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Consumer Electronic Show 2012 — Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony, & More!

Kanashimi — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 01:40:54 +0000

As some of you know, Kana got the chance to attend the Consumer Electronic Show here in Las Vegas this week. She comes back with goodies from Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony in addition to a special K-Pop surprise! Hit the jump for her full report.

The Consumer Electronic Show fills up not only the Las Vegas Convention Center, but the Venetian, Renaissance, and Hilton on top of that. This year the show was the largest it had ever been in its forty-four year history, using 1.861 million net square feet of exhibit space as well as welcoming over one hundred and fifty three thousand attendees. If those numbers don’t make you go wow then I’m not sure what will.

Video supplement of the many wonders of CES 2012.

Most of my time at the show was spent on Thursday when a majority of the keynotes were over and the show was beginning to slow down. I had gotten a chance to be at the show for a small time on Wednesday, however, just in time for a special presentation. Samsung’s booth, which was directly across from Sony, was consistently filled with individuals looking at everything from TVs to laptops to refrigerators. Nevertheless, on Wednesday there was a whole other reason that people were gathered. Nick Cannon was there to showcase not only J.Y. Park, the founder of JYP Entertainment, but also the Wonder Girls. The girls unveiled their latest English music video, “The DJ Is Mine” which features School Gyrls. The song will be used in the Wonder Girl’s self-titled Teen Nick movie slated to air the first quarter of this year.

Samsung showed off the music video on hundreds of TV screens with the girls watching and singing along. There were plenty of international attendees who were definitely already fans of the girls, but the interesting thing was how present US reporters were. The Wonder Girls finally seem like they’ve got a bigger piece of the North American pie, but we won’t know for sure if they’ll keep the market’s attention until the movie premieres on TV.

On Thursday I got the chance to check out Microsoft’s booth, first thing in the morning. There was already quite a line considering it was the first thing a person saw as they entered the Center Hall. The bizarre thing to me was what games the company decided to showcase. At first glance all one could see was Skyrim, Batman: Arkham City, Call Of Duty, and other well-known games that are not only already out, but have sold millions. On closer inspection, hiding behind the other side of the booth, were games such as I Am Alive, Alan Wake’s American Nightmare, Nexiuz, and Warp.

Out of all the ones I tried Warp was the most unique and surprising. Not only was I tricked by the cute, little alien that I was controlling, but the bright colors of the world made me feel like I was about to play something ridiculously happy. Instead what I got was the ability to make scientist explode from the inside out. What a family game this is! The alien has the power to warp around, thus the name of the game, and you can take control of people to get through the level. All in all, it’s a funny, quirky game with an noteworthy approach.

Another game I feel worth mentioning that I didn’t play, but watched is I Am Alive. A lot of the listeners know how I feel about a game that could have been, and I feel the same way now watching the mixture of browns, whites, blacks, and reds in the highest contrast possible. The game doesn’t actually look appealing, especially in world of the latest, crispiest LCD screens out there. Granted, a few of the mechanics I saw gave me hope that the game would at least be enjoyable. The climbing is very much akin to Uncharted except I can’t really see I Am Alive taking place in a thicket of shrubbery, but you still get the same feel in terms of getting the main character around. Your biggest disadvantage is the stamina gauge à la Metal Gear Solid 2’s grip meter. I do like the idea of trying to make the main character a regular guy, but as to how this will hurt you in later levels I can only speculate.

Fighting (or defending) is as frantic as it should be with bums pretending to barter with you when really they’re just trying to get closer for the kill. You’re not at a disadvantage however as when someone gets too close you can easily “Surprise Kill” them. The weapon on display in the preview was a bow and arrow, which interestingly enough could be used to threaten someone if they saw you pointing it their way. Some enemies would cower in fear while others would remain unmoved. For the most part the player shouldn’t be fighting the NPCs they meet as is since doing so might cause unnecessary death.

Ignoring Call Of Duty to save my sanity, I went in search of Sony’s booth (looking out for Nintendo the entire way, even though I knew they technically didn’t have a place on the show floor). The PlayStation biased fangirl in me was happy to see twelve PlayStation Vitas on the show floor to be played with. The first one I approached was all about the social features of the little device; I got a quick run-down of the modified trophy system, Twitter, Facebook, and other social media portals available. Switching between each was easy with no load time; in fact, I only experienced load time in-between levels of games.

Talking about games, I had the free time to mess around with quite a few. Uncharted: Golden Abyss was the Vita game most intertwined with the touchscreen and back-touchpad. Drake can jump from platform to platform by simply tapping it with your fingertip, he will pay attention to where you tap and sometimes make bigger jumps than you expect to, skipping a ledge or two. It was easy to go from controlling with the analog to touching the screen even if I had an impending gun fight. Even the puzzles were engaging despite using the touchscreen to do all the ones I saw. Most of it had to do with using charcoal to unveil a glyph, and then matching them up much like puzzle pieces.

The big gripe I had with this title was sniping, which felt cumbersome and awkward. With many things, it might be because I didn’t have much of a chance to get used to the controls or it could be I suck horribly at shooters. Either way, I never quite got used to zooming my scope or positioning my hands without being too shaky. First off, I had to make Nathan crouch with the typical square. Then I had to hold L1 to be able to aim and could position my aim by moving the Vita itself. It sensed these movements with no lag, but was pretty precise. To shoot the gun I needed to press R1, but the kicker was moving my finger up and down the back-touchpad to zoom in and out. I failed the mission twice and was unable to save the character I was supposed to be protecting.

