OstinGames has released Zepi: Ultra HD 1.0, which features Rabbit Hole, an entry to the parallel world of TimePills and CrazyRockets. Because parallel worlds are far more awesome than this world like that. The power-ups are a huge advantage, giving you some awesome ways to totally own your missions of clearing the gaming field of same-colour skins. But in a totally not racist way.
Gamers can bring in TimePills and CrazyRockets into the session by pulling them out from behind the central ring with their finger, and these two bonuses have very different tactical advantages. TimePills stop new objects from coming onto the field, and will eventually blow up eliminating all nearby objects. CrazyRockets fly across the playing field, chaining skins and as it dies the combo burns and will take those unfortunate skins down with you.
Zepi: Ultra HD is suitable for both children and adults, improving playing style as well as strategy, awesome graphics and sound effects, multitouch, thirty unique achievements, and a simple-to-use menu and controls.
Zepi: Ultra HD is available NOW on the iPad for $0.99 – Grab it HERE
Hetalia Axis Powers Season 3 (World Series) Studio: Studio Deen Publisher: FUNimation Platform: DVD Release Date: January 17, 2012 Price: $34.98 – Available Here
Overview:
Anime come from many different sources, but usually they originate from a light novel or a manga and sometimes they are even created from scratch. However there are also a few anime created from a very different source, that of a webcomic. Hetalia is such an anime series which is based off a popular Japanese webcomic created by Hidekaz Himaruya where not only do countries come to life, the do so in hilariously stereotypical ways. Hetalia Axis Powers has seen two seasons already and now FUNimation has brought the third collection of episodes over, also called the first season of Hetalia World Series. Do these stereotyped anthropomorphic countries still retain their same hilarious qualities?
Story:
Hetalia has a unique format that many people may not be accustomed to. Each episode is roughly four and a half minutes long and each episode is then broken into a couple of various jokes or short stories that involve either a couple of the countries interacting with each other or various sight gags. So while the definition of a story really doesn’t apply heavily to Hetalia as a whole, there are a few running gags which hang around for a short period of time.
A handful of the stories which are followed and continuously made jokes of include Lithuania, who is being held as a subordinate of Russia, trying to warn a non-caring Poland that Russia is thinking about invading them. Of course it doesn’t help that Lithuania just hates Poland so much that he can’t stand it. To top it off there is the interactions between Boss Spain and Chibi Romano, the cat loving Greece getting close to Japan and America encountering Mr. Tonny the alien.
There pretty much is no overarching storyline for Hetalia World Series, though all of the characters have unique personalities and obvious stereotypical appearances and personalities that match the country they represent. Being that there is no real overall story, Hetalia is an easy show to start watching with very little initiation. Obviously a few of the characters may not be recognizable at first and some of the jokes may fall a bit flat to first time viewers but there is plenty of humor in each short episode that they won’t care about understanding every little thing that is happening.
Visuals:
With such a vast amount of characters to work with, it may be a bit daunting to make sure each character looks different in some way, but thankfully the simplistic art style and animation techniques used in Hetalia work wonders. Studio DEEN has incorporated plenty of rather low quality segments where either the characters become chibi-like or even turn into white blobs. Also there are plenty of segments where there may not even be a background to go with what is happening at any given time.
As a whole this doesn’t lend itself to a very visually appealing show, there are plenty of other areas where the artwork takes an upswing. This includes the bright coloristic style, character design (though some newer characters begin to be difficult to tell apart) and a large number of areas to work with. While there are some shortcuts taken with the chibi-like characters, they are still visually appealing at times but those expecting a fancy art style won’t find one here.
Audio:
While the various jokes made by the characters and the sight gags are part of the humor, some of the best jokes come from the way the characters themselves are portrayed. Every character is given amazing over the top voice work including various accents and tone of voice to match the countries personality. While the Japanese cast is alright in some regards, the English dub goes above and beyond the call of duty that provides amazing quantities of laughter.
Now occasionally there are a few hiccups with some of the accents used by the characters but they are more or less flawless with their consistency. Besides the voice acting there are a few rather hilarious ending songs sung by the original Japanese actors, these vary slightly depending on what country is singing the ending and they alternate between the various main countries such as Italy, Germany and others. There is also a rather funny English song at the end sung by the English voice actor, Todd Haberkorn, though sung is a term that should be loosely applied here. Other than that, the background music in the series is rather plain and usually doesn’t stand out often except whenever it is used for a quick laugh.
