After the first few images were released of the live action adaptation of Nobuhiro Watsuki’s Rurouni Kenshin manga, hype for the movie even in the Western world has skyrocketed. As such it is good to see that Japanese website Eiga has continued to release a few more live action images. The images can be seen below and this includes a face-off between Kenshin Himura and Kurogasa.
The images were taken from the movie as it was being filmed on location at the Anraku-Ritsu Temple in Shiga Prefecture’s Otsu City. As you can see only a few of the screenshots only show what the movie may look like when it is finished while the rest are rather obvious that the live action is still in production. As you can see below a trailer was also released quite some time ago that gave us a hint as to how the movie will look in motion. Do you believe that this live-action adaptation will live up to fan’s expectations or will over hype create an unmeetable level of expected quality?
Or at least that is what the ESRB thinks. Last year when Hyperdimension Neptunia was released by NIS America the title was given just a simple Teen rating but this time around when the ESRB rated the sequel, they figured that it would be best to give it a Mature rating instead. Now the full rating can be seen below, and is certainly an interesting read as it has been quite some time since we’ve seen an interesting ESRB rating.
This is a role-playing game in which players control a young goddess on a quest to rescue her sister from an evil organization. As players advance the storyline, they use swords, lances, over-sized syringes, and colorful light attacks to engage in turn-based combat against fantasy creatures (e.g., slime monsters, dragons, robots); damage is indicated by impact sounds and a loss of hit points. Some female characters are dressed in low-cut outfits that expose large amounts of cleavage or buttocks.
A variety of scenes depict a supernatural villain who harasses female characters and makes sexually suggestive comments (e.g., “Come, come and sit on daddy’s lap. We’ll have fun exploring each other,” “You can be a cunning linguist, my dear,” “I’m dying to leer at her longingly,” and “Mmmm, the height of ecstasy, licking a nubile maiden’s wounds!”/“No, hey stop . . . I said stop it!”)—accompanying licking sounds can be heard off screen. In one sequence, a character moans as she is massaged by another woman; suggestive dialogue can be heard throughout (e.g., “Don’t carry any of those impure thoughts,” “Ahh, I’m so sensitive to this . . . Ahhhahahahaha! I can’t take it anymore!”). The words “sh*t” and “b*tch” also appear in dialogue.
Simply reading through this rating description, there doesn’t seem to be too much more naughty content than what was shown in Hyperdimension Neptunia, but the sexually suggestive comments do seem a bit more blatant and not simply referenced unlike the first. Then again, considering the enjoyable experience the first Hyperdimension Neptunia title provided should not be missed simply due to a rating. NIS America is currently set to release Hyperdimension Neptunia Mk2 sometime in Spring this year.
There is a new way to buy games, which has taken the indie gaming market by storm! In May 2010, The Humble Indie Bundle brought us a new way to buy games, with a name-your-price scheme which allows the customer to distribute their money between developers and the project’s supported charities American Red Cross and Child’s Play as they see fit. Through this selling point, and the power of word of mouth in the indie gamer community, they have sold over 400,000 bundles to date for over $2 million, and are into their 4th bundle!
They always seem to have the best indie titles out there, and have recently been adding betas and even game soundtracks to the line-ups.
First, you select your price, or type it in, fiddle with the distribution of finds, and pay via Paypal. You then receive an email including a link back to the site which will list out your purchased games, along with any bonuses which you can download straight from the site. For the moment, the 4th Humble Bundle has ended, but you can subscribe to get an email once they start HB5! Check it out here.
A new site has now sprung up, in the same vein, releasing their first Bundle 2th December 2011 in time for Christmas. They’ve had good success, too, with 40,000 bundles and counting (in under a month!?) sold so far, providing similar pay-what-you-want features, and supporting charities Save the Children italia ONLUS and Child’s Play.
This time, they include a selection of albums, too, giving the lesser known artists out there a bump up in the community. Once you’ve placed your order, you’ll receive a nice long email listing out all the games and albums you’ve bought, including any of the special bonuses you got for donating over a certain amount. Most games are downloadable through Steam using unique codes, and the music can be downloaded through the artist’s sites.
Check it out here –but be quick! The current bundle ends 6th January 2012!
All this is a great thing for indie game developers and the growing games industry, as well as gamers, and of course, the charities. I’m sure sites, projects and initiatives like these will continue to grow and multiply into the future!
Its release date announced today, the Retrode 2 will allow you to play SNES and Genesis games on your computer, provided you can come up with a cartridge and a downloadable emulator. Oh and a controller. After that, just plug the device into your computer and play all your favorite classics. The Retrode will allow you to export save files and take screen shots on your computer. It launches on January 23, 2012 , costs about $85 and is available for preorder. Check out the website here for full details on every feature that the Retrode has. Will you be getting one, or are your old consoles sufficient enough for ya?
Never let it be said that killing zombies in a cheerleader’s skirt was a boring affair. Who am I kidding, no one would say that. But I digress, Microsoft has placed up a video on their YouTube Channel where their Inside Xbox crew takes a deeper look at some of the features that will be available in the title when it is released sometime this year.
In the video we learn that Grasshopper Manufacture’s standard humor and dismemberment has returned, but this time around rather than blood flying everywhere there will be stars, rainbows, hearts and sparkles all over the place. Actually, dismembering multiple zombies at once will even give you a “Sparkle Hunting” bonus. This bonus has not been given much detail besides providing medals and an upskirt shot of Juliet… I mean a cutscene full of sparkles. Watch the video below to check it out for yourself.
The Incredible Hulk is smashing his way to Pinball FX 2 on XBLA and Marvel Pinball on PSN sometime this year. That is according to Mel Kirk, VP of PR and Marketing for Zen Studios.
He stated: “Everything that comes from Marvel next year will be bigger, not necessarily character specific. Hulk will be the main character, but it will be based on something in the Marvel storyline.”
Despite having a rather lackluster start, the Nintendo 3DS seems to have made quite a comeback in 2011. This comeback can be attributed to a number of things, whether it be the successful price drop, multiple remakes of fan favorite games and finally the release of two popular Mario titles. In the end, 2011 saw Nintendo selling “more than 4 million” 3DS handhelds in the United States alone with 1 million copies sold of Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7 each.
This is quite a jump for the Nintendo 3DS, as in the middle of the year the company had only reached 80K in July and 1.08 million in November. This means that perhaps in the past month Nintendo managed to get nearly 2.1 million 3DS handhelds into the hands of American consumers. This can be seen as a success no?
Bastion was quite an amazing title and has just hit a selling point that some full retail titles never obtain despite being out for a few years. Bastion has most recently hit the 500,000 copies sold mark which is quite a feat. But despite being a success on the market it seems that Supergiant Games will not be making a sequel for the title.
In an interview with Eurogamer, Greg Kasavin of Supergiant Games revealed that their “stance around what we want to do in the future hasn’t changed in light of Bastion’s success.” They will take advantage of this success however as it has apparently given the company “the resources to create another game on our own terms, meaning we can self-fund the project and take the time we need to get it right.” While it is disappointing for some that Bastion 2 may never be made, it is good to see that Supergiant Games is still planning on making quality titles in the future.
Coming to store shelves everywhere (except Australia) on February 21, 2012, Syndicate will allow for single player gaming. However, 4-player combat is a heavily touted feature of the game. It is that which is shown off in this latest video from EA.
2069 is a dangerous corporate landscape and sometimes it is not possible to go it alone. And that is where your elite team comes in. The game will require you to learn each of your partners strengths and weakness and use them to the fullest in order to survive and complete the objective. Pre-orders for the game are now available. Will you be playing it day one or waiting for the reviews?
Despite Rise of Nightmares coming out in North America many months ago, it still seems like Sega thought that it would be best that a demo arrive for the title. Just so happens that rather than have the demo arrive in 2011, it is coming out today… the third day of 2012.
The demo will of course require the use of the Kinect as the full title will require, and it does seem beneficial to release the demo now in a small way. Considering the holiday season just ended, the amount of gamers who own a Kinect has likely jumped quite drastically over the past few weeks so the demo is a great way to try and sway all of these new Kinect owners to pick up the title. The demo for Rise of Nightmares can be picked up here for free.
