Rumours have been flying across the anime universe at the suggestion of Hunter x Hunter coming out of hiatus which has to date been going for longer than a year.
The rumours began circulating when several book retailers added volumes #28 and #29 to their upcoming schedule, although the series has yet to recommence following volume #27, hinting at Togashi returning to the studio soon to bring back the series.
Shonen Jump editor Sasaki Hisashi also announced via. his twitter page that he had had a meeting with Yoshihiro Togashi (creator of Hunter x Hunter) in what many believe to be regarding the imminent return of Hunter x Hunter to Weekly Shonen Jump magazine.
As I have said, this is all merely rumours and speculation. Only time will tell whether Togashi will return to work on Hunter x Hunter. Here’s hoping it will be sooner rather than later.
Amazon and Rakuten Books are listing volume #28 for a July 4th release and volume #29 for an August 4th release.
Thanks to the efforts of both MasterAbbott and Wolf (Phil and Travis) we have before us a gameplay video of the upcoming crossover fighter Streetfighter X Tekken.
As we already know, Street Fighter X Tekken will come in two different flavours, with each flavour being that the gameplay is based on either version of the game. For instance, the version of the fighter in this video is the Street Fighter version of the game, as opposed to the Tekken style of play. In the video you will also see MasterAbbott totally own (Yes, OWN, I predate pwn as an adjective) a random challenger from another gaming site, whose name we have with-held for their personal honour.
During our tour of Capcom’s booth I was given the chance to play Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City on a PlayStation 3 console. Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City is an entirely different beast than what most Resident Evil fans may know. The title is being developed by Slant Six which has worked with the SOCOM series in the past, meaning that this title focuses heavily on squad based combat and also allows players to join up with team of up to four players to make their way through the campaign.
Unfortunately when we were given hands on time with the game, every other console was working individually, meaning we weren’t able to test out the co-op experience. Instead the better thing we were able to test, was the computer AI which replaces the human players and helps create a four man squad regardless of whether or not you have co-op partners. The allied AI seems to work rather well but they did not really seem to use their own special skills at all, instead they mostly were just handling the many zombies and B.O.W.s that would appear from time to time. Against the human opponents they held their own rather well, though I never received any notification if one of them was dropped in battle, they would just reappear instantly.
But before you can enter the fight, you have the chance to select a character of your own. Revealed at E3 were two new characters, Lupo and Four Eyes, two new female characters. This means that the game will have three female and three male characters, the three female being Lupo, Bertha and Four Eyes while the mail characters will be Vector, Spectre and Beltway. Each class has their own special abilities such as stealth or assault or explosives. For the sake of trying out the newest character I chose to play as Four Eyes, who is a scientist. One of her special abilities involves shooting a Bio Organic Weapon, such as a Hunter, and being able to control it and give it orders, making one of the enemies you used to shoot an ally.
Besides selecting the character’s special abilities, I was able to customize which gun I wanted to use between assault rifles, SMGs, rifles and heavy machine guns. Of course you should put a good amount of thought into the firepower you will need because zombies are literally everywhere in the game and will constantly respawn and keep swarming the player until they advance where they need to go. When a zombie gets to close, I was able to use Four Eyes’ knife to quickly dispatch any of the lower zombies, even performing a “Brutal Kill” which involves a quick execution-like sequence with her knife. When a zombie did manage to get a hold of me, I was able to easily shake it off.
Of course if you don’t manage to shake them off in time, you can end up becoming infected which will eventually turn you into a zombie. I didn’t have this experience myself but the Capcom representative at the game station told me that your teammates will then have to kill you before you are able to respawn. Dying is something I did quite often through my demo time simply due to the fact that the game is extremely fast paced and there are zombies literally everywhere. When I was shot by another human survivor I was tasked to kill, it made my character begin to bleed which made all the zombies in the area focus solely on my character.
The fast paced experience may put off some hardcore Resident Evil fans but before you decide to put your money elsewhere, you should know that the fast paced combat, coupled with countless zombies and the high difficulty level means that the game will provide a true survival experience. Sure at the time of playing, death held no real consequence. But I am sure further down the line when the game is released early next year there will be some punishment for dying.
All good things must come to an end. It was the final day of E3, and MasterAbbott & Travis had a ton of sights to see as the event wound to a close. In the pictures below, you can get caught up at what was at E3 this year, with the likes of Tomb Raider, POWER RANGERS!!!!!!! (those exclamation points are very necessary), Dragon’s Dogma, the PSVita, and a lot more of this year’s most anticipated.
There also seems to be quite a few booth babes in the mix, which makes me think this gallery could also be a photo scrapbook of all the women that turned MasterAbbott down at E3. Either way, enjoy the photos below and we will keep you covered as E3 2011 comes to a climax.
Who likes to be in-between two women while parading around and announcing himself King? Capsule Computers own EIC MasterAbbott? No, well… yes, but more specifically, I was referring to none other than the lady killer and alien slayer himself: DUKE NUKEM.