Despite the shortcomings of sniping, Uncharted was graphically the best game I saw on the PlayStation Vita. The scenery was rich and dense and characters moved realistically. The textures gave it so much depth, and I was just surprised this sort of power was possible. To give a better scope for the other games I’ll be talking about, Hot Shot Golf looked superior in comparison to its console counterpart Hot Shot Golf: Out Of Bounds. There’s quite a few year’s difference there, but the experience still looks so much grander. The colors are crystal clear and it really shows how technology has matured.

There was another game that handled the touchpads a little bit better entitled Little Deviants. The first level I played allowed me to use solely the back-touchpad to make hills that would cause my deviant to roll this way and that. I was supposed to be collecting stars, but often times I just ended up getting the key and warping to the next level. At first I was awful at this, yet I still found it entertaining as I failed. It was charming and felt like I was impacting the game in a new way.

The next level made use of the Vita’s back camera as my backdrop as the deviants flew around in little airplanes. They were being attacked by robots that I could shoot in a 360 degree manner by literally turning and aiming. I felt like a fool yet it still got me to giggle, and having fun with it is good by me. I quickly got to the final round and killed my foes without thankfully smacking anyone with the handheld in the process.

All the games I mentioned will be out for PlayStation Vita on February 22nd. The only game that did not have a set release date at the show was Gravity Rush. I was informed it currently only has a “launch window”. This is depressing considering the game is fairly unique with the way you use gravity and the female heroine’s body to attack.

On the Move side I finally got a chance to play Sorcery which has since grown up since many of us first saw it. The game originally appeared a little more cartoony and more focused on the mechanics of using the Move effectively. The world has become much more rich and vibrant with the main hero growing up a bit to appeal to a bigger market. I was worried and concerned about trying a game that incorporates Move to this degree, but I can say my experience was positive.

Blasting off shots to get a feel of the character was easy and he followed my moves with no lag. I struggled with remembering when picking my spell (done by pressing the Move button) to do the motion at the screen and not up in the air to symbolize the type of swirl it needed me to do; regardless, once I got the hang of it I was whipping out firewalls and tornadoes at the same time to make a deadly combo. Dodging was a great resource I found myself missing until I found the button for it, using it consistently over the shield you were provided with. Fighting enemies was fun and felt rewarding, probably the most effective spell simply being to freeze your enemies until they shatter.

The game also featured puzzles to open specific doors and treasure chests littered about to make the experience feel less like “We’re incorporating the Move for a gimmick” and more like “A necessary part of the gaming experience”. I enjoyed myself, but I did wish I could get more time to actually play the game to get even better at the controls. We can expect Sorcery out in spring of this year.

Going back to Sony’s E3 Press Conference from 2010 one of the most memorable moments was Sweet Tooth pulling up in his signature ice cream truck and stepping out to confirm the next Twisted Metal with David Jaffe. Almost two years later and I had finally gotten to see this beast of a game in action. To the dismay of the presenter with the game I picked the helicopter as my vehicle of choice. Ironically enough, it was the second weakest vehicle in terms of health with only the motorbike beating it. I took to the air like a pro until I realized turning fast was not this certain helicopter’s strong point. Picking off enemies was difficult simply due to the fact they could turn swiftly enough to where I had to readjust before I could shoot them back. Either way, I was able to pull off two kills online before I died in a fiery explosion.

I tried a regular car in the next round and I was told this was the fastest automobile in the game. Killing things was easier, but keeping track of my opponents was actually more stress-free in the helicopter, but regardless the new flamethrower I had kind of threw out my concerns at the time. The game is played like previous iterations in the series. The player drives around as fast as possible to pick up power-ups, ammo, and other specials items. With the triangle button you can switch between them and use them on your enemy of choice. R1 uses the items you pick up while L1 is your regular attack (or in my case bullets).

The game is faithfully how I remember it, but this time my older brother isn’t driving circles around me (I’m also not five, so perhaps I’ve gotten a bit better). Twisted Metal was simple fun with the small details, such as killing your enemy and then as they ditch the car running them over for bonus points. The carnage you remember is still there, but it might seem tame in comparison to what we’re used to now-a-days. That’s not really something the developers can help, and shock factor doesn’t seem to be the main priority anyway. Twisted Metal is slated for a bloody Valentine’s Day!

One of the last games I played was Journey, and naturally I was instantly attracted to it. Flow was one of my very first PSN games for the PlayStation 3, and since then I’ve been hooked on games developed by ThatGameCompany. Their next release, Flower, showed how a video game doesn’t need to be tense and grating yet can still be engaging and enjoyable. For those of you unfamiliar with Flower, since the company has only made games exclusively for PlayStation, you are a single petal piece drifting in the wind. With your SIXAXIS controller you can move the wind and float between blades of grass, make flowers bloom, and discover other petals to ride along the breeze with you.

Sounds strange, doesn’t it? It’s certainly no Gears Of War, but that’s what makes the company unique. I was able to talk to Kellee Santiago, their president, who explained that they purposely focus on a small amount of tasks to implement in their games so they don’t get bogged down. Some indie developers want to add too much far too quickly, and this makes releasing a game with enough polish rather difficult. This method has definitely worked for them, and rang true for what I saw of their newest title, Journey.

