If you haven’t yet gotten all of that DLC for Borderlands or have simply been waiting on a price-drop to get it all in this one small package, now is your chance as Amazon are hosting a Deal of the Day on the Game of the Year Edition of the 2009 fan favorite from Gearbox Software.
This version includes an extra disc in which you can obtain around $40 of download content (all four add-ons), along with the standard release of Borderlands in one nice package for both the Xbox 360 & Playstation 3 for the low price of just $20. It should also be noted that if you want to take advantage of this deal, you should act fast as this deal will be done at the end of the day. You can also snag up either version from from the Capsule Computer’s Amazon store to earn a few extra cube-points in the process (for both PS3 & 360 as well).
There are many classes in Dungeons & Dragons: Daggerdale, but none are more determined combatants than the fighter class. These fighters are made to protect and defend their active party while dishing out major damage to all oncoming foes. Today, Atari released a brand new trailer fully showing off the true powers of this class for the new Dungeons & Dragons: Daggerdale, which releases on the Xbox Live Arcade, Playstation Network, and via download for the PC later this Spring.
Not only does the trailer show off some impressive abilities for the warriors today, it also shows that the visuals and presentation value for Daggerdale is looking phenomenal at the moment. Only time will tell if this new D&D title lives up to the hype, but for now I would say this could certainly be an impressive title if it turns out as good as what we have seen so far. Check out the new trailer below and as more classes and info are revealed, we will keep you updated.
It really seems that during the first year of the Nintendo 3DS’ lifespan we will be seeing a nice selection of ports coming to the handheld. One that many are heavily anticipating though is the new version of the PS2 favorite, Tales of the Abyss. The 3DS version is looking to add some new touch screen controls and is sure to have some 3D enhancements, but other than that, not much is known at the moment of just all the extra features that this version will hold.
Today Namco have decided to tease us all with an extremely short trailer showing off a tiny but of gameplay from the Japanese version of the game. Everything is certainly looking sharp, but as I said this clip is just made to make fans drool until the release finally drops on May 19th for Japan and hopefully sometime shortly after for the rest of the world. You can check out the trailer below for yourself and as more comes forward on Tales of the Abyss for the 3DS, we will be sure to bring it to you here so stay tuned.
Scarlet
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Alex Maleev
Release Schedule: Bi-monthly
Publisher: Icon Comics, an imprint of Marvel Comics
Release Date: Book 1 (#1-5) coming July 20, 2011 – Preorder now at Amazon!
While the most popular comic books on store shelves are still those revolving around superheroes (seriously, there are more than 8 ongoing comic series starring Batman),Scarlet is a comic centered on a different kind of tights-wearing vigilante. I’m being somewhat facetious as my previous comment makes it sound like this is a story about some new type of superhero, when really by “tights-wearing” I just meant that our hero is just your average college-aged girl. Whether or not she actually wears tights is irrelevant; let’s just move on with the story.
Scarlet, our eponymous protagonist, is a young woman living in Portland, Oregon who has a problem with authority. Actually technically Scarlet’s problem is with corrupt authority: more specifically, police officers who have ceased to serve and protect the people. The premise of the series is that a terrible tragedy has befallen this once starry-eyed redhead and has propelled her along a path that most wouldn’t risk following. Scarlet’s boyfriend and first true love, Gabriel, is gunned down by a corrupt police officer and the whole event is reported by the media as a heroic effort by the police to rid the city of a teenage druglord.
The problem here is that Gabriel never sold any drugs, the offending officer wasn’t punished, and no one believed the truth. This is, in essence, what convinces Scarlet that the world is (in her words) “broken” and that something needs to be done. This is not a story of revenge, nor is it a story meant to brand all cops as pigs; this is simply a story about seeing through the bullshit and taking a stand against something. If you’re familiar with characters like V of V for Vendetta fame or Rorschach from Watchmen (both Alan Moore characters interestingly enough) then you probably have at least some idea of what our protagonist is feeling.
