EBGAMES Australia have a HUGE announcement tomorrow (Tuesday 7:30PM) If you subscribe to their news letter you would of received this email already. BUT the big qestion is… whats this all about ? Well clicking on the link will take you to a normal looking EBGAMES website, if you hang around long enough the screen will go all fuzzy then some weird and funky stuff will begin to unfold before your eyes. But unfortunately they don’t really give away too much.
The Crew here know what it is, and I have to say this is quite an interesting announcement and something I believe every gamer will truly appreciate as its something we lack here in Australia. All we will say at the moment is THREE words : Gold Coast QLD, October and VIDEO GAMES !!!
And IT”S ABOUT TIME… Make sure you check out the EBGAMES website tomorrow at 7:30pm for the BIG ANNOUNCEMENT. We’ll let them give you good news. Don’t want to wreck it for everyone 😉
If you know what it is you’re more than welcome to leave a comment below.
Since that raccoon-tailed logo for Super Mario 3DS was revealed a while back for Super Mario 3DS, many have been speculating of what exactly Mario’s 3D debut would hold. Thanks to a recent interview with The Telegraph, we now can confirm that the gyro censor will be utilized and it looks to be that camera control will be the main function.
Miyomoto mentioned “Sometimes people ask why the 3DS isn’t double stick; One is normally used to control the camera, but having the gyro sensor you can replace the analogue stick by moving the console, which is very intuitive.”
Miyomoto also doesn’t believe the Streetpass will be used “unless a spectacular idea comes to mind”.
I can see how this would work and it is “intuitive” as Miyomoto stated, but I am not particularly fond of the idea of constantly moving the console to play any game, honestly. That being said, I wasn’t fond of the idea of waggle controls in Galaxy and actually enjoyed every second of that game as they were well utilized, so I am sure this very could well be a lot more subtle than it sounds at the moment. As for the Streetpass, my personal idea would be simply to exchange records and maybe unlock a few easter eggs as a reward such as costumes, music, or Mii items. It is always a proud moment in Mario games to hit that 100% marker, and i certainly think showing it off would add a bit more incentive for completion. Just an idea of course.
With the release of Brink just under a week away in Australia and New Zealand, Bethesda Softworks has announced a cool new statistic about the game.
In Brink, players can customise their own character, including their character’s class, appearance, and items. While us gamers are no strangers to customisability in games, Bethesda has said that up to 100,000,000,000,000,000 different characters can be created. Yes, you read that correctly – the game has over 100 quadrillion total unique characters which players can generate.
While the gameplay will be a major factor in defining whether or not the game is popular, Brink’s character customisability will ensure that each game can be tailor-made to suit the player. Look out for Brink’s release in Australia on May 12th, and its release in New Zealand on May 13th.
While Sega have confirmed Sonic Generations for the Xbox 360 & PS3, a Gamestop release schedule is now showing the latest Sonic title will be headed to the 3DS. I haven’t seen too many times where Gamestop have listed something inaccurate so I would say this is a bit stronger than a standard rumor at the moment and I am sure Sega will elaborate soon enough. Time Crisis is also scheduled to make an appearance on the 3D handheld as well.
Something tells me that both titles were probably being saved for announcements at E3 and Gamestop have yet again let the cat out of the bag, but either way I am curious to see how both utilize the 3D functions as both certainly could have great potential on the 3DS.
Hey folks! Seeing as it’s mother’s day today, I’d thought I’d help kick it off for everyone by putting together a list of the top 10 moms from video gaming! Feel the love and maternal spirit folks!
10) Alma from F.E.A.R
Despite her having a HIGHLY traumatic back story, and not to mention creepy, homicidal tendencies towards enemies in the F.E.A.R games, the fact that this creepy little girl is going through all of these steps to protect her some of her children, or produce more goes to show that she at least has a slightly maternal side. Then again, in F.E.A.R 1 she WAS trying to kill Pointman… who is TECHNICALLY her son too. However she DID try to help Paxton, and (we can assume) will try to protect her new unborn child in F.E.A.R 3. Well… 2 out of 3 ain’t so bad… you know?
