Unique cafe teams up with osamu moet moso”

Harajuku’s Bunbougu Cafe has an interesting gimmick. The basement establishment sells stationery and, for a membership fee, you can get an key to one of their desks with access to writing supplies. If you buy into that idea, it’s not a huge leap to see the logic in them hosting an exhibit dedicated to prolific “God of Manga” Osamu Tezuka. More after the jump.

Read more here: Crunchy Roll

David Jaffe appointed creative advisor at Pixelbionic where he will contribute to vehicular combat game Autoduel; Kickstarter campaign launching soon.

The next project from Twisted Metal and God of War creator David Jaffe has been revealed. Independent game studio Pixelbionic announced today that Jaffe has joined the company’s advisory board as a creative advisor for the company’s first title, vehicular combat game Autoduel.

The game appears to play to Jaffe’s strengths, as it is described as one that pays homage to classic car games like Interstate ’76 and Jaffe’s own Twisted Metal. The game is a PC online multiplayer game that “combines the high-octane thrills and spills of team-based car combat with RPG-influenced persistence and progression.”

Autoduel is set in a post-apocalyptic future where warriors “drive to survive” in armored vehicles scavenged from the crumbled landscape. Players will be able to choose from over 20 cars divided into three factions: Ratters, Scavengers, and Techies.

These cars can be upgraded with everything from mechanical modifications to weapons and armor. Gamers can also customize the paintwork and add decals to “show their allegiance and express their unique style.”

Pixelbionic management said it created the studio to create games like Autoduel because they are “ignored by publishers.” As such, the game will be funded by a crowd-funding campaign through Kickstarter said to launch “soon.”

Jaffe joins Pixelbionic’s self-described “dream team” assembled by cofounder Maxx Kaufman, formerly of inXile Entertainment. Other members of the Autoduel team include designer Scot Kramaric (Interstate ’82) and coder Rafael Paiz (The Matrix: Path of Neo).

“Our mission is to assemble a team of car combat visionaries to deliver the game fans want to not only play but also help create,” said Pixelbionic cofounder and President Mike Arkin. “Autoduel pairs the vision of the best talent in the industry with the enthusiasm and support of gamers, a combination we are confident will set the bar for what can be achieved in a new PC vehicular combat game.”

Others sitting on Pixelbionic’s advisory board include Interstate ’76 creator Zack Norman and Microsoft veteran Chanel Summers.

Jaffe left Twisted Metal studio Eat Sleep Play last year.

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

Read more here: Game Spot News

Bundle hitting retailers this week includes Gran Turismo 5 XL, InFamous 2, and 30 days of PS Plus.

A new PlayStation 3 Legacy Bundle will begin appearing at retailers like GameStop, Best Buy, and Wal-Mart this week, Sony announced today.

The $300 bundle includes a 500 GB system, Gran Turismo 5 XL, InFamous 2, and 30 days of PlayStation Plus.

Gran Turismo 5 XL is the “ultimate” version of the racing game, including the original game, the Spec 2.0 update on-disc, and a voucher for $20 worth of downloadable content.

The new PS3 Legacy Bundle follows the God of War: Ascension Legacy Bundle, which launched in March and included all six God of War games and a red 500GB system.

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

Read more here: Game Spot News

Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter has released his estimates for the video game industry in the US in March. He focused on the poor Wii U sales which he expects to have only sold 55,000 units. This would be a 17 percent drop when compared to February. Pachter expects the Wii U to continue selling poorly even if it receives a price cut.

Pachter expects software sales to up one percent year-over-year, due to the strong release schedule. Gears of War: Judgment, God of War: Ascension, BioShock Infinite and Tomb Raider were all released in March.

“The only key hardware device to underperform our expectations was the Wii U and its fortunes appear unlikely to improve for several months, even if Nintendo decides to drop price, as there are an insufficient number of core titles that are generating interest in the console,” said Pachter.

We think that core gamers are far more likely to turn their attention to the PS4 (due in the holiday season) and the next Xbox, which we believe will be unveiled before E3 and have a launch alongside that of the PS4, and believe that the long-term appeal of the Wii U will be severely limited by the perception that the PS4 and next Xbox will be much more powerful with greater online integration and multimedia functionality.”

