Page 6380 – Capsule Computers

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December 2, 2010

Now it’s hard to imagine that many have even heard about the title Venetica before. It is entirely understandable considering the game developed in Germany and was released to European gamers only and this was over a year ago with zero news of the game ever being released in North America. That is until today when Atari announced that they would be bringing the game to North America quite soon. So soon in fact that it will be January 11, 2011. Yep on 1.11.11 it will be released for the PS3, Xbox 360, and the PC.

But what is Venetica actually? Venetica is an action RPG that places players in 16th century Venice and players can also expect a very immersive storyline involving necromancers and Death himself. Players will take control of Scarlett, a young woman who patrols the streets of Venice to protect it’s denizens and destroy any unnatural creatures she comes across. So though it is a bit abrupt with the news, it’s great news to hear of a localization of an action RPG at the beginning of the new year.

The trailer below was for the European build of the game and is two years own in it’s own right but does give a taste of what to expect.

[pro-player width=’530′ height=’253′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqEkanobUfo[/pro-player]

Binary Domain announced by Sega; developed by Yakuza creator

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December 2, 2010

Binary Domain announced by Sega; developed by Yakuza creator

With Yakuza’s Creator, Toshihiro Nagoshi rumored to be working on some sort of game outside of the Yakuza franchise there has been much speculation as to what he could be involved in, if he was involved in anything at all. But let all that speculation fall by the wayside because today Sega announced that they are working on a new squad based shooter with Nagoshi called Binary Domain.

With this announcement they have included a trailer for the game which you can watch below. From the way it looks there will be at least three human players to choose from or at least be involved in the team. The story itself looks like it will place players inside of Tokyo in the year 2080 and looks to take place after some sort of robot rebellion as all enemies seen are robotic.

Toshihiro Nagoshi had a bit to say about the game himself:

“When you hear sci-fi you may think of cold, clinical environments. With Binary Domain I wanted to combine this with a deep human drama. The keyword we have in mind for this project is ‘Life’.
One of the key elements of this is the pursuit of strong and differentiated human AND robot AI. Aiming to have the world’s best AI was essential to bring a true realisation of the concept of life to the players, through the story and the action within the gameplay. The inclusion of online modes has allowed us to transform the game from a mere battle field into a field of survival.

There has been no release date set at all so one can only speculate as to when it may be released but we do know that it will be seeing a worldwide release on both the Xbox 360 and the PS3. And does that last sentence mean that we may see full online squad co-op modes?

Xbox Live Reward program goes live

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December 2, 2010

Xbox Live has launched their Rewards program today that has been tested throughout the year to those lucky few that were accepted. That means that you can now sign up for the rewards program completely free of cost and will be able to receive rewards on your future purchases/renewals/activities. Keep in mind that the rewards are currently only available in the United States and the United Kingdom.

So this means that players will be able to get Microsoft Points for doing various things that you would normally have done either way. For renewing your Xbox Live membership you will receive a set amount of MSP for free, or activating Netflix or even taking surveys that happen every month. There is some mystery still on spending and receiving points as there was no mention of how much you have to spend to get some free.

This program is available for Silver members as well, but the amount of points that they receive and have the option to receive in general is more limited. Now if only they would give past rewards for all of the different renewals and spending we have done in the past, sort of like back pay rewards. Also what if you already are using Netflix, will you miss out on free 100 points? But still free things for doing things we’ve done before is always good news!

Lionhead applies massive Fable III patch today

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December 2, 2010

So how many bugs did Fable 3 have exactly? Well enough that the first patch that came out for the game was 5MB in size. The patch which went live this morning from Lionhead Studios is set to fix many of the major problems that persist in most if not all Fable 3 games. Some of the major fixes are those involving game breaking glitches and quest problems, and the fact that Jasper mysteriously goes mute later in the game.