9) Amariss from Summon Night
Summon Night is a lesser known series amongst many gamers, but it did feature as one of my favourite games on the Gameboy Advance system. What stands out about this little RPG number is the anime style humour that goes along so well with the story and action behind the game. From the get go, the player character is introduced to a rather overly happy and wacky woman… who just happens to be your mother. Amariss is one funny and scary lady. She’s always supportive and protective of her children and her friends, but will always follow through with a punishment or threat. This can sometimes be shown in unexpected ways. One of the most memorable scenes in the game I remember was when the player character and the guildmaster were running to assist your mother because soldiers were on their way to your house in hopes of finding you. When you arrive, you find that not only is Amariss unharmed, but she’s LECTURED the enemy soldiers in COMPLETE submission. Seeing damage dealt due to the mention of “you should be ashamed of yourselves…” was freaking hilarious. 🙂
8 ) Leandra Hawke from Dragon Age 2
Lower on the list because we, as gamers have not had time to get used to her yet. Leandra is clearly a very caring mother, and absolutely devoted to her children. Ironic, because Hawke’s always trying to protect HER. The level of Anguish that she shows when Bethany or Carver fall in battle speaks volumes about her care for her children. Hell, the fact that she ran away from a noble life in Kirkwall to a small farm village in Fereldan to raise a family shows that she’s a devoted woman. But when it comes to dealing with her uptight relatives like Gamlen, she doesn’t take ANYONE’S crap.
7) GLaDoS from Portal
I always pictured GLaDoS as a female Hal 9000, both because of character traits and general maliciousness. OK, not a “Mom” in the strictest sense of the word. Let’s fast forward to Portal 2. She DOES technically create two robots, most likely using part of her own programming to construct their AI’s. It explains why they have less free will and personality, like Wheatley, and are more inclined to do what she says. The fact that this malicious computer doesn’t simply blow them up at the smallest failure says she holds at least SOME value in Atlas and P-body. We all know why, but what creator doesn’t cherish their creations in some degree? But, the important thing is, as a parent, well she’s freaking hilarious. Psychotic and twisted, but hilarious in dialogue.
6) Mother Brain from Metroid
Who else HATED this boss? The figurehead of the space pirates from Metroid… literally. That said however, she was a challenge to defeat, even with all of Samus’ powerups working. Why I’ve put her/it on the number 6 spot is more so because she’s a genuinely memorable character in gaming. Partially because of the challenge, but also partially because she provided us with one of the most memorable moments… and the plot device from the introduction of Other M. Whether that’s good or bad I’ll leave up to you. But nonetheless, Mother Brain was certainly one memorable mama.
5) Samara from Mass Effect 2
“When 900 years old YOU reach, look as good, you will not, hm?” Considering that Samara is elderly by Asari standards, she still looks damn fine in that combat outfit. Samara is a very interesting character in the Mass Effect series. We’re first introduced to her in Mass Effect 2, during an investigation of a runaway criminal. We’re told that this matter is of personal significance to her, but Shepard doesn’t find out HOW personal until quite a bit later in the game. This Asari Justicar is brutal in combat, to say the least, and completely driven by her mission objective. While she’s law obidding, when the situation warrants, NOTHING will keep her from tearing apart an enemy with her biotics. When we find out the fugitive she’s hunting is her own daughter, this develops her characters quite significantly. Plus it opens up oppourtunities for some of the funniest and most unique situations in Mass Effect 2. For instance, in her loyalty mission, Shepard can try to pick a fight with a gigantic Krogan… and have the Krogan back down. Unexpected, but highly entertaining. Without revealing to much more, let’s just say the end of that mission can get VERY interesting based on your affinity. (And I’m not talking anything sexual either.)
