SYMMETRYis a survival management game set in a retro-futuristic, sci-fi universe is now available Steam (PC and MAC) for £8.99/$11.99/9.99 EUR and on PlayStation 4 for £12.99/ $17.99 USD/14.99 EUR. It will release on Xbox One on February 23rd, 2018 for £12.99/$17.99 USD/14.99 EUR.
Developed by Sleepless Clinic and published by IMGN.PRO, SYMMETRYcombines an ominous sci-fi storyline with life or death consequences, with an atmospheric score that sustains the harsh realities, with hand-drawn pastel Vector graphics to give the game a feeling of mystery and highlight the severity of the deserted world.
In SYMMETRY, the main goal is to manage a team of survivors whose spaceship has crashed on an abandoned planet, light years from help. Players must help the crew withstand the desolate, freezing cold environment and unpredictable weather that is unsuitable for human life while safely and quickly fix their spaceship and escape. Time is of the essence. Everyone’s safety is essential. Life functions are critical. Overseeing resources is vital. One wrong choice, someone dies. Run out of time, someone dies. And when one of the survivors die, you must make the ultimate decision, dispose of the body, or cannibalize it.
SYMMETRY Game Features
Gameplay:
Race against time while gathering all parts required to repair the spaceship.
Survival-management in extremely hostile conditions.
Avoid extreme weather conditions and life-threatening supernatural activities.
Different needs to satisfy: nutrition, physical condition, and mental health
Additional ‘Survival’ endless gameplay mode unlocked once the main mission is accomplished.
Replayability:
Randomly assigned crew members possess different skills and stories in each gameplay.
Implement various strategies to beat the game.
Develop new skills like Botanics or power plant operations.
Ubisoft’s Discovery Tour by Assassin’s Creed: Ancient Egypt is a new educational and entertainment tool, which lets anyone explore the entire interactive 3D recreation of Ancient Egypt in Assassin’s Creed Origins, free of conflict, time pressure or gameplay constraints. The Discovery Tour by Assassin’s Creed: Ancient Egypt releases on tomorrow (February 20th, 2018) on PS4, Xbox and PC,at no cost for all owners of the Assassin’s Creed Origins game, and it will also be available independently from the game on PC via the Uplay and Steam platforms for £15.99.
From Alexandria to Memphis, the Nile Delta to the Sand Sea, the Giza plateau to the Faiyum Oasis, the Discovery Tour by Assassin’s Creed: Ancient Egypt lets visitors either explore the rich world of Ancient Egypt at their will or follow the 75 themed tours devised by Ubisoft’s creative teams in collaboration with History experts and Egyptologists.
“With the Discovery Tour by Assassin’s Creed: Ancient Egypt, we give everyone interested in Ancient Egypt the chanceto enjoy its beauty and the realisation that video games can be a source of inspiring knowledge,” explains Jean Guesdon, Creative Director of Assassin’s Creed Origins and the Discovery Tour by Assassin’s Creed: Ancient Egypt.
Discovery Tour by Assassin’s Creed: Ancient Egypt is a unique experience at the intersection of entertainment and learning. Interactivity, specific to the world of video games, is at the heart of the experience, creating strong engagement with the content. This makes the Discovery Tour by Assassin’s Creed: Ancient Egypt a completely new type of edutainment tool.
“We’ve been in touch with teachers from the very first instalment of Assassin’s Creed games. Many of them already used the games during their History classes but soon came to realise that what they needed was an easily accessible educative tool based in our historical reconstructions,” explains Maxime Durand, in-house Historian at Ubisoft Montreal. “With the Discovery Tour by Assassin’s Creed: Ancient Egypt, you can visualise and understand thousands of things from Egyptian history in their actual context. As both a game and a learning tool, it is quite a unique asset for teachers to integrate as part of their history classes.”
The Incredibles are back – Elastigirl may have hung up her Supersuit when the Supers were lying low, but in “Incredibles 2,” she’s recruited to lead a campaign to bring them back into the spotlight.
