Panels, the new way to redesign a house with the least amount of effort. These panels will revolutionize home improvement and forever change the way you think about house design. Currently only being used in Aperture Labs for test rooms, Panels will be coming to the local market in the near future. Oh yeah, they also sell Crushers… but you don’t want to buy those.
[pro-player width=’530′ height=’253′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mfl1ubz6q_E[/pro-player]
Well, mostly released anyways. Batman: Arkham City’s official website has put up a smidgen of information regarding pre-order offers for anyone who wants to pick up the game in the United States. Of course they didn’t put any pictures alongside these announcements nor go into full detail about which one will contain at least.
But some news is better than no news and GameStop will be offering the Joker’s Carnival challenge map which sounds like the standard challenge maps that Arkham Asylum had, while Best Buy will have something they are calling the combo pack. Exactly what the combo pack will entail is still unknown. Though there isn’t anything stated underneath their logos, Walmart and Amazon are also shown on the pre-order page so expect more news in the future.
Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together came out in February for the PSP and despite coming out in the shortest month of the year the title managed to become the best selling PSP game for the entire month, according to the NPD Group and Square Enix themselves. With Square Enix’s pedigree of releasing quality PSP titles this is no surprise, especially with Tactics Ogre’s reputation and following.
Unfortunately there are no official sales figures being released from Square Enix so we will have to take them at their word but it certainly is good news to hear that the PSP can still draw enough sales to encourage Square Enix to keep developing for the portable system. Considering they have The 3rd Birthday releasing next week and Dissidia duodecim 012 releasing today.
There are always people who stand outside of a store at midnight waiting for the launch of their favorite new game or for the release of the next console/handheld but I do not think I have ever seen a man decide to create a line himself, nearly a week before release. This man, who goes by the name Triforce, is already in line at the Manhattan Best Buy and actually has been there since last night. Apparently this is part of his tradition to be at every Nintendo console launch and did the same thing for when the Wii came out.
He goes on to say that he hopes that, considering he is the first person in line and that the Best Buy he is at will be home to the 3DS launch party that he will receive some sort of bonus gift or package, but that is yet to be seen. Obviously the man cannot sit out there for a week on his own and will have people sub into his chair while he goes home to take clean up and take care of natural business. Either way though, it may have just become spring here in the U.S. but it is still cold out.
Yoostar 2: In the Movies
Developer: Blitz Games
Publisher: Yoostar Entertainment Group/ Namco Bandai
Genre: Party/Simulation
Platform: Xbox 360 Kinect, PlayStation 3
Released: 11th March
For anyone who isn’t aware, Yoostar 2: In the Movies allows you to put yourself in iconic scenes from numerous films and also a number of television series, utilising Kinect to remove the previous star of the show, then inserting you in their place. In the run up to the release of Yoostar 2: In the Movies, I actually allowed myself to get a little bit excited. When the curtain was slowly lifted on a stunner set list which featured a good mix of contemporary hits and old classics, it seemed like you’d have been a fool not to. There’s 80 scenes in total, from popular films such as 300, The Hangover, Casablanca, The Godfather and I Am Legend just to name a handful, with the added feature of having dialogue-less backgrounds from a selection of other films, plus other made-up sets to act out your own masterpieces in. Perhaps I was misled by some of the video content before its release, maybe I was just naïve, but the seamless cut-out of the players outline was not that shown was not a reality in a typical playing space.
By “typical playing space”, I am going on the assumption that most people’s living rooms don’t come equipped with the “green screen” background needed for the crisp silhouettes advertised. The reality is a rather grainy cut-out of yourself which tends to chop off the top of your head as well as a very rough-edged outline of the rest of your body. However, like most of the drawbacks of Yoostar 2, it’s hard to pin this down as one of the game’s faults, but rather one of the limitations of Kinect. Such as the fact that Kinect can’t sense fingers. If acting in your scene you go to make a gesture using your fingers like a thumbs-up, you’ll be slightly perplexed to see that onscreen, your precious digit has disappeared.
