For the past week and a bit, I’ve been travelling around Japan, visiting all the cool places to taking in some fantastic sights. One such sight is electronic stores. (yes I get very excited when I see those)
So while shopping at Yodobashi Kamera in Kyoto (similar to Best Buy in US, or Harvey Norman in AU) I came across some 3DS games that we might not NEVER see in the US or AU. I was instantly excited and whipped out my camera for some happy snaps and was going to buy all of them, but then a hard mental backhand slapped me in the back of the head and said “MULTI-REGIONAL GAMES – They won’t work on your AU – PAL 3DS” So I just took the pics DROOLED for like 15-20 mins then check out the Pokemon and Capsule Station toys (also shown below) and went off to do some more sight seeing.
Check out the pics below : Front and back covers of some great looking titles which as I mentioned will never be getting our hands on in the US or AU with English translations.
3D Cube – Puzzle Game Shanghai – by Sunsoft (this might be localized by Atlus)
Cubic Ninja – by AQ Interactive (this might get to US shores .. but not sure yet)
GunDam The 3D Battle – by BanDai
One Piece Ultimate Cruise SP – by BanDai – (this game looks very cool)
Tales Of The Abyss – by Namco (this was announced that it will be making its way to the US)
Touch Double Pen Sports – by Bandai
Resident Evil Mercenaries – by Capcom (this is coming but i had to throw it in) 😉
Pro Baseball – by Namco
Professor Layton and the Mask Of Miracle – by Level 5 (of couse this will be coming to US and AU but I thought I’d throw it in just for fun)
Some Capsule Stations (dont you just LOVE the name 😉 where you can pick up some really cool figurines from your favourite anime or video game series
And for you all you Pokemon fans out there, POKEMON as far as the eye can see.
I was actually thinking about picking up a Japanese 3DS to play some of these games; what do you guys think? I know that One Piece looks and plays great (I got to play it in the store as they had it on a demo unit) I know Luke here would probably have triplets if he saw this in AU and for the Gundam Michael Marr (spike) would most certainly deliver QUADRUPLESTS if they could get his hands on that game.
Ryan Dunn was a star of the Jackass series and was known to do daredevil stunts and all around crazy things for his work. After apparently driving at high-speeds after a night out with friends, Dunn’s Porsche was found by the side of road west of Philladelphia, completely engulfed in flames.
Police identified had to identify his body by his tattoos as it was too badly burnt. A passenger was also found in the car but has yet to be identified. Police are attributing the accident to a bout of drink-driving, as witnesses claim he spent four hours drinking at a bar, prior to hopping behind the wheel of the vehicle.
Dunn’s former Jackass star Johnny Knoxville posted this response on his twitter after the news broke, “Today I lost my brother Ryan Dunn. RIP Ryan, I love you buddy.”
MTV has made the following statement, “We are devastated by the tragic loss of Ryan Dunn – a beloved member of the MTV family for more than a decade.”
Dunn was 34 at his time of death, he had appeared in all 3 season’s of Jackass, all 3 Jackass movies and various other MTV series.
If you weren’t able to attend E3 this year then you shouldn’t feel so bad. But if you really want to have a badge of your own why not make it an expensive one? So expensive in fact it is over a $103 at the moment on eBay. This isn’t just any badge however, this is Peter Molyneux’s badge that he wore during the entirety of E3 itself.
The badge was given to Eggplante! and is being auctioned off on eBay with all proceeds going to the charity Child’s Play. The badge itself also has Molyneux’s signature and a note about the new Fable game saying: “It’s not on rails.” The badge won’t come with the Zelda: Skyward Sword lanyard nor the Catherine holder, but I’m sure there are plenty of those up for sale on eBay as well if you look hard enough.
Usually when something involving the PSN is mentioned lately it only has to deal with bad news, but that is not the case involving the newly released details for a game called Amy. Amy is a PSN exclusive and it will be a horror game that apparently will hearken back to the days of classic survival horror. But this time around, it will do it better.
