Despite having plenty of suggestive dialogue and having girls wearing relatively skimpy clothing NIS America has yet to receive an M rating on any games that they have brought overseas to the US. But that has just changed as the ESRB has given their upcoming JRPG Ar Tonelica Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel a M rating. Now what exactly does the game contain that makes it even more suggestive than previous games released by NIS A? Find out below with the ESRB‘s description:
This is a role-playing game in which players control a character named Aoto, an apprentice who becomes entangled in a three-way war on the fantastical planet of Ar Ciel. Players roam through towns and use swords and magical attacks to engage monsters and human-like enemies in hand-to-hand combat. Battles are accompanied by punches, kicks, colorful light effects, and loud cries of pain; enemies collapse or disappear in brief flashes of light when defeated. Some power moves cause female characters’ clothes to vanish in layers; the characters are often depicted holding (covering) their breasts, wearing only underwear, or standing behind strips of light that obscure their genitals.
In one cutscene, male characters encourage a woman to strip (e.g., “Uh . . . do I have to take off even more clothes…?” and “Quit teasing us and do it already!”); another sequence depicts a male character “removing” a magical crystal from a female character—this scene is accompanied by suggestive moans and comments (e.g., “Aoto’s putting his hand inside Soma” and “Fumble around every inch inside of her . . . you will find what you’re looking for . . . !”). One brief cutscene depicts a female character’s exposed buttocks. The words “sh*t,” “a*shole,” and “b*tch,” appear in the dialogue.
It sounds like most of the transformation sequences are why the ESRB gave the rating, plus I can guess that the second paragraph didn’t help out very much either. But regardless of this fact it is good to see some more information for the PS3 RPG which has yet to receive a release date yet even in the US.
It has been in debate whether or not long games are better than short games. Sure long games will usually give players more bang for their buck, but short games sometimes can fill in that gap between big releases and even if they are bad games, a short game is usually forgiven. But for those who love long games, such as myself, then you will be glad to hear that Eidos Montreal has just said that Deus Ex: Human Revolution will take at least 25 hours to finish if played through simply to beat the game.
Producer David Anfossi revealed in the latest issue of PC Gamer that apparently even game testers couldn’t complete the game within the six days that they had to finish it. A excerpt from PC gamer was provided by CVG and can be seen below:
“So far with them playing about six hours every day, most of them don’t complete the game,” he brags in PC Gamer.The ones that are more casual gamers, who are used to more ‘corridor, cut-scene, corridor, cut-scene’ type of gameplay — they play it that way for a while. Then suddenly, there’s this new world that opens to them, and they start getting a bit more creative.”
With every Call of Duty game there has to be a few map packs released at least to help heighten the multiplayer experience. The first of such downloadable content for the latest installment in the Call of Duty franchise is set to drop on February 1st for the price of 1,200 MSP ($15). The downloadable maps will be exclusive for the Xbox 360 for quite some time as the release date for the PC and PS3 versions has not yet been revealed.
Now each of the maps that will be included with this DLC are Kowloon, Discovery, Berlin Wall, and Stadium are all detailed in the video and show off the highlights of each map. What isn’t shown however is a new zombie map that has yet to been detailed extensively but more information is likely to arrive in the next couple of weeks.
Now with previous screenshots we’ve seen the different facial emotions that L.A. Noire can express with their MotionScan technology. This means that although you can be right in the middle of the action during car chases and shootouts between criminals and yourself, there is the investigative side as well. There is your standard collecting of evidence, but the best way to gather information is from an old fashioned interrogation.
We aren’t talking about beating somebody into talking either. By paying attention to the suspects facial expressions and behavior you will be able to figure out what questions to ask them and whether or not they are lying to you or being truthful. If this mechanic works as well as Team Bondi and Rockstar are saying then this creation will definitely put L.A. Noire on a new level as far as mystery games go.
I’m sure many of you fellow anime fans out there on our beloved Central Coast will join me in rejoicing in what I feel is a long awaited addition to the area. Dark Dimensions Comics is a new store which is opening its doors at East Gosford for the first time this weekend.
The store will be devoted heart and soul to all things comics, anime, graphic novels, collectables, figurines and clothing. The store, which is a rarity for the coast, is destined for much greater things, according to co-owner Peter Collins.
“We don’t want to be known just for being a comic store. In the long run a chillout area where people can come in and have cuppa, WIFI or even have clubs start up that is involved with the pop culture scene.”
Dark Dimensions Comics will open its doors at Wells Street (opposite the chemist), East Gosford this weekend. For more information email Dark Dimensions.
Game name: Cooking Mama: Friends’ Café Platform: PC (Facebook) Developer(s):Majesco, Arkadium Publisher(s):Majesco Release date: Out now ESEB Rating: E Price: Free Play now
Cooking Mama has taken the world by storm giving a new generation of children and adults alike chance to learn to cook in a fun and entertaining manner.
