[3DS] The purple 3DS is a thing that is actually coming out

[3DS] The purple 3DS is a thing that is actually coming out
What's that? You want another 3DS colour... well then, Nintendo have brilliant news for you!! As of the 20th of May eager fans will be able to get their hands on the new 'Midnight Purple' coloured 3DS.
What comes out the same day? Mario Tennis Open of course!! It will sell for the usual $169.99 in the United States at launch and is the perfect excuse to dip your toe into the 3DS pool if you haven't yet. I'm quite jealous of this colour, looks very nice.

Written by: Kyran Morrison

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Super Smash Bros for Wii U and 3DS Update!

Jordan Velez

Writer

Now that Super Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai is finished with Kid Icarus: Uprising, he can finally focus on the new highly anticipated Wii U and 3DS Smash titles. Production for the two games just started, so hopefully they will unveil some sort of news at this years E3. In a recent email interview with IGN’s Richard George, Sakurai speaks about the new titles.

“I intend to change direction a little as we go, the key to that’s going to be its dual support for 3DS/Wii U.” said Sakurai.

Nintendo’s global president, Satoru Iwata, also spoke about the linking of the 3DS and Wii U, and how it has interested him from the beginning.

“I’m really just getting started on this so it’s going to take time, but I’ll come up with something that uses that link as the game’s central axis, so I hope you’re looking forward to it.”

Since development has just started, we will most likely not hear of a release date for the time being. I’m extremely excited for these games, and Sakurai will not disappoint. Especially considering their dedication, and the time his team puts into their projects. We will update you as the Smash news comes along, so stay tuned folks!

Source: IGN

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[PC] Review Roundup - Risen 2: Dark Waters

[PC] Review Roundup - Risen 2: Dark Waters
GameTrailers - 6.7/10 - "Risen 2 has more than a few issues, but there's plenty of buried treasure waiting here for players who are willing to dig for it. Unfortunately, the excavation is demanding, and the slaphappy combat and bland quest structure might prove too overpowering for players who want to sample one of the few examples of a genuine pirate roleplaying game. Suffer through the worst of it, though, and you might find that walking the plank isn't so bad after all."

Game Informer - 6/10 - "Seeing the promise that occasionally shines through Risen 2’s many flaws is disheartening. Collecting crewmembers could have been great, if they were any more than occasional quest objectives and distractions in combat. The animations for parries and counterattacks are wonderful in the five percent of fights where you get to take advantage of them. The world itself is stunningly beautiful at times, but content players are able to interact with meaningfully is thin on the ground. As much as I wanted to love it, Risen 2 ends up as another entry in the long list of games with a great premise, a few interesting ideas, and an unforgivable anchor dragging the whole thing down."

Destructoid - 7/10 - "What Piranha Bytes has developed could have been a thoroughly supreme game, one that could have gone toe to toe with the heavyweights of action role-playing. Due to a number of highly questionable design decisions, however, a lot of that potential has withered away. With so much lost, it's perhaps a testament to how talented the team secretly is that Risen 2 is still packed with fun in the face of truly inhibiting setbacks. That deserves a modest round of applause, at the very least. "

IGN - 6.5/10 - "It's Piranha Bytes' most accessible game yet, and though its style and boorish, humorous dialogue fit well with the pirate motif, it's a role-playing experience that uses convention as a crutch and marginalizes or strips away a lot of elements that made the studio's past games stand out. Disappointing character development options, sloppy combat and run-of-the-mill questing structures often make Dark Waters more of a chore to play than it should be, and exploration isn't nearly exciting enough to make up for its many flaws. If you desperately to role-play as a pirate, you certainly can in Risen 2, but you'll also find little that's memorable, and a multitude of poorly implemented ideas and missed opportunities."

RPGFan - 58/100 - "I'm rarely disgusted after beating a game. Risen 2 left me aghast, and I'm not even a pirate fanatic. I can't imagine the disappointment of those expecting to finally lay their hands on a quality pirate RPG. What could have been a heavily nuanced action RPG is instead a waste of potential and a cheap product. Risen 2 doesn't just leave the niche as empty as it found it. Risen 2: Dark Waters gives pirates a bad name."

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REVIEW – Spirit Camera – The Cursed Memoir

Game – Spirit Camera – The Cursed Memoir

Version – Nintendo 3DS
ESRB Rating: ‘T’ – Teen
Obtained – Loaner Review Copy Courtesy of Nintendo of America

Spirit Camera – The Cursed Memoir is a spin-off of the survival horror game series Fatal Frame.  The game is centered around a girl named Maya who has been hiding in the darkness of an old house, cursed by an evil, mysterious woman in black. To free Maya from the curse, players must use the “diary of faces” – a 16-page AR notebook included with the game – to view ghostly images and interact with the world Maya is trapped in, which just so happens to be your living room, kitchen, bathroom (if that’s your fancy) or any well lit area.

Gameplay

The game’s story mode uses the included ‘Diary of Faces’ which is a 16 page booklet.  The AR mode brings this book to life allowing the player to interact with the spirits contained within.  While exploring the house you come across Maya who has lost her memory.  She travels out of the Diary of Faces with you through the Camera Obscura.  You look for clues within the Diary of Faces to help her regain her memory and figure out why the Woman in Black is taking people’s faces.

