Results tagged “news”

Did you like Mobile Fighter G Gundam? Well, that heart of yours might glow with an awesome power upon hearing that it's getting a manga adaptation from the team behind the anime. G Gundam was the first non-U.C. Gundam series. Though it's shunned by people with horrible taste some of the franchise's dedicated fans for being, uh, different from the usual Gundam series, it's an endearing homage to the 70s-style over-the-top mecha shows. Now, hopefully someone will license this.

Hopefully you're not too much of a fan of AMC's Breaking Bad, because you're going to have to wait until July to see more. July of 2011. Creator Vince Gilligan dropped the info while talking to Screen Junkies. It's always really bad for a show to take a hiatus for so long.

Do you remember the live-action movie adaptation of Akira? Do you want want to remember? Well, you'll be glad to know that it's still on. In fact, there's some good news: it appears that Warner wants the movie to be PG-13. And here you thought you were already feeling pessimistic about anime film adaptations as a whole. Not ruling out that it couldn't be good -- and even the R-rated anime adaptation is lacking compared to the manga.

iPhone 4 just released last week, and it's already setting sales charts ablaze. Unfortunately, it's also having a few hardware-related issues. Some phones are producing issues with obvious visual problems that shouldn't be there, while other are having a trouble with the antenna while holding it in specific directions. Apple is advising people to avoid gripping it in the corner in the lower left. They've yet to respond to the visual issue, though.

So Final Fantasy Versus XIII was a no-show at E3, but Tetsuya Nomura wanted to assure fans that the game is still alive in last week's Famitsu and Dengeki Playstation. The magazines also contain the first in-game screen shots, and it's planned to be an open-world title with seamless battles. It also has a less fantastical and more metropolitan theme compared to its brother. Or sister. Whichever.

2009 may be over, but it's desire to either kill of or give ill will to celebrities continues on into 2010. This week's unfortunate casualties are American punk rock musician Jay Reatard and R&B and soul icon Teddy Pendergrass. I thought 2010 was supposed to be better. Oh, and Spider-Man 4 was also killed this week, if that counts. I don't think anyone's mourning that, though.

People of America who are fans of late night television have likely been following the mess that's NBC's current handling of Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien. NBC wants to shuffle them again after low ratings for both of their current programs. Recent word is that Leno is going to be taking  the Tonight Show back, despite announcing the retirement. Some people are defending Leno's involvement in this, but most are definitely not; and there's a reason for that. There's way too much to hyperlink here, so just keep following all of the news on it at TMZ or something.

In good video game news this week, a Mega Man Zero Collection was announced! Well, in Japan that is, though Capcom USA did mention it on their blog. It includes all four Mega Man Zero games on one DS card, and it's due for release on April 22nd. Also, in a surprise to everyone, niche Cave shmup (Japanese shoot 'em up) Death Smiles is getting localized for an American release, though its publisher has yet to be revealed. Hope this paves the way for more Cave shooters in America, though.

In bad video game news this week, Gran Turismo 5 was delayed. Again. It was previously announced for sometime in March 2010, though only for Japan, and now it has no date at all. I hope this pays off, because all of these delays have to be a serious financial setback for both Polyphony Digital and Sony. Also, Splinter Cell: Conviction was delayed from its previously given date of February 23rd to sometime in April 2010. Well, at least the first quarter is less stacked, right?

It looks like 3D is going to be the newest "in" thing for Hollywood. It's proven successful for Avatar -- which just topped the U.S. Box Office again this week -- and MGM wants to use it for the next Bond movie and wanted to for the remake of Robocop. They sure would have used it for Robocop if director Darren Aronofsky didn't refer to it as "digital bullshit." Now it's in hold. As for the 3D material, if it's used purely to enhance visual effects, that's fine, but hopefully it won't be used to make otherwise mediocre movies look by dazzling impressionable moviegoers in lieu of a plot and character development.

