Check out these new games which will be available for download this week via the Nintendo eShop, Nintendo DSi Shop and Wii Shop Channel! PAC-MAN Nintendo 3DS: (Virtual Console) Nintendo eShop, €4
The 1980’s classic PAC-MAN is back, and this time he’s appearing on the 3DS this Thursday! Escape the wrath of Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde and nom down those Pac-Dots and Power-Pellets before its too late!
Go! Go! Kokopolo Nintendo 3DS: (DSiWare) Nintendo eShop, €8
Nintendo DSi: (DSiWare) Nintendo DSi Shop 800 Nintendo DSi Points
Play as Kokopolo, the hyperactive wildcat, in this action-packed game! Hunt down those responsible for disturbing your afternoon nap, across 80 levels with a sharp claws to slash, and chase them through hazardous hallways abd mind-twisting mazes!
The Lost Town.The Dust Nintendo 3DS: (DSiWare) Nintendo eShop, €5
Nintendo DSi: (DSiWare) Nintendo DSi Shop, 500 Nintendo DSi Points
It’s 2037, and expert weapons master, Chilia, must defend a little South American town and it’s innocent civilians from the fallout of a military bio-chemical facility explosion.
My Australian Farm Nintendo 3DS: (DSiWare) Nintendo eShop, €2
Nintendo DSi: (DSiWare) Nintendo DSi Shop, 200 Nintendo DSi Points
A breeding simulation game for all ages, My Australian Farm has you begin with nothing but an empty field, a little money and a single emu. You’ll have to your emu and take care of it as you begin to grow and expand your farm to unlock new bonuses and features.
Monochrome Racing Wii: (WiiWare) Wii Shop Channel 500 Wii Points
Experience the passion for colour in this adrenaline-filled racer and leave enemies in your dust!
Call of Juarez: The Cartel Developer: Techland Publisher: Ubisoft Platform: Xbox 360 (Reviewed), PlayStation 3, PC Genre: First-person Shooter Released: 19th July, 2011
Price: $54.65 BUY NOW!
Overview
Call of Juarez: The Cartel is the latest installment of Techland’s western first person shooter franchise, but this one has a twist-it’s set in modern-day Los Angeles and Mexico. Elements of the old west still remain however with the game’s dirty cop protagonist Ben McCall being the decedent of Ray McCall from the previous games, with his two equally dirty partners as they attempt to take down a Mexican drug Cartel in today’s wild west. This title places a very heavy focus on it’s story and online co-op gameplay while trying to throw in a few new unique aspects to spice up that same old FPS genre routine. Call of Juarez: The Cartel isn’t the greatest FPS ever made as sometimes it seems to be at a Mexican standoff with itself, but there are many shiny treasures inside that you can definitely tip your cowboy hat to, that should catch the attention and interest of even the most critical of FPS fans.
Presentation and Story
The Cartel begins on a good start with decent looking menus and a character select screen that has clips of each character’s backstory. The game then begins with cutscenes that are well told with interesting plot points in between each level. To further tell the story, during loading sequences we are shown phone call conversations as well as opinions from people radio and television, giving us an insight on how the country is being effected by McCall and his team going head-to-head with The Cartel. This is nicely done and touch on interesting subjects like the decriminalisation of drugs which surprised me to see in a video game. While the plot tries to present us with some sections of emotion and character development, its hard to feel for them though as all three protagonists are unlikeable, dirty cops who never trusted each other to begin with, so this attempt of adding depth to the story is sadly a hit and miss. It does have a few nice plot twists though and the story does improve as it goes along, so it still is enjoyable to watch. Still, these cut scenes are nicely done and is told well, it’s just the graphics and animation that let it down at times. In between these cut scenes of coarse, we have the game itself. There are a few presentation issues which can be an annoyance, like the skip cut scene button which takes up an unappealing amount of the screen, and constant pop ups telling you how to do things you’ve learnt about ten levels ago. But these issues are just small, ignorable things that shouldn’t matter too much, but its the small things like this that bring down Call of Juarez: The Cartel, because there is just so many that they add up and make the game look and feel a lot worse than what it really is.