With the full support of her family behind her, Helen finds she’s still at the top of her game when it comes to fighting crime.
Featuring the voice of Holly Hunter as Helen Parr aka Elastigirl, “Incredibles 2” opens in U.K. cinemas July 13
Nintendo Labo for Nintendo Switch, a line of interactive build-and-play experiences designed to inspire imagination and discovery in creative minds and playful hearts alike. Today, Nintendo revealed some additional features for the first two Nintendo Labo kits – the Variety Kit and the Robot Kit – which launch across Europe on April 27th.
One new feature that is part of the software included with each Nintendo Labo kit is Toy-Con Garage. This mode introduces simple principles of technology in a fun and accessible way, allowing players to combine various simple inputs and outputs to invent their own new ways to play.
In addition to Toy-Con Garage, the Toy-Con creations in each kit offer numerous ways to have fun as players make, play and discover different experiences.
Variety Kit
Toy-Con Piano: After assembling a 13-key piano, players can host an impromptu recital or record their own songs and play them back for their biggest fans-in-the-making. Experimenting with different sounds and pitches can lead to something truly unique – even a song composed entirely of cat noises!
Toy-Con Motorbike: Players can grab hold of their newly constructed handlebars and race through different tracks, challenging CPU opponents or collecting balloons across mountainous terrain. Creative types can even create their own custom tracks!
Toy-Con Fishing Rod: There are many exotic fish to discover, and some of the deep-ocean fish are particularly tricky to catch. Aquarium mode allows players to show off their collection and have fun creating their own fish**.
Toy-Con House: Players befriend the cute creature living in Toy-Con House and discover different ways to interact and play with it on the Nintendo Switch screen. There are a variety of experiences to discover, including mine cart races, bowling, and playing jump rope.
Toy-Con RC Car: The RC Car is full of unique and surprising features. Since the Variety Kit includes materials to build two Toy-Con RC Cars, players can compete in a sumo challenge to try to knock their opponent’s RC Car over, race against a friend, or set up obstacle courses.* Creating a path using the reflective stickers included in the kit allows the car to self-drive along a specific route using the IR Motion Camera on the Right Joy-Con controller.
Players can build their own wearable Toy-Con Robot suit and assume control of a giant in-game robot, completing challenges and destroying objects to unlock powerful new abilities.
Competitive players can even challenge a friend* in two-player local battles An additional Robot Kit is required for local co-op mode.*
Nintendo Labo encourages players to use their imagination and creativity to customise their cardboard Toy-Con creations in a variety of ways, and the Robot Kit even allows them to customise and level-up the in-game robot.
Bandai NamcoEntertainment and Numskull Designs have announce the official merchandise range to coincide with the forthcoming video game release Ni no Kuni II: REVENANT KINGDOM , which launches on PlayStation 4 and PC on March 23rd, 2018.
The prequel to the cult classic role-playing video game developed by Level-5, Ni no Kuni II: REVENANT KINGDOM tells the charming and tragic tale of Evan, a boy prince who learns how to become a leader with the help of the quirky characters he meets on his journey to rebuild his kingdom. With music by renowned composer Joe Hisaishi and designs by animation artist Yoshiyuki Momose, stunning visuals recreate the world of Ni no Kuni to immerse players in a vibrant, animated land full of adventure.
In conjunction with Bandai Namco Entertainment, Numskull will be releasing a unique range of collectables, wearables, and more than fans of the series will be eager to represent, with the range available for pre-order from today.
Major high street and online retailers will heavily support the range, which consists of:
·Limited Edition set of 13 pin badges ·Two different designs of drawstring bags ·Heat reactive mug & world map design mug ·Set of 12 charms ·4 T-shirt designs ·Keychains and magnets
LIMITED EDITION PIN BADGE SET
One of the highlights of the range is this limited edition official pin badge set, containing 13 collectable high-quality pins representing some of the many characters you’ll meet in-game. Evan, Roland, Tani, Lofty, Batu, Leander, Bracken, and The Higgledies are all displayed in a colourful chest, although fans may not be able to resist wearing their favourite characters on their backpacks or shirt.