In the game you play a robed figure that is taking a journey in the desert trying to reach a large mountain in the distance. The main character can “shout” when cloth is around to help them fly, get through puzzles, or other various obstacles. The first level I played allowed me to play online with another person, whom I later found out was someone stuck at the company playing the first three levels all day. He guided me along the desert towards long strips of cloth, and by pressing circle I was able to use a “shout”. This activated the fabric in some way which made them glow, and in this level made a portion of a bridge form. We moved from cloth to cloth until eventually there was an item hidden up rather high. The other player used his “shout” to propel me up so I could jump even higher. It actually took me awhile to get that, since we were unable to communicate, but I appreciate the guy’s patience. He eventually led me into a sand waterfall, revealing behind it some odd statues and a blank wall. Activating my “shout” made the stone figures light up and displayed a few pictures on the wall, which Kellee explained was the way the game was telling me the story or letting me know more about the world.

Once we cleared the bridge we were onto the next level, which had us releasing kites that flew in and out of the sand leading us to our next destination. At this point I found my favorite part of the game, which was literally being on a big hill and sand surfing my way down. The sand moved like liquid sun and the world felt so vast. Besides the person I was playing with I truly felt alone and oddly curious about what I could find. There are barriers in the world, however, when I inquired about this I was told it was similar to how Flower had the wind push you around if you were going too far one way.

In the end, this was my favorite game with lots of interesting puzzles we had to do together without any form of communication. The game also looks visually stunning whether due to its sheer simplicity or color palette, I’m not quite sure. I did learn, however, that the levels change colors in the way Flower did to set the mood. For those of you unfamiliar, Flower starts out bright and cheery, but levels become darker and darker as you proceed through the game. I’m very curious to see how this looks in Journey, simply because I cannot imagine it without the tans or reds, so to see it altered even a little will leave a big impact.

For those of you waiting like I am, Journey comes out in spring of this year to PlayStation Network. For some of you that feel left out unable to play these games it might be fair to say that ThatGameCompany only has a three game contract with Sony. While I personally like that they are an exclusive company I feel it is a shame for people to miss out on this exceptional experiences.

Before I left Sony’s booth I got the chance to view the 4K projector that was on everyone’s mind after their press conference on Monday. This home projector has a resolution four times greater than 1080p and that translates to a resolution of 4096×2160. Holy crap! I learned that this was the industry staple in theaters since 2005, and as such, Sony is just attempting to adapt this to the home. The only problem is this projector is just under $25,000. I’m gonna pass, I don’t really have that lying around.

Either way, I was able to watch the projector go from a 16:9 aspect ratio to the ridiculousness that is 4K. It looks absolutely stunning and convinced me that I was in a theater for at least ten minutes. I’m sure watching it on a 182” inch screen helped the appeal here. The big problem is having something to watch if you put this thing in your home. Most, if not all, Blu-Ray discs have films that were shot in 4K but then were downscaled to 1080p. Ouch. Overall, Men In Black never looked better.

Moving on, I decided to check out the GameTech area that CES was touting. To be fair, it wasn’t exactly what I expected, but if there was a peripheral I needed then I would certainly find it there. From chargers to gyroscope bouncy balls, it was here. Wandering around I stumbled upon a booth for STYL . They had an assortment of cases for iPad and iPhone, but once I had a representative show me their Combat Case I couldn’t help but think that this was a neat idea. You can actually hear the rep explain about the product in my video supplement above, but the short and sweet is that the case is adjustable so it protects your iPhone while also giving you a nice grip for your gaming experience.

My last and final trek was ultimately discovering Nintendo. If you’ve been under a rock you might have missed Nintendo’s E3 announcement last year where they unveiled their next console, the Wii U. I was skeptical then, due to the fact the majority of the HD footage the console touted shown was from previous trailers for other consoles. The one tech demo I saw left me indifferent and feeling like I was just missing something. At least now I feel as though I can say that the Wii U at least keeps up with Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. As for the full potential, none of us will really know that for another few years, simply because people are still exploring and figuring out the technology.

While my worst fear was the HD, I was a little unsure about the controller and can say confidentially that I’m not a fan. While the controller is technically very light and the grip itself is nice, the problem stems from the fact it feels bulky in my hands. Now, realistically, my hands are smaller because I’m a girl, but I feel like I’m struggling to reach the D-Pad or four face buttons located under the analog stick. When resting on the analog, everything is picture perfect, and reaching upwards actually makes more sense to me if I wanted to get to something. Regardless, I might just have to get used to it. I had several problems with the Xbox 360 controllers due to their size, but I can at least attest that the Wii U’s controller doesn’t have the weight to make swinging it around a chore.

In terms of switching the game from the controller screen to the TV and vice versa, it is instantaneous, which is a welcomed feature. I personally had a hard time remembering to look back at the controller, but this was for some games. Others, I felt were done well, utilizing the controller in a way that made sense, while others felt gimmicky. Granted, it showed off the tech either way so I can’t complain too much. One of the neater things about the console was the way the TV could be seeing one thing while the controller could look all around the world completely unhindered. For example I could look around in a 360 degree manner while the TV just focused on one thing. Depending on the way developers actually utilize this is the big story here. Just like there are amazing games for Wii there are those that make you shake the Wiimore just to shake it. Whether this becomes a problem is still debatable, all things considered.