Pachter believes that if the PlayStation 4 and next Xbox are priced reasonably at launch, that Wii U sales will not improve due to strong the competition. He believes that Microsoft will sell the next Xbox with a payment plan like it is currently testing out with the Xbox 360 and similar to what cell phone providers do. Sell the device at a loss, but have consumers sign up for a two year plan which will more than make up for the loss. Pachter also believes that Sony will use the exact same strategy with the PlayStation 4.

Read more here: VG Charts

Judgment and Ascension are estimated to have significantly failed to match the sales of their predecessors.

Microsoft and Sony first-party blockbusters Gears of War: Judgment and God of War: Ascension have both suffered from disappointing first-month sales in North America, according to Cowen & Company analyst Doug Creutz.

In an investor note released ahead of the official NPD data this week (via GamesIndustry), the firm estimated first-month sales of Gears of War: Judgement to be around 420,000 units, less than a quarter of the two million Gears of War 3 managed in September 2011.

Sony’s God of War: Ascension is estimated to have shifted 360,000 units, compared to predecessor God of War 3′s 1.1 million.

High-profile third-party titles performed better, with Creutz estimating that BioShock Infinite sold 665,000 copies in the US after ten days on sale. Tomb Raider is also estimated to have shipped 696,000 units after 33 days of sale, although publisher Square Enix has said that the game did not meet its worldwide sales expectations.

The analyst firm expected overall sales trends to have improved in March 2013, but now believes the NPD group will announce that US software sales have fallen 21 percent year-on-year.

The NPD group will announce its official market data on Thursday.

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

Read more here: Game Spot News

Prolific game composer Cris Velasco to provide original score for Relic Entertainment’s upcoming real-time strategy game.

God of War and Borderlands series composer Cris Velasco has been tapped to provide the original score for Relic Entertainment’s Company of Heroes 2, Sega announced today.

Velasco is a prolific game composer, having created music for not only the God of War and Borderlands franchises, but also Mass Effect 3, ZombiU, StarCraft II, Darksiders, and Injustice: Gods Among Us, among others.

For Company of Heroes 2, Velasco recorded with orchestra musicians and choir from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, and Hungary. The game’s score is said to capture the “solemn heroism and human tragedy of the Eastern Front during World War II.”

Velasco’s main theme for Company of Heroes 2 is available on his website.

“I approached this score from the very beginning as more of a ‘Symphony for the Eastern Front’ rather than a typical game score,” Velasco said in a statement. “The music sets out to convey the horror of war and the determination of the Russian soldiers.”

Company of Heroes 2 launches for PC on June 25.

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

Read more here: Game Spot News

Publisher lists list three innovative works of manga

Publisher/retailer PictureBox Books has listed three innovative works of manga now planned for English release this fall. Osamu Tezuka’s The Mysterious Underground Men is a 1947, pre-Astro Boy work from the pioneering “God of Manga.” Seiichi Hayashis’s Gold Pollen and Other Stories collects “gorgeous and searing” late-1960s short stories from pivotal alternative magazine Garo. More after the jump.

Read more here: Crunchy Roll

Overview

Overall hardware sales decreased by nine percent week-on-week. Week-on-week sales are up for the DS and 3DS and down for everything else. Year-on-year sales are down 34 percent. Also no platforms are up year-on-year. The Wii has dropped by 73 percent, the biggest by percent, while the 3DS has the smallest drop at 16 percent.

Six games debuted in the top 30 this week. God of War: Ascension (PS3) debuted at the top of the software charts with sales of 663,692. The game launched worldwide.

There are no software milestones this week in the top 30.

Worldwide Hardware

Hardware home console sales week-on-week are down across the board. PlayStation 3 sales are down 5,831 (-5%) to 123,638 units sold. Xbox 360 sales are down 3,087 (-4%) to 84,280 units sold. The Wii U sold 27,988 units, a decrease of 1,832 (-6%). The Wii sold 21,104 units, a decrease of 2,310 (-10%).

