It’s attack of the Josh’s this week with both Josh Spudic and Josh Moris sitting in, we talk about Battlefield 3, Mass Effect Multiplayer, the insanity of Phoenix Wright in Ultimate Marvel VS Capcom 3 and get into our game mashups.
Cast: Alexis Ayala, Matt Vella, Joshua Moris and Joshua Spudic
With the shutting of so many Australian studios, is the entire industry within this country slowly disappearing despite booming numbers of gamers lining up for the next major game release. The past 10 years has been a trying time for Aussie developers with seven major studios closing their doors in the last 6 years, the most recent being Brisbane based KMM studios. Speaking to the ABC, the studios art director Jason Stark sees bleak times ahead and blames the high Australian dollar in addition to tax breaks for overseas developers and a decline in “middle ground” games as the main reasons. “We’ve all expected the industry to be shrinking – it’s been bad times. It’s gone from being a mild contraction to being pretty much obliterated.”
For those wondering why the Australian dollar has such an impact, the main reason as stated by Stark is that overseas publishers are finding it unprofitable to fund developers in Australia. He goes on to note that 10 years ago things were very different as the dollar was around 50c US, meaning Australian developers could make the same games as Us developers with half the budget. You can only imagine how publishers would have flocked to Australian shores in the same manner they are now migrating to Canada, of which the Government subsidises 35% of a studios payroll.
Looking into the future Stark notes that even if times become good again “we are not going to have enough experienced people here to start the companies. He uses a fellow colleague as an example, clearly a talented environment artist from a redundant company, he has had offers from Bioware and others but refusing to leave his family will be have to be content fixing PC’s . This is a massive loss of talent and experience and would be far from an isolated case.
While Stark believes the days of large Australian developers like Team Bondi are gone at least for the time being, he sees a glimpse of hope within the mobile gaming market. He even claims to have plans for a small mobile gaming studio of his own, not wanting to leave Australia.
So while all our studios are closing and our talent moving overseas, our enthusiasm for gaming and access to gaming consoles whether they be home based or mobile is increasing. We are flocking to gaming expos in unprecedented numbers and still our industry is suffering. Is it time for our government to step in and offer some assistance to our hard working and innovative Australian game companies or should we simply let them crumble, let us know what you think of the situation.
Dead Rising 2: Off the Record has been released and for those of you who want an extra hand, there’s some great DLC on the way. There’s the Cyborg Skills Pack that sounds pretty awesome because it turns Frank West into a literal zombie-killing machine. Cyborg Frank can electrify enemies with every strike and has some sick indestructible body enhancements and inhuman brute force. This sounds like a totally kickass way to make your way through the zombie hordes, not to mention fun.
The Cyborg Skills Pack will be available on Xbox 360 and PC on October 25 and PS3 on October 26 in Europe, no release date has been announced for the US yet. The skills pack will cost 160 Microsoft Points or $2.
In a move towards combating internet piracy, many countries from around the globe including USA, Australia, NZ, Singapore, Canada and Japan have signed the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. While the European Union, Mexico and Switzerland declined to sign the deal at a ceremony in Japan they stated they were in full support of the agreement and would sign when they saw practical.
“As with many of the challenges we face in today’s global economy, no government can single-handedly eliminate the problem of global counterfeiting and piracy. Signing this agreement is therefore an act of shared leadership and determination in the international fight against intellectual property theft,” said Mariam Sapiro, deputy United States trade representative.
The deal has been more than 3 years in the making and forces upon agreeing nations an intellectual property enforcement regime resembling that already in place in the US. Rashmi Rangnath, a staff attorney with Public Knowledge in Washington believes the deal to be nothing more than an attempt from the US to force their laws on other countries. While this is true to form of the mighty US, in their defence the internet is a global phenomena and without the help of the rest of the world their efforts to combat piracy would be a waste of energy.
On a very interesting note, the agreement calls for all governments who have signed to make it illegal to market any devices that circumvent copyright protection such as DVD software that breaks encryption or almost anything marketed by Team Xecuter, Maximus or anyone marketing Xbox 360 flashing tools. A quick Google search for these products brings up a whole host of resellers from eBay through to small franchises probably selling out of their garages. What this new agreement means for the legality of what these sellers offer, well only time will tell.
It’s no surprise that the accord does not require Congressional approval or that it requires participating nations to enforce extensive seize and forfeiture laws for counterfeit goods. Countries must also provide affected parties with a system that provides monetary damages. Despite the fact that amendments have been made to remove parts of the agreement allowing ISP to disconnect repeat offenders, private deals between ISP and content providers have continued to take action against pirates utilising their bandwidth.
