Announced on ADVFilms’ website today

Those of us who grew up watching AD Vision remember their debut on the scene with the memorable Mamono Hunter Yohko, but I will always remember such titles as Bannou Bunka Neko Musume Nuku-Nuku and Kido Senkan Nadesico, and who could forget their big budget rollout of Shin Seiki Evangelion.  As the ADV label has now officially gone the way of Geneon/Pioneer LDC, I will continue to prize their products within my DVD library and now I’ll be hunting for used DVDs on eBay and Amazon.com.

I guess I’ll say what everyone else is thinking: Who’s next?

Post your memories of ADV titles in the comments.

PS3 Fat and PS3 Slim comparison.

After much speculation that Sony would be launching a slimmer version of their Playstation 3, they finally dropped the bomb at Gamescom earlier today. The Playstation 3 Slim is now confirmed and even more is set to launch the first week of September.  It will have the same features and functionality of the current generation Playstation 3 and will come packaged with a 120GB HD. It’s 36% smaller and lighter.

What will appeal to many people however is the price point will be $100 cheaper than the current MSRP on the 80GB Playstation 3. It will launch at $299 in the US. With the redesign of the system and the price now matching the MSRP of an Xbox 360 Pro, it should help nudge people who have been sitting on the fence. Sony seems to be arming up for the Holiday season, we’ll see if Microsoft has anything to fight back with.

Source

Kotaku.com

I can’t imagine the kind of person this would appeal to as Megmaan 9 is already one of the most frustrating platformers I have played to date. More importantly, I can’t imagine why you would want to pay for this either. Granted it’s only $1, but really if you wanted to pay money to make your life more stressful you can just give it to me and I’ll come to your work and periodically tase you throughout the day. The DLC is available for the Xbox 360 version only and will include no new achievements or leaderboard functionality.

Source

IGN

From the official press release:

“Our goal with BlizzCon is to deliver an unforgettable weekend of entertainment, and we can’t think of a better way to close out this year’s show than having Ozzy rock the house,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “Many of us at Blizzard are lifelong fans of Ozzy’s music, and we’re thrilled that he’ll be performing for all of our BlizzCon attendees as well as those joining us via DIRECTV and the live Internet stream.”

Personally I think this is a great addition to Blizzcon. The past two years, they closed the show with Blizzard’s in house band, L80ETC, and a mini Video Games Live concert. While those are great in their right, seeing the same thing again for a 3rd year in a row would be very stale. Ozzy joins Jay Mohr and Patton Oswalt as celebrities who have appeared at previous Blizzcons.

Source

Blizzcon

Sources

Anime News Network

Fate/Stay Night official home page [Japanese]

Anime News Network, you too! Japanator, you too! Anime Vice, you too! *blat* *blat* *blat* Hand me my choco taco!

Joe, dude! I hope you’re reading this. Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson will be making a cameo voice appearance in the upcoming Modern Warfare 2 game. Unfortunately, Tony Yayo is not yet confirmed, but we can all hope! Now I know how much you love 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand, so I hope you can hold that enthusiasm by November 10, 2009, rated M for Mature, available on Xbox Circle and PS Triple. Anyway, keep in touch!

Source

Giant Bomb

Awww, look at that tiny amp! And that tiny bass guitar! Daaaaaaaw!

I apologize, this post is very self-indulgent. Finally the K-On! Nendoroids are revealed at the K-On! official web log, starting with the ever-popular-scared-of-barnacles-uber-bassist Mio, seen here. Look at her, it makes you want to say, “Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaw.” There’s no word yet of the price and release date, nor is there info if this is a regular or special edition release. Either way, I must have her and of course the rest of the “After School Tea Time” band.

Speaking of Nendoroids, I’ve pre-ordered 6 of them… SIX! I can’t wait for Nendoroid Raspberryl (Disgaea 3), Asakura Yume (Da Capo), Zange and Nagi (Kannagi), Drossel (Fireball) and last but not least Saber Lily (Fate/Unlimited Code). Halp me!

Source

K-On Official Blog

Having played the game and being a fighting game fan myself, Battle Fantasia unfortunately is lackluster compared to it’s 2D fighter cousins. With the revival of fighting games reminiscent of the early 90′s when Street Fighter spawned many imitators, are we heading towards another over saturation of fighting games? I hope not because I’m still trying to erradicate my memory of this atrocity.

