As many 3DS eShop owners know by now, we have been getting quite a few quality titles on the service as of late. By the looks of it, that trend will continue for 2012 as Nintendo have now announced that Sakura Samurai: Art of the Sword will be launching on the service next year.
In this romp, players take control of a young warrior as he travels through ancient Japan to save a princess. With many enemy soldiers blocking the way, it’s your job to identify the enemy’s attack move, dodge it by a hair and counter-attack with his own mystical Sakura Sword to win the battle. Not a whole lot is known about this downloadable title other than it releasing for the eShop in the east last week under the name Samurai Hirari Sakura.
Either way though, it’s nice to see some eastern releases making their way to the west and come January, 3DS owners can learn the art of the blade themselves when Sakura Samurai: Art of the Sword officially releases.
In two weeks time, Doctor Lautrec and the Forgotten Knights will finally make its long awaited debut on the Nintendo 3DS, but while we wait, Konami have decided to give players a small taste of what to expect. This demo is labeled as a “2D micro-experience” for the PC, and features a nice glimpse inside the many mind bending puzzles that the full game will offer.
Here is a brief description of what the demo holds inside:
The demo, reconstructed from the full game and adapted for the PC, will bring you into 19th century Paris and introduce you to Doctor Lautrec and his pesky and too-inquisitive assistant, Sophie. While not the full experience, the flash demo will give players a tune-up and tests their deductive reasoning, memory recollection and problem solving skills in a fun and enchanting world. Each puzzle, solved correctly, will unlock a new area for players to explore. But players aren’t alone in their search as a cast of malevolent characters are also on the hunt for the treasure.
If you have around 20 minutes to spare, do yourself a favor and give this first crack at finding Louis the XIV’s treasure a try in the link down below. Doctor Lautrec and the Forgotten Knights launches everywhere for the 3DS on December 13th.
The 3DS is going to have a good Christmas. With the release of two of it’s biggest games just around the corner, Nintendo’s latest portable will no doubt feel the benefit of the phenomenon that is the Mario Effect. Mario Kart 7 (December 3) And Super Mario 3D Land (November 24) will bring a double dose of the plumber and his pals in full 3D.
Nintendo Australia held a hands on preview event for the two titles yesterday, giving a few of the CC crew a chance to test out all the latest in platforming and karting from the Nintendo universe. Hosted at the Hotel CBD in Sydney, the venue was lined with 3DS’s ready to roll, and Tanooki was the word of the night.
A bit of Mario Kart 7 multiplayer was foiled early on – not yet! A bit of practice time ensued, including getting to grips with the new flying and underwater sections, gyroscope control from a first person view, and a few new weapons to add to all the finish line drama (although nothing will ever top that blue shell).
After a brief appearance from the man himself (actually a woman for the evening, equipped with an in suit fan and ice vest!), Nintendo started off their presentation- showing off some gameplay footage and the new features of each title. Of course the evening wouldn’t have been complete without a Mario Kart 7 tournament, and one brief race later, the CC team found themselves down one remote control Mario. Do’h!
Amidst a bevvy of spring rolls and miniature choc tops, Super Mario 3D Land was in full swing. The 3D effect took a bit of getting used to, but any game that’s a mixture of Super Mario Land and Super Mario 64 can’t go far wrong. Tanooki suit pick ups were plentiful, and the 3DS’s were (sadly but sensibly) wired to their podiums.
And then the Mario Kart 7 multiplayer began. Platters of food were suddenly of no consequence, it was competition time! The gyroscope controls were by all accounts a hit, and kart customisation definitely brings a welcome new sense of personalisation to the racing. But the most important thing? It’s Mario Kart, back and as fantastic as ever.
There’s no doubt that bringing Mario to the 3DS is going to do wonders for the handheld. Nintendo have got themselves a perfect Christmas line up, and the double whammy of the multiplayer magic of Mario Kart 7 and the classic platforming of Super Mario 3D Land will no doubt sway many gamers as yet undecided about the 3DS.
Thanks of course to Nintendo Australia, and all the promotional staff who kept a close eye on those consoles!
League of Legends offers a sneak peak look at their upcoming champion, Volibear. Most champions offer their own unique scare tactic like Tryndamere’s “Endless Rage”, but this champion’s appearance may scare off summoners. A bear is fearsome enough, but attaching a huge slab of armor on one makes it overkill.
Riot Games admits that this could definitely be a game changer for them as far as champions are concerned. They did not want to make an overpowered champion; however, an armored bear just resonates death in my eardrums.
For the 2012 summer, Blizzard Entertainment will be accepting internship applications until January 31, 2012.
