It just wouldn’t be a Nintendo handheld if the company didn’t consistently keep releasing new color varieties over the course of its lifetime. Despite the 3DS’ consistent under performance, Nintendo is releasing yet another color for the handheld, which is currently called ‘Ice White’ and like most would expect, is a white version of the 3DS.
At the moment the Ice White color has only been announced for Japan and will be released on November 3rd for ¥15,000, which is only a few weeks after the Misty Pink color that is meant to be released on October 20th. While the 3DS was only released with two colors at launch, does anyone feel like they’d want to pick one up now that it has a few more options available?
Undoubtedly made for a mature audience, Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken offers muther-cluckin humor for kids of all ages 18 and up. This is a story about a rebel cock named Hardboiled that has been caught up in a nasty battle with totalitarian penguins. With the general’s daughter kidnapped by the evil penguin regime, Hardboiled must destroy all that oppose him.
The co-op has its own 10 chapters to play through with six playable chickens that have their own unique weapons. I think that Chief, Esteban, Hawk, Hilga, Keets, and Mutt are all fitting names for commando chickens. See the opening co-op cinematic and screenshots below.
Stay tuned for the game’s October 18th release for the Playstation Network. Check out more information for Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken (HERE).
A Game of Thrones: Genesis Developer: Cyanide Studios Publisher: Focus Home Interactive Platform: PC Price: $29.96 (buy here) Release Date: September 29 2011
Overview:
Game of Thrones : Genesis has to contend with two things:
1. The popularity and complexity of the source material
The universe of a Song of Ice and Fire is a long, highly complex fantasy series. Fans of the novels have invested a lot of hours over thousands of pages and bear a great love for the sprawling world that author George R R Martin has created. The fifth book has just been released after a five year gap, and the recent HBO TV show pulled off the impossible by both pleasing fans and attracting newcomers.
2. The quality of its competitors
The PC strategy genre has (amongst others) the juggernauts of Civilisation and Total War to contend with, both of which have earned their status in over a decade of releases. Much like the Game of Thrones universe, these games are complex, packed full of detail and demand a great investment of time.
What was I doing before writing this review?Reading book number five. The first PC game I ever played?Civilisation.
Maybe that’s three. The same developers also have a Game of Thrones RPG in the works, so fingers crossed that things go well…
Gameplay:
Genesis is an unusual RTS in that combat and war are very much on the back burner. Instead the emphasis is on diplomacy and ‘underhand actions’, with spies, assassins, rogues and envoys the main players in the game. Eight houses from the ASOIAF universe feature (Tully, Stark, Targaryen, Tyrell, Lannister, Arryn, Martell and Baratheon) , and gameplay is divided into two modes – Campaign and House vs. House.
The focus is on gaining allies in the form of towns, ruins, septs, and gold mines. Each structure gained will expand your territory and increase the gold you earn – allowing for more units to be built and enemies to be strategically forced out of their lands. More often than not force will not come into play; you may have a few mercenary units and some guardsmen at the gates, but your spies, envoys, assassins and noble ladies will be the units winning the game. It’s a bold change that strays from RTS convention and stays true to the spirit of the books.
Envoys can convince a town to switch allegiances, but the envoy could be a turncoat, or perhaps the town has a secret agreement with an enemy spy. Noble ladies can cement allegiances with blood ties so that spies have no power, but they in turn can be assassinated. But what if the assassin is a turncoat? Then it will appear that she is dead, but the alliance will still stand until you uncover the treachery with your spy.
It sounds complicated, and it is to begin with. It’s also very good at making you utterly paranoid, to the point that I had spies doing a rotating check on every unit and structure that I held just to make sure I wasn’t being duped -very Game of Thrones! I don’t know if the snail like pace of the units was another attempt at echoing the page heavy books, but boy it takes forever for units to move across a map.