Gameplay
Call of Juarez: The Cartel controls like your typical shooter. You can crouch, zoom in/scope, throw grenades, you get a jump button that you’ll never use unless you wanna show off in multiplayer, etc…The whole game will feel familiar to any FPS fan, it actually plays a lot like Call of Duty: Black Ops, but it’s different because your dude’s rocking a cowboy hat! You do get a nice selection of guns, and they are fun to shoot. Techland has also thrown in a whole heap of baddies into the levels so your bullets don’t go to waste as well-how sweet of them! To avoid things getting stale of just duck-and-cover, run-and-gun shooting, the action is broken up between different kinds of gameplay. These include free-roaming events where you can steal special items and talk to people and explore small areas, dreaded driving stages with very awkward controls, fun on-rail shooting sections when you shoot from the window of a car, as well as some terrible hand to hand combat sections with even worse controls, and for some unknown reason your character seems to temporarily forget that he owns a gun. Despite all these styles of play however, these are just small aspects of the game and the main focus is on the most fun section-shooting! With decent controls and some sweet guns, it plays good, but not great. It could’ve been more, but some simple issues just come into play. The biggest of these is that it is very simple to walk out of bounds which will cause you to loose the level. Having a radar is nice, but a map would’ve been good as well. To make things worse, everything feels so repetitive, which is a shame since it looks like Techland has put some decent effort into attempting to make sure this didn’t happen. You do get a nice mix in level design. A forest level in the beginning of the game provides opportunities for a lot of free-roaming combat, you get some car-park levels with nicely spaced out cars for cover and levels in urban settings often have some intense shoot outs in some alleyways. On the other hand you also have characters magically appearing in front of you a lot, which does seems kind of buggy.
Call of Juarez: The Cartel is not a bad game. Yes, there are a few problems with it’s core gameplay, but these are just mostly small, unpolished things that just add up to bring it down. What keeps it all together and makes it worth playing however, is all the unique ideas thrown into the mix to shake things up, so it doesn’t stay as a typical cliche FPS game. The most important of these ideas, is the player will receive phone calls from people who’ll give them secret missions to carry out. These missions usually involve some kind of dodgy bad-cop nature, like stealing money or evidence, and it must be done without getting caught by your partners. This works extra well in online co-op, as catching somebody in the act gives extra thrills. It should be noted that there are some instances where these phone calls come at bad times which can effect gameplay, but those are rare situations. Also, killing enemies rewards you with the ability to enter Concentration Mode, which will put the game into bullet-time and let you pop in a few kills in slow motion max-payne style. You also get the same slow motion effect when you bust in doors with a partner. These are a bit overdone, but it does make things more interesting.
Multiplayer
Before each level, Techland have included an interesting element to place a strong focus on playing in co-op online. Before you start, you are taken to a lobby where you can choose your weapons for the level, but it doubles up as a lobby for players to join and get invited to play through the level with you as well. A very nice addition, which is actually pretty smart. As well as the secret missions being more fun to take online, additional side missions appear in co-op campaign featuring challanges such as races to get a certain amount of headshots the quickest, etc. for points. This adds an extra level of fun as while your working together to beat the level, your also against eachother for points. Co-Op is further explored even in VS death matches, with extra points awarded to those who stay close to their partners. This really puts an emphasis on team work and I hope other FPS games follow suit with this feature as it does work well. The maps are also decent, but sadly these online features won’t be enjoyed as much as the online comunity for The Cartel seems pretty small at the moment. There is also no split-screen feature, which is a shame.
Audio and Visual
Voice acting is good, although the voices can sound a bit cartoonish for such a serious toned game. The dialogue is well done, but it is ruined by the over use of profanity which starts off making characters sound gritty and bad-ass, but that quickly changes to sounding like they’re trying too hard. In fact basically every second sentence, by every single character, involves the use of curse words and it is just unnecessary most of the time. It’s like the game is trying to convince you its a mature title and not intended for kids, but does that by childishly over swearing to a point that it’s actually very immature. There’s also some buggy voice issues like clips cutting eachother out, and people still speaking after being killed. The music for The Cartel is good, and I liked how in some parts add a western feel in some sections of the score to remind you of the roots of the franchise. Graphically speaking, The Cartel isn’t the prettiest game, but it isn’t terrible, it just needs some more polish. Environments are rendered well, but objects often pop in and out and appear at random times, and animation can sometimes appear a bit choppy. Textures are a mixed bag, as they are often good but a few things here and there will be seen that aren’t of the same standard. It’s a shame, because on the most part the graphics are actually done well, but is brought down by small things here and there that add up, which could’ve easily been fixed if the game just spent a little more time in development.