Once students get through video game design school, the learning isn’t over. Getting an internship is the next step and thanks to the explosion of the video game industry, there are a lot of great ones to choose from.
Blizzard Entertainment has been home to many well-known titles other than World of Warcraft. Diablo and Starcraft have been successful franchises as well, and I could only imagine the environment where these titles were created. Applying may only take minutes of your time, but grant you a lifetime opportunity.
Here’s a quick run-down of what the program is all about:
– Applicants must be currently studying at a university or college in the United States
– Planning to return to school in the fall of 2012 after the internship
– 12-week paid opportunities during the summer
– Located at Blizzard headquarters in Irvine, CA
– Applications must be submitted no later than January 31, 2012
The internship program is all about giving college students hands-on experience in their developing fields. So whether you are working in development, quality assurance, licensing, or even publishing, this would be a great career jump start. If you are interested in applying for an internship or know someone that would be, you can find more information (here).
With the next release of one of the most popular game franchises of all time just on the horizon, gamers such as myself have been eagerly awaiting the opportunity to test out the new gameplay features of Mario Kart 7. As a gamer at the age of 22, I’ve grown up playing Mario Kart my whole life, and each successive version has always aimed to improve upon the last. With the latest instalment of this racing genre phenomenon being released for the 3DS very soon, naturally I jumped on the opportunity to have a hands on demo with Nintendo during one of their open media events in Sydney.
After meeting up with other members of the Capsule Computers Crew, being greeted at the door and offered food and beverages, Claire, Josh and myself all made a beeline straight for a small table outfitted with 4 3DS consoles, and what appeared to be a full version of Mario Kart 7 ready to jump straight into. Multiplayer was restricted until after the formal presentation, so we each got started on a single player campaign in Grand Prix mode.
While beginning the game, I noticed that the menu, level and option selection were all highly reminiscent of Mario Kart DS, the previous handheld instalment. After selecting Luigi as my primary racer, I was introduced to the Kart selection screen. This is where things began to get innovative. Rather than just plonk the player down with a kart selection screen, as has been done since Mario Kart Double Dash, the newly developed kart selection screen offers a degree of customisation to suit the player’s racing style. After choosing a kart, each with different stats that might favour top speed, acceleration or handling, the player may also make a choice of the type of tyre the wish to race with, as well as the type of hang-glider for the aerial sections. This feature is great for players who want to fine tune their racing style for their chosen character. Who said Bowser can’t have good acceleration?
Like Mario Kart DS, the game features eight 4-track Grand Prix circuits. That makes 32 tacks altogether. 16 brand new for Mario Kart 7, and 16 recreated tracks from the 6 older games. However when starting out, only 2 are available: The Mushroom Cup and the Shell Cup. Selecting the Shell Cup to begin with on 100cc, I was eager to see what kind of other innovations were in store. To start off with, I moved my left hand down to the D-Pad to control the steering. When I pressed up on D-pad Left however, I discovered something very interesting. The camera switched to first person mode. Not only that, but I also discovered that, like in Starfox 64 3DS, the Gyro controls were also active. I was literally steering Luigi’s kart with the 3DS. And it actually worked pretty well! The disappointment in Starfox was the gyro controls really didn’t help augment the gameplay experience, but with Mario Kart 7, it really works well. Again, I found myself reminiscing, this time about motion control and its use in Mario Kart Wii. I could already see that the development team was clearing trying to take the successful innovation of previous titles and bring them together here.
In our time playing, we were also introduced to new items, including the almighty fire flower, which, as you may have guessed already, allows the player to fire a multitude of fireballs. We were also surprised to see the Leaf, which gave the player’s kart racoon tail and ears, allowing them to swipe at other karts, as well as obstacles, knocking them away. The inclusion of the Racoon powers was explained to have tied in with the resurrection of the Tanooki suit in Super Mario Land 3DS. Both, functionally, give the player the same abilities (though there is no jumping power associated in Mario Kart 7). We also saw the return of several keystone items, such as the lightning bolt, the mushrooms, the star and that EVER irritating blue shell. However, none of us were yet lucky enough to obtain the ‘Lucky 7’ item. This was explained to us in the presentation that this item would only be found very rarely during a race. Essentially it provides the racer with 7 different items all at once, spinning around them in a similar fashion to the triple green/red shells. In the lucky 7 bundle, the racer receives a green shell, red shell, mushroom, banana, blooper, bob-omb and star to be used in the order the player chooses. Whichever item is in front of the player during the cycle is the one that is used.