Combat is nowhere near as interesting, and runs on a simple rock paper scissors mechanism. Knights will beat archers, archers will beat men at arms, etc. Manoeuvring large forces in some sort of formation is pretty difficult and more often than not I ended up just flinging a heap of units at the enemy, keeping the archers to the rear – job done. There is a little detail to it but combat is definitely of secondary importance – genre fans after an in depth battle system should look elsewhere.
The gameplay ideas are solid, but the way they are utilised in the Campaign and House Vs House modes (multiplayer/skirmish) splits the game in two.
The campaign runs through the history of Westeros, and aims to have players experience events oft mentioned in the books but never fully explored (Nymeria’s landing in Dorne, Aegon Targaryen conquering the Seven Kingdoms etc.). Sadly the Game of Throne’s veneer is pretty thin, reducing characters that are considered legend in the books to irritable instruction givers. To give you an idea of how the campaign will run, here’s a run down of one particular mission…
Aegon Targaryen has just landed in Westeros, charging me with taking over more territory in his name. There is a Tully held castle in his sights but before I can assault it I have to take one of the enemy towns nearby, ensuring that I don’t stretch Targaryen forces too thin – perfectly sensible.
Examining the towns with my spy tells me that both have blood alliances – a noble lady has been married into them, making my envoys and spies completely useless. Time for some assassination! I pick a town and make sure my spy is scoping the place out for enemy units that might see my assassin and arrest him – all clear. I keep the spy dashing back and forth between territories to make sure he remains stealthed, waiting patiently for the assassin who seems to be moving at half his usual pace for no obvious reason. Eventually he makes it into the town with a good twenty seconds left on his stealth meter, he sneaks up to the noble lady…and is promptly arrested by guards who shouldn’t have been able to see him. Instead of being carried off to the enemy castle (from which I could have ransomed his release) he is trapped in the town. Hm.
I ditch the subtlety and take over a different town by setting my big ass dragon on it. One quick spray of purple flame and I have myself ‘Town’. Yay! I’ve got it! Now I get to smash the castle with the army that I’ve been buil- wait, no, the AI does it. WHAT?
The campaign is essentially a lengthy, slow tutorial. On the odd occasion it enjoys making no sense and has a habit of taking the best battles out of your hands. It does open up a little towards the end, but in all honesty I was struggling to make myself play it. And guess what – YOU CAN’T SAVE IN LEVEL. That’s right, in the Game of Thrones you win, or you lose all level progress.
Thankfully there is House vs House mode, and it saves Genesis from being a complete failure. Players can pick from a handful of scenarios set in various different locations, with anything from two to eight AI or player controlled houses competing. I would say that they compete for the Iron Throne, but in reality winning the game just gets you a ridiculous victory screen made up of a sepia fat bloke with a sword. Considering what a visual icon the throne is for the series I was a bit confused by the complete lack of it in game.
Victory is instead gained by amassing 100 Prestige Points, which can be won and lost in a multitude of ways. My favourite way to lose points? Leave your Great Lord unmarried and he’ll start having bastards – pale and frightened looking little boys that if discovered subtract 10 Prestige Points from your total.
Unlike in the campaign players can gain access to every unit from the word go, and half the fun is in figuring out what you can do with all the units on offer. A bar at the top of the screen keeps track of the peace level, and when this runs out it’s time to put the envoy’s away and get ready for war. Scoring the game and splitting it in two do wonders for the gameplay, which is freed from boring missions and puts all of the game’s features in the players hands. The peace time diplomacy and espionage are still far more interesting than the combat though, and once again: you can’t save your game.
Audio & Visual:
This is where GOTG falls flat on it’s face. Graphically it looks about five years old, with rough textures, blocky environments and drab colours. Load times are ridiculously long and lag is a problem. However it’s the bugginess and lack of detail that really hammer that last nail into the presentation coffin.
Units can’t move through obvious gaps in forest, yet can occasionally be found walking through mountains. Wiping out a unit can confusingly leave half of them still on the field, and completing missions in the campaign mode doesn’t actually guarantee that you complete the mission – I had to replay a few levels because the game didn’t register that I had won. Enemy units can get stuck outside their town if you take it over whilst they’re approaching, and checkpoints sometimes decide to be just for show. SOMEONE PLEASE PATCH THIS GAME.
