Welcome to Sarif Industries, home of the future revolution and otherwise viral marketing website to Deus Ex : Human Revolution. The site went live only in the last 2 days in a very sneaky attempt to drum up some interest in one of the sexiest games of 2011. Fake news sites ,are nothing new with Bioshock 2 a shocker this year, even planting fake evidence around the Australian coastline. Take some time though to sift through the site, because the hype, couldn’t be cooler.
Firstly, might I add that someones been playing too much Assassins Creed! The music for the viral site is epic, but the tone and look, well it looks like it ripped off another game really. Highly slick, you can find out about a lot of the augmentations for the main character Adam Jensen during the game. Clicking through will give some rather nifty images of the augs as well as info on each one and the part of the body they came from.
One of the innovations of the first Deus Ex was body part specific damage and weight (ie shooting out the legs meant you had to crawl!) so hopes are high that this will return.
Even better at the moment is a taste of the rather complex hacking mini game that is part of the whole deal, and successfully completing it will reveal some neat details on the already announced and featured body mods and special kill weapons for Adam. SPOILERS are below:
– Arm Blade (for melee dual and backward kills)
-Cloak (for invisibility and stealth kills)
-Claymore rounds (multiples sprayed out in all directions)
-Dermal Armour (‘sheild’ for landing on high)
We could spend a lot more time dissecting the site, the art direction, how the stark white and red conflicts with the golden brown tones seen previous how this is probably similar to some computer interfaces in the game, but only part of it… but we will let you look for yourselves over at sarifindustries.com
Pandora Hearts Volume 1 Produced by: Xebec Licensed by: NIS America Contents: 2 DVDs containing episodes 1-13, Special Features, Premium Edition Box, and Art Book Language: Japanese with English subtitles Official Website:Pandora Hearts Price: $43.99-47.99 Available for purchase at:NIS America’s Online Store, Anime Castle, Right Stuf, and The Anime Corner Store
Overview:
What happens when you combine the Alice in Wonderland story type with characters taken out of a Victorian styled era with some creepy dolls and fighting sprinkled in? Well you will be getting Pandora Hearts out of Japan. This isn’t your standard retelling of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland however, but that doesn’t mean that fans of the storyline or just Alice in Wonderland in general shouldn’t be ready to jump all over this one. Coming to us from Xebec Anime Studio and NIS America Pandora Hearts looks to set itself a step above your average white rabbit involving media.
Art:
Viewers will not be disappointed as they begin Pandora Hearts as they are soon treated to very well drawn backgrounds and well-designed characters. One of the most strikingly designed areas is within the Abyss itself when you are brought into a world full of scary dolls that appear to look into your soul all while you’re watching the show itself.
The overall theme of the series is easily recognizable as Victorian era as the clothing all the characters wear and their environments are similar to that time period. Many of the environments may appear drab at first but can easily be seen as very well drawn pieces of work that use real to life coloring that provides a top of the line appearance and that is simply the background. Women wear dresses which bring out the gothic lolita appeal and with frilly dresses and styles the Victorian transformation is complete. Men also get the same treatment, thankfully minus the dresses, with clothing styled right out of the Victorian era, frills and all.
Another thing that people may notice is that when they begin watching they will notice that the picture is grainy. No this isn’t a badly enlarged video, it is a stylistic choice made by Xebec themselves. Xebec chose to use a film grain effect throughout Pandora Hearts so that it would not only give it an old-style feel but also to heighten the themes. This grain effect, while an artistic choice, can be off putting as some viewers may have preferred a crisp image instead of the grain effect. It does add to the viewing experience if you appreciate it, but can take away from it at the same time.
Audio & Subtitles:
If you like Japanese voice work in your anime then you are in luck because Pandora Hearts keeps the original voices and Japanese dialogue from the show and instead NISA has placed English subtitles at the bottom of the screen. This is preferable on my standpoint as English dubbing can not only lead to changed meaning, but very poor performances and unsynched character actions. Which means that the subtitles provide a better experience.
Pandora Heart’s soundtrack is handled by Yuki Kajiura and her music is hard to describe in any other word than stunning. Nearly every scene that you watch will have her music playing in the background which give the feeling that the viewer is about to be drawn into the experience with her mastery of musical themes. Whether it is suspense, drama, action, or heartfelt scenes there is a musical score to go along with it.
The subtitles themselves are a white font that is easy on the eyes, unlike the yellow font which is used occasionally in other works. The subtitles are unobtrusive and don’t get in the way of the scenes at all which is a must for subbing work. There is even Opening and Ending theme translations with Japanese wording above if you feel like a little karaoke.
Story:
Pandora Hearts originally was a manga drawn by Jun Mochizuki and the Anime itself is based around the manga. Pandora Hearts focuses around the tale of Oz Vessalius, Alice (also known as Black Rabbit), and Oz’s servant Gilbert. There are plenty of moments where the story could have changed into something chopped up and broken with little flow and connection but thankfully the show sticks true to the fluid story movement mixed in with action sequences occasionally to keep the suspense going.
The world itself that the story takes place in is similar to what one would expect in a Medieval Era Europe with four different dukes and their families who have certain abilities that grant them powers. Now Oz is turning fifteen years old and that is when the Vessalius family performs something called the Coming of Age Ceremony. Oz however takes his servant Gilbert to play outside but Oz discovers a grave with a pocket watch and a cross on it.
After picking up the objects Oz sees a vision full of very creepy dolls and a mysterious girl that wants to take his life. After being shaken out of his vision by Gilbert he returns home with the pocket watch. But things are not right as the Coming of Age Ceremony is interrupted by red hooded people called The Citizens of Baskerville. They attack Oz and claim that his whole existence is a sin and perform a spell to rid the world of his presence.
Oz is sent into another dimension known as The Abyss by the spell. Remember earlier when there was mention of Alice in Wonderland and how Pandora Hearts has themes involved with it? Well The Abyss can be seen as the rabbit hole that Alice falls down, and the rabbit she finds ends up turning into something completely different. In Pandora Hearts the rabbit that Oz finds actually is a humanoid Black Rabbit named Alice.
Now inside of The Abyss not only does Oz have to deal with the fact that there are creatures within The Abyss known as Chains that want to kill him, but the fact that he is trapped there as well. This all changes when he is saved by a Black Rabbit named Alice. Alice is also a Chain and chooses to form a contract with Oz so that she can protect both herself and Oz before returning home via a magical portal from the pocket watch. They leave The Abyss only to find that much has changed since they’ve been gone, including the fact that ten years have passed.
With all of the mysteries abounding right off the bat it creates a web of story that the viewer will constantly be watching for the next answer so that they will be able to solve at least one mystery. Who exactly is Oz and why is his existence a sin? Add this to the fact that characters occasionally get flashbacks specific to themselves and just the character interaction in general with one another leads to quite an entertaining experience.
Premium Edition:
Now this isn’t called a premium edition for nothing. Pandora Hearts Volume 1 Premium Edition comes with a handful of special additions that are not simply your standard premium additions, but great add-ons that enhance the experience.
The whole package itself comes in an oversized hard black box that has a portrait style image on one side featuring three characters: Oz, Alice, and Gil. The other side features the wording Pandora Hearts Volume 1 Premium Edition in white print and white ivy along the top and bottom. This package contains two DVDs and an artbook. One thing that some may find troubling is the fact that the oversized packaging of the premium edition will make it difficult to place alongside your other DVDs, but who would want to hide them away on a shelf anyways?
The two DVDs contain 7 episodes on disc 1 and 6 on disc 2 with disc 2 featuring the special features. The special features include 5 different omake that are very humorous with gags and fourth wall breaking actions. Another special feature is both the Opening and Ending sequence without the credits so you can watch them cleanly.
The true prize of the Premium Edition however is the art book. The art book is hardcover and reads right to left instead of your standard left to right. It contains full backgrounds of the different characters within the series and even goes so far as to describe the clothing they wear. There is also a full vocabulary list for reference in case viewers become lost as to something’s meaning within the series. Also there are beautiful full color illustrations of characters from Pandora Hearts that are a sight to see. Before you reach the end of the book however you will come across a small manga story that has been fully translated to English. The manga involves Gil and is mainly for laughs.
Overall:
Pandora Hearts creates an intriguing viewing experience that sets the world in a gothic environment with Victorian touches upon the creepy aspect of both all the while keeping things fun and enjoyable with the comedic character interactions. With the Grain effect applied some may be put off by the Pandora Hearts’ appearance, but in the end it truly adds to the experience and it would be a pity to pass it up for a simple reason such as that.
The storyline itself is a web of mystery that is woven as you watch more and more, wrapping itself around you until it is too late to escape the fact that you can’t stop yourself. While different pieces of the story obviously relate to Alice in Wonderland the references aren’t overtly thrown in for no reason. With this being a two volume series fans will easily be clamoring for the second volume to arrive so they can continue to delve deeper into the web of mystery.
MasterAbbott is back again with another of his World Famous unboxings !! This time I’m gonna take you through the Gran Turismo 5 Special Edition Media kit sent out by Sony Computer Entertainment.
This amazing kit comes with a review copy of the game plus an extra media disk jam packed full of goodies, an ultra cool GT keyring and a very sleek coffee table art book showcasing some of the best cars within the game !!
Sony and Polyphony Digital have outdone themselves this time with this fantastic gift to the media.
Enjoy the video below and let us know what you think of it.
If you haven’t already checked out our review for Gran Turismo 5. Click on the link here.
So lets go back on what we know. We know that Imageepoch and NIS America have announced a partnership with one another. With this partnership all of Imageepoch’s previously announced games such as Black Rock Shooter: The Game, Tale of the Last Promise, and Chevalier Saga Tactics at least, may be localized for a North American and European release. We’ve even already heard what Imageepoch’s CEO Ryoei Mikage had to say about the partnership with his high hopes. But what about NIS President Haru Akenaga?
After confirming the partnership with Imageepoch Haru Akenaga stated:
“I am excited about revealing the announcement that we are going into a partnership with Imageepoch. I am attracted by their philosophy of creating games. Imageepoch is already a distinguished videogame developer in Japan. Not only that, but it is my firm belief that their future titles will fascinate JRPG fans in the US and Europe in the near future.”
Not only is this great news for Imageepoch and NISA but also for all of us who enjoy JRPGs and wish that they would be localized more and receive the extra attention that they deserve. Plenty of games unfortunately go unnoticed in the West simply due to a lack of support among publishers, but with this news hopefully this is a sign of things to come.
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.
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 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!
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
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.
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.
