Samurai Jack: Season 5: DVD Review

Samurai Jack: Season 5: DVD Review

Released by Madman Home Entertainment

It's impossible to overstate how loved Samurai Jack is.

As a piece of animation, its Samurai roots, and iconic etchings have a place in animation history.
As a piece of story-telling, one samurai's quest for revenge against a creature which has wronged him is a fairly simple and timeless kind of yarn.

But Samurai Jack's strength was always in the telling of the tale and the one man encountering others ethos which pervaded much of it.

This final season doesn't scrimp on any of the iconography and spends a lot of time wallowing in the man who has been broken by his place in it all. Jack is ruined by his failure to succeed in his quest - and when Aku's daughters are dispatched to end him once and for all, it appears tragedy is on the way.

But there are surprises in how the tale plays out, with Jack's story, as ever, never being a simple one.

Eleven years after the devastating climax, it's fair to say that parts of Samurai Jack: Season 5 don't quite match up, and while there's a resonance and emotional depth that creator Genndy Tartakovsky is going for, the beats fall slightly short.

However, the style of Samurai Jack: Season 5 is intense, familiar and eye-catching.

Quick edits, stylistic shots and some gorgeous palettes make the season stand out - and it's certainly leagues ahead of anything else, even if its ultimate resolution never meets the highs of the questions raised.

Ultimately, Samurai Jack: Season 5 rewards the long term viewer and brings the story to a predictable but well-travelled conclusion. It's still masterful and deeply watchable, even if parts of it feel familiar and compelling in equal measure.

New Video Series Reveals Details About Toy-Con Garage Mode For Nintendo Labo

New Video Series Reveals Details About Toy-Con Garage Mode For Nintendo Labo

NEW VIDEO SERIES REVEALS DETAILS ABOUT TOY-CON GARAGE MODE FOR NINTENDO LABO

New videos highlight how users can create exciting new experiences with Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Labo

6^th April 2018 – Nintendo revealed new details about Toy-Con Garage mode, an inventive feature included with the software in each Nintendo Labo kit for the Nintendo Switch console (sold separately). Toy-Con Garage introduces the basic principles of technology in a fun and accessible way, allowing Nintendo Labo users to combine various simple inputs and outputs to create new ways to play. You can watch Invent new ways to play with Toy-Con Garage – Episode 1 on the Nintendo Australia YouTube channel. Highlights from the video include the following:

• Toy-Con Garage mode includes different input and output selections*, called “nodes.” Input nodes include actions such as button presses or motions, while output nodes include reactions such as sound effects or vibrations. In addition, there are “middle nodes,” which allow users to select qualifiers such as counters and timers.
• For example, an input node could be gently shaking the Joy-Con controller, a middle node could be a certain number of times shaken, and an output node could trigger a sound effect or a blinking light when the two previous actions occur.
• By combining inputs and outputs with different Toy-Con projects, users may discover exciting results. They could steer the RC Car with the Fishing Rod, for example, or use the Motorbike as an instrument. Users can even invent their own Toy-Con creations using common materials from around their house!
• With a variety of input nodes, middle nodes and output nodes to choose from, users will have fun experimenting with simple conditional statements (i.e. if you do this, then that happens) to create new experiences.

Two more videos are also available, revealing new information about Toy-Con Garage mode: 

• See how to turn the RC Car into an RC Tank in Invent new ways to play with Toy-Con Garage – Episode 2
• Take an in-depth look at Toy-Con Garage mode and see how players can transform their Nintendo Switch into a rubber band guitar in Invent new ways to play with Toy-Con Garage – Episode 3

Nintendo Labo is a new line of interactive make, play and discover experiences designed to inspire creative minds and playful hearts alike. Together with the Nintendo Switch console, the Nintendo Labo kits provide the tools and technology to make fun DIY creations, play games with your creations, and discover how Nintendo Switch technology shapes ideas into reality**.

Nintendo Labo launches in Australia and New Zealand on 20^th April with two kits: the Variety Kit (SRP AU$99.95) and the Robot Kit (SRP AU$119.95). Both kits include everything you need to assemble your Toy-Con creations, including the building materials and relevant Nintendo Switch software.

Peter Rabbit: Film Review

Peter Rabbit: Film Review

Cast: James Corden, Domnhall Gleeson, Rose Byrne, Margot Robbie, Elizabeth Debicki
Director: Will Gluck

The 2018 Peter Rabbit is a rapscallion, a cocky self-aware bunny who believes he is entitled to plunder from old man McGregor's garden in whatever manner he chooses.

However when the old boy pops his clogs (Ta Ta then, gruff Sam Neill barely in it), Peter thinks he's won.