Extras:
Now it is worth taking note that while the whole of Season 3 comes on one disc, another disc comes with the package that is quite literally full of Extras, but there are even bonus features on the episode disc as well. This includes three episode commentaries for Episodes 1, 4 and 6. Each commentary has the English voice actor for the various countries focused on in that episode as well as the voice of the Narrator, Jamie Marchi who also worked as the director and writer for the series.
These commentaries range from being hilarious to a few laughs but usually don’t focus on the episode itself very much. They are a nice little distraction and help provide a closer look at the voice actors working behind the show.
On the second disc there are a slew of other extras, though they mostly focus on Japanese events for the Hetalia series and thus use English subtitles for viewers to understand what is going on. They are quite long in length and fans of the series may enjoy the additional content but it could easily be passed over. There is your standard clean textless songs for the ending of the episode, though only one country is given a clean version.
Now while those may sound rather simplistic and not worth much time, there is a final extra which is just as hilarious as the rest of the show and that is the Outtake reel which is full of the actors messing up their lines. The outtakes are quite lengthy and worth a few laughs though some mistakes grow to be a bit too commonplace to be funny during the six minute clip.
Also worth mentioning is a very large and extensive explanation of all of the historical references that are made during the show itself. While there are a few references that may be picked up by those who know their history, a lot of what is mentioned is very obscure but is actually based on historical occurrences. This extra provides a great look behind what we’re seeing on screen and a decent enough explanation for those interested in learning more.
Overall:
There are plenty of anime out there that try everything to make you laugh. Whether it be sight gags, situational jokes, puns or even basic jokes there are plenty of ways to generate a chuckle from even someone with the worst sense of humor. Thankfully Hetalia Axis Powers Season 3 has so many jokes working for it that even the most jaded person will be laughing a few times nearly every five minute episode. Sure there are a few jokes that fall flat and the series may not be for everyone as there are a handful of mature jokes, however with a very low barrier of entry this anime creates a very accessible show that provides plenty of laughs from memorable characters. Or should I say countries?
If you haven’t here the buzz about Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City, you might be the lame duck. But do not worry because you will be able to find out all the information you need and be able to pre-order the game with some exciting extras.
First off, EB Games has a special pre-order available for the special edition of Operation Raccoon City. The special edition will include the following:
Resident Evil Operation Raccoon City game
6 x Umbrella Security Soldier Team Profiles A6-size Art Cards
8 x DLC Weapons
Special Edition packaging
Next up is JB Hi-Fi with a pre-order exclusive wall scroll. The wall scroll features members of the Umbrella Security Services along with one bad-ass tyrant in the center. Who told Spectre that a zombie makes for a meaty bullet shield? Cheers to that fellow!
Last but not least is the pre-order special from GAME. By pre-ordering through GAME, you will receive Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City along with a “Raccoon City All Stars” tee-shirt.
How about those deals? Stay tuned for upcoming news of Operation Raccoon City, and prepare for its release on March 22, 2012!
Choplifter HD Publisher: Konami Digital Entertainment Developer: inXile Entertainment Platforms: XBLA (reviewed), PSN, PC Release Date: December 21, 2011 Price: 1200 MSP – Available Here
Overview
Originally designed for Apple II computers, Choplifter was then ported to game systems as well as the arcade. Not many games can share this transition from computer to console because most games at this time were initially released in arcades or for game systems. Even through the years Choplifter has made appearances on upgraded portables/consoles like Choplifter II (Gameboy) and Choplifter III (Super Nintendo). And now the classic has been re-mastered in high definition for Xbox Live Arcade, Playstation Network, and personal computers.
Gameplay
Choplifter HD provides very similar controls that resembles the classic version. Once a mission begins, players must lift their helicopter off the ground. The left analog stick controls the movement of the helicopter providing possibilities of forward, backward, up, and down. Additionally, players can choose to turn the air unit in one of three positions: right, left, or facing screen. The change in direction occurs by pressing the left and right bumpers on the Xbox 360 controller. While this is not typically necessary to complete the beginning missions, direction change becomes essential to destroy anti-turrets and enemy soldiers in later levels.
Killing enemies would not be possible without some sort of arsenal of weaponry. A rail-gun is attached to the helicopter and has the ability to shoot at varying angles. Holding down on the right trigger unleashes a barrage of bullets, yet a direction is needed in order for the damage to become effective. Utilizing the right analog allows for directional shooting of the rail-gun. Upon shooting the rail-gun, players can see that this weapon has a cooldown factor with unlimited supply of bullets. If the trigger is constantly being pressed, the weapon will immediately stop for being overheated. The weapon starts a cooldown and cannot be fired at this time.
