We’ve all heard various prices and estimates about the PlayStation Vita, but now it is official. Sony has detailed not only the titles that will be available at launch on February 22nd but also cleared up any confusion some people may have about various prices for accessories and memory cards.
The PlayStation Vita will launch with 25 different games across first party and third party studios and another 10 will be released around that window. This includes the Gravity Rush title which had yet to be confirmed for Western release. The full list of titles both digital and retail can be seen below as well as the prices for accessories. It is interesting to note that the PlayStation Vita memory cards are actually a bit cheaper than what they were rumored to cost. In fact some of these prices are actually quite logical. Does this change anyone’s mind on picking up the Vita on launch day?
Launch day:
Escape Plan (PSN Only)
Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational
Hustle Kings (PSN Only)
Little Deviants
ModNation Racers: Road Trip
Super StarDust Delta (PSN Only)
UNCHARTED: Golden Abyss
wipEout 2048
Army Corps of Hell
Asphalt Injection
BEN10 GALACTIC RACING
Blazblue: Continuum Shift EXTEND
Dungeon Hunter Alliance
Dynasty Warriors Next
F1 2011
EA SPORTS FIFA Soccer
Lumines Electronic Symphony
Michael Jackson The Experience
Plants vs. Zombies (PSN Only)
Rayman Origins
Shinobido 2: Revenge of Zen
Tales of Space: Mutant Blobs (PSN Only)
Touch My Katamari
Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3
Virtua Tennis 4: World Tour Edition
Launch window:
Gravity Rush
MLB 12 The Show
Reality Fighters
Unit 13
LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
Disgaea 3: Absence of Detention
NINJA GAIDEN ∑ PLUS
Ridge Racer
Silent Hill Book of Memories
Supremacy MMA: Unrestricted
Accessories:
4 GB Memory Card – February 15, 2012 – $19.99
8 GB Memory Card – February 15, 2012 – $29.99
16 GB Memory Card – February 15, 2012 – $59.99
32 GB Memory Card – February 15, 2012 – $99.99
Starter Kit with Memory Card – February 15, 2012 – $39.99
In-Ear Headset – February 15, 2012 – $19.99
Carrying Case – February 15, 2012 – $19.99
Travel Pouch – February 15, 2012 – $19.99
Protective Film (2 pack) – February 15, 2012 – $9.99
A 4 meter (13 ft) humanoid robot is being developed by Hajime Research Institute in Japan. After its completion, it will be the tallest humanoid ever. President Hajime Sakamoto, however, aims for loftier goals. Having been building humanoid robots since 2002, the Hajime Research Institute’s 4 meter robot is just one of the first steps towards something literally bigger. If successful, they will also build an 8 meter (26 ft) model, eventually working their way up to 18 meters (59 ft), the size of the 1/1 scale Gundam statue in Shizuoka.
Sakamoto already built a 7 foot (210cm) tall humanoid robot in 2009 which immediately became the tallest in the world that year. Dubbed Hajime Robot No. 33, the 2 meter robot can walk, bow Japanese-style, and play soccer – and all of these movement commands can be relayed using a Playstation controller.
Sakamoto’s dream is to build a real life version of the popular Gundam robot in time with the anime’s 40th year anniversary. He takes his dream one step further with the development of the 4 meter humanoid robot that even boasts a built-in cockpit. His ultimate 18 meter humanoid would have to wait, however, as Hajime Research is still looking for sponsors for its current tallest humanoid robot project while it is under development.
Zenonia 4: Return of the Legend, the fourth title in GAMEVIL‘s renowned RPG series, was made available on the App Store for the iPad, iPod Touch, and iPhone on December 21 2011.
GAMEVIL, a foremost mobile games developer and publisher, continues its flagship action RPG title with an HD debut that makes the Zenonia world clearer and more stunning through optimized Retina displays on the iPhone and iPod Touch. Aside from enhanced visuals, the fourth game in the series offers “dynamic and visceral combat,” expanded 2 on 2 PvP alongside the mercenary-for-hire system, and greater customization options for players.
