but if the latest rumors are true, that may change soon. Retailers have began listing SoulCalibur V for the 3DS as of recent for pre-order, and fans have now been foaming at the mouth at even the mere possibility.
As of now though, nothing has been confirmed from Gamestop, Namco Bandai, or any other party, but I would expect someone to step in soon to clear up any confusion. If you think about it though, this sounds very plausible. Dead or Alive, Blazblue, and Street Fighter have all seen a bit of success on the handheld thus far, and SoulCalibur would be very welcome considering how well the slide pad actually works for fighters. Also, Link making a reappearance? I’ll take ten.
Little Mac is back! Nintendo of Japan have just announced the latest 3D Classic, and it is none other than the much loved Punch Out!! for the NES. This 3D version of Punch Out!! will be available in Japan on February 2nd at 500 yen.
As of now, a western release is inevitable, so we all should expect seeing an announcement sometime soon. Honestly though, with all the recent life on the Virtual Console and eShop as of late, this year is looking like a good year to own a 3DS and this re-release of Punch-Out!! is just gravy in comparison to the upcoming likes of Mutant Mudds and Kid Icarus. Stay tuned as well and when Nintendo share details of a release date, we will sure to bring you an update.
Gamestop…Classic Games? Don’t adjust your monitors. This is a thing that is happening. As of now, Power Up Rewards members can now redeem their hard earned points for actual cartridges of some of gaming’s greatest.
So what games are up for grabs? The likes of Mortal Kombat (SNES), Mario Bros. (NES), Super Star Wars (SNES), and several other common yet famous titles. This all sounds like a fantastic idea at first, but then you can look at the point prices, which tell a different story. Mortal Kombat commonly goes online for $5.00. Gamestop are asking a whopping 30,000 points for one, presumably used cartridge of the same exact game. Atari cartridges are also promised to be coming soon, with even E.T. getting on the action. With these prices though, I just don’t see this taking off.
I may sound overly negative about the whole thing, but think about it. It takes a lot of trades and purchases to gain 30,000 points and when you compare the point value (which is generally 20 points per dollar) to the asking price here, you can do much better by just cashing in for vouchers or gift cards and finding these gems in a pawn shop for pennies on the dollar. Admirable idea, Gamestop, but a rather poor execution.
The Power Up Rewards as a whole though is a GOOD idea and free is still free, so those who have no other options available when it comes to snagging up their classic titles might want to look into this. Everyone else…well…just save for that new controller.
Anyone living in Tokyo Japan can now feast on brains tonight! Capcom along with Pasela Entertainment just an hour ago have opened Capcom Bar located in Shinjuku. Serving up a menu from four of Capcom’s most successful franchises such as Biohazard (Resident Evil), Monster Hunter, Phoenix Write (Gyakuten Series) and also Sengoku Basara.
Seems like a lot of hard work has gone into designing the food and beverage menu for these four great franchises. Take for example the Biohazard menu, you can start off by demolishing a huge plate of TYRANT spare ribs (G-VIRUS included) and if you’re still hungry you can enjoy some brains for desert, then you wash it down with a green red and blue herb cocktail (make sure u mix all three for maximum healing effect)
There’s too much to explain, and I know by now you’re all eager to see it for yourselves, so head on over to the official website here and check out the other food and beverages available from the other games and also pictures of the Bar itself, which I must say looks absolutely stunning and very stylish.
Capcom Bar is located in Shinjuku. Address below :
〒160-0021
新宿区歌舞伎町1-3-16 パセラリゾーツ新宿本店1F
Seems like I know where I’ll be dining next time I’m in Japan. Hopefully by then they’ll have a Ha-Do-Ken Burger on the menu.
Ninja Nonsense Complete Series Studio: Ufotable Publisher: Siren Visual Format: DVD Release Date: January 19, 2012 Price: $39.95 – Available Here
Overview:
The ninja genre is ripe for the picking when it comes to jokes about the more ridiculous side of the genre. Ninja Nonsense is a series that sets out to completely parody the everyday ninja series are does so to great effect.