This is the ultimate collector’s item for Ni no Kuni fans.
Ni no Kuni II Artwork Drawstring Bag
Featuring the gorgeous cover artwork and logo from the game, this easy-opening drawstring bag is perfect for carrying personal belongings of all sorts and is an ideal collectable for devoted fans of the Ni no Kuni franchise.
To kick-start the return of Dara O Briain’s Go 8 Bit, which airs Monday 12th February at 10pm on Dave, the home of TV comedy has surveyed 1,000 gamers to uncover the positive effects gaming has on the lives of its players.
The brand new third series; hosted by Dara O Briain alongside team captains Steve McNeil and Sam Pamphilon and resident games expert Ellie Gibson; sees the likes of Gregg Wallace, Jodie Kidd, Jonathan Ross, Nish Kumar and Katherine Ryan take each other on at classic and contemporary games.
Go 8 Bit’s up-beat style goes a long way to showcasing the fun side of gaming, and with 3 in 5 gamers believing gaming is misrepresented, this new research shines a light on the benefits of gaming that are not widely discussed – such as helping gamers escape from everyday issues; encouraging gamers to make friends both on & offline; and giving gamers a boost by winning.
The study has revealed that 3 in 10 gamers believe playing video games has helped them to process or deal with a mental health issue or concern. Furthermore, when it comes to why gamers want to switch their console on in the first place, the research found that fifty-five per cent play video games predominantly do so because the activity helps them to unwind and relieve stress after a tough time. With 1 in 2 admitting they value gaming as a method of escapism to process the worries of daily life, it’s clear to see that gaming can have encouraging effects.
Despite all these positive findings, up to 43% of the gamers surveyed still feel that it’s presented as an antisocial activity, rather than as a way to improve social skills or mental health.
As shown on Go 8 Bit; where celebrities battle each other and build friendships over games; from Super Mario Kart to Football Manager; not only do games boost gamers’ happiness, but the research uncovered that it is actually a brilliant gateway to friendship building. From playing together, talking about games outside of taking part and sharing tips and tricks – 3 in 5 of those polled play specifically to connect with friends and have established their ‘clan’ to play with.
Likewise, it was found that the average gamer has made a minimum of three friends through gaming, either by playing together or via the surrounding community and culture.
Luke Hales, Dave General Manager, said: “We’ve loved watching stars come together and unleash their competitive sides across the three series of Dara O Briain’s Go 8 Bit to date. But this survey is incredibly revealing in showing the positive mental benefits of getting together for a gaming session.”
Season 3 of Dara O Briain’s Go 8 Bit launches Monday 12th February at 10pm only on Dave, and is available to preview now on UKTV Play.
With My Fairy Garden, children can imagine, create, nurture and grow their own fairy garden.
My Fairy Garden is a collectable girl’s range that encourages interaction with nature through play. The kits offer children a delightful experience of imaginative open-ended play whilst discovering the magic of growing real plants.
There are cute little flowerpot fairy homes, fairy doors to place in your house to allow fairies to enter and Fairy Tale stories to encourage children’s imaginations! Make your child’s bedroom an enchanted place with these magical toys!
What’s in the box?
Each box contains everything you need to start your own Fairy Garden.
Follow the activity guide to learn how to create a beautiful living fairy garden with the grass seeds provided.
Fairy Garden is a Grow & Play play set that includes everything you need to make Fairy Belle and her mouse friend feel at home; just add imagination and a little sprinkling of the fairy dust!
Grass seeds are provided to create a beautiful living garden for your fairy and her mouse companion.
The kit comes with a shell water feature, washing line, mushroom, plastic flowers and gravel for a path.
Add more features by making your own garden furniture out of recycled materials.
Fairy Garden is available now priced £14.99.