Scarlet begins a crusade to attempt to expose the corruption of the police to the people of Portland. She needs people to know what’s going on behind closed doors and she needs them to make their voices heard. For Scarlet, nothing short of a revolution will be enough to clean up her city, and that is precisely what she is hoping for. Portland is on the verge of an uprising thanks to Scarlet’s message, and both the police force and the FBI are working to catch this cop killing revolutionary.
There is bloodshed in Scarlet, although it is not the kind of super-bloodied action frenzy you would expect from something like Kill Bill. Like with most well-written comics, Brian Michael Bendis uses action and violence when it serves the story well rather than relying on it as a crutch. The real struggle in Scarlet is a mix between two conflicts. The first is the more obvious definition of the term: a young woman with no martial training attempting to stay out of jail and out of a coffin while taking down corrupt police officers. The second is her own inner struggle to overcome the harsh reality thrust upon her when her naivety was shattered, all while trying to be a symbol to the people that things can be made better.
This is the image that greets readers on page 1 of Scarlet’s first issue.
Bendis’s writing is superb. I was going to continue that sentence with some qualifiers, but I couldn’t think of any that were necessary. Scarlet is a dichotomy, depicted as both a cute, innocent girl who has just had her happiness stolen from her, and as a steadfast dispeller of political placation and media misdirection. This allows for some profoundly meaningful inner monologuing by Scarlet, who will more often than not address the reader in an attempt to explain why the system doesn’t need to remain broken. While Scarlet frequently breaks the fourth wall like the fan-favorite superhero Deadpool, it is less for the sake of comedy and more as a call to action. Scarlet is showing her story to you, to all of us really, in the hopes that people will stand up for their rights. The writing can be very deep, but it always sounds natural for a girl of Scarlet’s age and is surprisingly not preachy like some other vigilante stories.
There are also several supporting characters such as Federal Agent James Daemonakos and Police Detective Angela Going, the two investigators working to try to find Scarlet. These characters, however, don’t have a very pronounced role in the story just yet. I assume that they will both feature more heavily as the story continues, but Scarlet is much more heavily focused on in the early issues. A much more literal “supporting” character is Scarlet’s friend Brandon, who was also best friends with her slain boyfriend. Brandon watched after Scarlet and aids her in recording and distributing her message to the people. While he seems hesitant to participate in Scarlet’s brand of justice, and doesn’t personally get his hands dirty, he won’t let her go through this alone.
The art is similarly amazing, which is no surprise considering it is both drawn and colored by Alex Maleev, whose work on Halo: Uprising (also written by Bendis) is what made me check out Scarlet in the first place. The photorealistic style is uncannily lifelike and I really had my doubts at first that Maleev hadn’t just applied a filter to photographs of a hired model in order to create Scarlet and the other characters. If you’ve seen photos of Mark Vanderloo, the model on whom Mass Effect’s Commander Shepard is based, then you’ll understand where I’m coming from. The color is gritty and often washed out, much like you would expect to find in a story set in an unnamed grimy cityscape, with a splash of bright color here and there, especially in the case of the crimson hair of our aptly-named protagonist.
It is easy to forget that Scarlet Rue isn’t a real person thanks to Alex Maleev’s artwork.
One of the few criticisms I have about this series is that while Scarlet herself is impossible to miss thanks to her previously mentioned red hair, some of the other characters can be a bit difficult to distinguish between. I mostly encountered this problem with the police detectives and agents working to try to stop Scarlet and I would often need to flip back a few pages to remind myself who I was looking at. This isn’t helped by the fact that new issues of the comic only land on store shelves on a bi-monthly basis. To avoid confusion, allow me to clarify that this means that you can only get your hands on more Scarlet once every two months, and not twice a month as bi-monthly can sometimes mean.
While this is understandable due to Bendis and Maleev’s work on other ongoing series, it does make it difficult to remember what happened in previous books by the time a new issue is released. I found myself rereading each previous issue before starting a new one, and I didn’t really mind this as I greatly enjoy the series, but some might find it tedious. For those people, I would probably recommend picking up the trade books which will collect several issues at once. The first of these volumes will be released this coming July and will contain issues 1 through 5, which makes up the first story arc of Scarlet.