Finally, our condolences go out to everyone injured or has a connection to someone in Haiti. The death toll keeps disturbingly climbing, amidst other turmoil.

Image courtesy of Comics Alliance.

Yeah, it's late again. We're not permanently moving it to Tuesday, in case you were wondering.

It turns out Bruce Wayne isn't dead after all! Who knew? After "killing" him off late last year, DC Comics has now announced that a comic series that will start in April 2010 detailing the events of Bruce Wayne's journey lost through time. The first comic will start him off as Caveman/Viking Batman while trying to find his way back to the present in Gotham City. It's planned to be a six issue mini-series, with a different art team handling each issue. What you see above are sketches for the first issue, illustrated by Chris Sprouse. Fans are anticipating it, and it certainly has potential.

Mass Effect 2 is only a little over a month away at this point, and Bioware has been constantly cranking the hype machine to remind fans of what they liked about the first game so much, and to get them excited about reentering that world again in late January. One of their most recent announcements details the voice cast, and to say it's stellar is an understatement. Amidst the long list of actors and actresses, chances are there's someone you know there. The cast ranges from Martin Sheen to popular sci-fi actress Tricia Helfer. Keith David also returns from the previous game.

Meanwhile, Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight fans were (or are) probably disappointed to learn that CW4Kids has cancelled the show, according to one of the actors Twitter feed. What's most startling about this is that they cancelled it when it only had two episodes left to air, which probably speaks volumes about how low the ratings actually were. Said last two episodes will apparently only be streamed online.

You may have heard about The Princess and the Frog and how it returns Disney to the era of making 2D films. But what about the future? It seems that this movie wasn't the only one they had in mind, as their future plans for hand-drawn movies has been revealed. It appears the next focus for Disney will be The Snow Queen, in terms of hand-drawn movies. True to form, the company will still continue to release CG films, which have also been pretty good as of late.

Anyone who has even a passing interest in video games knows that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was a big seller last month. But precisely how well did it sell? Well, just around six million copies, which is definitely quite a bit. Right behind the duo of this game on the NPD's software sales charts (duo meaning both the PS3 and 360 version, of course), was New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Apparently, this Call of Duty thing is pretty big! Not big enough to give the PC version dedicated servers, though. But it's great that six million of you are playing the game that Time says sends the message that "video games have something intelligent to say about contemporary military conflicts."

(Really, that quote is ridiculous.)

If you've been looking to listen to what was subjectively some of the best music made in the last decade, Rolling Stone has created a list of what they think are the top 100 best albums released in the in the last ten years. An interesting way to create a list, as it also includes samples for said albums as well. Yeah, it may be hard to believe, but there were apparently 100 good albums in the last decade. Well, that or they felt they had to fill in the entire list.

Image courtesy of DC Comics, shockingly.

Facebook has announced that they're going to preserve the inactive accounts of dead members and protect against further changes and updates.  In an Internet where inactivity is generally regarded as an excuse for deleting someone's stuff (Geocities, I'm looking at you), Facebook clued in that if someone's dead, there isn't anything the person can do anymore to maintain their space, and their passwords have most likely died with them.  They also finally acknowledged that if someone's dead, they shouldn't be able to post any more updates.  This comes a couple weeks after a girl in Nova Scotia brought the issue to media attention.  A spammer had cracked into her dead mother's page, posted some spam, and Facebook did next to nothing about it.  Until now.

But speaking of them, the biggest news of the week was probably the death of Geocities.  To anyone who remembers when the news broke back in April, this doesn't come as a surprise.  Its death was imminent, and it was only a matter of time before the site that was originally "free, forever" was shut down.  Forever.  Even xkcd did something special to commemorate the event (which is no longer available on the website, but is mirrored here).  But after Monday, everyone stopped caring.  It's kind of like the final game of a season for a losing team.  Once it's over, you don't have to pay attention to it anymore.

