Apple’s new data-centre in north Carolina, which is to be used for their new online storage facility “iCloud” has just become visible on Google Earth. Previously, Google Earth’s coverage stopped just short of the data-centre, but it has just shown up.
“If you asked Google Earth or Google Maps to show you the intersection of U.S. Route 321 and Startown Road — where the data center is located — the current satellite imagery stopped a few yards short of the construction site. West of Startown Road, there was, as recently as two weeks ago, nothing but woods and farmland and a bit of driveway that ended abruptly in the middle of a field.”
You can check out the data-centre for yourself by following this link or typing these co-ordinates into Google Earth or Maps: 35.588364, -81.26235
If you can’t get enough of that crazy anime fighting action that Blazblue has to offer, then Aksys Games has the portable fix for you North American fans. Now out for the PSP and the Nintendo 3DS is Blazblue Continuum Shift II is the sequel to the excellent Blazblue Continuum Shift on the 360 and PS3. All the content from the original game will be included plus more.
New features to this game include new story mode, all the DLC characters from CS, balance changes, a new updated Legion mode, plus many others. Each version does sport it’s own features, the PSP version will have ad-hoc support and the 3DS will allow fans to experience the game in 3D. Keep checking back with Capsule Computers for a full review.
We have quite a good month ahead of us anime and manga fans. Madman has a lot on offer this month and Siren Visual has some great titles coming as well. Here is what is being released this month and when:
If you are by chance an owner of the free iOS title “Ricky Carmichael’s Motocross Matchup”, you are in luck as a HUGE update has just been applied to the racer that offers new features and fine-tunes the gameplay even more. Now if this does not apply to you and you own a iOS device, you should get to downloading it here as Ricky Carmichael’s Motocross Matchup is absolutely free!
Now, on with the update.
Below is everything that has been added in this weeks update:
UNLIMITED GAS – RACE AS OFTEN AS YOU WANT!
Much harder to wreck another player by running into them.
Added bell sound to matchup screen to indicate when a Matchup is made.
Returned store prices, awards and prizes! Everyone gets more gold wrenches to spend!
Added a News button and ticker text on the Home screen to keep everyone up to date! We will make announcements when BIG prizes are up for grabs, professional riders are playing (use Voice Chat to speak with Ricky himself) or when important changes are made to the game.
New Rooms to filter which players you want to match up with!
Increased the number of Tool Chests that show up during the race!
Cutting the track dramatically slows cheaters down. Stay on the track to win.
Added an extra lap on the Houston Supercross track and Ricky’s Backyard.
Finishing 1st is now more important than doing tricks to win.
Added an Invite a Friend button to the Play screen.
The iPod music player now continues to play during the race.
Added a Tutorial button to the Play screen which teaches you how to play. More videos and strategy guides on the way!
Added a “Tricktionary” that demonstrates how to pull off all of the stunts. Don’t forget that you can backflip AND stunt at the same time for bonus points!
Improved the responsiveness of the stunts.
Display the stunt score after successfully landing a stunt.
Display your Rating on the Match Up screen.
Center the handlebars when you stop touching the screen.
Touch to steer inputs now work when using the Component A/V cable with an iPod or iPhone.
Bug Fixes:
All crashes fixed on version 3.0 devices. Please update your device to the latest iOS in iTunes to play online.
Fixed a bug that caused some races to be recorded as DNF and gold wrenches to be lost.
Fixed a Voice Chat bug so it is more reliable. If Voice Chat stops during the race, toggle it off and on when you get back to the Match Up screen.
Fixed the stunt meter so that it accurately displays who has more points.
Fixed an occasional crash that occurred when pressing the Refresh button quickly on the Match Up screen.
Fixed an occasional hang on the Race Results screen.
Fixed a graphics glitch when rendering the fireworks at the end of a race.
Won’t pause the game after rejecting a call or text during a race.
One thing that I find extremely interesting with this update is how a free game still get’s all the love possible from the developers (2XL Games in this case), a trait that is getting harder to find in this day and age. Support these hardworking developers and give the game a download and while your at it, you can check out the trailer that details what owners of the game will see with this massive update below.
