When it was revealed that PopCap Games was being bought by Electronic Arts many people were caught by surprise. Now they will be even more surprised with who else was vying for PopCap Games sweet casual game market. Forbes is reporting that Zynga had offered $1 billion in cash for the company at one point and that Zynga would have performed the deal through credit from Goldman Sachs.
The Forbes report also says that China based Tencent was also looking into purchasing PopCap Games, but couldn’t offer the same price as the other two companies. EA ended up acquiring PopCap Games with $750 million and will also be paying $550 million in performance payouts. Out of the two evils, EA would probably be the better choice because seeing Plantsville vs. Zombiesville would have made me lose all faith in gaming forever.
Hasta la vista, baby! This is how all those Terminator games SHOULD have been done! Binary Domain is an upcoming Sci-Fi squad-based third-person shooter in development by SEGA, bringing all our fears of robots taking over to an artificial life. Set in Tokyo in the 2080s, this battle with technology (and no, Im not referring to that ‘blue screen of death’ you see when using Windows) has you playing as a leader of a military squad that can either gain or lose respect for your leadership, and features voice-enabled commands via headset.
Today SEGA has launched a trailer for Binary Domain, showcasing the various weapons you can use to take out these iRobots.(That was a two-in-one pop culture reference there, you deserve a gold star for you if you got that one!) Check out the trailer below, it’s looking amazing, like Yakuza meets Terminator Salvation, except Christian Bale’s not complaining about professionalism and Binary Domain has awesome Giant Robot Spiders like in that Wild Wild West movie, but cooler. Maybe SEGA is a bit of a Will Smith Fan? This title is looking fresh and original and is sure to be a huge hit, so make sure you check out the trailer below! Binary Domain is scheduled for a February 2012 release for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Hopefully I’ll think of a few more creative robot references by the
With the recent price change in the Australian App Stores (read Capsule Computers article for more information) now is a better time than any to head over to the App Store and check out some of the latest games iOS developers Gameloft have released. Firstly, Block Breaker 3 Unlimited is now only $0.99. The title has already sold 16 million units since its debut. The game pushes the boundaries of the brick breaker genre, having puzzles spread across different parts that you can access through tunnels, not to mention so very impressive graphics.
Gameloft have also recently released their highly anticipated game, 9mm. The team here at Capsule Computers were lucky enough to have a play around with this title at a Gameloft preview event (you can read articles about the preview event both here and here). 9mm revolves around the character John “Loose” Kannon, the leader of a special team of hardened cops who aren’t afraid to bend the law. Things take a turn for the worst when the team kill a local drug lord’s brother and take millions in cash. Kannon’s team is now the target for revenge. Kannon has only one option: take down the head of the gang. 9mm features; stylish gunfights, compelling chase scenes through city streets, online social capabilities in both Free for All and Team Deathmatch gunfights which allow up to 12 players on different maps, an array of weapons ranging from pistol to grenade launder. The game takes place across 12 levels that take you from the dankest slums all the way to Mexico, accompanied by a hip-hop/rap soundtrack including artists such as: Apathy, Beanie Sigel & Freeway & Jake One.
To celebrate the release of both games Gameloft have launched a twitter contest. Make sure you follow @gameloft_aus and retweet “#newtoughgame by @Gameloft_aus ! Follow @capsulecomputer & RT this to try and win 10 games of your choice. http://t.co/EnlGmsK”.
Australian’s have long lamented the fact that the Australian iTunes app store pricings are not equal or cheaper than the US iTunes app store despite our currency being worth equal or in some cases more than the US’.
Thankfully Apple has recognised this grave injustice and have rightfully lowered Australia app store prices, with some apps becoming equal priced to their American counterparts.
For a comprehensive list of pricing changes refer to the list below displaying the previous price compared to it’s current price:
$1.19 apps to $0.99
$2.49 apps to $1.99
$3.99 apps to $2.99
$4.99 apps to $4.49
$5.99 apps to $5.49
$7.99 apps to $6.49
$8.99 apps to $7.49
$9.99 apps to $8.49
$11.99 apps to $9.49
$12.99 apps to $10.49
Most of these prices now match the American app store with only a few exceptions (higher priced games). This is definitely great news for Australian’s disappointed in the previous app store pricing.
