Over the past few months there has been quite a big hullabaloo going on between Zenimax (Bethesda’s parent company) and Mojang over the name of Mojang’s game, Scrolls. Notch who owns Mojang has developed the wildly addictive Minecraft announced on his Twitter earlier today that he had won an interim injunction that allowed him to currently keep using the name Scrolls.
Zenimax can appeal this decision to continue moving forward with the lawsuit. This interim injunction victory simply allows Notch to continue using the Scrolls name for his upcoming game without having to change anything until the final ruling on the case is made. The lawsuit originated from Zenimax saying that the name Scrolls could be affiliated by some with The Elder Scrolls series and they had to take action to protect their trademark.
If there is one thing that Gran Turismo fans know, it is the fact that the series cannot nail down a release date to save its life. It seems that Polyphony Digital has decided to keep with tradition and have unfortunately delayed the first piece of DLC for Gran Turismo 5. Rather than hitting the original release date of October 18th, it has been delayed in October 25th in North America.
The DLC will be able to be bought in chunks if you don’t feel like dropping $11.99 on the whole bundle but Sony still has apologized on their Twitter account for the delay, despite not providing an exact reason for why this DLC was delayed. Still, they have promised that there will be a “special bonus” piece of content now placed in the content.
It seems that the newest way to assure fan loyalty is to offer a Season Pass of some sort that allows them to pay one lump sum to access all future DLC free of charge. L.A. Noire was the first game to use this type of pass while Gears of War 3 was the most recent. But it seems that the next game to be getting a Season Pass will be Uncharted 3 in the form of the Fortune Hunter’s Club.
Announced on the PlayStation Blog, players will spend $24.99 and will allow them to download four of the seven upcoming DLC packages, three skin packs as well as a Fortune Hunter’s Club theme free for your PlayStation 3. The savings are around 45% off if you purchase everything separately, so it is quite a decent deal, though it is a bit sad to know that all the DLC will only be multiplayer based.
I bought my Xbox 360 way back in 2007, when the largest hard drive available was 20 GB (Yeah I went the Pro option over Core and Arcade). So the 20 GB Hard drive now seems laughable by today’s standards with the vast amounts digital content booming out there on the market today. Well to sort out this problem Microsoft is launching a massive 320 GB Hard Drive for the Xbox 360 later this month.
This is the largest hard drive for the Xbox 360 to date and was only obtainable if you boughta special edition Xbox 360 console. This is no longer case thankfully and as an added bonus anyone that purchases a 320 GB Hard Drive will receive a download code for LucasArts’ LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars.
The Xbox 360 320 GB Hard Drive is compatible with all Xbox 360 S models and will be available in late October for UD$129.99
A little known fact to non-Sims fans/players, The Sims games feature a wide range of real life songs re-recorded in Simlish – The Sims’ official language. In the past artists such as Paramore, Barenaked Ladies, Natasha Bedingfield, Lily Allen and Katy Perry have all had simlish versions of their songs featured in a Sims game.
And in the latest expansion pack for The Sims 3 and latest console spin-off ‘The Sims 3 Pets’ is no different. New Zealand singer-songwriter Kimbra has been announced as an ambassador for the game (You may know her from the hugely successful Gotye song “Somebody That I Used to Know”), and a simlish version of her song “Good Intent” will feature in the game.
The Sims 3 Pets is set to be released in Australia tomorrow and in New Zealand a day later on October 21st.
Here at Capsule Computers we were lucky enough to shoot off some questions to Sims 3 Pets Producer, Ryan Vaughan who took time out of his schedule of making awesome, addictive games to answer questions about horses, his opinion, and what we can expect in the very soon to be released Sims 3 Pets.
1. Were you one of those kids that wanted to have a horse?
I’ve always loved horses, but never really had space to have one of my own growing up. But, I do have family in Iowa and they owed horses. Every time we’d go back to see them I’d get a chance to go for a ride on a horse and that was always the highlight of my trip. My cousins would show me how to ride properly. It was a blast!
2. Speaking as one of those kids who wanted to have a horse, will you need to have a large lot size to own a horse? Or will those smaller family homes be able to own a horse as well?
Luckily for your Sims, the size of your lot will not prevent you from having a horse. It’s important to make sure you have enough room to place a Box Stall so you can properly care for them, but horses don’t need to be on your lot to fulfill their exercise motive. Running throughout the world or even practicing their racing or jumping skills at the new equestrian training venue will make them quite happy.
3. On the same note, will the horses be as expensive to upkeep as they are in reality?
Making sure your horses are well fed and taken care of is important, and it will come at a cost to you, but it certainly won’t prevent anyone from owning a horse that really wants one. Also, owning a horse can be very financially lucrative to you. It can even offset the cost of caring for a horse! Winning equestrian competitions or even using Box Stall fertilizer on your garden to grow high-quality produce can generate many Simoleons for your household.