GAME Australia are thrilled to announce the beginning of a new era in video game retail, unveiling the reinvention of its brand down under.
GAME is setting out to make its name synonymous with personal service from gamers, for gamers. This will be reinforced by a nation-wide overhaul of the in-store experience and a new ambitious and cutting edge marketing campaign. There will be the personalisation of stores nationwide where helpful staff with expert gaming knowledge will proactively engage with consumers on product recommendations and the best value deals. The stores will also be outfitted as buzzing gaming hubs where no two visits will be the same.
GAME’S flagship store in Parramatta will be outfitted with in-store interactive display units as GAME’s key flagship store – giving customers the chance to try the biggest games before they buy. This will be rolled-out into other states and territories over time, as further incentive for consumers to engage with the brand and enjoy its trademark personalised experience throughout the country. At a GAME store, you will invariably feel at home.
Perhaps the most exciting component of this re-brand is the announcement of GAME TV. The Game TV channel will be the home of Phil and Ed, two GAME store managers who broadcast entertaining and informative gaming shows from their ‘Mum’s’ home basement. This show is positioned to appeal to gamers, mums and dads, and the wider community alike, and consumers will be entertained while learning about the hottest products and deals in the country. These characters will be the new face of the GAME Australia brand and encompass the passion, energy and enthusiasm held throughout the company. This incredibly exciting new initiative will have its home at gametv.com.au and launches June 12, 2011.
Ben Grant, Marketing Director at GAME Australia feels this is the right time to put a new stamp on the marketplace. “It is the responsibility of brand’s like ours to lead the change in retail and provide customers with an experience – both online and in store – which is relevant to the incredible entertainment the games we sell deliver as well as rewarding for gamers of all kinds. From our new store experiences, our incredibly knowledgeable store staff, our new reward card programme and exclusive and engaging content through our social media the engagement experience will, we believe, set a new benchmark for the industry“
Paul Yardley, Managing (shown above) director of GAME Australia believes “Australian retail as a whole has come under fire from all sides over recent months. An often overused phrase across the business community is ‘Adapt or Die’. A misquote of Mr.Darwin, but a lesson that we are heeding as a business in these rapidly changing times. The net result being a truly exciting a quite dramatic development for retail and retail marketing as a whole in this country”.
GAME intends to deliver an experience that engages and inspires its customers, and cultivates a retail environment with a passion for games and gamers at its core. GAME ON!
Check out the official announcement and a sneak peak of GameTV video below. Let us know what you think of the new Game nation wide over-haul.
Konami has revealed the first in-game images which showcase the newly implemented moves and animations in their upcoming game, PES 2012.
PES 2012 is deemed by Konami to provide an even more realistic and immersive experience than its predecessors: marking and defending will be enhanced, and players need to employ team-based tactics in order to win. These screenshots show the enhancements and improvements which have been made to the title, including the new animations, visual enhancements, and control.
The first screenshot really demonstrates the realism that Konami is attributing to the latest PES game. Instead of being a one-on-one, both teams have a fair amount of players around and ready to help, which hopefully translates into teamwork and better gameplay simulation.
The second screenshot really takes a closer look at the visual element of the game. Players appear even more life-like than before, to the point where the expressions on Weah’s (or who I assume to be Weah…) face look like it was taken from a real game.
The third screenshot…Let me just stop for a second and say that Casillas looks so life-like here it’s almost ridiculous. I had to do a double take to check if it was a photograph! Anyway, this image really showcases the movement of the players and their physical reactions.
Stay tuned for more updates from Konami about PES 2012! Pro Evo 2012 is slated for release in Autumn 2011.
Winter’s Bone Genre: Horror/Mystery/Thriller Platform: Blu Ray (Reviewed), DVD Directed by:Debra Granik Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, and Garret Dillahunt Classification: MA Running Time: 100 min Release Date:May 20 BUY NOW!