Return of the Legend introduces all new gameplay mechanics, but fans of previous titles can expect characters from the first three games to come together in story mode. Hardcore gamers can choose between four classes and play on three difficulty levels in the campaign, and grab up to 40 Game Center achievements online. Zenonia 4 Return of the Legend is available for FREE on the App Store here.
New week, new Risen 2 Making of video. This marks the second in a six-part series. The newest video goes into the factions that you can ally yourself with, as well as the change that the gnomes have gone under. Instead of just being random ‘props’ they now interact with your character and help pick up items for you, handy little things that they are.
There are three factions you can ally yourself with, you start with the pirates and then can choose to either join the Natives or the Inquisition, depending on who you prefer to be a part of.
Check out the video below that comes from Piranha Bytes, as well as gameplay footage and the character designs. It’s pretty awesome that Piranha Bytes are taking the time to bring us behind the scenes of the game and it looks like this game is going to be an interesting sequel.
Risen 2: Dark Waters is set to release on April 24, 2012 on Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC.
Space Battleship Yamato Studio: Yamator Production Comittee Publisher: Madman Entertainment Format: DVD (Reviewed), Blu-Ray Release Date: Out Now Price: $29.95 – Available Here
Overview
Imagine a movie that is Battlestar Galactica crossed with Star Blazers. This movie that you are now envisioning is Space Battleship Yamato, the Live-Action adaptation of the Anime classic that entertained so many people back in the late 70s and early 80s. The movie is an awesome retelling of the original Space Battleship Yamato story, condensed into an arc that is easily digested in around 2 hours while still retaining the feel of the original work.
Story
Years after the alien race known as Gamilas attacked the Earth and turned it into an irradiated wasteland, humanity receives a gift from the stars. The gift is of schematics for deep-space flight to lead them to a world known as Iscandar which holds a device to cure the Earth of it’s radioactive disease. Humanity quickly assembles a Battleship capable of the journey and a crew to carry the hopes of humanities dream. The dream of a green Earth and the end of the evil Gamilas manace.
Thankfully for Space Battleship Yamato, the storyline doesn’t get enough time to become too convoluted and as a result flows amazingly well as a film. The movie paces at a pleasant rate and doesn’t suffer from many long and awkward moments, or scenes that just drag on for way too long. If anything, some scenes felt a little too short, or that there was some things happening off-screen that were never delved into.
For example, the main character and his love interest are shown as completely against each other at the start, and throughout the film they remain pretty against each other until they’re suddenly liking each other and very close. Moreso with the off-camera stuff, it is apparent that the crew has been bonding over what is most-likely a very long voyage, but due to the length of the film, a lot of these moments seem to be missing which causes you to not care as much about the cast as the film would like. It’s not that they don’t have their share of emotional moments, it’s just that I would like to have some of the supporting cast expanded a little more; rather than having their backstory handed to you in chatter.
Fortunately, these are very minor gripes and are supersceeded (in a good way) by the more superior aspects of the film. These aspects are the journey that the characters take throughout the film, as well as the personal journey by the main character, Kodai. At the start of the film, we see Kodai starting out as a near delinquent, or a regular hot-head who seems to be in it for nobody but himself – but by the end of the film, he has transitioned into a fine leader and role model for the rest of the crew.
It is these kinds of stories that are the most memorable and it is one of the best reasons for picking up this film. The movie has an excellent story which I would advise as many people to see as soon as possible.
Visuals
Space Battleship Yamato has some pretty epic visuals that help to accurately portray what it is that is happening in a scene, from both an action standpoint and a story one. Some of the best visuals in this film aren’t from the CGI, but are actually from the costume and set designs. That isn’t to say that the film suffers from poor computer imaging, that couldn’t be further from the truth, but it didn’t have the same resonance with me that the amazing costume-work and set-pieces had.
The sets and costumes felt very Battlestar Galactica, while keeping the major aspects of the original material and this creates a very comfortable, yet pleasing, visual style for the film. In fact, this is one of my most favourite aspects of the film. I just can not dump enough praise on who ever did the design work and settled on the sets of this film, they did an excellent job and should be congratulated by everyone that sees this film.