I would most assuredly and very enthusiastically recommend Scarlet to anyone. Whether you are a comic shop veteran or an outsider to the medium of sequential art, this is a great series to get into. Because it only started in 2010, there are only 5 issues to catch up on currently so there is much less backstory to read than in some of the longer running franchises out there. The more realistic nature of the story also probably makes Scarlet more accessible to potential readers who may be turned off by the inherent silliness of superhero comics, so this may be a good way to get reluctant friends (or you if you’re similarly reluctant) into comic books in general.
Thanks to its stirring take on vigilante justice and the teamwork of Bendis and Maleev, Scarlet (#1-5) gets:
The biggest news of the past week was, of course, the launch of the Nintendo 3DS. Many of our staff have taken quite a liking to this shiny new device, and are providing great insight into what this handheld can do. Our week was also sprinkled with some other games, although it’s hard to outshine the 3DS in this round. As usual, let us know what you’re playing too and don’t forget to welcome our newest editor, Adam Tabor!
Editor-in-chief: MasterAbbott
This week I’ve been super busy getting things organized with new writers/editors, and also making sure the site is functioning as it should be. I checked a lot of emails all week as well which has cut into my game time for the week. I did get stuck into Sacred Odyssey on the iPhone early on in the week, then on Thursday the 31st of March…I picked up my Black Nintendo 3DS and since then everything else I was meant to do has been thrown out the window. Emails have been piling up, and I’ve even stopped bothering the crew (who knows what sort of mayhem they’ve been causing in the office and on the site).
For the last few days I’ve been playing and testing out the 3DS. I did a 3DS unboxing video for anyone that doesn’t have it (check it out here). Games so far I’ve tested out include (VERY briefly) Chronicles Samurai Warriors from KOEI. This is quite an impressive title, graphically stunning especially the cut/movie scenes in the game. If you’re a fan of Dynasty Warriors series this is one title you should consider taking a look at if you have a 3DS. As you might already know, the 3DS has a lot of cool extra built-in features and games that can keep you busy for hours, from its 3DS Camera, Sound Studio, Mii Maker, Mii Plaza with Street Pass, the funny Face Raiders, and my personal favourite, the AR (Augmented Reality) games.
I could go on and on about the 3DS with its cool little pedometer that grants you the ability to earn play coins that you can spend in the Mii Plaza when playing Puzzle Swap and the SUPER cool StreetPass Quest that uses Mii’s that you find when you activate Streetpass. Okay, okay, I’ll shut up now; I’ve probably bored you all to tears with my constant rambling about how great the 3DS is. Oh by the if you’ve got a 3DS add me a friend my 3DS number is : 1805-2193-1145 😉
Till next week…play hard or don’t play at all!
Senior Editor: Travis Bruno
Well it is that time of the year when the winter season is ending and spring is just beginning. With that also comes the change in seasons for anime and that means that most of this week has been spent watching some great shows try to wrap up as best they could, especially To Aru Majutsu no Index. Then again with the spring season about to start there is a whole plethora of new things to watch. Other than that I picked up my 3DS on launch day here in the United States and have been quite busy playing Samurai Warriors Chronicles and Super Street Fighter IV 3D.
It seems that I have grown partial to using Ibuki as my main fighter but considering I haven’t played a Street Fighter game in some time nearly half of the fighters are new to me. Outside of the 3D realm I’ve been busy playing The 3rd Birthday that was released earlier this week. It certainly is as hard as I remember the original Parasite Eve games being but there have been so many changes to the game that it feels completely different. My week hasn’t been entirely filled with handhelds however; I’ve spent a decent amount of time on Crysis 2 and am having a really hard time feeling anything from the title besides being just another shooter with aliens in it.
Senior Editor: Jed Bradshaw
This week, I finally finished War for Cybertron. I love that game and I was so sad I had to send it back to Gamefly. In addition, I started playing Just Cause 2. It is pretty fun, but wow, that voice acting is bad….plus the controls are awful. However, plenty of explosions , creative uses of the grapple and fun gameplay make up for everything.
