Did you hear? They discovered alien life this week! Aaaaand it’s coming to kill us.
Futuremark Games Studio released their newest game, Unstoppable Gorg, on Friday. And it looks intriguing.
Within a kitschy 1950s sci-fi setting, players must send satellites into orbit around a planet, moon or space station, and rotate them to the best position to intercept Gorg’s advancing army of flying saucers, in a revolutionary (geddit?) tower-defense style play.
I love the style of the game, and while its gameplay might not look as “revolutionary” as they claim, it still seems pretty fun.
Watch out for our review this week, but until then, have a look at the launch trailer below to get a sense of the retro charm on offer.
It has been announced that Fairy Tail: Zeref Awakens for the Playstation Portable will cover three of the manga’s story arcs and feature a total of 45 characters.
The three story arcs the game will cover is the Nirvana arc, the Edolas arc and the Tenrou Island arc which will bring the game to the point in which the series time skips 7 years into the future (events after which will probably be the focus of the next game).
The game will feature 45 characters from the series and some which are newly created characters exclusive to the game.
Fairy Tail: Zeref Awakens will hit shelves across Japan on March 22nd for the Playstation Portable.
The new ‘Fullmetal Alchemist: Sacred Star of Milos’ movie hit theatres across North America, achieving generally positive reviews. During the LA premiere rapping star Soulja Boy made an appearance, although he left before the film finished.
The plot of the movie occurs before ‘Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood’’s conclusion, and has its own original storyline, with movie-only characters.
The story follows the Elric brothers attempting to track down a prisoner who has recently escaped from prison. During their search the brothers save a young alchemist from the very man they are trying to capture, and as the plot thickens the brothers are caught in the rebellion of Julia’s people.
Rotten Tomato’s gave this movie 82%, and though it is only released in cinemas for a week in America, FUNimation’s DVD and blu-ray release is due in Spring, making the wait for this expansion of a brilliant series bearable.
The second season of Is This a Zombie? Otherwise known as Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? was announced previously with the title Is This a Zombie? Of the Dead.
Now a trailer for the season season of Is This a Zombie? has been released and can be seen below. The new season is set to premiere in the Spring 2012 season, this coming April.
The first season was streamed by Crunchyroll so it’s possible that the second season will get the same treatment. Stay tuned for more Is This a Zombie? Of the Dead news as it comes to light.
Hitting the manga shelves in America in May are some spin offs and continuations of very popular manga stories released by Yen Press. These include the recent ‘Madoka Magica’ and the not so recent, but still fantastic ‘Soul Eater’, and the classic ‘The Disapperance of Haruhi Suzumiya’. Both these manga sets have had their own anime adaptions, and are now releasing spin off’s to the original series.
The classic ‘The Disapperance of Haruhi Suzumiya’ has it’s own spin off ‘The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-Chan’ which takes place in the world described by the fourth Haruhi novel. Soul Eater has its spin off ‘Soul Eater Not!’ which features mostly new characters, and starts in July.
Despite the typical paradigm of spin off’s I hope these spin off’s will be successful enough to have their own anime adaption, as long as ‘Soul Eater Not!’ has a better ending than the original.
Two Tribes has revealed the first animations for the upcoming title Toki Tori 2. Thus far we haven’t been able to see the characters in action, but now we can catch a glimpse of the Bubblefrog!
The developers offer the following statement:
Since our creatures are so much more important to the gameplay than in the original Toki Tori, we think they deserve more personality and custom animations. Actually, I think Toki Tori will have the least animations of all the creatures in the game, since he only whistles and stomps!
In the upcoming weeks, further animations will be provided for the public’s not only of the Bubblefrog but potentially Toki Tori as well. If you are interest in play testing the early versions of Toki Tori, you can find out more information about signing up on the Two Tribe’s website.
Digital Reality and Grasshopper Manufacture Inc. are excited to provide a new trailer for the shoot ’em up, Sine Mora. The provided trailer shows off the stark differences between normal and insane difficulty modes. A huge difference can be seen by the sheer quantity of enemy projectiles on the screen. How the heck can a plane dodge that many bullets and come out alive?
At the moment there is no release date for Sine Mora. Just take a peek at the trailer below to see this “shmup” game in action. Anyone else intimidated by the boss in the intense difficulty?
If you’ve been following the news in the past week, then you’ll well know that the popular file-share website Megaupload has been shut down by the U.S. Government with all its founders and company employees arrested under various pricey and copyright infringement violations. However, what you may not know is that Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom (real name Kim Schmitz) is also the world’s number #1 FFA Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 player: “MEGARACER”.
Kim Dotcom aka MEGARACER (Kim Schmitz) Photo: AAP
Police arrested the 39-year-old in his New Zealand mansion on Friday. They found Schmitz locked in a safe room where police had to neutralise its locks and to cut their way into. Police also carried out 10 search warrants as part of the raid. As much as $NZ11 million in various accounts were frozen by police. 18 luxury vehicles valued at $NZ6 million were also seized by police, including a Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe and a 1959 pink Cadillac.