I was more impressed seeing the actual Wii U console. I came out of the footage from E3 going “wait, is there a new console? It sounds like there’s a new console, did we actually see one?” So much focus was on that controller that the real base of the entire thing felt left out of the loop. It is bigger than the current Wii, mostly in terms of how long it is and not how wide. I’m also a fan of the rounded edges since it makes the entire thing seem more modern. I believe in general the shape encourages laying the console flat instead of on its sides, which is something that I prefer and am glad to see.

God, that was a lot to go over and I still feel like there are quite a few things I missed at the show this year. Next year I can go in much more prepared, all things considered, but I do hope that this barrage of information helps you with gaming’s latest releases. For the Fanatics out there, look out for unedited video footage, and for all the fans out there, make sure to check back for more coverage of the world’s biggest events in 2012.

Jubilee’s News Jumble – May 16th – 22nd 2011

Kibs — Sun, 22 May 2011 19:37:12 +0000

Hello all you Fanatics out there! Once again it is I, Jubilee, and I am back after one hectic week of Finals…but, hey! They are all done now. I am getting back into the swing of things, and this week I managed to archive news ranging from Ouran Host Club, to Mortal Kombat news, (yes…I found even more!). So sit back, relax, and enjoy. (Enjoyment won’t be hard, because I’m the Jubi…and I’m…AWESOME!).

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It was recently announced via Hakusensha’s LaLa magazine that a live-action television series adaptation of Bisco Hatori’s Ouran High School Host Club has been confirmed for this July. The series will air on the TBS Network in Japan, and will star Yusuke Yamamoto (Kamen Rider & Kabuto) as Tamaki and Haruna Kawaguchi (Moshidora) as Haruhi Fujioka. Not a huge fan of this series, but I’m not sure I like the idea of a live-action adaptation of it. Then again, I don’t really care for any live-action adaptations. Maybe this one will change my mind…we shall have to see.

Due to a thumbnail image for the July issue of Kadokawa Shoten’s Young Ace magazine that was recently displayed on their website, it is rumored that an anime adaptation of Yuki Kodama’s Blood Lad vampire based manga is in production. However, as the issue does not release until the 4th of July, we won’t know for sure until then, but it is highly likely. The story has been running in Young Ace for two years now, and it follows a young vampire who falls in love with a human high school girl, who then dies and becomes a ghost. Naturally, vampire boy…I mean lad, must try and find a way to bring her back to life. Sounds interesting enough!

Sentai Filmworks began streaming all 24 English-subtitled episodes of the Needless anime via Hulu earlier this week. The anime follows a group of people who have settled in the aftermath of World War III, and due to the pollution, have gained mysterious powers. The Anime Network has been streaming the show for some time now, however, only the first two episodes were available to people who were not paying subscribers.

In the previous issue of Kadokawa Shoten’s 4-Koma Nano Ace magazine, which shipped just last week, the first installment of Nao Kato’s four panel spinoff manga, Barcode Geass: Lelouch of the Sales, was released. The manga re-imagines Lelouch Lamperouge, from the Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion series, as a part-time convenience store worker. Sounds interesting…but I think it needs more Rakshata. Actually, they should just give her a brand new series. Code Rakshata: Smoking on the Couch of the Rebellion. Yeah…I got nothing.

An advertisement earlier this week revealed that the television anime adaptation of Namori’s Yuruyuri manga will be premiering later this year on July 4th. The series will be directed by Masahiko Ohta (Mitsudomoe), animated by Dogakobo, and will air on TV Tokyo. The story focuses around a quartet of schoolgirls who take over the former tea ceremony club’s room and form their own “Gorakubu,” or “amusement club.”

A subsidiary of Nippon Ichi Software, NIS America, recently revealed that it will be releasing the upcoming Bleach: Soul Ignition video game under the name Bleach: Soul Resurrection in North America. The game is currently set to be released on August 3rd, and will be available for the PS3. The game also focuses on the Arrancar arc of Bleach, and is shipping in Japan on the 23rd of next month. I want this…just so I can fight a Szayel…

Manga creator Shin Takahashi (Iihito, Kimi no Kakera, SaiKano) recently revealed that they will be launching a brand new series in this year’s 33rd issue of Kodansha’s Young Magazine. The issue is set to come out on July 16th, and the new series will be titled Yuki ni Tsubasa (Wings in the Snow). Although none of the finer details of the series have been released yet, we do know that the series will be set in a fantasy atmosphere. Sounds exciting!

Funimation and video game developer Good Game Productions confirmed this past Thursday that the two are currently developing a turn-based role-playing/fighting game based on the Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood anime series. The game is titled Fullmetal Battle and will be available on the iOS mobile operating system for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch, as well as on Androids and Facebook. Players will also be able to create and customize their own unique licensed alchemists and challenge characters from the series. There will also be a 3v3 option for group battles.

In related Fullmetal Alchemist news, the official website for the Fullmetal Alchemist: Milos no Sei-Naru Hoshi movie began streaming a third set of trailers for the film this past Friday. This is the first set of trailers to contain a full trailer, and not a bunch of teasers. If will link you to the site, here, on which you can view all of the currently released trailers for the upcoming film. I can’t believe I had two Fullmetal Alchemist stories in one News Jumble…the world must really be ending. Nope, still here.