4. Do you have your own horse prototype that you worked with in development that you’re attached to?
I worked a lot with a horse I created in-game that I named Firecracker. She was an Appaloosa that just loved to run and race. I was quite sad one day when we updated our development build and I lost my save games, but it was a great chance to start over and dive in to the really powerful tools in Create a Pet to try to rebuild her.
5. Do you think horses are the superior pet? Why or why not? (It’s okay, you can be honest)
The great thing about pets is that everyone has their favorite kind, and they always seem to really, really love that pet. Horses are a great addition to The Sims 3 and provide a lot of really cool new ways to play the game. I personally like to consider myself a dog person at heart and would have a hard time saying that horses are better! Cats, dogs and horses all provide really unique and fun new experiences for players, and it’s really up to your personal preference as to which you think is more fun to play with.
6. What was the thought behind bringing horses to The Sims? Was it simply the fans demand or was there another deciding factor?
We brought horses to The Sims 3 Pets for a few different reasons, and one of them was certainly because we knew players wanted them. They’ve been asking for them since The Sims! We also wanted to add a pet that would work well with The Sims 3’s huge open worlds, and what better animal than one which loves to run?
7. So, Unicorns. Awesome. Did you guys decide to add them in after having the design down for horses and decided to take it to the next step?
Horses in The Sims 3 Pets are a feature that has never been done before – in any Sims game ever – and we wanted to make sure players got the most out of them. When we started designing what the occult creature would be, we thought unicorns would be a great extension of horses, and it fit in well with the overall focus of the expansion pack. But make no mistake, unicorns are not horses! With a lot of really cool magical features – like the ability to spontaneously ignite random objects – they’re tons of fun to play with. That is, if you get lucky enough to catch one!
8. Is there a limit of unicorns per map? Or do they procreate somewhere over the rainbow and continue to appear at random?
There’s no limit to how many appear, and it will be different every time you play. But, if you get lucky enough to convince a unicorn to join your household, you can try and breed one with a horse with the chance of creating a baby unicorn!
9. Were there any points in development when you cursed the entire concept and wanted to scratch horses off the list of pets entirely?
Not really, but there were tons of times when they looked and behaved so funny that we wondered if we’d ever be able to get them working correctly! Luckily we did, and they’re really a lot of fun to play with.
10. Is there any possibility of horses falling in love and having families? Or are they mysteriously asexual with foals appearing when wanted?
As with cats and dogs, you can breed your horses to create foals. So yes, they can definitely fall in love and have families. Breeding can actually be quite fun too, as the game uses the same The Sims 3 genetics technology to pick specific traits from the mother and father to create a whole new breed.
11. Do the horses ever come down with an illness that will lead to a depressing visit to the vet and possible loss of a horse?
They’ll never get really sick, but make sure to keep their box stalls clean! They don’t appreciate stinky surroundings.
12. Are there any career paths related to horses?
There are no formal jobs or careers for horses, but there are the brand new racing and jumping skills for horses and the riding skill for Sims. The higher you build the three of these skills, the better you’ll do when competing in equestrian competitions at the brand new Equestrian Center which can earn you a lot of money!
13. Do you think that the horses will render cars useless in The Sims 3 Pets because you can’t create cars with personalities and they just aren’t as cute?
Horses are fun to ride and are indeed a great form of transportation, but cars are still useful when you need to transport toddlers or other small pets.
So there you have it folks. A day away from release and I feel like it’s still too far away. Thank you again to Ryan Vaughan, it was fun to pick your brain and fuel the fire to my own Sims mania. I mean, baby unicorns? Come on, how freaking awesome is that?
The Sims 3 Pets comes out on PC/Mac, Xbox 360, PS3 and 3DS on October 20. We’ll also have a review on the game after it comes out, so keep an eye out!
PC gamers can start an official countdown to the release of Arkham City – the rather vague ‘November’ release date has been officially updated to November 15 for North America and November 18 for the UK. These dates are exactly one month after the console release dates, so it’s fairly safe to assume that Australia will see the PC version on November 19 – or a few days before, you never know!
And that broken console release date in Australia has had it’s consequences – gamers who picked up the game early were unable to access the content locked away behind online codes – having to wait until the official release date arrived to be able to access all the content they had paid for.
And to add to that, some gamers are having no luck accessing the Catwoman content of the game even after the official release date has come and gone. After controversially announcing that it would only be accesible via an online pass, some brand new retail copies are being delivered with mixed up codes (2 for Joker content, none for Catwoman), or a blank space where the code should be.
