The next entry in the phenomenally popular Trackmania franchise is now available as an online multiplayer beta. All you have to is pre-purchase the full game and the online multiplayer and editor modes are yours for the taking.
The full title is not released until September, but the online racing and editors offer plenty to keep you occupied until then. Players can build their own tracks from scratch, paint and customise their cars, and of course, burn some rubber against players from all over the world.
The leaderboards and rankings are live and kicking, so if it sounds like an offer you can’t refuse head over to Trackmania’s official site to grab yourself some fast paced racing action.
Game Name:Save Yammi Platform(s): iPad (reviewed), iPhone, iPod Touch (iOS 3.0 or later) Publisher(s):Bulkypix Developer(s):Bulkypix Genre(s): Casual Release Date: Aug 10, 2011 Price: $.99 Buy Now!
Did you know that Octopus’ crave cookies? They do in Save Yammi. In this new iPhone/iPad title from Bulkypix, it is the player’s job to use a rope and other resources provided to guide a falling cookie into the destination that is Yammi’s mouth. It may sound simple, but storm clouds, barriers, and other obstacles stand in the way from completing this task, so a bit of strategy is needed to actually succeed. Now when I first seen Save Yammi, I let out a bit of a sigh as it honestly looked like your typical iOS game with a cutesy creature, but buried underneath the bubbly visuals is actually a very challenging and addictive experience. What makes this octopus so enticing to feed? Here is my review for Save Yammi.
Gameplay
Save Yammi at first glance resembles Cut the Rope, as there is a rope and a hungry creature. Those who are expecting a clone however will be surprised to know that this title actually offers a bit more variety and a different style of gameplay than the famous game on the same platform. Starting up the game, players are shown a cookie in a bubble with Yammi, impatiently waiting down below to be fed. It is then the player’s job to pop the bubble, causing it to fall in Yammi’s mouth. While this is the main objective, other mechanics are used throughout to somewhat deepen the actual gameplay.
Each level features three yellow stars and two orange stars that are scattered about. Before Yammi can actually be fed, you must collect the yellow stars with the cookie (consider it a type of seasoning) or else Yammi completely ignores it, which of course results in a game over. Orange stars are not completely necessary to collect, but result in a higher bonus rewarded if collected.
Now due to the random placement of these stars, players are given a spool of rope which they can instantly access by tracing their finger along the screen, where the rope instantly unravels to catch the falling cookie. This allows for players to build a pathway of sorts to give the cookie a sense of direction or just a safe platform to land on. While using this technique, you must always be thrifty on your rope usage, as players are only allotted a small amount to work with per stage. It can take a bit of time to get used to, but due to the responsive touchscreen controls, most should catch on to this method rather quickly.
If the touchscreen wasn’t enough, players also must resort to using the iPad’s (or iPhone’s) gyro controls. This allows you to roll the cookie left and right along each rope or platform by tilting the device. Since you can’t move the cookie up or down with this method, player’s must craft their ropes to fit with the motion-based control mechanic. For example, if a star is a bit out of reach, the player can craft a curved rope, drop the cookie, and then quickly tilt the device to make it roll up the rope and capture the star. This gyro usage occurs in every level and is mandatory to actually finish each properly. Thankfully, both the touchscreen and motion controls compliment eachother for the who experience, allowing players to emerge themselves in the gameplay rather than fighting a frustrating control scheme.
As you progress throughout the game, more and more obstacles begin to appear which thicken the strategy needed to complete each level. These include the likes of a pair of scissors that split the cookie into two and menacing storm clouds that shatter the snack at just a touch. These environmental dangers are well placed though, so while it can be a challenge to guide the cookie around each obstacle, the game gives the player plenty of tools to assist in feeding Yammi. Abilities such as a bubble to temporarily fly in and a electricity-resistant shield are also found within various levels, each bringing a bit of fresh life into the gameplay.
As you can tell, there is a lot of different elements working at once in Save Yammi, but due to how well they compliment eachother in the end, the final product is as sweet and addictive as the baked goods this octopus craves. With 100 levels and the incentive to go back through and repeat each to collect every orange star, Bulkypix have done well in creating yet another form of digital crack.