We Australians at Capsule Computers have all given of a sigh of relief, whilst MasterAbbott began dancing about screaming “About f**king time Apple!” What do you think of this development? Leave a comment below with your thoughts.
In case you are out of the know when it comes to anime, Black Rock Shooter is going to be adapted into a Playstation Portable game which is going to be released next month on the 25th of August, 2011.
The game known simply as Black Rock Shooter: The Game is to be released exclusively to the PSP will be set in an alternate world to that of the Black Rock Shooter OVA and will feature the antagonist White Rock Shooter.
Alongside the standard release of the game will be a special limited White Premium Box edition, which will feature an art book, White Rock Shooter figma model and official Black Rock Shooter soundtrack.
Recently it was announced that a trilogy of films based on Kentaro Miura’s epic manga series Berserk, was to be made. News soon followed that the films would be based upon the Golden Age arc of the manga.
Now, following those previous announcements the inevitable trailer for the first film Berserk Golden Age I: The Egg of the Supreme King has made it’s way onto the internet courtesy of the official Berserk Film website.
The film is being produced by Studio 4°C, known for their work on the films Spriggan and Memories. You can view the trailer for the first film below.
Dead Block Publisher: Digital Reality Developer: Candygun Games Platform: XBLA (Reviewed), PSN Release: July 12th, 2011
Overview:
Zombies have throughout the years been a common tenet of much horror and comedy based mediums, such as television, cinema and video games. There have been so many iterations of zombies it has become difficult to define what count as a zombie and what doesn’t. We have the bizaare zombie/vampire hybrids from ‘I Am Legend’, the infected from the ‘Left for Dead’ series and the parasite infested zombies of ‘Resident Evil 4’, which are all cases which blur the definition of what a zombie really is.
In Dead Block, we have what is without a doubt the most underused form of zombie in modern media, the oldshool rotting corpse zombies you’d expect to see in something from George Romero. These are zombies that are slow. These are zombies that want to eat brains. These are straight up old school zombies and it works brilliantly for Dead Block.
Story:
Dead Block doesn’t have much in the way of story besides that 3 people, a man, a woman and a kid must attempt to survive a zombie invasion of their town by blocking off the dead and completing various missions to be able to move on to the next area of town.
This is perfectly acceptable for a game of this nature, any more of an in depth story would detract from the fun of the game and its overall feel. Although we know little about the characters they each have their own individual personality which brings them to life, rather than them simply being a different looking character to play as.
The idea of a zombie apocalypse is an old concept but one that is conveyed well in the game, which plays it off for mostly comedy, with humourous little moments such as getting zombies to dance by playing a song on the jukebox. This fits perfectly with the style of Dead Block which in many ways echoes the Team Fortress series in design and humour. They definitely got the right balance of conveying a setting and characters with humour placed in carefully whilst not falling into deep plot which this title clearly doesn’t suit.
Gameplay:
There is little to fault in the gameplay of Dead Block. Everything works as well as you would expect it too whilst raising the bar for the Tower-Defense genre. I had never imagined the genre to be utilised in this sort of way and I have to say after playing this, zombies and tower-defense go hand in hand. The entire concept of zombies, perfectly suits the genre.
The blocking mechanic is superbly done, providing much in the way of strategy. During co-op play, my partner and I found it definitely effective to control the flow of zombies towards you in certain situations, whilst also serving as a means of protection if you are low on health. With maps so big there is near limitless potential for strategic plans, whether it be attack plans or defense plans.
The different mission types where particularly well implemented even throwing me off at first, when the item search mission came up. I literally ended up tearing the entire house apart whilst cleverly placing blockades to trap and slow down the oncoming hoard of dead.
Cleverness is often rewarded in Dead Block, with certain upgrades becoming available to create different types of blockades, such as a freeze block. Which as you’d imagine freezes zombie intruders. It’s always a good thing when a game rewards you for thinking outside of the box and Dead Block does so tenfold.
I found myself plotting game plans with my partner during co-op, which I believe was a far more fun experience in comparison to the single player mode. The game feels as though it were made for split-screen and during single player can feel a little slow and limp (zombie pun intended). If you have a friend, it’s a good idea to play through along-side them for the full experience of strategising and working as a team against some living dead.