Instead, why don't we look ahead to the future?  It's almost NaNoWriMo time again!  Participants in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia have already started, and it's close to starting time for North and South Americans.  The goal of NaNoWriMo is to write a novel of at least 50,000 words within 30 days, local time.  The key words there are "local" and "time".  Those who live in an area still affected by Daylight Saving Time (those who haven't already changed back to Standard) get an extra hour advantage over those who don't, since clocks in the affected regions get set back an hour at 2am on November 1st.  So if you're participating in NaNoWriMo like I am, don't let anyone else in your house set the clocks back until well after the event starts.

Just make sure you don't leave your P2P software open, or if you do, make sure to save your novel to a folder that the software doesn't share from.  Admittedly, it isn't really earth shattering if your first draft of NaNo Novel '09 is broadcast to the world, but it would probably be just as embarrassing for you as it was for the person who accidentally shared a confidential government report over a P2P network and then got fired for it.  He probably did it while downloading music or video games or something.  It goes to show you just how many people do that these days.

He probably wasn't pirating games for the N-Gage, though, which by the way has been given its own death date, a vague 2010 prediction.  Just like Geocities, few people have even bothered to mention this or even care about it.  Nintendo never seemed to view Nokia as much of a threat in the handheld gaming industry, but the presence of Sony's PSP must make them feel somewhat nervous, since they've suddenly redesigned their brand new DSi just shy of a year after its debut on the market and are pushing it out onto store shelves in time for the holidays.  The DSi LL/XL is the fourth version of the DS to be released since 2004, which is ridiculous if you ask me.  It makes you think twice before buying any more of the system, since you just know Nintendo will announce another version in 2010.

Hulu staff apparently stay up and cry all night at the thought of international users (like me and all the other damn dirty Canadians out there) accessing their site.  There are ways around their US only restrictions, but now Hulu's managed to block another way to access their content.  I hope this helps them sleep better, but everyone'll just use other methods to view their site.  Sorry, Hulu, but you fail.  Unless you take all your toys and go home, you can't keep others from playing with your content.  It doesn't help that American television is a lot better than Canadian television, but at least we have shows like Canada's Worst Driver, which are interesting to watch.  It's just too bad that bad driving may not be entirely the fault of the driver, according to a recent study.  Of course, what this means for drivers is that they can now claim the gene as an excuse for getting pulled over for speeding ten times in a month.  It's bad enough that we have a lot of bad drivers where I live.  If you ever receive news that I've committed suicide, it's not suicide.  I've most likely been struck and killed by a bad driver on the corner of 1st and Connaught.

Apparently, the United States needs fewer science students, not more.  That's bad news for geeks everywhere, because this means we'll need to actually develop muscles to do other, more physical pursuits.  And finally, if you think your laptop takes too long to boot up, you're probably right.

So hey! I'm doing the News Roundup this week. And I didn't even know it! Funny how things work.

It's possible that you may have known that Microsoft released Windows 7 released last week, unless you haven't been paying attention. Though if you haven't, you may use some other OS and ignore whatever Microsoft does. Which is fine! You probably do, though, if Amazon claimed it was bigger than Harry Potter. Fortunately, for Windows users, 7's reviews have been incredibly favorable, a release that's nearly the exact opposite of the much-lambasted Vista launch around two years ago. And speaking of OS', some rival company called Apple launched a televised counterattack. The adds were full of a similar amount of both truth and dramatization, though time will tell if they have an affect. They certainly have in the past, comparing their market share.

Speaking of Apple, they also announced a series of new iMacs and a new Macbook. If you were the kind of person who was waiting for a lower priced line, these are not the computers you were waiting for. The Macbook, though, is more reasonably priced, though it's still more expensive than a plethora of Windows-equipped computers that have similar -- and in some cases, more -- features.

Speaking of Apple, they also have a new mouse, and it looks pretty...well, weird. This thing doesn't have any buttons. The interface is similar to their iPhone/iPod Touch, in that it registers your commands based on your own gestures. All of the aforementioned iMacs will come packed with this. Certainly an intriguing device on the surface, though reviews so far are pretty mixed. Most companies take a few revisions to make a product the majority find appealing, so give them -- and the other companies that will probably make one in the future -- some time.