The details posted on the PlayStation Blog went over a number of features in the game as well as covering the basics of the storyline. Amy will take place in the year 2034 and players will be controlling a girl named Lana. Global warming has caused an outbreak of new diseases, natural disasters and to make matters worse a comet has just struck Silver City, the town where Lana lives.
Because of the comet, Lana finds the majority of the townsfolk transformed into hideous monsters by a new virus. Players must fight off infection by either taking medical units from dead soldiers or from a strange girl named Amy. Amy has the ability to heal Lana as well as keep her free from the virus. The army and the monsters want Amy’s ability for themselves so you must do your best to escape Silver City alive with her.
The game will allow different approaches to situations, including spying on enemies from inside closets or sneaking around them. You can also engage them in combat but Lana isn’t a trained fighter which means that this is not always the best choice. An interesting note is that if Lana becomes infected, monsters will usually ignore her. However if Lana is not cured quickly she still can die. So far only three locations have been mentioned, these include a train station, the city streets and of course a hospital. No word on how much Amy will cost but this game certainly has me reaching for my pocketbook.
Ocarina of Time 3D was released yesterday and as I wrote previously, if you purchased the game you could register it at Club Nintendo to receive a free soundtrack CD sometime in the near future. Now while my registration and subsequent CD order went off without a hitch, lots of Zelda fans were unable to take advantage of this offer due to failed email confirmations and the Club Nintendo site itself crashing.
Nintendo has now offered a new extension to the deal however for those still looking to purchase Ocarina of Time 3D early and get the soundtrack. The page has been updated to say that the cutoff point for CDs will be Midnight (12AM) Pacific Time on June 20th, which is tonight. Nintendo says that those who have yet to receive their email confirmation should receive theirs within seven days of ordering the soundtrack.
For some people when they hear the word Kinect integration, they cheer. For the rest however they usually just sigh and walk away. Now Microsoft announced today that Halo: Anniversary will indeed feature Kinect integration. In an interview with GameSpot, Microsoft Studios boss Phil Spencer said “As a first party we believe that Kinect will be important to all genres of games even games like Halo Anniversary has Kinect integration.”
Now Halo Anniversary was shown off at E3 earlier this month and we even had a chance to preview some of the content. However there was absolutely zero mention of any Kinect support at the time. One of the Halo Waypoint administrators named ‘bs angel’ helped shine a little light on the topic. He said to everyone:
“Just to let everybody know, the Kinect features we’re exploring with Halo: Anniversary are optional and won’t affect your core gameplay experience. Our mission, from day one, has been to deliver a faithful recreation of the original game, and we remain dedicated to seeing that through to completion.”
From the sound of his explanation this means that the Kinect use will follow along the lines of Mass Effect 3 and Ghost Recon Future Soldier. Meaning that the games will be “Better with Kinect” but not focus entirely on the peripheral.
Madman has brought Manga to the MS Readathon. That’s right starting this year, Madman will be supporting the MS Readathon’s novel challenge, by providing Manga as a reading source.
Kid’s will be able to add up all the Manga they read during the month with friends and family members pledging a donation per book or a flat donation. All donations will be going to Multiple Sclerosis Australia (MSA).
You can still jump on board for the fundraiser and help a good cause while having fun reading Manga. Follow the link’s below for further information.
If you were one of the elite 1000 people who liked Siren Visual’s facebook page back in May, you should be receiving your coveted noitaminA sampler DVD in your mailbox in the coming days, if you haven’t already.
The DVD sampler features the first episode of Welcome to Irabu’s Office, The Tatami Galaxy and House of Five Leaves along with a brilliant booklet featuring a stunning essay on anime written by Philip Brophy titled “Anime at the Speed of Thought”.
Also packaged inside your nifty little envelope are a thank you post card and a pamphlet advertising Siren Visual’s various other releases. The post card is particularly special, with Siren displaying genuine gratitude for their fans support with a very heart-felt thank you message.