4) Scarlet Robe from Fable
It’s kind of strange that we aren’t introduced to such a significant character until at least halfway through the events of Fable 1. Scarlet robe is introduced to us by none other than the ultimate archenemy: Jack of Blades. He shows the main character a statue of a former arena champion, whilst pretending to be friendly and on your side. He describes her as a warrior prodigy, and it is revealled where the main character receives his heroes blood. Scarlet robe was a famous Balverine hunter who fell wounded in battle. She was later found and restored to health by the heroe’s father, who later marrys her. In the context of present event, she only appears as an old lady once rescued from the prison, but she takes to the guildmaster’s side in providing advice to you on where to find your lost sister, and how to prevent Jack from getting what he wants. Even in old age, Scarlet Robe continues to defy the odds stacked against her. Even with an immortal psychotic masked man after her.
3) Trainer’s Mom from Pokémon
Is every mother in the Pokémon world single? Seriously, at the start of every Pokemon series, we only ever see the mom staying at home, kind of adhering to that homemaker stereotype. However, this is not to say that they were not helpful or memorable. Out of all 5 pokemon generations so far, only generation 3 ever even considered to show who the play character’s father was. In everything else, they seem to do fine raising a child on their own. At least until they’re 10 and leave home… :/ Each will always provide their phone number for advice, or even to help with their child’s savings. They also are well known for handing out some of the most important in-game items to the player, free of charge. The running shoes, poke-gear, healing items etc. But each of these different mothers is different in their own distinct ways. For example, the mom from Generation 2 is infamous for asking you to entrust your money to her… only for her to go off and spend it on shopping… mostly for useless berries… -_- This has been the subject of many pokemon jokes in the past. Similarly in the anime, Ash’s mom has quite a few quirks of her own, making her very similar to Amariss in her caring, but slightly embarrassing nature. But as always, they’re always around in the starting town to call on words of encouragement to their children.
2) Jenova from Final Fantasy 7
I’ll get this out of the way now: Sephiroth is the BIGGEST mama’s boy EVER. And Kadaj and his gang aren’t much better. Jenova is on this list for two reasons: one, she’s a massive plot device for the Final Fantasy 7 universe. Whenever cooky, unnatrual mutations or magic is involved, we assume that Jenova is somehow involved. From the best players can gather, Jenova was an alien being that crash landed on the Final Fantasy planet. Her remains were dug up and tested on by Shinra, who went to extraordianry lengths to unlock her power. Even going so far to create a series of sons and monsters from her DNA, the worst of whom is Cloud’s archenemy. Although, technically Cloud and Zack were exposed to Jenova cells too. The second reason for her placement is that she has the most kick-ass boss battle soundtrack EVER from a final fantasy game. Seriously, once you’ve finished reading this, go have a listen. It kicks ass in a rock remix. While she may not be maternal in the same sense as GLaDoS, as a mother figure, she is certainly a standout one in the world of video games.
1) Cooking Mama from well… Cooking Mama…
There has to be some kind of reason this chibi anime based game is a best seller. Well, besides the fluid gameplay… Cooking mama is just a plain addictive game, not so much for the characters, but for the feel of the game itself. However, no matter how badly you perform, mama is usually there with a supportive smile and an assurance that she will “fix it”. Again, this leans towards maternal stereotypes, but Cooking Mama is probably THE most memorable gaming mom in existence. The simple design of the game couples a mother’s love for cooking with the notion of getting children involved and helping around the kitchen. This, to me, shows what moms typically try to do in reality. They will try to let children find their own feet, but will be there to help out if they falter. Couple this with that WINNING smile, and you have not only a great selling game, but a great selling character. Only cooking mama can make knives and other household sharp objects seem cute. Cooking is often referred to as an expression of love to close family members, and being involved with the process CAN actually teach you things about real life cooking. So go on… try making a recipe for mothers day. No, not with your stylus… Perhaps on a day like this, it’s better to let her relax for once, and cook up a deserving meal for your own mom.
-Spike out. 😉
Let us know what you thought of our top 10 mom’s, also we’re running a Mother’s Day comp to win a FREE GAME !! check it out here.
Any reveals of Bungie’s next big project will just have to wait it seems as the developer posted on their official blog that they will not be attending E3 this year. The internet has been buzzing since the release of Halo: Reach of what the next big step is for Bungie, but it appears that for now we must twiddle our thumbs and wait until this veil of secrecy is lifted sometime until the near future.
