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Excel Saga: Complete Series Review

Travis Bruno
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1


Excel Saga: Complete Series
Studio: J.C. Staff
Publisher & Localization: FUNimation
Release Date: May 17, 2011
Price: $49.98 – Purchase Here!

Overview:
There are many ways that an anime can be considered a comedy. It could be a show that features occasional jokes or strange situations, or one that makes snide comments about modern life or any number of things. Another way it to be absolutely wacky and random in such a way that even veteran anime viewers will be unsure of what is going to happen next.

One such show is Excel Saga, released back during 1999 in Japan the show deviates and follows a completely different storyline than the one originally set in the manga of the same name. With zany and completely off the wall humor, Excel Saga was a show that many who watched it could not easily forget. Now that FUNimation has rereleased the entire twenty six episode package under their Anime Classics label, how does this crazy show stand?

Story:
The story of Excel saga is something extremely strange to describe. The main storyline that the show seems to follow is about a teenage girl named Excel who may be classified as clinically insane if a doctor ever was able to keep her still long enough to analyze her mental condition. Excel is a devout follower of a man named Il Palazzo who is the evil mastermind behind his own little organization known as ACROSS which is trying to take over the world. It just happens however that they have absolutely no idea what the world they are doing and the crazy tasks that Il Palazzo set Excel and her eventual partner Hyatt on usually end up making absolutely no sense.

If that wasn’t enough, there is also a side storyline about a construction worker named Pedro who is an extremely hard worker who loves his wife and child. However due to many strange circumstances the man gets taken on an odd journey away from his family. This is only the tip of the iceberg however as various other characters and references are thrown in completely at random, with only occasional intersections of storyline. Because of this there are numerous storyline arcs that run at one time which can make it extremely easy to get lost, but that may also be because of the amount of laughing that the viewer will be doing.

Nearly every episode of Excel Saga is a spoof of some kind or complete and utter randomness. The show can switch gears from an action styled show to a romance, to horror to flat out comedy with every episode that passes. Most of these are pure spoofs of the genres they involve, including an episode titled “Increase Ratings Week” which involves the female characters wearing swimsuits. The amount of tongue-in-cheek humor delivered towards the anime industry as a whole is certainly a highlight for experienced viewers. There is heavy adult humor as well with plenty of vulgarity and many weird references that while some people may still not end up getting, will be enjoyable in their own right simply because the viewer will be left to interpret what the hell they just saw.

Besides being completely random, there is indeed excellent humor involved thanks to the characters themselves, the slapstick based skits and the convoluted plot that usually makes no sense. There are many moments where a character will be killed only to be back in one minute like nothing ever happened.

The only problem is that Excel Saga may be extremely difficult to get into at the start. The craziness of the show is something that takes a bit of time to get used to which can be a problem at times. Plus this isn’t a show that would be good for new anime fans as the humor often references specific anime tropes and could leave them in the dark at times.

Artwork:
Excel Saga is quite an odd show to say the least, and of course the artwork has to be right up there with it. However with all the zaniness occurring at a time, the artwork does a remarkable job of being extremely high class at times and then being rather low class in quality. The low end usually comes when the characters receive some form of deformation to help heighten the hilarity of a gag or when they go nuts.

Still, the show is made from 1999 so don’t expect anything remarkable as far as the drawings are concerned. There are plenty of styles to be seen here however, usually changing every time the theme of an episode changes. The artwork is always consistent in quality without any errors or significant drop in overall quality without reason which is a major plus to the series and I couldn’t find any noticeable shortcomings.

Audio:
Considering how random at times the storyline can be, there are a lot of characters that have to be voiced and acted out in Excel Saga. Excel Saga contains both the original Japanese voice cast as well as an English voice cast. The English dub does a great job keeping up with the crazy actions that take place all of the time which makes me wonder how the recording studio sounded at times. Still, the Japanese voice actors actually do a perfect job with their characters which heightens the overall experience, which means that some may prefer the original Japanese dub with English subs instead.

There are a few strange songs as well which match the lunacy of the show. The opening song is sung rather poorly but this is meant to be the case and is set to very strange visuals. Dancing and singing in the middle of a man’s bathhouse anyone? The ending song is extremely interesting however as it is barked out by Excel’s dog Menchi which is called “The Bolero of Sorrow.” The song is very interesting and is a delight to hear mostly due to there being practically nothing ever like it.