Visuals:
The first thought that comes to mind when looking at the visuals of Dead Block is, Team Fortress and George Romero had a baby. Their is definitely graphical influences from both Team Fortress and Romero which is nothing but a good thing.
The character designs would fit right in with the characters of Team Fortress that is for certain. The overall graphics are quite nice for and XBLA game and look very crisp and shiny through-out.
My only gripe with the visuals is that at times it can become a little crowded when a hoard of zombies are attacking you or have you cornered. It can get very messy but isn’t nearly enough to derail the rest of the excellent visuals the game has going for it.
Audio:
Dead Block has exactly the sort of music you’d expect – Rock N’ Roll! The entire soundtrack is perfect for the game and the main theme is simply brilliant in it’s ability to give the game a sense of grandeur that it most likely would not have without it. The classic rock tunes pump along at a laid back pace, but picks up splendidly when danger is about.
I think it’s worth noting a point in the game when you initiate a Guitar Hero like mini-game which allows you to rock out the main theme of the game, thus causing all the zombies present to begin moshing or as I joked at the time, the monster mash.
Besides the awesome soundtrack the game boasts a great range of sound effects and quirky groans for the different types of zombies. The zombies that make frog noises were my personal favourites. Overall the audio and soundtrack of the game is brilliant and fits Dead Block perfectly.
Conclusion:
This is a title that you will either love or hate. Dead Block features some rather intelligent tower-defense gameplay which requires more though than simply run in and kill, placement of blockades can be pivotal to your success or failure of the mission. Which is exactly why it may be loved or hated, if you are looking for a simple zombie hunting game, this is most certainly the wrong game for you. If you are looking for a simple yet intelligent game, I whole-heartedly reccommend Dead Block to you.
Anyone attending Comic Con in San Diego this year would be mad to miss Deep Silvers panel entitiled “The Science of Zombies”. Never before has so many wide and varied authorities on the zombie genre being massed together. All facets of the genre have been covered showing how theatrical portrayal of zombies has been enhanced from valuable input by medical science authorities. The panel will take place in Room 8 of the SD convention centre on July 22nd at 7:30pm and will explore all angles of the zombie genre.
Inlcuded on the panel are some of the worlds leading zombie game designers, worlds leading experts zombie enthusiasts, industry journos as well as the nations leading medical practioners in the field of brain research and disease. Sitting on the panel are
Max Brooks – expert and author of the Zombie Survival Guide, a witty account on how to survive and zombie invasion
Haris Orken – Writer of Dead Island
Steve Schlozman M.D – author Zombie autopsies and assistant professor of psychiatry, Harvard
Bradley Vortek Ph.D – fellow neuroscience, University California, San Francisco
Andrew Groen – freenlance journo and editorGamepro mag “real Science” section
Bruce Geryk M.D – Resident physician, Department neurosurgery, Univeristy North Carolina hospitals
These guys sound like Zombie nuts so anyone with any kind of interest in the genre would be wise to take a look or watch the panel live somewhere on the net. With a panel like this the topics of discussion are going to get interesting and with the legions of fanboys n the audience in sure their are going to be a few sticky moments pardon the pun.
Dead Island is an upcoming gruesome zombie game combined with an RPG style of play by reknowned developer techland, combining a first person gaming experience with a heavy focus on melee combat and character/weapon mods. Taking place in a dark atmosphere and getting inspiration from many classic zombie films this will be one not to miss whether a fan of the genre or not.
Dead Island is available September 6th 2011 in North America.
As suggested by this articles headline, there is a new trailer for Call of Juarez: The Cartel. This trailer showcases the incredibly fun Co-Operative online mode.
Call of Juarez: The Cartel is the latest game in the Call of Juarez franchise and is set to release on all current HD systems in a few weeks. The game features a special task force put together by the US Government to bring down a drug cartel that bombed a US Federal building. You will be required to play as a decendant of a legendary gun slinger, a DEA agent with an addiction to gambling or a gang-affiliated FBI agent in order to bring this cartel down.