With the game released on the Nintendo DS and Wii, as well as the iPhone/iPad, it didn’t take long for it to follow the latest revolution on Facebook. Already attracting a large fan base, Cooking Mama is becoming a favourite, rivaling the much loved ‘Ville’ series.
Developed by Majesco, Cooking Mama: Friends’ Café gives players the ability to stir, cut, mix, pour and bake anything into their imagination. Adding to its charm is the easy, user friendly controls and bright colours. It will appeal to little girls who have watched their mother cook and want to be a part of it.
When you first begin to play Cooking Mama, you are instructed to cook your first meal- Butter on toast. Amid a timer, the player spreads butter along the bread and earns experience points every time you complete a meal.
Mama then tells you that there are some patrons eagerly waiting for the meal you just made. You are then instructed to open your restaurant and pick how long you wish to be open for business. As you are learning and earning money at the beginning, you are required to open for a minimum of 30 minutes. As you continue, you earn small kitchen appliances such as a dishwasher.
Starting out in Cooking Mama: Friends’ Café, you have $5000 in your account. As you continue and cook dishes for your clients, you are required to buy items in the store. Each item has a price and only available to buy if you have the money in your wallet.
As you play, you must keep tabs on the current goals for Cooking Mama. Similar to any other video game, you have a current objective. It will show you what you have learned and what is outstanding. There is no time limit on how many goals you must complete or how many you are allowed to have. The player has a full advantage in finishing the goals whenever they please. You also have the option to jump in between feeding customers, making your meals and buying items for your kitchen.
With every meal you complete, Cooking Mama rewards you with either a gold, silver and bronze medal, depending on the speed of your cooking skills. She also gives you experience points that the player can share with their friends.
Another fun aspect of Cooking Mama Friends’ Café is the ability to customize your kitchen. When you first begin, you earn a cupboard where you can place anywhere you wish in your kitchen. As you continue to make culinary delights and impress Mama, she will reward you with more expensive gifts, such as appliances, wallpaper, decorations and even floorboards.
As your skills improve, the challenges become more difficult, requiring the player to cook and make tougher meals. As well as the challenge of the timer, the player has to administer skills to maintain a fast pace to keep a plethora of customers happy as they wait for their orders.
Cooking Mama Friends’ Café is a delightful game to play to will those long lunch hours away or to keep the kids entertained on a Friday night. You can pretty much do no wrong with this title, as it always rewards the player regardless of their performance.
Even though it isn’t that challenging and made for the casual gamers out there, Cooking Mama is incredibly fun and keeps one’s culinary skills at use.
Dead or Alive Paradise Published by: Tecmo Koei Developed by: Team Ninja Release Date: March 30, 2010 Price: $29.99 US, £29.99 UK, $46.99 AUS
Overview:
Now Dead or Alive is mostly known for being about fighting but in recent years the girls of DoA have made appearances in two different spin off games known as Dead Or Alive Xtreme. These games place the female characters of the DoA franchise in bikinis or swimsuits, your pick, and allow them to play volleyball with one another without any actual violence. Now the series has gone portable with the Dead or Alive Paradise, but does the shrinking of the screen also shrink the ability to stare at girls in bikinis?
Story:
There is a semblance of a story here, but for the most part it just gives a reason as to why all of the different girls from the Dead or Alive series have shown up. The story is introduced with a very bad looking CGI cutscene showing Zack and Niki bringing back New Zack Island back to the surface with the help of some aliens.
Then the game begins anew with the player able to select one of ten different girls(seen above) to begin your vacation with. The girls are invited to the island, some with false pretenses, and others to simply relax on the island. That is all there is really as the rest of the story falls away to simply letting the player take advantage of the DoAP’s mini-games and camera function.
Graphics:
Unfortunately for a game that would usually be all about the visuals and the fact that the players purchased it to primarily focus on the girls it is depressing to say that the girls themselves are very jagged looking and literally rough around the edges. Now it would have been one thing if the rest of the game had been bad looking but the girls themselves would be fine, but that is not the case in this one. The girls may not have be some of the worst things you can find on the PSP but for a game centering around the sights to see this is a major down point.
Plus as weird as this may sound the physics that the previous Dead or Alive Xtreme’s have sported have gone completely out of the window in the case of Paradise. The breast physics are unfortunately really messed up this time around as they no longer appear even vaguely realistic. When each one is bouncing around completely independently from the woman’s actions it is entirely disenchanting.
Audio:
It is worth taking note that players can not only use the background music that the game comes with, which is a mix of light dance songs and up-beat music, but you can also use music stored on the PSP. This is handled by placing Music onto your PSP on its own but not in a folder. For some odd reason if your music is in different folders then you will not be able to select it for use during your volleyball game or staring session.
Gameplay:
As you begin your vacation on New Zack Island you find out that you will be having two weeks to enjoy your time there. The main parts of the game you can experience vary between two different mini games that you can play and earn Zack dollars, give and receive gifts from the other girls on the island to build your relationship with them, and buy plenty of swimsuits to have your girls wear during their time on the island.