I also got really into Homefront‘s Battle Commander multiplayer, mostly trying to get the achievement for being a 5 star threat. I was able to get a 3 star (thank you, flying drone) but a 5 star is just too insane for me.
Finally, this week I played 3D Twist & Match for review (link here). Sanuk Games makes some great games like Pix’n Love Rush, but this game is boring. Its a simple puzzle game that will barely keep you entertained for a few hours. Moto GP 10/11 was also spinning in my PS3. Expect a review soon.
Senior Editor: Dustin Spencer
This week has mainly been all about the 3DS here. I have been working on Rayman 3D which is actually a decent launch title and enjoying it. It reminds me of playing a classic N64 platformer which to me at least is a good thing. I missed Rayman: The Great Escape the first time around, so when this review goes up, I wouldn’t expect to judge this title too much by its age as most seem to have done. Super Street Fighter IV has gotten a little bit of love as well, but I still have been using my standard DSi XL as I am also going through Okamiden and am nearly done with it now. It really plays and looks like the original, but for a DS game to stand on par with the PS2 I think that is a great to see. The story is actually a lot of fun to follow as well.
WWE All Stars has been a nice console game to play, but it has a few issues such as AI problems that need a patch. There really is nothing like watching Macho Man do a backflip straight on to a turnbuckle though and the game has a lot of fun moments so I have to give it a bit of credit on that. Other than that, I finished Monster Tale which was one of my favorite titles this year by far, you can check out the review as well which is now live on the site (link here).
Editor: Ben Webb
This week I finally got my 3DS device, so I’ve been playing a fair bit of that.
On the 3DS I’ve been playing through Super Street Fighter IV, I started on Very Easy difficulty and can now do Normal mode (which is strangely easier than Easy Mode). My fighter of choice is Cammy, as I’m a bit of a pervert and I also tend to go for the more militaristic units in fighters; for instance, in Bloody Roar my main fighter is Gado the Lion. Both Cammy and Gado have a similar feel to their play style (even if they’re from different games) so that’s why I think that I gravitated to her a bit more.
I’m also currently working through a few other titles on the 3DS which are surprises until I get the reviews out for them 😀
On the PC front, I’ve been playing some more QuakeLive as well as visiting other titles, such as Dragon Age 2, but at the moment I’m more concerned with getting these 3DS games reviewed.
Editor: Michael Irving
This week has been a busy work and uni week, so unfortunately my game time has been a little limited. As I was last week, I’m still playing Left 4 Dead 2 online when I get time, and slowly slogging away at Pokemon Black. One major problem I’ve encountered is that there are too many awesome looking Pokemon this generation, which makes it really hard to select only six.
We also had some mates over this weekend for drinks and my all-time favourite multiplayer game – Super Smash Bros. Brawl. This is the one game we’ve played fairly regularly since its release two and a half years ago, and it never gets old! I’m not into standard fighting games much, but I love the looser movement Smash Bros allows, jumping and running over huge stages; I love the randomness that items, weapons, and environmental elements add to the chaos; I love the unique health system, where rather than simply drain your opponent’s health bar, you raise their percentage, which increases their likelihood of being launched off the stage, but provides no guarantees you’ll defeat them. So someone with a massive percentage can still survive, if they’re awesome enough. And most of all, I love the way the game is essentially Encyclopedia Nintendica, with characters, stages, items, weapons, and trophies from all of Nintendo’s major franchises, together in one place. I cannot fault the game at all.
Editor: Kelly Teng
I’ve been slamming into LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars this week for review (check it out here), and to be honest, I am still having mixed emotions about it. It’s fun and a good laugh, but really the game is getting too frustrating for me to keep going onwards. It takes me far too much time for me to collect all the studs (I am obsessive about uncovering every nook and cranny in the game) and get all the unlockables.
