Madman Entertainment made their presence known at Manifest 2011, with the premiere of Last Exile: Fam, The Silver Wing, before it even hits Japanese screens. Not only this but Madman even gave fans a chance to record lines for the upcoming Last Exile series.
But wait, there is more! Madman even filmed some fans and interviewed them following the premiere screening of the first episode of Last Exile: Fam, The Silver Wing, some of which will actually make it to Japanese television during the Last Exile TV Special that will air a week before the series premiere in Japan.
This is simply huge for the Australian Anime industry and is once again a sign of Madman Entertainment making leaps and bounds in advancing the industry on Australian shores.
Now onto even more interesting news, the acquisitions! Madman revealed some really killer titles here, some that had long been speculated. Check out what was announced:
Fairy Tail – First collection to be released on the 18th of January, 2012.
Last Exile: Fam, The Silver Wing – To be simulcast from Japan in October and will have it’s retail release once a dub has been produced by Funimation in the U.S.
Rosario + Vampire and Rosario + Vampire Capu2 – To be released at some time during 2012.
Patlabor, Patlabor 2 OVAs and Mobile Police Patlabor – To be released as one collection with a date still to be confirmed.
These are all heavily requested titles and it’s great to see that Madman listens to their fans and delivers thusly. Leave a comment below with your thoughts on these monumental announcements.
Let’s Create! Pottery is now available to the Nindendo DSi and Nintendo 3DS systems. Originally an app for iOS and Android devices, to date it has been downloaded more than 2 million times! This clay spinning game shot to the charts and was a number one app in the entertainment category of App Store, topping in 50 countries including the US, UK, Japan and China!
In Let’s Create! Pottery you do just that, create pottery, without all the mess and money spent on materials and instruments. Have your own ‘Sam and Molly moment’ from the movie, Ghost, with your special someone in the comfort of your own sofa, sans the sludge, dirt and heavy clean-up! When you embrace your artistic side, you can craft items themed to your individual delights. Fancy a sleek modern piece of art? Or how about Ancient Egyptian pottery? Not far back enough? You can even add elements from the caveman era!
Let’s Create! Pottery is available through the Nintendo DSi Shop on the Nintendo DSi and Nintendo DSi XL and the Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS.
Genre: Short films Director: Martin Scorsese Running Time: 129 minutes Available for purchase at:Madman Online Store ($24.95)
Overview
In the past few generations, it would be hard to find someone who hadn’t heard of Martin Scorsese. Whether it be his work as a director for Taxi Driver or his Academy Award for The Departed, Scorsese is often seen as one of the great directors of our time.
With so many great works in the last two decades, it can sometimes be hard to remember directors had to start out somewhere…and this is where Martin Scorsese’s Short Films comes in. This collection of five of Scorsese’s earlier works provides a great insight into the influences and development of a fascinating director and – while some of the films may not be everyone’s cup of tea – is worth watching just to see a young Scorsese’s experimentation through the medium of film.
What’s a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?
Algernon is a writer who leads a normal life until he purchases a photograph of a boat on a lake. While in the beginning the photograph is just another image on the wall, he soon becomes obsessed with it and finds himself unable to think of anything else. He meets a woman and gets married in the hopes of fixing his obsession, but his ultimate solution is one that is far more bizarre.
The narrative consists of Algernon’s voiceovers, with chimes from his ‘friends’ (which basically consist of them saying exactly the same thing he says). While it can be funny in the beginning, this structure soon gets tiresome. The short film is supposed to be a comedy – although I still maintain it belongs more in the “light-hearted and quirky” genre – but it’s not really as funny as it is experimental and unique.
Although the plot left a lot to be desired – although, fair enough, Scorsese was still at Tisch during the time of making this short film – what does make this short film shine is the way Scorsese depicts the story through images. The techniques Scorsese uses are far ahead of his time and truly demonstrate a unique way of constructing images: close ups, fast cuts, and interesting angles all play a part in the unique visual that is this short film. Throw this in with a powerful soundtrack that controls the emotions and narration of the entire ten minutes and you have an interesting (albeit odd and sometimes repetitive) combination. The only way this short film can really be summed up is by one word: experimental.
It’s not just you, Murray!
This short film follows Murray, a mobster who details his young and humble beginnings before he was wealthy and influential. He talks about how his friend Joe was a major influence in his success and gave him advice every step of the way; however, Murray is blind to Joe’s constant deceit, trickery, and the fact that Joe is obviously sleeping with his wife.
It’s not just you, Murray is another of Scorsese’s Tisch works, so evidently it isn’t the most incredible of his filmography; however the short film definitely shows a more unique style of experimentation than What’s a nice girl like you doing in a place like this? Already, Scorsese’s gangster theme is evident through the style of narrative and subject matter – equally as evident is his trials with different filmic techniques.
