Dynasty Warriors 7 releases today in North America and to celebrate this Koei released a final batch of screenshots to create a bit more hype for the release. If you are a fan of the series you likely are already playing right now and these won’t interest you much,unless you live in Europe and don’t plan on importing because it’s not going to be out for another week. Sorry guys!
The screens show off a variety of things: characters battling it out on the field, various costume changes, guardian animals and mounts and a few weapons. Anyway, check em out.
LucasArts and TT Games have released their highly anticipated title, LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars. The game comes out on Wii, Nintendo DS, Playstation 3, PSP, and Xbox 360, and is available as a day one launch title for the Nintendo 3DS which comes out tomorrow in Australia.
The game features an all new graphics engine, and enhanced animations never before seen on a LEGO game. The universe is massive: 16 star systems, 32 story-based missions, and 48 bonus levels will ensure that this game is worth every dollar paid. The game also features co-op for anyone who wants to play with family or friends.
Mass Effect 2’s latest piece of DLC is now available. As fans of the game will already know as they’ve probably been counting down the days for the past week, the pack is called ‘Arrival’. The episode revolves around an imminent Reaper invasion and features to voice talents of Sci-fi legend Lance Henriksen as Commander Hackett, who sends your character, Commander Shepherd off on a secret mission to rescue an undercover operative.#
Bioware have unveiled a video to go out with the downloadable content’s release, so check that out below if you’re interested. You can schedule the content to your download queue, for a fee of 560 MSP, HERE
Bethesda has announced Del Rey Books is to publish a novel based on id Software shoot ’em up, RAGE. This comes on top of the comics which were already coming out for the game, so it seems RAGE is keen to whittle away our rainforests with the variety of pages being compiled about it. Jokes aside, let’s hope that author and game writer Matt Costello can deliver the goods and create a fine piece of narrative for the novel, also entitled ‘RAGE’.
The publisher has said it will release on August 30, 2011, while the game itself arrives on Spetember 15. Bethesda had this to say about the book:
The novel delves even deeper into this world and its characters through the pen of Matt Costello–the same person who helped write the story for the game. The world was doomed and only some of the population could be saved. That was what the scientists were saying, at least. So the best and brightest were gathered and put into stasis deep beneath the surface of the Earth–buried so that man could live.
When Lt. Nick Raine emerges from his Ark, he finds the human race has not been wiped out. And people, as resilient as they are, are scraping together a new world from the rubble of the old. This was not what anyone in the Arks expected–a new society where might is right, mutants plague the Earth, and “friend” is a term for the person who hasn’t stabbed you in the back.
With the launch of the 3DS in the UK last Friday, you’d think Nintendo would be a little bit busy to upload a set of digital downloads for their other consoles. Think again. Here’s the releases for the week for Virtual Console, WiiWare, and DSiWare:
DodoGo! Robo (DSiWare: Neko Entertainment, 200 Points)
Dancing Academy (DSiWare: Tivola Publishing, 500 Points)
So that’s all for the Nintendo downloads. Who knows whether or not the DSiWare service with slowly degenerate now the 3DS is out, but at least we should be seeing some more activity in the coming weeks when the 3DS’ download service is started up. The award for this week’s best named game definitely goes to DodoGo! Robo which sounds a lot like someone free-styling rather than a title of a video game.
After many commercials, screenshots, and even a demo, THQ has finally released WWE All Stars in the states. The game as you should know by now takes everything we know about a wrestling game and flips it high in the air with some over-the-top arcade style action. For those who have not been keeping track, WWE All Stars is to have a jam packed roster full of legends such as Hogan, Savage, and Ultimate Warrior as they square off against eachother and the Superstars from today.
THQ released this statement on the release of All Stars:
“WWE All Stars delivers what many core WWE SmackDown vs. Raw fans, casual followers and the WWE Universe have been demanding in a new and original take on WWE videogames,” said Danny Bilson, Executive Vice President, Core Games, THQ. “From smart, highly accessible gameplay to the greatest roster we have ever featured in a WWE videogame, WWE All Stars is a must-have product for anyone looking to have a fun, interactive WWE experience.”