Putting one of the oldest vaporware jokes to bed after years and years… and years of doubt, 2K Games and Gearbox Software announced that the wait is finally over: Duke Nukem Forever is now available. First announced way back in April of 1997, Duke Nukem Forever was originally being developed by 3D Realms and the legendary George Broussard, creator of Duke Nukem. After an absurd 13 year development cycle, 2K Games announced in September of 2010, that it was (wisely) in development at Gearbox Software, a team known for actually finishing games in a reasonable amount of time.
What was once thought unobtainable is now available in stores worldwide – always bet on Duke. Always!
“June 10 will forever be celebrated as the day that the legendary Duke Nukem Forever went from video game folklore to Earth shattering reality,” said Christoph Hartmann, president of 2K. “For 15 years fans have waited in limbo just yearning to hear those two little lovely words strung together, Now Available. Today, the acronym ‘DNF’ changes its meaning to a ‘Day to Never Forget’. I am proud to announce that the wait is finally over and that Duke Nukem Forever is truly Now Available.”
Duke Nukem Forever is rated MA15+ for by the Australian Classification Board and R18 by the New Zealand Office of Film and Literature Classification. For more information on Duke Nukem Forever, please visit www.dukenukemforever.com.
Duke Nukem Forever is available for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. Get a little piece of history and pick up your copy today.
At Capcom’s booth tour I was presented with the opportunity to try out Dead Rising 2: Off the Record on a PlayStation 3 console. Off the Record essentially has the same basic structure of Dead Rising 2, but rather than playing as Chuck Greene you will be playing as Frank West. In the demo I was given access to a closed area that is new to Dead Rising 2: Off the Record. This area is called the Uranus Zone, and this zone is where I was able to let my zombie killing side run rampant.
The demo itself allows for fifteen minutes of gameplay and I could tell immediately that the serious overtones of Dead Rising 2 had been lightened up a bit due to an interesting new ability that Frank has. Frank now has the ability to grab a zombie and snap a picture with it, literally right next to his face like they were old friends. Of course once he is done taking the picture with the zombie, he throws it to the ground usually killing it in the process. By the way did I mention that the camera mechanic was back?
I paused my zombie killing spree to check out the mechanic for the taking pictures with Frank’s camera. I was still given experience points depending on how interesting your picture was. The experience points of course are still PP and the PP stickers return as there were a couple in the demo that I took a picture with. The photos are still rated either through Horror, comedy or erotic, though there wasn’t a whole lot of benefit to taking pictures in the actual demo because I was immediately placed at level 20 at the start.
The Uranus Zone was set up with plenty of pre-made combination weapons that are new to Off the Record so we could test them out ourselves. These included a Cryo chamber, which works similar to a barrel from Dead Rising 2, trapping the zombie inside. The kicker is that the barrel then shoots into the air freezing all zombies nearby while the zombie spins around in the air, trapped in a barrel. Another such combo weapon was an innocent enough looking hobby horse that had fireworks strapped to it. When jammed into a zombie it didn’t do anything too impressive before it decided to turn the zombie into a rocket launching into the air.
Of course there was plenty of food laying around and new clothing items that will allow the player to dress Frank up in comedic ways. Also your standard weapons are everywhere, with a shotgun being the first thing you see. Frank still has the ability to create weapons in a maintenance room but the animation when he does it is not nearly as impressive as Chuck’s simply due to the fact that Frank acts like he cut his hand every time he works on something.
Dead Rising 2: Off the Record looks to place Frank in a whole new world with plenty of different things to do and a few new areas as well as new combo weapons. The mechanics felt the exact same as Dead Rising 2 with the Dead Rising 1’s camera function worked into the middle. We’ll be seeing much more of Dead Rising 2: Off the Record when it releases in the Fall of this year for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
E3 2011, MasterAbott had an opportunity to play through Super Mario Bros. Mii for the Wii U system. Courtesy of Wolf and himself, comes this gameplay video of the game.
The game plays similarly to the earlier Wii and DS versions of the game, but also allows you to run through the game as your own Mii as well as with the Mario cast. Watch as Phil flicks the controller to make Mario spin, and learn the secrets of the game through Masterabbott’s own demonstrations.
Super Mario Brothers for the Wii U was set up to show attendees that they can play seamlessly without a TV. A TV was set up showing the game itself alongside the Wii U controller which displayed the exact same image flawlessly. We had five different levels to choose from, including a basic ground level, a cloud level and more. Super Mario Bros. Mii has the Mii name because you can play as your own Mii instead of Mario or Luigi.
Watch the video embedded below for more details. After the images of course.
“Swing your arms from side to side (Come on lets go, do the Mario); Take one step then back again (Just like that)”
A playable demonstration of the Wii U’s capabilities in motion, Battle Me, has recently been demoed at E3 by both MasterAbbott and Wolf (Phil and Travis – Lucky so-and-so’s). The game itself features players with Wii remotes who must navigate using the television to engage and take down the player playing as the UFO on the Wii U tablet. While watching the video, you will notice that the UFO can be controlled via motion control on the tablet.