Visually, the film breaks down the fourth wall (the barrier between spectator and screen) and plays further on Scorsese’s interest of challenging the conventions of shot types and continuity. Scorsese often uses unique and interesting images on screen that are reminiscent of Godard, and it’s great to see him playing with the camera from a young age. The music is, again, a wonderful feature and Scorsese’s ability to harmonise audio with visual is a delight to watch.
The Big Shave
Perhaps one of his better known shorts, The Big Shave depicts a man shaving in the bathroom. As he shaves, he cuts himself but instead of stopping, he continues. What ensues is a bloody scene that can become very painful to watch.
As the last Tisch short featured on the collection, this one is simple yet powerful in what it says. While there is obviously no conventional story, The Big Shave holds a deeper comment on the world – often dubbed Viet ’67, it is said the short alludes to the self-destructive nature of the United States during the Vietnam War. However, there is also a greater universality in what the plot is trying to say about mankind, and that’s what truly makes this short stand out from Scorsese’s other Tisch works.
Scorsese’s developing visual style is so clearly evident through this: the splatters of blood, the quick cuts and close ups on odd, banal objects all echo with his direction. It’s great to see the workings of his visual composition before he began making feature length films, and The Big Shave shows a filmmaker that is beginning to grow and mature. Soundtrack-wise, Scorsese is brilliant – the music is a perfect juxtaposition to what is happening on screen, demonstrating that even when man is on the edge of destruction he still presents a happy façade.
Italianamerican
Italianamerican is a 49 minute short where Scorsese speaks to his mother and father about their family history and moving to New York. The short is essentially a documentary where he sits down and interviews his parents; in the duration of the film the audience learns not only about his family but also universal issues like being a migrant and childhood memories.
The narrative is a simple one, and Scorsese truly allows it to develop its own path and take the spectators along on the journey. In documentaries, it’s difficult to ever plan anything entirely and much of the process is about the unfolding of a tale that the director may not have imagined; in this respect, Scorsese has done a wonderful job of presenting a well-structured look at his family and background while simultaneously adding a universality to the narrative that any viewer can relate to.
Style-wise, Italianamerican is made like a home movie. While home movies can often appear amateurish in films, Scorsese manages to harness this style to add to the intimacy of the short. There is a particular beauty to the way he controls the camera as he wanders through his parents’ house and speaks to them; it’s almost as though the viewer becomes Scorsese and is immersed in the tales these two people are telling. There is no soundtrack in the background, however, this adds to the rawness of the footage and really allows viewers to focus on the words that are being said.
American Boy: A profile of Steven Prince
The last short featured in the DVD collection is American Boy: A profile of Steven Prince. The 55-minute short is yet another documentary looking at Scorsese’s friend Steven Prince (which most will recognise for his role as a gun salesman in Taxi Driver) and his life. Prince was an ex-drug addict and speaks of experiences he’s gone through in his life, including attacking a man and working with Neil Diamond.
In comparison to Italianamerican, American Boy is far darker in subject matter and really looks more at some of the themes that arise in Scorsese’s later works. The documentary’s narrative is slightly scattered, but overall it isn’t difficult to follow the structure. What makes the story wonderful, though, is the flashbacks to Prince’s childhood and the interspersion of the past within the present.
Scorsese uses visual techniques sparingly in this one – as it is a documentary, he again sticks to the home video style – but the entire film has a very dark, heavy feel to it. The low-key lighting does a great job to establish the mood of Stephen Prince’s life, and instead of the handycam creating an intimate feel to the film, it conveys a strong feeling of instability and distress. There is, again, minimal soundtrack used at all and the eeriness of the film is only added to by the echoing silence that occurs when Prince speaks.
Final Comments
Any film fan would no doubt make a permanent place on their shelf for Martin Scorsese’s Short Films. These five shorts are interesting and experimental, but, most of all, they are pure Scorsese. There is nothing else to be said about this collection except that it is most definitely worth watching at least once.
Rugby World Cup 2011 Publisher: 505 Games Developer: HB Studios Platforms: Xbox 360 (reviewed), PS3 Release Date: August 25th 2011 Price: $98
After waiting four years for a new Rugby Union game, we finally have one. But how new is it? 505 Games and HB Studios accepted the challenge of releasing a World Cup based Rugby game to satisfy the relatively small gaming population desperately waiting to take control of their favourite players through the joy of gaming technology. Whilst the final product is still a reasonably fun game, it didn’t quite live up to the standard of sporting games we’ve become accustomed to.