In a bid to make Yoostar 2 more accessible, each scene is from the same sort of perspective. There isn’t any close up head-shots and there’s also a lack of action scenes. Instead, all scenes have you standing at a similar distance away from the camera. It would have been interesting to be able to capture each shot individually to create an authentic scene, but let’s not split hairs here, that’s not what Yoostar 2 sets out to do. You can’t deny that Yoostar 2 is accessible. In fact, it takes very little instruction to begin and just about anyone should be able to jump in and perform for the camera. Although action scenes like sword fights aren’t plausible, it’s a shame that there isn’t scenes with, at the very least, some aspect of movement. On the other hand, variation does come in the form of the different surroundings of each scene. The scenes from the inside of a car, in particular, yield some funniest results, although each of the alternate environments have their own comedic merits.
Some problems also arise regarding the resting height of the Kinect sensor as it seems to be prone to resting with the focus of the camera around chest-height, meaning occasionally you’ll have to re-adjust your positioning in order to get everything in the frame. Before each scene, you frame-up with onscreen outline to ensure you are standing in the right place. Again, maybe it’s the Kinect being unresponsive, but you’d think problems relating to the framing should be sorted out in this pre-acting screen with the Kinect auto-adjusting its angle.
However, not all of Yoostar 2’s shortcomings can be blamed on the hardware, because while it’s a great concept, in parts it is also a flawed one. After selecting the scene you want to perform, you are then given the option to do either a ‘scripted’ performance, which when selected provides you with onscreen visual cues of your lines, or the alternate ‘Ad-lib’ option, which gives you free reign to come up with your own lines and improvise, doing whatever you like in the scene without the game marking you down for misdirected speech/ not following the script. It is when doing a scripted performance on your own that some of the flaws in the concept become apparent. A major one is that the lines of onscreen text require you to look directly at the screen to read what you’re supposed to be saying, but doing so detracts from the actual scene because instead of looking at the character you’re supposed to be talking to, you are looking straight at the camera. If you try to go without reading the lines off the screen then there is little sound to go by either. The sound is dimmed down to avoid the Kinect microphone picking up on any noise coming from the television speakers, but as a result of this, if you don’t look at the screen you can often have little idea of how the scene is progressing and when speak. If you try to combat this by turning up your TV volume up so you can hear what’s going on, then it is more than likely there will be some sound interference with the recording, and when you play it back, the default actor will have an echo on his/her dialogue.
As such, Yoostar 2 is better played with a friend in the simultaneous two-player co-op mode, using creativity instead of the original script. This way the game is absolutely hilarious, especially with the option to replay clips to friends and family after you’ve saved them in the ‘My Films’ area of the game. Yoostar 2 also features some social networking options in the form of Yoostar Playground which allows you to link the game with Facebook and Twitter to share creations with friends, and moreover, has a rating system in place that grants you the ability to judge other people’s clips. As will always be the case with any compilation of films, there’s going to be something that people complain has been missed out. Thankfully, DLC support from the developers should be able to add more scenes to meet the demand of the fans (The Big Lebowski, please) assuming, that is, that it abides by the PEGI 12+ age rating (I guess that’s a no to The Big Lebowski then).
All in all, with a bunch of witty, inventive mates on hand and a little bit of imagination, Yoostar 2: In the Movies is an absolute riot and one of the most hilarious titles on Kinect. However, flaws exist with the concept which make acting alongside the original characters awkward, and some limitations of the Kinect sensor rear their ugly heads and have a negative impact on the gameplay at times – which is why the game is best played two-player, not necessarily following the script. The 80 scenes plus extra sets don’t go a long way, and soon enough you’ll have extracted all the movies you know or are interested in. This means that, despite the promise of DLC support which should inject a couple more hours to its lifespan, its hard to justify full-price for what will probably only end up as a few solid evening’s worth of entertainment.
Pros
Cons
Sony Ericsson may have just been able to throw off the shroud of terrible advertisements for the Xperia Play because they have just released a slew of new advertisements that have actually put a face and a voice to the PlayStation Certified Xperia Play phone. No more simple thumbs or hands touching the device anymore.
Below you can find a number of different ads that feature Kristen Schaal who will describe some of the strongest features that you would want to buy the phone for, besides obvious reasons of course. These ads show off the phone’s abilities with YouTube, spreadsheets, apps, and of course being a portable gaming device that will be able to play PlayStation games. Catch all of the ads below.