Hokuei, Japan, the hometown of Detective Conan manga creator Gosho Aoyama, announced a few days ago that they will be issuing Detective Conan moped license plates beginning this next Tuesday. The town lists their reasoning for the plates as hoping that they will double as sorts of billboards, promoting the Gosho Aoyama Manga Factory museum, as well as several bronze statues of Detective Conan characters. I really want to go visit this place…it sounds awesome…

Insomniac released several detail concerning their upcoming Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One game, including the release date! The game will be dropped in about five months, on October 18th, and depending on which place you pre-order from, new items will be unlocked! If you choose GameStop, you will receive Mr. Zurkon, who is a hovering synthenoid who fires lasers and taunts enemies. If you choose Amazon.com, you will receive a mod for your Morph-O-Ray that changes your enemies into baby a T-Rex. Best Buy will grant the player a special flame thrower with two settings, regular or extra crispy! Finally, if one pre-orders the game at Wal Mart, they will receive a mod to the Morph-O-Ray that is a throwback to Going Commando that changes enemies into sheep. Want…to…play…now!

Hey guys. I found more Mortal Kombat news. I know you are excited. Anyways, Mortal Kombat creator Ed Boon recently announced that the arcade versions of Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 will all be made available on the PC, PSN, and Xbox Live Arcade this summer. All of the games will be provided in a single download, and will be known as Mortal Kombat: Arcade Kollection, (of course), and will cost $10/800 MS points. Personally, I haven’t played MK or MK II in forever, so it will be nice to have access to those again! Heck, even though I have Ultimate MK III for PS1 … I still want it for PC!

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See, you enjoyed it. Told you. Until next week fanatics, take it easy, as I know I will be trying to. However, in my laziness I will still scout out all the best stories for another edition of the News Jumble next Sunday, so be on the lookout for that! But, until then, I have some serious geek trainings to do.

iStalk – 583

Elk — Fri, 20 May 2011 17:00:33 +0000

Today, Hatsune Miku concert tour package, Fullmetal Alchemist portable, and Bandai proves that cheap imitation Gundams are no match.

Sources:

Story 1
Story 2
Story 3

Jubilee’s News Jumble – April 18th – 24th, 2011

Kibs — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 20:52:37 +0000

Greetings fanatics! It is I, Mothra, QUEEN OF THE INSECTS, and I am back for another weekly recap of the news, (a.k.a: News Jumble). After a wild week of…wildness…my vocabulary is drained, and I have collected everything from George Takei (Oh Myyy!), to our, (most likely), last dose of Mortal Kombat for a while. So, sit back, chill-ax, and grab a cup of whatever it is you like to drink, (presumably Dr. Pepper).

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In the last two weeks, Japanese-American actor George Takei, (whom you might know from his role as Mr. Sulu in Star Trek), has been trying to fill a petition via Twitter opposing a shortlist of actors who are reportedly up for the lead roles in the upcoming live-action adaptation of Akira. The list includes movie stars such as Robert Pattinson and Justin Timberlake to play the main role of Kaneda, and Chris Pine as Tetsuo. (Oh look…they are all white). The website Racebending.com created the petition as an “event” on Facebook, and are trying to promote the casting of Asian-American actors in both this, and other film adaptations. Oh Myyyy.

Kadokawa Shoten confirmed earlier this week that a television anime adaptation of Sakae Esuno’s Future Diary manga will premier this fall. The manga has already inspired a pilot episode that was bundled with the 11th manga volume that was released on December 25th. The anime adaptation will be directed by Naoto Hosoda, Katsuhiko Takayama will be supervising the scripts, and character designs will be handled by Ruriko Watanabe and Eiji Hirayama.

Earlier this week, Chukei, a Kadokawa Group Publishing company, released two books with Nagaru Tanigawa’s Haruhi Suzumiya character, made to teach some English vocabulary. The books put pages from the series side by side with their English translations, which is actually a pretty good idea when you think about it. I know just from watching Subbed anime I have been able to decipher the meaning of some words, and it is a fun way to do it for sure!

It was announced in this week’s last issue of Jump Square magazine that a new Rurouni Kenshin anime project has been confirmed. Although we are currently unsure of what all this will entail, the series is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year. In addition to his news, however, the magazine also announced that the Blu-ray Disc versions of the two Rurouni Kenshin OVAs will ship this year between August 24th and October 26th.

Funimation announced earlier this week at Sakura-Con that they had licensed the first 48 episodes of the Fairy Tailanime series and The Treasure Hunter live-action film. Funimation has already started dubbing Fairy Tail, and is planning to release the first 48 episodes on DVD and Blu-ray later this year…and I hear Todd Haberkorn is playing the lead character, Natsu.

Sentai Filmwork announced just yesterday at Anime Boston that they had acquired the Senko no Night Raid television anime series for release on both DVD and Blu-ray sometime later this year in August. The anime premiered last April in Japan, and is set in 1931 Shanghai when the Imperial Japanese Army had been dispatched to mainland China due to the recent wars, (WW1, Russo-Japanese, First Sino Japanese). During this, there is a special military spy organization called “Sakurai Kikan,” who since had been lost in history. Sounds interesting, no?

It was confirmed earlier this week by Kadokawa Shoten that artist Sakae Esuno, (who is the author of Future Diary), will be launching a new series in the Monthly Shonen Ace magazine this summer. Esuno started the Future Diary series back in 2006, and just finished it last December. The 12th volume of the series will ship in Japan on the 26th of April, and a television anime adaptation of the series is planned to air this fall.