Other than that, I reviewed the film Big Tits Zombie (if you really want to, check it out here)and I have to say I was not too impressed. Everyone else seemed surprisingly excited that I was reviewing this though, so I’m not too sure what the deal is with that. Films like this are great for laughing at, but I’m not too sure if there’s much more substance in them. In handhelds, I’m still Pokemon Black-ing it, and every spare moment I get I’m tackling Mass Effect 2. I’m excited for next week because I have a myriad of new DVDs and TV series to review, so stay tuned for more reviews of things (unfortunately for all those who love gore, there’s no more Japanese low-budget films). I’ve been missing my Top Spin 4as I lent it to a friend, and am thinking of buying FIFA 11 just to tide me over until he gives me back my game. Also, I’ve been majorly hooked on the Alchemy game on my HTC…I’ve only unlocked 60 of the 370 elements!
Also, who heard the news about L.A. Noire being selected for the Tribeca Film Festival? Eeeeek, this game is going to be huge!
Editor: Chris Cerami
I spent a lot of time this week playing the four Oddworld games included in the Oddboxx, the review of which was posted on Friday here. I also downloaded and completed Mass Effect 2’s Arrival DLC, which was woefully inadequate in my opinion. I beat it in one hour. One hour! Come on! On a brighter note, I finally beat Legend of Zelda Majora’s Mask this week, something that’s been hanging over my head for literally a whole decade. It’s really satisfying because now the only Zelda game that I haven’t beaten is Zelda 2: Link’s Adventure. Finally, I played a bit of the co-op in Dynasty Warriors 7 which can be pretty fun if you just want some mindless fun and a body count in the thousands.
Editor: Jack Joly
Due to a totally MAD sale on the Xbox Marketplace, I blew a lot of Microsoft Points picking up games on the 1st April Sale. DOOM II, X-Men Arcade and Darwinia+ all got a look-in, as did another Xbox Live Arcade title not in the sale, Full House Poker. I’m really enjoying Full House Poker at the moment due to its casual style of play where you can just kick back and play some Texas Hold ’em, including last night’s Texas Heat event where I picked up a tidy total of 1,000,000 chips, coming 1st on the top table. Also on the Xbox 360, De Blob 2 and Warriors: Legends of Troy saw a bit of action.
Editor: Darren Resnekov
I have gone back to the Xbox 360 and am playing Halo Reach as iIbegan it ages ago and got lost and never went back to it. It’s a fantastic game with amazing graphics and gameplay. I’m playing it on the heroic level and enemies are at a good level of difficulty compared to many other games. I’m also playing Crysis 2 which is my benchmark game. I even found myself in Halo trying to kick over cars to use as shields. Crysis 2 is definitely the best FPS I’ve ever seen on consoles. I can’t get enough of that guy’s voice who does the weapons and cloaking shield. As always I’m playing Fifa 11 and getting beaten. Gave MLBShow a go but need more time to get into it as the controls are very sensitive
Editor: Adam Tabor
Hey, it’s Adam the new guy. Just found out we do this thing where we talk about video games we played…but who plays games right? Okay, so I’m full of it and its 2:08AM and I got to make this out so here we go. Let’s start out with the Moon Diver demo on PSN. It’s a fun little game: think of it as a fast multiplayer Strider with a heavy anime overdose in the art department. I might snag it when it comes to 360. Also played the Mortal Kombat demo with a friend and well I think I’m good with the most hated character in the game, Mr. Johnny Rage….I mean Cage (I just think that’s a cooler name, that’s all).
Also I’ve been doing a lot of portable stuff this week. On the iPhone I picked up Fast Striker for $5 and then it dropped to 99 cents the next day which kind of made me a bit disappointed. Fast Striker is a top down bullet hell game that is a lot of fun but I rather play its Dreamcast counterpart. Also I picked up Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy; I’m not too far in it but I loved the first one and I’ll like this one and it gives me nerdgasms. Yeah, I just made it up – 10 EXP for creativity and 15 gil. Also played the prologues which cost me $3 and that was dull. I did get Aeris as an assist character though, so yay for me. Also this past Sunday I picked up my Nintendo 3DS and have been playing a lot of the stuff on it. I picked up Super Street Fighter 4 and Ridge Racer. Those games are quite fun and anyone who loves either games will appreciate it. Also this was my first Ridge Racer game and well I’m hooked into it.