Schmitz is accused by the FBI of various charges, including engaged in racketeering, copyright infringement and money laundering. While his site Megaupload is accused of costing copyright holders more than $US500 million in lost revenue from pirated films, music and other content. This isn’t the first time Schmitz has run into the law, he has a long list of convictions including insider trading, credit-card fraud, hacking and embezzlement.
All Zombies Must Die! Publisher: Square Enix Developer: Doublesix Platforms: XBLA (reviewed), PSN Release Date: December 28, 2011 Price: 800 MSP – Available Here
Overview
I was cautious that All Zombies Must Die! was going to be just another zombie game that joins the plethora in existence. However, I was pleasantly surprised to enjoy its humor and gameplay which bests most of the action, adventure genre. Hordes… and I mean hordes of zombies will make you understand why “All Zombies Must Die!”
Story
The story begins with our gamer freak Jack in the town of Deadhill. A zombie apocalypse has broken loose, and our gamer must find any survivors to help him in his quest. Eventually you team up with Rachel the not-so-friendly girl, Brian the scientist, and Luxo the alien! These unlikely heroes must unite their abilities in order to stop the end of the world.
Gameplay
All Zombies Must Die! is primarily an arcade shooter format that requires the player to not only use the two analogs but also a trigger to shoot. With the left analog as movement and right analog as aiming, the right trigger is used for shooting ranged weapons or swinging the current melee weapon. Additional buttons include (A) for finding hidden items and conversations, (Y) for the character’s smart bomb attack, and two button combination (LT) + (RT) for the character’s unique item (i.e. Jack’s torch, Rachel’s cellphone). Other buttons like the right bumper and (B) cycle through character’s primary, secondary, and unarmed weapons.
Weapons provide an unique feel varying from melee attacks to ranged shots. A shotgun will not provide the long range nor amount of bullets like an assault rifle, but it does have a wider affected range. There is even a drastic difference using the cricket bat in multiple forms. By continually swinging the cricket bat, the player will do minimal damage while keeping the targeted enemies delayed. Charging up the cricket bat will deal out lethal damage and send the zombie flying off the screen. The drawback for the cricket bat is that unarmed fists can do more basic damage.
In addition to varying weapon types, players can also augment the weapon they are using to attain an elemental attribute. My favorite augmented weapon is easily the fire enhanced chainsaw. To make the chainsaw not overly powered, it requires ammo once the fuel has depleted. Weapons like the fire chainsaw can be created by picking up special items in specific map areas. A special quest appears in the Town Square offering a gift when the player kills 30 burning zombies. Once the quota has been met, firewood will drop and can be used to augment a weapon at the base.
The base or safe zone can be moved or created by initiating that zone’s quest for All Zombies Must Die! In this quest the player must kill all zombies spawned onto the map to clear the entire stage. Once this has been completed, the area will be zombie-free for as long as the base is kept at that location. At a safe zone, players can acquire quests from inactive characters, create new items, level up character stats, or even interchange primary weapons.
One annoyance that seems to surface after completing a quest in an area is when the security gates require an additional quest to pass through. Granted these quests do not take long to complete, but I would prefer to travel from one zone to the next without interruption especially when I am close to death. Several times I have acquired a quest item to merely come close to completing the level and died due to minimal health and lack of ammunition. On a positive note, some gates allow you to decline the given quest for an alternative – I just really don’t want to kill 25 enemies with the cricket bat.
Death is simply inevitable once you run out of ammunition during single player. Being without ammunition and having gate requirements can deter you easily into a corner with only fists as the last line of defense. Conserving ammunition for guns is not always necessary but being resourceful is. By clicking down on the left analog, several pop-ups like weapons and quest markers will appear with arrows pointing towards their locations. Locating additional guns will provide ammo for your primary and switch the secondary weapon to the pick-up. This handy tool-tip can save lives and most importantly kill zombies. (Achievement Alert: Kill 500 zombies in a single zone.)
When discussing multiplayer normally you may experience online and offline modes. Sadly, the only mode available is offline co-op. Local multiplayer provides players a chance to escape the inevitable death spots. Having additional partners on screen allows for chances of resuscitation by pressing (A) above the dying teammate. Nothing like killing zombies and saving lives.
Audio/Visual
Designing the levels must have been very intriguing to know the most combative areas and where items were placed due to that proximity. Hidden items are identified with a magnifying glass and can hold health, ammo, quest items, and experience. These areas are visually teasing and can provide life or death. Opening a hidden item is not worth being trampled on by a horde of zombies.