Now these mini-games are the Volleyball and Pool Hopping. Oh and there is the gambling section too which gives players the opportunity to gamble away their hard earned money on blackjack, poker, and slot machines. These gambling sections also introduce Rio who makes her first appearance in a game outside of Japan. Now back to the other two mini-games. Pool Hopping gives your girl the chance to race with another girl on floating pads that have different buttons on each one. You can press the buttons on each pad to make your girl jump to that pad. Further jumps require a longer press of the button while one immediately in front of you only requires a tap. The mis-press of a button will cause your girl to fall into the water and lose the race.
Now the other mini-game, volleyball, is more centered on what players have experienced before and is also where players will spend most of their time gathering money. The volleyball mode is serviceable at best and works as great as players could expect with the volleyball mechanic. The mode is put together well and as long as you work well with your partner you will be able to rack up the wins and increase your friendship with your partner.
Now your money can be put to a number of different uses. You will be able to purchase a very large collection of swimsuits that vary from cosplay, to relatively conservative one piece swimsuits, to extremely skimpy bikinis that barely cover any part of the body. These swimsuits can be worn by your girl as well as given as gifts to other girls on the island. You will also be able to purchase different miscellaneous items that each girl has a favorite for and can be gifted as well.
Now when you become good friends with the different girls on the island you will receive something called Venus Clips. Venus clips are more or less videos of the girl who gave them to you performing various acts around the island. These range from crawling along a few tree trunks in the jungle, swimming in the ocean, or lounging at the poolside. These Venus Clips are also a way for players to experience the camera system which allows players to take different pictures of the girls at various angles to put into a photo album for themselves.
Now after your two week vacation is up and you have returned back to the main menu you will unlock something known as the Private Paradise mode. The Private Paradise mode is basically a mode to view any previously received Venus Clips and allows you to place the girl in them in any bikini that you have purchased already.
Sure there is a lot of bad here, but there is one shining light that I have mentioned again and again in this review. There is a very large collection system as far as the bikini systems go, and the friendship rating with the girls is actually well done so there is a redeeming factor if you enjoy collecting different things and unlocking new swimsuits while also building friendships with the other Dead or Alive girls.
Overall:
Now Dead or Alive Paradise may be exactly what you are looking for if you want to pick up a game that can easily provide countless hours of entertainment while unlocking countless amounts of swimsuits and place them on the different girls. There just isn’t a whole lot of depth to DoAP considering there are only two mini-games and gambling to be had, and unfortunately for a game that is all about looking at female characters and enjoying the different views you can experience within the game, that the graphics are sub-par at best.
Half-Life 2 is arguably one of the BEST games of the past decade. You would be hard pressed to find somebody who hasn’t played it or doesn’t like it. Lauded for it’s new and innovative approach to cutscenes (by not having any and just making it part of the game), creating a compelling and fluid story that isn’t just “hide behind chest high walls and kill every enemy in room, move forward, rinse, repeat” and introducing the famed gravity gun. You get it, the game is great. Youtube user Remus2008 has recreated the more memorable moments of Half-Life 2 (in chronological order) on paper with some humor thrown in. I definitely had a smile on my face by the end, I’m willing to bet you will to.
Before the days of titles like Rock Band and Guitar Hero took over the whole rhythm action genre, titles like Bust-A-Groove and Dance Dance Revolution were the way to get your musical fix on a console. The main reason I am bringing up these titles is due to a new trailer which was recently released by Iridium Studios for their upcoming game, Sequence, which in my opinion looks to be a bit reminiscent of those late 90’s rhythm-action titles which is of course a good thing.
At first glance, this title looks like standard fare for a rhythm title but as shown in the trailer, Sequence is a lot more than that. With over 80 minutes of spoken dialogue as well as a full plot and customizable characters, and even a claim of over ten hours of gameplay, this indie title has me interested as Sequence is looking to bring a lot to the table. The gameplay in the trailer looks to be top notch with quite a motley cast of characters and the whole concept of mixing a rhythm-action game with an RPG is quite intriguing, and this very well could be a recipe for success for Iridium if the game is half as good as it looks. Sequence does not make it’s debut until March, but you can keep updated on development over at Iriduim’s official blog website at http://www.playiridium.com/. Also check out the trailer below and if any more news comes forward on Sequence, we will be sure to bring it to you.
After the Medal of Honor publicity scuffle earlier this year, you would have thought that EA would have avoided bad PR in the future. But, the Dead Space 2 marketing team has embraced the violent nature of the game and showed it to unsuspecting mothers. Obviously, they believe in the “any publicity is good publicity” mantra.
“It’s revolting. It’s violent. It’s everything you love in a game,” the ad proclaims. “Your mom’s going to hate it.”
My mom certainly will. What about yours? Check out the responses that some of the mothers had for the Dead Space 2 trailer. When will this trailer make it to the FOX News Network? Probably very soon. Very very soon.
