Motorstorm: Apocalypse may have been released in the rest of the world at this point but Sony’s home nation hasn’t seen any sign of a new release date for the title which was placed on indefinite delay after the natural disasters which struck Japan earlier this year.
It seems that any fans of the game in Japan will never be able to play the title though, without importing it at least. Because today Sony Japan officially announced that they will be canceling the release of Motorstorm: Apocalypse in Japan. This news is a bit of a surprise as the title was practically on the delivery truck to stores the day that the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami occurred. No actual reason was given for the cancellation but it is easy to guess as to why it occurred, especially after hearing that Disaster Report 4 has been canceled as well.
Bleach: Soul Resurrección may not be coming out for a few months still but that doesn’t mean that websites like Gamestop aren’t already placing up product pages for the titles to help lure in early pre-orders. Now these product pages actually are a bit more helpful than usual because this time it leaked a bit of extra information.
Apparently NIS America will be bundling a voucher that will allow anyone who purchases Bleach: Soul Resurrección to download three episodes of Bleach for free. The exact information for this voucher is still unknown, and whether or not these product pages are to be believed is still up in the air. We’ve contacted NIS America to shed some light on this reveal.
It looks like the backing for Vocaloids to begin showing up more and more in the United States is growing as VIZ media announced that they have officially acquired the license rights to everything that is Hatsune Miku in North America. Unfortunately beyond announcing that they now own the rights to Hatsune Miku VIZ did not elaborate as to what this means for her fans.
The press release that contained this information reminded fans that VIZ will be attending the Licensing International Expo next week and so will Hatsune Miku in the form of her products and other things. What this will mean down the road for the popular Vocaloid has yet to be seen, but with her concert appearance in the United States at the Anime Expo soon; Hatsune Miku may just establish at least some small foothold in the US shortly.
Cave is set to release Deathsmiles on to the iOS devices. Deathsmiles was side scrolling shoot em up featuring a crazy amounts of bullets on screen. Also what makes it stand out was it’s cast of young girl whiches and crazy enemies.
There was no release date given or price for the release but it will be out there this ultras for a worlwide release. If you want to find out more on Deathsmiles then you can watch the trailer below.
Out of everything shown off at Microsoft’s pre-E3 conference it is easy to say that one of the weakest presentations was Fable: The Journey. The title looked quite plain and basically had the look of an on-rails shooter that would simply have players using their hands as guns in this case. Apparently our view wasn’t the minority and even Peter Molyneux admits that the demonstration had problems.
In a video found by Official Xbox Magazine we see Peter Molyneux has admitted to the mistake and stated “I made a horrendous mistake on the press demo by taking out the navigation allowing players to move.” He goes on to say “I’ll just state on record now that Fable: The Journey is definitely not on rails.” A number of journalists then signed a wall to attest to his statement. It is good to see that Molyneux took quick notice to gamers’ collective “meh” when the demo was played.
In an effort to push gamers to buy a product from their store, many companies have begun to pay extra money to developers for exclusive content. It appears that Batman: Arkham City won’t avoid this pre-order scramble as Best Buy has leaked that there will be a playable Robin in a certain segment of Batman: Arkham City.
Apparently when you pre-order Batman: Arkham City from Best Buy you will receive a code to download the Best Buy exclusive Robin character to use in two challenge maps. These maps sound similar to the PlayStation 3 exclusive maps that allowed players to play as the Joker. We have contacted Warner Brothers Interactive to see what they say about this possible information leak, meaning this could still be untrue at the moment. Though if it is true, will it just be Batman in Robin’s outfit or a smaller actual unique looking character? Time will tell.
It is an unfortunate world we live in where practically every major title will get some sort of DLC down the line, and when it comes to console and computer FPS, it is practically a certain. But regardless of whether or not you agree with DLC being a part of the market today, a lot of people are apparently quite angry over EA’s plan for Battlefield 3.
The Back to Karkand expansion pack is a pre-order incentive for the title which also provides a number of extra skills to players if they pre-order Battlefield 3 before it is released in stores. The rage stems from the fact that even if a gamer were to buy the game after launch, thus not receiving the expansion free, and then buys the Back to Karkand expansions… they will not receive the extra guns. These gamers feel like they are being punished for simply being intelligent with their game purchases instead of running out to the store with their money like robots.
Reddit users have established the boycott and have also provided various links to areas where potential boycotters can let their voices be heard by EA, this includes a number of EA employees emails, though spamming these people’s inboxes are not recommended if you are trying to help the cause.