Over on the Arkham City official forums some users are even reporting that online retailers are requesting the entire order to be shipped back so that another can be sent out with the code included. Some Xbox 360 owners are having issues with ‘corrupt DLC’. Happy gamers this does not make. Warner Bros are at least aware of the Catwoman problem, and as you can see from the Tweet above, are working on a fix.
I didn’t think it was possible, but online pass codes just got even more unpopular!
Producer of Trendy Entertainment, Mark Singer talks about the different types of gameplay that a player can experience while playing Dungeon Defenders. You can even further your character’s growth on the main campaign by performing a number of challenges in each level. I mean seriously… who wouldn’t want to help a giant ogre as part of a challenge? Letting him die wouldn’t be fun – or would it? And by increasing the difficulty can prove to be deadly and/or very rewarding.
Adding more interesting twists to the online RPG, there will be a PVP mode for anyone daring enough to test their builds against players across the world. Survival and gauntlet matches will also be available.
The official launch of Dungeon Defenders has begun, so check the game out on the Playstation Network today or grab the game for Xbox or PC tomorrow!
Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken Developer: Ratloop Asia Publisher: Ratloop Asia Platform Playstation 3 (PSN) Release: October 18 Price: US$11.99
Now, when I had heard that there will be a game where a rebellious chicken uses weapons to try and take down a government led by penguins, I have to admit my curiosity was quite high. It was an interesting and intriguing concept. Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken is the end product. After such intrigue, I guess I had some expectations. Unfortunately, it did not rise to the expectations I had set it. It is by no means a bad game; it does provide entertainment if it is played in short bursts. However, there are sections of tedious gameplay, the story is overly clichéd with Hardboiled Chicken very one-dimensional, the visuals take a rather bland look and the music seems to be tacked on rather than complementing the story.
Story and Characters
The story follows the titular character Hardboiled Chicken as he returns to Albatropolis. However, it has been overrun with a mass penguin army lead by a tyrannical penguin. He has beef with this particular society, which is revealed during the game. After his capture by this government, he is put through torture and cloned for their own personal use. However, a cardinal offers freedom and a mission: kill the head penguin. To separate the events of the game, it is told in small chapters, although it does not add to the story.
The problem with the story is that it takes the clichés of other action stories and pastes it over a barrage of penguins, cardinals and a rebellious chicken. It doesn’t take a new direction or provide something different despite the interesting concoction of penguins and chickens. The story follows the classic assassination plot very closely, but it is told in an uninspiring way. Back story is played through flashbacks but it backfires as it breaks the flow of the present day and doesn’t truly add anything important other than the fact that he had a troubled past.
Hardboiled Chicken, the main character of this game, could have been further developed. Instead of being a well-rounded character, he is degraded to an overly clichéd action hero who has a troubled past. This has been seen time and time again and it will tire the player. His demeanour and clothing does not help his cause. Although it fits his character as a rebel, it still feels old and used. One can not connect with the struggles of this chicken. The other characteristic that is bothersome is the fact he is portrayed as vilified himself despite his cause. This will alienate the player unless they are into the ultra-violent hero, as long as he sticks to the right morals.
With a broken up pace and an over reliance of the clichés, it is hard to sympathise with the character and connect with the story. It is not a hard follow, but more effort could have been put in to create a thrilling tale of revenge and redemption.
Gameplay
The gameplay involves four main actions: run, jump, shoot and puzzle solving. Our rebellious hero travels on one screen, running to the other side in order to progress. More often than not the hero will encounter militarised penguins, hopelessly following their ruthless leader. The controls are quite simple although they are somewhat questionable.
With the mechanics of the game revolving around a few simple manoeuvres, the game falls into a state of tedious errands rather than being an enjoyable experience. At first, that is what the player will experience. However, as the player will often rinse and repeat, it is unfortunate that it takes this turn. It could have been a better experience. There are long corridors filled with nothing and puzzles that seems too tiring to solve.
The game features an array of weapons. Instead of each weapon having their own ammunition supply, Hardboiled Chicken has his own bar (coloured yellow) that is shared amongst his arsenal. This is somewhat a problem due to the fact that the weaponry may take a chunk out of that bar, leaving the player somewhat stranded. To counter balance this, the enemies drop small amount of ammunition as well as providing ammunition boxes throughout the game. Health packs are available as well. Grenades make an appearance as well as Brain Bugs, small bugs which have the power to control penguins. Sometimes it is required to use them as some puzzles rely on others to complete.