The Hollywoodified adaptation of the late Osamu Tezuka's classic manga/anime Astroy Boy released in theaters last Friday. Ostensibly, it appears as a beautiful-looking venture that tries to capture the charm that made Tezuka's work such a classic, but various critics are saying that it's the exact opposite. That's a pity, though if you're the type to enjoy classic manga, you may be interested in that Astro Boy and other assorted Tezuka works are coming to US iPhones free. This is following the transition of his works to online archives last year.

Apparently a lot of Americans sure like using Twitter; one-fifth of you, to be precise. I haven't used it personally, but apparently there's an inherently addictive quality to letting others know what's going on in your life in 140 characters. Don't be surprised if that number happens to jump in the future. Soon we will all be twits.

During an interview about Microsoft's upcoming Natal console (or something), Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told Gizmodo that Blu-Ray was coming to Xbox 360 as an add-on, similar to their now-defunct HD-DVD add-on. Apparently something was lost in translation, as Microsoft later denied the existence of the add-on. A pity for 360 owners that don't own a Playstation 3 or Blu-Ray player, sure, though this really isn't surprising given that he's done it before. Guess he's a little excitable, huh?

I hadn't intended for this update to be such a war between Apple and Microsoft. Honest! I'm not a fanboy of either, by the way.

Image courtesy of Monsters & Critics.

Last week and the start of this week has been quite an adventure at home. Last week I attended Otakon (and subsequently was without internet access), and when I got home I found myself with spotty net access. The issue isn't fully resolved (I've narrowed the problem down to my router), so instead of a huge picture post I'll start with a brief anime news roundup.


Starting this fall Inuyasha will make its return to TV in Japan in the form of a new series. Fans of the first Inuyasha anime were disappointed when the series ended in 2004 for Japan and in 2006 in North America. The ending was a cliffhanger and very little of the plot was resolved. With the passage of nearly five years in Japan and nearly three in North America, a new Inuyasha series comes as a bit of a surprise. So far no details have been given on when the actual air date will be. Additionally, no plans for a North American release have been announced yet. Given the popularity of Inuyasha in North America an acquisition by Viz Media is inevitable. Furthermore, I'd be surprised if the series didn't end up on Adult Swim within a year after the start of the Japanese broadcast. In the meantime, there are always official episodes of the current series on Hulu and iTunes.



Every so often I browse the Xbox Live Marketplace to see what's available in the anime section. To my surprise I found current episodes of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood available for purchase for 160 points per episode. After some quick research I discovered the announcement had been made on FUNimation's official blog on the 14th. As with the FUNimation video portal a new episode is added each week. To the probable dismay of PS3 owners the episodes are only available on Xbox Live. While is probably isn't feasible to download and keep every episode from a series that has no set number of episodes, it is nice to have the option. (Watching the free stream and then picking favorite episodes to buy makes a lot more sense for fans who want to support FUNimation.) I'll give it to FUNimation, they certainly are ahead of the curve when it comes to digital distribution. On an amusing note, their most popular series on Xbox Live is currently Ikkitousen, too bad it's not on sale right now.



Finally, Halo gets an anime adaptation in the form of a contemplation called Halo Legends. The contemplation is in the same vein as Batman: Gotham Knight and the Animatrix. In other words, five anime studios in this case, BONES, Casio Entertainment, Production I.G., Studio 4°C, and Toei Animation, are leading the animation production, while Microsoft's creative directors have the final say on the plot and visuals. The seven short films are all based on various aspects of the Halo franchise, and Warner Brothers will release on DVD, Blu-ray and digital distribution in 2010. Personally, I'm not a fan of Halo (FPS games aren't my thing), I'm intrigued enough to consider giving the upcoming anime anthology a try. The idea worked well enough for the Animatrix but had mixed results for Gotham Knight.