Well, what’s up next on the games plate who knows? I want to finish Final Fantasy XIII…if I actually get to playing it is another story.
Starting on the 9th of April and going until the end of the 17th of April, 2011, will be an opportunity for a group of gamers to appear in the next commercial for Nintendo’s Mario Kart Wii.
Gamers will be competing in Mario Kart Wii with Nintendo’s film crew capturing the action around two locations in Australia. These locations are the Melbourne Experience EBGames and the EBGames in Ultimo on Bay Street. Nintendo says that the best way to get noticed and put in the commercial will be to bring a group of family and/or friends to the event.
All you have to do is grab your family and friends and get down to one of two locations in Melbourne and Sydney from 9 – 17 April 2011.
This looks like it could be a promising event and possibly a foot in the door for anybody interested in appearing on television.
Up until now, the release date of Battlefield 3 has been a mystery, other than a broad ‘Fall’ label disclosed by publisher EA.
But now, a release date has been spotted on EA Download Manager, naming 2nd November as the game’s special day. While this can’t be completely confirmed at this stage, it looks like this should at the very least be an accurate indication of the time period it will be put out.
The date could shift around a bit due to changes relating to different regions. The 2nd November is a Wednesday, which would make it at odds with the usual US release date day of Tuesday, whilst major games like this usually hit Europe on a Friday.On the other hand, for such a big release a worldwide ‘event’ release date wouldn’t be completely out of the question.
A brand new developer diary for the upcoming movie tie-in game Thor: God of Thunder has been hammered out by publisher Sega. In the video, members of the development studio talk about the different ideas circulating in their minds when making Thor and those that are making their way into the final product.
The developers state that the vision for Thor was to bring the comic book to life with an authentic portrayal of the comic book hero. They want you to feel the power in your hands when controlling Thor, using his lightning attack and clattering enemies.
Check out the full behind the scenes developer diary below. Thor: God of Thunder comes to retail on 5th May on PS3, 360, Wii, DS, 3DS, PC and PSP.
Genre: Horror, Action, Comedy Produced by: Concept Films Director: Takao Nakano Starring: Sora Aoi, Io Aikawa, Tamayo, Risa Kasumi, Mari Sakurai Tag Line: Strippers vs. the Undead! Running time: 73 minutes Language: Japanese with English subtitles Available for purchase at: Madman Online Store ($29.95), Amazon US ($25.69), Amazon UK (£5.93)
Overview
Let’s get things straight: the Japanese are in love with low-budget films, gore and sex. In fact, there should be a genre called “Japanese low-budget film” since there are so many of them in circulation these days. These “Japanese low-budget films” love overdramatized acting, simple plotlines, and lots of blood, guts, and women, and have become a popular trend with cult fans who want to get their kick of comedy, horror, and sexual arousal all in one.
I suppose, then, that it’s fair to say if the Japanese low-budget film is a genre, Big Tits Zombie is its flagship movie. The film features anything and everything you’d expect: swords, guns, chainsaws, zombies, Gothic Lolita, and of course, breasts. If I look at it from a filmic perspective, the film is absolute rubbish. If I try and take anyone else’s perspective, though, the film is absolutely genius.
Plot
With a name like “Big Tits Zombie”, it’s pretty obvious the writers and director Takao Nakano weren’t going for an Oscar in scriptwriting. The film follows Lena Jodo (Sora Aoi) and her four colleagues as they work in the unpopular strip joint, Paradise Theatre. One day, after having no customers again, the girls uncover a secret doorway in their dressing room which leads down to the Well of Spirits. One of the strippers opens up a book they find entitled “The Book of the Dead” and opens a gateway for dead spirits (a.k.a. zombies) to escape into the world of the living. The film follows the strippers as they fight the zombies and attempt to stop them from killing everyone in their area. As usual, there are a few surprises in the storyline and plenty of funny moments to break up the chain of gore and breasts.