Whether this agreement will have any impact on piracy will only be seen after it has been in implementation for quite some time. Unless they have the agreement of almost every country I personally believe it leaves the gate wide open for any would be host of pirated material to simply move their domain and site to a country that has no laws to the contrary. Already as it stands the largest and most widely used torrent site of them all, the infamous Piratebay is protected under Swiss law, especially as they haven’t signed the agreement. There’s just no point arresting one downloader and not bothering with the source or any of the other million users.
Today Tzai Entertainment released Backflow, a new iOS puzzle/action game, which is about exactly what it sounds like. You are in control of the underground pipes as they funnel waste through a network of pipes to their proper destinations. And when I say ‘waste’ I mean waste. Because God knows you don’t want certain things to go to a recycling plant that is meant to go to the sewer.
Backflow was a finalist in the Independent Games Festival (2008) Mobile for Innovation in Mobile Game Design category and IGF Mobile Best Game. There are up to 25 levels of gameplay and, as we all love, a real environmental message behind it all.
Dragon Ball Z: Dragon Box Volume 7 Studio: Toei Animation Publisher: FUNimation Languages: Japanese, English Release Date: October 11, 2011 Price: $59.98 – Available Here
Overview:
There has always been one piece of merchandise which has alluded fans of Dragon Ball Z in North America. It has been heralded as something that no Dragon Ball Z fan should be without, and it has now finally made its way to North American shores courtesy of the hard work from people at FUNimation. What is this item you ask? Well it is the Dragon Ball Z Dragon Box and with Dragon Box 7 the entire set has been released. How does Dragon Ball Z Dragon Box 7 look you ask? Let’s find out.
Story:
This DVD box set contains forty episodes spanning from episode 251 to the final 291. The story picks up where it left off from Dragon Box 6, in the middle of the Majin Boo saga. We join in with the series as Trunks and Son Goten have finally perfected the difficult fusion maneuver and joined together to become the extremely powerful fighter Gotenks, but perhaps one still too arrogant to take on the big pink Majin Boo.
But don’t think that Earth is without a savior yet. Mr. Satan has decided to try and bring Majin Boo to a stop himself, but through some strange twist of fate they end up living together and strangely enough striking up a touching friendship until a horrible twist of fate changes the Majin Boo forever, splitting him into a new form that is not only more powerful but far more evil than anyone could possibly imagine.
The newly powered up skinny Boo has tracked down the hiding Z Fighters before Son Goten and Trunks were ready to face him and they must do battle against this fearsome foe on their own for all they know is that they are the only ones that have any chance at defeating this horrible creature. While a great ways off, Son Gohan is still being powered up by Elderly Kaioshin and the still dead Son Goku can do nothing can do nothing but sit and watch as his friends and family are left to struggle on their own. Can Gotenks defeat this new Boo on their own? Or must they simply last long enough for a thought lost ally to show up and save the day?
Now the storyline of the Majin Boo saga doesn’t break any new ground in this DVD set as the events still unfold the same as we remember from our childhoods. The good thing about this is that there is no reason or anything to be changed and we can see the final saga of the most powerful fighters in the Dragon Ball world take on the ever changing Majin Boo in a desperate attempt to save the world and end this evil creature’s reign of terror. The ending of the series is still as final as we remember; though leaving the potential open for a possible sequel that unfortunately never truly came.
Artwork:
Something that many can remember, is the fact that the Dragon Ball Z series we saw as children never did seem quite as violent as we thought. The reason for this was due to relatively heavy censorship, but thankfully that is all over as every episode contained in Dragon Box 7 is completely uncensored and uncut, making for a full experience unlike some of us have ever had before.
The visuals still look the same as we remember, but being that they are on DVD format and a tad bit old, the series does not look very crisp. But Dragon Ball Z is still a pinnacle of artistic accomplishment even when most of these episodes originally aired in Japan over sixteen years ago.
Audio & Subtitles:
Now the interesting thing with this release of Dragon Ball Z, is that while the Dragon Box contains both the English and Japanese audio tracks, the Japanese audio is actually what is being highlighted here. The reason for this is that no matter what player you happen to place the DVD in, the first audio which will be playing is the Japanese track with English subtitles.
This is of course up to the choice of the viewer, but the Japanese dub is absolutely perfect. The English subtitles use the original names of all of the characters, meaning rather than seeing Krillin you will be seeing Kuririn, or instead of Hercule you’ll be reading Mr. Satan. This is obviously a highlight for purists, as those who prefer the English audio will instead be treated to the English versions of the names with no changes whatsoever.
Extras:
Now while the last forty episodes of the series spanning across six DVDs are of course what most people may be picking up Dragon Box 7 for, the actual highlight here is the hardcover book that is included in the case. Now before I get to that, it is worth mentioning that there are no DVD extras in any form, meaning there are no interviews with the cast nor special promo material of any kind which is a bit disappointing.
