The rebellion continues with a 3rd season of Code Geass being officially announced this past Sunday. During their Otakon panel, Sunrise confirmed that the 3rd season of Code Geass is indeed going to happen and is currently slated for a 2012 release.
Details of the continuation were also announced. Sunrise confirmed that the 3rd season will not star Lelouch, the former protagonist of the series. Instead it will feature a new hero and will be set in Europe. This will be indeed an interesting turn for the Code Geass story.
The new series is tentatively titled Code Geass Gaiden Bokuku no Akito Project. No set date has been confirmed other than some time during 2012. What do you think of this announcement? Let us know in the comments below.
Yes you read right. The Playstation One RPG classic, Breath of Fire IV will be turning up the heat on the Playstation Network come August 16th, 2011.
The impending arrival was announced by Christian Svensson of Capcom through the Capcom-Unity website here. Alongisde the Playstation Network release will also be Breath of Fire IV based Playstation Network avatars.
Breath of Fire IV was originally released for the Playstation One way back in the year 2000, now 11 years later the game returns to put a whole new generation of gamers under it’s spell. Whether you’ve never playered Breath of Fire before or want a nostalgia trip if you have, make sure you check it out on August 16th.
What do you think of this announcement? Leave a comment below letting us know.
EA’s Origin service may have been met with some derision among PC users and their dependence on using Steam for the primary source of their gaming, but EA is offering a little bit of incentive to get these gamers over onto their game selling portal. Also it doesn’t help that they’ve been pulling their games off of Steam… but moving on.
If gamers pre-order Battlefield 3 from the Origin store they will be able to get early access the open beta when it is available in September. Also those who pre-order will receive the Back To Karkand DLC, two exclusive items for Battlefield Play4Free and the Physical Warfare Pack. Sound good enough to make you think twice about the Origin store? Maybe so, maybe not, but if so you can pre-order using the service here.
You know that bundle, the one that is supposedly a bit humble? Well it’s payment scale is anything but humble. The Humble Indie Bundle 3 has reached over $1 million in total payments, which is constantly increasing and making more money for charities and developers every few minutes.
Currently the bundle has made around $4.79 an average purchase, with Linux users dropping over $10 on average to be able to access the bundle. The bundle itself recently got a booster shot with the inclusion of indie developed shooter Steel Storm and a free to play version of MineCraft for a couple of weeks. The Humble Indie Bundle 3 is available for a week, which means you can still buy it here.
Overview
You know what’s a pretty cool game? That one where you take a small, cute, bird, pull it back like a sling shot and launch it into the air, to collect items in as little moves as possible to achieve maximum points, while relying on strong physics. No I’m not talking about Angry Birds (although I do love it!), I’m talking about Feed the Duck from Jupija! Feed the Duck may sound like a lame game about feeding breadcrumbs to some ducks in a petting zoo, but pick it up and you’ll be pleasantly surprised to find a decent and enjoyable puzzle game.
Not as good as Duck Tales, but WAY better than Howard the Duck!
Gameplay
The goal of Feed the Duck is to well…..Feed the Duck! However, that’s easier said than done. In the begining the duck swims in what appears to be a flooded bedroom (don’t ask, I have no clue) and the duck is hungry for some of those gigantic goldfish swimming below him, which seem to be the same size as he is if not bigger. (Again, don’t ask!) So in order to nom down these bad boys like the Cookie Monster in a Oreo factory, you must launch the duck up in the air like a sling shot, and get the right angle and speed to break through the water in order to reach the fish. The bright side is that this duck seems to be incapable of drowning, (Don’t ask me why, geez! It’s a video game for duck’s sake!) and some evil Angler Fish plan on trying to electrocute you. I know, the concept makes no sense, but neither does Pac-Man and that’s the highest grossing video game of all time, so shut the duck up!
You can win a level and still get zero points. What the Duck?!
Haters gonna hate, and levels gonna get harder. Feed the Duck takes a simple concept and expands upon it with puzzles, involving buttons, switches, magnets , water pumps and various forms of mazes along with Angler Fish patrolling the waters that make grabbing a bite to eat for this poor duck no easy take. There is also some very smart level design in this title, so puzzle fans will surely enjoy this one! Reaching a perfect score for completion-lovers also becomes a challenge, because you loose 250 points off your score for each failed attempt, making it pretty easy to finish a level on no points at all! So in this game, every move counts. This is a feature some will hate, and others will enjoy. Physics work well in Feed the Duck, but to achieve your goals sometimes the developers ask you to be almost too precise as reaching some fish seem almost impossible and may take a few tries, until you accidently get the fish eventually, even though you’ve been trying the same way for a while. Also, going near an Angler Fish can kill you, not just if it gets you, so that can also be frustrating. The core gameplay is good; it just needs to be tightened a little more. Only the one gameplay mode is available unfortunately, and it would’ve been nice to see more as the game does get really repetitive really quickly.
Feed The Duck more ‘The Good Duck’ than ‘The Mighty Ducks’
Audio/Visual
Visually nothings wrong, it’s just that everything seems pretty average and nothing really stands out. It looks nice, but that’s it. The character design may be pretty average, but it isn’t bad and it’s filled with vibrant colour to keep you interested. Backgrounds and levels are based around the colour blue and the duck and his enemies are bright colours so it remains visually pleasing. Musically a similar situation arises, that its good, but easily forgettable. There is one exception though, theres a cool little tune played when you fail a level, similar to the opening few notes from the JAWS theme which is pretty cool. The musical choice and art designs are very childish, but I suppose this game is probably meant for a younger audience. I can’t help but feel though if they toned down this a little bit though, Feed the Duck would appeal to a wider audience of people.
There are a few unique and interesting ideas thrown in here, so I’ll refrain from calling it Angry Ducks!