The game primarily is in the camera mode and you interact with the Diary of Faces by focusing on the page.  Within the Diary of Faces, the player must solve the puzzles by figuring out which pages to look at, or solving different puzzles on that page.  Some pages have spirits within which have clues to why the Woman in Black is capturing people within the Diary of Faces and ripping off their faces.  Once you release a spirit, they join you in the room you are playing in.  This then becomes a Spirit Battle.  Using the gyro controls, you spin around while battling by taking pictures of the spirit.  Each timed picture does damage, and the spirit is able to do damage to the player if they get too close to them.

Controls
The controls are very simplistic; the story is mostly played through the camera mode.  That said, you can use L/R to take photos, the control pad will change your lens, A will interact with your spirit guide Maya and X will bring up the options menu.  The options menu allows you to review the items found, listen to the captured voices and view the tutorials.  It also lets you customize the sound settings and calibrate the gyro sensors.  This game also uses the gyro controls allowing the player to turn around and view their surroundings, ceiling, floor, etc.

There are some notes about the controls.  First the Diary of Faces must be on a flat surface, and in a well lit area.  This game also appeared to be harder to play at night, despite having an overhead light.  Most of the story mode must be played with the diary close by and the player will have the focus on different pages, so being near a flat surface which is well lit is a requirement.  Also, the Spirit Battles require the player to be in a position to be able to do 360s trying to battle them.  So the player should be in a spinning desk chair, or be able to stand.  This is not an ideal control scheme for the couch, a commute, or travel.

Game modes

There are 3 main modes in this game, the Story Mode, Haunted Visions and Cursed Pages.  Story Mode is your go to campaign mode.  The game automatically saves progress, so you can continue from the last save, continue from any completed scene, and as always, the beginning.  There is only 1 save file, so if the player wishes to complete the game on their own, they should not let others use the story mode option.

Next is Haunted Visions, which is just a fun way to use the 3DS’ camera.  Basically you can take pictures around your surroundings, and spirits will be added into them.  There is also a sub section to battle a spirit that appears out of one of the photographs which you took of someone.  Finally, there is the Cursed Pages, which allow you to revisit the mini-games during Story Mode.  The difficulty increases as you complete the easier iterations of them.

Visuals/3D Graphics

The visuals and 3D Graphics do a tremendous job creating and maintaining the horror atmosphere.  The spirits are pretty convincing that they are within the background of your home.  This was probably the game’s best point since the graphics look very nice and the use of the the 3D effect allows you to see some depth within the Diary and makes the spirits pop out at the player.  The spirits are very frightening looking and look pretty realistic.

Music/Sounds

The music/sound effects are another nice touch with maintaining the horror atmosphere.  The voice acting was done pretty well and the sounds are very fitting to each of the environments.  The music and sounds are required to maintain the atmosphere of the game.

Concluding Overall Impressions

While the game does a tremendous job of keeping the mood with the graphics and sounds, the game is actually surprisingly short.  It took about 6-8 hours to complete story mode and the Haunted Visions or Cursed Pages didn’t really seem to have a lot of lasting power.  The Spirit Battles were enjoyable, but also seemed somewhat easy.  It felt like the game was limited to the small booklet and most pages were just a quick scan.  With the limiting controls/surrounding requirements, it made the game more difficult to play.  I loved the concept of the game and the story was very interesting, I just felt like the game could have been better.  I would recommend this game to anyone looking for a horror experience in a well lit area or someone looking for a quick rental.

Final Score: 3.5 out of 5.

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New Play Control! Pikmin 2 lands in North America this June

by David Hinkle on Apr 24th 2012 7:30PM

Though most of us are excited for the reveal of a new Pikmin, some may still be holding out the tiniest sliver of hope for New Play Control! Pikmin 2. A scan from the latest issue of Nintendo Power (via GoNintendo) says it's coming in June.

The Wii port has been available in Europe and Japan for years now. Nothing specific is mentioned in regards to features of the New Play Control! version, but it'll pretty much be the exact same thing as the 2009 re-release for Japan and Europe.

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[PS3] Sony's God of War: Ascension livestream descends to the mortals

[PS3] Sony's God of War: Ascension livestream descends to the mortals
Want a chance to hear some people talk about God of War: Ascension as well as see some more of the game in action? Then check out the stream, thanks to the PlayStation Blog.
You can join in the fun on Twitter by using the magical #GodofWarAscension.

Written by: Kyran Morrison

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[PC] Indie horror-adventure title, Home, now available for pre-order

[PC] Indie horror-adventure title, Home, now available for pre-order
It's been a good week for indie games, first we had Lone Survivor finally get some extra spotlight on Valve's Steam network and secondly a release date has been confirmed for another indie horror-adventure game (Home).

The indie horror-adventure will be available for purchase as of June 1st, but if you are eager to pre-order then head over to the site to do so. Fans will able to choose from two options, there is a standard downloadable version for a measly $2 or a special collector's edition for $20. Both versions are also DRM free, which is a nice touch.

Be warned that the collector's edition is limited and if you want to get your hands on it then you'd best get in early just in case. It comes with some charming physical packaging, a town map + mapping tools, an old-school game manual, and exclusive game universe objects.

Check out the trailer below.

Written by: Kyran Morrison

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