We are primarily a gaming website, but as we move forward we will be bringing you more and more pop culture based news as we expand our pop culture section of the site. But don’t fret, we won’t be forgetting about video games, we will just be expanding our horizons into other forms of pop culture, such as television, movies, anime, comics/manga and more.
Dexter is a critically acclaimed television series that follows the life and ‘deaths’ of a serial killer named Dexter. The series has been airing since 2006 on the Showtime channel in the US and will be starting it’s sixth season this September.
The series is a critical success and has received several Emmy nominations, some of which it has won. This season has been announced to feature guest stars; Colin Hanks (son of Tom Hanks), Edward James Olmos and Mos Def. Oh and in case you were wondering, yes Dexter still like’s killing people.
The trailer for the new season has just been released and can be seen below.
Just after 2 days since it started Open Beta testing, Aeria Games launched the Garnet server on its latest game, Eden Eternal, earlier today. This free-to-play, anime-styled MMORPG opened its third world due to the popular demand for the game. Garnet joins Eden Eternal’s already existing servers, Emerald and Aquamarine, following the game’s gem theme for naming worlds.
Eden Eternal transcends the limitations of a lot of free-to-play MMORPGs in terms of class allocation. You’ll begin the game as either a Warrior or a Magician, and as you progress through the world of magic and fantasy, you’ll be able to unlock up to 15 unique classes, three of which are still to be released in the coming months. This means that you’ll be able to change your class to any other one you have already unlocked, at any given time!
Now, after slashing some foes with an axe as a Warrior or causing some magical mayhem as a Magician, you feel like jumping into the shoes of childhood hero, Robin Hood? Become a Hunter then – after unlocking it of course. Turns out the bow and arrow ain’t your forte and you’d like to try your hands on some healing and buffing magic? Become a Cleric! Still unsatisfied? Then try any of the other classes in the vibrant and colourful world of Eden Eternal until you find the right one, the one that best suits you!
Lastly, all players who reach Level 30 in Eden Eternal before July 1 will have a chance to win 1 000 000 Aeria Points that you can use in any of Aeria Games’ MMO games. So check out the video below to take a peek of what awaits you in Eden Eternal and start playing for your chance to win!
Saint Seiya is one of the most critically acclaimed anime franchise’s worldwide. Although it has a much smaller fan-base in the western countries it still maintains a rapid community of fans.
Bandai Namco games, have announced a new Saint Sieya game to be released this autumn in Japan for the Playstation 3. Bandai Namco describes it as a “cinematic melee action combat” game. Perhaps it will be an action game in the same style as Bleach Soul Resurreccion also for the PS3. It is unknown whether the game will make it to western shores.
The game is titled ‘Saint Seiya Senki’ and will be set during the Hades – Chapter Sanctuary story arc. It will feature characters such as Pegasus Seiya, Dragon Shirou, Cygnus Hyoga, Andromeda Shun and many more.
It’s not a coincidence that the release of this game ties in with the franchises 25th anniversary. Along-side the game a new Saint Seiya movie has been confirmed to also be released to commemorate the anniversary of Saint Seiya.
A trailer for the upcoming 25th Anniversary movie can be found below. Unfortunately no footage of Saint Seiya Senki for the PS3 has been revealed.
Blazblue Continuum Shift II Published by: Aksys Games Developed by: ARC System Works Platforms: PSP (Reviewed), Nintendo 3DS Release Date: May 31, 2011 Price:$29.99 US
Overview: If you have been following Arc System Works then you should know that the creators of the Guilty Gear franchise have been spending the last few years working on an entirely new franchise. Blazblue: Continuum Shift II was originally released on the consoles last year, but now it has made the jump to a portable handheld, namely the PSP. There are a few things thrown into this version that weren’t available in the original console release; including the three DLC characters Makoto, Platinum and Valkenhayn. Now has BBCSII survived the move to a handheld version or is too much lost in translation?
Story: Blazblue: Continuum Shift II contains two separate ways that you can learn the story. First there is the minimal version that is the Arcade mode. Players will be able to select a character of their choosing and fight through ten separate battles. Occasionally these arcade battles will contain a bit of dialogue in the beginning and afterwards if the fight pertains to that character’s story and finally an ending movie that usually ends up the same way.
That is the Arcade mode however, what truly sets Blazblue apart from other fighting games is the fact that it contains a very lengthy Story mode and BBCSII retains all of its story with the handheld move. The Story mode is much similar to the previous versions of the game where players will have to play through a character’s individual story to unlock the others. When you first jump in you will only be able to play Ragna The BloodEdge’s storyline but after finishing his story you will unlock others.
This continues throughout the entire roster of characters until you unlock the True Ending mode which will have you play through the actual ending of the game instead of each character’s own journey. These journeys also revolve around the choices you make because there are a number of different endings to each storyline, some even involving having to lose a specific fight to enter a different route.