One of the best aspects of this film outside of costumes and sets are the combat scenes. These scenes take place in outer space and on the surface of planets. The space battles have a very Anime feel to them, but with a mixture of Battlestar Galactica style visuals (I know I keep referencing BSG, but honestly, I feel like the producers were referencing it themselves). However, on the ground, the combat turns into a more Starship Troopers like visuals, which gives it this close-up grittiness that further impacts positively on the scenes within the movie.
All of the CGI monsters, spacecraft and other unmentioned things in the film look near realistic and help convey a feel of realism towards the viewer. The animations in this film put the CGI work of Final Fantasy VII Advent Children to shame in its ability to create a believable enemy without looking overly fake. This really helped in making one of the most intense battles of the film seem that much more thrilling and it was a definite treat to behold.
Audio
Coming with 5.1ch Dolby audio, Space Battleship Yamato has an amazing audio array that puts you into the center of the action. Fortunately, unlike most films that have surround support, the audio is never too soft to be heard over the music and the voices are never at a level much lower than the surrounding events.
The film comes equipped with only the Japanese audio track, which might turn some people off the film. But honestly, I quite like watching films in their native tongue and reading subtitles – it’s not like Anime where you can synch lip-flaps to words, having an English dub would look tacky on such a serious film.
The movie is filled with amazing sound effects, meaningful dialogue (that is well acted!) and an impressive score, I absolutely adore this movie in reference to the audio.
Special Features
The DvD is packaged with a few Special Features which add some great value to the movies overall package. These features include Visual Effect featurette (which delves into the before and after shots in the movie), Pre-visualisation video (which shows a scene and has a PiP of the visual effects), VFX Scale footage (which shows off a bunch real-world locations and sizes up Yamato in the movie against them), 360degree gallery of various vehicles found in the film, theatrical trailers of the film and trailers of Madman anime.
The special features are very interesting to watch and I, in particular, *really* enjoyed the scale footage. The Yamato is MASSIVE!
Overall
Space Battleship Yamato is an amazing film that is well worth a purchase, even if you’re not at all interested in foreign films. It tells an excellent story and has an awesome sci-fi concept that all fans of the genre can enjoy.
Eyepet & Friends Developer: SCEE London Studio Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment Platform: Playstation 3 / Move (reviewed) Release Date: Out now Price: $39.99 (Available Here)
Overview
Eyepet was first introduced in 2009 for the Playstation 3. It used augmented reality through the Playstation Eye to give players a virtual pet simulation experience made famous by Tamagotchi in the mid 1990’s. However, Eyepet was one of the first to bring that experience to the home console. Two years later and it has turned into a successful series of games, spanning to the portable scene (PSP) and introducing it to the Playstation Move. This time around, Eyepet focuses on multiplayer with Eyepet & Friends. Is it worth getting for the multiplayer experience?
Gameplay
Eyepet is basically a virtual pet simulation for use on a console. Using the Playstation Eye, players interact with the Eyepet. Eyepet & Friends continues the use of the Playstation Move controller that started with the previous installment, Eyepet: Move Edition. So, within Eyepet & Friends, the core mechanics for both previous installments are basically the same. The objective is to hatch and take care of this little creature. Most often than not the time spent with the Eyepet will be used to play with it. The player can conjure different toys for the Eyepet to play around with. But playing is not the only thing the player can do. There are some required actions that need to be undertaken, such as feeding and grooming the pet. This, in a way, teaches kids in taking responsibility and learning how to care for a pet, if there is consideration of buying an actual pet for the household.
What is required for this game is the Playstation Move, like the Move edition. The Playstation Move is the main input of interaction between the player and the Eyepet, despite the fact that the series was introduced before the introduction of the Move. With the Playstation Move, players will feed, clean and play with the Eyepet. For example, the Move can be turned into a laser pointer. The Eyepet will then chase it around, creating some amusement for itself, as well as for the player. Other items also include a small water gun, which the player sprays over the Eyepet (and their surroundings, creating a wet effect for their living room) and a trampoline for the Eyepet to jump on. The Move controller is also used to take care of the pet, for example, turning into a shower head for washing. The way it responds is quite astonishing. It works very well. It is not perfect, but it is very accurate and responsive.
