What is arguably the most popular independantly created video game of current times, Minecraft, has recently been completed and compiled into a 1.0 package. Around 16 hours ago from the time of writing, Minecraft creator Marcus “Notch” Persson announced through his twitter account that the game had officially gone gold and was ready for release.
This is an amazing thing for gamers around the globe as Minecraft is such an inspiration for all gamers, as well as a leading example of the strength of the independant developers. It is widely believed that the 1.0 patch will be available for download at around (or during) MineCon later this year.
Fairy Tail: Part 1 Studios: A-1 Pictures, Satelight Publisher: FUNimation Release Date: November 22, 2011 Price: $54.98 – Available Here
Overview:
Over the past decade a number of series have begun to dominate the anime world. All of these series focus on the shōnen genre and have risen to such popularity and hate that their names have become synonymous with the genre. These big three are Bleach, Naruto and One Piece and while all of these series have been running for well over a decade in Japan, one series began five years ago in manga format and begun as an anime two years ago.
Now the first part of that anime has been released in North America courtesy of FUNimation. That series I am talking about is Fairy Tail. While it may follow the standard shōnen format, the unique premise helps set it apart from the larger series that hold the shōnen genre in a death grip. Now does this unique premise translate into an interesting viewing experience? Let’s find out.
Story:
The story of Fairy Tail takes place in a world where not only does magic exist, but it is a commonplace tool that most people use to accomplish many tasks in their lives. However while most of the world is satisfied with their minor knowledge of magic and can go about other lines of work and live a normal life, there are those who choose to make magic their life and become Wizards. Now not only can Wizards come in all different genders and ages, there are also a number of specialties that most Wizards begin to follow.
The first Wizard we are shown is a young woman named Lucy who focuses her magic around being able to summon contracted spirits through a spirit gate with the use of a magic key. Her brand of magic is that of a celestial wizard which is rather unique in the Wizarding world. But when a Wizard chooses to become a master of their craft and use their magic to make a living, the best way to do so is to find a guild to work in.
A Wizard guild is exactly as it sounds. A place where Wizards can meet and join together as well as accept various jobs that are submitted to the guild to be taken and completed. Of course these jobs will provide plenty of money, so the best way to make money and create a living is to join one such guild. However Lucy is aiming for the most notorious guild of them all, the Fairy Tail guild. Through a chance encounter she meets Natsu a literal hotheaded fire using wizard with unique abilities and a flying blue cat named Happy who are members of the Fairy Tail guild and they not only introduce her to the guild but allow her to join their ranks as well.
Now being as this is Part 1 of the Fairy Tail series, we are treated to episodes 1-12 of the series, and since this is the beginning a large amount of the first few episodes have to do with introducing a number of characters as well as set the groundwork for most of their abilities and character growth. The first few episodes are therefore rather stand alone as we are introduced to the main characters, Lucy the celestial wizard, Natsu a fire wizard who can literally eat fire for dinner, Happy a flying blue cat with a squeaky voice, Gray an ice wizard usually at odds with Natsu who just can’t keep his clothes on and finally one of the strongest in the Fairy Tail Guild, Erza who possesses a unique ability that allows her to change her magical armor and weapons on the fly and finish off nearly any opponent she comes across.
Shortly after we are introduced to all of these characters we are treated to a multiple-episode long story arch that spans most of the rest of Part 1 that focuses heavily on the main five characters. Now the only issue that I have with the story in Part 1 is that it chooses to end right in the middle of a cliffhanger involving Gray and his character development. Now this really isn’t too much of an issue as a whole, but ending with a cliffhanger always makes fans want to buy the next part of the series just to see what happens next. Now with Fairy Tail Part 2 and Part 3 coming out in the next few months, thankfully that wait won’t be very long as I could not get enough of all of the enjoyable characters that exist in Fairy Tail.
Visuals:
One thing that Fairy Tail has is a massive amount of characters to work with. Now there are obviously the main characters which get a lot of focus and therefore a lot of detail, but what is surprising here that even side characters who are less important and only get a few minutes to shine have a splendid amount of detail in their design making every character look unique despite their large number.
