It’s not one of those ‘Collector’s Edition’ releases that are manufactured to the nth degree though – Naruto Shippuden‘s CE is instead a GAME exclusive and will be short in numbers. Take a look at the attached images to find all that hides within its box.

See the Collector’s Edition straight from GAME here.

To let the Midlife Gamer readership know a bit more about yourself, could you please let us know who you are and what you do?

Hello, my name is Phillipp Rosenbeck and I’m Product Manager for the MMORPG, Runes of Magic at Frogster.

The next question is one everyone we interview answers here at MLG, what is your favourite beverage and what is your favourite biscuit?

Hmmm… I really like ginger ale and chocolate cookies made by my girlfriend.

Runes of Magic has been around for well over a year now, could you tell us a bit more about the title and what it is about RoM that you think makes it stand out from the WoW-clone crowd?

Runes of Magic offers gamers a large and fantastic world full of magic, fantasy and literally thousands of quests. In addition to that, a huge amount of features like the unique dual class system with which players can obtain a secondary class to enhance the capabilities and skills of their digital heroes. RoM also provides instances with different difficulty settings – instead of raising the difficulty, we lowered it to ensure that newer players are able to master the challenges within the instances while still retaining the harder difficulty level for more hardcore gamers.

There are many more features such as two-player mounts, housing for players and guilds, an ambitious PvP-system including guild castle wars, an automated pathfinding-feature that lets you walk to the next town while being afk and much, much more.

How big is the team at Frogster and how many titles have you now worked on?

There are more than 200 people from all over the world working for Frogster and over 100 working for Runewaker on Runes of Magic. Beside Runes of Magic we run Bounty Bay Online and soon we will publish Mythos and TERA too, which are very ambitious projects that we are proud to have licensed.

Runes of Magic was originally developed by Runewaker Entertainment and then adapted for other markets by your team. What does this process involve and how long did it take for all necessary components to come together?

Runewaker started out with a game named Radiant Arcana for the Asian market. After Frogster came on board, our Game Design-Team and Quality Assurance sat down together with the designers from Runewaker and began to adapt the game to the western game play style – changing and adding a number of quests, features, user interface details and much more. This process took several months and at the end, Runes of Magic was born. Since then we have added more and more features which allows the world to grow continuously.

Employing a free-to-play model of subscription is becoming, albeit fairly slowly, the business model of choice for new MMOs. What are the key advantages in this instance in using such a model, from a business and consumer perspective?

First, let me give you some important details about the free-to-play-model of Runes of Magic because there is a common misunderstanding about how our style of free-to-play works.

In Runes of Magic all important items, even high-end armor and weapons, can be found in instances after defeating a boss and some are offered as rewards for completed missions. Of course you are free to buy things like mounts, jewels for boosting your equipment, or housing-related-stuff, for instance. But we reject a “If you want to be better then pay” philosophy, because it brings imbalance to the game and disadvantages gamers who just want to have some fun.

But let’s get back to the topic and the main advantages for players of free-to-play-MMOs. First of all it is all about no monthly fees. Sometimes even a gamer needs vacation or has a lot of work to do so he can’t play his favorite MMO for a few days. And it’s annoying that you can’t say “Ok, if I won’t/can’t play for a week, I don’t want to pay” within a paid month when you are playing a MMO with a monthly fee. Runes of Magic doesn’t have a fee, so you don’t have to pay if you can’t play.

Moreover, most MMOs with a subscription model need to be bought in stores for 20-40 Euros/Dollars. That’s a lot of money for a CD/DVD and a package. You get the first month “for free”, but you pay for it nonetheless. Free-to-play clients are free to download, there is no subscription fee, and you can start playing for free. Furthermore you can spend money but you don’t have to: in Runes of Magic there is no need to buy anything in the in-game shop. You are free to walk through the wonderful world of Taborea, taking part in intensive fights in PvP-battles or against fearsome monsters in instances. Weapons of any quality can be found in the game too. But if you want, let’s say, one of the cool new two-player mounts – you can buy it for a small amount of diamonds – our in-game currency.

Surprisingly, those are the facts that make the free-to-play concept so interesting for publishers. If you have a great game like Runes of Magic with a huge community, there are always some players who are willing to pay a little money for things like mounts, housing or customisation. Since the game is essentially free, players are free to choose to play Runes of Magic in any way they want. This way, it is much easier to spend your time exploring the virtual world with your digital alter ego than if the game were based on a subscription model.

Are there any further big updates planned for the title, and if so, what can players expect in terms of additional features and content?

Of course we have many plans for upcoming features and new content and there are a lot more ideas in the pipeline.  For instance, we’re currently working on new content for Chapter 3. I could name approximately 100 things we are developing with Runewaker right now. but developing and testing features, zones and balancing of items, classes and other stuff takes some time.