As a 26-year-old I'm old enough to remember older technology and life before the internet, but young enough to easily embrace new technology. That said, if someone offered to trade me their old Sony Walkman in exchange for my (barely working) iPod for a week I'd probably utter an incredulous "Hell no, I wasn't born yesterday!" followed by an inquisitive frown. If the said person was my parent I'd be mindful of profane utterances and politely decline the offer. Even if the offer consisted of just using the Walkman for a week without an exchange I'd still decline. After all, cassette tapes are a pain compared to the ease of CDs and digital files. In the case of 13-year-old Scott Campbell, he found the offer to be too intriguing to turn down. His detailed account of the events begins with the line, "My dad had told me it was the iPod of its day," and goes downhill from there. To Campbell's credit, he did attempt to make a fair comparison between the devices and found the Walkman had some advantages over typical MP3 players. I'd be surprised if he wasn't happy to have his iPod returned after such a week.

The Sony Walkman may have been great decades ago, but the iPod reigns supreme at the moment.  And we all know the iPhone 3GS is hot stuff right now, but perhaps it's a little too hot for its own good. I'd hate to have been the one to discover an overheating issue with the 3GS while in the middle of a phone conversation. Ouch. But MP3-loving anime fans definitely have more to look forward to on iTunes, with the upcoming addition of anime songs from Bandai Visual. Thankfully with the doing away of DRM on iTunes songs can be converted and enjoyed on any MP3 player.

While on the subject of digital music, while it was already confirmed at E3 that Last.fm would be coming to Xbox Live, more details have emerged. Joystiq is reporting Last.fm will be free for Gold subscribers and just $3 dollars a month for unlimited advertising free access. Silver members would have access to the service for three hours per month with advertising.

Last week it was announced the upcoming Nintendo DS RPG, Sands of Destruction will be accompanied by a 13-episode anime release via FUNimation. The news is notable, considering the game itself isn't due out until sometime in 2010. The Anime News Network states the DS game's North American release as Spring 2010, while Amazon.com lists January 2010 as the release date. The anime itself is produced by Production I.G and aired on Japanese TV from July to September in 2008 under the title World Destruction. It is unclear if the release is simply just a box set, or if an online video stream will be present prior to a DVD release. In other news, Watchmen was dethroned from its 11-month reign as the best-selling graphic novel in North America by volume 27 of BLEACH. Awesome.

The popular illegal file-sharing site, The Pirate Bay plans to go legal thanks to some new ownership, and rumors of a slim PlayStation 3 continue to proliferate online.

Last week was a very busy in the world of news, especially celebrity news. Unless you've been playing World of Warcraft nonstop for the past week, you already know about the string of unexpected celebrity deaths. Ed McMahon passed away on June 23rd, and just two days later both Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson died unexpectedly. Out of those three deaths, Michael Jackson's received the most coverage, and many of you have probably lost count of how many times "Thriller" has been played in the mainstream media. Remember Jackson however you'd like, but it's worth pointing out he made some notable contributions to gaming (remember Moonwalker?) and anime at times. If Jackson's death wasn't shocking enough you can also add pitchman Billy Mays to the list.

If we're in the midst of a serious recession you simply wouldn't know it by looking at sales figures for Apple's iPhone 3GS. In the first three days of the phone's release it quickly sold over a million units. It will be interesting to see how Apple continues to shake up various industries (gaming included) with its formidable iPhone. So, why haven't you gone out and bought yours yet? As the cliche goes, everyone's doing it.

Okay, so everyone may not be out buying the iPhone but a large number of people are watching various TV shows online, streamed through sites like Hulu. The cable companies are fighting back with various monthly bandwidth caps, but consumers and advocate groups are keeping the giants in check. Now the companies plan to introduce "TV Everywhere," which will allow cable subscribers access to TV shows on company web sites (think TBS and TNT for Time Warner), and video-on-demand. If you currently subscribe to Time Warner or even Comcast, this may be welcome news. If you've primarily ditched cable for Hulu this move could signal future trouble if content providers and advertisers withdraw from the site. Alternatively, both services could work out and a happy ending could be reached. Right now it is simply too early to tell.