It was revealed at the tail end of last week that a new Pokemon distribution event is taking place in Japan, (as of April 16th). Players will be able to obtain a Victini, but this one is special due to the fact that it knows V-Create, Searing Shot, Fusion Bolt, and Fusion Flare. Three of these moves are exclusive to the event Victini, and this event in general is to commemorate the release of the two movies this summer. In addition, a C-Gear skin featuring Victini will be available on the Japanese Global Link. While I know this stuff is just making us jealous now…perhaps we will get to see it in the future when the movies release over here? Don’t crush my hope darn it!

Capcom announced earlier this week that they will be releasing one of the first games for the Nintendo eShop on the 3DS. The game will be a special prototype of Mega Man Legends 3, and will introduce people to a new character, Barrett, who is the leader of the sky biker gang. If you guys would like to check out the trailer, you can do so here.

It was confirmed earlier this week that BlazBlue Continuum Shift 2 will be available for the Nintendo 3DS and PSP as of next month, (May 31st for date sticklers). In additional BlazBlue news, owners of the console version will be able to get CS II as a free DLC update later this month, (I don’t have a date for you sticklers on this one). There, I covered something other than Mortal Kombat as far as fighters go…I just don’t know jack squat about BlazBlue.

Nintendo revealed earlier this week that the upcoming Ocarina of Time 3DS will sport a shiny new Boss Challenge mode. According to the announcement, players will be able to fight all of the bosses they have encountered in the game, either individually or all at once in a continuous battle, (heck yes!). The new mode is not unlocked right off the bat though, but instead rather deep into the story. This sounds like a cool idea to me…I approve. More games need battle arenas that let you skip straight to boss fights!

In a bit of a surprising twist, co-creator of the Mortal Kombat series, Ed Boon, said in an interview with Eurogamer that the Xbox 360 version of the newest Mortal Kombat game will NOT be getting an exclusive character. However, he did explain the situation somewhat, stating that NetherRealms wanted to acquire an exclusive character, but “pesky” circumstances got in the way. He did assure that the developers were not looking down on 360 owners, but they were simply not able to obtain any permission to use Xbox mascots. So, I guess this confirms that that leaked character screen from a while back was indeed from the 360 version. Oh well, guess that means people should buy more PlayStation products, (insert awesomeface here).

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And so does it for yet another edition! As always, I shall return yet again in a week’s time; however, until then, I must go save my metamorphosing mates! I wonder if Mothra can scree…hmm. Ma ma, Mothra! Ma ma, Oolala!

iStalk – 533

Elk — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 18:00:05 +0000

Today, Golgo is go, RPG to anime, and wave of the future: selecting the destiny of anime characters.

Sources:

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Jubilee’s News Jumble – January 24th – 30th, 2011

Jubilee — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 00:25:57 +0000

Dananana, News Jumble… News Jumble! I, Jubilee, have returned once again, and if you turn your attention to the left, you can see a giant mound of news from this past week that needs to be spiffied up! Luckily, I work fast. See? Anyways, this week I have everything from the return of Fractale, to where on the Oregon Trail is Carmen Sandiego? Now…TO THE JUB MOBILE!

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After revealing last Wednesday, (January 19th), that Funimation would have to halt its simulcast of Fractale, the company announced on Monday that they would be able to begin re-airing the simulcasts. The copyright owners of Fractale asked Funimation to stop their simulcast due to illegal copies appearing on the internet. Funimation later followed up with the statement:

“In recent days we have been diligently tracking the online illegal distribution of the anime series Fractale and on behalf of the rights holders we have been taking the appropriate legal action. As a result, we now have the approval of the Fractale Production Committee to stream episode 2 of the series starting today. We will make the episode available at 10:45 a.m CST and we are pleased to be able to continue the Fractale simulcast each Thursday as planned.”

The website for the new, up and coming anime Danboru Senki recently started airing a one hundred and ninety-seven second promotional video. The anime is described as a “near-future, plastic-model-building role-playing game,” which will be based off the game Level-5 is shipping on March 17th. In the game, the player will control robots called LBX (Little Battler eXperience) that are made to battle one another. The anime, however, is set to premier on March 2nd, on TV Tokyo.

Announced on Tuesday, Rob Pereyda, the Vice President of Licensing at Crunchyroll, will be stepping down from his position as of Friday (January 28th). Pereyda, who has been with Crunchyroll since 2008, said in a statement that he “would not be leaving if things were not so strong” for Crunchyroll at this time. He did not reveal any of his future plans, or any further explanation of his leave, but he is wished the best.

Viz Media recently confirmed that they would start streaming the anime Neuro (Majin Tantei Nogami Neuro) on February 18th on their website VizAnime.com. Although the anime is upcoming, there has been no announcement or sign of the 23-volume manga series being released in North America. However, the anime is also listed on Viz Europe’s site, with a manga tab that says “Coming Soon…”.

Toei Animation recently added two new anime series to Hulu for our viewing pleasure. Gaiking, a remake of the 1970’s robot anime Daikuu Maryuu Gaiking, is now available in its 39-episode entirety. The other anime, Digimon Tamers, is a spinoff of Digimon Adventures, (duh, Jubi). Currently, episodes 1-17, 24, and 27-51 are available, with episodes 18-23 and 25-26 planning to be made available “as soon as possible.”

From a story I remember reporting on last July, the Swedish Svea Court of Appeals recently upheld the conviction on the 37-year old manga translator for possessing 39 child pornography images. He was originally charged for having 51 images, and fined 25,000 kronor ($3,900). However, the Appeal court knocked off 12 of the photos, as they did not meet the legal definition of pornography. They also lowered the fine to 5,600 kronor ($860).