The major addition to the series is the implementation of a multiplayer system. If another player has a Move controller, then they may include a second Eyepet to join the game. This does cover ground that is new to the series. With this second player and their Eyepet, competitive multiplayer games can be played. These challenges can be quite fun for the younger audience. However, despite the fun that can be had, the sense of individualism is ripe. Both Eyepets will have interactions with Each other, but can also be at a minimum. Also, when a player earns pet tokens, it will only be for that player’s Eyepet, thus creating two separate pools of tokens instead of one, which would develop team work to achieve a goal. There are co-operative modes of play as well, so it would have made sense to have only one pool. Plus, the players would have reached their intended items to purchase much quicker with the one pool.
The game’s strength lies with the vast amount of customisation. This starts when that little Eyepet hatches from its egg. Players can groom their Eyepet with great detail, all the way down to customising individual limbs with freehand drawings. Fur colour, length and so much more can create the perfect Eyepet. Then there are the hundreds of clothing options available to dress up the Eyepet. Better yet, the clothes can be doodled on or covered in stickers. This allows the player to really create their very unique Eyepet, increasing the chance of the player to become attached to their Eyepet. In order to unlock the vast amount of clothing items, as well as new toys for the Eyepet to play with, players must collect pet tokens. Pet tokens are collected for completing tasks, which can be as basic as feeding it. This customisation expands into the online world, as both outfits and vehicles (which can be decorated with stickers and doodles, like everything else) can be uploaded and shared. One can also download other people’s outfits and vehicles.
However, Eyepet & Friends does suffer something that can decide on whether will continue to take care for their virtual pet of not. This would be the long loading times. To move from one thing to another, the game needs to load. The loading can be quite long in a game where one wants to continuously play with their Eyepet. Adding onto this loading problem is how frequent the game actually needs to load. When the player wants to switch from one activity to another, say from feeding to playing with toys, the game needs to load. It is not instantaneous. This happens with every activity switch, adding to what could be some frustration for the player.
Visual and Audio
The Playstation Eye does not have the best resolution in terms of video output. More often than not, the picture is low quality and grainy. Eyepet & Friends is no exception, but it lies with the hardware, not the developers. The Eyepet themselves look quite good. However, when there are two on the screen, it can affect the game. There is a frame rate drop when there are two on the screen. If they are both wearing complex outfits, it adds to the frame rate drop, so potentially there will be a slow game running on a grainy video feed of the player’s gaming area. Other than that, character models and animations, when not putting the hardware under stress, are quite smooth and very well detailed.
The audio fits with the overall atmosphere of the game, but it isn’t memorable. However, there is a very annoying voice that plagues the Eyepet experience. When the player does an activity for the first time, they will be greeted with this voice giving instructions on how to do said activity. The forced voice over can be indirectly linked to a lack of trial and error in the beginning (the way the beginning was designed would be the main culprit). It is also delayed for quite sometime. It is relief, then, that the voice can be skipped altogether.
Overall
Eyepet & Friends can be a fun game for younger children. There is quite a bit to do, like challenges and vast customisation, as well as teaching valuable life lessons, like responsibility and financial management through tokens. Sadly, the game can be frustrating with long load times and massive frame rate drops with two complex clothed Eyepets, which can be the decision on whether the game is worth playing again. Nonetheless, the younger kids will enjoy taking care of their little ones and prove that they are worthy of having a real pet.
At a conference in New Zealand at the WETA studios earlier in the year, there was a Q&A session with Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg, to discuss their new film coming out, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn. In the session they discussed the process of bringing the internationally loved franchise to the big screen, including the use of live action and animation, choosing a story, writers, and a cast, and bringing it all the life.
Q: It looks like you’ve tapped into a brave, new, hybrid world of animation and live action. So what has this been like and what have you learned from this?
Steven Spielberg: “Well, I’ve always learned that the world is not as important as its story. I think that is always going to be the case, no matter what technology or tools we use to frame our stories. It always gets down to the basics of story, plot, narrative and characters. Especially with the Hergé books, our sensitivity in wanting to capture a kind of art form that would be closer to Herge’ style and be able to exonerate his characters in a way that if Hergé was with us, he could look up at the screen and say ‘yup, that looks like Captain Haddock to me’. So, that was the first choice that Peter and I made in deciding what medium we were going to tell the story in. But with all the excitement of learning about this new art form, it always gets back down to the basics for me. It is always more important to tell a story, so even though this was a risky learning curve for me personally and a very worthwhile learning curve, I actually had a absolute blast on this movie and continue to.”