[pro-player width=’530′ height=’253′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYGiqG2Tfd4&feature=player_embedded#at=37[/pro-player]
[pro-player width=’530′ height=’253′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=k8kiGSY6jqc[/pro-player]
[pro-player width=’530′ height=’253′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qKnr8gdoxI8[/pro-player]
Just a short while after the decision to postpone the launch of MotorStorm Apocalypse worldwide, Sony Europe has finally given the UK release date of the earthquake central racer as March 31st. As you can see by our review from Matthew Vella the game has been released in various areas around the world already. Though also as you can see in the review.
After the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan earlier this month the game had seen full release date delays worldwide and there currently has been no information given on the U.S. release date of April 12th being made official again or if the delay remains indefinite at this point. Nor has there been any information about the game being released in Japan, though it may be permanently delayed due to press reasons.
The first 3,000 people who register their 3DS in Europe with Club Nintendo they will be getting a t-shirt with the question-mark AR Card placed on the front of it. This means that 3DS owners will be able to use the 3DS to make augmented reality on their own T-Shirts, or on other people if they have them wear it instead. Either way though it would require the person wearing the shirt to stand still the entire time.
Registering the 3DS itself will give Club Nintendo members 750 points right off the bat. So perhaps one of the first things you should do after you get home is hop onto your computer and type in that code to make sure you end up with a T-Shirt in Europe.
MasterAbbott is back for another one of his WORLD FAMOUS Video Game Unboxing’s. Today we have SEGA’s Yakuza 4 Collectors Edition only available on the Playstation 3. So what do you get for $119 AU? Gameplay-wise you get downloadable content that includes 4 pieces of bonus content featuring unlockable costumes and battle modes, previously only available in Japan. The unique unlockable costumes are for Akiyama, Saejima, Tanimura, Kiryu and Haruka. You also can also take the ultimate challenge and battle against the bosses in survival mode or take the battle underground and race opponents in a battle tournament.
You also get a SUPER-SIZED Chinese take away box called the ICHIBAN Box. (Number 1 Box) I’ts huge, if you were to fill it up with noddles you’d be able to feed a whole village or a few hungry Sumo’s. Inside you get a very cool Hostess Calendar 2011/2012, limited edition black Yakuza 4 chopsticks and Yakuza 4 rice bowl. The box is so big SEGA could of thrown in a few more little extras, like maybe a keyring, a pack of noodles and maybe a phone number or two of those really KAWAI Hostesses but alas all you get is the Calendar, the chopsticks and rice bowl.
With a RRP of $119 AU only the hardest of hardcore Yakuza fans would be tempted to pick this up. But then again if you think about it, the standard retail version is only $10 cheaper, so why not just spend that extra $10 and pick up the additional cool stuff and the ICHIBAN BOX that you can put your lunch in and take to work every day!
Enough typing time to watch the unboxing. Enjoy. Any questions or comments leave them below. Just to save you some time, just in cast you ask it. No your not getting the ICHIBAN BOX, it’s mine, mine, mine !!!
MotorSport: Apocalypse
Platform: Playstation 3 (Reviewed)
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Developer: Evolution Studios
Genre: Racing
Release Date: AU-March 17, US-TBA, EU-March 16*
Price: $99.97 (AU) BUY NOW – $56.99 (US) BUY NOW
Disclaimer: Due to the recent earthquakes and tsunami’s in Japan as well as New Zealand, the release dates of Motorstorm: Apocalypse have been greatly affected due to the game being based around a city after an earthquake. Europe saw it’s March 16 launch, and Australia saw it’s launch on March 17, but Sony has announced it will halt shipping of the title for now. As for the UK and North American release dates, no date has yet been specified. Capsule Computers find it sad to hear this as MotorStorm Apocalypse is a rather great game, but understand and agree with Sony’s decision as the title may cause some unintended offence to some affected by the tragedies. We here at Capsule Computers will do our best to announce information about future release dates of MotorStorm: Apocalypse when we hear it, and our hearts go out to all who have suffered from the tragedy. You can donate to help Japan here.
The MotorStorm series has been a decent competitor against successful racing game franchises, but has unfortunately been overshadowed by other series such as Grand Turismo and Need For Speed. However, MotorStorm: Apocalypse is sure to change that and make the franchise stand out against it’s rivals. The MotorStorm series has reinvented itself and undergone a lot of changes and improvements for this game, and will appeal to a wide range of new fans although some old fans might be have divided opinions. If your into arcade styled racing however, MotorStorm Apocalypse is arguably one of the best out there at the moment and if you’re a fan of the genre this is a must play title. It took the series a few games, but many will most likely agree that MotorStorm has finally found its feet, and it’s turned out to be a really impressive and in depth title, coming along way since its debut game.