But beyond that, Dragon Box 7 comes in a hardcover collectible slip case with the two DVD cases that on the side show what appears to be the child version of Gohan’s arm and body which means if you line this up on your bookshelf alongside the rest of the Dragon Boxes you will finally have a completed picture. The DVDs each contain a main character’s face on them: including Gotenks, Evil Boo, Vegeto, Kid Boo, Goku and Oob.
Now on to that Dragonbook. The Dragonbook is hardcover with Super Saiyan Goku on the front and Kid Boo on the back. Now the interesting thing with the Dragonbook is that the book opens and reads from the right to the left which mimics the Japanese version perfectly as that is similar to how books are read in Japan. Now the content inside this book is fully colored, contains interesting information as well as artwork.
The bulk of the content in the Dragonbook are episode summaries which provide a brief look at each episode and provides a rough summary of it. There are also small bits of information included with each episode such as the original air date and the occasional Close Up! Which examines something specific from an episode. Besides these summaries there is also a design works collection to view some sketches of the characters shown in Dragon Box 7 as well as a profile of the Goku family, an ultimate character relationship chart, a couples championship which rates each Dragon Ball Z couple and a recollection of all of Son Goku’s power ups making the Dragonbook perhaps the biggest plus of picking up Dragon Book 7.
Overall:
Dragon Ball Z: Dragon Box 7 is the ultimate finale to the ultimate collection for any Dragon Ball Z fan. The series concludes with this set and the battles we see in this collection of forty episodes are as impactful as any in the series. The inclusion of both English and Japanese audio provides an experience that not only will be great for purists and lovers of the series, but also newcomers who may not appreciate reading the subtitles.
There are a ton of episodes here with over a thousand minutes of Dragon Ball Z to watch and the price tag for this massive collection is quite cheap in comparison to the amount of content purchased. Now although there are no extra bonuses with this package on the DVDs themselves, the Dragonbook is perhaps the best accompaniment you can ask for.
For One Piece fans, there is little debate over which of the One Piece movies is the best. That movie is One Piece: Strong World, the only canon movie in the series, which actually is considered a part of the true One Piece mythology.
Fans would know that a huge part of what made that movie so good was it’s villain, Shiki the Golden Lion. Well, those Shiki fans out there will be pleased to know that he will be a playable character in the hotly anticipated One Piece: Gigant Battle 2 New World.
What are your thoughts on Shiki being playable in One Piece: Gigant Battle 2 New World? Let us know what you think in the shoutbox and comments section.
Like being excited for a game? I know you do! That’s why I would like to share some new Centipede: Infestation screenshots. Showing off weapons and the co-op gameplay, WayForward is bringing the hype for this point and click shooter. Additionally, you get to see defensive units as well as acquirable power-ups. The game is quickly coming to fruition and will find its way into my grasp – centipedes and all!
Any pyromaniacs out there? Well, make sure you check out the player torching up beetles in one of the pictures below.
And if that’s not enough to get your jollies going, click (HERE) for Centipede: Infestation‘s official website.
What has hover jets, speeder bikes, laser tanks, and one hell-of-a flying aircraft carrier? No, I’m not talking about spies, Special Ops, or the military. This is Special Tactical Anti Gang unit, the guys in charge of enforcing the law on the Third Street Saints. It’s STAGs job to keep the Syndicate and the Saints from destroying the city and killing everyone. It’s a hell of a job, and they’ve got a hell of an array backing them up, but is it really enough?
See STAG in action in the new Saints Row: The Third trailer called (and rightfully so) Shock and Awesome.
In the below trailer you’ll see that even with all that gear, STAG is gonna need some definite help if they’re ever gonna have some semblance of control.
Saints Row: The Third is set for release on November 15, 2011 on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.
Hulk Hogan may be in the midst of a boiling feud with Sting in TNA, but Majesco and the Hulkster were recently spotted at the NASDAQ Closing Bell Ceremony in honor of the launch of Majesco Entertainment’s Hulk Hogan’s Main Event, which of course is the first ever wrestling title to utilize the motion based Kinect system.
“We are proud to have been able to celebrate the launch of our game ‘Hulk Hogan’s Main Event’ by having the one-and-only Hulk Hogan himself ring the NASDAQ Closing Bell,” said Jesse Sutton, CEO of Majesco Entertainment. “We are committed to bringing well-known brands to market as fun and dynamic games that span all platforms, from gaming consoles that provide a new element of full-body interactivity like the Kinect for Xbox 360, to online, social and mobile mediums as well.
As many of you know by now, Hulk Hogan’s Main Event is in stores everywhere as of last Tuesday. Check out the full presentation below and go support the Hulkster and Majesco by picking up a copy today!