So if you have yet to recieve your sampler keep your eyes pinned to your mail box. Siren has really done a great job giving back to the fans here and their gratitude is evident.
You may have thanked us, but I must say, from all us fans –Thank you Siren.
Japanese singer Gackt (yeah it’s not too nice to say) was recently announced to be guest starring as (yes you guessed it) a singer in the popular SKET Dance anime series.
Gackt will play a singer named Dante who will be a part of the Kaimei Rock Festival story arc. He will perform a song under the persona of this character, Dante, which will undoubtedly be a hit in Japan. The theme song of SKET Dance has already become a huge hit in the land of the rising sun, which has brought the series a lot of attention and no doubt Gackt’s guest appearance will have the same effect.
Gackt has had previous voice acting experience in The New Fist of the North Star, Shiki and Supernatural the Anime. Be sure to check him out in an upcoming episode in which he will be guest starring. I am sure his singing sounds better than his name!
After a hectic two weeks covering E3, we are finally back to the swing of things here at Capsule Computers…which means we’re back to asking our editors what they are playing! Check out the latest games we’ve thrown into our consoles, and don’t forget to tell us the games you’re playing too!
Editor-in-Chief: MasterAbbott
Konnichiwa everyone! MasterAbbott is in the land of the Rising Sun (Japan for everyone that didn’t know where that was). I’ve just spent a really relaxing week in Kyoto but also got to visit some other great places outside of Kyoto like Osaka (the home town and headquarters of CAPCOM). I also had some great food, like killer takoyaki (octopus balls) and okonomiyaki (Japanese style pizza made out of cabbage and batter and also noodles). I also checked out Nagoya and Kobe as well, and I’ve been having a blast so far. While travelling between places I’ve been playing my iPhone and also my Nintendo 3DS (Street Fighter, DOAD and Samurai Warriors). Since I’ve been here I’ve picked up approximately 50 new Japanese friends for my Mii collection which is fantastic. Streetpassing this many Mii’s back in Sydney would take me like a month to do.
I’ve now made my way to Tokyo and staying in geek central: AKIHABARA (electric town)! Its full of games, anime, maid café’s (which I know Linkage would be living in 24/7 if he was here with me), and a whole lot of other weird and wonderful things which I can’t go into detail as we have children reading! I’ve already picked up some cool goodies to share with all of you once I get back – just make sure you check the Capsule Computers CUBE Points section soon for some new arrivals to redeem your hard earned Cube points on.
I’m very tempted to go buy myself a Nintendo 3DS (NTSC – JAPANESE) so I can play Resident Evil Mercs, Zelda Ocarina of Time, One Piece, Gundam and so many other games which we probably never end up getting in AU or even in US .
And now it’s time for my daily hotspring therapy and Japanese massage by that hot Geisha I met in Gion, Kyoto. Remember…play hard or don’t play at all!
Senior Editor: Travis Bruno
With the release of Duke Nukem Forever and Alice: Madness Returns I spent the majority of my time switching back and forth between these two. Duke Nukem Forever certainly doesn’t deserve all of the flak that it keeps getting around the internet. Sure it is quite old in appearance and also has plenty of old mechanics but that doesn’t mean that Duke isn’t the best thing you could as for as a long time Duke Nukem fan. I’ve only made it about halfway through the game but I can say that this first playthrough certainly won’t be my last.
Alice: Madness Returns on the other hand has plenty of things that are making me frustrated about it. I love the art and the way that the game treats itself, but I absolutely hate the constant platforming and jumping around that you have to do. Couple this with the fact that Alice seems to clip into the environment more often than not and you’ll find yourself disappearing into a flutter of butterflies quite often. Also the fact that American McGee’s Alice comes within the game itself, as opposed to a separate XBLA game is disappointing.