I would consider myself a hardcore follower of the WWE (not as much as I used to be, but compared to most I guess I would fit somewhere in there), and I have been begging for an alternative to the Smackdown series for a few years now and hopefully All Stars will take the cake. I remember WWE Crush Hour, Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game, WWF In Your House, and tons of other light spin-offs of more core titles that to this day go back and play as sometimes it is just fun to not be so serious about a sport that isn’t honestly that serious to start with. WWE is now all about entertainment, and that is what I want to experience when I play any WWE title these days. I could care less how many button taps it takes to break out of a sleeper, or doing a mini-game just to throw someone out of the ring, just MAKE IT FUN!
Luckily, this game does look to fit that bill perfectly, so if you want a fresh wrestling experience, you can pick up WWE All Stars for the PSP, PS2, PS3, Xbox 360 and the Nintendo Wii now, BROTHER!!!!
Katamari seemed to come out of nowhere when it first hit the PS2 back in 2004 and became an instant cult classic. The series then went on to create quite a name for itself with later entries on the PSP, PS3 and even the Xbox 360 and now it is looking like Namco have yet another title in the works for the franchise. For all of you who enjoy rolling up the galaxy for the King of All Cosmos, your in luck as this one could be a whopper, quite literally in this case.
Siliconera recently revealed that Namco have filed trademarks for the names “Katamari amore” and “Katamari amore Rolling Whopper”. My first thought after hearing this news was for a 3DS release as the bright visuals would and quirky style would fit in well with Nintendo’s handheld and the game would look fantastic in 3D, but now that the NGP is confirmed to have two analogs, it could very well be one of the first NGP titles. Right now though nothing is confirmed and this is all just speculation, but either way the world better brace itself as Katamari is gearing up for a return as we speak and hopefully soon Namco will shed some light on Katamari amore.
The Nintendo Wii is an easy console to pick on for having some unfavorable covers. This is mainly due to the high number of publishers that made quick cash-in titles that many label “shovelware” and honestly even looking in a retailer’s Wii section can produce feelings of anger and sadness at the same time.
I could have a list of about 100 titles just with the topic of “bad box art”, but after excluding quite a few, I have narrowed it down to the five worse Wii Boxarts and whether it be typos, or simply just pure laziness on the publisher’s part, these all fit well into the worst boxart category. Get ready, because here is the top 5 worst arts for the Nintendo Wii.
Imagine Party Babyz
I promised myself I wouldn’t pick on the Imagine series, but this title just represents everything that has turned many gamers away from the Wii to start with. Babies (yes Ubisoft, with no Z!) all put in one image together, playing with photo-shopped toys and maracas. I have seen this title many times out in the wild before and a “sigh” is usually the next thing that follows.
Okami
There is nothing at all wrong with the actual art of Okami’s Wii boxart, but what is wrong is the source this image was gotten from.
You would think that the creators of a game would have access to their own image library as well as a team full of editors to catch a big IGN logo faded into this art, but instead this port was known more for it’s box error rather than the actual game itself. I am sure this is one title that will make Capcom always look twice in the future before shipping anything to stores.
Mario Kart Wii
Nintendo have always been known for creating some awesome covers for their first party franchises. I am sure many of you have some prime examples right now that sit proudly on your shelves. For some odd reason though, Nintendo decided to go for “plain” with Mario Kart Wii, which just featured Mario & Luigi on the cover driving invisible vehicles with a blank white backdrop. This would just be a boring cover if it wasn’t for one thing though. Look down. See the shadow of the karts? If they went through all the work of doing that shading, you would think that they would have added a track, some mushrooms, or simply color to make it more appealing. Mario Kart Wii still sold a ton and was quite successful, plain, boring art aside, but that shadow is forever a tease of what could have been if a little more of the classic Nintendo imagination was added to this otherwise dull cover.
Purr Pals
Awww…it’s Purr Pals. They just look adorable and don’t you just want to pick them up and give them a hug? With over 40 B….Wait….Breads!!! What kind of sick game is this!
