For anyone living in Beijing China, M.Y. Comic 3 was on today, so it was another perfect excuse for the Capsule Computers Crew to attend and cover the event.  I have to say that the organizers for this year’s M.Y. Comic 3 did a fantastic job with planning and organizing the event.  Everything  went down without a hitch.  With special media pass tickets we were able to get in and take a look at the event floor 2 hours before the massive crowds / fans and cos players were allowed it.  And let me say, THANK THE ANIME GODS for that! Once the clock stuck 9am, the flood gates opened and it was on for young and old!

I said this last time and I’ll say it again, Cos-Play is very much alive in China as you can see with the pictures taken below (over 200 gallery images) a lot of effort and time has gone into some of these outfits which I must say were very interesting and amazingly well designed.  Cos-Play here at M.Y. Comic 3 was as good as ComicDive 6 that happened last year in Beijing.  The great thing about attending these events is you also get to know the regulars and see what new costumes they have designed, which is always very exciting if you’re a cos-play fan.

M.Y. Comic 3 was jam packed with geeks, nerds, cos-players, children, old people wanting to be cool, you name it, they were there!  The show floor was organized into two huge zones, jam packed with stalls stocked with amazing Comics and Dojinshi’s, toys, clothes and a variety of other cool stuff (see image gallery for more details) If you wanted your favorite book or comic, the plan was to make sure you knew were it was by doing your research while in the queue waiting or by checking online days before and preparing your list and memorizing stall locations and high tailing it over to them to buy whatever you needed!  As always if you blinked too many time or stopped to smell the roses by looking at all the stalls one at time to see what they had would certainly on many occasions leave you very disappointed when you finally made it to the stall where your favourite book or item would be, as it would of been sold out by then.

The event opened its doors at 9am and was still buzzing at 5pm with fans taking photos of cos-players and people still buying their last minute comics, toys etc before they were asked to vacate the show floor. As always with video games in mind, this was the perfect opportunity to bring along my trusty Nintendo 3DS hoping that I might pick a few more  street passes, and boy I sure did.  I ended up picking up over 50 + new Mii profiles, swapped puzzles in the new Puzzle Swap and also nearly finished a run through on StreetPass Quest 2,  not a bad effort at all for a days work.  I also brought along my PSVITA in the hope that the NEAR option would work, but alas, with lack of WI-FI internet in the area, this option did not work and I walked away empty handed in that department.

Check out all the great photos from today’s event below, let us know what you liked the most or which Cos-Play character you thought was the best dressed.  Our good friends Ezio & Altair from Assassin’s Creed were back again this time it looks like Ezio found the Apple of Eden!  He was very happy about that and decided not to blade me with his retractable hidden blades this time around.

(Please note, photo gallery shows 20 photos per page. There are a total of 10 pages in this gallery. Once you reach the end of page one, close and open page 2, rinse and repeat)

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

1234...8910►

If you live in Europe, you should feel lucky as The Last Story is now out for the Wii. To celebrate this monumental release, Mistwalker have produced a lengthy launch trailer, with an introduction by Final Fantasy mastermind Hironobu Sakaguchi.

After the short bit, we then get a glimpse of the gameplay, story, and the surprisingly well done voice acting. You can check out the clip in full below, and run out and grab a copy if you happen to be in the appropriate region. All of you in the U.S. however still have a wait ahead, as XSeed will be publishing The Last Story later this year.

We have a few codes to give away for the new Cut The Rope Experiments on iOS courtesy of Zeptop Lab. To win simply leave a comment on MasterAbbott’s iOS Suggestions #8 and we’ll pick a few lucky winners.

MasterAbbott’s iOS Suggestions #8

We’ll pick the lucky winners once we have a few entries. Make sure you leave a valid email when you post your comment so we can send you your code via email if you win.

Good Luck to all!

Want to know what Cut The Rope Experiments is all about? Check out our review and game play video below.

CUT THE ROPE EXPERIMENTS REVIEW

Game Play Video

If you have a Vita, you may have noticed the ongoing problems plaguing the new Facebook Application which was released last week. In order to provide a fix, Sony have now removed the app from the PS Store for the time being and released a statement to all owners that it will be “republished once the difficulties Facebook have experienced have been resolved”.

As for when Facebook will re-join the Vita, it was also mentioned that there is no time-scale at the moment, so those who are wanting to get social on their portable will just have to play the waiting game for the time being.

Cut the Rope: Experiments
Developer: ZeptoLab UK Limited
Publisher: ZeptoLab UK Limited
Platforms: iPad (Reviewed), iPhone, iPod Touch
Release Date: August 4, 2011
Price: $0.99 USD/AUD – Available Here

Overview

The original Cut the Rope earned its place on the must own list for iOS beside such classics like Angry Birds, Plants VS Zombies, and Infinity Blade with its cute visuals, thoughtful puzzles, and an addiction factor rivaling Farmville. Almost a year later, ZeptoLab brings the second iteration of the series called Cut the Rope: Experiments, which adds new gameplay elements and a slew of new puzzles.

