June 5, 2016

Anime North turns Twenty

Posted on June 5, 2016 by Jason Nason

Twenty years ago a small, fan-run convention started up in Toronto. From those humble beginnings back in 1997 where a mere 800 guests took in the con, Anime North has grown into a massive convention.

Last year the annual celebration, which celebrates anime and beyond, hit an estimated 30,000 attendees. While the final numbers aren’t in for 2016, attendance has grown every year so those numbers are sure to surpass last year.

I’ve been going to the convention for several years. My very first year was way back in 2002 when the convention was at the Regal Constellation Hotel. It was my first time going to the convention and went with a few friends. We stayed in the hotel and I still remember staying up late going to the different rooms at the hotel where various anime films and series were being presented.

It was my first and only time spending the whole weekend at the convention.

Since then I’ve been a Saturday only visitor, making the trek early on Saturday morning and returning home with the setting sun in the evening. Anime North has become an annual trip, one which I look forward to 364 days a year.

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Sakura Dungeon Now Available on Steam

Posted on June 5, 2016 by Fionna Schweit

Sekai Project, a publisher and licenser of Japanese new media and electronic entertainment, in partnership with Winged Cloud, has announced that it is releasing  Sakura Dungeon is now available on Steam and Denpasoft for Windows PC, Mac, and Linux. If you are a fan of dungeon crawlers or cute girls, or well both, this is a game you are going to want to pick up.

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Sakura Dungeon is a first-person dungeon crawling RPG set in a fantasy world where monsters and humans have been at war with one another for generations. However, a new battle is brewing. In this story players will assume the role of Yomi, an ancient fox spirit who awakens after several hundred years of deep sleep to find that possession of her lovingly made dungeon has been taken from her! As if that wasn’t enough cause for alarm, Yomi has also been robbed of her power, leaving her weak and vulnerable. She soon discovers that it was the heroic knight, Ceri, who dared to wake her from her slumber, and after a brief fight and “negotiation,” Ceri decides to join her on an adventure to reclaim the dungeon!

Together, they will unearth great treasures, reveal secrets and hidden rooms, and recruit monster girls to fight by their side…all while avoiding traps, fighting off dangerous enemies and bosses across multiple floors, and uncovering the devious plans of the new dungeon lord. One of the most important mechanics of Sakura Dungeon is the ‘capture’ mechanic, wherein the player will be able to capture monster girls they encounter and add them to their party. In addition to dungeon exploring, Sakura Dungeon is also packed with extensive dialogue and plenty of gorgeous backdrops and cutscene artwork for the player to unlock as they carefully navigate their way through the dungeon.

Sakura Dungeon is now available on Steam for $19.99 with a 10% off discount for the first week. So go check it out! You can also get the unedited version on Denpasoft .

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Free To Play MMORPG APB Reloaded Launches On Xbox One

Posted on June 5, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

Free-to-play MMORPG APB Reloaded is making its way to Microsoft’s Xbox One with a release this week available freely for Xbox Live Gold Members.

Set in the near future city of San Paro players are given the choice between two different, “Enforcers” who uphold the laws of San Paro while the “Criminals” aim to cause as much mayhem across the cityscape as possible. These two factions can their grudge into Player vs Player battles that take the form of 50 vs 50 player missions located across the city.

Other gameplay features worth investigating including a whole host of player customization – not just the player character but also their vehicles, tattoos and clothing designs.  Modifications allow players to learn new skills such as car surfing, radio jamming and enhance spotting.  Weapons can also be modified with additions like penetration rounds, weapon sights and extended magazines.

Reloaded Games has cooked up an Xbox One Founders Pack full of premium items for players who login within the first 30 days of the game being live on Xbox Live.  If players log more than 10 hours in the game within the first 30 days they will also receive a set of exclusive Xbox One Founders weapon skins. Here is a complete list of everything in the Xbox One Founders Pack:

  • Fireworks Flare Launcher
  • Mikro JC14 (for Criminals)
  • VaqueroPRC40 (for Enforcers)

APB reloaded was originally developed by Crackdown’s developer the now defunct Realtime Worlds. After Realtime Worlds went insolvent K2 Networks purchased the rights to the game and repositioned it for relaunch as a free-to-play game in Q1 2011.

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PT Inspired Horror Title ‘Allison Road’ Has Been Cancelled

Posted on June 5, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

Indie horror darling Allison Road is trapped in a dead end with the announced on the game’s official twitter account that the project has been scrapped. No other details have emerged at this time but an official state is expected to be made in the coming days from the development team.

Allison Road came to prominence at the end of June last year when developer Lilith Ltd released a 13-minute long pre-alpha demo showcasing the survival horror title’s PT-esque first person perspective and tense narrow environments. Comparion’s to Konami’s then recently cancelled horror title where inevitable, especially since Allison Road felt almost like a spiritual successor to Kojima’s cancelled Silent Hills revival.

In October of last year, Lilith Ltd announced that they had suspended their Kickstarter for the game, which sought to raise $384,000 for the game’s development, in favor of partnering with publisher Team 17. At the time of that announcement Lilith had expressed excitement about working alongside the creators of the Worms franchise, saying:

“We are delighted to announce that we will be joining Team17’s highly successful games label.”

Was the cancellation of Allison Road brought on by a lack of progress during the last 8 months? Has the team behind the game decided to work on a different project alltogether? There are no answers to these questions at the moment but here is one for our readers: Is there a market for a first person horror title in the same vain as Allison Road or P.T? or is the tremendous success of Allison Road‘s brief moment in the gaming industry spotlight a result of being announced at a time when the cancellation of Silent Hills was still fresh in our collective mind?

Check out the original prototype video below:

 

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