Source

Kotaku.com

It seems that Miyazaki is trying to combat this but not only appearing a major pop culture event, but also by casting many top names for the English adaptation. The voice talent features Matt Damon, Tina Fey, Cate Blanchett, Liam Nesson, Betty White, Lily Tomlin and Cloris Leachman. Will it be enough to make Ponyo a domestic hit after it has already grossed $182.1 million internationally?

Source

Los Angeles Times

The game will also have its share of new content such as new missions and a coliseum mode. The game is scheduled to release in Japan in October. No word on any of English release as of yet.

Source

The Examiner

The End of K-On! and The Resurrection of Suzumiya Haruhi

Source: Random Curiosity

She exits the pool before she does.

It’s finally over. Time flies when you’re rockin’ out to cute animu girls playing muzak. I’ll certainly miss  Tsumugi’s subtle lesbian fantasies, Ritsu’s bokke antics, Yui’s Rain Man-esque skills, Azusa’s innocent faux-tsundere quality and Mio’s unhealthy fear of barnacles. Okay, this isn’t really newsworthy. What’s newsworthy is the fact that Haruhi and the SOS-dan is really back, and it’s no joke. While the new Haruhi episode was aired a few weeks ago, I thought it was just a one-and-done deal. Coinciding with the final ending of K-On!, a new episode of Haruhi, called “Endless Eight”, broadcasted on Japanese airwaves this week. The entire episode is all about the SOS-dan’s summer activities, which apparently includes fanservice, frog suits and Mikuru being meek the entire time, or so I’ve been told. I haven’t seen the episode yet, so don’t spoil it for me! In any case, I’ll really miss the keionbu, but I’m really glad that the overbearing, uber-selfish, teenage overlord is back, and I certainly welcome her return.

(Postscript: That screencap totally reminds me of Phoebe Cates coming out of the pool in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Is Kyoto Animation referencing 80s teen movies now?)

Bioware Interested in Ninty’s Waggle

Source: Kotaku via Joystiq

According to a Kotaku report that Joystiq reported, Bioware is sorta kinda interested in the Wii. Dr. Ray Muzyka of Bioware said, “If we did a Wii game, I think we’d approach it with the target audience in mind first and the vision of delivering an emotionally powerful narrative and go back to our basics in terms of some of the pillars of gameplay we’d like to bring to bear — exploration, progression, customization, conflict, story, narrative, and characters.” In other words, they’re developing a game where your moral choice is determined by how hard you waggle your Wii-mote.

In all seriousness, anything other than friggin’ party games, and well, more friggin’ party games is more than welcome on the Wii. But as it stands, Dr. Muzyka’s comment should be taken with a grain of salt.

Don’t Believe Everything, Not Even the Head Cheese!

Source: Kotaku

Microsoft CEO pitching for Natal and OxiClean.

On Thursday, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, plainly said that a new Xbox will be shipping next year with Natal, Microsoft’s groundbreaking motion sensing peripheral. Of course, everyone was losing their shit when they heard the news. People seem to forget how challenging it is to release a new console; if Microsoft is developing a new console, their partners and the third party publishers, will certainly not be pleased about the prospect. So obviously, the Xbox division had to calm everyone’s fears and confirms that there will be no new Xbox anytime soon. Of course, there are always conspiracy theories abound.

More Cute Japanese Robotic Servants

Source: Danny Choo

And to close off this week’s news, we present to you Hina, the coffee-semi-making-and-preparing roboto:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejROvUC-gWU

This tiny robot can grind beans, add hot water (sorta), and serve coffee. Okay, so it’s not perfect, but I can’t create a robot this adorable (or at all for that matter).

That’s it for this week’s edition of stuff we can’t bother to report ourselves. Enjoy the weekend, and don’t forget to tune in to the Unwound show at Japan-A-Radio this Sunday night, 5pm Pacific. We’ll be back bloggin’ next week!

EA’s Fake Christian Protest Drew Ire From Real Christians

Source: Los Angeles Times

EA needs to research harder.

EA has publicly admitted that the protest against the upcoming Dante’s Inferno video game was indeed fake. This isn’t the first time EA has pulled a PR faux pas before. Because of this stunt, some Christians didn’t find this amusing at all; Margaret Cabaniss of InsideCatholic ironically wrote, “It’s been clear for a while now that the entertainment industry views Christians on the whole as priggish, thin-skinned fun-killers.” Uh, isn’t complaining about some childish PR stunt makes you priggish and thin-skinned?! Anyway, at least other Christians like blogger Andy Kirchoff of Catholic Video Gamers, have a more creative way of making EA’s marketing department look like fools: “Instead of engaging in a shamelessly anti-Christian stunt to promote your poor excuse of a product, maybe you ought to work on making this game, you know, something better than a blatant God of War rip-off and make it, ya know, something worthwhile?” LOLZ! Got pwned by a bible-thumper!