As if the internet wasn't already a battle ground of sorts, then the militarization of the net in the United States, via the NSA (National Security Agency), doesn't sound very appealing. Unfortunately, the consequences of not having a Cyber Command in place sound worse.

At least there's Firefox 3.5 to look forward to.


Image courtesy of Joystiq.

This year I was more or less able to follow some of the press conferences at E3. Admittedly, I completely missed Microsoft's press conference but I did manage to catch Sony's and Nintendo's via DVR. Sony's press conference was the only one I watched as of yet, so I'll be discussing what grabbed my attention in some detail.




I've been silent about it on this blog, but I have been very interested in Sony's plans for the new PSP, the PSP Go. In a very apt joke, Sony's Kaz Hirai unveiled E3's "worst-kept secret." The PSP Go is an upgrade that will shed the UMD format completely. It sports a slider screen, 16GB of internal flash memory, an M2 memory port (for memory expansion), and Bluetooth connectivity. The device will retail for $249 dollars (the same as the PSP-1000's original price), and launches on October 1st in North America and Europe. Surprisingly, the Go won't hit Japan's shores until November 1st.  Interestingly enough, the device does not have a touch screen or a second analog stick, as many hoped it would. Still, those who wanted a UMD-less PSP more or less got what they wanted. So where does the arrival of the Go leave current PSP owners who have a vested interest in the UMD format? For the time being nothing has really changed.

Sony will continue to sell the PSP-3000 alongside the PSP Go at a more affordable price of $169. (If you consider the price of a PSP-3000 and a separate 16GB memory stick, $249 isn't all that unreasonable.) Selling the PSP Go along with the PSP-3000 isn't that different from what Nintendo is doing with the DSi and the DS Lite. In both cases only time will tell if the companies replace the older models with the newer ones, which they probably will. Sony also announced that all PSP games will soon be available in both a digital and UMD format on October 1st. This move assuages the fear that many gamers (and retailers) had about the swift death of the UMD. For the time being we have what is essentially a compromise between those who want a digital only device and those who prefer more tangible mediums. I still believe that Sony will eventually do away with the UMD format completely, the fact that the PSP Go does not support UMD is proof enough.

Although Sony didn't actually say it at their press conference they are slowly moving toward a future all digital delivery service. The fact that Sony is considering a digital video game rental service, has confirmed all future PSP games will be digitally released, and now has an iTunes-like program with Media Go (which replaces Media Manager) all reinforces this digital only future. As a PSP owner part of me is happy to see that Sony still cares about the PSP platform, and another part of me worries about continuing to invest in the UMD format. I wonder if Tuesday marked the beginning of the end for tangible media on the PSP.


Then I thought about it. No one is twisting anyone's arm regarding the PSP Go. It will appeal to the gamers who thought UMDs were a terrible idea in the first place, or want to be on the cutting edge (and can afford it). Other than a slider screen, Bluetooth, and built in memory, the Go is nothing more than a PSP revision, it certainly isn't the "PSP 2" that some were hoping for. Even if UMDs were to disappear tomorrow (which they aren't) and everything was download only, gamers with older PSPs could still enjoy the benefits of an all digital distribution service and older UMD games. I can certainly live without crowded stores, game shortages, and the annoying price fluctuations (think Atlus products) that do come with a tangible medium. Still that future is stil a few years away or  maybe more, given the influence of powerful retailers.

Even if I won't be personally investing in a PSP Go any time soon (I do like my PSP-2000 a lot), E3's worst kept secret is still exciting. As long as the software support is strong, and the features are compelling (I'm certain we'll be hearing about more apps soon) this is a good move for the electronics giant. Although the lack of a touch screen, second analog stick, and $249 dollar price point may be a source of contention among many gamers. However, if Sony wants to keep the PSP format viable in the face of fierce competition from Nintendo and Apple, the first step to an all digital platform had to happen. The PSP Go is just a stepping stone on the way to that new future.