Being a shōnen anime means that there is going to be a lot of combat and it is essential that the animations stays fluid and of a high quality during these sequences to ensure that everything looks great when the battles are at a fever pitch. Thankfully Fairy Tail pulls this off perfectly and nearly all of the high quality animation is reserved for the combat scenes where Natsu, Ezra, Lucy or Gray are battling it out with enemy wizards.
Of course this does mean that there are occasional drops in quality, but most of these drops are during the conversations or non-action parts of the show so it isn’t very noticeable and doesn’t detract much from the overall experience. As a whole the picture quality on these DVDs are nice and crisp and the color palette pops quite nice.
Also I must make a mention about the shows two ending sequences. While the opening animation follows your standard anime route, albeit with great songs, the endings follow a different art style with more chibi like characters and seem more like a picture book than anything else. The difference in style between the show and the ending provides a pleasing contrast and a satisfying closer to each episode as you either wait or speed to the next one on the disc.
Audio:
As per usual with FUNimation, Fairy Tail: Part 1 comes with both the English and Japanese voice tracks so those who prefer to listen to the Japanese track and read the English subtitles should find no problem doing so with these discs. But for everyone else, of course the English dub is the way to go so that you can experience everything without reading it.
Now with any English dub the quality of the voice actors is a must, and the actors that they have brought in to voice the characters of Fairy Tail have done a great job mimicking the personalities of their characters. I especially enjoyed Todd Haberkon’s performance as Natsu as he captured the essence of the character perfectly, while I thought that Tia Ballard’s voice work for Happy was spot on, which is great because I was initially concerned with how the little blue cat’s voice would sound.
Now the opening songs that we are treated to are still in Japanese and the song you’ll be hearing most of the time is “Snow Fairy” by Funkist and it is one of the most enjoyable openings that I have heard for a series, especially the first fifteen seconds of the song. While the other opening “S.O.W. Sense of Wonder” by Idoling!!! does a good job replacing it, I still preferred the first opening song. The endings are enjoyable and follow the same theme that the artwork does, but I found myself less impressed with the songs “Kanpeki Gu~None” and “Tsuioku Merry-Go-Round” as a whole.
Extras:
With the release of Fairy Tail: Part 1 a few extras are included. Now you have your standard inclusion of upcoming and recently released FUNimation trailers but there are also a clean version of both openings and ending songs which are a big highlight as all of the opening and endings to Part 1 not only look great but sound great as well.
Besides these rather standard inclusions we are also presented with two episode commentaries. While most of the bonuses are on Disc 2, Disc 1 contains commentary from the English cast including the voice for Natsu, Happy and Lucy for Episode 01 while the second disc contains commentary by the voice of Natsu, Happy, Lucy and Erza as well for Episode 09. As usual the commentary is pretty interesting to listen to and also will provide a few laughs and is best for people who enjoy listening to the cast out of character such as myself.
Overall:
Now Fairy Tail has some rather large shadows to move out from under, but as long as it continues to go at the same pace that we are shown in Part 1 it should not be any trouble. While there aren’t any groundbreaking formula changes to this shōnen anime, the use of magic and comedy creates a unique blend that you won’t find in the other popular shōnen shows at this time. The enjoyable characters each have great personalities and excellent dub work and the story that pushes them together and onwards is a joy to behold. Stand aside Bleach, Naruto and One Piece… there is a new show in town… its name is Fairy Tail and it isn’t planning on leaving anytime soon.
Max Payne is a franchise that has been known to make innovations in gaming, with Bullet time and the ‘comic book style’ cut scenes. The noir genre benefited greatly from Max Payne, it pretty much carved itself out a little place in gaming history and settled in fantastically. Eight years later the gaming setting has changed, the expectations of games has skyrocketed, and these days noir is just something that people can’t pronounce properly. So, will Max Payne 3 be as well received in this gaming climate as the previous installments?
I had a chance to sit down with the lovely folk at Rockstar Sydney and got a rundown on the game and a first-look at some of the code they’ve got. And wow. Seriously. I went into it with basically no expectations and just a lot of curiosity, and I walked out wanting it to be March already.
Max Payne is looking a little worse for wear, he’s older, more battered around, and just generally angst-central. The game will kick off in his neighbourhood of New York, moving to São Paulo when he figures out that there is simply nothing left for him in the US. He works as security detail, protecting people since the police are pretty useless.