This is great news overall and will lead to probably at least a new experience as far as the sanctuary goes because I loved the little quips that Jasper used to make when I got a new trophy or did something specific. It was quite disheartening when he suddenly became quiet for no apparent reason only to find out it was a glitch in the game.

Catch a full list of all the different bugs that have been patched below which includes both major and minor fixes.

Major Fixes

Sanctuary: Fixed numerous issues whereby Jasper would stop talking or whereby the world map would become unusable
Quests: Tabletop: The Hobbes may not spawn in the last area causing the player to be unable to progress
Quest: Tabletop: Online multiplayer: Player host is unable to vault off platform to Hobbe area
Quest: Tabletop: Player can become stuck behind some rocks
Quest: Tabletop: After defeating the hollowmen in the room with the lever the player is unable to progress
Quest: The Masquerade: Player can become trapped in Reaver’s mansion.
Quest: The Masquerade: Player can fall out of the world
Quest: GNOMES PART 1: Player can break script
Live: The players fall out of the world (FOOTW) when transitioning from Shifting Sands to The Veiled Path
Crash: Mourningwood guards audio
Crash: During the quest “Peace, Love and Homicide”

Minor Fixes

General improvements to performance and frame rate
World: Online multiplayer: Fast Travel area does not extend from end of level the “The Hole” to go to Mistpeak Valley
World: Player can fall out of environment in Mistpeak Valley while in combat
World: After proposing marriage, Bowerstone Castle cannot be selected as family home
World: If client repairs a house, the house goes from renting out to living in
World: Player can become stuck during Castle Battle after vaulting over sandbags near burning cart
World: Bowerstone Industrial: Player can fall off the world
World: A fix for existing or future FOOTW situations
World: Online multiplayer: No Particle Effects on Host Screen after Marrying another Player
Live: Orbs do not always show up
Live: Online multiplayer: Fixed an issue with sliding host in the sanctuary
Live: Fixed several issues relating to gifting and receiving gifts in local and online co-op
Quest: Tabletop: Breadcrumb not leading to Demonic Chickens
Saves: Fixed a few issues that could cause a corrupt save game slot
World: Driftwood: Hero can become stuck inside of tree
World: Shooting a crate creates a duplicate crate
World: Black chicken in castle gardens flies straight up into the air for several seconds when kicked
Speech: Japanese: Reaver is missing VO in one quest

Super Tofu Boy made by PETA to battle Meat Boy

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December 2, 2010

Now PETA has been known for plenty of different tactics in the past to get the word out about animal abuse and using animals as food, clothing, etc. But we have also seen them use flash games before to help advertise the fact that cooking with animals is cruel and gross when they made Mama Kills Animals in an attempt to ride the coat tails of the fact that Cooking Mama is extremely popular.

Now they are at it again with something they like to call Super Tofu Boy. This is quite literally a use of Super Meat Boy as it takes the platforming of Super Meat Boy and throw in a new storyline where Meat Boy is actually the enemy and kidnaps his ex-girlfriend Bandage Girl who is now going out with Tofu Boy. I’m not making this up.

Meat Boy is a vengeful, bloody cube of rotting animal flesh. And he smells. After a short-lived fling with Bandage Girl (sympathy dates, really), he became enraged when he was dumped for the tasty and satisfying Tofu Boy. Once Bandage Girl slept with Tofu Boy and saw all that he had to offer, it was bye-bye beef, hello bean curd. Enraged by his loss and lack of ability to compete with the badass that is Tofu Boy, Meat Boy snapped and kidnapped Bandage Girl-because if he can’t have her, no one will.

Super Tofu Boy is available for download for free on PETA’s website and is able to be played on Mac and PC. The game itself consists of ten different levels so it is rather short and is full of vegan sayings and vegetarian phrases that try to show how meat is the devil and Tofu is the way to go. It’ll be interesting to see what Team Meat will think of Tofu Boy.

