Monthly Archives: January 2012
Torres Tapped to Write ‘Ben 10′ Movie
It looks like the live-action Ben 10 feature is getting closer to becoming a reality. The Joel Silver-produced project has hired Albert Torres. Variety reports that the project will be produced by Silver, Andrew Rona and Steve Richards through Silver Pictures. Warner Bros. will be the likely studio to distribute the movie.
Originally created by Men of Action (Duncan Rouleau, Joe Casey, Joe Kelly and Steven T. Seagle), the franchise centers on Ben Tennyson, a young boy who can transform into 10 different alien ceatures thanks to a magical device called the Omnitrix. Exec produced by Sam Register, Glen Murakami and Mark Burton, the series first premiered in Dec. 2005. It spawned two different series Alien Force and Ultimate Alien. A fourth series Omniverse is slated to premiere in 2012. A CG-animated feature version of the show titled Ben 10: Destroy All Aliens is also in the works, animated by Singapore’s Tiny Island Productions, and also slated for a 2012 release.
Torres’ credits include the 2008 indie feature Henry Poole Is Here and the much-anticipated live-action version of Akira, which is scheduled for a 2013 release.
Ben 10
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PlayStation 3 | SoulCalibur V Review
The Video Review
Maxwell wants to know if you’re up to the challenge in this review for SoulCalibur V.
SoulCalibur V is the most complex entry in the series to date. By incorporating some 2D fighting mechanics into its 3D weapon-based system, the game forces you to manage more variables than ever before. In short, this is not a return to the simple times of SoulCalibur II. What SoulCalibur V lacks in accessibility it more than makes up for with its unprecedented depth, fostering a well-crafted, offensive-focused experience that never wants for excitement.
At the center of SoulCalibur V’s new design is the critical gauge. This meter can hold two bars of energy used to perform new types of offensive and defensive maneuvers. Critical edge and brave edge attacks are its offensive uses. The flashy, cinematic critical edge attacks cost a full bar of meter and deal substantial damage. Each character has one, and every critical edge has the same input command. Critical edge attacks come out quickly and are great for catching aggressive opponents off guard, especially when you’re rising from a knockdown.
Brave edge attacks are improved versions of a character’s normal attacks and use one-quarter of the critical gauge. Hilde, for example, has an attack that knocks her opponent into the air and over her head. The brave edge version starts the same way but automatically impales the opponent in midair for extra damage. This combo isn’t possible otherwise, hence the meter cost. Both critical and brave edge attacks open up new combo possibilities for the entire cast and help make old characters feel new without altering their fundamental gameplay.
Defensively, the critical meter is used for guard impacting, otherwise known as parrying. That’s right: unlike in previous SoulCalibur games, parrying is no longer free. Instead, it costs one-quarter of the gauge–the same as a brave edge attack–and still requires precise timing.
However, there are other ways to parry that don’t use the critical gauge. The first is “just guard.” This is done by tapping the guard button the instant before being struck. It requires even more precise timing than a standard parry, but if you’re successful it will have a similar effect. Certain attacks also incorporate a parry into the attack itself. These attacks are generally slow-moving, highly telegraphed blows that will leave you wide open should you miss.
Guard breaking also discourages defensive-heavy play. Block too many attacks in a match, and your character will automatically drop his or her guard for a few seconds. You can tell you’re at risk when the health gauge begins to flash. All of these changes create more intense matches by restricting defensive options and promoting aggressive play. However, the game also keeps itself in check through the limitations of the critical gauge. Since the gauge can hold only four quarters total, and refills slowly as you fight, you can’t abuse the new techniques. It’s a finely tuned balance that fits naturally atop the existing system.
Resident Evil 6 Demo Shows Capcom Needs Dragon’s Dogma to Succeed
Capcom announced today that it plans to release Dragon’s Dogma on May 22, and the package will include a download code for a Resident Evil 6 demo. Fans will be able to download the demo from Xbox Live on July 3, while PS3 owners will have to wait until September 4.
Other publishers have found that tying an anticipated demo or beta to an unanticipated game boosts sales of both. The original Zone of the Enders did quite well thanks to the on-disc inclusion of the Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty demo. Access to Halo 3‘s beta came along with new copies of Crackdown — helping it become a cult hit. Without early access, fans and critics alike would have overlooked both titles. There’s little doubt that Capcom is hoping the same strategy will work with Dragon’s Dogma. What’s not obvious is how much Capcom needs this gambit to succeed.
Italian shoemaker pays record rent at London store (Reuters)
LONDON (Reuters) – Italian luxury shoemaker Salvatore Ferragamo is close to agreeing a deal to pay a record UK rent at its Bond Street store that will break the 1,000 pounds ($ 1,576) per square foot mark for the first time, a source familiar with the deal told Reuters.
The deal would break the previous record of 965 pounds per square foot for the valuable Zone A front section of a store set by jeweler Piaget on the same glitzy central London shopping strip in December 2009.
Under the deal between landlord NFU Mutual pension fund and Ferragamo, the retailer will extend its lease and increase its rent from 600 pounds to 1059 pounds per square foot at 24 Old Bond Street as part of a plan to expand its retail space, the source said.
Bond Street rents far exceed other central London shopping streets. Rents on the second most expensive strip of Oxford Street are on average 200 pounds per square foot lower and Marylebone High Street peaks at about 225 pounds.
NFU declined to comment. Ferragamo was not immediately available to comment.
Fierce competition for space on Bond Street, the UK’s most expensive shopping stretch and the second priciest in Europe behind Paris’ Avenue des Champs Elysées, has driven up rents and spurred deep-pocketed retailers to buy stores in order to guarantee ownership of top sites.
Unlike mid-market retailers, luxury brands have bounced back strongly from the depths of the 2008 downturn, helped by strong demand from emerging markets such as China and Russia.
The acute space shortage on the half mile stretch combined with strong demand from global brands that see a Bond Street presence as essential to European expansion plans, may boost rents to 1,500 pounds by 2013, consultancy Cushman & Wakefield said.
(Reporting by Brenda Goh; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter and Tom Bill)
Nintendo’s DLC Strategy Appears to Put the Company on the Right Track
Nintendo made headlines last week when it announced something many felt it should have had in place years ago: the Nintendo Network. The details remain sketchy at best and, like with details on the Wii U, it is likely we’ll be waiting until E3 in June before we’ve given a better idea of how the Network will actually come together. What little president Satoru Iwata did have to share about it was encouraging, and the same could be said for a lot of what Nintendo at least claims to be doing as it works to put this current disastrous financial year behind it.
Following Friday’s investors briefing, a Q&A session was conducted where Iwata and company provided many unspecific, but nonetheless promising answers about how the company plans to avoid suffering another money-losing year.