Well…. they said that it could happen. In a press release today THQ has revealed that they will be closing down the Manhattan based developer Kaos Studios. Kaos Studios was threatened with closure a few weeks before Homefront was released in the United States, saying that if the game didn’t do amazingly well the studio had seen its last days.
Unfortunately it seems it didn’t do well enough, as Kaos Studios, as well as THQ Digital Warrington who worked alongside Kaos Studios to develop Homefront. It is unknown how long it will be until the studios are actually closed down, as the information released today simply says that the employees “have been notified.” Also unknown at this time is whether or not the Homefront DLC which was supposed to be in the works will still be released somewhere down the line.
Genre: Action/Horror Director: Yohei Fukuda Featuring: Eri Otoguro, Tomohiro Waki, Taro Suwa, Manami Hashimoto Running Time: 86 minutes Available for purchase at:Madman Online Store ($29.95)
Overview
Japanese low-budget zombie films are notorious for their terrible animation, their bad acting, and their naked (or near-naked) leading ladies. In an age where the indie film reigns supreme, sometimes you need a bad movie or two just to lighten up the mood and to laugh at.
Luckily, Chanbara Beauty has everything we love about the low-budget zombie films. The acting is terrible, the fake blood splatter on the screen looks like it was animated in the 90s, and the main protagonist wears a bikini and shorts (although it really could be described more as shorts). However, this film’s got that extra something with some of its characters and visuals, which makes me like it more than the handful of other films I’ve seen in that respective genre.
Plot
The story is your typical, cookie-cutter zombie apocalypse plot: the world is filled with zombies and there’s some vengeful human woman out there in the world that somehow possesses the power to stop them.
The film takes place in the future, where a crazed doctor, Doctor Sugita (Taro Suwa), has engineered a formula to resurrect the dead as zombies. The world is so overrun with the undead that families have to kill their own just to survive. Amongst those who are still human, there is Aya (Eri Otoguro), Katsuji (Tomohiro Waki), and Reiko (Manami Hashimoto) who all meet and become united in their quest to stop Doctor Sugita’s mad plans. However, there is a catch: one of the people helping the doctor is actually Aya’s younger sister, Saki (Chise Nakamura). Together, the three companions must fight the zombie-infested path to the doctor in order to seek their revenge for the havoc he has wreaked on the world.
Nearly naked…surprise, surprise.
First things first: Chanbara Beauty is actually based on an action game called Oneechanbara for PS2. However, the plot of that one was more about fighting zombies and the writers of this film had to do a lot to translate the game into a film.
The plot is as stereotypical as they come, and within the plot there are plenty of moments where there are long-winded and dramatic appeals to the heartstrings of the audience. The overarching plot is a perfect example of this: the younger sister working for the bad guy, and the main character that must fight her own family for the greater good of the world. While this would normally bother me and cause me to fastforward, Chanbara Beauty’s overdramatic moments actually seemed quite genuine and, although the moments were more common than a McDonalds, held my attention for a tad longer than any other films of the same style would. The narrative was also told using a few flashbacks, which was a great touch to lessen some of the cheesy-ness of the film’s emotional components.
Characters
The characters in Chanbara Beauty are nothing new, but at least each of the three main protagonists is fully developed with back stories to make them seem less flat.
The main character in the film is Aya: a brooding twenty-something who has way too many powers and way too little clothing (yes, men, I can hear your cheers now). She spends her days moping and killing zombies, and probably says about 5 words through the entire duration of the movie. I have to say that Aya is possibly one of the least likeable protagonists I have ever come across in films from this genre. Her brooding nature is far too artificial, and it actually seems more like she can’t think of anything to say rather than her not choosing to say anything. With all that being said, her back story is fairly intriguing (although nothing explains why she’s such a moody person) and her relationship with her sister is not as contrived as I anticipated it to be.
Two sisters fighting with katanas. Personally, I think it’s quicker to kill with guns.
Aya’s two companions were great though, and really made me warm to the film more. Reiko was a lovely character and really different from what I was expecting: she was portrayed quite well by Hashimoto and in my opinion she would have made a far better protagonist than Aya did. Reiko was the most developed character which I came across in the film, and it would have made far more sense to cast someone likeable (albeit, wearing more clothing than Aya) as the leading woman – she even said more words than Aya, which is a major flaw in the script-writing side of things. The sole male in the trio was also far more enjoyable and relatable than Aya. Katsumi is that silly, goofy guy who has good intentions but is a little bit of a coward. Waki’s acting didn’t feel at all like it was forced – a rare feat for low-budget zombie movies – and I’d have to say this guy was the shining star in the film: again, another missed opportunity for the writers to really go somewhere special with their script.