Conclusion
Call of Juarez: The Cartel is a good but messy game that just needs some polish. It will put off a lot of gamers, but if your tolerant, you will find a lot of things to like within it. Honestly it feels as if the game was rushed. The gameplay itself is fun and paced out nicely, although it does suffer a tiny bit from repetition, and it has nice cut scenes that tell an interesting story, although it is about unlikeable characters. Call of Juarez: The Cartel is an average, decent first person shooter with a few specks of greatness thrown in and who knows, if it had a little more time in development, this could’ve been something really special. As disappointing as it is, The Cartel is still really fun to play and is at least worth giving it a rent, so if your an FPS fan check it out, you may find something you’ll like.
PROS
Engaging Plot
Secret Side Objectives
Nice Focus on Co-Op
Fun Shooting Mechanics
Ben McCall Has A Cowboy Hat
CONS
Buggy and Filled with Glitches
Unlikeable Characters
Sometimes feels Repetitive
Easy to Go Out-of-Bounds which Leads to Missions Restarting
Awkward Controls in Hand-to-Hand Combat and Driving Sections
Overuse of Pointless Swearing is More Annoying Than Cool
The might and Magic franchise has been around for the longest time and is currently sitting before the release of the sixth Heroes of Might and Magic title.
Over the years players have seen the franchise evolve from a Role Playing Game into a strategy game. The trailer shows off all the races within the game as well as some of the beautiful landscapes. From what I could see of the game from the trailer, it could be very reminiscent to the first three Heroes titles. I’m certainly hoping that this is the case.
The latest game from Suda51 and his team at Grasshopper Manufacture have today unveiled ‘Lollipop Chainsaw’. A third-person action game with a twist of cause as expected, this is of cause a Suda51 game. Lollipop Chainsaw contains an outrageous over the top premise, you will be playing as teenage zombie hunter cheerleader Juliet Starling, on a quest to find the source of the latest zombie outbreak. Oh and did I mention she carries a chainsaw?!
The game’s story is being handled by Hollywood director and writer James Gunn (of Super, Slither, Dawn of the Dead fame), so expect a bit of humour and wit (well…maybe just more than a bit).Thankfully this crazy over the top Japanese game will thankfully see a worldwide release with Grasshopper Manufacture teaming up with publishers Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and KADOKAWA Games publishing the game outside of all Asian territories.
Lollipop Chainsaw is set for a 2012 release date for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. For more information on the game check out the game’s official website
Rising Star Games, a leading publisher here in Australia have revealed the games that they plan on releasing here over the coming months. The company is vatering to 5 different genres this time around and have an amazing lineup for the gaming consumers here in Australia.
In order of console and date –
Nintendo DS
Harvest Moon: Grand Bazaar – Neverland/MMV – September 2011
Rune Factory 3: A Fanstasy Harvest Moon – September 2011
Cradle of Rome 2 – Cerasus Media – September 2011
Xbox 360 and Playstation 3
King of Fighters XIII – SNK Playmore – October 2011
Game Name:Captain America: Super Soldier Platform(s): Xbox 360 (reviewed), PS3, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS Publisher(s):Sega Developer(s):Next Level Games Genre(s): Third Person/ Action Release Date: July 19, 2011 (US), July 15, 2011 (EU) Price: $49.99 (Xbox 360 & PS3) $39.99 (Wii) $29.99 (DS) Buy Now!
The latest Captain America movie has now been released in theaters, and with that of course comes the video-game tie in from Sega and Next Level Games. Most gamers cringe at the thought of any licensed title as there have only been a handful of movies that received a worthy video game adaptation. After playing the very disappointing console version Thor: God of Thunder, which released earlier this year, my expectations for Captain America: Super Soldier were pretty low, but to my surprise, this title actually was a much more polished and enjoyable experience than I could have ever expected. So what makes the Captain’s game an exception to the age old licensed title curse? Here is my review for Captain America: Super Soldier for the Xbox 360.