Spelling errors happen. This is commonly known. When the error is on the front of a game that turns playing with kittens into making sandwiches out of them, then we might have a problem. I’ll take mine with Rye by the way…
My Ballet Studio
Young Jenny wanted to be a ballet dancer despite only having 4 fingers on her fake, disfigured arm. After a quick head transplant, she did just that and graced the cover of My Ballet Studio.
Dreams do come true!
Next week we will be taking you back to the Sega Genesis/Megadrive. Until then, leave a comment letting us know your opinion for the worst cover on the Wii.
Genre: Martial Arts Produced by: National Arts Films Production Director: Herman Yau Starring: Dennis To, Fan Siu-Wong, Crystal Huang, Rose Chan, Yuan Biao Tag Line: “The story of Bruce Lee’s Mentor” Running Time: 96 minutes Language: Cantonese with English subtitles Available for purchase at: Madman Online Store ($29.95), Amazon US ($26.99), Amazon UK (£3.49)
Overview
As a Chinese person, martial arts films have been a part of my life since before I can remember. Over my time, I’ve come across the good and the bad: films with terrible storylines, films with beautiful characters, and films which just make you laugh. The common denominator in all of these films is that they are epic to some degree, and – much like dance films – they generally make whoever is watching them want to learn martial arts afterwards.
The Legend is Born: Ip Man is like the common denominator of martial arts movies. It has a little bit to whet everyone’s appetite, but not enough to feed them completely. On a dish, it’s a little bit of East vs. West, a little bit of cinematographic genius, a lot of love and a lot of fighting, sprinkled with some elements which seem to have been taken from an Asian drama circa 2003.
Plot
The film is semi-biographical and is based loosely on the events of Yip Man, Bruce Lee’s martial arts teacher. In fact, this is actually a prequel to the films Ip Man, and Ip Man 2, and largely concentrates on his youthful years – don’t start connecting the plotline dots though, because this prequel was made by a different director and production team.
The storyline follows Ip Man (Dennis To) and his adopted brother Ip Tin Chi (Fan Siu-Wong) from their childhood where they learnt martial arts from Wing Chun from teacher Chan Wah-shun. Chan passes away early on in the film, and the martial arts academy is handed down to Ng Chung-sok (Yuan Biao). Man and Tin Chi continue to study with Ng Chung-sok before Man leaves to Hong Kong to study. It is there he meets Leung Bik (Ip Chun), the son of Chan Wah-shun’s teacher. Leung Bik has controversial tactics when it comes to martial arts and Man studies with him for a while before returning to his hometown of Foshan, China. It is back there that he falls in love with the daughter of the vice mayor, Cheung Wing-shing (Crystal Huang), and Tin Chi finds his own love in childhood friend Li Mei-Wai (Rose Chan).
Sounds just a little bit confusing? You haven’t even gotten to the unexpected plot twists yet. The plot was interesting with its fusion of the Eastern and Western worlds, which still isn’t too popular in Asian martial arts films, but overall had me scratching my head as the plot twists got more and more confusing. In the beginning, there was potential for a great lyrical masterpiece which challenged pre-existing martial arts films. As it went on and the film strayed from Yip Man’s actual life story (the biographical aspect seems to really end after he returns to China, although some elements remain), I could tell that the scriptwriters just went a little bit wild trying to create a film which surprises the audience with plot twists, a la Inception.
The love stories in the film were slightly corny, but definitely necessary for the film not to be one hundred percent fighting. At times it did feel a little bit overdone like the rest of the storyline, but overall it was nice to have a break from the samurai swords (doesn’t the mention of swords make it even more confusing?) and the punching.
Characters
The film mainly centres around Ip Man and Ip Tin Chi, although other characters of prominence include Ng Chung-sok, Ip Man’s senior, Li Mei-wai, Tin Chi’s love interest, and Cheung Wing-shing, Man’s love interest. The characters are very stereotypical of Asian cinema, with Ip Man being the loyal and honourable martial artist while Tin Chi is the career driven businessman. Mei-wai acts like she’s got PMS for the majority of the film – again, very stereotypical for Asian women in cinema – and Man’s love interest Cheung Wing is the real lady of the film.