Characters:
There are a plethora of characters in Excel Saga and most of them have very strange quirks about themselves but the main highlights are the two female leads Excel and Hyatt. As I mentioned before, Excel is a crazy character that is extremely hyper and off the wall. I’ve seen many characters who have acted insane before, but none can surpass Excel.

Hyatt on the other hand is a more soft spoken character and can be seen as a beauty by some. That is of course until she just bursts into spouts of blood and falls over dead or passed out. Hyatt is one of the characters that is extremely difficult to understand and her frailty is the centerpiece to her character. Besides the two female leads, a rather unusual dog stands out as well.

Named Menchi by Excel, he is kept as their pet dog. However they have another name for him as well, Emergency Food Rations. The dog is mostly kept because they will eat him if they ever grow hungry enough to do so. It would be impossible to count the amount of jokes that are made and alluded to the eating of poor Menchi. Even Menchi himself knows this as the aforementioned song is all about how he would like to be cooked and eaten. Which would be such a shame as his side antics in the background are usually a great highlight to any scene he is in, as well as his constant attempts at escaping from Excel which could try to turn him into diner at any time.

Extras:
There is a rather surprisingly large amount of extras to be found on this release of Excel Saga, including your standard clean opening and ending songs as well as trailers for other FUNimation releases. But the other bonuses are quite abundant, even though they may not be the most exciting at times.

There are Japanese television spots and trailers as well as soundtrack spots that were used for promotional material in Japan as well as a ton of tiny extras involving the show Puni Puni Poemy which was actually a spin-off of Excel Saga that was developed at a later date. The extras include a preview for the show, an interview with Yumiko Kobayashi and much more. The extras are good for a quick look but even though there are a lot, most will are barely worth a second viewing.

Overall:
Excel Saga is a very enjoyable show that, despite its rather convoluted and off the wall storyline is extremely hilarious and can be very fun for those who have seen plenty of anime. New anime viewers should probably steer clear simply due to the randomness that can be off putting to those who aren’t familiar with many types of anime. On the other hand, there are so many references to other anime and their themes that viewers will constantly be seeing something new and laughing at the on-screen antics. Excel Saga is a show that follows almost no guidelines except its own and would be hard to pass up.

I give Excel Saga: The Complete Series
8-0-capsules-out-of-10

Nintendo 3DS: Aussie celebs Luke Jacobz and Sophie Falkiner showcase their lives on 3D photos

Kelly Teng
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0

The Nintendo 3DS sure has given us a new perspective on the world of gaming, but four Australians have found a new way to use the 3DS: photography.

An exhibition will open on the 20th of September (yes folks, the same day as Gears of War: 3 comes out), showcasing photographs of the lives of four Australians in a new light.

X-Factor host Luke Jacobz takes audiences for a behind-the-scenes look at the TV show, TV presenter Sophie Falkiner reveals her life as both a presenter and mother, Jumping Crocodiles Cruises owner Tony Blums gives us a peek at crocs on his tours, and photographer James Morgan takes a new 3D look at Sydney’s Harbour Bridge.

The exhibition will run between the 20th and 22nd of September from 11am to 5pm at The Argyle in the Rocks. Get there by catching a train or bus to Circular Quay, and don’t miss out on this exciting showcase of how the 3DS is changing the way we photograph the world.

Black Ops Rezurrection Zombie Lab Phase 2 Trailer

Matthew Vella
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PS3 and PC gamers have been anxiously waiting for their turn at intergalactic zombie slaying in the latest DLC for Call of Duty: Black Ops. Rezurrection, featuring 5 zombie maps including the infamous Moon has just received yet another awesome ‘Zombie Lab’ trailer entitled ‘Phase 2’ to further tease COD fanatics.

The live-action trailer shows an in-depth view on low-gravity zombie research and finding out what makes them tick, before of coarse, having them escape and cause mass destruction-the perfect excuse to go on a massive undead killing spree! The trailer also contains gameplay footage of the remade maps from World at War: swamp, night, asylum, factory, and the new addition, moon. Check the trailer below and see for yourself!

Call of Duty: Rezurrection launches for PC and PS3 on September 22nd.

CLICK HERE FOR ACTIVISION MORE NEWS AND REVIEWS!