The March issue of Gentosha’s Monthly Comic Birz magazine officially marked the last segment in Kei Toume’s Genei Hakurankai manga series. Although this particular series has not made it across the ocean to us yet, you may know Toume for some of her other works, namely Kurogane and Lament of the Lamb. Anyways, with the absence of the spot, Toume is already working on a new series for this Fall. Although she hasn’t released many details on this yet, I’ll make sure to keep you updated further when I can!

To finish up on Marvel vs. Capcom 3 news, the final two characters were revealed earlier this week. The last representative of Capcom will be Hsien-Ko from Drakstalkers, and the last representative for Marvel will be the ever annoying Sentinel. I will magically turn the words blue like I always do so you can watch them kick and punch things in a specifically ordered sequence.

I will go ahead and give you the good Nintendo news first. It was recently announced that Nintendo is currently working on a brand new Kirby game for the Nintendo Wii. If you would like to see a glimpse of the playstyle, I found a preview here. Granted, that is about all we know about the game at this point…as Nintendo has not set a release date or title for the game.

On Thursday, the President of Nintendo America, Reggie Fils-Aime, announced that several previously planned titles will not be available as launch titles for the 3DS. The titles include: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, Kid Icarus: Uprising, and … wait for it…Mario. That’s right…Mario is going to miss the launch of Nintendo’s newest system. Reggie also determined that the games will not be released until sometime after E3. Nintendo America Wheeler…I am disappoint.

So, I totally found more Mortal Kombat news for this week! As many people know, a live action rendition using characters from the Mortal Kombat series was linked on the internet several month ago, and was rumored to be a trailer for a new movie adaption. (NSFW: click here if you haven’t seen it). While it won’t be a movie, Warner Bros. has officially confirmed that it will be a new webseries that is set to come out sometime this spring, (to coincide with the new game’s release). While this wasn’t originally planned by director of the short film, Kevin Tancharoen, he will direct the series, as, of course, his mini-sode was the one to spawn so much acclaim. Nice to see Warner Bros. work with something that can only assume was made for fun…but was (and I bet will be) epically awesome.

Now, before you ask “Jubi, why the heck are you reporting on Facebook games?” let me just first remind you of how awesome both the Oregon Trail and Carmen Sandiego really were. Starting Feburary 2nd for the Oregon Trail, and February 9th for Carmen Sandiego, Facebookers will be able to take part with their friends in these two legendary learning games. Foraging with food, getting bitten by snakes, solving geographical puzzles, crossing rivers, cracking safe codes…All on with your friends on Facebook! Is it sad that these are two of the games I am looking forward to most this year? Anyways, if you want to view the trailers, I will just magically turn some words blue. Aw my gosh, I love Carmen Sandiego so much!

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Go, go, go, News Jumble, fight for your life! I hope you all enjoyed this week’s edition, and I hope to see you again next week! Until then…I shall be out practicing my foraging skills before I trek the Oregon Trail looking for friggin Carmen Sandiego! Yeah. I am excited. Do not judge me. Now…ROLL OUT!

iStalk – 454

TheDrunkenShadow — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 22:42:24 +0000

Today, NIS America comes forth with anime, Miku learns to speak the English, and Funimation grabs up some live-action material.

Sources:

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Jubilee’s News Jumble – October 31st-November 6th

Jubilee — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 07:28:52 +0000

Oh look…another week of news! HEY! Wake-up out of that candy coma feelin like P. Diddy! We only have 3 weeks to prepare for a turkey hangover! This week in the jumble, I have compiled everything from Officer Jenny bustin criminals, to G4 getting dropped. Also, a special shout-out to last week’s contest winner, ToyNN! I loved all the submissions, so you are the lucky person who was drawn out of my hat! Congrats! Your candy will be in the mail soon, and on its way to you!(I’ll shoot you a PM on the forums). As for this week though, let’s get to some awesome news!

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Makoto Sekiguchi, a 27 year-old man from Yokohama, was arrested on Tuesday by Chikusei City police for posting images of characters from the newest Pokemon games. Sekiguchi is accused of copyright infringement for posting six images of three different characters from the new game on the Internet via his mobile phone. Sekiguchi was also reported to have said that he “thought I would show everyone the characters that haven’t been made public yet.” Police are still investigating how and where Sekiguchi obtained the images.

For all of you iPad owners out there, (I’m not the only one am I? o.o), Viz Media now has a new downloadable manga app available. Sadly, the app is only available on iPad, but the app itself is free for download. However, the six initial launch titles, Bleach, Death Note, Dragon Ball, Naruto, One Piece, and Bakugan, will cost $4.99 per volume. For a limited time though, the first volume of Death Note is available for free download. Viz has also reported that they plan to add Ouran High School Host Club, D. Grey-man, Rurouni Kenshin, and Vampire Knight in the near future.

A court in Amsterdam recently ordered the halt of the sale of items based upon Sanrio’s Kathy character from Hello Kitty, due to being too similar to a Dutch character, Miffy. The cease-and-desist order applied for 3 countries, Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. If Sanrio is to continue selling the goods, the court will apply a fine of 25,000 Euros (~$35,000) a day.