What could have been a redeeming factor for this game are the jetpack sections of the game. As a Rocketbird, Hardboiled Chicken had numerous experiences with the jetpack since the early days of penguin occupation. These sections of the game do redeem the game somewhat as they are not bad. Using a machine gun, Hardboiled Chicken guns down various penguins equipped with different weapons. The freedom of flying gives the game a break from its 2D platforming and offers something else for the player. However, do not expect some form of complex strategy as it is more of an arcade experience. Still, it is thrilling to shoot down flying penguins, something that is lacking to an extent in the rest of the gameplay.
The game does offer multiplayer in the form of a co-op mode, where players control budgies to save the general’s daughter. Since this section of the game has not been thoroughly looked at (due to a lack of a playing partner), it shall not be commented in the review. In saying that, the single player components vary, depending on what section of the game one is encountering. Despite the promise, the gameplay will unfortunately descend into a tedious grind. The aerial dogfights are a refreshing sight as it does offer variety in the game.
Visuals
All of the game’s visuals are not poorly done, but it seems that they decide to follow the current trend of creating a majority of their landscape somewhat dark in tone. Of course, most of the setting resides in areas of darkness, such as air vents and a prison. Despite this, it may have worked in their favour. Considering that, in the context of the game, the use of darker areas brings out the dreary conditions of Albatropolis, no thanks to our penguin leader.
The character models are actually designed as cut outs placed in different buildings and areas. The environments are rendered in 3D while our characters are in 2D. This is quite interesting. One can say it looks similar to Paper Mario, only a little darker. The jetpack levels are the only bright spots in the game, as they are set in the sky. Mostly because of the time of day these are set in. They do not follow the cut out style that is present in the 2D platforming areas.
The cutscenes do not follow the in-game visuals and employ their own visual style. It looks like as if someone has drawn a sketch, coloured it and animated it. It is professional looking and does look quite good. However, it suffers from a lack of colour. It relies heavily on white, with red hinted in there. It is something that does not look that appealing. However, it does fit with the overall tone of the game.
Music
As the game neared release, one of the focal points was the music of the game. It has been performed by indie band New World Revolution. Their music plays during cutscenes and during gameplay. To be perfectly honest, the context of the game seems to be out of line with the music. It feels like they decided to tack on the music instead of creating a soundtrack where it could emphasise the emotion Hardboiled Chicken had went and is going through. It does not feel natural to the world. Because of this, the story further suffers from a lack of engagement of the player. This is not an attack on the band or their music, as it is somewhat enjoyable, but they could have worked on a better soundtrack that fits the game.
There is also voice acting in the game. During gameplay, it is mostly mumbling as a speech bubble pops up, displaying the message. These sorts of conversations are quite long and unskippable if it is a conversation which moves the story forward. The in-game cutscenes are spoken in English. As to continue his one-dimensional character, Hardboiled Chicken employs a deep voice of a biker. Surprisingly, the head of the penguin government, who goes by the name of Putzin, offers a different personality. Instead of being a brutal leader, he is in fact a little comedic, if somewhat a crybaby. He second has a voice that matches his role, that of a strong bodyguard.
Overall
Despite what I have said, this is not a terrible game. However, it is not an excellent game. It is good in short burst but longer gameplay times might make the player’s enjoyment decrease. The problems lie in the reliance of simplistic mechanics, a story which will not engage well with the player, tones that are too familiar to the current visual trend and music which feels like it has been tacked on. However, players will enjoy the aerial dogfights due to how different it is and will welcome the option of multiplayer. This is a game where trying out the demo would be a good idea.
I’m sure you are all familiar with Tetris. The idea is to construct blocks into the shape of a wall to break them. Nintendo are certainly breaking walls with their latest edition to the Tetris name, “Tetris”. Simple and to the point, Tetris for the Nintendo 3DS will feature over 20 fun-filled game modes with a rich mix of both traditional and never before seen ways to play Tetris. Featured game modes include Marathon, Computer Battle, Fever and Survival. But for those of you who like a little bit more sociability in their gaming, Tetris includes party game modes such as: Stage Racer Plus, Shadow Wide, Jigsaw, Tower Climber, Capture, Fit, Bombliss, Sprint and Master Mode. Local multiplayer game modes, which can incorporate two to eight players include VS Battle, VS Stage Racer, VS Shadow Wide, VS Capture and Co-op Tower Climber. There is also the possibility to share the fun with download play game modes for two to eight players, in modes such as: Marathon with Everyone, Fever with Everyone and VS Battle. Let’s not forget the Nintendo Wi-Fi collection, which allows for four different varieties of world battle.
Making the best use out of the Nintendo 3DS, Tetris will feature SpotPass as a means of discovering new and exciting items to use in Fever. Furthermore, Tetris will be breaking down the fourth wall and extending into physical space with new Augmented Reality game modes: AR Marathon and AR Climber. As a huge fan of Tetris, I am nothing short of excited with the announcement of this game, due to be released 27/10/11.