Also, to quote Phil in his sexy glasses –
Battle Mii station which allowed three players to play at the same time. Two players controlled Samus Aran bodied Mii’s that also had the ability to roll up into a ball like Samus. These two players use the Wii remotes and are tasked with shooting down the space ship which is being controlled by the third player with the Wii U controller. The Wii U controller holder must defeat the two players on the ground to win and can control their space ship by tilting the Wii U controller one way or another, you are able to shoot with the triggers on the back. The tilting controls felt a bit difficult to use unfortunately and we spent a lot of time nose diving into the ground but thankfully there is a bit of time in the beginning to help accustom yourself with the gyroscope experience before the match begins.
Check out the embedded video below. After this pic of the Greg Grunberg from heroes having a go at the game.
At Capcom’s booth tour we were given the chance to get our hands on Dragon’s Dogma on the Xbox 360 for the first time since the game had been announced. The title allowed me to select either a prequel level where we would have played as a warrior class, or a level where we would be fighting against a giant griffon in mid air. Needless to say, I chose to battle against the griffin.
For the fight with the griffin I was given the Strider class to play as. This class is a bow wielding class that can use various bow and arrow abilities as well as use two daggers to deal fast damage at a distance. The rest of my party consisted of a fighter and a mage that provided both healing and various buffs to our weapons including the spell that was most important for this battle, the spell that imbued our weapons with fire magic.
First off the Striders abilities with the bow were quite impressive, with two abilities shown off called Strong Pull which allowed the player to charge an arrow over a short period that will cause extra damage when it hits the target. The other ability allowed the player to arc an arrow attack into the air that would then hail down as multiple arrows to strike at foes on the ground. The strider is also quite capable as a close range fighter as he wielded both of his daggers with ease. Though the most important aspect of this fight was the bow and arrow.
Our fight began with a small group of goblins on the ground while the griffin circled above us menacingly, these goblins were easy to dispatch and I noticed that my teammates were saying various things such as, “This body will be great bait.” This means that it could be used to draw the griffin onto the ground so we could attack it easier. Whenever one of my party members would speak about something important that I should do, the camera focused on them in an effort to emphasize that I should listen to them.
Unfortunately the zooming animation for the characters wasn’t fully finished yet so the timing was off most of the time and would simply leave me guessing as to what I should do with what they were telling me. Of course team work is the best way to take down an enemy of such size, and the best way to bring down a griffin is to burn its wings.
I could command my teammates with the D-pad saying either Go, Help or Come to me which would allow some minor management of my party members at the time, and the best way that you could work together with your mage was requesting him to help you. He would then buff my arrows with fire magic, which when shot at the wings of the griffin caused them to catch fire and force the beast to the ground in an impressively visual crash. Once upon the ground the griffin was still a force to be reckoned with, but it also allowed me to take advantage of the grab mechanic, which allowed me to grab onto the leg and the head of the griffin when it was upon the ground and climb up along its body, allowing me to deal heavy damage to it without it being able to throw me off.
There is a fatigue meter of sorts which shows how long you will be able to stay hanging onto the griffin. This meter is displayed under the health bar at the moment and when empty, my strider would let go of the griffin and breath heavily for a few moments before I could move him again. After a short time the griffin would be able to fly again, but could be taken down easily again with team work. The combat for Dragon’s Dogma is both impressive and easy to understand, which is saying a lot considering there is still half a year left before the end of 2011. Visually the game is a treat as the griffin was as large as a mid-boss creature should be and the hilly field that we fought upon was nicely detailed. Dragon’s Dogma will be released sometime early in 2012 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
Razer is super excited about the next big MMO in the gaming world, The Old Republic. As a result, a slew of gaming accessories for the game are being exclusively produced for the game. A mouse and keyboard are both slated to be created, as well as a headset and more.
The really cool innovation, a first in the gaming world, that is present in the keyboard is an “LCD panel with a row of adaptive tactile keys above that can cycle through skills, hotkeys and macros with matching graphics from the game for maximum competitive efficiency.”
All the accessories can be customized to show your allegiance to either the Republic or Empire.
“We expect nothing but the best gaming equipment to complement our major entertainment franchises,” said Patrick J. O’Brien, Vice President of EA Entertainment, Electronic Arts. “Razer’s excellent track record in producing phenomenal gaming peripherals makes them the best partner brand to deliver on our high level expectations.”
“By working closely with EA, Razer is providing an avenue for the major game publisher to use their software and our hardware to create synergy, giving gamers an exciting and unparalleled gaming experience unattainable elsewhere,” added Min-Liang Tan, CEO and Creative Director, Razer. “We are challenging ourselves to create peripherals that add a level of immersion to video game titles that we are deeply passionate about.”