Jimmy Fallon is Cuckoo for Natal

Source: Hulu.com

The deal is that people are skeptical about Microsoft’s so-called revolutionary motion sensing peripheral, Project Natal. So, how do you dispel the skepticism? Why, by doing a live demonstration on live television of course! See for yourself! (Note: fast forward near the end of the episode to see Natal in action.)

After watching the video, are you now convinced? Still no? What is it then? Is it because of the red jumpsuits? The large rectangle on the floor? The inconsistent controls of the driving game?

Although I’m not gushing over Project Natal, I really think this could be the future of interactive entertainment, and not necessarily hardcore games.

First Seiyuu to Hit #1 in Charts

Source: Canned Dogs

It’s official, Mizuki Nana is the first ever voice actress to ever reach the top of the weekly Oricon charts, the Japanese equivalent to the Billboard 100. Not one voice actor until now has reached #1 since the Oricon charts began four decades ago. Though it is quite an historic achievement, Mizuki Nana’s album may have benefitted from sagging CD sales of mainstream artists and the power of the otaku yen (or credit). Either way, nothing much to say, except to congratulate Mizuki Nana for this achievement.

The HUEG Gundam is Finally Alive

Source: Pink Tentacle

Rounding off last week’s news, we bring you the 1:1 Gundam in Odaiba… again. So what’s different this time? Well, it seems that the Gundam is not just for display. See for yourself!

Wau! It lights up and it moves! We're doomed!

Well that’s about it for this last week’s news that we didn’t report. Be sure to come back in a few hours to see what we didn’t report for this week. Also, please listen to the Unwound show at Japan-A-Radio, this Sunday night at 5pm Pacific.

Note: These are NOT Japan's cute ambassadors.

Though it seems to be an innocent way to promote Japan, some politicians doesn’t feel the same way. New Komeito politician and Diet member, Kaori Maruya warned the Foreign Ministry to be careful not to draw “unwarranted criticism” from other countries of their ambassadors in skimpy skirts.

You have to give the Japanese government some credit for trying to keep Japan in the limelight, appointing cute girls isn’t going to help Japan’s image in the long run. Especially now that other countries think of Japan as some kind of pervert haven. Instead, Japan should promote its culinary robots and gunpla prowess to the world!

Source

The Japan Times

Part of Microsoft’s new Xbox Live Primetime idea, 1 vs 100 simulates the gameshow of the same name by pitting Xbox Live users against each other in trivia. The beta is currently free to Xbox Live Gold subscribers, but some Kotaku readers have found something that may hint that it’s not.

During the beta, these readers have found an option to buy a “Season Pass”. Microsoft plans to run the game show over 13 week periods. It is unclear exactly what this pass is as Microsoft has yet to comment on it. Could it just be an option that would allow Silver level subscribers to play the game as well? Or is it truly an indication that 1 vs 100 will become pay-to-play? Hopefully the former, as I’m all up for prizes that are free to win. If I have to pay to win these prizes? Not so much.

Source

Kotaku

I'm sure Chad Wardenn approves of the moe-fied PS Triple!

About a couple of years ago, there was a viral video of some dude named Chad Wardenn (or “Woh-ennn” as he’d like to pronounce), who made a video claiming how the PS3 or “PS Triple” is better than the “gay ass” Wii and Xbox 360. Because of the ridiculousness of Chad’s claims, the video went viral and the PS Triple became a meme. It’s hard to tell whether Chad is faking his allegiance to the Triple or not, but nonetheless the video was a comedic hit.

Now, the “PS Triple”, the term that Chad coined, is now the name of a manga series you can buy for the iPhone/iPod Touch. PS Triple is about anthropomorphized moe video game consoles, including of course, the Playstation 3. Kinda like the Troubled Windows characters and equally as strange. Anyway, you can check out the web comic at their blog on the 1up web site.

In honor of the PS Triple, I present to you the origin of the term, coined by Chad Woh-enn himself. Enjoy (or maybe not).

Warning: The video may cause cancer of the AIDS of the leukemia of the eye.