Rockets can also be fired – if available – by pressing the left trigger. Once again using the right analog becomes essential in choosing a target. Unlike the versatile aiming of the rail-gun, rockets can only be accurately fired in front of the helicopter. Aiming behind the helicopter with rockets will result in the player shooting the ground. However, I have experienced a few rarities actually arcing towards the ground just skinning to make a horizontal shot behind the helicopter.
Another important ability for the helicopter is the speed boost. Using the boost will drain your gas supply faster but in turn move you faster across the map. Some missions have gas tanks spaced out on the map, so then you do not have to return to the start to refill your tank. However, returning to start will regenerate your helicopter’s health as well as fuel and rockets.
Missions differentiate by the objectives that are given at the start. In the rescue missions, you will encounter several refugees/hostages that are injured. People that are injured will have a bar above their position that changes from green to yellow to red. To ensure survival of all of the refugees, you must find out which people have longer chance of survival. This may take several attempts of trial and error, but each injured person has a different length of survivability. A wise decision would be to pick up the furthest ones first and work back towards the base. Other missions will require you to destroy anti-air turrets or to provide one way transport for refugees.
Performance on each mission is ranked upon completion ranged from 0 to 5 stars. The first aspect the stats add up is the amount of enemies/weapons that was destroyed. More heavily armed units are worth more points like tanks or anti-air turrets. After the kills are added up, a time bonus is available. If you complete the mission very quickly, this could be the source of most of your stars. Positive points are attributed to hostage/refugees that are saved, but double points are taken away for innocent deaths. This means you should not blow up your own men nor ram them with the helicopter. With this “accidental” homicide on the brain, I implore you to check out the achievement listing to find an interesting objective. By earning stars for completing missions, new and improved helicopters can be used for previous missions to increase your overall star count.
One of the major drawbacks about the gameplay is that you feel like you are playing the same mission over. I experienced this repetitive action by the main objective of picking up hostages. An arduous task that becomes even more strenuous upon dying in a volley of anti-air attacks. While unlockable helicopters increases the playability, the replay value decreases because of the repetitive nature of common objectives.
On a positive note, Choplifter HD includes fantasy based events that can spark interest to the player. A zombie epidemic occurs in a specific mission, and your goal is to defend certain rally points and transfer survivors to the hospital. Shooting down 1,000 zombies will unlock quite an unique achievements. Try the same with chickens and goats.
Audio/Visual
The visuals have come a long way since the original release of Choplifter on the Apple II computer. Updated graphics offers a fresh feel to the classic and yields an entirely different game. Before you would be landing your helicopter to pick up white stick people. Now the hostages are detailed resembling a modern approach in high definition.
While gameplay might seem repetitive, the landscapes are creatively different for each level. I remember specifically in a refugee escape mission I was steering the Raven model helicopter through a cave dwelling. I was tested by the environment to make quick steering adjustments not only to avoid collisions with the cave walls but also incoming rockets from enemy pursuits.
Explosions need to hold an impact on the player, and each explosion on a helicopter makes me cringe. A helicopter can only take so much damage, so this feeling creates intense battle zones. I am usually willing to take on a constant barrage of bullets knowing well that I escape the target. Explosions from anti-air guns slow down the helicopter nearly to a complete stall. The visual effects help make this moment even more detrimental.
Before every mission starts, there is a short dialogue between the pilot and gunner. I can safely assume that this dialogue was meant to work as comical relief. I certainly couldn’t help myself to say, “Get to the Choppa!” This phrase can be heard during a sabotage mission where the engineer continually jokes after setting explosives.
Overall
Choplifter HD provides a wonderfully remastered version of the Apple II classic. While the game mechanics have remained the same, unlockables like helicopter models have been added to increase re-playability. With hidden objectives and mission rankings, the game allows a player to try to attain a high score on global leaderboards.
Unlocking new helicopters can be fun, but repetitive lengthy missions reduce the title’s overall value. Even as the objectives change, the main component that shifts between missions is enemy type and obstacles. Eventually, I became bored enough to kill off all of the refugees. Not entirely a bad decision by looking at the achievements.
For those that appreciate the classic Choplifter, you should find that this is a visually pleasing remake of the classic. Repetitive missions was my major drawback even though the scenery and enemies are different between levels. If you are curious about this title, I urge gamers to play the demo first before spending 1200 Microsoft points.
Namco Bandai have just announced that a port of the original Dreamcast Soul Calibur wil be making its way to the App Store on January 19. The game will run on iPhone 4, iPod Touch 4 and the iPad 2.
Modes returning include arcade battle, time attack, survival, extra survival, practice and museum modes, with time attack and the two survival modes being fully integrated with Game Centre Leader Boards. Noticeable absentees are any vs. modes, so fans will have to content themselves with thrashing the living daylights out of someone elses leaderboard score.