Visuals & Audio

Cut the Rope: Experiments does not mess with the original formula of cute visuals and sound. The visuals and sounds are appealing to all ages and genders, and is child friendly. This is a bonus for parents with little ones who want to play on mom or dad’s iOS device. The game is colorful and the sound fits in perfectly with the mood of the game.

Cut the Rope: Experiments also adds the wacky Professor to the game. He will provide commentary on your performance and his observations as the game progresses. The Professor’s adds a little bit of storyline to the game and some hidden photos that can be collected in game. Although nothing ground breaking or game changing, the Professor’s commentary adds a little extra to the game that is well appreciated.

                                                          Gameplay

The premise of the game is still the same. A piece of candy hangs on a length of rope, and by manipulating the environment; you are tasked with delivering the candy to Om Nom’s mouth by means of cutting the rope. On the way, three stars will are scattered around the puzzle, ready to be collected for bonus points. At the end, you will be scored based on the time required to complete the puzzle and how many stars collected. This adds a level of difficulty and replay value to Cut the Rope: Experiments.
A game like this requires accurate touch controls, and ZeptoLab delivers. Cuts are accurate with no noticeable lag. The game hiccups once in a while during high speed movement of the camera, as it struggles to differentiate between taps and cuts. Thankfully these occurrences are rare. There have been a few game play additions to Cut the Rope: Experiments. New items such as suction cups and rope launchers add a twist the game that is well executed and fit into the theme of the game.

Overall

For gamers new to the Cut the Rope series, purchasing Cut the Rope: Experiments is a no brainer. It is a finely tuned game that mixes cute visuals, great audio, and simple, yet highly addictive gameplay into one package. After completing all the levels, new players may find themselves purchasing Cut the Rope just to satisfy their addiction. However, owners of the original Cut the Rope will most likely be asking why they should spend the extra 99 cents and purchase Experiments, especially since Cut the Rope has received incremental updates since the release of Experiments.

The additions of the Professor and the gameplay elements are well executed, but those alone may not convince owners of Cut the Rope to make the purchase. What should convince them is the 125 levels Cut the Rope: Experiments brings, the promise of continual free updates similar to the original Cut the Rope, and the 99 cent price point. Whether you are a veteran of the series or a new player, Cut the Rope: Experiments is a must buy.

PokeBeach reports one bombshell of an announcement made at the Pokemon Smash event, the next Pokemon games have been decided and they will appear on the Nintendo DS, they are Pokemon Black 2 and Pokemon White 2.

In the past, there was always been a final expansion to the set of Pokemon games. Red/Blue was followed by Yellow, Gold/Silver was followed by Crystal and so on. However, instead of getting an expansion to Black/White (which many imagined would be Pokemon Grey), fans will be getting direct sequels.

The Japanese release will happen on 2 June 2012 and it will be for the Nintendo DS platform but there will apparently be some DSi and 3DS features. At the moment, there is only a teaser poster showing off two new Pokemon that are also set to appear in the upcoming Pokemon movie.

Ridge Racer Vita
Publisher: Namco Bandai
Developer: Cellius
Release Date: February 22, 2012 (AUS/UK), March 20, 2012 (US)
Price: $29.99(US) – Available Here

Overview:
Over the past few years there has always been a series of games that will be staring at you from the store shelves as you purchase a brand new console or handheld gaming device. Practically every single handheld or console release since 2000 has been accompanied by a Ridge Racer title launched right alongside the new console. Now that the PlayStation Vita has been released Namco Bandai continues their tradition of bringing out a PlayStation Vita version of Ridge Racer for the system’s launch. Is Ridge Racer going to burn rubber on your new handheld or did it stall at the starting line?

Visuals & Audio:
Ridge Racer may not be the best running game right out of the box, but immediately upon starting the game you should be given a notification that there is an update that will help fix most of the problems that are included in the vanilla release of the game. With the patch applied the game features very nice graphics which are undeniably attractive e on the Vita’s large viewing screen.

The colors used in the environment are very bright and given a decent amount of detail and this detail transfers itself flawlessly to the few cars you get, making the small amount received at least great to look at.

As you’re drifting around curves and racing around the tracks you will be hearing plenty of techno-style music that goes well with the racing style used in-game and fits with what Ridge Racer fans would expect from the series at this point. The cars themselves sound great and the engines themselves provide a nice and powerful noise coming from the engine, providing a satisfying feeling that there is plenty of horsepower under that hood, especially when the nitrous kicks in.