There is no real contextualizing of the story and no proper conclusion – with the film clocking in at 73 minutes, there was really only time for the storyline, a lot of fighting, and a poorly wrapped up conclusion which is partly funny but mostly just inconceivable. To say the least, the plotline is ridiculous and straightforward, but it’s everything I would expect from this kind of movie. However, I can acknowledge that most audiences who watch films like this definitely aren’t in it for the complex narrative with myriads of plot turns and secondary narratives. Instead, the storyline takes a back seat and is really just an excuse to throw together zombies, women, and action into the same story.
One part I say I have to appreciate was that director Takao Nakano and the scriptwriters at least were aware of how bad the film was. My favourite line from the entire film would have to be when the strippers are watching TV and confused about what the movie is, and Lena says “it must be a cheap movie, they’re popular lately – like some girl fighting zombies with a cheap sword.” That redeemed the film a little bit in my eyes, because it really was a clever line which sums up the entire culture of these films in Japan at the moment.
Characters
The main characters – or should I say, the main strippers – are Lena Jodo, the money-hungry Darna (Io Aikawa), Gothic Lolita girl Maria (Mari Sakurai), tough girl from the streets Ginko (Risa Kasumi), and their mentor Nene (Tamayo). I should mention something now that will probably help Big Tits Zombie sell more copies than I would like: Sora Aoi and Risa Kasumi are both notorious in Japan’s adult video business, and they’re the ones who end up taking their clothes off. Other than that, the characters are a mix of good and bad acting, and ironically it’s the ones who take their clothes off that probably are the best actresses.
Lena, the unlikely heroine, is actually my favourite in this movie. Sora Aoi is charming and funny, and her background in adult video really helped her fully flourish in the role of Lena. She’s the typical strong yet girly type, with a good sense of humor and a lot of feistiness under her belt. The best moments are when Lena cracks some sarcastic comment, or when she wakes up in the morning next to the ugliest man ever and makes a quick attempt to run out of his bed. Other than that, Ginko is probably another likeable one for me: she’s the silent, brooding one who has a bit of a tainted past. She’s probably the character with the most depth, and I have to say that her backstory is a little intriguing and was a good move by Nakano.
The most irritating one by far was the Gothic Lolita girl, Maria. While I understand that the Lolita look is very popular in Japan, it didn’t make up for her incessant need to constantly spit out quotes from Shakespeare and Freud. Nakano seemed to believe that adding these into the script would give her character that lyrical and mysterious quality, but it really just made her frustrating and confused the entire flow of the film.
I should probably also add that none of these girls seem to know how to strip. While they’re great at catfighting, their stripping looked like a strange mix between a rodeo, a ‘90s porn film, and those dance moves you never want to see in a club. Apparently Tamayo choreographed the entire stripping sequence and the girls had to learn how to dance, but it’s my thought that their dancing was akin to that of a 13 year old girl at a school disco.
Visual and Audio
If this is truly a Japanese low-budget film, then one of the conventions is horrible special effects. Of course, Nakano didn’t have enough money to really create beautiful animations – instead, he settles for cheaply produced backdrops, bad makeup, and unsynced audio. However, I’m thinking probably makes up for it with his costume design – which is pretty much just underwear – and really hits the spot for his demographic on that one.
The backdrops and fake blood and gore were definitely the most obvious effects-on-a-budget. There are a few moments in the film where Lena and Ginko are in a setting where Mount Fuji is visible in the distance, and it’s clearly just two actresses standing in front of a big screen with images of the mighty Japanese volcano. The blood and gore can be so bad it’s funny; when Nene gets bitten by a zombie she goes into zombie-lesbian mode and flames and teeth emerge in a place where no man would ever hope to see teeth. Also, the makeup on the zombies is just green face paint and a few pieces of browned bandages across their faces. However, I do have to give props to Nakano for the chainsaw Lena uses throughout the film: it was made out of rubber, but I really couldn’t tell the difference.
The sound effects were poorly done, but the audio was decent. While sword and chainsaw noises were barely synced up with the correct movements, the choice of including some female J-rock was a good one. The female J-rock gave the film an action feel that still correlated with the storyline and suited the spunky heroine’s attitude…and of course, it ended up getting stuck in my head.