Story
Captain America: Super Soldier puts the player in the role of Steve Rogers himself as he tries to infiltrate a massive Hydra Castle and foil the plans of Arnim Zola, who is out to replicate the very serum that turned Rogers into Captain America and use it for evil purposes. Those who watched the movie should know that this plot doesn’t quite follow the cinema version, as The Red Skull makes a very small appearance and many of the plotlines are absent in this video-game adaptation. However, this story is still a simple one to follow as the main objective is simply to take down various Hydra soldiers and break into certain locations with a few boss battles found in-between.
Those who are fans of the comic books or the movie are sure to be pleased with how well Super Soldier portrays the familiar faces from the franchise throughout the many cutscenes within the game. Unfortunately though, even with the decent performances from Chris Evans and the other actors from the film in tow, the whole narrative isn’t exactly top-notch as a lot of the story feels stapled together just to fit the linear path Captain America traverses. While this story is sufficient enough to keep the player from losing interest, the generic enemies and rather sub-par environments hold this title back from portraying the rich atmosphere that is prominently displayed in the cinematic adaptation.
Gameplay
The most pleasant surprise within Captain America: Super Soldier is the actual gameplay mechanics. Taking control of the Star-Spangled Avenger in a third-person perspective, players are given many different techniques to take down the Hydra soldiers. The most prominent of course is the famous shield that the Cap can toss to take out enemies at the tap of a button. This technique can also be done with precision, as if the player holds down the trigger, they can aim a destination for the shield to travel and then fire it quickly into a foe. Over time, this move can be leveled up, allowing for the shield to ricochet off several enemies at once. I honestly never got bored of using this attack as it was satisfying every time and is easily one of the most fine tuned pieces of weaponry in Captain America’s arsenal.
Captain America isn’t all about shield tossing though. The main system used throughout the game for battle is the standard hand to hand combat, which actually feels a bit borrowed Arkham Asylum. The Cap can punch and kick as you would expect, but due to his special athletic skills, many flashy techniques such as aerial kicks and flips can be pulled off by inputting different button combinations on the controller. There are several techniques that can also be used to finish off a foe, such as a satisfying punch to the throat or a straight up shield bash to the head. When in this form of combat, the game actually slows down a bit to let the player plan ahead for defense. For instance, if an enemy fires a bullet while you are in a jump, your senses automatically inform you of the danger and give you time to block the bullet with your shield. I was impressed by this small touch, as Super Soldier utilized the shield with near perfection, and given that this is Captain America’s main tool for battle, players should never have any problem feeling that they are actually playing as the Captain himself. That may be an odd compliment, but many Marvel games we have seen released have the main hero bumbling through some unfitting gameplay mechanics to provide a false sense of depth, and while it is a bit borrowed, Next Level Games incorporated a fantastic fighting scheme in Super Soldier, allowing for the combat to remain both fun and fitting throughout.
This game isn’t all about combat and taking down Hydra goons though, as extra elements were added to somewhat deepen the overall experience. As I mentioned, the main formula for each “chapter” is to tackle enemies and then open up a new path. To open up these said paths, “codes” must be cracked in some puzzles, which sounds simple enough, but that is actually the biggest problem. Most of the puzzles in the game require as much effort as moving two analog sticks together to either cross wires or match numbers in a pattern. It is a quick way to get to the next destination, but I would have liked to seen a bit more complexity mixed in as this feature would have been a refreshing one if utilized correctly.
The world with Captain America: Super Soldier is a large one, almost as if you were running through an open world game. The openness is sadly just an illusion however, as the game doesn’t allow backtracking and there isn’t a whole lot of interactivity within the environments. I will say that the Cap has bottomless pockets though, as there are a ton of collectibles to be found that level up techniques within the game. That being said, the incentive to explore is there, it’s just the the environments are a bit too bland to actually enjoy the experience. I found myself just wanting to push through to get to the action rather than have a look around as the scenery feels more like a painting due to the lack of depth added in.
Interestingly enough, Captain America can jump from platform to platform at lightning speeds and scale a small wall or building without much effort at all. This is unfortunately another area that was in need of some extra attention though, as pulling off these awesome animations is a streamlined affair, where the game takes care of the actual platforming and the player simply presses a one button input to correctly time a jump. I didn’t mind this shortcoming too much though, as I felt it still displayed the athleticism for our hero, and while all I was doing was pressing a button, this mechanic still required enough effort to make me as the player feel I was still behind the wheel.