Graphics/Audio
The visuals in the game are rather simplistic, but do their job fine considering the genre that Save Yammi is in. Yammi is well animated and is constantly showing different emotions while you are guiding his food down to him, and there are plenty of different backdrops that make each set of stages feel somewhat different from the next. I also was quite fond of the bright color scheme the game featured, as the entire game is upbeat and cheery throughout the whole experience.
The music in Save Yammi is also well done, as it blends into the colorful background, capturing each setting perfectly. Yammi does occasionally make a few sounds as well, but hearing this stubborn octopus belt out “UH-UH” when you are short on stars can make you want to boil the creature in hot water rather than feed it (yes, I know…rather harsh).
Overall
While it may appear to be the run-of-the-mill casual title, Save Yammi actually offers up an innovative control scheme and an addictive gameplay formula that should keep most users creating ropes and feeding octopuses for hours. The visuals are all crisp and add to the experience and Yammi is certainly a charming mascot that is hard not to love. There is indeed more that meets the eye with Save Yammi, and considering the large amount of content included as well as the low price-tag, this little game is big on just about everything else.
Folks, coming from the fine craftsmen over at Bluemouth Interactive are releasing several new items and accessories for the 3DS and DS systems, featuring Mario and Company. These items include both styluses and cases. They are listed below.
Each Item will be pictured below with their price.
Karin: Chibi Vampire Collection Tag Line: I want to… Give you blood? Produced by: Funimation Entertainment Run time: 600 minutes in 24 episodes Language: English, Japanese Genre: Slice-Of-Life, Comedy, Vampire Release Date: 20/07/2011 Available for purchase at Madman Online Store ($69.95)
Overview:
Over the last half of the previous decade, Vampire’s were privy to a mammoth resurrection of the genre largely due to Vampire fiction such as the Twilight books. Now, most of this revival wasn’t necessarily good by any means. Nor was it void of some glimmers of greatness. A lot of the ressurection of the genre was told through romance storylines. Like Twilight, Karin: Chibi Vampire was a product of the this revival and romance mix. Does it excel where others failed? Or does it bleed the genre even further dry?
Story: Karin: Chibi Vampire follows your usual late 00’s Vampire storyline. A Vampire becomes uncontrollably attracted to a human, romance ensues. From the get go, I was hesitant to continue watching as I am not particularly a fan of these types of storylines after the massive influx of vampire love related material being pumped into my subconscious for the past 5 years. I was right to be hesitant.
Karin: Chibi Vampire feels so very familiar and for good reason, it is essentially Vampire Romance stories mixed with Japanese humour and fan-service. That is essentially the entire show in a nut shell. Now if that is your cup of tea, go right on ahead and sip. If you are into that, it’s definitely worth the watch. If not, you are probably not going to be into this at all.
That is the defining problem with Karin: Chibi Vampire it only aims to please one set of people, nothing more, nothing less. This is where it fails. By isolating potential viewers, it cuts off a large audience that could’ve enjoyed it. The story of Karin is both simultaneously alienating for people not into Vampires and honestly difficult to watch even as a man looking for fan-service glee. There is little on offer for anyone who does not fit into the prescribed target audience and the fact that Karin can’t be truly enjoyed unless you fit into that audience is what really drains Karin of any momentum it built up.
Characters:
Like the storyline, there is not much here that is unique. Karin has her semi-unique anti-vampirism going on, but other than that all the other characters are so flat and would only appeal to hardcore vampire love fanatics.
There is little else to say about the character Karin: Chibi Vampire, because each of them are either a cliche stereotype or just plain one-dimensional. There is little to these characters and it shows. If only the characters where more interesting than the rest of this anime may have been bareable.
I found upon comparing the characters as they appear in the manga version of the series with their distorted version within the anime series was an interesting endeavour. I discovered so much more depth to each character that was completely omitted from the anime altogether. Now I understand adapting a long running manga into a small amount of episodes may be an impossible task. However developing characters and making the viewer care about them is indeed very possible.