VERDICT
Just like Angry Birds, the game is based around a simple pull and release launch concept to get through particular puzzles. While these puzzles are designed pretty intelligently and the physics are good, Feed the Duck sometimes asks you to be a little too accurate, and the lack of modes pushes the title into feeling repetitive very quickly. However, Feed the Duck has good level design and simple pick-up-and-play controls that do make it appealing, with many levels to play, so for the short time you do play it, it will be enjoyable. In the end, it’s only 99 cents, so why not give it a go?
A gold-exclusive demo for 505 Games and HB Studios’ upcoming world cup rugby game, Rugby World Cup 2011, is out now on Xbox Live Marketplace, giving users a taste of what the full game will be like. It’s available to download everywhere now (except South Africa due to a technical fault), and the same demo will arrive on PSN tomorrow.
The demo features England v. South Africa with the match set in Auckland to give players a taste of the biggest sporting event to take place this year. The demo is meant for players of all abilities and will give everyone a taste of the Official videogame of Rugby World Cup 2011.
In the full version of the game launching August 26, 2011, players will be able to customize the difficulty setting as they are challenged to pick from the 20 participating teams and attempt to lead their team through the pool phase, and progress to the Final with the opportunity to lift the prestigious Webb Ellis Cup.
If you thought that Sucker Punch had already been owned by Sony then you were actually quite wrong. Despite the company working on PlayStation exclusive franchises over the past ten years, Sucker Punch Productions was still its own individual company. That is of course until today when the Sly Cooper and inFamous developer officially became a member of Sony.
Managing Parner Brian Fleming says that the company has “enjoyed an incredible relationship with Sony that has allowed us to combine our creative design capabilities with their guidance to make some of the best franchises to hit the PlayStation platforms.” They are apparently looking forward to “introducing more innovative content and providing consumers with exciting, new interactive experiences” now that they are part of the Sony Computer Entertainment group.
One of last year’s best indie games has final made its way onto the PC, LIMBO is now available to purchase on Steam for $9.99. This PC version is also the only game that runs at a full 60fps. Released with much critical acclaim in its initial release on to Xbox Live Arcade and Playstation Network in 2010, LIMBO quickly won fans over with its unique black and white art style, hand drawn visuals and ambiguous plot. LIMBO is the success story of independent game development studio Playdead, with more than 500,000 units sold on Xbox Live Arcade alone.
LIMBO is available on Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and now the PC via Steam
Diablo 3 set to come out later this year is going to have its own auction house like eBay of sorts, which is planned to let players use real money to purchase in game items. Blizzard isn’t putting anything up themselves, leaving it as nothing more than an player based auction house similar to how the WoW house is operated.
The big thing here is that it’s for real world money, so if I were to find a rare drop I could go and put it onto the auction house at a price and if it sells I would then receive that money in my paypal account after the cut that Blizzard take off, of course. The plan is to later introduce gold and even characters up for sale in this auction house. This sort of thing has been going on for a long time now with online MMO’s which refer to it as as “Gold Farming” but wasn’t normally looked upon by the company’s as something they could implement.
I can see where Blizzard is coming from with this as some people that do purchase things from “Gold Farmers” sometimes never receive the items they paid for and end up out of pocket, so this is a way to make it alot safer to stop money theft. When it comes down to it I’m not sure this is the best idea for a game that’s based off random loot drops and giving people an easy way to make money off of in-game good. I don’t believe this is a good idea from Blizzard.
What are you thoughts on these new auction house methods that Blizzard are intending on implementing, leave your comments and suggestions below.
Ikari Warriors released in the arcades in 1986, inspired by the popular Rambo films which were out at the time. The player(s) take control of commandos Ralf and Clark, who’s plane has been shot down and are stuck behind enemy lines left only with the choice to head towards the village of Ikari.
Non-stop gunfire and grenade loops ensue as the player moves up the screen hoping to find a tank to give them an edge. Throwing another player in helps as you both storm up the screen shooting down everyone in your path.
Gameplay
Consisting mainly of dodging enemy gunfire and shooting and throw grenades, one would expect a smooth and fluid control system to help maneuver your character through incoming enemy bullets, however moving your character feels like you’re driving a tank, but the funny thing is when you get inside one it maneuvers smoother than when your on foot and can take multiple hits before it blows up.
In certain stages the action can get to chaotic and seeing as you can die upon one hit, this can lead to sheer frustration for the player. All of the levels are quites long which can lead to racking up a hefty death count before you finally complete each one. Thankfully a supply of grenade somewhat eases the intense difficulty making each stage a less of a chore.
Graphics & Sound
Ikari Warriors visuals haven’t aged well this is a game in need of a graphical overhaul if it ever had a reboot, its an old game so its understandable but it still just seems to be lacking that extra “something” to make it stand in today’s saturated market of retro ports. As you progress through the levels, they recycle a lot of the same background continually but that’s a given for a game of this age.
However, the animations of the grenades and tanks are impressive and add a little more excitement to the overall experience of the game. While it was just a minor touch I personal enjoyed seeing the the smoke and fire coming from the tank just before it blew up. The soundtrack to Ikari Warriors is very repetitive and rather forgettable, some of the sound effects of the weaponry and explosions do their job well enough, but never exceed anything above average.
Verdict
Back in the day Ikari Warriors was a pretty good arcade game but it’s just one of those ones classic that has not aged as gracefully as some of the others from the same era. With the slow moving commandos and the amount of enemies that move towards you a death every 5-30 steps is inevitable, replaying the same section over and over can grow very tiresome, the looped soundtrack music gets old fast.
If you can find someone to play with it can still be fun for a little bit but the repetitive game-play wont have you staying around for long. Ikari Warriors gets