Even with collecting most of the hidden items within the game, taking on all the bosses, and watching the somewhat entertaining cutscenes, most players should finish this experience in around 7 hours. Due to this. there isn’t a whole lot of replay value at all within Super Soldier, which is a bit disappointing as with such clever mechanics, a few extra modes or levels would have went a long way.
Graphics/Audio
The visuals in Captain America: Super Soldier are a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand, you have the blue wonder himself, who honestly looks finely detailed and never misses a beat when it comes to the animation-heavy combat and platforming. On the other hand, you have the rather generic enemies and environments that feel a tad rushed. Bosses are well designed much like our main protagonist, but I do wish that the standard enemies matched that of the main characters as the overall product would have felt much more complete and fulfilling in the long run.
I found the music to be a much more pleasing element of the game, as each tune keeps the action exciting and fits well with each setting throughout. I also must give it up to the voice cast, as Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell, and many of the actors from the movie showed a fantastic effort in bringing their persona’s from the movie alive within this game. Sound effects are also well done, as the “whisk!” of a shield toss and the realistic sound of gunfire keep the combat satisfying and makes the actual gameplay a much more immersive experience.
Overall
Captain America: Super Soldier may feel a bit rushed due to the somewhat flat scenery and automated platforming, but where it lacks in innovation and detail, it redeems itself with a fine-tuned combat scheme and relatively enjoyable gameplay mechanics overall. Some could argue that the finer features found within this game are a bit unoriginal, but considering the watered down comic book experiences we have seen this year alone, Super Soldier feels like a bright ray of hope for what we could see in the future. It’s not groundbreaking by any means, but I can say I can look back and remember this title being one experience where I spent most of my time enjoying the gameplay rather than clenching the controller in frustration. Either way, fans of Captain America (and action games in general) can now rejoice, as a solid experience has finally arrived on consoles.
I Give Captain America: Super Soldier for the Xbox 360:
Codemasters have kick-started a new behind the scenes arrangement of videos today, dubbed ‘Behind the Bullets’. This first part is centered very much on the weaponry, and the impacting, heavy-duty firepower it possesses and that the developers are going for.
As Codemasters Guildford Studio team members discuss the way in which gun handling, VFX and level design combine to deliver a “crazy, over the top” experience, the video shows players shredding through cover, blowing enemies through walls, spectacular stunt deaths and Bodycount’s innovative cover-lean system in action.
Bodycount blasts its way onto Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on 2nd September this year, so with about a month to go, who’s excited for its release?
Developer:Namco Bandai Platform:Xbox Live Arcade, Playstation Network Price:800MSP(Buy Here)
Galaga Legions DX is the Namco Generations reboot of the Galaga arcade game. In Galaga Legions DX, players take the role of a Space Craft armed with two satellites and must take down swarms of Galaga, an insect like race of aliens, in order to score points and survive. Galaga Legions DX differs from the original Galaga in that players are able to move about the playfield freely, and by utlising the satellites, fire in any direction around the player.
Story
During my entire playthrough of the game, I had no idea what the actual story of the game was. I mean, I got that you were someone in a spaceship who had to rip through wave after wave of Galaga in order to do something, but I’m not entirely sure what that thing was. Protection of my planet? Maybe, though I never see it. Destruction of the Galaga, making me the bad guy? Possibly. Though, I’d say that Galaga isn’t a game that needs a story, it’s a game that allows players to make up a story as they go.
Gameplay
In Galaga Legions DX, players take the role of a spaceship designed to take on wave after wave of Galaga. At your disposal you have two different mechanisms of attack, a formation of satellites that shoot forwards, and a formation of satellites that shoot in a spread-like fashion. By using the right type of weapon during the right wave, you can maximise your killing efficiency and maximise your score. As you progress through a level, you will be able to capture an enemy swarm of Galaga, which act as an extension to yuor satellites and enable you to fire even more shots towards an enemy, as well as doubling your own satellites on your ship.