Just one of the many collectible My Fairy Garden kits available from Interplay.
Apogee and Sennheiser have announced the co-developed Sennheiser AMBEO SMART HEADSET is now available at Apple.com/uk and Apple Stores in Europe. Perfect for capturing and sharing memories, the AMBEO SMART HEADSET connects to the Lightning connector on your iPhone or iPad and lets you create videos with an immersive, life-like 3D sound that places the viewer at the heart of the moment. The AMBEO SMART HEADSET also features a high fidelity listening experience plus the ability to blend in surrounding sound or tune it out. This new all-black version of AMBEO SMART HEADSET is exclusively available on Apple.com/uk and in Apple Stores.
Capture the world as you hear it with immersive 3D sound
Use AMBEO SMART HEADSET when recording videos using the iOS Camera App to add 3D immersive sound. Whether you’re traveling the world, at a concert or at home, sound recorded with the AMBEO SMART HEADSET will place the listener inside the soundscape of the location. Listening back to the recordings created with AMBEO SMART HEADSET through any stereo headphones will immerse you in stunning 3D sound, replicating the spatial direction and the feeling of the original experience.
Sound recorded with the AMBEO SMART HEADSET will place the listener inside the soundscape of the location.
Blend the sounds around you with your music – or tune them out
Using the AMBEO SMART HEADSET’s built-in mics, the Transparent Hearing feature lets you hear outside sounds to create the perfect balance between your surroundings and your music. This is ideal for bikers, walkers, joggers and anyone else who wants to be aware of what is going on around them without removing their headphones.
When it’s time to tune out your environment, the AMBEO SMART HEADSET’s Active Noise Cancellation blocks distracting sounds around you so you can enjoy your music and videos.
Listen to music or videos with high fidelity sound
Inspired by Sennheiser and Apogee’s combined 100-year history of audio excellence, AMBEO SMART HEADSET delivers exceptional sound quality for listening to music or videos
Make and receive phone calls
The AMBEO SMART HEADSET includes an additional built-in microphone so that you can answer calls. Additionally, using voice control, you can activate Siri on your iOS device at any time.
Highlights
Built-in professional microphones for 3D audio recording to capture sounds like you hear them
Effortless recording with any App that captures stereo audio, including iOS Camera App
Transparent Hearing lets you hear the sounds around you and blend them with audio from your iPhone
Active Noise Cancellation blocks distractions in your surroundings
Additional telephone mic lets you take calls and operate voice control on iPhone
High-quality headphones with signature Sennheiser sound
Headphones with Lightning connection for iPhone and iPad (MFi certified by Apple)
Apogee’s proprietary Soft Limit and mic preamp plus precisely tuned A/D and D/A conversion
Available in black or white (black version is exclusively available at Apple)
The black version of the AMBEO SMART HEADSET is now available for £249.99 at www.apple.com/uk/shopApple.com and in Apple Stores.
When Cable and Deadpool meet for the first time, After surviving a near-fatal bovine attack, a disfigured cafeteria chef (Wade Wilson) struggles to fulfil his dream of becoming Mayberry’s hottest bartender while also learning to cope with his lost sense of taste.
Searching to regain his spice for life, as well as a flux capacitor, Wade must battle ninjas, the yakuza, and a pack of sexually aggressive canines, as he journeys around the world to discover the importance of family, friendship, and flavour – finding a new taste for adventure and earning the coveted coffee mug title of World’s Best Lover.
I think Deadpool wrote this article can someone please stop him now.
Deadpool 2 is out in the cinema in the UK 16th May.
I have followed the Dragon Ball anime series all the way through my adulthood and loved every fight, character and saga over the decades that have both thrilled me and inspired my love of fighting games. That said, when it came to this series crossing over into my other passion of fighting video games, it always left me a little wanting. Till now that is as for the first time there is a Dragon Ball video game that not only kicks the butt of the entire fighting game genre into a new level but also delivers the close to perfect Dragon Ball experience I could have in a game. I am so happy to be another one on the band wagon singing the praises of Dragon Ball FighterZ and I am going to tell you why this game is perhaps the most refreshing fighting game in recent years.