Sports Island 3D Publisher: Hudson Soft/Konami Developer: Hudson Soft/Konami Platform: 3DS Release Date: 16/6/2011 Genre: Sports Price: $49.97AUD (Buy Here)
Overview
With the release of the Nintendo Wii, and of Wii Sports, mimicry of popular (or in some cases not so popular) sports swept through living rooms across the globe. This spawned a series of clone sporting games to litter the shelves of the Nintendo Wii section in gaming stores, none of which live up to the original Wii sports by any means. Does the release of Sports Island 3D for the Nintendo 3DS signal a similar trend for Nintendo’s new portable console? Only time will tell, but I certainly hope it will not be the case. While the 3DS obviously can’t utilise the gestural movements possible with a Wii remote, its unique technology still might be able to provide some interesting gameplay for sports games.
Gameplay
The structure of the game is similar to other multi-sporting games, in that there are a bunch of mini game sports within the game. The sports featured include: basketball, soccer, tennis, ice hockey, snowball fight, trampoline, snowmobile racing, sport blowgun, bowling and sumo wrestling. A few odd choices, but still has the essentials. There are a few options of gameplay that utilise the range of sports the game has. While you can also play the sports individually, there is also the option to play one sport in a tournament format, or go the championship route. The championship path is a little confusing. You start at the bottom of the ranks, which is completely understandable; after all you are a fresh new sports team. However, this means that you need to win 30 championship rounds in order to be the number one. You are able to pick what team to compete against, from ranks 1-30, not including your own team. You are then prompted to pick a sport to compete in, which will be one of the three sports you compete in. The whole process is a little taxing, and a little lacking in significant structure. I much prefer competing in tournaments, you get to pick the sport you enjoy the most and compete against a few other teams, testing your skills as the games difficulty increases.
Sports Island 3D attempts to utilise the unique technology of the 3D in gameplay, but I fear that they have missed the mark in this one. Games like sport blowgun make use out of the gyroscopic technology of the 3DS for aiming, as well as the microphone, which you must blow into to launch the dart. Oddly enough, my dart just blew out by itself every time, so I was a little perplexed by that situation. Ice hockey uses the stylus to control the game, which I can understand as it’s a rather obvious affordances seeing as the stylus is similar to a tiny hockey stick. But the controls are a little hard to manage, especially when trying to couple moments with button pressing for special attacks. I am a fan however of the stylus being used in bowling, but it feels a little bit like a cheat making it a little too easy to aim. Despite attempting to use the 3DS as a unique gaming device the controls strike me as slightly heavy. By heavy I mean, the controls don’t seem to instantaneously cause in-game action, nor do they cause very high speed or fast-paced action. The whole process of control is rather sluggish.
Graphics and Audio
I am a little concerned about the lack of customisation available in this game. In other sports games made for Nintendo products (specifically the Wii, and I know, the 3DS isn’t the Wii) there is a good use of Mii integration into sporting games. Given that sports games are essentially about simulating the act of playing a sport, I think the importing of your own Mii into the game adds that sense of immersion while making the game a little more fun through personalisation and a bit of novelty-based charm. Sports Island 3D has a set number of hairstyles, faces clothes and colours, and while you might be able to unlock more, it still doesn’t match the customisation ability of the Mii maker. Given that the 3DS has both facial recognition technology and a rather advanced Mii marker, it would be nice to see the Mii used a little outside of street pass games to add personalised touch to some games. Other than this, the graphics aren’t anything special; the characters are a little blocky for my liking. However, I must admit the 3D works very well on this title, but I’m not sure how necessary it is in a sports title.
I find the audio completely annoying. It is a very limited music track that is played on repeat throughout loading scenes, which there are a lot of because every time you start a game it gives you a run down on the controls. Which is both good and bad: bad because it consumes time and is an annoyance to bypass, good because the controls are so different for each game that its hard to remember them all. Even within the sporting titles, the music is much the same and runs on a repeat track with a very obvious break where it starts again. The sound effects are fitting to in game action, but don’t ever jump out and wow you.
Conclusion
There is some merit to Sports Island 3D. The games are unique, and if the soccer and basketball were a little more fast-paced, they’d be pretty good mini-games. There is also a bit of promise in unique sports like snowball fight and especially sumo wrestling. My issue with the slow feeling controls still stands, but with further development there could be something to these mini-games. Overall, I wasn’t completely taken by Sports Island 3D.