Oh, and occasionally, this happens…
In the course of your adventure you can conquer such well known places as ‘Town’, ‘Ruin’, ‘Town’, and ‘Town’. Unless you’re playing the campaign then the Great Lord from every house looks and sounds exactly the same – a disgruntled, bearded old man. Despite the fact that every house has its own visually unique seat (one plus point at least), no one could be bothered to name them.
Winterfell is ‘Feudal Home’, along with the Eyrie, Casterly Rock, and all the rest. What is so hard about naming these structures? There are even campaign missions where the mission brief tells you to capture Harrenhal, but it’s still called Feudal Home! Some of the tutorial and mission text evidently still needs to be proofread, with archers ‘loosing’ their advantage in close combat and the minimap ‘on the right’- that would be the left, dear developers.
The voice acting is at least passable and has the usual fantasy obsession with UK accents. It’s quite funny to note the units from Great Lord to Peasant working their way down the class ladder in an English to Scottish/Irish fashion.
I don’t know what it was that ran out on Genesis – time, money, interest – but the Game of Thrones universe, and indeed any RTS game worth it’s salt, needs to be more polished than this. Low end graphics are forgivable, the rest is not.
Overall:
A muddled mish mash of good ideas and poor execution, Game of Thrones Genesis will be disappointing to fans of the series and of little consequence to fans of the genre. The diplomacy and espionage gameplay and House vs House mode redeem it somewhat, but ultimately the game in its current state is too buggy and too expensive. There’s no nice way of putting this – the Game of Thrones world is just too big for a small developer best known for Pro Cycling Manager.
If you must play it, wait for a patch and a price drop.
Has Sherlock Holmes finally cracked after years of pursuing and outsmarting Londons worst criminals, and delved into the seedier side of that which he knows best, deceit and murder. Or has the iconic detective been setup, left helpless and unable to prove his innocence. All shall be revealed eventually in Frogwares “The testament of Sherlock Holmes”, but for now we can enjoy the latest instalments of screenshots of Sherlock and Watson continuing their investigations.
When all the evidence is pointed firmly in your direction, sometimes the best option is to get as far away as possible. Leaving Scotland Yard and the territory he knows best, Sherlock disappears, convinced even his faithful friend Dr. Watson’s belief in him is vanishing. Enter you, taking control of the famous Holmes, utilising controls specifically designed for home console systems.
With a complex and adult orientated storyline, rich in complex puzzles that are both challenging and insightful, Sherlock Holmes will put a test on your powers of deduction and reasoning. Players will have to handle and inspect clues, re-enact crimes and utilise the games new deduction system to get to the bottom of Holmes deep mystery.
The Testament to Sherlock Holmes will be available early 2012 and will feature on PS3, XBOX 360 and PC platforms. Keep tuned to capsulecomputers.com.au for more mystery to unfold.
The Playstation Portable sported this feature, so it is natural that the Playstation Vita will have REmote Play. This feature will allow players to play Playstation 3 games on their Vita via connecting to that Playstation 3. This was demonstrated at the Tokyo Game Show with Killzone 3 running on the powerhouse handheld.
Sony boss Shuhei Yoshida spoke to Famitsu about the feature. At the Tokyo Game Show, the connection was a wired one due to a fear of interference from other devices. However, he has revealed the desire to match the speeds of the wired connection through the wireless channels. Also, tweaks to the CPU and memory use of games must be met by the developers in order for this feature to function properly.
If Remote Play isn’t your thing, then you may consider the Vita as an extra controller for the Playstation 3. It can work thanks to the rear touchpad and the second analogue controller. However, it may open other possibilities developers can explore. This means that the PS3/Vita combo can act like the upcoming console the Wii U and its tablet controller. There has been no word on the availability of the feature.