Some very vocal Final Fantasy fans most certainly feel betrayed by Square Enix's decision to bring Final Fantasy XIII to multiple platforms outside of Japan. In fact, many of them rushed off to buy a PlayStation 3 years before the title even had a confirmed release date (it still doesn't as if this writing). But with last week's news of FFXIII most likely being monolingual on the Xbox 360, PS3 owning Final Fantasy are a little happier now. In an interview with IGN UK, Square Enix Producer Yoshinori Kitase brought up the possibility of having multiple languages on the PS3 version of the game. As for the 360, the producer said "...when we talk about XIII it's for PS3 and Xbox - with PS3 being on Blu ray there would be enough memory, but on Xbox probably not." Such a move would definitely give the PS3 version of the game another one-up over the 360 version. It works out fine for the PS3 owners who prefer subtitles over dubs. In other words, the majority fans who'd want a multiple language release of FFXIII probably already own a PS3. Not to say there aren't 360 owners out there who care about multilingual options. Square Enix's reason for a probable monolingual release for the 360 version is baffling at best. All fans deserve a multilingual option if it is technologically and economically feasible.

It is interesting to note that Mistwalker was able release two RPGs on the 360 (Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey) with multiple languages. Sure those games were released over multiple discs, but Final Fantasy XIII is already speculated to be a multiple disc release on the 360-- what's an extra disc or two? Additionally, many game developers and publishers also make language packs available as downloadable content through Xbox Live. It's a bit surprising that a company with so many resources such as Square Enix can't or won't when a smaller studio like Mistwalker can. The company has multiple options when it comes to the 360 console, why not take the time to utilize them? With the North American release more than a year away it's still too early to say what Square will ultimately do, as nothing has been solidly confirmed or denied. But at this point the company once again seems out of touch with North American fans.






Square Enix also didn't help matters last week when it sent a Cease and Desist letter to the team behind Chrono Trigger: Crimson Echoes. Crimson Echoes was a promising five-year fan project that centered around the modification of the Chrono Trigger ROM to create a new derivative game. The fan-made game is roughly 35 hours long, has 23 chapters, and 10 multiple endings. The game was designed to be a sequel and a bridge between Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross. It would have been distributed to fans via an emulator on May 29th. The game was 98% complete when Square Enix delivered the C&D letter. The letter itself threatens the team with legal action and fines up to $150,000 dollars. Similar legal threats were made against the fan site Chrono Compendium, because it demonstrated how to hack and modify ROMs.

On one hand it is amazing to see the lawyers at Square admit they saw the Crimson Echoes project as a threat, considering how little they've done with the Chrono Trigger franchise. Yes, we've had multiple ports and a messy sequel, but none of it even remotely compares to the company's flagship series, Final Fantasy. Given the fact that small modified ROM projects have been released in the past without objections from Square, and that Crimson Echoes had been worked on for five years already is frustrating. Does the company really see the new game as a major threat to Chrono Trigger DS, or do they have something more planned for the franchise in the future?

On the other hand, despite Square Enix sometimes looking the other way on fan projects, it isn't difficult to see why the company would want to protect its intellectual property. After all, the argument that Chrono Trigger is hard to find, or no longer in print (and therefore has been completely neglected), no longer works as it did five years ago. Even if the Crimson Echoes team had the money to mount a Fair Use defense by arguing the game has transformative value there would be no guarantee they would win such a case. The fact that game itself is a modified ROM is the biggest strike against it, even if it could be likened to an interactive fan story. It is a shame that Square does not seem interested in working out something with the team, because the dedicated CT fans who crave new material for the franchise are the ones who really suffer.