Handheld sales week-on-week are up for the DS and 3DS, and down for the PSP, and Vita. The 3DS sold 130,625 units, which is up 3,361 (3%) week-on-week. The PlayStation Vita down 27,476 (-33%) to 54,559 units sold. The PSP sold 21,492 units which is down 8,173 (-28%) compared to last week. The DS is up 185 (1%) to 20,139 units sold. Total week on week sales are down 45,163 units (-9%) to 483,825 units sold.

No platforms are up year-on-year. The PlayStation 3 is down 55,353 (-31%), the Wii is down 57,479 (-73%), and the Xbox 360 is down 44,677 (-35%). The PSP is down 51,258 (-70%), the DS is down 25,392 (-56%), the Vita is down 20,078 (-27%) and the 3DS is down 24,758 (-16%). Year on year sales are down 251,007 units (-34%).

Home console hardware sales have decreased for the all four home consoles for four straight weeks. The PlayStation 3 has led for the last 12 weeks. The Wii U has outsold its predecessor, the Wii, for three straight weeks.

The PlayStation 3 has a 54 percent market share for the seventh generation; the Xbox 360 has a 37 percent market share; and the Wii has a nine percent market share. Compared with ten weeks ago all four home consoles are down.

Handheld hardware sales have increased for the 3DS and DS for one week and have decreased for the PSP and Vita for one week. The gap between the 3DS and Vita has increased to 76,000 units this week, up from 44,000 units last week.

The PSP has a 62 percent market share this week for the seventh generation handhelds and the DS with 48 percent. The 3DS has a 71 percent market share for the eighth generation of handhelds, while the Vita has a 29 percent market share. Compared with ten weeks ago the Vita us up, while the 3DS, DS and PSP are down.

Worldwide Software

Six games debuted in the top 30 this week. God of War: Ascension (PS3) debuted at the top of the software charts with sales of 663,692. The game launched worldwide.

StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm (PC) debuted at number two with sales of 548,125. The game launched in North America and Europe.

Sword Art Online: Infinity Moment (PSP) debuted at number five with sales of 135,600. The game launched in Japan.

Kingdom Hearts (PS3) debuted at number seven with sales of 130,321. The game launched in Japan.

Super Robot Wars UX (3DS) debuted at number eight with sales of 117,736. The game launched in Japan.

Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 (PS3) debuted at number 13 with sales of 48,752. The Xbox 360 version debuted at number 17 with sales of 36,833. The game launched in North America and Europe.

Here are the other games in the top 10 that are not debuts: Tomb Raider (2013) (PS3) is at number three with sales of 168,998. Tomb Raider (2013) (X360) is at number three with sales of 148,246.

SimCity (2013) (PC) is at number six with sales of 132,667. Animal Crossing: New Leaf (3DS) is at number nine with sales of 59,515. Call of Duty: Black Ops II (X360) rounds out the top 10 with sales of 53,254.

Software home console sales week-on-week are up for the PlayStation 3, and down for the Wii, Xbox 360, and Wii U. The PlayStation 3 sold the most games this week with sales of 2.34 million, an increase of 141,715 units (6%). The Xbox 360 sold 1.24 million games this week, a decrease of 458,354 units (-27%). Wii software sales are down 8,507 units (-2%) to 529,403 games sold. The Wii U sold 70,532 games, a decrease of 4,240 (-6%).

Handheld software sales are up for the 3DS, DS and PSP, and down for the Vita. The 3DS sold 594,009 games, which is up 45,521 units (8%). The DS sold 344,221 games, an increase of 68,756 units (36%) week-on-week. PSP game sales are up 68,756 units (36%) to 261,146 games sold. The Vita sold 160,806 games, a decrease of 150,845 (-48%). Total combined software is down 349,135 units (-6%) week-on-week to 5.54 million.

Year on year software totals are up for the PlayStation 3, 3DS and Vita and down for everything else. The PlayStation 3 is up 203,686 units (10%), the Wii is down 760,140 units (-59%) and the Xbox 360 is down 606,715 units (-33%). The DS is down 351,911 units (-51%), the PSP is down 178,282 units (-41%), the 3DS is up 176,091 units (42%), and the Vita is up 17,137 units (12%). Total combined software is down 1.43 million units (-21%) games sold year on year.