Senior Editor: Dustin Spencer
Over the past week, my Wii has finally gotten something new, that being Wii Play: Motion. Yes, it is a mini-game compilation, but I would say this may be Nintendo’s finest mash-up of mini-games to date as each really bring out the Motion Plus controls and are actually fun to play. If you have been wanting the attachment to finally feel useful, this is the game that achieves that purpose. I spent 3 hours just skipping stones with a friend earlier, so if that is any indication, there is certainly a lot more going on with this title than just a free WiiMote. A review should be up very shortly, so keep an eye out for that.
I guess the game that is making news this week is Duke Nukem Forever, and for good reason of course. Reviewers just about everywhere panned the game for just about every reason imaginable. While I don’t think the game is technically bad by any means, I will say Duke’s character is a bit different than I remember it. I remember Duke as a “macho tough guy who likes the babes”, but I feel DNF tried to throw in an over-the-top element that made Duke seem uncaring and simply offensive for no true reason. It’s one thing to be offensive and still be funny, but it is another when the punchlines change the shape of a character to be a crude ass. I did however enjoy the gameplay as it felt like a Duke Nukem title and the interactivity and attention to detail throughout the levels give the game a lot more depth. No matter what the score, I guess you can definitely say Duke made an impression that will be remembered for years to come.
I also picked up both Alice & Record of Agarest War Zero, which are both fantastic titles from what I’ve played so far and hopefully I can get a bit of time to progress further in each over the next week.
Editor: Kyle Moore
The beginning of my week has mostly been taken up by my 3DS. With the release of the new e-shop I logged on and got myself the free Pokedex and Excitebike. I wouldn’t really call the Pokedex a game even, it’s most just something to have really, but I’ve at least managed to “capture” legendary Pokemon using Augmented Reality, so that is okay. Pity you can’t really do anything with them. I was pretty impressed with the 3D on Excitebike, but other than that, it’s not so exciting. After I got sick of downloadable games, I decided to get back into my Sims 3 for the 3DS, resetting my character and forcing him to become a master of guitar! So where ever I have had spare time I’ve been getting annoyed at my Sim for always want to sleep. Lazy simulated little thing he is.
Running with the EA theme, I recently bought Mortal Kombat and Sim City for the iPhone. Needless to say, I’ve had a blast playing Mortal Kombat and reliving playing it on the SNES at my friends house across the road. While the screen is significantly smaller, I am impressed with the graphical improvement. At least, from what I remember of my Snes days. I also recall not being very good at it, which I am sad to say, has not really changed. Luckily I have benefited from the huge update that has recently come to the game and get a big list of characters who I can play, and lose as! Having tried out both the 5 and the 6 button control, I have been having a lot of fun trying to remember all the old special attacks in the game. Sim City on the other hand is nothing like I remember it once was, and is a little difficult to play on the iPhone. Either way, I still love the nostalgia I’ve gotten from both games and they still have been great fun to play.
Editor: Matt Vella
I’ve been hitting the arcades a little lately, and the other day I finally fulfilled my life-long gaming dream. I found an arcade that plays the original Killer Instinct! I’ve only ever played the SNES version, which I was obsessed with my entire childhood, so this was a dream come true for me! It’s unbelievable how rusty I was, I think I may have to go to a GameTraders soon and grab myself a Super Nintendo with a copy of the Super Nintendo Port. I’ve also given X-Men vs Street Fighter alot of love, for reasons unknown to me because I could just as easily play one of the Marvel vs Capcoms, and I’m still terrible at Daytona USA!
As for home console gaming, I’ve just started playing the PS3 exclusive White Knight Chronicles ll, and you can expect a review to hit the site late next week. It’s an interesting JRPG, it’s very inspired by MMORPG’s such as World of Warcraft, with that whole Final Fantasy Xll feel to it. Oh yeah, and I can’t stop daydreaming about the Wii U. I can’t wait to see what it can do, and play titles like Zelda on it!