The story mode fleshes out nearly every single character in the game and there is plenty of character development to be had. Some characters may appear more serious than others while others are practically full of jokes that usually land spot on. In my mind the Blazblue series still shines as one of the best examples of storytelling for a fighting game.
One thing that does hinder it however is the fact that, with being a portable title, you will usually be playing the game in jumps. Unfortunately this also means that there will be times that you have to put down the game and shut it off to do something else. This means that you will often have to go through a certain part of the dialogue that you have seen already. What is strange here, is that there is no way to actually fast forward the dialogue and skip spots you have seen, instead you will be forced to just sit there and push X repeatedly. This is something that should have been added in considering the functionality of a portable gaming device.
Graphics: BBCSII has always been a series that could pride itself on its visuals. The character art and the sprites were always amazing to see. Unfortunately the move to the PSP has done some damage to the character sprites. Thankfully the actual artwork for the characters when they are talking outside of battles is untouched, but the sprites in-game now have jagged edges and some are extremely muddled. The more complicated character designs have taken a serious hit, especially those such as Bang Shishigami.
The characters are still very unique however and none of them share the same appearance. BBCSII on the PSP also has the additional character colors that cost money to buy on the console versions which provides extra color choices. The stages themselves still look impressive but the game no longer shows pans the camera around the stage before a battle to show off the stage, instead it focuses immediately on the characters for the fight.
Audio: Another place where BBCSII takes a hit is the music and voice acting. The acting itself is still superb but perhaps due to the limitations of the system itself the quality is severely diminished. The entire story is voiced and so is the characters’ Arcade modes which means that there is a lot to listen to and with the unfortunate hit that the sound took on the handheld it will definitely hurt the experience.
The music is still as impressive as ever, but also is diminished in quality. Instead of being a clear and crisp track of music it is muddled and fuzzy. The actual sounds of battle are still impressive and players can choose to change the system voice up after they gain enough points from fighting in the various game modes.
Gameplay: Blazblue is a very intense fighting game that contains plenty of fast paced action as well as powerful special moves that each character can use after earning enough heat by either damaging or receiving damage from their opponent. Players can use two separate fighting modes that they can change in the option menu, either Technical which allows players to have more control over the combos they use and string together attacks at their own free will and Stylish where players can perform special Drive attacks with ease and use a number of the characters’ special abilities without too much knowledge of the control scheme.
As a whole the combo inputs are still complicated to pull off for special moves but feel rewarding for when they are pulled off properly. The controls on the other hand are a bit difficult to get a hang of, and this can be contributed to two things. First in the move list the button names are the same as they were in Arcades, with A, B, C, D type attacks which then have to be remembered as whichever face button you designated them to. This is an unfortunate system that has been continually used in all Blazblue games that should be changed up to provide a bit easier adoption for players.
Besides the move list, the PSP itself is not well attuned for a fighting game such as Blazblue. Directional entries for combat are used with the D-Pad which means that there are times you will have difficulty imputing the combo correctly or have a sore finger after a while of playing. There is an option called Command Support which helps make diagonal button entries easier but still makes things difficult.
Besides Story mode and Arcade mode and your standard Versus mode, BBCSII plays host to a number of different gameplay choices. First we have the Legion 1.5 mode that allows you to pick a character and put them against a number of different enemies along a certain path. Players will defeat enemies along the path and will be able to choose one character from the defeated team to add to their own, allowing for tournament style combat against opposing teams. Legion 1.5 also provides power-ups that can be used for your army.
Challenge mode is also here in BBCSII and is a mode that allows players to take any of the characters and put them through their paces by trying to complete their specific challenges. This mode is good to not only teach players how to use their character properly but also challenge long time players with difficult strings of attack inputs.
There is also the Abyss mode, which can be best seen as a survival mode. The longer the player is able to survive the player will descend into the Abyss and fight against stronger and stronger characters. Fighting far enough will place players against boss enemies and also unlock stat boosts if they manage to defeat them.
Finally we have the multiplayer aspect of BBCSII, which unfortunately is very lacking. The game uses the PSP’s ad hoc system which means that it is very limited. There is no actual online mode that allows the player to test their skills against other fans of BlazBlue and the lack of an online multiplayer mode is something that should never be left out of a fighting game of this era.
Overall: Blazblue: Continuum Shift II is a game that was in a league of its own on the console when it was released last year. It still is today on the PlayStation Portable, despite the graphic and audio quality taking the brunt of the damage. The amazing storyline returns in its entirety and there is always a lot of replay value because of the different routes available to each character. With the extra gameplay modes, BBCSII is a fighter that you can easily pick up and fight for a few rounds whenever you need to kill some time. It is just a shame however that online multiplayer was left out of the package.