Home console software sales have increased for two weeks for PlayStation 3, and have decreased for one week for the Xbox 360. The Wii and Wii U have decreased for four straight weeks. The PlayStation 3 has led for four straight weeks and eight of the last 10 weeks. The Xbox 360 led for the other two weeks.

The PlayStation 3 has a 57 percent market share, the Xbox 360 with 30 percent, and the Wii with 13 percent. Compared to ten weeks ago The PlayStation 3 is up, and the Xbox 360, Wii and Wii U are down.

The 3DS sold the most software for a handheld for the 13th straight week. The 3DS and DS have remained above their rivals, the Vita and PSP respectively. The 3DS sold nearly four times as many games as the Vita. The DS sold one third more games than the PSP.

The DS has a 57 percent market share for the current generation handhelds and the PSP has a 43 percent market share. The 3DS has a 79 percent market share for the next generation handhelds, while the Vita has a 21 percent market share. Compared with ten weeks ago the 3DS, Vita and PSP sold more games, while the DS sold less.

The Top 100 can be seen below or click here to view the full chart.

Pos	Game	Weekly	Total	Week #
1	God of War: Ascension (PS3) Sony Computer Entertainment, Action	663,692	663,692	1
2	StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm (PC) Activision, Strategy	548,125	548,125	1
3	Tomb Raider (2013) (PS3) Square Enix, Action	168,998	707,222	2
4	Tomb Raider (2013) (X360) Square Enix, Action	148,246	626,926	2
5	Sword Art Online: Infinity Moment (PSP) Namco Bandai Games, Role-Playing	135,600	135,600	1
6	SimCity (2013) (PC) Electronic Arts, Simulation	132,667	500,483	2
7	Kingdom Hearts (PS3) Square Enix, Role-Playing	130,321	130,321	1
8	Super Robot Wars UX (3DS) Namco Bandai Games, Strategy	117,736	117,736	1
9	Animal Crossing: New Leaf (3DS) Nintendo, Action	59,515	2,971,600	19
10	Call of Duty: Black Ops II (X360) Activision, Shooter	53,254	11,848,366	18
11	MLB 13: The Show (PS3) Sony Computer Entertainment, Sports	51,994	200,665	2
12	Call of Duty: Black Ops II (PS3) Activision, Shooter	51,813	9,859,923	18
13	Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 (PS3) City Interactive, Shooter	48,752	86,257	1
14	Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 (PS3) Namco Bandai Games, Fighting	48,324	175,163	2
15	Far Cry 3 (PS3) Ubisoft, Shooter	40,670	1,877,268	16
16	New Super Mario Bros. 2 (3DS) Nintendo, Platform	39,445	5,638,195	34
17	Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 (X360) City Interactive, Shooter	36,833	77,687	1
18	StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty (PC) Activision, Strategy	33,774	3,888,627	138
19	Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 (X360) Namco Bandai Games, Fighting	32,035	126,296	2
20	Soul Sacrifice (PSV) Sony Computer Entertainment, Action	31,406	143,368	2
21	Crysis 3 (X360) Electronic Arts, Shooter	30,742	501,717	4
22	Far Cry 3 (X360) Ubisoft, Shooter	30,695	2,141,827	16
23	NBA 2K13 (X360) Take-Two Interactive, Action	30,050	2,242,474	24
24	Tomb Raider (2013) (PC) Square Enix, Action	28,595	103,140	2
25	Halo 4 (X360) Microsoft Game Studios, Shooter	28,419	7,942,888	19
26	Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (PS3) Konami Digital Entertainment, Action	27,561	804,628	4
27	Mario Kart 7 (3DS) Nintendo, Racing	27,397	7,711,214	68
28	Just Dance 4 (Wii) Ubisoft, Misc	27,172	5,317,923	24
29	FIFA Soccer 13 (PS3) Electronic Arts, Action	25,619	6,156,593	25
30	Pokemon Black / White Version 2 (DS) Nintendo, Role-Playing	25,485	6,378,455	39

Contact VGChartz at wdangelo@vgchartz.com

Read more here: VG Charts

Cat god lounges then fights Goku

Prepare to meet God of Destruction Bills (or maybe Bells) in a new iTunes preview for March 30th’s Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods. On the characters appearance, in a recent interview, creator mentioned that Akira Toriyama thought an ancient Egyptian cat god like face would be more interesting them something more human. Get a look after the jump.