What’s next from the team at Frogster, what should gamers be getting excited about in the near future?

After the latest content patches there will of course be a Chapter IV for Runes of Magic. We are also very proud to present Mythos, an action oriented online hack-and-slash RPG originally developed by Flagship Studio. You will hunt fearsome monsters in dark dungeons – alone or in a group – finding a lot of loot and developing your adventurer into a mighty hero. As a first step, Frogster will publish Mythos for the European market in five languages including Turkish. For more information about Mythos and its upcoming beta test you can visit the official Mythos website on http://www.mythos-europe.com.  And of course we will publish TERA – www.Tera-Europe.com – in the upcoming year, an action oriented MMORPG based on the Unreal Engine 3.

Comic Jumper: The Adventures of Captain Smiley

Yes, Captain Smiley sees you take the lead role in a few different comic book genres, from the initial bold colourisation and explosive nature of the modern day ‘Adventures of Captain Smiley’ soon becoming a Conan-esque comic with you barbarically fighting off swathes of vultures, tribesman and other creatures, to a strip set in the Silver Age (a cel-shaded visual style with nods to societies’ shortcomings of the time) and, eventually, Manga (presented in black and white and frankly, rather quite bizarre). Moving from comic to comic through a interactive hub world which also allows you to go and upgrade your weapon stats, health or number of ‘Help Me’ special attacks available to you (seeing Twisted Pixel arms come flailing into view to destroy all enemies on screen), it’s the transition between scenes once your in the comic that we really enjoyed, seeing Captain Smiley forced from a comic book panel in 3D to another, all the while seeing artistic representations of the unfolded plot in the rest of the comic strip.

Split between short melee sections and traditional side-scrolling gun-play, Comic Jumper‘s mechanics are of the highest order, allowing you to aim in 360-degree space with the right thumbstick and fire using many of the face buttons or triggers, whilst jumping and sliding also lets you navigate the stages. It’s also a very tough game indeed, where patience is rewarded in learning each enemy types pattern of attack (especially in the well conceived boss battles). The non-regenerating health that depletes all-too-quickly will have you die again and again, although the checkpoint system is kept regular enough to avoid any major problems. The game also constantly flits between different gameplay styles, so a melee section will quickly revert to a side-scrolling run-and-gun, and onto an on-rails shooter. The relatively short time spent within each comic is also brilliant, lending the game a helping hand in remaining fresh and engaging visually, although if we have any minor complaints it’d be within the Manga comic, where the muted black and white strips often make seeing projectiles that much harder. We’d have loved to have seen different mechanics introduced in each stage but mostly it’s wishful thinking and might have withdrawn from the familiarity you feel to the controls in later stages, where you’ll be severely tested.

On the whole, Comic Jumper: The Adventures of Captain Smiley is a solid shooter that revels in delivering old school 2D gameplay with enhanced 3D graphics and unique visual styles. The humour and intended audience seem slightly to be at odds with each other, neither as smart as it thinks it is for adults to enjoy or child-friendly for younger gamers. That said, it mostly works as a whole package and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

MLG Rating: 7/10

Platform: Xbox 360 Release Date: 06/10/2010

Disclosure: Midlife Gamer were provided a digital copy of Comic Jumper: The Adventures of Captain Smiley for review purposes by the promoter. The title was reviewed over the course of four days on an Xbox 360. For more information on what our scores mean, plus details of our reviews policy, click here.

It’ll be a must for fans of the cheeky plumber and the best-selling series ever (with over 240 million units sold globally to date), with the set also boasting a special booklet that takes a look across the history of Super Mario and an audio CD that garners music from the spectrum of Super Mario releases from the last 25 years, from Super Mario Sunshine to this year’s instant-classic Super Mario Galaxy 2.

It’ll be available for the Nintendo Wii on the 3rd December 2010. Oh Nintendo, you shouldn’t have.

But up until now, the 360 has failed to match such ambition, perhaps because of a reluctance to enter into what is a very risky market, or due to technology hindrances. However, it’ll come as a major step forward for Microsoft’s 360 to claw back the momentum with 3D when one of this year’s biggest blockbuster releases, Treyarch‘s Call of Duty: Black Ops, comes available to play in full 3D via any of the platforms it is being released onto (PS3, PC and Xbox 360).

Many of us sadly will not be able to experience what it has to offer however, you’ll need a 3D-ready TV with state-of-the-art shutter glasses for the picture to look anything but a dull and hazy blur. See http://www.callofduty.com/3d for more information.