It probably shouldn't be such a surprise to hear that Lunar: The Silver Star Story is receiving yet another remake in the form of Lunar: Harmony of Silver Star, this time for the PSP. It looks like Game Arts is taking more inspiration from Falcom's Ys series -- it did previously with the game's features, like anime cut scenes, which more than just Lunar took inspiration from -- in terms of how many times a single game can be remade (though Ys is still winning that race). The internet may be negatively approaching its look, but I happen to like it.

Hopefully, this will be what the Lunar series needs to reinvigorate itself. After the last remake, Lunar Legend, they probably couldn't go any lower unless the development team decides to be collectively incompetent and think cribbing ideas from Lunar: Dragon Song is a good idea. But it doesn't look like that will happen, thankfully. The overworld graphics and town aesthetics look pretty nice, taking some advantage of the PSP hardware while keeping the look close to the colorful original version. People think it resembles something from a Korean fanmade game, but I don't know what they're talking about. This looks far better than, say, the Final Fantasy I & II anniversary editions for PSP, especially the character sprites.

The real question here will be whether they can spice up the battle system, which seemed fine back in the mid-90s but feels incredibly clunky and sluggish these days. The main purpose of this remake should be to take Lunar into the current generation in terms of implementing generally accepted current day RPG conventions, but it's hard to gauge how much is being planned based on some of the battle screen shots. In fact, you could also easily infer that the battle system is the same found in the original and PSX version, which would be a letdown. Though it would be an improvement over the "reimagined" one found in Lunar Legend, though.

Despite some minor (I hope) initial setbacks, I think this remake could be beneficial to the original game and the franchise.I played the original, but for some reason I never finished it because of how dated it all was. Though I was considering digging up the old game and playing through it again, I think I'll rectify that with waiting for the remake, which is bound to be localized. Despite some companies' best efforts to squash it, Lunar actually still commands a dedicated fanbase that has fond memories of the original, and they're people that would still throw down the cash for a quality remake.

Images courtesy of Famitsu.

On April 11th the name and plot of manga artist Rumiko Takahashi's newest work were revealed. Kyōkai no Rinne will make its debut in Shonen Sunday on April 22nd. Shortly after Takahashi announced her plans to work on a new series, Viz Media stated it will publish the manga in North America. But the real surprise came yesterday when Viz also announced it would simultaneously release an English version of Kyōkai no Rinne online on April 22nd. In other words, Takahashi's North American fans will now be able to enjoy her newest work on the same day that Japanese fans do.

I'm very excited about Viz's newest plans. First there was the news of simultaneous Western releases of anime just hours and days after the Japanese release, now we have them doing the same with manga. Even the fastest scanlators can't boast same day translations of various works. I can only hope that the translations are on-par with their manga releases and that the images are of high quality. I also hope this project really takes off and Viz and other companies simultaneously release more titles.

As for Takahashi's newest project I can only hope a series about a girl being able to see ghosts stays on the humorous side,  a la Ranma 1/2. This would be a nice change from years of the more action orientated InuYasha. I have nothing against Inuyasha but I'd rather see something of a different variety.

For those of you who want to follow Takahashi's newest work starting on April 22nd it can be found at TheRumicWorld.com.

Hollywood's newest tradition of bringing live-action anime adaptions to the big screen continues with Mandalay Entertainment's acquisition of Full Metal Panic!. According to The Hollywood Reporter the film company is also reportedly in discussion with teen star, Zac Efron over the project. Some of Mandalay's best known films include Enemy at the Gates, Les Miserables, and I Know What You Did Last Summer. Efron is best known for his roles in High School Musical and Hairspray.

Part of me is curious to see how Mandalay would handle the military and mecha aspects of a live-action Full Metal Panic! movie. However, a bigger part of me is actually surprised that a Hollywood company acquired the threatical rights to FMP! at all. At the very least this adaptation makes more sense than oh say, Dragonball Evolution. Still, this latest acquistion may prove that no franchise is safe from the grip of Hollywood. At this point I can only hope that Mandalay does a good decent job.