Life Is Strange: Season finale out

Life Is Strange: Season finale out

SEASON FINALE TRAILER AVAILABLE NOW

EPISODE 5 ‘POLARIZED’ OUT NOW

SYDNEY, 20^TH October 2015 - The fifth and final episode of Life is Strange has released today for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.

In ‘Episode 5: Polarized’ Max learns that time is impossible to control as she moves inexorably towards the most agonising decision of her life. Arcadia Bay, meanwhile, is preparing to weather a huge storm as Life is Strange comes to a gripping and gut wrenching conclusion.

Anime Lab launches

Anime Lab launches

PlayStation Welcomes Tokyo Ghoul, Naruto, Attack on Titan and Many More with launch of AnimeLab on PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4

Tuesday 20th October – Auckland, New Zealand -  Sony Computer Entertainment Australia/New Zealand and AnimeLab, are pleased to announce PlayStation fans will now be able to watch the latest anime hits and simulcasts direct from Japan via the PlayStation Network on their PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4. Currently available online via desktop, tablet and mobile devices in Australia and New Zealand, AnimeLab lets fans watch anime hits and simulcasts straight from Japan[1]. The PlayStation Network entertainment library offers the greatest film, TV and music services to fans, ensuring PlayStation is the best place to play, watch and listen. Chris Mander, Marketing Director at AnimeLab comments, “We’ve worked hard since we launched in May 2014 to bring all new anime content to Australia and New Zealand within hours of its broadcast premiere in Japan. Partnering with PlayStation, a console that is hugely popular with anime fans and brings a vast install base built over the last 20 years, means many more Australian and New Zealand fans can now watch anime on their favourite device.“      Michael Ephraim, Managing Director of Sony Computer Entertainment Australia & New Zealand said, “In our minds this is another very important step toward realising our vision of making PlayStation the place for endless entertainment. If you’re going to buy a set top box – why not choose one with the best selection of games, films, TV and music? We know our fans love the content and we couldn’t ask for a more authoritative partner. Having big hittters like Tokyo Ghoul and Naruto on the platform is going to be great for our fans.” [1] With access to premium subscription Top shows: Tokyo Ghoul  In modern day Tokyo, society lives in fear of Ghouls: creatures who look exactly like humans - yet hunger insatiably for their flesh. None of this matters to Ken Kaneki, a bookish and ordinary boy, until a dark and violent encounter turns him into the first ever Ghoul-human half breed. Trapped between two worlds, Ken must survive the violent conflicts of warring Ghoul factions, while attempting to learn more about his powers. Naruto  Deep within the Hidden Leaf Village, sharp and cunning Ninja carry amazing talents and powers, and Naruto Uzumaki carries an amazing secret. Twelve years ago, the fourth Hokage sacrificed himself to save the village by sealing the Nine-tailed Fox Spirit inside this orphaned newborn. Now, this plucky prankster must do what it takes to achieve his life-long goal to become the next Hokage! Sword Art Online In the near future, a Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (VRMMORPG) called Sword Art Online has been released where players control their avatars with their bodies using a piece of technology called: Nerve Gear. One day, players discover they cannot log out, as the game creator is holding them captive unless they reach the 100th floor of the game's tower and defeat the final boss. However, if they die in the game, they die in real life. Their struggle for survival starts now... Attack on Titan  Many years ago, the last remnants of humanity were forced to retreat behind the towering walls of a fortified city to escape the massive, man-eating Titans that roamed the land outside their fortress. Only the heroic members of the Scouting Legion dared to stray beyond the safety of the walls, but even those brave warriors seldom returned alive. Those within the city clung to the illusion of a peaceful existence until the day that dream was shattered, and their slim chance at survival was reduced to one horrifying choice: kill - or be devoured! One Punch Man  Saitama only became a hero for fun, but after three years of special training, he finds that he can beat even the mightiest opponents with a single punch. Though he faces new enemies every day, it turns out being devastatingly powerful is actually kind of a bore. Can a hero be too strong? About Subscriptions PlayStation fans will be able to access free and premium subscriptions. The free subscription model features an extensive range of standard definition subtitled anime content. The premium version features both subtitled and dubbed versions of shows in full HD, with new episodes fast-tracked from Japan - some screened within hours of the Japanese broadcast. The premium service is also ad-free.   [1] With access to premium subscription About AnimeLab AnimeLab is a streaming platform for anime content, dedicated to bringing audiences the latest and best content direct from Japan. It is available across a wide range of platforms, both in home and mobile, enabling users to watch where and when they like. AnimeLab was developed and is operated by Madman Entertainment. AnimeLab launched in May 2014 and now has over 175,000 signed up users. The service is currently streaming over 12,000 hours of video daily, and has over 4,000 episodes across 174 titles.

Win Spring on DVD

Win Spring on DVD

Thanks to Madman Home Entertainment, I've got a copy of SPRING to giveaway, one of their hot new October releases and a film which totally took me by surprise!

To enter simply email to this address: darrensworldofentertainment@gmail.com  and in the subject line put SPRING. Please include your name and address and good luck!

About Spring

Love is a monster

A young man in a personal tailspin flees the US to Italy, where he sparks up a romance with a girl hiding a dark secret. What begins as a naturalistic romance in an idyllic Mediterranean town, takes an unexpected turn as the two lovers confront figurative and literal relationship monsters. 

Balancing dark humor, heart, and visceral thrills, Spring evokes undercurrents of Beauty and the Beast by way of Linklater and early Cronenberg, while remaining its own cutting edge genre cinema.

Win When Marnie Was There on Blu Ray

Win When Marnie Was There on Blu Ray

Thanks to Madman Home Entertainment, I've got a copy of the Studio Ghibli film When Marnie Was There to win!

All you have to do to enter is simply email to this address: darrensworldofentertainment@gmail.com  and in the subject line put MARNIE. Please include your name and address!

Good luck!

About When Marnie Was There: 

Twelve-year-old Anna believes she sits outside the invisible magic circle to which most people belong, and shuts herself off from everyone around her. 

Concerned for her health, Anna’s foster mother decides to send her to rural Hokkaido to stay in a sleepy town by the sea. As she dreams her days away amongst the marshes, Anna finds herself strangely drawn to the enigmatic house which sits upon the edge there. This is where she meets Marnie, an energetic young girl who seems to appear from nowhere. The pair quickly become inseparable. 

One evening, Marnie makes a heartfelt request of Anna: “Promise me something – that we’ll remain a secret, forever.” Anna begins to wonder about her newfound friend and is compelled to investigate the truth about her. As she is drawn deeper into Marnie’s world, she begins to learn about family, friendship and kindness. 

Based on the beloved novel by Joan G. Robinson, WHEN MARNIE WAS THERE is the latest film from Studio Ghibli, and the second feature film by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, the director of ARRIETTY

Armageddon 2015: Talking 20 years with organiser Bill Geradts

Armageddon 2015: Talking 20 years with organiser Bill Geradts

With just days to go to the 2015 Armageddon Expo in Auckland, we got the low down from organiser Bill Geradts, on the eve of the show's 20th anniversary.

Congrats on reaching the 20th anniversary of the Expo, did you ever imagine it would get to be here two decades on?
Not at all. Originally, It was just a fun event for fellow fans, something of a sideline. We never dreamed it would grow to the size it has.

Tell us a bit about the first Armageddon at the Avondale raceway back in 1995?
90% Trading Cards, no computer gaming and no anime. Almost totally different from the current event.

What did you think of the event back then and what ambitions did you have for it?
Honestly, I wasn’t thinking beyond the first event, which, while a good show, not very successful for us at all, so much so that we nearly didnt do another one, and when we did it was a lot smaller, only growing in the years that followed.

Dr Who's Karen Gillan looks particularly pleased to see Bill

When you started this, what was the one thing you and the team were determined to do with the expo - and how difficult was it to achieve that?
have fun, which was very easy.

It seems like a fair few guests love coming to these events both here in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch - what's the appeal to them?
New Zealand is the appeal.

The guest list throughout the years has been amazing in terms of the scope of the event - who's been your favourite guest to host and why?

I am a huge Doctor Who fan, so for me, any Who guests are always great.

Who's been the one guest that you had over whose audience reaction surpassed your expectations?
Evanna Lynch from Harry Potter, Really wasnt expecting the incredible response from Potter fans.

What's your favourite part of the event and why?
all of it, its a sum of its parts, with each piece making the whole so much more fun.

Beyond Reality Media does events around the year - and not just Armageddons - what else would you like to be doing?
Building rockets to go to the moon.