Source

Anime News Network

I see what they did there. Tsukasa as Ranka, Konata as Alto, Kagami as Klan-klan and Miyuki as Sheryl

If you think combining Macross Frontier and K-On! is sweet, you should check out this twisted collaboration concocted by Banpresto. This unholy cross-promotion of moe and mecha is perhaps an attempt to revitalize both franchises, since anime fans consider them OLD news. Too bad Good Smile Company didn’t jump on this, I would like to see a Nendoroid version of this crossover. Oh well, at least I’ll settle with this for now.

Source

Tomopop via ToysDaily

Project A-Ko. They don't make them like they used to.

Central Park Media, one of the pioneers of  Japanese animation distribution in the United States, is now liquidating all its assets and licenses. Unlike ADV Films, whose over-aggressive tactics of acquiring new licenses have bit them in the butt, Central Park Media’s demise was the total opposite; their lack of effective marketing and acquisition of newer and better titles have ultimately led to its downfall. In any case, the once mighty giant of the U.S. anime industry is selling off all of their licenses which includes Project A-Ko, Here is Greenwood, Harlock Saga, The Slayers, Grave of the Fireflies, and much more.

Now there are only two companies remain standing: ADV Films and Funimation. And even then, in a matter of a year, if not months, Funimation might be the only game in town. It’s a sad state of affairs, but that is life.

Source

Anime News Network

Obama’s Biography, in Manga Form

Source: Anime News Network

The Obama Story cover. I got nothing sarcastic about Obama.

File this one under “cool but odd.” According to ANN, Dasan Books, a South Korean publication, has shipped a manga (or manhwa) about the life of our 44th president. The manhwa is a first in a series of books the publication will release for the next 18 months. Future manhwa biographies include Charles Darwin, Martin Luther King, Jr., Oprah Winfrey and many others. (I guess Winfrey is a hero for being a smart businessperson.) I don’t know if Obama will get a cut in the profits, but I guess this isn’t as bad as the Obama coins and plates that are being peddled on late night television.

Lucky Star in My Pants!

Source: Anime News Network & Sankaku Complex

You can be lucky too with Konata in your underpants!

The Lucky Star merchandising has now hit an all time low. You can now buy Lucky Star underpants in four different flavors: Konata, Akira Kogami, Konata’s :3 face and the cheerleader skirt. Apparently, the usual figures, videos and even body pillows no longer satisfy the hunger otakus have for Lucky Star. These underpants will certainly go well with the printed sailor uniform T-shirt. Speaking of pants, this is a good opportunity to relive that famous Lonely Island music video.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pXfHLUlZf4

The Rise and Inevitable Fall of Gonzo

Source: Anime News Network

I’m calling it, Gonzo might not survive any longer. Despite increasing revenues, Gonzo still lost more money due to high operating costs compared to last year. Gonzo blamed the diminishing DVD market and the uncertain number of actual sales in the North American market. Personally, I blame Gonzo for trying to grow too fast by producing more mediocre anime titles (e.g. Final Fantasy Unlimited) than good titles (e.g. Welcome to the NHK) year after year since Gatekeepers.

Microsoft’s HAL 9000

Source: Kotaku

When it red rings, it becomes HAL 9000. (Oh ho, I made an RROD funney, I are teh edgey!)

Technically, we did report (through a live Internet video feed of) Microsoft’s groundbreaking Project Natal during their E3 press conference. What we couldn’t report is how well the prototype actually work. The dudes at Kotaku are fairly impressed with how well Natal understands human gestures -- from kicking a ball to handling a steering wheel, Natal seems like the future of button-free waggle controls. I expect the Japanese adult video game makers (and Idolmaster devs) to create a panchira-based video game using Natal in the future.

Evangelion is Still the King of Merchandise

Source: Anime News Network

Is this thing really worth $900?

Taking this blog post on merchandise-related news full circle, we finally present you the newly released Sharp SH-06A NERV cellphone, which is sold out in Japan. With a limited production run, 20,000 pre-orders of the Eva-branded $900 cellphone were sold in only 5 hours. Otakus who missed out on the pre-order can still acquire the phone when the remaining 10,000 will be in electronic stores at the end of the month. I don’t know much about the capabilities of the phone, except for the 10-megapixel camera, but $900 for a cellphone is highway robbery. Maybe Apple should rethink of adding an anime tie-in to their iPhone if they want to compete in Japan.

That’s it for the debut edition of this new feature. We’ll bring you more second-hand news next Friday. Until then, have a safe and shmexy weekend!

We’d like to point out that the Unwound show DOES NOT condone these “games”, however, some of us do feel that this is a slippery slope that may lead to the end of freedom of speech. What are your thoughts on the matter?

Source

Anime News Network