Graphically, Gran Turismo 5 is unparalleled in realism stakes, Polyphony‘s racer is without doubt the most attractive on the market, the lighting and effects engine superb in reflecting the environment in the shimmering bodywork of each of GT5′s entirely accurate car models, the beautifully modelled environments in which you race are sublime and hold true the exceptional perseverance that the developer has poured into every last drop of the game’s infrastructure. The in-car view is also positively brilliant, holding the car’s dash and curvature nuances, while not detracting from the racing feel that many racing games struggle with, in promoting a broader field of view.

Sadly, we have to mention our hands-on with 3D since the public showing is a sign that Sony feel confident enough in their product that they’re willing to take criticism, and thus, it’s where our time with the game floundered. While the leap into the three dimensions brought forward the steering wheel on the in-car view and leant a hand in drawing distances to opposing cars, the colour that managed to spring from the screen in splendour from the 1080p showing with the normal display was disappointingly mostly lost from the 3D TV version. It paled in comparison, lacking the visual crispness that Polyphony Digital have strived to achieve in the five-odd years or so that GT5 has been in development. The sharpness of the picture, meanwhile, was struck with an almost blurred distortion of otherwise bold lines. The HUD sprang out of the screen. However, we can’t criticise the game for the 3D implementation, although the likes of Guerilla Games’ Killzone 3 have rung only positive comments from their showing, so it’s a little distracting nonetheless.

Performance-wise, Gran Turismo 5 felt as physically robust and jaw-droppingly realistic as possible when you manage to get behind the wheel and guide the car around the track. Handling feels positively weighty and again, Polyphony have managed to take all that was great from the series in the PS2 reign and transfer it over to its first, full ‘next-gen’ release. In terms of AI, what we saw was a demonstration of suitably aggressive AI opponents, tussling side-by-side us after a swift exit from the corner. If anything had us particularly unimpressed, it had to be the supposed damage engine that will be seen for the first time in a Gran Turismo game. Whether it was an early build of the game remains to be seen, but careering into barriers at a nerve-tingling velocity rarely resulted in anything more than a slightly raised bumper, if anything at all! Again, the game may very well improve on such modelling come release, but we’ve seen much better, much earlier, so for Polyphony to be claiming top-notch realism when such small caveats can’t be filled is annoying.

We didn’t get to try out the rally mode that is set to appear in GT5 (boasting WRC in the final game; as well as NASCAR, Super GT and Go-Karting) so any judgements can not be made on what could push GT5 into further realms beyond the typical racer. Our limited time with the game was certainly good-looking, unapproachable in its push for realism and a guaranteed hit for the PS3. November couldn’t come sooner in our eyes.

The newly released screens that popped in today show off realistic stadia and sharp car models, with an in-garage view hinting toward an experience rewards system, and possibly, a more in-depth career mode, like that seen in Codemasters’ recent F1 2010 title.

The shot below of a car flipping into the air ought to deliver the thrills that come hand-in-hand with one of the most dangerous sports on the planet, although we’ll have to wait and see whether a full damage system will be implemented in time for launch.

Visit www.nascarthegame.com for more information.

Shining from magnificently glorious high-def screens behind the gleeful, smiling face of Sackboy, LittleBigPlanet 2 (LBP2) was certainly one of the more impressive of showings at this year’s event. All early footage of the game has been highly convincing that this is a step beyond the exceptional first game and its platforming roots. Whilst levels to be demoed were a little disappointing in promoting LBP2′s more, shall we say, adventurous of creations that have come to the forefront in the beta build (FPS’s, RPG’s, wholly convincing shoot-em-up’s), our hands-on still reinforced our mind-set that this is still indefinitely worthy of your time.

A rhythm-action like mini-game is one of many possibilites that can spring from LBP2.

It might be difficult to apprehend how one of Guildford’s most creative, innovative and outlandish studios might go about to improve on one of the game’s of this generation. LittleBigPlanet was a genre unto itself- the ‘Play, Create, Share’ brand- that pushed to the forefront its user-creation tool-set, becoming one of the PS3′s first, major “must have’s” and with it, stealing many a gamer’s’ heart (yes, even my own).

Hopes that LBP2 might somehow refine or tighten the platforming mechanics can be put to sleep because no, there is no detectable difference in how the game plays. That said, Media Molecule have gone to lengths to make this stand out as a platformer in its own right. Levels feel more energetic, vibrant and complex (incredibly difficult to up on the first game), due in no small part to the addition of various elements, materials and systems that have been levelled into the tool-set. Our hands-on showcased the bouncy material that sends Sackboy high into the air, without input from the player, while incorporated this with the new grappling hook (a hold of ‘R1′) that could easily be shortened and lengthened with quick adjustments from the D-pad. And although LittleBigPlanet was by no means visually unattractive, LBP2 really fits the bill as one of the best looking games on the system- there is more effects to compliment the different elements (fire, electricity etc.), while the game also boasts more startling detail. It’ll certainly be interesting to go back and look at some of our older creations to see how the new graphical overhaul makes them pop back into life, for sure, but we’ll have to wait until January to get the full verdict on such retro-fitting.