Peter Jackson: “One of the things that I thought was important was that, because neither Steven or I can use computers, with an animated film you always get a little bit daunted as a filmmaker because it feels like a lot of your communication is going to be with computer artists. You’re going to have to channel the movie through extra pairs of hands. I mean, you’re always doing that to some degree with a normal film anyway. But I just thought that the really interesting thing for us to build here was a pipeline where filmmakers with no real computer skills at all, could step in and actually shoot their movie within this kind of virtual world.
The thing that we were aiming at is that Steven would be able to step onto a set surrounded by these invisible but virtual environments and characters. Andy Serkis, Jamie Bell and Daniel Craig were there in their motion capture suits, so then Steven would lift a virtual camera up and on the screen be able to see Captain Haddock, Tintin and the location of the set. The idea was that Steven could compose the shots like in a live action film. There was a lot of pre-production on the movie because everything had to be built ahead of any shots being done. Even though it’s technology, I think we figured out a way to give ourselves an almost freedom as filmmakers. It was like shooting a super eight film.”
Q: I wanted to get your thoughts on bringing in Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish to write and the decisions that led up to that and why they were the perfect choice for the material?
Steven Spielberg: “Well the first decision that was made really was Peter’s decision. Peter had been a very big fan of Doctor Who and said to me on a phone call one day ‘why don’t we get the Doctor Who writer?’ I said ‘who’s that?’ and he said ‘Steven Moffat’. So he was the first person we went to and Steven was the person who worked the closest to both Peter and I in delivering the very first draft. Steven Moffat had to go back to his series, he just couldn’t do any more work for us so we brought on two other British writers, Joe Cornish and Edgar Wright, to further the process and they did an amazing job.”
Peter Jackson: “We wanted to give the movie a European sense. We didn’t want to Americanise it any more than Steven’s part in the film. It’s a European story and it’s a European piece of pop culture. So, we wanted that sort of sensibility to be there and we wanted the writers to be Tintin fans. We didn’t want to have anyone that we had to explain the DNA of Tintin to. We wanted writers who just knew it and had known it since they were kids. There is a mix of action, adventure, satire, a degree of social comment and there is also a slap stick humour. I mean, it’s a strange mix, it is a very particular mix to the way that Hergé wrote his stories. We wanted to somehow try to capture those multi levels and layers in the movie. We didn’t want to just hand pick two or three of elements that make up Tintin, we wanted to try and capture the range. So that was the trick.”
Namco Bandai have today released a new trailer for the forth coming Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations. This new trailer goes in depth about new features of the title as well as many of the new characters making their debut in the series.
The game is set to introduce a plethora of new gameplay modes, as well as an intense online mode that will have Ninja across the globe duking it out in full-blown shinobi warfare. You can check out the trailer in the hidden village of below this article.
What do you think of Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations? Let us know in the shoutbox and comments section.
The end of December is nearing us and a fresh new wave of apps are now available on the Xbox 360. Using your Xbox Live membership, you are now able to use the ABC iview and Dailymotion apps. Both entertainment apps have been engineered to work fluidly with Kinect’s voice and gesture commands.
ABC iview app will allow users to have access to news, children’s programming, dramas, and documentaries done by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The director of ABC Television offered the statement:
We have a wonderful slate of programming for 2012, and through ABC iview, it will be the most accessible content in the country. ABC TV has led the way in delivering content across an array of platforms and devices and now our audience will have greater access to iview streamed into their own homes, on their own TV screens available to watch whenever they want.
As more apps are being applied to Xbox Live, I find myself seeing more of a personal computer rather than a gaming console. If the Xbox 360 had word processor and power point applications, I might be a little more worried.
Say, what’s that sound? That jingling on the roof followed by heavy foot falls? Oh why, it’s Christmas and Gameloft is playing the part of Santa, bringing us a huge amount of iOS games for massive savings. Only have 99 cents left over after all your Christmas shopping? Well, guess what, that doesn’t hold you back!
The following games are all going for a measly 99 cents!