Animated environment effects are brought to life in different zones. Power Plant offers several attractions that can be utilized by the player and be attractive looking. Once the power plant has been reactivated, electric lines that were disabled come alive with flowing currents. As zombies pass by, there is a chance they will alter forms and gain an electric attribute. Another instance can be seen on the Bridge where there is a radiation leek. Zombies that fall prey to the pool will become contaminated and grow into a mutation.
All of the conversations between characters are text-based. Nothing makes me happier than skipping all the mumbo jumbo that Jack spews out of his mouth. We understand that you loving playing video games and that you think that you are in one. Congrats, now get out of my text!
The opening music does an amazing job in capturing the silly zombie killing action provided within the game. Neither eerie nor too hardcore, you will notice an upbeat flow that carries from menu to menu. Although after finding Lexo the alien, I began to question whether or not the music was created to represent zombies or him. Must be some connection with zombies and extraterrestrials.
Item sounds are loud by default. If you do not recognize this at first, grab a hold of a chainsaw and have at it. Being my favorite weapon, I decided to turn the sound volume down a notch or two.
Overall
All Zombies Must Die! does well to shove other twin stick shooters out of the showroom. Offering item creation, upgrades, and character advancement shows that RPG elements can be added successfully to other genres. And what other zombie game has an adorable alien in it?
Some negatives must be taken into consideration. The zombie grind can get awfully repetitive when moving from quest to quest. Required items and zombie appearance may change, but the objective of killing zombies stays the same. Additionally, there isn’t an online multiplayer. This is potentially the most disappointing and damaging aspect for the game. For those without people to join locally, this would have been a nice social integration.
kimi ni todoke -From Me to You- Volume 1 Premium Edition Studio: Production I.G Publisher: NIS America Format: Blu-ray/DVD Combo Release Date: January 10, 2012 Price: $55.99 – Available Here
Overview:
When it comes to the romance genre, there are plenty of different routes that an anime can travel down. There is your relatively standard and popular harem route where multiple girls try and will then focus on one girl in the end, there are others where someone may just be too dense to understand the others feelings and then there are those that have a very slow build as two characters realize that they love each other over a long period of time.
kimi ni todoke -From Me to You- originally started as a manga back in 2005 and is still being published today after winning numerous awards. Since then it has received two anime adaptations and NIS America has brought us the first volume of the first season of this shōjo romance. With plenty of fans waiting for a great romance anime, does kimi ni todoke deliver?
Story:
Bearing a resemblance to a popular movie star may be a great way to start a conversation or make friends easily, but bearing a resemblance to one of the most feared characters from a popular horror movie actually can cause the exact opposite to happen. Sawako Kuronuma may be just your average high school girl but unfortunately she has one thing that sets her apart from everyone else, and that is her resemblance to Sadako the feared character from the Japanese version of The Ring (not the American remake).
Because of her appearance she is feared by everyone around her and no one wants to spend any time near her for very long for fear of being cursed or having ghosts haunt them. However this is not true at all and Sawako actually is a very sweet and kind girl who just happens to never have been able to make any friends before and thus has very poor social interaction skills so despite her best efforts to be friends with her classmates she is shunned by all of those around her.
However this all begins to change once she meets a boy named Kazehaya who is always cheerful and willing to talk with everyone he meets. Upon meeting Kazehaya Sawako begins to emerge from her shell and start to act a bit more like a normal person as she begins to interact more with those around her. The story then follows Sawako’s many firsts and experiences as she begins to discover more about herself and make friends. But most importantly, can love blossom between the awkward but endearing Sawako and the popular Kazehaya?
kimi ni todoke -From Me to You- provides a more realistic type of romance that you wouldn’t normally encounter in most anime. To be honest, plenty of shows involve various situations that are either completely outlandish or involve characters that have had horribly troubled pasts that have left them scarred in some way. When it comes to the characters in kimi ni todoke delivers in spades. Sawako has had a troubled past but isn’t anything entirely unbelievable and with the story revolving around her moving past her limitations the amount of character development she receives is extraordinary.
This is only helped by a likewise believable supporting cast. The main male lead Kazehaya is a normal type of guy who just happens to be very popular and good at baseball which humanizes him in a way that most male characters don’t see which is a breath of fresh air, especially when it comes to the shōjo genre which is full of clichés.
As for the rest of the cast we see two girls who become fast friends with Sawako, Chizuru and Ayane. The two may seem like an odd pair for the quiet girl at first but their personalities work perfectly with one another as Chizuru is your tomboy type of girl but is also moved to tears whenever something simple happens, usually involving Sawako. Ayane loves to play pranks on people but has a good heart and tries to help Sawako the most out of the rest of the characters in the show aside from Kazehaya.
Finally we have Ryu who is a very quiet man who rarely interjects in conversations but whenever he speaks he usually has a point to make. The only real conflict begins when a rival for Kazehaya appears in the form of Ume and her numerous attempts to underhandedly sabotage Sawako’s relationship with her friends and especially with Kazehaya so she can replace her by his side.