But enough about the plot, you guys know the plot, you’ve seen the trailers, you’ve read the press releases, this is about the game itself. And God it is a sweet game.
Attention to detail is this game’s calling card, Rockstar have really stepped it up to another level. Especially with some of the games coming out, physics engines and graphics are now at a level of realism that is pretty mind blowing. But those cannot even begin to compare with what Max Payne brings to the table.
The amount of time and care that has gone into creating the environments of Max Payne are obvious. From little things like the graffiti on the walls of São Paulo, to the footsteps made in the snow on top of a New York building, to the backgrounds and the lights from buildings that you can see through the dense clouds. Based off real location photos, the scenery stays as true to life as physically possible, showing both New York and the troubled São Paulo off as much as possible without over-boasting. Also (not to spoil anything), in a scene where an explosion has gone off in a corridor, the blood is spattered all over the walls, and there are half-bodies strewn about with intestines. It’s awesome.
Speaking of blowing stuff up, the environment is as close to a real environment as I’ve seen. Pretty much everything with blow up, shatter, or generally be destroyed from Max and the baddies’ hijinks through the streets. Gas cans and petrol stations will be your best friend as you make them explode, glass shatters realistically if you shoot at it, even vending machine covers will break.
Persona 4 has been getting some attention over the past few months. It is getting a port on the Playstation Vita, a fighting game on the Playstation 3, a new anime and a new manga. Now the popular entry of the Persona franchise is heading for the stage. That’s right, it is becoming a play… sort of.
Visualive Persona 4 will be its name as it reflects the type of stage show that it i. Visualive is a type of stage show where it combines both live performance and special effects. Behind the production will be Marvelous AQL in association with Atlus, the developers and publishers of the Persona series.
Fans of the series will also get their own input. Due to the main character being named by the player in the game, the same principle will be applied for the stage adaptation. This means that, for each performance, the name of the protagonist will change, according to the fans. The adaptation will run from March 15 to March 20 2012 at the Sunshine Theater in Ikebukuro, Japan. Ticket prices will be between ¥7,000 to ¥10,000. If yu are interested (and can read Japanese), then maybe you would want to visit the official site, which includes info on the cast.
Eddie Perfect : Misanthropology Publisher: Madman Release Date: October 19, 2011 Price: $29.95 – Available Here
Introduction:
Eddie Perfect is an Australian actor, composer and comedian, currently starring in Offspring on Channel Ten. Known for his political satire, Perfect has in the past taken on targets like Guantanamo Bay, casual racism and most famously, Aussie cricketer Shane Warne.
This DVD is a recording of his 2011 stand up show from the Sydney Festival, hosted in the Famous Spiegeltent (mirror-tent). It’s a venue that is traditionally used for cabaret acts, and Perfect brings a mix of comedy and music to his show, with a three piece band along for the ride when he breaks into one of his many satirical songs.
The obvious comparison to make is with fellow Aussie Tim Minchin, and although comedy is incredibly personal to judge, Perfect just doesn’t have the same quality of comedy to his songs – they’re more likely to make you uncomfortable than laugh.
Content:
Misanthrope (a person who hates mankind) + Anthropology (the study of humankind) = Misanthropology
And there you have the idea that forms this show. Perfect takes it upon himself to guide the audience through some of humanity’s greatest stupidities, pointing out that in his view, the human race’s evolutionary journey has slowed down somewhat. He takes easy swipes at iPads and Richard Branson, making his entrance in a space suit helmet as if to suggest that he has come from somewhere beyond Earth to let us know how ridiculous we are.
It’s a strong satirical concept that sadly never takes off. Perfect has a great voice and the songs sound like they’ve come from a Broadway musical, but the subjects he tackles tend to be ones with a narrow appeal.
Opening number ‘Primitive Tribe’ pokes fun at the idea that going ‘back to nature’ is somehow a good one, whilst ‘The Eco Lodge’ carries on the environmental theme by taking a swipe at the fad for eco friendly holidays for the wealthy. Both songs have their clever lyrical moments (dying young from a sore tooth, taking a holiday to hope that it makes you and your partner forget how much you hate each other,) but never provoke the big laughs.