TGS 2011: Metal Gear Solid Snake Eater 3D Hands On

Kyle Moore
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2
TGS 2011: Metal Gear Solid Snake Eater 3D Hands On

One of the booths with longer lines at Tokyo Game Show was Konami. Whether it was that people weren’t being given time limits, or that the games were popular, I decided to brave the queue and play some of their soon to be released titles for the Nintendo 3DS. One of the longer lines, and perhaps with good reason too, was for Metal Gear Solid Snake Eater 3D. While I was only able to play for a short time, I was impressed with what I had seen and quickly realised this was unlike any other game I have played on the 3Ds to date.

While I did like the game, the controls took a little bit to get used to. The game played as something not specifically built for a portable console, but Konami have done their best, I am sure given more than 10 minutes the controls would be easy to adapt to. Really, the only problem is the camera rotation control being assigned to the A, B, X and Y buttons which I found a little odd. But as I said, given more time I would adapt and be well on my way to enjoying the game.

When playing any game that involves a gun, and isn’t on rails of course, I find myself racing through firing from the hip wildly to complete my objectives (like me playing Goldeneye as a teenager). Metal Gear Solid Snake Eater 3D is not this sort of game. It is nearly impossible to race through and forego the art of a stealthy attack (at least in the level I played through). I found this instantly enjoyable. From crawling through long grass, to using a silenced gun to pick off enemies from safe vantage points, the game feels as if has a high level of mastery, even if it actually doesn’t. The sense of achievement making it through an area is not something I often feel playing a game, but Konami have done a great job boosting my ego.

I find that very few companies actually make a 3DS title that has used the 3D technology to its best advantage. While I’m sure part of the problem is my eyes, a lot of early release titles on the 3DS hurt my eyes, or don’t work in 3D at all. Konami are not one of these companies. Metal Gear Solid Snake Eater 3D in particular boasts some impressive 3D graphic and a highly detailed environment for you to navigate through. I regret not playing the game through much, but by the same token, the short play through I had ensures that this is a title I’ll be picking up.

Click here for our full coverage of Tokyo Game Show 2011

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Preview: Kirby’s Return to Dreamland

Michael Irving
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Kirby may not have been at the forefront of gaming consciousness over the past few years, but he’s definitely persisted, starring in several handheld adventures. He’s somewhat known for being Nintendo’s guinea pig when it comes to new gameplay styles – he’s starred in many a puzzle, pinball and racing game, and his exploits on the DS (including the upcoming Mass Attack) have implemented touchscreen functionality quite well – but his newest adventure, Return to Dreamland, brings the series back to where it began, and where it belongs.

After a preview session at Nintendo HQ in Melbourne, I can say Return To Dreamland feels like the pinnacle of the franchise. Kirby’s Epic Yarn was an interesting side note in the series, and a great game in itself, but it didn’t feel like a “true” Kirby game. Kirby’s Return rectifies that: all the staples of the series are present, including the characters, enemies, environments, soundtrack, and gameplay, and the inclusion of new features fits the Kirby aesthetic and gameplay style perfectly. Every element of the design is reminiscient of the classic SNES and Gameboy games.

To many, including myself, the SNES game Kirby Super Star (or Kirby’s Fun Pack in Europe and Australia) defines the series, in terms of gameplay, visuals and sound. You’ll be happy to know that this feels like a direct follow-up to that game. The levels look much the same, with an obvious graphical update, making the cutesy visuals and vibrant colours so damn pretty. Of particular note was the familiar enemies, which retain their classic design but into the current gen. Everyone seems to be accounted for – those mushroom hat guys, the un-suck-up-able pig heads, waddle dees/doos/daas/etc and the rest. Even Whispy Woods, the iconic tree boss, appears as the final fight in the first world.

Of course, those are just the basic enemies. The lack of Kirby’s trademark inhale/copy ability in Epic Yarn was much lamented, but a return to his origins wouldn’t be complete without the return of the ability to mimic the powers of enemies you swallow. So of course, certain enemies in Return to Dreamland let Kirby use swords, beam wands, spikes, sparks, rocks, umbrellas and whatever else they happen to have on them. All the usual suspects return, along with a few new powers. Donning a flamboyant pink cowboy hat, Kirby has access to a whip, to defeat enemies or pull out-of-reach items into range of his stubby little arms. Or become Water Kirby, to shoot spouts of water at enemies or surf your way across the ground. I’m sure there are more newbies, but these were the two that I encountered during my short time with the game.

Absorbing a glowing enemy will grant Kirby a special super power, that can clear the screen or damage multiple enemies. These can be used more than once, within a time limit, and can be quite devastating.