Rockstar Games have been busy with Max Payne 3. Today, they have released three new screenshots of the game, all of the titular character in different settings. What is noteworthy, however, is that, in two of the screenshots, our hero has hair, while the third screenshot shows him with a lack of hair. Although screenshots of this look have been released before, I think I will not get used to this new look. Maybe it suggests some sort of fragmented story, where flashbacks might be a common thing. But I could be completely wrong.
Max Payne 3 will be released on the Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and PC in March 2012.
Sci-fi hit shows Warehouse 13 and Eureka are set to hit Australia in a big way. “A Warehouse in Eureka!” is presented by The Hub Productions, an organisation that strives to provide opportunities for fans to meet actors, artists and behind the scenes stars from popular TV shows, movies and comics. The event will feature four main cast members of the two shows on stage with Q&As, and auctions, raffles and trivia. Plus merchandise for you big fans out there.
The dates for the event are Saturday 29th October in Sydney and Sunday 30th October in Melbourne, both days run from 9am to 6pm, so you are guaranteed to get your Warehouse/Eureka geek fill.
So far the guests stand to be Eddie McClintock (Peter Lattimer), Colin Ferguson (Jack Carter), Neil Grayston (Douglas Fargo) and Niall Matter (Zane Donovan). It’s a fairly Eureka-heavy list, but that’s probably due to Eureka running for longer. Stay tuned for any changes to the guest list or new announcements, we’ll keep you updated as they happen. Remember this will be your only opportunity to see the stars whilst they’re in Australia
There are three different types of tickets, day ($80), VIP ($500) and Platinum ($850). The day ones get you in for the whole day, VIP gets you into an evening function with the guests, seating in the front few rows (behind the Platinum-ers), priority queueing, an autograph from each guest and photographs. Platinum ticket holders get the same as VIP, with higher priority, a breakfast with the guests, and a professional photograph with all the guests.
Don’t have the dosh but still really want to get into the event? No worries, Capsule’s got you covered. We’ll be running a competition to give away a double pass to the Sydney event! (Winners will have to pay for their own travel and accommodation if they’re not in Sydney). Just make sure to keep your eyes peeled on the site for more information.
For booking and event information visit the Hub Productions website. or call +612 9874-7171 (AU Number)
So come on all you Warehouse 13 and Eureka fans, lets hear your thoughts, whether they be coherent and well-formed or just a general SQUEE!
Capcom has released a new trailer for ‘Dead Rising 2: Off The Record’ in anticipation for the game’s launch in a week’s time. For those of you who don’t already know Dead Rising 2: Off The Record is a reimagining/‘What if scenario’ of 2010’s Dead Rising 2.
Placing original Dead Rising protagonist and photojournalist Frank West in the position of Chuck Green in Fortune City. Dead Rising 2: Off The Record also sees the return of the Frank’s camera and photograph game mechanics, where players can gain Prestige Points (PP) for specific photo opportunities.
Dead Rising 2: Off The Record is set to be released on Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC on October 11, 13 and 14 in North America, Australia, and Europe respectively.
In a post World War III nuclear holocaust, you have been driven underground for pure survival. Twenty years into the aftermath, the year is 2023 and the presence of nuclear residuals is not your immediate concern. However, you must face mutated patients with the help of fellow scientists. Playing as the psychologist Albert Tokaj, you will find yourself haunted by decisions in your past and question your own motives in the present. Find clues to the mysterious happenings in your dark corner of the world to rid yourself of the spreading madness. Destroy mutants and remove any other threat that stands between you and the truth.
I am excited for the Novemember release of this Sci-Fi shooter. Hopefully, this will be a game that will scare gamers during daylight. Check out the screenshots and trailers released by Nicolas Games below to see post-apocalyptic, real world environments and unique mutations involved in Afterfall: InSanity.