Based on the 2006 novel with the same name, Winter’s Bone originally saw an independent american release in 2010, playing at various festivals and winning many awards, ranging from the Grand Jury Prize and Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at last year’s Sundance Film Festival, and being nominated for four academy awards: Best Actress (Jennifer Lawrence), Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor (John Hawkes). It’s been over a year since the film saw it’s original premiere, but now Australians have been graced with Winter’s Bone now receiving a release on Blu-Ray and DVD. So now us Aussies can see what the heck all the fuss has been about!
Winter’s Bone follows 17 year old Ree Dolly (Jennifer Lawrence), who lives with her father, her catatonic mother, and her little brother and sister in Missouri’s Ozark Highlands; a rural town by the woods run by the underworld of illegal methamphetamine labs. When Ree’s father mysteriously disappears, Ree is forced to care for her entire family by herself, and with the disappearence of her father leading to him missing a day in court, she is informed they will loose their house unless he shows up for his case. Ree goes in search for her father, introducing us to a very gritty and realistic town run by drugs and violence, and some bizzare but believeable range of characters. The plot throws us into a world Im sure many of us will not find familar, and the rural, foresty setting is refreshing from the typical urban or fantasy setting most commonly seen in films these days. Uncovering the mystery behind her father’s dissapearence takes many twists and turns and becomes more and more interesting as the film goes on, and manages to evolve throughout, much like the character development, making the viewer more and more attached. Admittidly in the begining I felt slightly apathetic towards the plot and many of the characters, but as the film continues I found myself caring more and becoming emotionally attached to characters. It’s things like this which leave a lasting impression on an audience, seperating Winter’s Bone from a lot of the crap in the film industry these days, as it does make you feel a variety of emotions.
Honestly I wasn’t too impressed or blown away by the opening scene, with a quite dull, unsensationalised introduction to the characters and plot, but that was quick to change.Ree finds herself with some quite aggressive and uncivilized individuals placing her in quite unexpected and threatening situations. Sure many films do this, but what makes this so special in Winter’s Bone is the combination of direction and great acting and dialouge is how it effects the viewer and makes the viewer connect with it’s characters. For example, in the begining Ree appears quite dull, she doesn’t show much expression and seems quite quiet. However in different situations we get to see different sides of her physology which takes a different spin on your perception of who she is. Wheather if it’s her crying while reaching out to her catatonic mother, standing strong and brave against adult drug dealers physically abusing her to the point of near death, or being firm and assertive while teaching and raising her younger siblings, you see a depth to Ree that’s not as simple as most protagonists in films these days. Another noteworthy mention is the character Teardrop (John Hawkes) he is a really interesting character that really grabs your attention during his screen time.
Winter’s Bone tackles a variety of deep themes ranging from the importance of family, self-sufficiency, patriarchy, poverty and drug abuse, and deals with them well. Drugs are taken and used often like its no big deal, because the entire community is more or less based on drugs, and their not sensationalised or given any bias like you’d normally expect in a Hollywood film, they just exist and stand as a fact of everyday life. There are a few one-liners in the dialogue that stand out as odd at first such as “Here’s a doobie for your walk”, “Talking just causes witnesses, and we don’t want any of those” and “I shut up once already with your mouth” which would normally make you chuckle in a film, but they don’t seem funny or out of place in Winter’s Bone as the community has already been established as a violent ‘might makes right’, drug dependent town. Throughout the entire film, everything feels so grounded and realistic, from the conversations to the acting, and director Debra Granik has presented it in such a way that allows you to believe it and feel involved throughout the experience. There’s no need for massive shoot outs and special effects, just great character development and a basic storyline to entertain the viewer. In fact this is further supported more so by the soundtrack. There is next to no score or music played throughout the entire film. It doesn’t grab you and get excited like it normally would in an action flick, but this choice makes it feel even more solid and realistic. Hell even the way the town is presented, the costumes worn by the actors and the choice of cast is believable. There aren’t pretty boy hollywood stars with plastic surgical chins, cheeks or boobs; many of these people seem like ones you could meet on the street. Without spoiling anything, the entire film isn’t so happy, including its ending. In fact it’s kinda depressing to think that societies in this day and age are like this to a point its almost barbaric. But that’s how life is, and most likely the point of Winter’s Bone.