It is a rare thing for me to say a game is the total package but boy does Dragon Ball FighterZ deserve that title as it offers so much content for those who like the single player experience and it certainly delivers a competitive and rewarding online experience for more experience fighting game players. It packs so much into this game but it never once forgets the little details that a game based on such an iconic anime series like Dragon Ball should have in order to bring an immersive experience that can enhance it for those who are fans of the series and know it intimately but also at the very same time to still be accessible to new comers to both Dragon Ball and the 3 on 3 tag team style of fighting game.
So I will start with the single player content and no finer place to start than the surprisingly awesome Story mode which comes in the form of three story arcs, each telling the main story but from different perspectives to it. The first focuses on Goku and our heroes as they discover that the world has been ransacked by clones of all the Z fighters and Villains from Dragon Ball history with no explanation as to where they came from or why they are here. To top it off the big bad super villains in Frieza and Cell have been restored back to life along with the Ginyu Force so our heroes are facing a dangerous threat which they must investigate and stop. The big element here comes in the form of mysterious energy waves which have blocked everyone from accessing their powers making them unable to fight as they normally would. Goku then discovers that a human soul has somehow been linked to him and has control of his body and that this soul is able to use his powers so now Goku must rely on the soul to do the fighting for him.
What struck me straight away are the visuals to the game which are so close in quality to the anime itself that it feels like you are part of and making your own Dragon Ball anime series. Combine that with the original English and Japanese voice cast reprising their characters for the game adds purity that many other fighting games lack. But it is the visuals and animation that capture all the little nuances of each character so brilliantly you would as a fan, truly feel as though this is the animation series and not a bespoke creation just for the game. The dialogue between the characters is so much fun as they reference things from the Dragon Ball history such as previous battles with each other to the wonderful way in which the characters deal with meeting their own clones just before a fight. There are so many nods for fans to appreciate but at the same time it also takes the time to give some context for anyone knew or unfamiliar with Dragon Ball in order for them to get the joke the next time such as how the Ginyu Force like to perform a dance before each fight ending with a classic hero team pose which Frieza constantly stops them from doing and at one point Goku himself even asks Frieza why they perform this dance for a really funny moment between them. So when the Ginyu Force actually perform their dance when they are introduced, it gives the player and audience that context needed whilst those like me who know them from the anime get it straight away and it is just smiles all round.
Each story arc has chapters which come in the form of a series of cut scenes that progress the story as you fight your way through that chapter’s map. Now this was a little strange to start with but essentially each chapter takes the form of a board which you have a limited about of movements to move around the map, completing the fights there before reaching the boss fight for that map. Majority of the fights are just standard kicking the crap out of a team of clones but every so often you will be given the chance to rescue a main character who will them become available to select for your team. The more you rescue as the story progresses, the more options you have in putting your three character team together. The first arc really serves as a rather long, if still fun, tutorial which means if you have already completed the training tasks from the home hub, you will be repeating them again here and quite often throughout the first story arc which does become a little tedious after the tenth time of learning how to throw a punch. But it does work as an introduction into how the fighting system works and is instantly transferable into the competitive side.
I also really enjoyed how the story introduces a brand new character to the series in the form of Android 21, but I will avoid spoiling the story by going into her story too much here. What I also appreciated by telling the story via three different perspective is that each arc serves to build on the main story by filling in the gaps from the previous arc so for example in the second arc which tells the story from Frieza’s point of view the player gets to see what happens away from the role the heroes play with a different spin on certain cut-scenes. It is simply one of the best designed, written and executed story modes in a fighting game since Injustice 2 for me and just adds that extra element for fans. It is thoroughly enjoyable and though the pacing can be a little slow during the later arcs, there is at least ten hours of fun content to work through whilst learning the ropes to the game.