DVD Extras
The DVD comes with a Making of Big Tits Zombie special feature, which was really interesting to watch because the actresses introduce themselves to the camera and say a bit about what they thought of the film and their characters. The director also talked a lot about the effects behind the film and the adaptation from the manga Kyonyu Dragon, and there were plenty of shots showing how the scenes were filmed. Of course, the theatrical trailer and Madman Eastern Eye trailers are also in the extras.
I should also add that the film does have a 3D option, and the DVD comes with two pairs of 3D glasses for anyone who would like to see breasts and blood in the third dimension. It’s not exactly well-made though (why didn’t Nakano spend the money on making the film slightly better?) and in all honesty it’ll probably just hurt your eyes more than it’ll entertain you.
Final Comments
I’m not going to lie…I really didn’t enjoy this film, but there were some redeeming qualities which made it slightly less painful to watch. The sense of humor can be a bit strange in some places and hilarious in others, but overall the film can be great for a night where you just want to watch something trashy. I’m going to say that ladies should watch this at a sleepover with a massive pitcher of some sort of alcohol, and anyone else should watch this if they like Asian girls, breasts, or gore.
I have had my Nintendo 3DS for nearly a week now and I have loved nearly every second of it. The 3D actually works great, the AR technology is really a sight to see, and the system itself has a nice new interface that is really sharp and impressive. My only problem personally has been one thing that it seems that many who have the 3DS are experiencing, the dreaded “Black Screen of Death”. How do you know if you run upon this annoying error? Here is my experience with the error and what you might be able to do with preventing it.
Just what is the Black screen of Death?
First thing you should know is that this is the worst name for an error I have ever heard of. The error WILL NOT brick or kill your system. What happens is during certain titles (usually third-party titles to be exact), the 3DS will just go completely black with this image popping up on the bottom screen:
No one is quite sure of the cause as of yet and the cure is as simple as following the instructions to actually reboot the system, but I have found it coming back on a regular occasion, especially during Rayman 3D and Super Monkey Ball. It is very annoying, but by no means is this a reason to return that 3DS just yet as the villain in this case just might be a firmware update.
Updating
Last week Nintendo released an official statement after this error started popping up across systems nation-wide that the best thing to do was to simply update and the problem should be solved. Well, my problem is I didn’t even experience any errors whatsoever until I actually updated to start with, and based on conversations I have had with the staff here at Capsule Computers as well as other owners of the system, this update just could be the actual cause.
Some though are stating they have had this bug from the start though without even updating which really confuses the situation of just what the root of this problem could could be. The main problem though is the crowd looking in on this situation seem to be inflating this bug to be the system killer of the 3DS, which it is not. It is however very annoying to play a game for more than an hour and lose all data due to a glitch, so something should be done, and hopefully soon.
So I got it…What do I do now?
Playing your 3DS and enjoy it for what it is now is really all anyone can do at the moment. If this really upsets anyone too much, send an email to Nintendo Support, call their hotline at 1-800-255-3700 and try to not let it get you down. First party Nintendo titles as well as Street Fighter IV 3D do not seem to be having any problems whatsoever, so my best advice is to just wait patiently for the inevitable update to come through and soon enough, this will be just a thing of the past. Also try to remember that the 3DS is barely a week old now and it does take a bit of time to fix these things.
I was honestly a bit rash with this and took my system back before doing my research, got a brand new unit, ran a system update, and got the same error again so it does really look to be just a glitch in firmware. Learn from my goof-up on this one, DO NOT RETURN YOUR SYSTEM.
Many are also reporting that switching off Wi-Fi completely eliminates the problem as well, so that is another easy fix for those wanting to play some of the reboot heavy titles that this bug seems to effect.
Hopefully this is just a minor issue and Nintendo seem to know about it fully, so it is only a matter of time before we see some kind of a fix for it. Stay tuned as we will be following this more and once a newer update rolls out, we will be sure to let you know.