Winter’s Bone is what it is: a really great film. There’s none of that fake hollywood heroes, happily ever after, or easy-to-predict settings, characters or events, and that’s why its so great. The entire movie feels so realistic from the complex characters, the lack of a soundtrack, great acting, the themes and the way everything is directed really makes you really believe in these characters and setting, and the use of having a plot with so many twists and turns really draws in the audience. I’d argue that perhaps at times it’s too realistic, and perhaps my adolescent mind on occasion would’ve liked a car chase or a fight scene here and there, but that’d ruin the point of Winter’s Bone. While this film may not be everyone’s usual cup of tea, you can’t deny that Winter’s Bone is a superb film that really encourages it’s audience to experience it rather than simply watch it.
iPhone and iPad owners can pick up the full price version of Speedball 2 Evolution for nothing from today. Tower Studios’ touch-screen reboot of the classic Amiga sports game is completely FREE from June 1st 2011 for a few days only, saving you a total of $4.99. You can access this deal HERE
It topped the Paid App Store charts after its 24th February release date, and now as part of the Free App A Day promotion, if you haven’t picked it up already it can be yours for free. With an update rolling out soon, piling on to the single player and multiplayer game modes and tournaments, Career Mode and Speedball Champions League, it’s well worth the effort of setting it to download!
Apple has very quickly become a name associated with games, as App Fever sweeps the nation(s) it can be a blood bath trying to get something noticed. Looks like Gameloft isn’t having that problem. Modern Combat: Domination has quickly become one of their biggest franchises and has placed in the top 5 best-selling games on the Mac App Store. The game smashed onto the charts in it’s first weekend of release, claiming the number one spot in the United States and Australia; number two in France, Japan and Switzerland; and number four in the United Kingdom.
“In addition to our lineup of games available on the App Store for iPhone and iPad, we want to offer a range of rich, quality games for the Mac App Store,” said Gonzague de Vallois, Senior Vice President of Publishing at Gameloft. “Early feedback from players is very positive, and we will continue to expand our offering on this high-performance platform.”
Dead of Alive Dimensions Developer: Team Ninja Publisher: Koei Tecmo Platform: Nintendo 3DS (Reviewed) Released: May 24, 2011 Price:$39.99 US, £29.99 UK, $69.99 AUS
Overview:
Dead or Alive is a series that has been around for fifteen years, and for its fifteenth anniversary Team Ninja and Tecmo Koei have released Dead or Alive: Dimensions for the Nintendo 3DS. Now the last time we saw a Dead or Alive title was back in 2006 when Dead or Alive 4 was released for the Xbox 360. Well, there were other titles released but these focused more on… let’s just say other interests.
Dead or Alive is a 3D fighter that allows players to move towards and away from the screen, with the recent popularity of 2D fighters such as Street Fighter IV etc. and Marvel Vs. Capcom 3, has Dead or Alive: Dimensions arrived on a 3D handheld to bring with it the 3D fighting games we loved?
Story:
Dead or Alive: Dimensions isn’t the continuation of the series, instead it takes the storyline from the past four Dead or Alive fighting games and has combined the stories into a relatively easy to comprehend gameplay mode titled Chronicle Mode. With the inclusion of all four fighting games, this also means that the title boasts twenty five fighters, including bosses from previous titles.
Now Chronicle Mode is where all of the storyline and narrative for the title takes place. The mode itself is five chapters long and players are able to return to each chapter and replay it once again after they have finished it. The story begins with Kasumi leaving her ninja clan to seek revenge against Raidou for crippling her brother Hayate while stealing a powerful fighting technique. Because she left the clan against orders, Ayane is ordered to kill Kasumi for betraying the clan. Kasumi manages to track down Raidou at the Dead or Alive tournament being head by DOATEC which has a hidden agenda for the tournament all their own.