Otherwise, the only other addition to LBP that we can truly talk about within our hands-on was the implementation of the programmable AI bots (or ‘Sackbots’ to you and I) whose behavioural traits can be co-ordinated in the build of a level. Another of our demo’s with the game saw us have to guide bizarre, little, wooden disciples with heart-filled eyes to the other end of the level. Obviously, programmed with the intent to follow extremely closely, what followed was a joyous romp through the horizontal platformer towards the end goal, while unblocking plastic pipes to let the Sackbots through, defeating more varied enemies (a spider, for example, with rotating internal ‘cores’), and avoiding horrible Sack-deaths.

We can’t imagine what comes out of the final build of the game, when the PS3′s budding creatives come a’calling and get to work with the hugely expansive creation tools that lay at their disposal. We’ve seen videos of the aforementioned mingling of genre’s that LBP2 will be able to conjure, and whilst our hands-on failed to showcase everything that will lay in store, perhaps that’s best. It’s left us with an insatiable appetite for more while allowing us to become familiar with its new control mechanics. And in that, we’re delighted.

Revolving around 21 separate ‘Campaign’ missions in which you pilot a number of different aircraft, each with their own traits of handling, statistics and mix of weaponry. The game really comes alive when piloting the light, manoeuvrable planes, in which barrel rolls and loops can easily be achieved (slowing down the craft with a hold of ‘L2′), and whilst the bomber sections are a welcome distraction to the whole, leaving devastation in their wake from slow passes over-ground, SkyFighter is instantly more approachable when the twitchy aircraft are under your control. The use of the left thumb stick as a way of directly controlling the craft goes some way to achieving the positivity we feel, however it’s because the action only really kicks off, dogfights and all, when under this guise.

And thus we come on to the mission structure that is perhaps a little devoid of creativity to say the least. We admire the fluidity and fast-paced dogfights, as we’ve just mentioned, on the way to an objective, but SkyFighter insists on mission after mission of bombing the enemy base or destroying oncoming enemy forces. The final mission at least feels substantial and suitably epic, and Creat Studios and TikGames can be applauded in keeping the 40s feel throughout the game, from sepia-tone completion screens, to musical numbers, but we’d have liked to have seen more differentiation in mission design, even if it did sway further from the more realistic vibe. The aforementioned difference in weapon type and weapon control (one aircraft for example can only fire its machine guns with the right thumb stick) goes some way to combating such feelings toward the game, and it does show some promise in its night-time ‘stealth’ sections that task you to pilot through the gaze of piercing searchlights by flying through the cover of clouds and manoeuvring around its glow, dodging air mines along the way.

And although we can’t wholeheartedly tell you that the general feel from the missions is suitably great, it does throw up some interesting scenarios throughout the run-time (around 5 minutes a mission if you don’t use up all your lives and restart). The arcade shooter style comes into its own when enemies fill the screen and the objective flirts below, where you have to switch between firing your main machine gun and dropping grenades timed grenades, picking up weapon drops that rise in hot air balloons for added fire power. The control system is forgivingly easy to get to grips with, and the shooting mechanics slot straight into place. Therefore, never does it feel like your fighting with the game, rather, any mistakes you make are your fault entirely. Cranking up the difficulty level, meanwhile, is sure to test your skill to the highest order (and your patience) as you pilot to become ‘Ace’, and the addition of ‘Awards’, local multiplayer (up to 8 competitively), high-scores and added missions is enough to extend re playability. The graphical style is one stand-out aspect of the game, with hand-drawn 2D backgrounds and environmental detail lovingly interspersed between animated objects and cel-shaded AA guns, enemy tanks and fortifications.

It’s a loving ode to traditional side-scrolling shoot-em-up’s, all with the historical period detail and well handled mechanics to back it up. It might be a little pricey at £9.99 for what you get, but it’s a welcome addition to any collection thanks to its accessibility and high level of polish.

MLG Rating: 7/10

Platform: Playstation 3 Release Date: 22/09/2010

Disclosure: Midlife Gamer were provided a physical copy of SkyFighter for review purposes by the promoter. The title was reviewed over the course of three days on a Playstation 3. For more information on what our scores mean, plus details of our reviews policy, click here.

Creative director of Child of Eden, Tetsuya Mizuguchi, explains “The theme of Child of Eden is ‘Hope and Happiness’ and I want players to experience happy feelings every time they play the game. I need your help to convey these positive emotions, so please send us pictures that give you good vibes so we can include them in the ending of the game.”

Go to www.childofedengame.com for more information.