New Patches Incoming for Castlevania: Lords of Shadow…

Dustin Spencer

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December 2, 2010

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow has been out for a couple of months now and in my opinion the game is great, but one thing dragging it down was the save feature which was a bit of a headache with the slightest interruption of the auto-save feature such as the controller dying or de-syncing could cause the game not even to complete the save period. Konami has heard all of your complaints and feedback out there and have now completed a patch which is now available for the PS3 version of the game and will also be coming soon to the Xbox 360.

The patch not only fixes that nagging problem, but also will scroll text on loading screens allowing for user readability. If by chance the hearsay of these problems was holding you back from getting the game if you do not have it already, do yourself a favor and grab Lords of Shadow as the game is an excellent addition to any collection and was to myself one of the best Castlevania games in years (You can check out our review HERE). There isn’t an official date on a fix for the 360 version as of yet, but check back and as once announced we will be sure to bring you full details on that as well.

Linkin Park, Beastie Boys & More Join the Mix in DJ Hero 2…

Dustin Spencer

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December 2, 2010

Another week passing means even more mixes in DJ Hero 2. Continuing the tradition of mixing old with the new, DJ Hero 2 is spinning out tracks from the Beastie Boys, Lenny Kravitz, Linkin Park, Tone-Loc, and a few other artists starting this week and lasting all month which will be broken down in three packs (or separately) for all versions of the music title.

Here is a rundown on what you can each of these new packs:

The Hard Edge Mix pack is already avaiable as of November 30 for 480 Microsoft Points on the XBLA, $5.99 on the PSN, or you can purchase each track separately on the Wii for 300 Nintendo Points.

Mixes for the Hard Edge Mix pack include:

Pixies – “Debaser” Mixed With The Prodigy — “Invaders Must Die”
Beastie Boys — “Body Movin'” Mixed With Lenny Kravitz “Rock And Roll Is Dead”

Taking you back to the early 90’s is the Old School Mix pack, which will launch on December 14 at the prices of 640 Microsoft Points on the XBLA, $7.99 on the PSN, and like above you can purchase each track separately on the Wii for 300 Nintendo Points.

Mixes for the Old School Mix pack include:

Fat Boys — “Human Beat Box” Mixed With Mantronix — “King of the Beats”
Tag Team — “Whoomp! (There It Is)” Mixed With 45 King— “The 900 Number”
Beastie Boys — “Triple Trouble” Mixed With Tone-Loc — “Funky Cold Medina”

Finally Wrapping up this month’s releases is fan-favorite to the remix scene, Linkin Park. The prices are identical to the Old School Mix pack and these tracks will be available starting December 21st.

Mixes for the Linkin Park Mix Pack include:

Linkin Park — “The Catalyst (Does It Offend You, Yeah? Remix)” (Remix by FSG)
Linkin Park — “When They Come For Me” (Diplo Remix)
Linkin Park — “Pts.of.Athrty”(Remix by FSG)

It is great to see all of these additions to the marketplace and DJ Hero 2 owners are getting some great tracks and variety to end the year with so all aspiring DJs should be thrilled of this news.

Inception videogame in the works

Jack Joly

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December 2, 2010

As a film, Inception cleaned up in the box-office, landing an impressive amount of viewers with its surprising levels of success. Now, director Christopher Nolan has revealed in an interview that a videogame tie-in is in the works, although he declined to fully elaborate on the subject.

I know videogames have a fairly rough history when it comes to the movie tie-in breed, but it looks like this could break the mould. Nolan said “I always imagined Inception to be a world where a lot of other stories could take place,” adding, “At the moment, the only direction we’re channeling that is by developing a videogame set in the world.”

With Christopher Nolan overlooking the creation of the game, with its own storyline not necessarily linked to that of the movie, the game’s prospects look very good, and we certainly shouldn’t write it off as “another movie tie-in” just yet.

Playstation Network Update for week of Nov 30th

Zachariah Blue

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December 1, 2010