Gaining powers doesn’t just rely on absorbing enemies, but grabbing a capsule from a dispenser thing lets you take a power instantly. A similar method was used in Super Star, but was less common than seen here. Of course, this may be due to the fact that the game follows the other trend in Nintendo’s 2D platformer revival: multiplayer co-op. With up to four players jumping around at once, you’ll need enough powers for everyone.

My brother’s a bit of a control freak, so playing games growing up, I was always Luigi to his Mario, Diddy to his Donkey Kong, and the helper thing to his Kirby. The two-player co-op in Super Star made the game much more fun, and here it’s only an improvement. Additional players can take the role of King Dedede, Meta Knight, and a Waddle Dee armed with a spear, or any number of colour-coded Kirbys.

In New Super Mario Bros. Wii, all four characters had the exact same abilities, speed, jump height and length,  etc. There was no difference in how they played – that shame you felt when playing as a Toad was purely because your friends don’t like you.

Here, each character plays differently, with minor differences in the style of play they encourage. Only Kirby can absorb powers from enemies, but the others cannot lose their equipped power, so there’s a bit of a trade-off there.

Meta Knight is, as he was in Smash Bros Brawl, a bit overpowered. He’s super fast, kills anything quickly, and will slash automatically on contact with an enemy in midair. Waddle Dee plays like Kirby, except his weapon of choice is an awkward, cumbersome spear. King Dedede is slower and heavier, but feels more powerful. He seems to be able to defeat enemies with fewer attacks, but it’s hard to tell. There’s really not much difference when they all die after a few seconds of combat anyway. In fact, I found him to be a little too slow, often struggling to keep up with the others.

Together, the new playable characters add some variety to the game, but in a way they detract somewhat from the “Kirbyness” of the game. It’s all too easy to just spam enemies and bosses with Dedede’s hammer or Meta Knight’s sword, rather than the strategic swapping of abilities that Kirby as a character offers. They would be fun to try, but my guess is that the game would be most enjoyable when played as an all-Kirby team.

As I jumped into the demo a few levels in, I missed what little story the game would provide. I’m a little curious as to what’s going on – with Dedede and Meta Knight playable, who is the game’s antagonist? I guess that will be answered in time.

Nintendo have been teasing us for years with the possibility of a new Kirby platformer for the Wii, and before that, the Gamecube. Now, his exciting return to form is almost here, and if you’re a fan, you’ll definitely want to return with Kirby to Dreamland.

Kirby is due to return on October 24th in North America and in December in Europe. Unfortunately, Australia is probably included in the European release window, and sadly, we will also have to endure the much lamer title of Kirby Adventure Wii. Whatever they call it, Kirby’s latest outing looks to be a lot of fun.

Heroes of Neverwinter finally in Open Beta!

Claire Phillips
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If you didn’t manage to grab a spot on Atari’s Dungeons and Dragons Facebook game whilst it was in closed beta, you’ll be happy to know that the game has now moved into the open beta stage!

Subtitled Heroes of Neverwinter, the game uses 4th edition rules for both combat and character development. Players can choose to play as a rogue, wizard, warrior or cleric, hiring fellow adventurers to fight their way through over 50 dungeons in pursuit of gold and experience. As well as the included game content, players can create their own dungeons to share with the community. The creator tool only becomes available at level ten, so a good bit of dedication to dungeon crawling is needed before you can unleash your own creations, but make a good one and the gold from the entry fees will quickly make it worthwhile!

Heroes of Neverwinter has a heck of a lot of content and depth for a Facebook game, and the gameplay is very well executed considering the platform. The community during the closed beta has been extremely active, and the game’s Facebook page and Atari forum are constantly refreshed with the latest updates from the developers and in depth hints and tips from players. The whole in game interface has even had a complete redesign – so you can be sure that Heroes of Neverwinter will be an ever more polished experience.

Click here for an in depth look at the game!

Phineas & Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension Review

Jack Joly
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Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension
Developer: High Impact Games
Publisher: Disney Interactive Studios
Genre: Action/Adventure
Platform: Wii (PS3, Nintendo DS)
Released: 16th September

Although this isn’t the first Phineas & Ferb game ever made, Phineas & Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension is the tie-in of the first ever feature-length episode of Phineas & Ferb, which appeared on the Disney Channel as a summer movie with the same title. What it’s good to see, though, is that the game wasn’t completely rushed in order to coincide with the film (which had already arrived prior to this game’s release). It’s a trademark of most films and their tie-in games meaning the result is a rather unfinished final product, and even if it is a much smaller budget film for TV, it’s still positive to see there was some breathing space, if not a whole lot.