While I did have hope that Bungie would be attending the event, there is no doubt this year’s E3 will still be one to watch closely as Nintendo reveal the Wii Successor and it will be also interesting to see just what Sony will have to present after this very difficult year. As for Microsoft, I am expecting something Halo-ish in the works, but for now it is just a wait and see.
Mother’s Day is about to end here in Australia but it’s just starting in other parts of the world, and I hope you all put your controllers down and told your mum “Happy Mother’s Day” at least once. If you did celebrate it, what did everyone do for their mother on mother’s day? Let us know what you did, the best entry will be picked and we’ll send you over a random video game we have here in the office. Maybe you can give it to your mum if she’s into video games.
I’ll start the ball rolling: I bought my mum some flowers, and got her a card as well, we had a family lunch which was nice and relaxing, I ate a lot by the way. After lunch I checked my emails and played some iPhone and 3DS games. Showed mum how to play Street Fighter IV 3D but she just couldnt get the hang of the control system and got beat by Dan 🙁 Oh well at least she gave it a try 😉
Happy Mothers Day to all from the Capsule Computers Crew !! Good Luck and let the best comment win 🙂
Talk about getting something done early. While Sonic Generations doesn’t even release until “Holiday” of this year, the Australian Classifications Board have already rated the demo for the game many months in advance. Of course a “G” rating was given for the new Sonic title, but the rating really isn’t the story here. Demos for any title usually do not start to pop up until maybe a month or two before the said game typically releases, making this early and quite public rating raise quite a bit of speculation.
With E3 right around the corner, this could mean that Sega are ready to unveil a playable demo at the event or just simply launch the game’s demo on the XBLA and PSN alongside the inevitable trailers and footage that will be used to hype the game at the event. Judging by the early approach taken here by Sega to get this demo rated, all gamers anticipating the hedgehog’s return should no doubt keep their eyes peeled for a demo of some sort hitting consoles this summer (unless this is just a simple case of getting the whole process of ratings out of the way).
With the new hack and slash Action RPG Dungeon Siege III now just a little over a month away from release, Obsidian have now released a new trailer to shed a little light on how co-op will work. For the multi-player mode, robust AI will join alongside the player as they control either Lucas, Katarina, Reinhart or Anjali to save the Kingdom of Ehb. This allows for other players to jump in or out at will and makes the whole mode come together, creating a seamless experience with little to no interruption as players come together and do battle.
You can watch the new trailer below which shows off a lot of the actual gameplay as each hero uses their own special techniques to team up and take down foes in the game. Dungeon Siege III is scheduled to release June 17th for Europe and June 21st for the U.S. for the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.
I love Capcom, from Street Fighter 2 to my favourite franchise in gaming; Resident Evil, the Japanese publisher has always been there, delivering quality games to their fans. So its really nice to hear (especially with so many other companies posting massive losses), that all the hard work they put into their products is paying off. Driven by the massive success of Monster Hunter portable (PSP), which sold over 4.6 million copies, as well as a diverse array of titles across many different platforms, Capcom are proud to announce a 258% rise in income for the last fiscal period.
Console sales of Marvel V Capcom 3, Dead Rising 2, Lost planet 2 and Super Street Fighter IV were all in excess of 1 million copies which is an oustanding achievement in itself. Their online game Monster Hunter has also recently hit 1 million subscribers. Branching out into smartphone gaming has also added to the success of the company with IPhone titles Ghost Trick and Street Fighter IV being met with much enthusiasm from users of the device. Capcoms emergence into the social gaming market has even exceeded their own expectations with VERY popular Lil’ Pirates, Zombie Cafe and Smurfs village perfoming exceptionally well. Combine all of this with PC and XBox 360 online games like Monster Hunter and its clear the strategic direction they have chosen is paying dividends.
Capcom see a fall in sales for the coming year but a rise in profits. As social and phone gaming become more popular, profit margins will increase due to lower production costs. Capcoms attribute much of their success to their experimental style in relation to game style and distribution methods in a diverse and ever changing games market.