Presentation
The MotorStorm series has always focused on off-road racing with a focus on a variety of different kinds of vehicles to race with ranging from cars, bikes, trucks, buggies, monster trucks and more, with a different themed festival. The first title saw players racing in a desert valley, then in MotorStorm: Pacific Rift a tropical island racing through various beaches and juggles, and then recently MotorStorm: Artic Edge on the edge of Alaska’s arctic circle. This title takes players in arguably the most interesting setting yet: a city hit by a natural disaster that is currently experiencing aftershocks and is falling apart, and it really affects the gameplay. It really creates a chaotic feel racing in a city that is crumbling down, and the urban environment has a more action-packed feel as opposed to a natural environment as we’ve seen in previous games. Presentation is solid and well-polished, with a very deep multiplayer experience, deep storyline in single player (or at least for a racing game) and a very stylistic theme to the game as a whole. Everything in this title is presented and polished until it shines beautifully, leaving a subtle, yet lasting impression on the player. Truly a lot of work has gone into MotorStorm: Apocalypse and it shows.
Story
The campaign to Apocalypse is very story-driven, and while racing games aren’t well known for having great storylines, the story in MotorStorm: Apocalypse is truly presented with excellence and succeeds at making the player feel more connected the game, even though it may not you on the edge of your seat. The story takes place in an urban city that has just been hit by a massive earthquake, and it has been decided that the next MotorStorm festival is to be held in the collapsing city over three days. So players are racing with tracks experiencing deformation in real time, making laps different for each time you go through it, with new obstacles in your way, linking the story close into the gameplay. The story also involves people refusing to leave the city, so unlike previous games with no spectators which took away some of the competitive feel; this title has looters and spectators for you to drive around, through or over. There is even a military presence attempting to stop the race at all costs, meaning you will fired at with missiles and firearms, and they will attempt to blow up buildings to create obstacles in your way. The story follows three racers: The Rookie, The Pro and The Veteran, and has cut scenes with very stylistic motion comics with great voice acting that show an interesting perspective into the lives of the racers outside the festival, and how they deal with the natural disaster occurring around them. Cut scenes aren’t the most spectacular cinematics you’ll ever see, but their short, simple to the point and are very entertaining. They also work well of linking races together and setting the mood for a race, as well as providing a quick breather in-between levels. Overall the story while not the most amazing and memorable story ever told, is really impressive for a racing game, is presented well and ties into the gameplay a lot, and is a worthy addition to the single player mode.
Gameplay
In MotorStorm: Apocalypse, players race in 13 types of vehicle classes in a city that has experienced a recent earthquake, filled with looters, military troops and collapsing buildings collapsing in real time, making sure the experience of each lap is different. Military presence and looters often add to the gameplay and really do switch things up, and adds to the feeling that all hell is breaking loose around you. Action slows down upon witnessing an event such a building crumbling down in slow motion, but rather than slowing down the gameplay, it puts an emphasis on the chaos which is nice to see. The chaos is kept alive through the use of an interesting boost system. Racers at any time can preform a boost to catch up or get ahead of their rivals, but doing too much can cause your ride to overheat or explode. You can cool down your vehicle by running over a water puddle or going by a broken water pipe among other things to cool your system down, creating various situations requiring quick thinking and assessing of situations in order to survive and win. The ability to ram your competitors with a touch of a button only adds to the frantic gameplay, and feels very rewarding when used effectively. The standard typical race isn’t the only option either, players will also compete in other kinds of races such as Elimination which just comes down to the last man standing/racing, Chase where the player must stay in first place for a certain amount of time.