Despite that all the characters from the original line up will be returning, so what with the release of Soul Calibur V on February 2, there will be plenty of oppurtunity for button mashing highly skilled combo sequences, no matter where you are.
Pricing has yet to be announced, so stay tuned for more updates as they come.
Welcome to Sakuga Summit, each month we will be delving into the world of Sakuga Animation. For those who do not know, Sakuga Animation means Full-Motion Animation.
Each episode of Sakuga Summit will feature footage of the most stunning Sakuga Animation of the month for your viewing pleasure. This month’s Sakuga Summit, features clips from a few series finishing their run from the Fall 2011 season and some starting off for the Winter 2012 season.
Sakuga Animation is a testament to the true capabilities of anime as an art-form. Find out for yourself by watching the Sakuga MAD below. Feel free to let us know your thoughts on Sakuga and the Sakuga Animation on display this month in the shoutbox and comments section.
Wargame: European Escalation is a PC exclusive real time strategy game developed by Eugen Systems, the team behind Act of War and R.U.S.E. Taking the good old ‘what if the cold war got hot’ set up, the game boasts it’s own powerful engine that can run maps of up to 150 square kilometres in size and display hundreds of units and millions of background objects.
To show off all this processing power Eugen Systems have just released a new trailer created entirely from in game footage – makes a change doesn’t it? If you’re a fan of this genre at all then you could do a lot worse than check out the trailer below, which gets pretty epic just after the one minute mark.
Wargame: European Escalation will be released on the PC in February 2012.
While the fighting cast of characters in Phantom Breaker is nearly 100% original, a couple of characters should be very familiar for a number of anime viewers. That is because it has two guest characters that can be unlocked from relatively popular anime series. This includes Steins;Gate’s Kurisu and Chaos;HEAd’s Rimi, which the attentive anime viewer will realize are both anime licensed by FUNimation.
As such the 7sixty crew decided to take a stop over that the FUNimation office and offered the guys there a chance to try out the game early on an Xbox development kit. While the footage of them trying out the game wasn’t released, the below gameplay trailer was which shows the battle between Rimi from Chaos;HEAd and Kurisu from Steins;Gate. Also released was a small handful of new screenshots which can be seen below, also featuring Rimi and Kurisu. Expect Phantom Breaker to be released within the next few months as it is slated for release early this year.
EA and Bioware have announced that all PC copies of Mass Effect 3, whether physical or digital, will require Origin to play.
The announcement, coming from the Bioware Social Network, clarifies that the singleplayer portion of the game will simply require a one-time Origin authentication; players will not have to be perpetually connected to the service. However, the multiplayer portions of the game will require a constant connection.
The statement goes on to clarify why the game will not be available on the most popular PC digital distribution service, Steam:
During initial release Mass Effect 3 will be available on Origin and a number of other 3rd party digital retailers, but not on Steam at this time. Steam has adopted a set of restrictive terms of service which limit how developers interact with customers to deliver patches and other downloadable content. We are intent on providing Mass Effect to players with the best possible experience no matter where they purchase or play their game, and are happy to partner with any download service that does not restrict our ability to connect directly with our consumers.
WIN: Afterfall: InSanity PC Digital Download Copy!
Afterfall: InSanity was one of the most hyped indie titles of 2011, and with good reason! Afterfall: InSanity is one heck of an awesome survival horror filled with epic brutality. Don’t believe us? Read our review. Still don’t believe us? Play it for yourself! We have a truckload of Afterfall: InSanity codes to give away for PC gamers and we want YOU to win a copy!
So how do you win? It’s easy! Just follow these simple steps:
The competition ends on the 22st of January! We’ll be picking a bunch of random winners, so keep an eye on the Capsule Computers’ Facebook pageas we’ll be announcing the lucky winners then on the 22nd!
Don’t forget-youNEED to post the code phrase on the Capsule Computers Facebook wall in order for your entry to be considered. The phrase is:
UPDATE: Winners have been announced! If your name is CW Young, Kevin Grimes, Load Banks, Kathy Hanley, Viki Ashford or Julia Davis, congratulations because you’ve won! All you have to do is send an email to [email protected] to claim your prize! You have 1 week to claim it otherwise your entry will be considered VOID. So be quick about it! Congratulations to all the winners and good luck next time to everyone else!
OstinGames has released Zepi: Ultra HD 1.0, which features Rabbit Hole, an entry to the parallel world of TimePills and CrazyRockets. Because parallel worlds are far more awesome than this world like that. The power-ups are a huge advantage, giving you some awesome ways to totally own your missions of clearing the gaming field of same-colour skins. But in a totally not racist way.