Kathy & Miffy

Announced on Wednesday, Anthony LaMolinara will be heading the live-action adaptation of the Bubblegum Crisis anime franchise, Bubblegum Crisis – Knight Sabers. You might know LaMolinara for his work as animation director in several films such as Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, and Hollow Man The movie itself is, of course, based off of the Bubblegum Crisis series which follows 4 women who fight with powered armor to protect a future, cybernetic Tokyo. As of now, the film is set to start shooting next May at China’s Hengdian World Studios.

This past week, 5,000 school children in Kyoto, Japan were issued a manga about the life of Shigenobu Nagamori, a famous entrepreneur, and founder of Nidec, an electric motor company. The manga was published by the aforementioned company, and Nagamori stated his intention as trying to inspire the young people with his own life story of going from being a farmer’s son, to the 13th wealthiest man in Japan. The manga is titled Taiyo yori mo Atsui Otoko, which means “the man who is hotter than even the sun.”

This past Sunday at Italy’s Lucca Comics and Game Festival, Jiro Taniguchi, creator of manga such as Benkei in New York, The Walking Man, and A Distant Neighborhood, received the honor of “La Giuria dei Premi Gran Guinigi 2010 assegna il riconoscimento come Maestro del fumetto,” (gasp, gasp) or “Master of Comics” this past Sunday. It is the highest honor/award given at the festival, which has been running since 1966. Taniguchi previously won an award for Best Long Story, for his aforementioned A Distant Neighborhood, in 2003. Congrats, and keep up the awesome work!

Viz Media recently announced that they had acquired the license to the Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s, which will begin to be released in the English Shonen Jump in early January. Also confirmed was the license for Psyren, which is also set to first appear in January. So, relating back to an earlier story, I wouldn’t be surprised to see these become available on the new iPad app within the next year or so.

Announced on Wednesday by the Japanese government, manga and anime creator Leiji Matsumoto will be awarded with The Order of the Rising Sun, along with 4,173 other people this fall. This is the second most prestigious decoration in Japan, after the Order of the Chrysanthemum (which is generally only awarded to politicians, military leaders, and royalty). Matsumoto is best known for creating Space Pirate Captain Harlock and Galaxy Express 999. Matsumoto is not the first manga/anime creator to receive this honor, with people such as Studio Ghibli composer Joe Hisaishi and Square Enix chairman Yasuhiro Fukushima winning honors last year; however, it is quite the honor nonetheless.

Confirmed earlier this week, the latest film by Makoto Shinkai, Hoshi o Ou Kodomo: Children who Chase Lost Voices from Deep Below, is set to open in 2011. Shinkai is best known for his other various films including: 5 Centimeters Per Second, The Place Promised in Our Early Days, and Voices of a Distant Star. The newest film centers on a young girl who spends her days listening to mysterious music that comes from a crystal radio that she received from her father as a memento. She then goes on an adventure to meet a boy again, and through this comes to discover the beauty and cruelty of the world. Also, the Yahoo! Movies Japan website will be hosting teaser footage from the project starting on November 9th at noon.

Also in new movie news, and slightly transitioning to video game news, the newest movie in the Silent Hill franchise, Silent Hill: Revelation, has been announced, and will be filmed in 3D. Personally, I thought the first Silent Hill movies was pretty darn good, but with the addition of 3D, it seems to be taking advantage of the fad. We will have to see…the summary of the movie is listed as:

“For years, Heather Mason and her father have been on the run, always one step ahead of dangerous forces that she doesn’t fully understand. Now on the eve of her 18th birthday, plagued by terrifying nightmares and the disappearance of her father, Heather discovers she’s not who she thinks she is. The revelation leads her deeper into a demonic world that threatens to trap her in Silent Hill forever.”

Gaming company Electronic Arts (EA) recently announced that they will be starting a new partnership with online social-networking site, Facebook. I am not sure what exactly this new partnership will bring, aside from the fact that Facebook credits will become the official currency for all EA games that will be on Facebook. I expect people will be glued to Facebook more than ever now…

This past week, satellite television provider, Direct TV, announced that they would be dropping G4 from their network line-up. A Direct TV spokesperson reported their reasoning for dropping the channel as:

“Since G4 is among the lowest rated networks based on the latest Nielsen data, we decided that it made sense to focus on preserving programming that is more relevant to our larger customer base.”

Naturally, G4 is not pleased with the provider’s decision, rebutting that Direct TV will be “denying G4 fans the only network that focuses on the popular gaming lifestyle.” (I lol’d). As a gamer myself, I have got to say that The Goonies, Red Dawn, and Ninja Warrior do not accurately portray my lifestyle…maybe it is just me. All in favor for a G4 TV 2…all video games, all the time? (Oh wait…that never works).

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Another week of news has passed, but, as always, do not worry! I will be back next week with all the awesome news for all of you awesome-er fanatics! Make sure you wear a jacket, so you do not catch a cold; also, do not forget to bring in your plants so they do not freeze! (Ice > Plants > Zombies). And always remember, that is a magical leopluradon Charlie!

iStalk – 290

TheDrunkenShadow — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 21:48:35 +0000

Today, dubbing casts announced, over-the-top anime hatred, and eye-Pong.

Trouble With Blip? Check Out Our Screwattack!
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Kana’s Korner – Interview with Ginny McQueen

Sandgolem — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 21:33:05 +0000

Ginny McQueen stops by the show to talk with us about being a cosplay idol, making costumes, and juggling life and conventions. Take a listen and find out all you wanted to know and more about Ginny McQueen!

How to Stalk Ginny McQueen
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