The last eShop update of 2011. It’s been a good year for downloads on the eShop for the most part, and Nintendo are ready to deliver a handful of new downloads, across all three platforms.
The most notable release this week comes in the form of the already mega indie hit, VVVVVV. In this retro-esque title, players must assist Captain Viridian in finding five crew members and save a dimension on the brink of destruction. You can pick VVVVVV up for $7.99 on the 3DS.
Those up for an actual classic will be happy to know that the Game Boy version of Bionic Commando is also now available for $3.99 on the 3DS Virtual Console. Commandos not enough? Try some fruit…erm..cake! For the DSiWare, owners can snag up Cake Ninja and rip baked goods to shreds for $4.99 or 500 points. This game looks a bit familiar, but you can’t say a clone is a bad thing in this case. Wrapping up the handheld downloads is Slingo Surpreme, priced at $7.99 or 800 points.
Need more nostalgia? The WiiWare is seeing it’s usual one offering a week and what an odd yet interesting way to go out of 2011. Carmen Sandiego Adventures in Math: The Big Ben Burglary…(yes, that Carmen) can now be purchased for 600 points.
Not a bad grouping this week, and hopefully we will get even more nice offering as 2012 rolls in. So, anything you plan on picking up this week?
Are any of you out there ballers? If so, strap on your hi-tops (or sneakers, or insert-brand-heres), grab your iOS device, and get ready to play some ball! Synqua Games have released Basketball: Hoops of Glory, a unique sports game that toes the line between catering for the basketball fans and the casual gamers who have picked it up for a bit of procrastination fun. With one-touch contols, great graphics, realistic physics and addictive gameplay, this is certainly a title to take a look at.
Basketball: Hoops of Glory follows Brodie – or Bro-Dawg, as the cool kids say – who wants to become the bestest basketballer ever. So it is your job to mentor, coach and aid Bro-Dawg to victory!
There are a few different modes: Practice, Challenge, Arcade and Time-Attack. There are also additional stages for Challenge mode available as an in-app purchase (99c for an additional 25 challenges).
Basketball: Hoops of Glory is available NOW for the iPhone, iTouch and iPad for FREE – Grab it HERE
The Gantz manga is at it’s end. In the author’s notes for the 6th/7th issue of Shueisha’s Young Jump magazine, Hiroya Oku announced that he wants to draw the ending for the Gantz manga in 2012.
The manga follows a young Tokyo man, Kei who is brought back to life after a deadly subway accident, along with a group of random individuals. Kei and the other resurrected people go on a violent, seemingly endless missions at the behest of an unseen host, fighting aliens, and whatever else he and his team are commanded to go up against.
Back in 2000, the debut Gantz manga was released in an issue of Young Jump, and the 33rd manga volume will ship in Japan next month. The manga also inspired a television anime series animated by Gonzo as well as two live-action movies. In January, North America received the 20th English volume of the manga. The magazine (Young Jump) issue’s official release date is set for January 4.
All around the world many people received new phones for Christmas or whichever holiday they celebrate and many of those phones may run using the Android service. Now what better way to get your new phone up and running than to pick up a few Apps from the app store, correct? Well what if you could do that, but for a whole lot cheaper than you ever thought possible? Well then we have some good news for you as Gameloft is holding a special 24 hour sale on their whole catalog of Android titles.
All the titles will be priced at $0.99 instead of their usual price. There are 22 games in total and the full list of them can be found on Gameloft’s website here. This includes “The Adventures of Tintin The Game” and “Modern Combat 3: Fallen Nation.” Now this sale isn’t just for people who just obtained their phones, it is available to everyone, even previous owners. Which of these apps are you willing to pick up during this sale?
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol Studio: Paramount Pictures, Skydance Productions, Bad Robot Publisher: Paramount Pictures Format: Cinema Release Date: 15 December, 2011 Price: – Available Here
Overview
Franchises these days tend to be squeezed to their last drops, a lot of people blame this on either the studio’s greediness or a lack of creativity and courage to try and create a new concept and new characters to love. This is Mission Impossible’s fourth run at the silver screen, and while it has never been hailed as the most influential or thoughtful film, it is known for the great blend of action, suspense and just enough effort to make it seem legit (something infamously missing from Michael Bay flicks).
So does Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol deliver once again? Or has the amount of volumes in the series left us with a washed out version of the franchise?