However, that’s not to say Phineas & Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension has a great deal of polish, but saying that, for what it is, it’s an okay plat former and well suited for kids, at that. It managed to carry through whatever it is children find appealing about the pair and their daring adventures, with a choice of playable characters, including an all new ‘Agent T’ character who, much like the boys’ pet Perry the Platypus (Agent P), is a super-intelligent animal who works as a spy. As Phineas, Ferb and gang, you work to foil the evil plot of Dr Doofenshmirtz by putting the chaps gadget-making know-how into practise as you hop between dimensions, as in the story depicted by the feature-length movie.


With such an open-ended setting of numerous dimensions, over the course of the story you visit some interesting locations. Some of which are cliché platform themes like factories, cityscapes and gardens, but some are genuinely quite imaginative ideas, like a balloon world where their form of rain is water-balloons dropping from the sky. Just because they’re good ideas, though, doesn’t make the levels great, as the adventuring can only be described as average. Not that you would expect much more of the game, but it’s standard stuff in the way you walk and jump from secluded zone to secluded zone and dispatch the group of enemies before moving on.

The difficulty has clearly been geared towards the children who watch the show; there are no difficulty settings, only the single, relaxing, forgiving pace of play. An AI buddy helps you out, or alternatively, there is two-player co-op for another human to help you out, and there are no time limits or other restrictions hurrying you along. Invisible walls cushion you in to prevent you from taking a spill over the edge, and in sections where it is possible to run off of the edge – according to the great Phineas himself – you are equipped with one of their many inventions the teleporter belt, meaning whenever you fall off of the edge, you simply appear where you were before you jumped off ready to try again. As such, there is no concept of lives. That said, you do have a health bar, but fallen enemies spit out more health packs than even small children are likely to need, and dying through loss of health only results in the aforementioned offer of retrying from where you were anyway.


There are six different dimensions, each home to a set of short levels, although these are essentially sub-levels they’re so short, as some are brief encounters with bosses or flying sections. That’s right, as well as platforming, there are on-rails flying sections where you steer and shoot as you move through as scene in a jetpack. In addition, occasional other sequences where you have to guide something – be it you or another object – through 2-D or 3-D spaces. In effect, you can almost take it as having 6 decent sized levels, even though it does benefit from breaking it down as this method allows for shorter play sessions. However, there is evidence of a lack of polish through some of the glitches present. Despite being fairly harmless in nature, some circumstances haven’t been accounted for meaning you can manage to slip through walls and floors to plummet to your doom – well, that would be the case if you didn’t instantly appear back on solid ground again straight after.

As you would expect from a game about inventor brothers, there’s a focus on gadgetry, with 5 of their credulous gadgets forming your arsenal of weaponry, like an anti-gravity way for some basic puzzles where you have to lift heavy pieces (you guessed it, parts of more inventions), or a baseball launcher gun for dispatching evil minions. The collectibles are focussed around the gadgets too; collecting raw modifications for your weapons lying around; little bits of electronics that can be fashioned into computer chips to undergo more upgrades like increasing the ammo capacity/damage/rate of fire; or picking up golden tokens which are currency for two funfair-style mini-games, which earn you tickets which can be redeemed against other enhancements.


Overall, Phineas & Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension does its job quite well. The game as a whole is average; the adventuring is similar to that of many movie tie-ins, but importantly, isn’t broken; the dispersal of non-threatening bugs shows a lack of polish but doesn’t hurt anybody; and the graphics hold up quite well for the Wii’s standards, although I expect it’s a different story when it comes to the PS3’s visuals relative to other games. It’s unchallenging, making it ideal for young Phineas & Ferb fans, plus it’s a decent enough platformer for me not to discourage you from getting it if you’re looking for a co-op game with the kids, as somehow the developers have managed to tone down the franchise’s annoyingness to a manageable level (probably starting with the removal of that horrible, horrible theme tune).

6-0-capsules-out-of-10

Ninja Gaiden 3 Interview with Yosuke Hayashi at Tokyo Game Show 2011

Philip Federico
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0
Ninja Gaiden 3 Interview with Yosuke Hayashi at Tokyo Game Show 2011

For all you Ninja Gaiden 3 fans out there.  We have a great interview for you with Yosuke Hayashi-San (早矢仕ーさん) Producer at Team Ninja for Ninja Gaiden 3 at Tecmo KOEI. Along side Hayashi-San we have Peter Garza who is Localization Project Manager and translator for this interview.