Indeed what Misanthropology provokes is a feeling of discomfort, of awkwardness. Yes, a father buying his daughter breast implants is creepy, but Perfect’s ‘Daddy’s Tits’ creates the same feeling that the idea does – it’s uncomfortable, not funny.
There are some segments that stand out, and show that Perfect is more than capable of getting a laugh with a more appealing subject and grounded style. His theories on why whales beach themselves are good for some actual laughter, and the stand up segments are generally more comedic than the musical numbers. They still have their weaknesses though- his timing is certainly off and one attempt at a bizarre running joke falls particularly flat.
When Perfect introduces a song targeted at contemporary theatre, you can’t help but groan. But despite taking a pop at this rather niche target Perfect manages to make ‘Too Fucking Long’ more accessible to the people who don’t know who Barrie Kosky is (myself included) by turning it into an attack on the excruciatingly elevated opinion that ‘artists’ can have of themselves – everyone has that ‘artsy’ friend somewhere.
Despite a few promising moments Misanthropology is not a show that will have you in hysterics, and Tim Minchin certainly tops Perfect in style and charm. Where Minchin pads around in bare feet singing songs about inflatable dolls with naught but his piano, Perfect has his suit and his three piece band behind him whilst he croons about the wealthy and the self righteous. Although he undoubtedly has confidence, lines and ideas that should have been funny are hindered by his delivery, and lyrics can become as awkward as the subject matter that they target.
Extras:
In addition to a collection of trailers fittingly labelled as ‘Madman Propaganda’ Misanthropology includes three songs from ‘Angry Eddy’, a 2005 show from Perfect also previously released by Madman as a thirty minute DVD.
Although the visual quality is a step down from the main feature, the satire here is actually stronger. Juice Bar Girl is the least impressive of the three, but still provides an uncomfortable watch as Perfect croons about wanting to take home his favourite juice bar girl and turn her into a smoothie. In the other two songs Perfect finds heavier targets, taking on causal racism with Dwayne’s Song (Some Of My Best Friends Are Aboriginal) and American foreign policy in Guantanamo Bay.
Dwayne’s Song actually takes on an issue we’ve all experienced, the ‘some of my best friends are – insert minority here-‘ line that somehow is an excuse to say whatever you like about anyone. This song in particular is a response to a ‘Dwayne’ met at a party who preferred Melbourne to Perth because there were less Aboriginals living there. Perfect takes this as a cue to rip the guy to pieces with a surprisingly catchy bit of satire (just don’t go around singing this under your breath!).
What if you wanted a holiday in Guantanamo Bay? If torture was your thing, how much would it set you back for a week in the world’s most infamous prison? Perfect peppers the satire of these verses with dead serious monologues that describe the horrific nature of cluster bombs. This is the masterstroke that turns Guantanamo Bay from a comedy performance to political and personal thought provoker. It’s not particularly funny, it’s eye opening and uncomfortable, but it does a far better job at pointing out the ignorance of the human race than any of Misanthropology’s songs.
In addition to the DVD content, Misanthropology comes with a sturdy slip case and a ‘Misanthropology Field Journal’, which contains some of the lyrics and sheet music for the songs featured in the show. The inclusion of the music and lyrics is a nice throwback to the CD booklets of old, and is something Perfect fans will no doubt appreciate.
Overall:
Comedy is incredibly subjective, but as a fan of both satire and musical comedy I just wasn’t impressed by Misanthropology. Although his performance style has remained the same over the years, Perfect himself seems to have mellowed somewhat, turning from the weightier subjects tackled in the more universally relevant Angry Eddy to Misanthropology’s attacks on inappropriate plastic surgery, eco holidays and contemporary theatre.
As a package the release is very well presented, and the ‘extra’ content from Angry Eddy adds a few points to the score for being more entertaining and thought provoking than the main feature. However Perfect’s latest show simply failed to make me laugh, and I could count the number of bemused chuckles on one hand. It has it’s moments and Perfect’s voice makes the songs easy to listen to, but the satire doesn’t have enough bite and the subject matter is very niche. If you’re looking for something with a broad appeal and lots of laughs, look elsewhere.