Following on from his previous DiRT 3 event Gymkhana video notching up an impressive 500,000+ views, Codemasters has released stunning new footage of his stunt driving run at Battersea Power Station, as filmed through tilt-shift cameras. Tilt-shift technology creates the illusion of a miniaturised world in the video as Ken Block performs a masterclass in car control around the London landmark (which was turned into the DC Compound, a level from DiRT 3). It’s a very surreal watch and at times I can swear it’s just a toy car roaming around a track at the Gymkhana Uncovered event. Check it out below:
Yoostar 2, the game that allows you to put yourself in the movies using Kinect, will have the honour of being part of the London Film Museum.
Using its unique technology, Yoostar 2 allows players the chance to actually step in to the movies. Playing alongside or in place of their favourite actors, people can star in hundreds of scenes from classic Hollywood films and TV shows.
Visitors to London‘s only museum of its kind will have their chance to shine when they enter the specially designed Yoostar Studio. Sound proofed to ensure nothing can interfere with their moment in the limelight; visitors will be able to watch their friends’ performances from large screens placed on the outside of the studio. They will even be able to share these performances with the world via Yoostar Playground on Facebook and YouTube.
The Yoostar set will be unveiled for the first time on June 18th at London’s WestEnd Live , a free event held in Leicester square showcasing the best of entertainment on offer in the heart of London.
The world of internet memes and viral videos has been a crazy one this week! Thirteen year old singer Rebecca Black has once again been dominating headlines, with the controversy arising over the ownership of her viral music video ‘Friday’ resulting the video being taken down entirely. The song has collectively got over 165 million views and became a Meme overnight, being called by many ‘the worst song ever’. Recently her label Ark Music factory decided to make the video a Youtube Rental, meaning fans would need to pay a $2.99 to watch the video, causing some bad publicity for the artist. Black and her Lawyers decided to file a copyright infringement notice to Youtube, and lead to them pulling it off the site altogether.
Apparently the contract gave all rights to the song to Black, although the label Ark Music factory seems to disagree. The contract also gave ownership of the master to Rebecca Black, although she is still yet to receive it. So when Ark decided to start charging people for it’s views, Black and her team decided to get it removed all together. This caused anger amongst her fans and viewers, leading her to tweet the following:
“Thanks for all the messages regarding the $2.99 fee added to Friday video, I have NOTHING to do with this!!….PS…My Manager and Lawyer are on this and are going to get to the bottom of this! Stay tuned…” –Rebecca Black
Ark Music Factory have also released a statement explaining how they were upset with her decision to get the video pulled from Youtube.
“We’re disappointed, having been in good faith negotiations with Rebecca Black and her representatives for months regarding any open issues,” an Ark Music representative said. “There’s been an ongoing, open dialogue with our company. So we were blindsided to get a Take Down Notice—with no notice–alleging copyright infringement instead of a call or email from Rebecca’s representatives.
“Our use of the video has fully been authorized (as evidenced by four uninterrupted months and 160million-plus viewings without objection) by both Ms. Black and the copyright holder. Regardless, we are going to continue to take the high road and work out the complaint as soon as possible so that the million-plus people who watch Friday for free each day can continue to enjoy the video.” –Ark Music Factory
Yesterday the music video mysteriously returned to YouTube. It appeared on page that claimed to be Rebecca’s official VEVO account. Soon after though, the video was taken down because “the YouTube account associated with this video has been terminated due to multiple or severe violations.”
The music video is was the 22nd most watched video on Youtube before being taken down. The future of the video is unknown, but one thing is for certain: today is Saturday, and Sunday comes afterwards.
There were some big announcements from Siren Visual at Supanova Sydney today. With new anime out on DVD and streaming this upcoming anime season, Siren was definitely on the ball with these announcements. Here’s what was announced:
Dennou Coil – Will be streaming on ANN this July and it’s first DVD is set to be released in September .
Bunny Drop – Will be streaming on ANN this July and it’s DVD release is as of this writing, to be determined.
Angel Beats – Will be released to DVD this September, the status of a Blu-Ray release is unknown at this point.
Siren have definitely got a great line-up here and are proving themselves to be a great alternative to anime fans, looking for something different and unique, that they can’t find elsewhere in this country.
Parrot had quite a showing at this years E3, announcing Android support as well as new games AR.Race, AR.FlyingAce and AR.Pursuit in addition to an international competition for pilots who can record their flights to enter. If you’re top gun enough, Parrot will even send you to Paris for the finals. Capsule Computers EIC Philip Federico got a chance to catch up with with Parrot and discussed their announcements as well as upcoming accessories and monthly firmware updates.
If you were concerned that you would never be able to play the third game of the F.E.A.R. series than you have nothing to be afraid of anymore. Well other than the game itself maybe, because F.E.A.R. 3 has finally seen a launch trailer, especially since the game will be released next week on June 21st for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.
The launch trailer shows off plenty of the creepy moments that you’ll be seeing in the game as well as Point Man and Paxon Fettel working together. All set to the tune of a Marilyn Manson song which certainly fits the whole F.E.A.R. mindset. Who will be picking this game up next week? Or has the series grown a bit too stale for you after three games and a number of delays?