Along with the story mode comes a superb arcade mode which adapts to your performance which is graded. The higher the grade you get will move you to a level with a tougher fight than if you achieved a lower grade in the last fight. The best rewards are given for achieving and maintaining a high standard of grade throughout that arcade run. There are different runs to be picked before and then higher difficulty versions are unlocked are completing them first time out. This is a great follow up and also a way to play the game if the online competitive side is not your thing and a great way of testing out different characters to see how they work together whilst perfecting your own fighting style.
Which brings me to the fighting system itself and if you are familiar with the tag team style of fighters then you can really sink your teeth into this right away. This system has clearly learned from other tag team style games such as MARVEL Vs Capcom and taken the best aspects and then improved them to a new level here. You pick three characters, each with their own special moves and combos and they can be switched out using the LB and LT buttons. A quick press will call that character in for a quick assistance in an attack and holding them down will tag them in to take over. It also has a instinctive auto-combo system which by pressing a move button repeatedly will start a combo right away, so even if you are not the best at remembering long combo strings, can give the satisfaction of delivering a big combo. The beauty is that this does not prevent more experienced or high level players from putting together their own combos by linking these together and mixing them up for some staggering and deadly combinations but by having this auto-combo system to let in players of all levels it just makes this an experience for everyone to enjoy.
The visuals again come into play here as all the iconic super moves and special moves of the characters have been so beautifully recreated for the game that every explosion and KO animation is just a delight and exciting moment every time they are on screen. Such attention to detail has been put into each character and their moves that there really is a huge joy when you complete a fight with a big Destructive Finish animation or when you smash an opponent off screen into a building or mountain just as they would in the anime. The control system is so accessible as well that soon you will be mastering the moves and leaving the practice down to selecting which three characters suit you best but also compliment each other the best which is why the excellent training area in the home hub as well as the arcade mode play such a crucial part in getting the best from this game.
The ultimate challenge comes in the online competitive fighting where players take their best teams and go up against other players. With the traditional ranked and casual matches available, I found that currently the online is a much smoother experience than at launch, something that the developers acknowledged due to the unexpected surge of players to the game but thankfully, issues with matchmaking and the only lobby system seems to have been resolved for the most part. I only experienced a few times where the game put me in matches with players of a much higher rank which just gave me a butt whooping to remember but overall the online is a very stable environment to enjoy and to really hone and test your skills against other players. It even has a replay system where you can download and view your own matches and those of other players adding another way to learn new techniques from other players or just revisit your own matches.
Dragon Ball FighterZ is the tag team style game I have been waiting for, especially with the dismal last MARVEL Vs Capcom Infinite title. It brings the Dragon Ball series up to date and refreshes the genre to such a degree that it really came as no surprise today to learn that this years EVO 2018 eSports Fighting Tournament has included Dragon Ball FighterZ in the line up, which is a massive thumbs up to the hard work that has clearly gone into perfecting this fighting system, highlighted again by the fact that for the first time that the MARVEL Vs Capcom series has been dropped. This game has won over hardcore fighting players and newcomers alike and the manner in which is showcases everything that makes Dragon Ball so amazing for fans of the anime and video games is something to be celebrated.
With DLC plans to add to the roster even more characters, including some from the current Dragon Ball Super anime saga and you have a fighting game that has hit the ground running and is only going to get better for players to enjoy. It has been such a real joy to play this and it has already become my go to fighting game both online and offline as I really enjoy the Arcade mode. Dragon Ball FighterZ really is the complete package for Dragon Ball fans and for fighting game fans that it deserves all the high praise it has already received and of being included in the EVO 2018 lineup.
My dreams of taking Goku and Vegetta into battle against Kid Buu, Frieza and Cell have been realised and if the DLC can continue to bring more iconic characters from the series into the game, I am going to be a very happy man indeed. It is almost as if I found all the Dragon Balls, summoned the Great Shenron and made a wish that this game would be in my console.