Ever thought some of the jutsu in Naruto were a little too nonsensical? Well so does Ninja Nonsense and with it’s deftly timed wit and humour it becomes a must watch for fans of the genre who aren’t afraid to acknowledge it’s silly side.
Even for those unfamiliar with Ninja series, there is enough comedic fun to be had here to please anyone. Ninja Nonsense truly lives up to it’s title while remaining true to it’s Ninja roots. As far as parody anime go, Ninja Nonsense is one of the greats.
Story: Ninja Nonsense is a series that does not care too greatly for plot, with most episodes consisting of well… nonsense. Each episode is split into two smaller episodes which each run for roughly 10 minutes or so.
The series is a comedy anime and as such largely focuses on making the viewer laugh. And it does so by all means, with it’s colourful cast of characters ranging from the lecherous Onsokumaru to the outsider Kaede who simply wants nothing to do with any of this Ninja Nonsense.
It is these characters that make this comedy work so well and the performances of each actor and actress should be considered a high point of their career. The biggest surprise of all was Sean Schemmel as the perverted master yellow blob Onsokumaru, which is a huge departure from his role as Goku in Dragon Ball Z. The comedic elements of the series were all on point and very rarely fell flat thanks to the great voice actors behind the cast.
As previously mentioned, Ninja Nonsense is a parody of the ninja genre and it is a damn good one at that. Fans of Naruto will definitely get a kick out of the jutsu mockery and shockingly shoddy disguises of the ninja to the not so stealthy abilities.
Ultimately you will be buying Ninja Nonsense for a laugh and that is exactly what you will get.
Visuals & Audio:
Being a comedy series it is to be expected that Ninja Nonsense appropriately features rather simple and flexible animation to suit the comedic tone of the proceedings. The artstyle and animation is generally simplified and eccentric in it’s character expressions and off model moments.
The highlights of the series aesthetics are the points were it simply cuts loose and does something crazy visually. These moments work so well because it is a comedy series and a lot of the times the craziness plays into the comedy to great affect.
The series features a great soundtrack comprised of fun boppy tunes to match the light-hearted mood of the show. All the cast provide great voice work with the previously mention Sean Schemmel’s role as Onsokumaru being a career defining performance.
Also considering it is a Ufotable anime series there is of course their trademark clay-mation sequence, which is featured in the ending theme song. All in all Ufotable have created the perfect atmosphere for their hilarious ninja comedy.
Extras: Ninja Nonsense features what is possibly Siren Visual’s biggest special features offerings to date, with more bonus features than you could throw a shuriken at.
On this 4-disc collection of the complete series, Siren have managed to include a multitude of features including; Japanese cast interviews, TV spots, trailers, clean OP/ED, a special animation and even character bios.
The first thing I did notice however was that Ninja Nonsense did not receive Siren’s usually slip cover treatment, but it doesn’t make it any less of a quality release in any shape or form. There is so much features available that you are guaranteed a lot of longevity from this release.
Overall:
Ninja Nonsense kicks off the year with one hell of a bang, in what is honestly one of the best anime comedies in a long time. It features some of the best performances in a long time and marks a career highlight for some of the cast.
I wholeheartedly recommend Ninja Nonsense, both for the sheer fun it brings as well as for what is Sean Schemmel’s best performance to date.
If you are looking for a laugh then by all means embrace the nonsense. It may appear to be silly. Heck, it may in fact actually be silly. But it is a truly enjoyable 12 episodes of comedy anime at it’s finest and is a must watch for all anime fans.
With the intimate launch 2K Games and Digital Extremes’ The Darkness II, it’s fitting then that they have released a cinematic launch trailer for the upcoming game. Whilst no actual gameplay is shown, the trailer itself is very cinematic and looks pretty damn good showing off Jackie’s various darkness powers.
If you have a keen ear for music, then you’ll notice that Nine Inch Nails track “The Mark Has Been Made” is in fact accompanying the trailer in the background. Check out the trailer below (It’s pretty damn good).
The Darkness II is set to be released on Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC on February 7 in North America and February 10 in Australia and Europe. Meanwhile if you can’t wait to get your hands on the game, a demo for the game is available to download right now.