We also had the opportunity to engage in some multiplayer once the presentation was over. Like Mario Kart DS, it features a local wifi connection that allows players to connect and play with other 3DS players, regardless of whether or not they own the game. However, Mario Kart 7 also implemented an online race feature, which allows players, who are in range of a wifi access point, to take their racing campaign online against players around the world! This has been the first handheld version of the game to allow online connectivity. (The first ever being Mario Kart Wii). Naturally, the multiplayer functionality offers a much greater challenge than single player, but the game still feels all the richer for it. It is still a great game in both multiplayer and single player facets.
Mario Kart 7 is currently scheduled for release over the span of 4 days:
December 1st: Japan December 2nd: Europe December 3rd: Australia and New Zealand December 4th: The US and Canada
Are you stressed to the point that you are breaking out with anxiety induced eczema? You’re not alone. In a noble attempt to fight anxiety based eczema world wide, Nicolas Cage, the official poster boy of everything, has offered up his iconic snarling face to help fight this epidemic of end of the world proportions (In cinemas 2012).
That is right Cagemen and Cagewomen you can now play with Nic Cage’s face whenever you are stressed or just want to gaze longingly into the face of your god father (What a twist!), you can do so now with this great simple browser based game called “Nic Cage’s Face”. Have some fun with Uncle Nic here. You can wiggle his face and even jiggle his face!
What do you think of Nic Cage’s Face? Does it calm you like your mother’s breast milk once did to you as an infant child? Let us know in the shoutbox and comments section.
In an effort to keep fans more knowledgeable about what anime titles are being released each week in North America we will begin a weekly article explaining what has been released that week. This week we have a few titles released and they are all new releases
First we have Coicent/Five Numbers! which is being released on Blu-ray and DVD separately by Sentai Filmworks. Coicent/Five Numbers! is a combo pack of two unrelated OVAs that each contain a story of their own. In Coicent, a 26th century field trip to a rebuilt 21st century city becomes a wild adventure for teenage Shinichi. First a talking deer steals his bag and then he runs into a strange girl running from pursuers. That is only the tip of the iceberg as these two young people try to find a chance for a new future.
In Five Numbers four people awake to find they have been placed in a prison, they are an ex-soldier, a beautiful woman, an average Joe and a young computer hacker. They have no idea why they are there or what relation they have with each other but one old man seems to know the answer. How can they escape this prison and save their own lives? This double pack will cost $29.98 on DVD and $39.98 for Blu-ray.
From FUNimation we have two releases this week. The first of which is Hetalia – Axis Powers Movie: Paint it, White! This is a stand alone movie featuring the characters from Hetalia as they try to work together (and fail usually) against an alien invasion trying to turn the whole world into white shapeless blobs! The DVD will cost $24.98 and you can check out our review for it here.
Now FUNimation’s other title is hotly anticipated for many viewers and especially shōnen fans. That is of course the first part release of the English dubbed Fairy Tail. In Fairy Tail we follow the journey of Natsu and Lucy, two Fairy Tail wizards in a world full of magic and danger. Part 1 of Fairy Tail will cost $54.98 and is being released as a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack and you can check out our review for it here.
According to Afterfall: InSanity’s Official Website, Amnesty International terminated its agreement with Nicolas Games because they believe the game to be too brutal. The organization claimed that the imagery expressed in the game did not go hand in hand with their ideology. This termination was administered before the end of the pre-order sales, thus affecting what company the donations would be given to.
The initial agreement between companies was that sales under 10 million pre-orders would be donated to charity (Amnesty International). If pre-order sales reached over 10 million, then sales would be split 50/50. Players would spend $1 on the pre-order and commit to paying an additional $33.90 if sales were not reached.
Since Amnesty International does not want to associate with this brutal game, players that took part in the pre-order sales will be able to choose a charity. This will be administered during the last week of the pre-orders by a poll via email.
Nicolas Games informed AI that the game was a mature title and only for people 18 years and older. Having done a preview for this title, I can admit first hand that the game is indeed brutal. However, this aspect should make any normal gamer want to discover the game further.
Those looking for a new action horror title for the PC should look no further than Nicolas Games’ Afterfall: InSanity, especially after they catch a glimpse of the below trailer which was released a few days ago. The trailer itself is named “Enviro” and in it we bare witness to a world devastated by a nuclear fallout, where players must venture through a destroyed city and try to survive the horrors that exist within.
Besides the visuals, the trailer is also a treat for the ears as viewers will be able to listen to some dramatic music that was written by Portuguese composer Pedro Macedo Comacho. If you are a fan of the soundtrack then we have some good news for you as well, because regardless of whether or not Nicolas Games’ Afterfall: InSanity hits the ten million pre-order mark, anyone who does pre-order will receive the soundtrack free as a gift. You better pre-order fast however, as Afterfall: InSanity is set to be released on November 25th. Those unsure about the title can read our preview here.