But, as they say Peter has another think coming, when young man McGregor (Gleeson, tremendously game) shows up on the land.

Will Gluck's Peter Rabbit has energy to spare early on with the bounding battle of wits in the garden a cleverly engaging opening.

But as the film goes on and ensconces itself in a coat of cuteness and sentiment, it seems to adhere to the rules of a jealous threesome as Peter becomes angered by young McGregor's pursuit of kindly neighbour Bea (Byrne in a sort of perky thankless role).

What emerges is a curious mix of Home Alone cum rom-com as a series of silly gags and pratfalls take the place of any winsome interplay.

It works fine for those of a younger age with the charisma resorting solely to an over use of electrocution gags at one point to amuse.

But there's little beyond this for an older audience who may have been entranced by Potter's tales.

In fact as the animal anarchy rules supreme, it becomes clear that Peter Rabbit is more concerned with being here for a shallow amiable time rather than a reverence for its own material  - despite the wondrous and adept use of hand drawn illustrations throughout the CGI cartoonery..

It may be a Peter Rabbit for the times thanks to Corden's rambunctious tones and the script's fripperies, but sadly, it's not a Peter Rabbit for the ages.

Prepare to Join the Battle for Azeroth—New World of Warcraft Expansion Arrives 14 August

Prepare to Join the Battle for Azeroth—New World of Warcraft Expansion Arrives 14 August

PREPARE TO JOIN THE BATTLE FOR AZEROTH™—NEW WORLD OF WARCRAFT^®EXPANSION ARRIVES 14 AUGUST

The Horde and the Alliance clash for ultimate control of their world in the next chapter of Blizzard Entertainment’s acclaimed massively multiplayer online role-playing saga

Journey to the continents of Kul Tiras and Zandalar, recruit new Allied Races, explore uncharted territory in Island Expeditions, represent your faction on the Warfront, and more

Pre-purchase Battle for Azeroth and explore the contents of the Collector’s Edition now at www.worldofwarcraft.com/battleforazeroth

SYDNEY, Australia—6 April, 2018—Azeroth reels in the wake of the Legion’s devastating assault, and the emergence of a powerful new resource—Azerite, lifeblood of the wounded planet—has brought the Alliance and the Horde to the brink of war. Beginning 14 August World of Warcraft^® players will take up their faction’s cause in the ultimate fight for control of their world with the launch of Battle for Azeroth^™, the seventh expansion for Blizzard Entertainment’s internationally acclaimed massively multiplayer online role-playing game.

Heroes of both factions can make their own war preparations now by pre-purchasing Battle for Azeroth at www.worldofwarcraft.com/battleforazeroth. In addition to gaining a level-110 character boost to use immediately, players who pre-purchase can begin their journey to recruit the first four of the expansion’s new Allied Races, including the valiant Lightforged draenei on the Alliance and ancient Nightborne on the Horde.^†

“In Battle for Azeroth, the stakes for the Alliance and the Horde are incredibly high, and a player’s faction will have a more meaningful impact on their experience than in any World of Warcraft expansion to date,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “Whether they’re journeying to unexplored lands to recruit allies or fighting to secure war resources, players will redefine what it truly means to be ‘For the Horde’ or ‘For the Alliance’ when the expansion arrives this August.”

Battle for Azeroth – Standard, Digital Deluxe, and Collector’s Editions

World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth will be available in both a standard edition (physical and digital versions available; RRP $69.95 AUD) and Digital Deluxe Edition ($94.95 AUD). The latter contains an arsenal of in-game bonuses for a variety of Blizzard games, including the Seabraid Stallion (Alliance) mount, Gilded Ravasaur (Horde) mount, and Tottle the Baby Tortollan pet for World of Warcraft; an “Azeroth Is Burning” card back for Hearthstone^®; a Primal Flamesaber mount in Heroes of the Storm^®; Horde and Alliance sprays for StarCraft^® II; and a collection of faction-themed extras for Overwatch^®.

Battle for Azeroth will also be available in a retail-exclusive Collector’s Edition (RRP $144.95 AUD). In addition to the in-game items from the Digital Deluxe Edition, the Collector’s Edition contains an array of loot to fuel players’ faction pride, including:

• Horde & Alliance Double-Sided Mark of Allegiance: Declare your allegiance with this hefty two-sided emblem (stand included). Place it on your desk or shelf and proclaim your chosen faction to the world.
• Hardcover Double-Sided Book: Elegy & A Good War: This limited-edition hardback collects two new World of Warcraft novellas depicting the Burning of Teldrassil from the points of view of the Alliance and the Horde. Each story includes original artwork exclusive to this edition.^†† Written by Christie Golden and Robert Brooks.
• Battle for Azeroth Digital Soundtrack: Each Collector’s Edition contains a key to download the stirring orchestral pieces from the expansion’s soundtrack—the perfect mood music for laying siege to your enemies. 