The Single-player campaign or ‘Festival Mode’ as it is called, also includes unlockable special events with challenging completion targets which further adds to Apocalypse’s replay value. It should be mentioned that in Festival Mode a certain type of vehicle is selected for you per race, and you don’t get a choice in choosing which one you’d like to use. Many might get frustrated by this, but personally it never really bothered me as I feel it just help keeps the game feeling fresh by mixing it up a bit. For those who aren’t a fan of this though, you can replay each level with the ability to select your ride, which is a nice addition. MotorStorm: Apocalypse isn’t perfect however, some vehicles don’t feel as tight as they probably should, and while it isn’t a deal breaker for the game, it doesn’t always feel right. Also upon crashing the action slows down and while the damage often looks impressive, the crashes themselves don’t always, and the slow pacing of it all can sometimes ruin the feel of the game. Worst off however is the fact that all vehicles are extremely sensitive and often the tiniest clip against the scenery can cause your ride to crash, which can make the player feel very disconnected from the action, and can often feel highly frustrating. The game does offer the ability to re spawn onto the track at any time however, and while it does improve things slightly, it doesn’t do enough to save the game in this factor. Furthermore loading times are a bit long, which would’ve been nice to see less of. One thing MotorStorm: Apocalypse did nail perfectly is speed. Even when not using the boost option, the game always feels fast and gives you an adrenaline rush, making the game feel really exciting and action packed.
Multiplayer
The original MotorStorm title includes just two modes: Play and Online mode. This one is oozing with a various and deep gameplay modes, and the multiplayer is pretty impressive. Players get four players split screen offline and sixteen player online gameplay. Not good enough? Well how about taking that four player split screen online? Yeah you got that. Thanks Evolution Studios! Before a match, players can bet against other players and tweak their profiles amongst other options. Each vehicle also has a deep upgrade path to it, a perk system as well and medals, ensuring you will spend many hours online. You also shouldn’t have any problems connecting to a match either so get some Mountain Dew and some popcorn because you’ll be on your couch for a while!
Graphics
The choice of graphic design is an interesting choice for MotorStorm: Apocalypse. The graphics are good and not overdone, and while they an’t amazingly impressive, they do look rather nice. Animations are smooth and drivers will realistically fly off bikes and buggies like rag dolls, and models look just as smooth. Both the vehicles and environments look luscious, yet some textures occasionally seem a bit plain. There is a big focus on many minor details such as water, dirt, and other environmental features. Specs of dirt and water drops will often fly up onto the screen’s camera which looks particularly good, and the dust created from collapsed buildings and such look just as great. The details in damage vehicles take are pretty impressive as well. The cut scenes in story mode are presented via motion comics, and not all gamers may appreciate their simplicity. However, many will appreciate its artistic style and stylish presentation. The character design is impressive and most characters are easily likeable. While the cut scenes and gameplay sport two different styles of graphics, but they both contain bright colours and the use of basic textures so they do work well together. Most games these days open on an awesome, action-packed cinematic, but MotorStorm: Apocalypse begins with a cinematic which is quite plain and boring. It’s not a big deal and it doesn’t affect the game in the slightest, but a nicer cinematic could’ve engaged the player into the game sooner rather than later. Also it’s worth noting an interesting addition of the staff credits appearing throughout the first level, like they would in the opening scene of a movie. It’s an interesting and creative way of conveying the credits. The game is also compatible with 3D televisions and while I personally didn’t get the chance to check it out, many are claiming it is one of the nicest looking games in 3D available at the moment. Overall MotorStorm: Apocalypse is bursting with character and is a pleasure to look at, as well as play.
Audio
Soundtrack? One word: dubstep. Too be fair there’s not that much dubstep music in the game, but that’s enough to excite me, but let’s get more in depth with it, shall we? There are some quite impressive tracks in this title, including collaborative Kalus Badet who has been known for creating scores for Hollywood Films such as Gladiator and even a Pirate of The Caribbean film. The track “Loco” by Klaus Badelt & Elite Force is a particular awesome track and really sets the mood for the game. Sound effects work well and the voice acting is commendable, and each voice suits each character well.
Conclusion
MotorStorm: Apocalypse is chaotic and stylish, deep and fun. The single player mode is quite impressive and the multiplayer mode is pretty much as good as it can get. It’s filled with charm and is a pleasure to play. However it is held back by how some vehicles don’t control as tightly as they probably should, and that the vehicles are pretty sensitive to the scenery making it easy to crash. If it wasn’t for these flaws, this title would’ve been a much, much better game and easily a must own. Despite this, MotorStorm is a great multiplayer option for all gamers with a PlayStation 3, and if your into arcade-styled racers this is a must play. If your into more series and simulated racing games it’s still worth checking out, but it may not be your cup of tea. Overall, MotorStorm: Apocalypse is a worthy addition to any PlayStation 3 owner’s collection and a really fun experience.
PROS
CONS
MotorStorm: Apocalypse gets a well earned:
