Mother’s Day has come and gone, and I hope everyone put their controllers down and told your mom “Happy Mother’s Day” at least once. If you don’t have a mom, I’m sorry for you but I hope you still had a good day.
Based on where you live Mother’s day may have passed a day ago or you don’t celebrate the holiday at all. If you did celebrate it, what did everyone do for their mother on mother’s day?
My family threw a big picnic for all the mothers in my family. We all gathered and had chicken, salad, lemonade, and all the other commodities that go along with a picnic. I then spent the rest of the day watching my little brothers so that my mom could actually relax. This is extremely easy for me since all I have to do is let the two youngest ones play with all my neat stuff in my closet, and then play some splitscreen games with the other one. This lasted for about 6 hours and all my stuff was everywhere, but my mom sure enjoyed her free time. Now to start cleaning everything up.
Well that’s what Apple are saying. Finally on the 28th Of May Australian’s will finally be able to pick up the Apple iPAD in either 16, 32, or 64gb size with Wi-Fi and or also WiFi & !!
Click on the image above to be taken to the Pre-ORDER page. Pick what you want, place your order and wait patiently till it arrives. I know that the Apple Store in the Sydney CBD is going to be MAYHEM on May 28th, so make sure you pre-order it now as you won’t have any chance of picking one up on the day if you haven’t pre-ordered it. I could be wrong but it’s probably best if you really want one put a pre-order down.
For a limited time, if you buy World of Warcraft from best buy you can get the burning crusade for free. Yeah! that comes out to 1,000,000,000 hours of endless gaming for the low low price $20 USD. Normally the game and the expansion would cost a total of $50.
Seems like a good deal doesn’t it? Well it is! If you haven’t been sucked into the game of WoW yet, you should try it out. Don’t forget that it costs an extra $15 a month to play. If you don’t like it, stop playing.
If you have been following the episodes then you probably know about it already, but if you don’t download it on the Xbox 360 it is now up for your viewing pleasure on Brightfalls.Com.
If you haven’t seen all the episodes, then you can check out the first 2 on the site as well. All of these episodes are meant to warm you up for the release of Alan Wake on the 14th in Europe and the 18th in the US.
The prequel is pretty good, but the restaurant in episode 2 doesn’t seem to look the same as the one in the game. It probably doesn’t bug a lot of people, but it does bug me. “Put the Lime in the coconut!”. HAHAHA! When you play the game, you’ll understand.
MasterAbbott sat down and spoke to Jared Gerritzen, Project Lead and Game Designer over at Zombie Studios the team behind the highly anticipated Black Light : Tango Down
As always we go through the history behind Zombie Studios and then make our way over to the Black Light Tango Down. Jared has provided us with a very detailed description on Blacklight: Tango Down. Everything you need to know about the game is below.
Enjoy the interview:
Question 1 – Tell us a little bit about Zombie Studios. How were they created, the origin behind the name Zombie Studios, when was it first established, and how many employees does it have today.
Zombie has been around for almost 16 years and has designed over 30 games on every major. Our most recently released game was SAW which came from our sister team in the studio.
The development team on Blacklight: Tango Down consists of about 27 people at our offices in downtown Seattle, WA. In addition to our main team, a number of other individuals and organizations from outside Zombie have helped with the development of the game and the Blacklight franchise.
Question 2 – Could you please describe the following information about Black Light : Tango Down :
1: Style Of Game
FAST, ACTION, SHOOTER. We focused on these design directives to make the game as fun as possible. It has really worked out well for us, and kept us focused. With our development cycle this has worked out well and if something doesn’t work out and does not conform to these standards then we put it aside and move on.
The games also comes with fully customizable weapons, which will give the player a huge amount of weapon attachments and gear with which they can modify their weapons and cater to their own style of play.
2: Background story behind the game
Blacklight is a Special Forces team sent to find a missing high level military group, and they end up finding themselves in the middle of a warzone. A virus has been released on the population, turning them violent and at the same time a shadow group has assassinated the country’s president and as that group vies to place themselves in power.
We have focused the most on the world of Blacklight to give it its own life, including a thorough back-story. We’ve really broken apart why franchises work and what they need in their “secret formula”. For example the game story is just one of a few stories written for Blacklight. It’s an extremely robust world with lots of potential for new stories and plotlines.
3: Game modes and Features
Blacklight: Tango Down will have all the standard multiplayer modes you’d expect with a multiplayer shooter along with Coop modes.. Rather than trying to make a new mode or mix something together like most do, we tweaked the standard modes in ways to make them fit the Blacklight universe better. Everyone tries to make new game modes, and most never get played. We did make some game modes that we didn’t feel cut it in the “fun factor” of the game. We’ve taken the time to change up the standard modes by adding other systems to the game. For example, you can stand in the radius of the control point or you can “hack the node” of the control point by playing a quick mini game. It’s really cool and very fun how tactics have evolved out of the mini games in the game modes.
Blacklight: Tango Down is setting itself apart in many ways. Our price point of $15.00 is the most obvious. However, it’s by now means the only USP we are bringing to the FPS space. Blacklight: Tango Down is offering a fully customizable weapon system; it will have thousands of combinations for the player to tweak to create their own perfect set-up. The HRV (Hyper Reality Visor) allows all players to jump into a virtual reality mode to get intel on enemy locations and hunt them down. The HRV really gives Blacklight: Tango Down a faster pace and keeps the action moving. And those are just two things that come to mind that help set us apart from the competition. The world itself is also a huge part of the Blacklight: Tango Down experience. We’ve put a lot of creative effort into the environments and back story to make it feel new and fresh.
4: Game-play mechanic
With all the focus on the Blacklight universe, we don’t want to forget about the gameplay; which is definitely the most important. We have extremely solid systems, from the firing mechanics to weapon customization. Most of the developers on the team have come from other shooter studios and have brought their experience to the team to make the game better. We easily get caught up in matches and have to pull ourselves out of the game to get back to work. That’s a pretty amazing thing when the makers of the game look forward to playing every day.
5: It is a single player or multiplayer game
We won’t have any single player missions in BLTD – we really wanted to focus on frantic, stat based multiplayer fun
6 : Will it contain co-op
Yes we are pleased to confirm that the game will come complete with a number of exhilarating co-op missions
Question 3 – On what platforms / consoles will Black Light : Tango Down be released on.
We are looking forward to releasing Blacklight: Tango Down on XBLA, PSN and PC later this summer.
Question 4 – What do you believe will make Black Light : Tango Down stand out from the crowd of other first person shooters currently available in the market ?
We are very focused on making Blacklight: Tango Down look and feel different from our competitors, as well as adding new futures that those major franchises do not have. A large part of our confidence in competing with big games comes from the fact that we’re fans of those games ourselves. We play them and know what they have and what they don’t have. I’m a FPS guy and love Call of Duty, Halo, and Battlefield. I can honestly say Blacklight is a different game; we pulled from all of them but didn’t pull everything out of them like some of the knock-offs might do.
Blacklight: Tango Down feels comfortably familiar but is unique enough to be its own game. No one can read, hear, watch, or play the same thing over and over again. Those big names know this and that is why they are constantly releasing map packs and so forth. We do not necessarily expect players to forgo the next Call of Duty in favor of our game, though that would be great. What we do expect them to do is to go looking for something new and unique to compliment their existing game library and Blacklight: Tango Down does just that.
The competitive price tag of around 15 euros – truly sets it apart from the above mentioned games – will just further entice players to check it out.
Question 5 – How long was the development cycle for Black Light : Tango Down. Could you briefly explain the start to finish phases: storyboading, concept art, level design etc.
The idea of Blacklight: Tango Down has been in our heads for about 2 years, and the game is about a year out from its starting point. The idea for Blacklight came from the desire of Mark Long (Zombie CEO) and I wanting to develop a game that we had always wanted to make. We have both long wanted to develop a game based on current day militaries, but with the freedom of the near future while also drawing from the likes of Bladerunner and other great sci-fi movies. Luckily, we have some amazing artist that took quickly to the ideas we had in our heads and put them on paper. From there, working with the Unreal Engine, we were very quickly up and running. We started out with whiteboxed levels, and very basic gameplay spaces, but it is what we had when we started. And we immediately started playtesting. From there the game grew into what it is today.
Question 6 – What engine / technology is used in getting Black Light : Tango Down up and running on the multiple platforms you have designed it on, how many developers / programmers were involved in creating Black Light : Tango Down.
At Zombie, we have been working with UE3 for years now, and we’ve never been let down. The past year has been quite exiting with Epic releasing its own improvements to its graphic engine. In addition, we have added plenty of systems to the engine for gameplay, customization, stat tracking, and other systems (on which I can’t yet elaborate), but the engine provides a fantastic grounding on which to develop the game on.
Question 7 – Will there be any updates planned for Black Light : Tango Down after its initial release ? (extra missions, downloadable content) if so what can players expect to see.
The game is priced at most companies DLC, we see no reason to tax the player for maps. We would rather take that time and make a full new game that provides as much content and value as Blacklight: Tango Down does. Make it worth the Money. But we are definitely sticking with the Blacklight universe.
Question 8 – What were the development teams inspirations behind creating Black Light : Tango Down, what other games have played a major role (past and present) in shaping and creating this amazing game
Please see my answer to question #5
Question 9 – Trophies / Achievements are what drive a number of players to play games now-days .. How much effort was put into designing the Trophy / achievement system for Black Light : Tango Down ?
What do you think is the hardest Achievement for players to obtain ? and what can you suggest in terms of tips for players to get it.
It is crazy how achievements and trophies are so important to gamers, but we have recognized that from the outset. We have our fair share of achievement hunters on our development team too. The thought behind achievements and trophies are the same thoughts we had behind a lot of the unlocks and rewards system in blacklight: tango down. We want to reward the player for achieving various milestones in the game, ranking up etc. So a ton of effort went into designing the whole reward system of which achievements, trophies and badges are all an instrumental part.
Question 10 – What can fans of Zombie expect to see in the future in terms of new and innovative games.
We will just have to wait and see.
Question 11 – Finally.. What do you love most working at Zombie ?
The people I work with and the types of games I get to work on. The blacklight universe is the game universe that I always wanted to work in and Tango Down is hopefully just the first instalment of that.
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Capsule Computers would like to thank Jared and his dedicated team over at Zombie Studios for taking the time to answer our questions on Blacklight: Tango Down. Make sure you check back regularly once we have more information on Blacklight: Tango Down we will be sharing it with you. This also includes the review which we can’t wait to get our hands on.
Let us know what you thought of the interview, leave comment below. We are sure the team over at Zombie Studios will be really happy to hear your thoughts.
Microsoft have announced a new 250gb hard drive which will allow you to store more cool stuff on your Xbo 360. With everything moving slowly to digital downloads, and games giving you the option to install on the hard drive for better performance, a bigger hard drive is always welcome. I’m on a 120 gb and I only have 60gb left !! I think it’s time for an upgrade !!
Check out the official release below.
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – 10th May, 2010 – Available in stores today, Xbox 360 introduces the 250GB Hard Drive which offers more space to store your favourite games and entertainment content. Available for $199.99*, the 250GB Hard Drive offers more freedom to download the latest demos, Xbox LIVE Arcade games, the latest titles from Xbox Movies on Demand and more straight to your Xbox 360 console.
Xbox LIVE is the premier destination to download the best games and entertainment at the touch of a button. Xbox 360’s online service features a growing library of movies available to download or stream instantly, Facebook and Twitter – you’re bound to find something you love. With more than 525,000 Xbox LIVE subscribers across the ANZ region, it is one of the largest online communities anywhere in ANZ.
Want to express your personality and style on Xbox LIVE? With the added storage space of the 250GB Hard Drive, it makes it easy to download and save new Avatar clothes and props from your favourite clothing brands and games, including Roxy, Quiksilver, Adidas, “Halo”, “Gears of War” and more.
Game Name: Fat Princess: Fistful of Cake Platforms: Sony PSP Publisher(s):Sony Computer Entertainment Developer(s):Titan Studios Genre(s): Team Action Release Date: 4/27/2010 (US) ESRB Rating:T (Teen) Blood & Cartoon Violence Price: $39.99 (USD)
Overview
Fat Princess: Fistful of Cake is finally out on the PSP and this was made possible by the hard work put in by the people at SuperVillain Studios. It also looks much the same as the PS3 version which is a good thing. But do read on as there are some major limitations which exist in the PSP version that simply makes it “no where near as good” as the PS3 version.
– This page tell you everything about the game. Well, sorta.
There are 4 main changes made to the PSP version:
Six new levels for PSP® plus all of the original
Extended Single Player campaign
Online Multiplayer via Adhoc
New Multiplayer game modes
The basic outline of the story is simple enough. Two princesses were out in the woods, finds a HUGE cake, they eat and eat until they become the size of sumo players then gets kidnapped by the bad people and now you have to save them. Story aside, the main gameplay is no different to the capture the flag between the red and the blue team. Except that the flag is now a fat princess that the opposition team can throw pieces of cake at to make her fatter. This in turn making it more difficult for your players to transport her to the other side. It’s a non-stop killing action mayhem and that’s what this game is all about. Cute but deadly.
– Loading times can be a bit annoying.
Graphics Simply put, it looks great on the PSP. Faithful to the original, it’s colorful and still has all of that cute factor while running with no slowdowns. It obviously doesn’t look as sharp as the 1080p resolution of the PS3 version but it’s still good enough to not notice too much difference other than the size of the screen that you are playing on. Menu interface is also the same as the original and is a very easy to use interface. So I have no complaints about the graphics whatsoever.
– That’s me on the right standing next to the hat machines.
Audio/Sound
The audio part of the original is untouched from what I can hear and that’s a good thing as the sound effects and the musical score of Fat Princess really suits the game well and is not in anyway distracting or annoying. Every chapter of the single player campaign also has fully spoken story readings and little gestures and sounds that the characters make while playing definitely makes the game more lively and vibrant.
– You will be playing with yourself mostly…
Gameplay
Gameplay is what Fat Princess is all about. Class-based team play where you can be any one of 5 classes such as a Mage, Ranger, Priest, Warrior and Worker. Each class plays a key role so you need to be good at all of them to help out the team when needed. I personally like playing the Ranger as I can shoot from far away with auto-lock on the enemy using the L trigger. But sometimes, I do also help out my peers by becoming a Priest and be a healing medic. All in all, the essense of the game has moved across very well from the PS3 to the PSP. It looks, plays and feels very much the same as its bigger brother.
But on the PSP version, it is missing a very important ingredient that made the PS3 version so fun! PS3 supports 32 players online in a single map. with voice chat. PSP version however only supports 8 online players and has no voice chat support. Yes, only 4 humans per side. However, you do also get 8 computer AI players. (4 per side) So all up, there are 16 characters running around and as the maps are slightly smaller than the PS3 version, it doesn’t detract too much of the gameplay away although it definitely isn’t as fun and crazy.
– That’s a lot of blood. My blood. Doh.
I don’t know about most of you reading this, but I typically play my PSP while I’m on a train / bus to work. This means I have no online access. (in Australia at least) So online play is only possible while I’m at home. But I have my PS3 at home… So, let’s talk about single player side of things as this is where most of my time was spent with the PSP version of Fat Princess. There are 3 main types of single player gaming. Story, Offline and Survival. Story is called ‘Legend of the Fat Princess’ and consists of 15 chapters (missions). It’s basically an extended tutorial and has no replay value but is still enjoyable the first time around. The Offline type called “Mess About” is simply the main game pitting you against 23 other computer AI bots. It’s as close as you’ll get to the PS3 experience and is sometimes more fun than playing online due to having an extra 8 players on the map. Finally, the Gladiator survival game is what you expect. You are alone in a gladiator oval dome and you need to survive as many waves of enemies as possible for as long as you can. It’s a great place to level up your fighting skills on each different classes.
– This is before they got fat…
All in all, the single player experience is quite good. I don’t think they could have made it much better. However, the heart of the game lies in the online multiplayer experience and I have to say, it is not one of its highlights for the Fat Princess: Fistful of Cake on the PSP.
Pros
+ Vibrant detailed graphics
+ Smooth framerate throughout
+ Great soundtrack and effects
+ Fun, fast gameplay.
Cons – Limited to 8 online players per game
– Not enough replay value for single player campaign
– Long load times
Conclusion
Fat Princess: Fistful of Cake on the PSP is great fun and especially more so if you have not played it on the PS3. But if you have the PS3, play it on the PS3 instead. It’s a great game but just wasn’t meant to be for the PSP platform it seems.
After humble beginnings in 2001, Fullmetal Alchemist has become the third highest selling Manga of this past decade. Now after nine years of print, Yasuhiro Irie, the director of the recently rebooted anime Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood has, announced on histwitter pagethat the original creator of Fullmetal Alchemist and his crew are planning to wrap up the series within the next two monthly releases.
This is extremely unfortunate news, though followers of the Manga must have known that the end was coming shortly. Still however, once the Anime catches back up to the Manga it will also end using the exact same ending in Anime format. This series has grown so large over the years, that the fact it is finally coming to a close is going to leave a massive hole in the Manga/Anime world.
There has been issues lately of brand new Manga having a difficult time of grasping a foothold in the current market, and with the loss of Fullmetal either we will see a bunch of new stories spring up and hopefully one will turn out as great as Fullmetal did.
All I can say is, after what looks to be 109 chapters and months of work all I can say is thank you Hiromu Arakawa for the great story and thank you Square-Enix for sponsoring them. I can’t wait to see how it is going to end in July. Does anyone here follow Fullmetal? Or have seen the new Anime which has just started being shown in English on television?
If you are having a fixing for some vampire enjoyment, but don’t feel like watching what vampires have become in Twilight, then you may want to take a look at this Anime called Vampire Knight. Now is especially the time to do it because Viz Media is streaming the anime for free at their website.
At the moment of this writing there are currently only the first five episodes that are available for streaming, but more are expected to be released over time. As well as the full DVD release of the entire season in the summer.
A small summary of the plot is that a young girl named Yuki Cross has the earliest memory of being attacked by a vampire and then saved by another vampire. Ten years later Yuki is now the adopted daughter of the headmaster for a school strictly for the preservation of vampires. Not only that but Yuki’s savior is also attending the school and under her protection. What will happen when new enemies approach bent on destroying the vampires? Lemme know what you all think if you so happen to watch a few episodes.
Those of you waiting for the release of Final Fantasy IX on the PSN may still have to wait awhile longer, but at least the end may be in sight. The reason for this hope is that FFIX is going to be released on the Japanese PSN on May 20th. This news comes via a tweet from Square Enix producer Shinji Hashimoto. As well as video of the game being played via a PSP.
There still has been no official release date set yet for the rest of the world, however with a Japanese version coming within a few weeks then it is safe to say that the time for an American and European release will be following shortly after.