World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth Collector’s Edition is available for preorder now. Supplies are limited; players should check with their local retailer for preorder details and availability. For players who have already pre-purchased a digital edition of the expansion and wish to upgrade to the Collector’s Edition at launch, Blizzard will credit their account Blizzard Balance in the amount of their original purchase if they redeem their Collector’s Edition key before 31 December, 2018. For additional details, visit www.worldofwarcraft.com.

In addition, starting today, anyone interested in joining the fight with the next expansion can pre-purchase Battle for Azeroth digitally through the Blizzard Shop and receive the current expansion, Legion^™, for free. This bundle also includes a level-110 character boost, making it a perfect jumping-on point for new and returning players.

World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth Features

World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth includes new features and content that will put heroes’ fortitude and dedication to their faction to the test. In this expansion, players will be called upon to:

• Explore Two Fabled Kingdoms: As a champion of the Horde, travel to the empire of Zandalar to persuade the trolls to lend their naval might. As a defender of the Alliance, venture to the seafaring kingdom of Kul Tiras, home of Jaina Proudmoore, and rally its inhabitants to fight for your cause.
• Recruit Allied Races: Take a new form for your adventures as several new playable Allied Races, each with unique racial abilities. Earn the favour of the Highmountain tauren, Void elves, Dark Iron dwarves, and others to create a new character of that race and add their strength to your faction.
• Plunder the Islands of the Great Sea: Set out on Island Expeditions and conquer an ever-changing array of enemies, environments, and objectives. Battle in groups of three as you race against cunning rival intruders—or enemy players—to collect each island’s resources and fuel the war effort.
• Charge Into a Warfront: Fight on the battlefields of a large-scale, 20-player cooperative Warfront to claim a key strategic location. Capture resources to build your faction’s forces, lead the charge as your troops lay siege to objectives, and fight the enemy commander to claim victory in this new mode inspired by classic Warcraft real-time strategy–game battles.
• Infuse Your Armour with Titanic Might: Seek out Azerite, an invaluable new resource that has emerged in the Burning Legion’s wake. Imbue the Heart of Azeroth—a legendary neck piece entrusted to each hero by Magni Bronzebeard—with Azerite to customise your armour with new powers and traits.
• Battle to Level 120: Trace the corruption of the Blood God to the Underrot, unearth the secrets of a lost titan vault, escape from the Drust Realm of the Dead, and more as you quest through 10 new levels—then continue to grow in power through new World Quests, raids, dungeons, and more.

To learn more about World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth, visit the expansion’s official website at www.worldofwarcraft.com/battleforazeroth.

MULTI AWARD-WINNING RPG DIVINITY: ORIGINAL SIN 2 COMING TO PLAYSTATION 4 AND XBOX ONE IN AUGUST 2018

MULTI AWARD-WINNING RPG DIVINITY: ORIGINAL SIN 2

COMING TO PLAYSTATION 4 AND XBOX ONE IN AUGUST 2018

Collaboration between BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Europe and Larian Studios will take players on a fantastic adventure to experience a highly popular role-playing epic

BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Europe today announced that DIVINITY®: ORIGINAL SIN 2, the award-winning, BAFTA nominated role-playing-game (RPG) from Larian Studios is coming to the Xbox One® and PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system in August 2018. Following the game’s incredible success in 2017 as Metacritic’s highest scoring PC game; BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America Inc. and BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Europe, in partnership with Larian Studios, will bring DIVINITY: ORIGINAL SIN 2 to console players, taking them on an adventure that will enable players to go anywhere and do anything in one of the deepest RPG worlds ever created.

DIVINITY: ORIGINAL SIN 2 gives players the freedom of a sandbox RPG, encouraging improvisation and experimentation, with rules made to be bent rather than followed. The game takes place in the world of Rivellon where players can go anywhere, talk to anyone (living, dead, or non-human), and fully interact with the game world like no other RPG. The game features six unique origin characters with full-fledged backstories, personalities, and questlines: Red Prince, a haughty but heroic lizard noble; Sebille, an elven assassin; Lohse, a possessed musician; Ifan ben-Mezd, a mercenary ex-soldier; Beast, a rebel-turned-pirate dwarf; and Fane, an undead member of the long-forgotten Eternal race. Console players diving into the world of DIVINITY: ORIGINAL SIN 2 for the first time will enjoy a user interface tailored for console play in both four-player online co-op and two-player split-screen co-op modes. Additional content updates and extra features will be announced in the weeks and months leading to the game’s launch later this year.