Editor: Jack Joly
I’ve been playing a few different games this week. Firstly, there’s Williams Pinball Classics which I was testing out for my review of the game. It’s a fantastic pinball simulation and feels like one of the few games I’ve actually enjoyed playing for a quite a while.
I’ve also dusted off the Kinect for some games on that. It always seems like a huge effort to do Kinect as I have to create space to play it, and this has been even more evident playing this week; some of the games that involve stepping on panels were particularly frustrating as a lot of the time, some of the panels were in fact under the sofa. I played Kinect Adventures which seems to be getting worse every time I play it and nowadays the only game I enjoy playing on it is RallyBall.
I briefly played Carnival Games in Action which is mediocre, with only a few fun mini-games, and Your Shape: Fitness Evolved to try to get fit again which was great and so far has given a good workout. I preferred playing the Cardio Boxing classes above anything else, and I usually had enough space playing alone, with the exception of kicking the odd piece of furniture here and there.
Editor: Jared Hilliers
I finished some old games and sort of started catching up to new releases, including LA Noire and playing through Assassins Creed: Brotherhood again, I thought why not? LA Noire is proving to be more frustrating than I thought it would be and it’s only a matter of time before a controller earns teeth marks. It’s not that I don’t enjoy it, it’s just the interview process is sometimes flawed because of the baiting (ha!) that’s required to catch people out, but it’s a joy to watch! The dead naked lady thing is getting old too, how this game made is through the Aussie classification board baffles me, they don’t leave much to the imagination. Fewer bushes, more boobs please…. maybe in the sequel.
I also got a PS2 emulator in my apartment now, we call it that because its basically a PS2 sitting next to the PS3, which should play the freakin’ games itself man! I’m going to play through FFX again because it’s my fav, but then again I haven’t finished 12, which I also have within reach. I own no PS2 games, but my roomate has a bucket load of them for he’s emulator, it is threatening to take away alot of time. The idea of re-living the naughties isn’t a bad idea; I was off my head for much of that decade anyway!
Finally… I have Sniper Elite, I spent most of the weekend playing it as I’m reviewing the thing, this game makes me look like a psycho. It’s like Time Crisis, but with a giant Sniper peripheral, now imagine someone walking into the room as I’m firing it. Yep, it’s sort of strange, especially since the plastic rifle actually looks legit. Nintendo and their crazy motion controls, just some casual sniping on a Sunday kids!
Editor: Michael Irving
This week I’ve gotten into the infamous Duke Nukem Forever, and was actually surprised at how vocal everyone seems to have gotten over it. I wasn’t really following the whole debacle, and had no real emotional investment in the franchise, so maybe that explains why I wasn’t too disappointed when it turned out to be a sub-par game. I mean, it isn’t terrible, but it does seem unfinished – still. The humour may not be as sharp as the PR train would have you believe, the graphics are somewhat dated, and the shooting and movement mechanics feel a little unresponsive, but I am enjoying it, despite its flaws.
I’ve also ploughed through a fair chunk of Resident Evil 2 this week. A while back I played through the Gamecube remake of the first game, and once I finished that I started the second. I don’t like to be “That Guy”, but while the first game’s remake had updated graphics, the second was a direct port of the original Playstation version, and I couldn’t handle the pointiness, and didn’t get far. This time, I sucked it up, and am really enjoying it now. I much prefer the style of the first few games; the slower pace, the puzzle aspects, and the focus on survival rather than action. A single zombie in a hallway is enough to freak you out, whereas in RE4 and 5 they throw heaps at you at once to make it more actiony. I’m looking forward to the new Resident Evil on the 3DS, which apparently brings the series back to the survival horror roots.
Editor: Luke Halliday
I was playing an iPhone game called Top Girl. I think I am either a ghost or god right now guys. Either way, my eyes have been opened and made to cry ominous blood. My ear’s didn’t fair too well either as a matter of fact. Anyone have the Hospital’s fax number? Terrible game overdose… Someone call me a carpenter, I’m flat-lining!