However, for every two good characters there are two terrible characters, and the bad guys were truly the dullest evil people I’ve ever seen. Doctor Sugita was the mad doctor with no real purpose to his resurrection of the dead. He had this weird glass eye (which was really just a white contact lens in one of his eyes), and his acting was just as transparent as his eye. Also, Saki truly was Aya’s little sister: she may have said 2 more words than Aya but other than that it felt she served no true purpose but to make Aya’s story more compelling to the audience.
Visual and Audio
Visually, the film had some aspects that were great and some that were absolutely disastrous. As I mentioned earlier, low-budget films generally have bad special effects, but the animation aspects in this were terrible. The gun shots looked like a beginner had been hired for the film just to keep costs down, and in the final fight so much had clearly been green-screened: there was even a moment when the two jumped in the ‘air’ and it was just a low angle shot of them with clouds in the background.
This was not really one of the better visual moments.
The make-up was far better than I expected though, which balances out the animation to some degree. The zombies looked genuinely creepy, and when they died blood spurted out of their mouth in a fairly convincing manner – even some of the severed heads looked remotely like real zombie heads! Their movement was also choreographed quite well, from twitching when they were resurrected to their lurching forward in an attempt to kill a human. The bright flashbacks to Aya and Katsumi’s past also did wonders for the visual composition of the film and acted as a great interjection to the grim dark tones which were present through the majority of the settings.
Unfortunately, the audio really wasn’t half as great as some of the visuals were. When the zombies came to life and their bones cracked, it sounded a bit like a kid banging two toys together. When swarms of zombies crept up on a place, there was a sound similar to that of someone blowing into the top of a bottle. The music used didn’t really fit the majority of key moments in the film – the music for the final fight was really an anticlimax –, and really it was a shame that the audio was such a let-down because great audio effects can still be created on a tight budget.
DVD Extras
The DVD only comes with the theatrical trailer of the film, which I had watched on YouTube previously anyway. I do have to say that I don’t think I would have watched the extras even if they did come with the DVD, but it would have been a nice touch to have the original Oneebara Beauty to watch as a comparison.
Final Comments
Overall, Chanbara Beauty had its standout moments, its cookie-cutter moments, and its not-so-great moments. Despite all the aspects that I didn’t like, something still made me enjoy this film. Perhaps it was the two great characters, or the makeup and flashbacks…or perhaps I’ve just seen too many low-budget zombie films and they’re starting to grow on me. No matter what it is though, I have to say that Chanbara Beauty is probably one of the more enjoyable low-budget films out there.
Hidden on their website, Nintendo has very quietly released the specs for their upcoming Wii U console. Why they didn’t boast about this more publicly is anybody’s guess, but the big N’s new machine is packing a punch somewhere in the ballpark of the Xbox 360. Set your eyeballs on the specs below. [sic]
SIZE: Approximately 1.8 inches tall, 6.8 inches wide and 10.5 inches long.
NEW CONTROLLER: The new controller incorporates a 6.2-inch, 16:9 touch screen and traditional button controls, including two analog Circle Pads. This combination removes the traditional barriers between games, players and the TV by creating a second window into the video game world. The rechargeable controller includes a Power button, Home button, +Control Pad, A/B/X/Y buttons, L/R buttons and ZL/ZR buttons. It includes a built-in accelerometer and gyroscope, rumble feature, camera, a microphone, stereo speakers, a sensor strip and a stylus.
OTHER CONTROLS: Up to four Wii Remote (or Wii Remote Plus) controllers can be connected at once. The new console supports all Wii controllers and input devices, including the Nunchuk controller, Classic Controller, Classic Controller Pro and Wii Balance Board.
MEDIA: A single self-loading media bay will play 12-centimeter proprietary high-density optical discs for the new console, as well as 12-centimeter Wii optical discs.
VIDEO OUTPUT: Supports 1080p, 1080i, 720p, 480p and 480i. Compatible cables include HDMI, component, S-video and composite.
AUDIO OUTPUT: Uses AV Multi Out connector. Six-channel PCM linear output through HDMI.
STORAGE: The console will have internal flash memory, as well as the option to expand its memory using either an SD memory card or an external USB hard disk drive.
CPU: IBM Power-based multi-core microprocessor.
GPU: AMD Radeon-based High Definition GPU.
OTHER: Four USB 2.0 connector slots are included. The new console is backward compatible with Wii games and Wii accessories.