I’d have to say that for the most part, the characters were fairly likeable. Ip Man was a consistent character who was solid in his convictions and his attitude, and it’s not too much of a stretch to say the actor, Yu-hang To, played him very convincingly. Throughout the film, I gained a lot of respect for him as he really is a very honourable man – which is to be expected, though, as these types of films have a tendency to show the main character as unwavering and heroic. Tin Chi was equally as likeable for the first half of the film – in the latter, I’ll let you find out what happens.
As for the women, Mei-wai is very flat as a character and overdone. I found her to be really annoying and melodramatic – kind of like the evil girl in an Asian drama which tries to sabotage everything. Towards the end of the film she redeems herself slightly, but overall I’m not a big fan of hers. For Cheung Wing, it was the other way around: I really liked how fiesty she was in the beginning of the film but as it progressed, she just turned into a rather pathetic girl moping after Ip Man.
Visual and Audio
Stylistically, Ip Man: The Legend is Born is very beautifully done. The visual elements of this film are largely what redeemed it in my eyes, and I suppose it’s what gave me such a good impression of the beginning of the film. Director Herman Yau clearly catered this film’s visuals towards a more Westernised audience, but that doesn’t bother me because martial arts films often lack the cinematography I find so aesthetically pleasing. Yau utilised sepia tones, black and white shots, cuts, fades, and all of that fancy jazz to really create a film that looks beautiful. The settings are also to be envied; there is a scene where Ip Man and Cheung Wing are standing on a bridge and I was taken aback by just how beautiful their surroundings were. Yau’s ability to play with shots really enhanced otherwise dull scenes, and injected the film with a little bit more life…although I did find for a few moments I was concentrating more on the shots than the actual storyline.
The soundtrack is also on par with the visual style of this film. While Yau features a fairly stereotypical Chinese martial arts film soundtrack (think beating drums for fight scenes and piano/violin for pretty much anything else), when combined with the film’s cinematography it really was something to be admired. The highlight of this soundtrack would probably be the use of Greensleeves as Cheung Wing and Ip Man’s song – she purchases the record on the day she meets him and buys a gramophone to play it. There was even a Cantonese cover of Greensleeves featured to tie in with everything else. SFX were very well synced, but there was nothing that stood out; just a whole lot of punching and falling sounds as well as a few swords.
DVD Extras
The DVD comes loaded with a “Making of Ip Man: The Legend is Born”, as well as the standard trailer for the film and a few other Madman trailers. The Making Of is worth watching for anyone interested in the tidbits behind the martial arts, but it’s probably not a good idea to watch it right after you finish the film because you’re be sorely disappointed with the camera quality. It’s not the worst, but coming from such a visually dynamic film to a standard, handycam style documentary is just not my cup of tea. You do get to see a little bit of the actor’s personalities though, which is a pleasant change from just listening to the director talk non-stop.
The trailer for the film is a standard martial arts trailer, and in all honesty I don’t think it’s worth watching as it doesn’t give the right image of the film at all. Unless you’re curious for some reason, give it a miss.
Final Comments
I suppose as a Chinese person who has watched countless martial arts films, I may judge them a bit too harshly. However, to me this is a film which could have been great – and was, until it all went downhill in trying to be too great. While the film’s visual and audio elements redeemed some of its qualities, in the end I feel the storyline and characters were mostly far too overcooked. Ip Man: The Legend is Born is a good film to watch if you haven’t seen many martial arts films before, if you like a visual spectacle, or if you want to know a little bit about Yip Man’s own background (but by any means, don’t take the film as gospel). For the rest of us, though, it’s probably a better idea to re-watch Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
Kung Fu Panda 2 is coming on the 24th of May, 2011. The game is likely to launch in Australia around June to coincide with the launch of the film locally.
The game takes place immediately after the events of the first movie; with Po battling Master Shen. Players are tasked with saving Gongman City from the various sinister groups plaguing the area, as well as saving Kung Fu. Players must defeat groups and enemies such as: Looting Wolves, Powerful Gorillas, Clans of Barbaric Komodo Dragons as well their leader; Xiao Dan.
Publisher THQ promises to deliver a unique experience to each platform that the game appears on by utilising the unique characteristics of each system. The game is set to be released on the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Wii and the various DS systems.
The game is an adaptation of the movie for the video game consoles.