Story
Initially they were tossing up between ditching the ‘Mission: Impossible’ part of the title, its pretty obvious even in the way that they’ve styled the poster that they wanted to depart from the name. Personally, I think they should’ve just called it what it is: Tom Cruise doing awesome things, getting really beat up and saving the world.
The movie is like every male’s wet dream (not that type, the other type), being the stoic, strong hero who takes a beating, gets back up, and can coolly and calmly deal with insane situations that would make anyone else have a heart attack. Oh, and then there’s Jane Carter (Paula Patton).
Patton is just about the most gorgeous woman in the world, who can also kick some serious ass. She’s Mission: Impossible’s version of a Bond girl, but without the patriarchal values and with more combat skills. And, just in case you didn’t get it before, she is a looker. So I guess that just adds another reason for testosterone-fuelled individuals to watch this movie.
As we have come to expect from Mission: Impossible movies, there are some crazy stunts and some truly amazing scenes. One of the scenes from the movie is probably one of my favourite action, stunt scenes. And the fact that Tom Cruise did it without a stunt double (although plenty of wires) makes me have some extra respect for him. Or just some respect, since there wasn’t really much of a foundation to start with.
However, despite some awesome action sequences, I wasn’t that blown away. The fight scenes were average, the story was quite simple and there were a couple of plot holes here and there that a sarcastic person such as myself picked up. It definitely beats a Michael Bay movie, but not by a comfortable enough margin in my opinion. There was no interest in the storyline, nothing drew you in overall, just in scenes.
You don’t care a whole bunch for the characters, there is some backstory and a little depth but not enough to really drive it. The only character I really cared about was Benji (Simon Pegg). Pegg revitalized the movie a little and gave it another dimension, with his rambling comedy, and I doubt I would have enjoyed the film if it wasn’t for him. His timing is excellent, and he had great comedic chemistry with Brandt (Jeremy Renner).
In the two most suspenseful scenes in the movie, Pegg manages to make you laugh, which gives you this great sense of relief as the suspense cools off. Including him in the cast is a great move on the behalf of the franchise, it stops it getting dry and boring.
However, I wasn’t really expecting any of these things anyway. It’s a movie you see when you want to switch off, suspend your disbelief and have some fun. And that is more than okay.
The one glaring thing for me was the final scene. It feels so forced and has little to no purpose, and I wish that they hadn’t included it – even if it then left loose ends. It is just terribly awkward and elicited many a grimace.
Visuals
If there is one thing that you can’t fault this movie on, it’s the graphics. The movie is partially shot with an IMAX camera, at director Brad Bird’s insistence. This provides a higher quality image, and in some scenes this pays off a lot. In one particular scene on the outside of an extremely tall building, you can almost feel the wind on your face as the camera pans down the side of the building. There is a lot more of a tactile feel visually than is usually experienced in 3D movies.
Apart from the superior equipment and style of filming, the shoot locations are also quite beautiful. They utilize the environments to the best of their ability, and the cinematography is quite excellent. Visually, it is amazing, so it is quite easy to glaze over the lackluster story line.
Audio
The soundtrack for the movie is what you’d expect from an action film, the whole sweeping, massive sound with the Mission: Impossible theme pops up a few times. The music, in itself, is good, however I have to say my favourite part in terms of sound is when there was no music and the tension was incredibly thick in the air. You’d be surprised how tense you get just from the sound of fabric brushing against each other. In that instance, the music playing gave you an out so that you could start to breathe again.
However, and yes I will bring this up again, the last scene was less than desirable. To accompany the forced dialogue, was heavy handed emotional music that just highlighted the jarring nature of the scene, both in terms of the chemistry between the actors, as well as the contrast between that scene and the rest of the movie.
Overall
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol gives you what you expect. It’s a action-packed flick with awesome stunts, great graphics, and the general Mission: Impossible theme. The plot has been spread thin over the movie and remains plainly simple. There is very little intrigue beyond the scene’s inherent suspense, so don’t concern yourself too much with paying long term attention.
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol delivers what is expected of it, and nothing more really. The highlight of the movie is Simon Pegg’s performance, and that’s mostly because it is so different from the rest of the film. It’s fun, explosive, and a perfect film to zone out to.
In the 1999 film Entrapment, Sean Connery played the male protagonist Mac. Being an old-school thief, when he and his partner Gin, played by Catherine Zeta-Jones, successfully infiltrated a bank vault and he saw that there was a computer terminal instead of gold bars or columns of cold, hard cash waiting to be bagged, he exclaimed: “This is it? Whatever happened to money? I mean where is the good old-fashioned loot?” Thereafter Gin proceeded to digitally transfer billions of dollars from thousands of electronic accounts worldwide into their own account.
That was in 1999. Today, plastic credit cards have all but replaced paper currency, but that too is slowly but steadily changing. A few months back both Google and Paypal invested in Mastercard’s Paypass Near Field Communication (NFC) technology – Google with the Google Wallet, and Paypal with version 3.0 of their Android Paypal app. NFC allows wireless, digital transfer of data from one device to another without them even touching, so long as they are within that near field range. This means that through NFC activated devices you can send pictures from your mobile phone to a laptop, for instance, with just a wave of a hand or a tap of the two devices. What Mastercard’s Paypass does is it uses NFC for digital, cashless payments.
If you have Paypal’s 3.0 app on your Android or Google Wallet on your device, you can pay for transactions in stores that support the technology through your mobile phones, and it’ll be charged to your credit card accounts. Uh-huh. You don’t need your credit cards anymore, just your smartphones.
While quite an exciting development, the adoption rate of the technology has been rather slow this past 2011, where Google Wallet launched in September 19 and Paypal’s 3.0 app launched in November 8. Perhaps the greater digital consumer populace is only starting to feel it out, or perhaps word of its awesomeness has yet to go viral. Whatever it is, it’s sure to change in the next twelve months.
And it’s not just NFC technology. Paypal launched a Facebook social payment app straightforwardly dubbed Send Money in the middle of November this year, which can be used to send payments (or greeting cards with payments) through popular social media site Facebook. So now you just need to log in to your Facebook account like you do probably every day, and when you need to pay someone, you pay them through there. You know the money’s flowing, you just don’t see it anymore.
When industry leaders like Google, Paypal, Mastercard, and even Facebook invests in game-changing developments like NFC, it’s a good bet that it’s the next biggest thing. If not immediately, then somewhere down the line. It’s inevitable. It’s like the next step in terms of finance and economics for humankind: barter turns into gold currency which turns into paper currency which turns into plastic currency which turns into digital currency. But where paper currency was developed for the benefit of large financial institutions and entire nations, digital currency appears to be more for the benefit of the consumer standing in line at the checkout counter.
In an age where everything either turns digital or has a digital counterpart, even money loses its empirical substance and retains only its value. In an age where you handle money without even touching it, what was previously represented in dollar bills and paper is now represented in digital numerals and bytes. While everything points to more ease and convenience for the common folk in the meantime, it’s anyone’s guess what NFC’s cashless, cardless development will lead to in the future.
Who doesn’t love PopCap games? There’s something about them, a mixture nostalgic and incredibly addictive gameplay. Even the most hardcore and casual of gamers have at least had a shot at one PopCap game or another, so why not give yourself a little late Christmas present?
Until January 3, PopCap is having a 50% off sale for their downloadable titles. These include such big names as Plant Vs Zombies, Bejeweled 3, Chuzzle, Bookworm, the Amazing Adventures series, the Escape series and the Mystery P.I. series.
So what are you waiting for? With a range of games and genres, it’s definitely worth taking a look around the site and seeing if any of the games catch your eye. Or maybe you’ve played some of them on Facebook or mobile platforms and would like to see what it’s like on PC or Mac. Either way, this is the best time to grab a bargain!
Check out the PopCap site and make sure you get in quick before January 3!
New on the American Playstation®Store market is SNK PLAYMORE USA CORPORATION’s P.O.W. – Prisoners Of War and PREHISTORIC ISLE. These SNK mini titles are blasts from the past, being brought back from SNK’s Golden Age of action-shooting games from the 80’s.
The release of these two titles is part of a “retro-arcade emulation” project, which aims to bring back the classic gaming experience through a grand collection of action, shooting, platform and action/puzzle titles.
In P.O.W – Prisoners Of War you control a military prisoner who breaks free from his cell, and must fight through waves of incoming enemies in a traditional side scrolling model.
In Prehistoric Isle you pilot a 1930’s airplane, and fight against legions of dinosaurs and cavemen over a tropical island, while collecting items and dodging traps that impede your journey in this horizontal side-scrolling shooter.
P.O.W. – Prisoners Of War and PREHISTORIC ISLE will be available on the PlayStation®Store from Tuesday, December 20, 2011. They are exclusively available on PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) and compatible on the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system.
After no word whatsoever about the Wii U all year, we have just recently learned about a launch window for Nintendo’s upcoming console that is sure to take the world by storm. Well, that’s nice and all, but like many of you, I am more intrigued about the software the Wii U will boast at launch. After a rather slow start for the 3DS, Iwata seems to have learned his lesson in how to properly release a console in these modern times, and thankfully sales have now skyrocketed after a very successful holiday for the shiny new handheld.
The big question to many is, just what will the Wii U launch with when it eventually hits shelves? Are we going to see a massive change in third-party support, or is Nintendo going to yet again be forced to pull their load and head out into the marketplace alone?
Let us show you our predictions of what Nintendo might have up their sleeve this time around…for better or worse.
Wii U Sports
Is this an obvious choice? Well, not really. Wii Sports and it’s follow-up, Wii Sports Resort have became two of the best selling video games of all time. Part of this is mainly due to both games being bundled with the Nintendo Wii over the years, but you still have to admit the impact that the Wii Sports series have had in the market during the past generation.
To be honest, I really don’t know what sports are left for a new Wii Sports to cover, but the brand is now a household name and will surely sell by the truckload if pushed on the Wii U. We already know that Miis will be making a return, so another sequel makes perfect sense if you think about it. The only way I could personally see “Wii U Sports” not happening is if Nintendo attempt to change the system’s image before release so that consumers don’t confuse it as a mere upgrade, rather than a brand new console.
New Super Mario Bros. Mii
Yes, this was announced last year as a tech demo, but Nintendo needs a Mario game at launch. In my opinion though, New Super Mario Bros. is now a relic of the past and really shouldn’t be priced at full retail value, Mii additions or not. So what should be done?
Just like Wii Sports, the Wii U would benefit greatly if “New Super Mario Bros. Mii” was included with every new console. Whether it’s a digital download to show off a hard drive or simply a disc, when potential buyers see Mario’s face on the box of Nintendo’s new console, they will feel even more inclined about shoving out a lump sum of cash in one go. Add a couple of new levels and then craft the control scheme around the Wii U’s controller and you have a terrific title, ready to please both the hardcore and casual markets and give us something to enjoy while Nintendo perfect Mario’s true debut on the platform.
Metroid
I know, many of you are probably seeing the word Metroid and thinking another game for the series is not even in the picture at the moment after the financial failure of Other M, especially at a launch. Try to think positive though. Metroid is still a well known series and if any first-party name is going to show us what the Wii U can do visually, no hero is more fit for the role than Samus.
The Wii U’s controller could be utilized to the fullest for scanning environmental objects and there certainly could be room to add some kind of touch screen mechanic if the series went back to the Metroid Prime perspective. Nintendo seem to be trying to cater to the hardcore more this time around with the Wii-U as well, which makes a new Metroid seem like a likely candidate to debut on shelves with the new hardware. Honestly, after the fan backlash from Other M, there isn’t a whole lot left to lose by letting Samus strap on her armor and give it another try.
WarioWare
Why does WarioWare still exist? Sure, Wario is a pretty popular character and the games are fun, but after several incarnations the series still hasn’t seen a ton of success as of yet. That is all for good reason though. Everytime a new console is released, whether it be a handheld or a home platform, WarioWare not only provides hours of fun with quick, nonsensical mini-games, but also shows off just what that unit can do with it’s technology.
If Nintendo want to give us a full view of the Wii U’s capabilities, releasing yet another WarioWare title would indeed be a smart move. Whether it be flicking items at the screen via the touch-controls, trying out those dual-analogs, or getting a feel for the brand new controller in general, Wario and his chaotic gameplay stylings would certainly start off the system with something anyone could jump in and enjoy.
Lego City Stories
I really don’t have much to say with this one. We know it’s coming at launch, and it will probably have some kind of online system utilized. Many gave Nintendo flak for choosing to announce Lego City Stories last year at E3 as the first Wii U title, but I can easily say that GTA with legos sounds fine by me.
What we won’t see by Nintendo at launch
Anything Zelda
Even though Zelda has been getting a ton of love as of late, I can’t really see another journey with Link opening up the Wii U’s lifespan. When one does come, be ready as we are surely to see yet another masterpiece grace the console with a ton of new features added into the esteemed franchise.
Super Smash Bros.
The already announced Super Smash Bros. has already been nixed as well and won’t be seeing life for at least a couple more years.
Kid Icarus
While Nintendo are just now starting to promote Pit’s grand return, a Wii U title is more than likely going to be out of the picture until Masahiro Sakurai finishes Super Smash Bros. for both the 3DS and the Wii-U. If Uprising fails to capture an audience, we might not even see our beloved angel get his own title on the platform, period.
Super Mario Galaxy/World/Land/Boat/Whatever magical kingdom there is left to be explored…
Yes, I said it. There is almost no chance an original Mario game will launch with the Wii U. Why? Because Nintendo care about Mario and would rather master their own platform before rolling out the red carpet for the grand-daddy of gaming.
Pikmin 3
Don’t cry, Pikmin fans. There is a chance we will finally see Olimar make a comeback, but the Pikmin series as a whole just seems better fit on the 3DS. This doesn’t mean that Pikmin won’t see life on the Wii U, but I think a well done portable version would be more preferred than a potentially rushed out the door console title.
The Third Party Factor
At E3, Nintendo were really pushing to let us all know that they have the big publishers at their side for the Wii U. If you look at the 3DS though, many of those same companies made quick delays in their own software to wait for a bigger audience, which may mean that Batman, Ninja Gaiden, and many of the other AAA releases could very well get the same treatment.
With that said, very few publishers stuck with Nintendo for the 3DS’ rocky beginnings, and two of those brave heroes are none other than Ubisoft and Majesco. Now, there wasn’t anything too spectacular put out by either party, but you have to hand it to both companies for at least filling up store shelves and giving us some kind of alternative to Nintendogs. You can bet that both names are already brewing up something for the Wii U’s big premiere.
Assassin’s Creed
We knew it was coming already, but I could easily see a spin-off of the Assassin’s Creed series being released on the Wii U to snag up interest from owners of the Xbox 360 and PS3 right from the start. With the newly revamped friend system, online play would be fantastic and the system’s specs could treat our eyes to graphics never-before-seen on a Nintendo platform. Hopefully the story would be canon as well and open up doors for an exclusive branch-off, but as long as the gameplay is solid I don’t think many are going to mind as fans will finally be able to stab citizens on a Nintendo console.
Raving Rabbids
Ubisoft love launching new hardware with the rabbids and whether you like it or not, there will more than likely be a new title for the console featuring the chaotic bunnies. It’s not a bad idea, really. The first Raving Rabbids was fantastic on the Wii and paved the way for quick and enjoyable party games for this generation. Some may call that a curse when they think about the Wii’s library, but when you add up the numbers of sales versus Nintendo’s other competitors, that formula was successful then and the trend of casual and fun is sure to not pack up and leave anytime soon. Let’s just hope
Splinter Cell
As you have probably noticed, we are more than likely going to see some new (or remade) version of Splinter Cell come out of Ubisoft for the Wii U. This would show fans of shooters just how the system handles the genre and will hopefully be a solid product to start with. I can’t imagine anything other than a Chaos Theory port due to past history alone, but considering the new controls, the game would at least feel like a new experience for most.
Cooking Mama
Ah, yes. Mama. Queen of the handhelds. Just look at the Wii U controller. It screams for some kind of Mama game. I could easily imagine it being used as a cutting board, where players can chop up their delicacies in a brand new way, and I’m sure some new title is in production as I am writing this due to that alone. Cooking Mama is a solid series as it is, but this new platform’s tech could finally give Majesco a reason to take the series in a new direction altogether.
The Darkness II
The Darkness was one title that didn’t get a ton of attention on the Xbox 360 at launch, but has slowly gathered a cult following and became a big name off word of mouth alone. Digital Extremes recently let the world know that the sequel would be a launch title on the Wii U, which gives us a lot of hope on not just the game itself, but all future releases for the console.
Other franchises that are likely to show up at launch:
Some of this:
A bit of that:
Can’t forget this (What would the world do without it?):
and the one and only…
RIDGGGGGE RACCCCCCCCCCCER!
Keep in mind that these predictions are not really a glimpse of what we want to see, but a more realistic way to think of the way the Wii U will actually launch. Will there be more? Probably. Nintendo have surely learned a lot in the past year and will probably ship the system with at least 25 titles from the start. With that said, the more you recall past history, the more you have to think with a more realistic outlook on a launch. All we can do now though is wait for E3 and hope for the best. The Wii U will be successful because it’s Nintendo, and we can just hope that early adopters will see the best lineup possible.
So now you tell us, what do you WANT to see released at launch, and what do you see actually coming out on day one?
The Adventures Of Tintin Remastered Studio: Nelvana Publisher: Madman Platform: DVD(reviewed) Blu-Ray Release: November 30th, 2011 Price: $49.95 – Available Here
Overview
I have fond memories of being a young boy and coming home from school, sitting on the couch and watching the ABC until the nightly news came on. One of my favourite cartoons of this era, in fact it still is one of my favourtie, is The Adventures of Tintin. Now thanks to Madman, I can enjoy all 21 adventures in remastered high quality for years to come.
Story
For those of you who don’t know, The Adventures of Tintin is a cartoon series based on the comics of artist Herge. The story follows a young reporter by the name of Tintin, who finds his way into adventures across the globe. The series, with the exception of a few comments and perhaps the first episode, doesn’t have much to do with reporting. Rather, Tintin is out to foil crooks across the globe due to his Boy Scout ethics. With his faithful dog Snowy by his side, Tintin makes new friends on the travels across the road. The captain on the Karaboudjan, Captain Haddock is the first to help Tintin on his adventures. Alongside somewhat minor characters, such as the Thomson twins and Professor Calculus, recurring villains pop up around the world – all of whom are far too familiar with our young friend Tintin.
To describe the stories in detail would be an act in futility. There are 21 adventures across the animated series, with often links bridging across episodes. Not to mention a cast of recurring characters and backstories to delve into. But, this is one of the things that make The Adventures of Tintin great and will keep you wanting to watch again and again. The stories all come in parts, which are played together to make a 40-minute story with a beginning and end. Sometimes, they will end with a bit of a cliffhanger such as in The Secret of the Unicorn, which continues the story in Red Rackham’s Treasure. The stories have all become classics in their own right thanks to the widespread publications of Herge’s work, and the animated series should be praised for their accurate adaptation of his work.
Visuals
Herge has a unique style of drawing. The characters all have minimalistic features and often reuse facial expressions that perhaps aren’t the most emotive or fitting for the dialogue they are attempting to emphasis. Yet, this is the style Tintin fans have come to know and love. It has been what Tintin has looked like since the 1930’s, and luckily The Adventures of Tintin remastered collection continues this style. Of course remastered doesn’t mean redrawn, so the characters maintain their comic book style. The main difference to note would be the improvement in colour. Where as the original series, on both television and the original DVD releases, was a little washed out, the remastered version boasts a vivid range of colours – making a nice addition to any Tintin collection.
Audio
Theme songs are often an annoyance. I sit there clicking next until the button wears off when watching television series on DVD just so I don’t have to hear that annoying theme song one more time. Not Tintin though. Every time the DVD starts, or an episode starts, the theme song booms out of my speakers and I get excited for the on coming adventure. The music within the show is a little more subdued, yet perfectly fitting – mostly consisting of small pieces performed at ideal moments. A few times the theme song will emerge again to heighten tension and really push forward the sense of adventure. The sound of the remastered series seems to also be revamped to some degree, while maintaining the essence of the original animated series – such as same scores and voice acting.
Extras
I was a little surprised about the lack of bonus content on this DVD collection. My original DVD box set of The Adventures of Tintin had very few special features, none of which were actually worth viewing. I was expecting a little more from a box set boasting to be ‘remastered’ but found myself disappointed. The one feature I did enjoy was the revamping of the DVD menu, which now includes a play all function, but seems to not allow you to choose between part one or two of the episode inside the scene selection function. I would have hoped for a little behind the scenes footage, or for some extra Tintin information – but maybe that will appear in the re-remastered version.
Overall
Everything about The Adventures of Tintin as a series is perfect. The stories, the way that Herge’s classic minimalistic style has been captured and not to mention that amazing theme song. What I take issue with here is the term ‘remastered’. Apart from a little boost to the audio and the revamping of the colour, there isn’t much different to The Adventures of Tintin remastered to the original DVD series that was released a while back. If you don’t own any of the animated adventures of Tintin, I implore you to purchase this remastered series. It’s cheaper and has a lot less packaging than the original box set (could be a con if you actually like box sets, but my shelf is full already!) and has been updated to a higher quality. However, if you’ve already invested your money in The Adventures of Tintin in another DVD format, perhaps this isn’t really worth the extra purchase. Alternately there is the Blu-Ray version of the series, which may actually be worth picking up if you believe Blu-Ray is the way of the future and will provide anything extra. In short, Tintin is Tintin and if you don’t have it, you should.