I’ll start off with the positives. It is actually a fun game. Rugby fans would definitely enjoy this more so than your average gamer, but that being said, the control system is quite simple and basically anyone could pick it up and get used to it after a few matches. I rounded up a few of my friends (with their interest in the sport ranging from moderate to “How do I score a touchdown?”), and we played some matches together and it was great fun. The simplicity of the game is arguably it’s best feature, you almost forget about the outdated graphics when you’re playing. Of course there are a few bugs in the gameplay such as players getting sin-binned for penalties which you have little to no control over (we’re talking hands in the ruck sort of penalties).
Gamers get the choice of playing an “International Test” (quick match), a warm up tour, online matches, a place-kick shootout and of course the game’s selling point, the Rugby World Cup 2011 mode. Whilst the World Cup mode is really what you buy the game for, there is only a certain amount of times you can win it before it gets quite boring. They could have taken a page out of the FIFA World Cup 2010 game to see how to increase the lasting appeal of the game such as the Captain Your Country mode or at least the scenarios. You obviously can’t criticise them for not including a season mode as it is a world cup centered game but the modes definitely lack depth which really limits the amount of hours you are going to spend playing the game.
The stadiums are good enough although the crowd noise could be improved, that being said at least they included Swing Low Sweet Chariot chants for the English team. You get the choice of different commentators for different languages as well as a UK team or Australia/New Zealand combination. The commentary gets repetitive quickly and the commentators never really say anything interesting or meaningful, something you could probably attribute to the absence of player licensing.
Which brings me on to my first big issue with the game: lack of player licensing. Whilst a lot of you may not think of this as a big deal, it’s something myself and I’m sure many other sports fans enjoy about playing sports games. They do have the player licenses (player likeness is apparently not implicit with this) for some countries including the South African and English teams at least but it’s not just the lack player’s names that bothers me. It’s the fact that the player models don’t even seem to loosely reflect real-life players, unless you include the Lote Tuqiri look-a-like winger for the Wallabies. No Wallaby players, no All-Blacks, and no Haka…
Apart from that, the AI is quite poor and after a few games you will win easy enough on the hardest difficulty. Lineouts are pretty annoying and the kicking system (both spot-kick and punting for touch) needs some improvement. I also would’ve loved to see some momentum affecting features changing with the flow of the game and altering the turnovers and pressure just to add some excitement to the matches.
HB Studios developed the EA Rugby games back in the day for PS2 and Xbox, formidable games for their time. It’s this knowledge that really bothers be as they can’t use the “it’s my first time” excuse. What’s even more disconcerting is that HB Studios were co-developers on last year’s FIFA World Cup game for PS3 and 360. It feels like they have just thought hey, our old rugby games were decent, let’s just repackage the old games, slightly enhance the graphics and not really improve the game in any way. I understand budgetary issues come into play and I also acknowledge that the market this game is catering for is minuscule compared with sports such as soccer, NFL and basketball. However, our standards have sky rocketed since the last time HB Studios produced a Rugby game, and to be honest this game falls well short of game expectations.
Overall, with all the flaws aside, this isn’t a bad game, it’s just disappointing. You can still have a fair bit of fun with it, especially if you’re a Rugby fan caught up in the excitement of the upcoming World Cup, but it just isn’t a game you would keep in your 360 or PS3 for too long after the World Cup has come and gone.
Despite having tried everything short of outright begging on their hands and knees, EA are still denying Turn 10 Studios, developer of the Forza racing franchise to use any Porsche cars within their new game. While it sounds odd that a gaming company can own exclusive rights to a motor vehicle, it is not uncommon in the industry, with Turn 10 actually owning all rights to the use of Ferraris vehicles.
While fans of the series enjoyed the use of Porsches cars in previous Forza titles they could well be picketing at EA’s gate unless a decision is reached regarding their next instalment. Through the official Forza blog Brian Ekberg explained how this time EA were not willing to play ball. “We’ve asked our contacts at EA to reconsider their position frequently and regularly over the past 18 months. We’ve also reached out to various influential people in gaming to lobby on our behalf, but that was to no avail…”
Ekberg also goes on to say that Turn 10 studios went as far as asking for assistance from key people in “Porsche circles” who have campaigned on their behalf. In relation to their exclusive use of Ferrari;
“We’ve always found that we were just not willing to block other are racing games from having ferraris outright as we believed that this would do nothing but hurt the racing ecosystem”. Seems like a sensible attitude to have in a nonsensical environment where games based on cars are denied the use of them.
