News: Four Persona Games Coming to North America

Fans of Atlus and their unique video games will be pleased to hear this latest news.  Atlus USA has confirmed that their most recently announced four games of the Persona series will be coming to North America.  Two will be on the PS3, one on the 3DS, and another on the PS Vita consoles.

Review: The Swapper

You arrive on a space station disoriented and confused about what had occurred.  The personnel are missing and the compartments seem oddly abandoned.  Rock samples litter the halls; you hear whispers of mysterious happenings as you commence your investigation.  You stumble upon a device that allows you to make clones of yourself, the only method to successfully navigate the complicated layout of your destination.  As you progress and find computer logs detailing the moments before the incident behind the crew’s absence, you begin to unravel the deep secrecies present on board.  Find a way off the station to tell your superiors of what happened.

The Swapper is a science fiction, puzzle video game.  It was created by a group of developers in the indie scene:  Olli Harjola, Otto Hantula, Tom Jubert, Carlo Castellano.  The goal of the game is to find out what has occurred to the crewmembers and to save yourself from their fate.  Players must collect orbs along the way to open doors and new areas in the station.  Some puzzles are simpler than others, but each possesses a clever solution.  The majority of the time players are forced to think outside of the box for their approaches to the puzzles.  They become more intricate as you get deeper into the story, such as adding different lights that hinder certain functions of the cloning device.  Numerous switches and the moving of boxes provide an extra level of difficulty.

Review: Star Trek Into Darkness

I’m not any type of a Star Trek buff.  Reading summaries of episodes and hearing tidbits from fans, the most I’m familiar with is the bare bones of the original television series with William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy.  I know the Vulcan salute and a few famous quotes from seeing them on nerdy t-shirts and bumper stickers.  Character backgrounds aren’t my specialty; the basics of Captain Kirk and Spock are known to me, but don’t bother asking me about the doctor, the mechanic, and the other Enterprise crew.  I struggle remembering all of their names and understanding certain references within the series.  That being said, I really enjoyed the Star Trek reboot film in 2009 directed by J.J. Abrams.  When I saw a sequel announced, I was eager to watch it.  Star Trek: Into Darkness delivers a fun, wild experience, occasionally bringing in heartfelt moments to kick viewers where it matters.  It’s not without its flaws, but its high production value and intense moments serve in getting your money’s worth.

Shall we begin?

Review: Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Search

Nickelodeon’s animated television series called Avatar: The Last Airbender was one of the company’s most popular shows.  When I first watched one of the trailers for its premiere back in 2005, my 11-year-old self was so excited that I set my alarm clock to wake me up early enough for me to tune in for the first episode.  The show’s heavy use of Asian art, culture, and mythology had me hooked from the start.  I persistently kept watching each new episode every week, and at the end of every season, I would keep an eye out for any announcements on its continuance.  The story follows the main protagonist named Aang and his group of friends, who must save the world by stopping the Fire Lord and putting an end to his destructive war.  Being the Avatar, Aang must learn all four elements—air, fire, water, and earth—before the Fire Lord’s world conquest is finished.

Avatar: The Last Airbender lasted for three seasons, ending on a 4-part conclusion in 2008.  The series won and was nominated for many awards during and after its run.  The lovable characters and engaging story had pulled me right along to its conclusion.  However, there was one main question that fans were dying to have an answer for: what became of Prince Zuko’s mother, Ursa?

News: Attack on Titan English Dub at Anime Boston

Fans of the hit series called Attack on Titan will be happy to hear that an English dub is fast approaching.  FUNimation made an announcement during an industry panel at Katsucon, saying that the dub of Attack on Titan will premiere at Anime Boston, an anime convention that will take place March 21-23 this year.  FUNi's official blog confirmed the announcement today.  Some of the crew working on the dub project was also posted:

• ADR Director – Mike McFarland
• Head Writer – John Burgmeier 
• Script Writers – J. Michael Tatum & Tyson Rinehart (episodes 3, 7, 10) 
• ADR Engineer – Kenneth Thompson

The company plans to reveal the chosen voice actors for the series's characters as the date of the convention nears.  These announcement will come in stages, most likely meaning a batch of characters will be revealed one at a time.  I'm looking forward to see who they pick; FUNimation has done some of my favorite dubs in the past.  I'm hoping they bring in the veterans on this highly anticipated release.

*source from FUNimation

*image from Facebook