From there the storyline focuses heavily on the ninjas but still features practically every character in the series. The plot may be a bit difficult for newcomers to the Dead or Alive universe to understand at first but the game does its best to avert this issue by showing vocabulary hints and backstory about different groups as they are mentioned during cut scenes. The storyline unfortunately does not have a whole lot of depth or character development but fans of the series will appreciate the retelling of all four games at once.
Graphics:
If you have been looking for a title that will take full advantage of the 3DS’ capabilities then you won’t have to look farther than the DoA:D. When the 3D is turned off the fights move very quickly at 60 FPS which is very impressive for a handheld title, especially when you consider the amount of detail that you will see on the characters and the environments themselves.
The characters are well detailed and will retain nearly all of their looks from past games, meaning you will be hard pressed to find a character that doesn’t look like they did back in the days of Dead or Alive 2 or 3. The stages that you can fight on are numerous and very well detailed with most of the stages featuring different levels of combat. This means that player can still kick their enemies through a glass window onto the floor far below. Extra touches to the levels such as snow effects and fireworks also really make you feel like you’re fighting in a real area.
Something that is detrimental to the title though is the fact that there are plenty of jagged edges to be seen. These are not very noticeable during combat but the introduction scenes and victory scenes really show a lack of anti-aliasing and smoothness.
Now onto the Chronicles mode cut scenes. It is a bit odd to say the least the way that Dead or Alive: Dimensions uses so many different ways of telling their story. There are a few videos that are played that are CG movies direct from past Dead or Alive titles but do not take advantage of the 3D. On the other hand, there are also full segments of cut scenes that use the character models directly from the game itself. These cut scenes are very impressive to see and are certainly a highlight of the Chronicles Mode. On the other hand though, there is a very high amount of cut scenes that use comic-like cut scenes to tell the story instead. This means that characters will stay still in poses while their dialogue plays, mouth unmoving. These comic-like scenes are rather depressing to see when compared to the rest of the game.
Audio:
Chronicles Mode is fully voiced, which is impressive given the wide arrange of characters that show up throughout the game. The game includes both the English and the Japanese voice work so this allows players to change up what they are hearing. This is useful considering the pre and post-fight dialogue unfortunately has no variety for each character, meaning you’ll often hear the same thing again and again.
The sound effects during fights are still as impressive as you will remember it to be. Grabs, strikes, blocks everything is cleanly represented and will help keep you in the action. The background music is just as well integrated as it usually sets the appropriate tone for the stage you will be fighting upon.
Gameplay:
Dead or Alive: Dimensions is a 3D fighting game that uses the tried and true method of beating an enemy until their health bar is empty and trying to avoid having them do the same thing to you. The main difference with DoA:D from Street Fighter IV on the 3DS however is the way that it handles the control scheme. Given that Dead or Alive only uses one button for kicks and one button for punches the face buttons on the 3DS are easy to use and responsive without having to worry about the shoulder buttons.
Dead or Alive: Dimensions returns with the multi-leveled stages as I mentioned earlier. This means you will be able to smash an enemy into a wall or through a wall in some cases, causing heavy damage and sending them flying through, or down the environment. Also returning is the Hold system which allows players to do more than simply block an attack, but reverse it.
Dimensions makes use of the touch screen to display all of your current fighter’s moves and combo attacks. These moves are unfortunately thin to touch but they do provide a very simple and easy to learn fight mechanic. New players will be able to make use of the touch screen to initiate any of their fighter’s moves with a touch of the button, or perform complex combo grab attacks with ease.
Besides Chronicle Mode, which also works as a handy tutorial that introduces most mechanics of the game through a tutorial walkthrough, there are a number of different gameplay options at your disposal. Of course you have your standard Free Play mode which allows players to pick their fighter, their opponent, their difficulty level and their stage.
Arcade Mode is also included in DoA:D but it is a bit different than what you may expect. Players are able to choose their fighter of choice and then choose a course to play through. There are a total of six different courses to unlock and play through, with each one giving you a final time at the end. Rather than Arcade Mode it is more of a Time Attack mode, this means that you won’t be seeing each character’s individual endings because there aren’t any.