Artwork:
Continuing the trend of unoriginality, the art style and animation of Karin: Chibi Vampire is equally uninspired. With character designs straight out of an Anime How To book and animation quality so poor, there is very little to be seen here that will surprise you. Whether it be the bland palate of colours that make comprise each character or the sloppily made backgrounds, it is all so mediocre and droll that it’s hard to find anything work praising.
I suppose the fan-service is of slightly above average quality but if you come to watch this show for anything other than that, you are going to be sorely disappointed. The art and animation is overall very uninspired and like this anime in general would rather wallow in mediocrity than try something new.
When compared along-side the manga series upon which this anime is adapted, it’s evident that such a poor job was done in translating the unique style of the manga to animation. So many corners were cut, so many character designs were off and it just looked messy and unattractive as a whole. There was a lot left to be desired from this series when it came to art and animation.
Audio:
I had hopes that atleast the voice-acting would be good. My hopes were dashed withint the first 10 minutes of the series after hearing some of the most stilted and flat voice acting I have heard in literally years. The voice actors clearly know the material is poor and can not take it seriously. Each voice actor seems uninterested with the script and put little effort into the character their portraying.
The soundtrack is equally poor. With completely forgettable tracks, which at times are incredibly grating. I found myself at various times wishing for an ability to turn off the background music because it was that irritating. Overall the audio department did a very weak job here.
Special Features:
Adding further disappointment to the already large helping on let-downs, this series collection features little to no special features. We are given simply textless openings and endings along side Madman’s ever present trailers. Now, this would be okay normally. But with so many Madman releases as of late featuring a large amount of extras and goodies, I could not ignore the stark comparison with what seemed like their standard amount of special features for a complete series collection. I suppose I had just come to expect much more from Madman releases.
Conclusion:
All in all, Karin: Chibi Vampire is perhaps one of the most disappointing release Madman has done in a long time. Not only is the series bad, but there is little bang for your buck when it comes to buying a complete collection. This series is only for the completely hardcore Vampire love fanatics. I really can not see this appealing to anyone else besides that specific group and ultimately Karin: Chibi Vampire fails as both an anime and as a compelling work of fiction.
A few weeks ago, Bethesda said if the official RAGE facebook page got 100,000 ‘likes’, Rage/Rage HD would be availablefor FREE on iTunes. Well now, the page has gotten more than they’ve bargained for, as they have reached a total of 101,277 ‘likes’ at the time of writing this article, and as a result, Rage/Rage HD is now FREE to download, but for this week only!
Bethesda’s on-rails first person shooter was previously available for the cheap price of only 99 cents, but it’s awesome to see that Bethesda are rewarding their fans for their support so generously. This free download is only available until 9:59 AM EST on August 24th, 2011, so you better be quick! You can pick up RAGE for FREE here and RAGE HD here. Get ready for some fun, free, first-person action! Thanks Bethesda!
NCsoft has announced that it will be host to a playable build of their upcoming MMORPG from Arenanet, Guild Wars 2, at this years Gamescom in Germany. Guild Wars 2 at Gamescom will have playable versions of the new races, professions and PvP of the Guild Wars universe.
Since winning Online Game of the Year at gamescom 2010, ArenaNet® revealed several new elements of the highly anticipated Guild Wars 2 including the Engineer profession, dungeons and underwater areas of the world. This year at gamescom 2011, NCsoft and ArenaNet give players the opportunity to get hands-on with several new and exciting aspects of the game including an encounter with an Undead Dragon boss, Player vs. Player combat, character appearance customization as well as a glimpse into the Charr starting area and asura and sylvari mid-level content, which are all playable on the show floor.
For more information on NCsofts appearance at Gamescom, click this link.
Earlier today, publishing giant Ubisoft announced it’s launch line-up for the upcoming Playstation Vita handheld device. These titles seem like definitive Ubisoft properties and should be an indicator of the quality of titles Ubisoft plan to bring to the handheld unit.