Galaga Legion DX has 9 areas for players to battle through, with each one having 5 levels within it. Each subsequent level and area present an even greater challenge to a player. The last level in each area will present players with a great challenge, which is something that I love, and that challenge is that players can battle through 99 waves of enemies in whatever time they have left. Of course, not completing all the waves in any level of any area before the timer runs out will not cause you to lose the game (that’s reserved for being killed), it just cuts your chances of achieving the highest possible score that you can. I quite liked this aspect as it stopped you from being stuck on a particularly difficult wave for too long and kept the highly frenetic flow of the game. Of course, only the most hardcore and dedicated player will be able to reach the 99th wave in the last level of an area.
As you go through a level, enemies will spawn in different locations across the screen (as opposed to the original Galaga where it was always top down), which can create some pretty chaotic action if you’re unprepared for it. Though, if you master these spawn locations, you will be ripping through the game with the fastest speed and highest scores!
And speaking of highest scores, Galaga Legions DX allows you to save your rank for each area on the online leaderboards. If you should choose, you can also upload your replay data for other players to enjoy. I found that watching the replays of the highest ranking players to be essential in learning the game in order to maximise your score and hope to overthrow them. This is esepcially true for the Championship area, which is, not only the most fun area, but also the most competitive. At the time of writing the number one ranked player is UnspokenSix8, with a highscore of 11,726,300. Just completing an area will only yield 20% of that at best, so be sure to learn the levels.
Included in the gameplay in addition to each area is a Time Attack mode. In Time Attack mode, players can take on any level in any each area in an effort to down each wave against a clock counting downwards. Get the highest score and the best time to win. This adds an amazing replayability to the game, and along with the leaderboards and personal statistics, this game will have you returing for more.
As a gamer, I absolutely love arcade style games (which you would think is strange given my love of PC gaming over all else) and Galaga Legions DX gameplay takes me back to the arcade, even if I wasn’t actually around early enough to experience the almighty retro game arcade cabinets of old, and it’s through the gameplay that it does this. This is definitely a game I’m revisiting, I only wish it were ported to the PC.
Audio
Galaga Legions DX features an amazing techno/electronic soundtrack that compliments the games visuals nicely. There isn’t too much to say with the audio here, the soundbytes that play at the beginning and end of the areas are indicative of what you’re supposed to be doing and what has happened.
All the weapon blasts, explosions and the like all sound quite believable, as well as extraordinary and great. No complaints from me, the sound team did a great job and should be commended for their efforts!
Graphics
Galaga Legions DX has amazing visuals, even if looking at a still image of the game might not convey that. As a still image, everything looks like it doesn’t belong on the playfield at all, or at least that’s the impression that I got anyway (for this section, I refer to the default skinset). But, once you start playing, it all comes together nicely and it fits perfectly. I am absolutely in love with the games models while they’re in motion and think that the team did a good job with them.
While the games default skins are modern adaptations of classic Galaga enemies, the game features different types of skins for the models within the game. All of these are more retro looking, in that they are pixel based and are often reminiscent of classic top-down shooters of old. It’s interesting going back back and watching the top players play through the game and noticing that each player has their own preference of skins within the game. I use the type-1 skins myself (the default new updated ones), but a lot of people like to use the classic Galaga skinset.
Not only are the skins for the game amazing and plentiful, but the (what was a dense-black background in the original arcade) backgrounds within the game are amazing to watch. They shift from a starting area, to a very bright, beautiful and evolving backdrop. The colourscheme seems to reflect what’s going on in reference to the level that you’re on in an area. While it’s never explicity stated what happens between level 1 and level 5 of each area, the background helps to establish what could be happening. In my interpretation, your spaceship is increasing in speed and sitorting the space around them until they reach the final level which is Galaga controlled terriitory. I know it’s not officially stated, but it makes sense to me.
Overall
Galaga Legions DX is an excellent arcade shooter from Namco-Bandai, as well as an excellent follow-up to a timeless classic. I would maybe even go so far as to even say that it might be even better than the classic, if only for being not as locked down as the classic was. The game is an amazing package, the visuals, gameplay and audio all compliment each other very nicely and is definitely worth the price and the download. I hope that everyone has as much fun with this as I did!
EA has unveiled the players who will be gracing the covers for its latest football title, FIFA 12. This is the first of a series of announcements EA will be releasing as the launch date gets closer and more player lineups are revealed.