The founder of wildly popular anime and manga distributer Viz Media, Seiji Horibuchi, has recently spoken with ICv2 regarding the future of the manga industry in the Western World.
Horibuchi conveys his feelings that Japanese Culture has a very bright future ahead of it in the U.S. with the challenge not lying in whether people will purchase products, but how the companies can distribute these products and how they can fight piracy in the most effective way possible.
He follows on to state that he believe’s that Visual Novels will be the next big thing in the Western World, with Manga and Anime rising to a mainstream level, he predicts that by 2016, Visual Novels will become part of the mainstream.
With so many popular anime and manga series based off Visual Novels, such as the incredibly popular Steins;Gate, you’d be hard pressed to discredit his prediction.
He further contends.“It has been a tremendously popular genre in Japan for the past six or seven years and continues to grow both there and in the U.S. Viz Media’s Haikasoru imprint has published some good examples. Some popular anime films have been based on light novels and I think publishers here in the U.S. will begin to publish more of these titles as more readers become aware.”
What do you think of this bold prediction from Horibuchi? Do Visual Novels have a future in the West? Let us know what you think in the shoutbox and comments section.
Here comes a new challenger! Konami’s upcoming 2D downloadable fighter Skullgirls has seen a new trailer announcing a new fighter, Ms. Fortune. Developed by Reverge Labs, published by Autumn Games and distributed by Konami, Skullgirls is coming to XBLA and PSN early 2012.
Ms. Fortune is someone you can really loose your head to-her signature move involves detaching her head and attacking the enemy with it! Apologies for the pun, but that’s what Skullgirls is all about. The trailer involves Ms. Fortune preforming a ‘Berserker barrage‘ attack, a noticeable nod towards Wolverine’s attack from the Marvel Vs Capcom series, as well as poking a little fun at the hit comic book/film V for Vendetta by screaming “Remember Remember the fifth of dismember!”
Filled with puns and anime influence, Skullgirls is sure to make heads roll! Make sure you check out the character’s vignette below, and make sure you get your head into the game when Skullgirls sees it’s release in early 2012 for XBLA and PSN.
Assassin’s Creed Revelations hits shelves today and in order to catch players up on the story of the series thus far, Ubisoft have release a “Previously on Assassin’s Creed” trailer. The new trailer recounts the events leading up to Revelations and will get players ready for what is to come.
We have reviewed the title and let me say, it is without a doubt one of the best games of the year. You can check out our review here and the new “Previously…” trailer below.
Will you be picking up a copy of Assassin’s Creed Revelations? What do you think of the new trailer? Be sure to let us know in the shoutbox and comments section below.
Oh, PETA. I think everyone knows about PETA’s (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) attacks on the video game universe for the way certain animals are treated, but this latest stunt is just face-palm worthy. As they usually do, PETA have now launched a new game on their official website titled “Mario Kills Tanooki” or Super Mario Tanooki Skin 2D, as the app is called. The game is of course a jab at the recently released Super Mario 3D Land.
This game pretty much has a skinned, bleeding Tanooki chasing after his skin, in which Mario is flying about with over the 2D level. Mario’s suit is now dripping blood and the whole game is slightly disturbing, but I guess that’s to prove some kind of point? PETA need to realize that games are games and not reality. Instead of attacking Mario, they could use their resources to put puppies into homes and fundraisers to save foxes (you know, something that actually helps animals?) I sincerely doubt many are going to play as Tanooki Mario and then say to themselves..”If I skin a raccoon, I can fly too! De Har Har!”
If you want to have your stomach turn, by all means..check out the “game” here.
Meanwhile, I think I’m craving a nice juicy burger, made of fresh cut Tanooki.
Now with the release of the PlayStation Vita growing close in Japan, Tecmo Koei has released a number of new screenshots for the Japanese version of the game, which is the first on the Vita for the series. Titled Dynasty Warriors Next, the screenshots can be seen below.
Unfortunatley for those expecting a lot of action, only a few of the screenshots actually show any action occuring while the rest are of maps and character cards. There is the revelation however that the character creation and Create-A-Warrior system has returned, which is a major plus for the series. I mean everyone wants to play as their favorite fighter from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms but sometimes they want to play a unique role themselves y’know?