While some people may enjoy a slow building relationship, the kimi ni todoke can sometimes slow down to such a slow crawl that an entire plotline may not be finished for multiple episodes, or not even finished in the first volume at all. There are slow and strong anime and those that eventually become a bit boring due to their slow development speed. While this is mostly alleviated thanks to the amount of humor that the show can provide.
Now while this isn’t the most humorous show in the world, there are still plenty of laughs to be had, though mostly it as at Sawako’s expense as we see her social missteps occur often or whenever she happens to scare the daylights out of someone that mistakes her for Sadako from The Ring. This means that most of the humor is situational and there are plenty of sight gags as well rather than actual jokes being told.
Very few romance shows, even in the shōjo genre, take a realistic look at romance in the world and create understandable and relatable characters. However kimi ni todoke -From Me to You- provides a heartwarming story that avoides the feel of forced drama as we see a simple and slow paced (almost to a fault) story of a girl coming out of her shell and feelings developing between her and Kazehaya. Considering that this is simply volume one, it makes the need to order volume two all the more necessary as viewers who are touched by the story will be eager to see how everything turns out.
Visuals:
To say that the color palette used in kimi ni todoke is soft would be an understatement. Everything shown to the viewer uses very soft colors and beautifully detailed backgrounds to make each scene stand out. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t plenty of visual clichés though as the series tends to display multiple close ups on character’s faces with a pink or similarly romantic backdrop with sparkles or hearts to show whenever a romantic feeling is in the air.
The art style used by Production I.G. focuses heavily on facial expressions to help heighten the atmosphere for any given moment and this is especially true when used for sight gags. The quality of the art is also very consistent with characters having an average amount of detail for their bodies and animation. Also prepare for plenty of chibi transformations for the sight gags, especially when it comes to Sawako, as it happens usually once every few minutes.
Audio & Subtitles:
It is worth noting now that the only language track available for kimi ni todoke -From Me to You- is the Japanese one, meaning that the only way for most people to watch the show is with the English subtitles turned on. The English translations for the subtitles seemed to be quite accurate and unobtrusive to the show itself.
As for the Japanese voice actors we are treated to a rather enjoyable cast of characters, especially with Mamiko Noto performing the role of Sawako. Mamiko’s performance will be one to remember as she delivers Sawako’s personality perfectly which is exactly what one would be looking for in a main character. The opening song is called “kimi ni todoke” by Tomofumi Tanizawa and is rather enjoyable and matches the animation perfectly. The ending song is performed by Chara and is called “Katamoi,” but unfortunately it is likely to be a song that most will skip through as they make their way to the next episode.
Extras: As per standard with any first run release of an anime from NIS America they have released a premium edition version of kimi ni todoke -From Me to You- Volume 1 which contains a few off-disc bonuses. This includes an oversized hard slipcase which features Sawako and Kazehaya on one side and Chizuru, Sawako and Ayane on the other. If you were to display this case, I would say that the artwork for the three girls would be preferable as it displays a heartwarming image of a joyful Sawako. The release comes with two slimpack DVD cases that contains both a DVD and a Blu-ray disc that contains a certain amount of episodes each depending on which version you watch. The only bonus material on disc unfortunately is a clean opening and clean ending song, and while the opening animation is definitely worth a few watches, the ending on the other hand is not.
Also included is a hardcover art book that contains 28 full color pages and is called “My Memories.” For the first two pages the main characters are given a brief summary with some minor spoilers of course but after that the art book takes a unique turn. Being that the art book is called My Memories it is stylized after a scrapbook that displays various screenshots from each episode as well as a few quotes and Sawako’s personal thoughts. Between every few episodes is a scenery collection where some artwork of the backgrounds is displayed. While some may find that this art book is lacking, the art book follows the theme of the anime perfectly. It is as if viewers are able to see how Sawako remembers all of her first experiences as she documents how she is finally coming out of her shell and being sociable.
Overall:
kimi ni todoke -From Me to You- Volume 1 provides a glimpse at a new more relatable type of romance that most anime do not deliver. Of course this may have to do with its shōjo genre so viewers who dislike romance or shōjo will likely want to steer clear of this series. For everyone else however there is plenty to love, especially when it comes to Sawako’s amazing personality. Still, with a story that progresses extremely slow many may grow a bit frustrated with the pacing and wish for something to happen, which is a bit damaging, especially considering this is only half of the first season of kimi ni todoke. As mentioned before this is only volume one so there is still plenty more to see once the viewer finishes this set, and believe me, you will be eagerly waiting for volume 2 once the last episode finishes playing.
Kim Dotcom aka MEGARACER (Kim Schmitz) Photo: AAP 