Australia’s cover will include Everton player and Aussie, Tim Cahill, Manchester United’s Rooney, and Real Madrid’s Kaka. Other players that will be featured on the cover from other countries includes Jack Wilshere from Arsenal, Xabi Alonso from Real Madrid, Pique from Barcelona, and Mexes from AC Milan. These players will – as they are every year – be integrated into the marketing campaign for the title before and after the launch on September 29 (Australia) and September 30 (New Zealand).
Does this cover lineup for Australia sound a little familiar? Check out the FIFA 11 cover and see if there are any similarities…
Oh wait…it’s the exact same players! We’ll forgive you, EA, because FIFA 12 does sound like a brilliant and innovative new take on the franchise (and because they’re all wearing different kits…does anyone notice Kaka’s odd hair in this cover?). However, there’s only so many times Kaka and Cahill can grace our covers before each year starts to look exactly the same.
With just five weeks to go until insomnia43, the UK’s largest LAN event, organiser Multiplay has begun to unveil some of the specific attractions appearing over the weekend.
Currys and PC World have been announced as headline attendees, bringing a variety of brands including Antec, ASUS, Kingston, NVidia, Intel, Madcatz and Roxio. The extensive range of games, peripherals and components from all of these big name brands and more can be seen online and in-store at Currys and PC World.
The event, which runs over the August bank holiday weekend at the Telford International Centre, will see upwards of 3,000 gamers compete in a host of prestigious multiplayer tournaments for a prize fund already in excess of £30,000.
Providing commentary – at the event and also for the expected hundreds of thousands of those watching the live stream – will be John “TotalBiscuit” Bain and Shaun “dApollo” Clark, from the popular ‘Starcast’ podcast – the leading authority on all things Starcraft. In addition, the League of Legends coverage will be handled by Leigh “Deman” Smith and Joe Miller – hugely respected names from the scene.
The insomnia Series of LAN events is a British institution, playing host to some of the biggest eSports tournaments in Europe – indeed, it is the host of the UK qualifiers for the World Cyber Games.
Organisers expect over 5,000 spectators to pass through the doors over the weekend, which includes dedicated exhibition space alongside the fiercely contested competition area.
The events prove a massive draw, even for those not attending. The competitions are streamed online all weekend and historically the i-Series has seen over 170,000 unique viewers and close to 10,000 concurrently – and this weekend’s high-profile billing is expected to set a new record for certain tournaments.
Full details of confirmed companies so far:-
Samsung – showcasing its latest gaming and electronic devices
PC World – offering a wide range of equipment for purchase at the show and bringing many partners to demonstrate their products.
Medion – unveiling top-of-the-range gaming PC’s, monitors and peripherals .
Iiyama – the monitor and touchscreen specialists will be showing off its wares
ASUS – tonnes of freebies and a Left 4 Dead 2 survival championship
Riot Games – sponsors of the League of Legends WCG tournament
Aquatuning – showing off their latest hardware and handing out awesome freebies
ESET UK – Andy the Android will make a triumphant return with an on-stand tournament and ace giveaways
Kingston – sponsors of the Counter-Strike Source Cup.
Pro Class TV – Coverage of the FIFA tournament including well known celebrity appearances (more soon!).
Quiet PC – showing that powerful can also be quiet!
Razer – sponsoring the international Starcraft 2 tournament.
Triple Widescreen – the makers of the iMotion Racing Seat will be speeding into i43
Ttesports – Sponsoring the Heroes of Newerth Tournament and showcasing their range of gaming hardware and peripherals.
Kustom PC – try out the latest hardware which will really help raise your game
Antec – showing all their latest range of PC products.
Team Dignitas – once again returning to i-Series, with its brilliant ‘beat the pro’ competitions
A full competitor “Bring Your Own Computer/Console” pass costs £92 for the whole weekend including camping. There are also options for those unable to bring their own equipment with “Turn Up and Play” passes costing £50 for particular tournaments and PCs being available for rent for £150 inclusive of the full entry pass.
Spectator passes start at £5 for a day access to the exhibition or £25 for the whole weekend including camping. Of course for those who can’t make it, there will be free internet coverage of the event streamed live through Multiplay’s site in High Definition.
For more information on the event, head over to iseries.multiplay.co.uk