The titles are as follows – Assassin’s Creed, Rayman Origins, LuminesTM, AsphaltTM, Dungeon Hunter Alliance and Michael Jackson the Experience.
“With its processing power, dual tactile screens and cameras, PS Vita allows creators like Ubisoft new and unique opportunities to develop innovative games,”said Yves Guillemot, chief executive officer of Ubisoft. “We’ve got a strong and varied line-up that will offer fun and immersion to all audiences of the PS Vita.”
Codemasters have created a second developer diary in the build up to the release of their Formula 1 offering for this year, F1 2011/
The developer diary focuses on the AI and handling improvements in the game, alongside work-in-progress gameplay footage. It stars Chief Games Designer Stephen Hood, Senior Producer Paul Jeal and Formula 1 test driver Anthony Davidson who is embedded into the team as Technical Consultant to ensure the game is an authentic F1 experience.
In the video, some of the changes from last year’s F1 2010 are outlined, particularly on the subject of handling in accordance with the video’s heading.
F1 2011 will launch for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC on September 22nd. Additional handheld editions of F1 2011 are also in production for Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita, which will release at a later date and aim to take advantage of the handheld’s unique features.
Nordic Games’ running theme for We Sing UK Hits is ‘British Legends’, offering the best of British musical talent, including songs from Elton John, Coldplay, Leona Lewis, Queen, Radiohead and Adele. They have locked-in the final line-up of British artists for the game, with a total of 40 tracks on offer:
1 Adele – Chasing Pavements
2 Amy Winehouse – Rehab
3 The Animals – The House of the Rising Sun
4 Bananarama – Venus
5 The Beautiful South – A Little Time
6 Blur – Girls and Boys
7 Bucks Fizz – Making Your Mind Up
8 Coldplay – Speed of Sound
9 David Bowie – Let’s Dance
10 Dido – White Flag
11 Dusty Springfield – Son Of A Preacher Man
12 East 17 – Stay Another Day
13 Eliza Doolittle – Pack Up
14 Elton John – Candle In The Wind
15 Example – Kickstarts
16 Florence + The Machine – You’ve Got The Love
17 Gabrielle – Dreams
18 Happy Mondays – Step On
19 James Blunt – You’re Beautiful
20 Jay Sean feat. Lil Wayne – Down
21 Jessie J – Do It Like A Dude
22 Kim Wilde – Kids in America
23 Leona Lewis – Bleeding Love
24 Lulu & The Luvvers – Shout
25 Madness – It Must Be Love
26 McFly – 5 Colours In Her Hair
27 Plan B – She Said
28 Pulp – Common People
29 Queen – Don’t Stop Me Now
30 Queen & David Bowie – Under Pressure
31 Radiohead – Creep
32 Rick Astley – Never Gonna Give You Up
33 The Saturdays – Missing You
34 Spice Girls – Who Do You Think You Are
35 Sugababes – Push The Button
36 Texas – I Don’t Want A Lover
37 Tinchy Stryder Ft. N-Dubz – Number 1
38 The Ting Tings – That’s Not My Name
39 Tinie Tempah – Pass Out
40 Wham! – Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go
No release date has been stated for the game, but it has been confirmed that the karaoke game will be coming exclusively to Nintendo Wii.
Coming out of Gamescom 2011, is the trailer for the up-coming Might and Magic title: Heroes of Might and Magic VI. The trailer is courtesy of Ubisoft and showcases an amazingly cinematic battle between heroes and their armies.
Heroes of Might and Magic VI takes place 500 years beofre the events of Heroes V, making it one of the more historic (lore wise) games in the M&M franchise.
A legendary Archangel General, killed during the war of the Elder races, is resurrected. Under the cover of preparations for an upcoming Demon invasion, he plots to recover his powers and take control of Ashan while eradicating his ancient enemies. He underestimates, however, the power of the all-too-human Griffin dynasty. The destiny of these Griffin heroes will be determined by our players.
Be sure to check out the awesome trailer, embedded below.