We ask Hayashi-San what updates have been added since we last saw Ninja Gaiden 3 over at E3 this year. What is the meaning behind Consequence and how it will affect the Japanese dark hero Ryo with all his actions he performs in the game, and also some questions on Ninja Gaiden 3’s Online Multiplayer mode.

Of course there are a few more questions but its best if you just sit back and watch the interview below.

Capsule Computers would like to thank  Hayashi-San and Peter for their time in chatting with us at Tokyo Game Show and we can’t wait to get our hands on the game in early 2012 on both Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.

Donkey Kong 2 on HTML 5

Thomas Giles
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0

Developer: Q42Games
Genre: Platformer, Recreation
Platform: Desktop Browser, iPad Safari
Price: Free

Play it now!

Q42, a web development agency based in the Netherlands, and have been active in the HTML5 and web app scene for a while now. They started up a project at Sarien.net, working to reproduce some old classic video games using HTML5. (with official backing from Activision, no less); and since then have become kinda famous in the HTML5 community. But they also have a lesser known site, q42games.com, using it to branch out into other styles of games, both modern and classic.

In 1982, as part of their “Game & Watch Multi Screen” series of handheld games, Nintendo released Donkey Kong, where we first saw Mario rescuing his girlfriend from the clutches of a large primate. This followed a line of games dedicated to Donkey Kong, and of course, to Mario’s legendary hits. Donkey Kong 2 was one of these titles, and the guys at Q42 have seen fit to bring it back to life using the power of HTML5.

The game has you, Donkey Kong Jr., picking up a key and fling it up a level, until finally unlocking one of four padlocks which hold Donkey Kong captive, all the while dodging hazards and trying not to die too much.

The recreation of the old-school LCD screen with it’s minimal number of frames, each showing through as shadows until they are activated, is spot on. The audio, too, has sparse blips and bloops throughout.

The game, of course, has the same 1-minute playthrough time, and has the nostalgic frustration you get with those older games, but all-in-all it is a faithful recreation, and I’m looking forward to more from them!

The game is available using any desktop browser, as well as iPad’s Safari. Be sure to check it out!

FIFA 12: Some Twitterific Answers

Jonno Weiss
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FIFA 12: Some Twitterific Answers

I thought it would be a good idea to get up everyone up to date on all the nitty gritty inclusions for FIFA 12 that you may have missed. The official FIFA folks have been doing a great job of answering questions about the game on their twitter account, and to save you guys some time I’ve summarised some of the best stuff.

First up, the new International teams in this year’s game are:

  • Chile
  • Côte d’Ivoire
  • Colombia
  • Egypt
  • Peru

(Unfortunately China and Czech Republic have been removed for various reasons, and Wales will not feature despite Wikipedia rumours)

The leagues are almost the same however we believe due to off-season controversies, both the Turkish and Czech leagues have been removed. Galatasaray is still featured in the Rest of World section, but definitely disappointing not to see the likes of Fernebahce, Trabzonspor and Besiktas. Argentina’s Racing Club has also been added to the Rest of World.

Next, there will be a “Youth Academy” feature in Manager mode, we’re still not entirely sure how much depth this will go into but it certainly sounds like an exciting add on. According to Mr. Humber, you will get 16 places in your academy, generous but still requiring some good scouting skills. Take caution when approaching Bebe.

You now have the option to buy a player at the end of a loan contract, and that fee will be agreed upon the signing of the initial contract. Loaned out players will also grow and develop more noticeably than previous versions and EA Sports have added in a “Squad Report” screen in which you can track the growth of your loan-ees.

There will also be club takeovers by rich, money burning “consortiums”, meaning you may see a random club all of a sudden go crazy and start buying players like there is no tomorrow. Poor money tight Man City may have to lift their game a bit to keep up.

If you missed the deadline day article and video click here as it’s close to the most exciting “little” feature added to Manager Mode.

For some visual candy, I’ve included the latest [US] TV trailer down below featuring various celebrities like NBA star Steve Nash. Finally, is there anything you’ve seen out there that I didn’t mention? Share it with us in the comment section down the page as we countdown the sleeps til FIFA 12!

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @capsulecomputer.

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