Finally, what are the plans for Year 21….?
Bigger, always bigger

Boychoir: Blu Ray Review

Boychoir: Blu Ray Review

Rating: PG
Released by Universal Home Ent

Heavenly voices, predictable story and made for TV movie moments.

That pretty much sums up Boychoir, from the French director Girard (The Red Violin). It's the story of Stet, a troubled kid (played sympathetically by Wareing) whose life is chaos at school and turbulent at home with an alcoholic mother.

When the unthinkable happens, Stet finds his life at a cross-roads and despite failing an audition to enter a prestigious musical academy, Stet's estranged father (Josh Lucas) ends up making the school a financial offer it can't afford to ignore to secure him a place, rather than face the indignity of telling his current wife and family that Stet exists.

Thrust into the Harry Potter style school, complete with blonde-haired nemesis and prodigy Devon (West), Stet becomes the underdog in his campaign to get a place on the touring American Boychoir. But under the tutelage of the brisk Carvelle (a genial Hoffman) and a puffy English teacher (Eddie Izzard), will Stet find his voice?

Boychoir hits the right notes in many places, doing exactly what you'd expect of a crowd-pleasing feel good movie that's probably more at home on the small screen than the big.

While there are certainly goosebumps to be had with the singing scenes, the relative one-note characters and drama outside of the Harry Potter and the Chamber Choir antics (Izzard is Snape, Hoffman is Dumbledore, Devon is Draco etc etc) is under-cooked and poorly serviced in terms of development.

Girard steers clear of too much sentimentality though, with several scenes which could have wallowed in the moment brusquely dealt with to help the film's flow. Though, along with Stet's father's dilemma being largely confined to looking troubled through a window, more could have been made of that situation and the crux of the Boychoir dilemma - namely, that their heavenly voices have only a short window to shine through before nature cruelly drops them down a level. Missed opportunities scatter this aria throughout and conspire to drag the film down.

It's a restrained Hoffman who generates some empathy and warmth from Carvelle, whose relationship with Stet could have easily fallen into some kind of musical Full Metal Jacket scenario, but wisely shows the power a proficient and caring teacher can make to a child's life. Wareing manages well too in his first lead, with the wide-eyed and naturalistic turn helping the more predictable and by-the-numbers elements of the plot along.

Ultimately, Boychoir offers a feeling of deja-vu; in the likes of Mr Holland's Opus, we've seen it all before, but, thanks to a lack of over-egging the pudding, the one note nature of the story just about manages to leave you with a warm glow.

Rating:

PES 2016: PS4 Review

PES 2016: PS4 Review

Platform: PS4
Released by Konami

Pro Evo Soccer holds a special place in my heart.

It was one of the first sports sims I ever played back on the PS2 with my old neighbour. We'd hold bonding sessions, dealing with the world's problems and sitting there, kicking back and both laughing at our appalling balling skills on the small screen.

So, Pro Evo Soccer 2016 is now with us, and at the same time as the latest iteration of the FIFA game - and inevitably, likely to score comparisons. Aside from the fact that PES suffers from a lack of the big football team names, the beautiful game itself is still in tact.

Which is saying something for its 20th anniversary outing.

And to be honest, all of that spit and polish aside, Pro Evo is all about playability - at the end of the day, all tactics and customisation aside, the game is simply about picking up a controller and getting into it - be it with mates or against the computer.

It's incredibly easy to get involved - either in a simple game or a league, thanks to a series of tweaks the developers have brought to the game. From an advanced collision system, intelligent AI system to a new celebration system, there is plenty to get involved in. The celebration system is good too, giving you the chance to choose your preferred method of rubbing it in your opponent's face.

The passing game has been a lot of fun too, with one touch controls working a lot smoother than in the past, and with one boot pretty much finding its destination in a slick and easy fashion. Though, with computer AI in higher levels, you'll need a better sense of tactics and ideas to get that perfect game and to score that goal.

With the exclusive UEFA Champions league being part of the PES series, there's still a good reason to choose this over FIFA. And having played FIFA 16, EA's latest iteration, it has to be said that Konami's soccer game is more of an arcade player, a game that concentrates more on the on pitch activity and the playability rather than the technical feel of FIFA. It's an important observation because the game is more about rewarding the casual player - and not at the expense of the seasoned footy pro.

It's all about the game, and the slick execution of PES and its pure playability and ease of control means it easily hits the back of the net.