“This is an incredible opportunity for us to work with Larian Studios who has already shown its talented work through the previous games” said Hervé Hoerdt, Vice President of Marketing & Digital at BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Europe. “We are extremely pleased to bring this outstanding title to our lineup by offering new epic adventures to console gamers with the deepest RPG worlds ever created”

“It was very important to us to have DIVINITY: ORIGINAL SIN 2 distributed by a team that understands how to bring RPGs to a broad audience.” said Swen Vincke, Founder and CEO of Larian Studios. “With Dark Souls and The Witcher, BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment demonstrated they know how to do exactly that and so I’m very happy we’ll have their support.”

Development of DIVINITY: ORIGINAL SIN 2 began with a successful Kickstarter campaign in August 2016, raising over $2 million from more than 40,000 backers. The Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions of DIVINITY: ORIGINAL SIN 2 will be available physically and digitally in in August 2018. To learn more about the game, please visit: http://larian.com/, or see the game in action at https://www.youtube.com/user/LarianStudios, or follow the Larian development team on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/LarianStudios/.

For more details about BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Europe’s other products feel free to visit us at https://www.bandainamcoent.eu or follow us on Facebook athttps://www.facebook.com/BandaiNamcoEU or join the conversation on Twitter at https://twitter.com/bandainamcoeu.

Wonder: DVD Review

Wonder: DVD Review

That Wonder's desire is solely aimed at feel good fare is easy to scoff at.

In the adaptation of RJ Palacio's book of the same name, Room's Jacob Tremblay plays Auggie, a young boy with a congenital condition that has necessitated 27 surgeries and still left him scarred.

Living life under an astronaut's helmet, Auggie, despite protestations, is joining his local school at the cautious urging of his parents (played with empathy, warmth and heart by Roberts and Wilson).

Trepidacious at what lies ahead, Auggie's journey begins.

Wonder is occasionally nothing more than a series of perfectly timed sentiment bombs, each calculated to detonate with maximum impact.

From time to time, it's easy to be cynical about their deployment and to dismiss the mawkishness that lurks below the surface.

Much like Mask, but distinctly lacking the same edge, Wonder, with its Star Wars predilection, has much to say about tolerance and acceptance. Auggie becomes a mirror for those to be what they want to be and to face their own fears.

Tremblay delivers a subtle turn that falls on cutesy sometimes but also reveals the frustrations of life within. Much more potential is shown to those who inhabit and orbit his world - but only some of it is explored in his sister, Via (Vidovic) whose life is pushed to the edges by Auggie's constant attention.

But, and unfortunately so, Wonder is not interested in bringing edge to the drama. 

Consequently it can at times feel a little shallow and undeveloped as it seeks never to fully blame and push only positives in its bullying message. Everyone is a victim in some shape or other, and while the message's reason is that everyone has a story to tell, it does feel like a bit of a cop-out at times.

That message of tolerance may be important and a vital one to send to its audience in the times we live in but it doesn't always make for coherent drama. There is a feeling as the film chops and changes between varying narratives that not all of what happens feels as developed as could be, and certainly it's a crying shame given the insights that are given into different characters.

That said, all the themes of Wonder are admirable ones - themes of friendship, trust, living life, dealing with and to bullies, all very beneficial messages to get across. And while the mantra of Choosing Kind is also a good one and one occasionally overlooked, Wonder's power emerges from the smaller moments rather than the overly-milked mawkish ones.

It's easy to be cynical in the face of films like this, but Wonder's conviction and desire to hold its nerve on its course mean even the toughest of hearts may find tears emerging when least expected - and even when every emotional moment is signposted and mined for all it can be. 

Game of Thrones: Season 7 Blu Ray Review

Game of Thrones: Season 7 Blu Ray Review

Released by Roadshow Home Entertainment

With the end in sight for the TV version of George R R Martin's books, it was inevitable the expectation would be high for Game of Thrones: Season 7.

If you're a fan, it doesn't disappoint, but if you're a casual viewer wondering what the fuss is about, this will do nothing but accentuate the alienation you feel from others by not knowing what's going on.

With 7 episodes this time, from largely original content, the surprise factor is high as the pieces on the board start to march inexorably onto their final conclusion.

Twists, betrayals, dragons, epic fights - they're all here - and while the convergence of the plot lines is rewarding, there's a nagging feeling the speediness in which it all is happening is at the detriment of the storytelling within.

There's no denying that Game of Thrones: Season 7 is a good, pacy watch, but it lacks the deeper engagement offered by prior seasons.

Winter may be coming, but it may be worth holding off season 7 viewing until season 8 of Game Of Thrones is here, then watching them all together.