Capcom’s presentation for Dragon’s Dogma at Tokyo Game Show 2011 answered a lot of questions a few of us out there needed to know about the game. From what I saw at E3 this year, there wasn’t much information revealed and I personally walked away even after playing the demo scratching my head thinking to myself really what type of game Dragon’s Dogma really was. The presentation went into great detail on how Dragon’s Dogmas pawn system works (Pawns are the NPC that accompany you on your quest throughout the game) and a whole lot more information on game-play, character creation, combat,and a few other interesting things. I can honestly say that Capcom have really invested a huge amount of time and effort into this game and fans of action RPG’s should sit up and take notice as Dragon’s Dogma is certainly a game that will rival a few of the big RPG titles that are due out for release later this year.
The presentation started off with the player leaving the town for the first time and joining up with their first pawn. The main character used in the presentation was a Sorcerer class, a quick rundown and explanation was provided on the character classes, for example – when selecting the casting class (in this instance the magic users) you start off as a Mage which of course is quite weak and as you progress and level up your skills evolve and develop turning you into a sorcerer making you more powerful where you can better heal your party and can cast much more deadlier spells in combat. The same was explained briefly about the melee class; for example, the warrior is the more powerful upgrade to the standard fighter class you start out with.
Within the game there are special locations called rifts. Once you enter them you can check out some of the different pawns in the game, you can gain access to this world using something called a rift stone. In the rift you can look at other pawns even those belonging to your friends and if you want you can add their pawns to your party. There will also be many pawns scattered throughout the game, they will appear in many different ways/locations, some will be made available by other players uploading them to the servers and some of them will be created by Capcom. Capcom advised that they have already created over 200,000 pawns to choose from. You will have the option of taking a total of 3 pawns with you on your adventure. Capcom explained that the pawns can be easily distinguishable just by looking at their clothing and weapons, making it easy to select and give out commands to your team whilst in battle.
For people out there that wanted to know about quests and dialog in the game, you can rest assured that you can talk to any of the NPC in the game. There’s quite a lot of RPG elements that will keep you busy for hours, also a nice little piece of news that I was very happy with was that all NPC (Non Player Characters) in the game all talk and will have their own voice overs. Also lots of npc’s (those with green colors next to their names) will be able to give out quests and side quests that result in making your character stronger but reward you with money, weapons and special items. As with other RPG games, you can undertake multiple quests at the same time and complete them in any order you like.
Where ever you go in the game you can use specific items called markers these markers will allow you to move and travel between locations quickly and easily. It’s like using a warp or portal to get one one spot to another. In the presentation Capcom stressed that using these markers is highly recommended as walking from one section of world to another can take quite a long time (over 15-30 mins if you decided to leg it) so taking the markers is a wise choice. You can can activate markers by using a ferry stone.
The presentation brielfy touched on a battle with a heavily armoured and clumsy looking Cyclops. Using the sorcerer with the aid of her two other pawns (both fighters) they systematically took down the colossus and eventually made it fall off a cliff to its death which was quite impressive. When using a spell caster you don’t have magic mana points, instead you use stamina to cast spells. The longer you chant a spell (by holding the button down) the stronger it will be when cast. By doing this you can run out of stamina quickly when casting stronger spells leaving you open for attack. It would be wise to have a warrior protect your magic user/sorcerer when they cast powerful spells, even after they cast them as well because they can become fatigued and unable to move, put their hands on their hips breathing heavy trying to catch their breath and regain their stamina.
Capcom also ran through the character customization menu when creating new characters or pawns. The menu system for creating new character is quite detailed, one thing that impressed me was the ability to give your character a different color for each eye. Of course the standard run of the mill RPG character customization settings are here such as body, height, weight, skin color. Then there is something new I’ve not seen before called character stance and posture, here you can pick a specific posture / pose that your character will inherit and use in the game making them look powerful and dominating or placid and submissive. You will also have scaring and makeup as well, along with tattoo’s to add to your character. All of these little extras you pick will be reflected and shown on your character in game while you’re playing.
We also discovered while in the presentation that there will be options for online purchases. But Capcom didn’t go into any specifics on this, so stay tuned for more info on that down the track.
Dragon’s Dogma is shaping up to be quite an impressive Action RPG, I’d certainly be looking into this in more detail if your fan of that genre, stay tuned for more info on the game in the weeks and months ahead.