Gameplay:
Now… there are a number of things that are wrong with Ridge Racer for the PlayStation Vita however the racing itself is not one of them. Those looking to see the same style racing from Ridge Racers past need not worry as Ridge Racer on the PlayStation Vita retains all of the same charm as the rest of the series, though this also means that barely anything has changed from past iterations in the series.

Meaning of course that the game simply ignores real world physics in favor of providing high-speed drifting action where cars traveling at high speed can make hair-pin turns without spinning out of control and crashing into a wall. As such it is essential that players quickly learn to draft properly or you will likely end up in last place as you race against the computer opponents. Now the reason for why drifting is essential to finishing well is thanks to the fact that each of the tracks you will be racing on all have a large amount of sharp corners and impossible turns.

Thankfully drifting is very simple to do and this is only helped out further by how tight the control scheme is on the PlayStation Vita. Being that the Vita has two mini-joysticks it is easier than ever to control the car and steer it around the curves with their satisfying precision. This means you can easily put the pedal to the metal on straightaways, and then take your foot off the gas, steer into the turn gently and make sure you don’t steer too much or you’ll crash. Mastery of this system makes the racing addictive and it only makes it more enjoyable when drifting charges up your nitrous meter which can then be activated by tapping the screen to gain a temporary speed boost.

Now as you begin racing in Ridge Racer on the Vita you will be asked to choose one of four different sponsors. The sponsor you choose is then locked in place and this also locks you into a community of players where all of your actions either help or hurt your sponsor. This means that every time you win a race, your win will be uploaded to the online servers and this can either help or hurt your sponsor as you try to have your sponsor become the best in the world over the other three.

Unfortunately this system is completely empty of any true objective or incentive. There is practically no reason to care about what sponsor you choose or even if your sponsor is leading the pack as there are no rewards given nor is there any actual story mode for these online sponsors which makes the whole system seem contrived and tacked on.

Now besides that rather negative online experience, the game also supports 8 player wireless racing where players can compete against one another to see whom is the best, while the PlayStation Vita Near system will download ghosts from players in your area and then compete against them to see who is the faster racer on any of the three given tracks.

However there is a major problem when it comes to the ghost system and the online mode in general. Considering the title only features five cars, each car will have nearly the same exact stats as any other you own; however your car can get progressively faster as your level increases. This means that if you haven’t raced as much as anyone else you are facing off against, there is a very good chance that you will be left in the dust, meaning even with more skill you will lose to those who have played the game longer.

Now you may have noticed that I mentioned two key numbers in the past couple of paragraphs and they are what cause Ridge Racer to feel like a hollow experience despite the adequate racing mode. Right out of the box Ridge Racer gives you only three tracks to race on and only give cars to race on them with. This meager amount of content is absolutely appalling, even with the titles smaller price tag, though a $10 difference shouldn’t justify such a lack of content. Instead, Namco Bandai is promising DLC of some sort in the future, though has given no information about this content or whether or not if it will be free, though at this moment it is not, which just leaves the entire game feeling empty and without substance.

Overall:
There are many times that the lack of content can kill a game and there can be no better example than Ridge Racer on the PlayStation Vita. While the racing itself is rather enjoyable, there are barely any changes to the actual structure of the game, though fans may enjoy this, the lack of tracks to race on and cars to use just feels like a hollow experience that would best be avoided.

The Etrian Odyssey series began on the Nintendo DS with three games released for the platform. These are very old school RPGs that use a first person perspective, and offer the same intense and grind heavy gameplay that Japanese RPGs had back in the 1980s.

Etrian Odyssey IV was recently announced for the Nintendo 3DS, and Famitsu has shared the very first screens of the game. The game looks to be similar to past games, but with the obvious difference being that everything is now constructed with polygons that actually animate, unlike the previous games which only had static sprites.

Following the cool boxart unveiling of the 3DS Fire Emblem game, Nintendo has recently revealed some in-game action via a trailer and some screens. The trailer shows off the characters and the cool No More Heroes style art direction, but more importantly we get too see some actually gameplay in motion.

Fire Emblem Awakening is a full 3D title with the game world and characters made entirely with ploygons, which is a big change from the sprite based titles released on the Nintendo Ds. The game actually looks pretty cool, and fans can expect the same Strategy RPG style of gameplay with some cool 3D effects and new art direction.

You can check out some screens and the trailer below.

EA Mobile’s weekly update had exciting news:  Fly with Me will be available to download for free for a limited time on the iTunes App Store.   In addition, The Sims Medieval was released for the iPad and “will be available for a limited time at a special introductory price of $2.99.”

Fly with Me is an “ aerial adventure” featuring birds eating bees.   In The Sims Medieval, you’ll be able to create heroes,  complete quests and engage in combat.

Many more EA Mobile games are also on sale. You can check out the all of the EA Mobile deals by visiting EA’s Daily Deal page.