If the quite massive Rayman Origins wasn’t enough to throw down a pre-order, Gamestop are looking to sweeten the deal with more Ubisoft greatness (no, not Imagine Doctor). Up until the November 15th release date, anyone who locks in the title at the retailer will receive a code to download Beyond Good & Evil HD for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. Now with over 60 levels in Origins alone and the huge and vivid world to explore in Beyond Good and Evil, this could seriously lead to some serious playtime for those interested in checking out Rayman’s glorious platforming return as getting one of the best games of last generation in it’s definitive form is definitely a nice incentive.
If you by chance are one of the many owners of Beyond Good and Evil, I really must say based on what we have seen so far for Origins, it should still be worth every penny of it’s price-tag.
I almost want to go to PopCap’s Offices and give them a hug for this one. For this weekend only, owners of either the iPhone or iPod Touch can get the full versions of Bejeweled 2 + Bejeweled Blitz for the low price of FREE! It isn’t too often when we see a developer’s best seller being given away, so the charity is certainly nice to see. Of course this version of the game combines both Bejeweled 2 and Blitz in one package, where extra power-ups can be purchased at the user’s liking.
This offer ends August 28th, which is tomorrow for those keeping track. Now, go download, go be addicted, and smash every gem you see….and thanks again PopCap!
As we near the Eastern Mecca of video games, the Tokyo Game Show, publishers and developers will be announcing what they are going to present. Konami is one such developer, announcing a list of games for various platforms. Silent Hill, Metal Gear Solid and Pro Evolution Soccer are a few of the big titles, but within that list of games are four Playstation Vita titles: Asphalt Injection, AR Combat Digi Q, New Little King’s Story and Mahjong Fighting Club.
Asphalt Injection:
Asphalt Injection is classified as a racing game, where you will be able to control over 100 cars and race them all over the world. The game did make an appearance at Gamescom and will be released under Ubisoft in the West. Konami have the right to publish it in Japan, possibly Asia. The game is being developed by Gameloft.
AR Combat Digi Q:
AR Combat Digi Q is quite interesting. Based in their own Digi Q series of mini-vehicles, the player will control mini RC tanks in various battles. As the title suggests, the augmented reality feature will be used, serving as the backdrop of these battles. This will be a downloadable title only.
New Little King’s Story:
New Little King’s Story, also known as The King, The Demon King and the Seven Princesses: New King Story, is being developed by Marvelous Entertainment, the same developer for Wii’s Little King Story. It will serve as a sequel and will follow the little king and his princess once more. The art style has changed and will use some of the Vita’s unique features. There will be a playable demo, Konami announced.
Mahjong Fight Club:
Mahjong Fight Club is pretty much a virtual form of the Chinese game. There’s not much to say but it’s virtual Mahjong. There aren’t any screenshots going around but enjoy this scan, which does have screenshots.
We have been wondering what Razer was planning, and now we finally have the answer: A GAMING LAPTOP! Shown off at pcgamingisnotdead.com* and announced at PAX, the Razer Blade (get it?) is “The World’s First True Gaming Laptop.” Although we are as shocked as you that the Razer has not used the Blade moniker on any other product in their line, we have to say that the specs on this beauty look impressive. Check it out for yourself below. And hey Razer, if you have like, you know, a few spare Razer Blades lying around, I know some people who want them ok? No need to go through the hassle of finding addresses, shipping them to stores and the like mmm k?
Official Statements from Razer about the Razer Blade:
“True Portability
Mobile systems developed for gaming today compromise on portability and form factor for game performance. At 0.88″ thin and weighing less than 7lbs, the Razer Blade with a full aluminium chassis is the thinnest laptop of its class and truly portable. It strikes the perfect balance between portability and performance.
Incredible Performance
Developed in partnership with Intel, the Razer Blade features a fast Intel Core i7 processor, a high performance NVIDIA GeForce GPU and a 17″ LED backlit screen, capable of running the most demanding games of today in crisp high-definition.
Revolutionary User Interface
The Switchblade UI comprises of 10 dynamic adaptive tactile keys for easier access of in-game commands, and an LCD capable of two modes: one mode that displays in-game information when a mouse is in use; and another mode that functions as an ultra-sensitive, multi-touch panel designed for gaming on the go.”
*And for some reason we are having technical difficulties with the links on this page, so make sure to copy and paste them into your browser instead of clicking. Apologies!
Like BlazBlue? Wanna get a PS Vita? Well maybe, just maybe, I have something that may be of interest to you. A trailer for the upcoming Playstation Vita title BlazBlue Continuum Shift Extend (try saying the 5 times out loud) has made its way onto the web. The trailer gives fans a hint of what to expect from the latest installment of the BlazBlue franchise.
The game is set to be released this upcoming winter for the Playstation Vita and will eventually blaze a trail onto the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 platforms. Check out the trailer below and leave a comment letting us know what you think of BlazBlue Continuum Shift Extend.