Survival Mode returns, and similar to Arcade Mode players are given a number of different enemy quotas to meet, unlocking longer fights as they reach smaller quotas. The Survival mode will pit you against 10 and up fighters that will show up immediately after you finish off your previous opponent. The fruit point system does not return for those who remember that from the console versions of the game.
The Tag Challenge mode returns in DoA:D but it too only allows players to select pre-chosen opponents through a list of possible matches. Players can select their own two fighters, with special pre and post-match animations if they select partners with backstory (such as Tina and Bass) and enter the fight. While the inactive fighter is tagged out they regain their health meter back.
Tag Challenge has seen much more significant change however than the other modes, with players having a certain amount of lives at their disposal and opponents with a very high health bar that deal more damage than usual. This creates a challenging fight that is unfortunately made harder with the fact that you cannot control your tag partner. For some unknown reason, players will be unable to control your partner; instead the AI will take over. Sure you can tag yourself in when prompted too but often you will find yourself losing a match simply because your AI partner is not fighting well and is making your lives dwindle needlessly.
DoA:D constantly helps keep players interested by the fact that there is tons of content to be unlocked. Besides new fighters, players can unlock new playable stages, a very large number of costumes for all of the fighting cast and figurines. The costumes will give players plenty of variety of appearances for each fighter and are relatively easy to unlock. Also Tecmo Koei is offering free SpotPass content in the form of extra costumes and other unannounced content sporadically, which means you never know what you may get when you play DoA:D that day.
With nearly a thousand different figurines to collect, players will find themselves with the immense task of collecting them all. These figurines are the characters in different poses and can be viewed in the game’s Showcase Mode. In this mode players can select a figurine of their choice and choose whatever stage they want the figurine to be on. Then players can take 3D pictures of the figurine however they wish, with the 3DS’ gyroscope allowing players to change their angle by moving the 3DS around. Don’t even get me started on the number of things players will probably try to do with the various female fighters given Team Ninaja’s love of their female fighters. Volleyball anyone? Unfortunately only one figurine is allowed at a time which means you cannot create a fight scene all of your own.
Online Multiplayer is of course supported for Dead or Alive: Dimensions and allows players to face opponents from all around the world in one on one match ups. These matches are kept track of a ranking system that records wins and losses over the player’s lifetime. The online matches are relatively lag free though you may experience some lag with the pre-match taunting. A neat little addition is the fact that the game lets you know if your opponent is using the touch screen by flashing a 3DS touch screen icon in the corner, just in case you were curious how they pulled off that difficult move.
StreetPass allows players to gather other players’ ghost data, downloading their fight record as well as their most used character. Eight different ghost data can be kept at once and fought against whenever the player likes, unfortunately once the fight is over, win or lose, it will disappear. The rewards for fighting will be different figurines that can be used in the Showcase mode I mentioned earlier.
3D Effects:
The 3D effects are rather impressive for Dead or Alive: Dimensions. During cut scenes 3D is definitely something you should have on as they usually do their best to make objects really pop out of the screen and add dimension to what you are viewing. During fights you will gain a real sense of depth to the stage you are fighting on and the pre and post-fight taunts really make great use of the 3D as most characters will take advantage of the 3D and feel like they are coming out of the screen.
Unfortunately during combat the frame rate for the battles drops drastically. Dropping to around 30 frames per second the game noticeably feels a bit slower and choppy. This means that you may be adjusting your 3D slider quite often as you switch between 3D for cut scenes and fight celebrations and 2D when you fighting.
Overall:
Despite a few flaws in presentation and the awkward changes made to Tag Team mode; Dead or Alive: Dimensions is an amazing addition to the 3DS line-up. Fans of the series will not be disappointed when they pick up the title and anyone looking for a new fighting game will find their money well invested. With fun, fast paced fighting, an impressive cast of characters, extensive unlockable content and a lag free online mode you will find Dead or Alive: Dimensions nearly impossible to put down.