Read more here: Crunchy Roll

With six games over the course of eight years, is it possible to keep a series fresh? That’s precisely the question Sony’s Santa Monica Studios aims to answer with God of War: Ascension, the latest in the PlayStation’s god-killing franchise that began in 2005. While Santa Monica could have easily just produced another single-player adventure by building on the foundation laid in God of War III, the developers have seemed to go the extra mile by not only reworking the series’ tried and true combat system, but paving new ground by adding multiplayer for the first time in the series. What results is an inventive and original game that, though never quite reaching the heights of previous entries in the franchise, certainly can’t get docked points for trying.

With 2010’s God of War III more or less capping off the story put forth by previous games, there wasn’t much room to head forward with the series chronology, so Santa Monica has taken the safer route by making God of War: Ascension a prequel. Taking place before all other games in the franchise, ten years prior to the first game, Ascension follows Kratos shortly after his decision to break his blood oath with Ares, leading him to become imprisoned by the three Furies, who serve as the game’s main antagonists. Throughout the course of the single-player narrative, we follow Kratos as he tries to escape from his imprisonment and break his blood oath to Ares, and really not much else.

The plot is the first misstep in God of War: Ascension, and this is largely due to its status as a prequel. It’s simply hard to care about Kratos at this point, since we already know how his story plays out from seeing it in the previous five games. Ascension doesn’t really provide Kratos with a goal rather than “go here, kill these enemies, just….because.” The other two prequels in the franchise, the PSP titles Chains of Olympus and Ghost of Sparta, were able to succeed by providing Kratos (and thus the audience) with characters to actually care about, and Ascension largely forgoes this. We get it: Kratos is angry and he misses his family. You think that after six games, we would have moved on from this by now. Furthermore, the story is told in an odd, non-linear structure, jumping back and forth between past and present for no discernible reason.

Though God of War: Ascension’s narrative beats prove to be somewhat redundant, the combat is anything but. One of God of War‘s biggest criticism has been its rather stagnant combat system over the course of the franchise, so I’m happy to say that Ascension gives the combat its biggest evolution in the series. Ironically, this is achieved by somewhat of a devolution, bringing the series’ combat back to basics. The use of multiple main weapons has been discarded, leaving Kratos with his Blades of Chaos throughout the entire game. However, Kratos’ signature chained blades can now be infused with four different elemental statuses: fire, ice, electricity, and soul. While your primary move-set will stay primarily the same over the course of the 8-10 hour campaign, switching between your various elemental attacks provides unique ways in which to approach each combat scenario.

This new feature alone would be enough to make Ascension’s combat feel fresh, but Santa Monica has added even more features to make the combat feel truly distinctive from previous games. Kratos’ patented brutal finishing moves can now be initiated from afar with his chains, providing even greater mobility and combo-building potential. The quick-time event-laden mini-games that defined past entries have also been reworked. While many enemies are still dispatched with a few scripted button presses, a new dynamic finisher mini-game keeps Kratos close and personal with his enemies, simultaneously grappling with them and dodging their attacks. It’s an interesting take on the series’ combat and adds even more viscerality to an already visceral series.

Not all of the combat additions are for the better, however. While the Blades of Chaos will serve as your main weapons throughout the single-player, Kratos can pick up a number of sub-weapons scattered throughout the levels, such as a sword, a shield, throwing spears, and a hammer. With the exception of the ranged spears, these ultimately don’t add anything interesting to the gameplay, feeling like they were added in for the sake of having something new. Thankfully, you can get through the game without having to use any of them, but the potential for something more substantial feels wasted.

This is an excerpt from the full story which was originally featured on gamrReview, read the full version here – God of War: Ascension – Review

Read more here: gamrReview