My distant cousin Sadako Yamamura is back, and this time she's coming you in full 3D. I'm pretty excited, as the original The Ring movie is still top of the charts of me. It looks like we might be jumping though the internet on this one instead of through a TV. How will they explain the curse propigatingting with VCRs pretty much extinct at this point? Oh, please don't call the move Ringu to my face. Unlessu youu liku getu punchu.
[Via JEFusion]
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Square Enix's musical homage to its popular franchise, Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy, has three gameplay modes: battle mode, field mode, and event mode. The last one usually consists of FMV cutscene footage with Ouendan/Elite Beat Agents-styled circles on top, but what are they planning for the earlier Final Fantasy games that didn't have cutscenes?
The answer, it seems, is making a video from gameplay footage, showing the plot progression. They could have grabbed the FMV scenes from the PS1 rereleases, but I like it better this way; those CG scenes still seem out of place in an sprite-based game. Watch this gameplay video of Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy, and around the 5-minute mark you'll see an event mode for the first Final Fantasy game, which you can contrast with the event mode for Final Fantasy IX that follows right after.
Just be forewarned of that the adorable girl playing the 3DS is really excited that Shantotto from FFXI is included in the game. Seriously, it's kind of creepy. It's just an MMO with chocobos, lady.
[Via Siliconera]
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Your reign of terror ends now, pollinosis. Guided under the supervision of Rohto Pharmaceutical, the Alguard Sisters are here to save the day. Donning the special armor of hope, their powers will cure everyone who is under the control of the evil pollinosis. Atene and Temisu Tatsumi must now face all odds, as they must prevent all of Japan from suffering a huge epidemic.
Who needs medications, when you have the honor of being cured by two adorable magical girl knights. In all seriousness though, these two sisters are actually trying to guide you towards obtaining the proper products to treat pollinosis. Combing the power of their looks and abilities, they have provided their Twitter and Facebook page, so that you can prepare yourself for this great evil.
All I can say, is that I hope that this company's message spreads well. As long as it is preventing some kind of sickness, then it is doing a good job helping out those in need. Anyone wanna bet that we might see an anime, manga, and/or merchandise being made off these characters in the near future?
Having troubles with pollinosis? Check out the video below, and see what the Alguard Sisters can do to help you out.
[via Crunchyroll]
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Normally I'd find attempts to exploit Japan's ongoing Fukushima nuclear crisis rather disgusting, but this one strikes me as more funny than abhorrent. An enterprising entertainment producer was apparently looking to capitalize on the situation...by founding an all-girl idol group.
The gimmick? All the girls in "Hot☆Spots" would be recruited from Japanese towns surrounding the Fukushima disaster zone, specifically ones experiencing high radiation levels* as a result of the meltdowns.
Bad idea, right? Thankfully everyone involved realized the error of their ways before the project got off the ground. The mastermind himself scrapped the plan after locals lodged a complaint, and apologized, saying:
“I failed to consider the uneasy feelings others had with the plan...In the end it was shallow.”
Damn right it was shallow!
*Radiation levels outside the 30km exclusion zone are reported to be far below safety limits for humans. Check out the video below for an artist's rendition of the likely results of a fully formed Hot☆Spots debut.
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Yes, a thousand people. More than that, actually. The teams behind Soul Calibur, Ace Combat, Tekken, Pac-Man, Tales, Naruto, Gundam and countless other Namco and Bandai videogames will be merged together to form the imaginatively named “Namco Bandai Studio”. Starting in April, this new entity will be in charge of managing all game development responsibilities, including for current franchises and the creation of new IPs. What does this mean for you, the average gamer? Probably not much, since consolidations like this are common, like when Tales Studio got fully absorbed last year.
HOWEVER, if you take into account Namco Bandai’s love of crossover-based collaboration, and the possibilities are infinite...and terrifying. Imagine a hypothetical Soul Calibur sequel, featuring guest fighters from the next Tales RPG, plus Tekken dudes, Pac-Man, Klonoa, Ridge Racer race queen Reiko Nagase, and Missile the Pomeranian from Ghost Trick "because them Capcom guys is good people". Premium download content turns Nightmare's Soul Edge sword into an Ace Combat fighter jet with an Idolm@ster-themed paint job. And it all uses the Ace Combat Assault Horizon slogan, "Make Metal BLEED."
Best. Game. Ever. Just a fraction of a fraction of that potential GLORIO can be seen below.
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Welcome back ladies and gentlemen, to the one and only weekly column about import games, buried treasure, and giant steam powered robots! The month of February is looking like it's going to be a busy one and it all starts with the week of February 5-11! Vita gets a couple of heavy hitters while the 3DS sits things out until next week's onslaught of high school girls and Final Fantasy music. On the PSP side, fans of a certain classic Konami franchise should probably brace themselves to be ready for the worst case scenario. You know, just in case.
As for our overlooked gem of the week? This time we're rolling with the first game in a classic Sega franchise that went horribly under-appreciated out west until a few years ago. Unfortunately it was too little, too late by then. That doesn't mean we can't still appreciate it for its awesomeness though!
Follow me after the break as I break the laws of gravity, woo some dashing bishounen boys, and cut down demons while defending Tokyo.
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Just in time for your weekend, the fantastic Megumi Nakajima -- aka miss Ranka Lee, is here to make sure you have nothing short of a great time. This time she gives us the fantastic single, TRY UNITE!, from the not so fantastic show, Rinne no Lagrange. Even though the show is something only a low life like Elliot Gay would dare watch, I had high hopes since it had a fantastic song like this as its opener.
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There's a big ocean between Japan and the US, and tastes in anime can differ depending on what side of the Pacific you're on. BigGlobe.jp recently conducted a survey of 2,740 otaku about what elements are important in deciding whether to watch a new series or not. The results may surprise you.
While I expected "moe" to be near the top of the list, it actually only came in at number 10, with 64 votes. No, the most important thing is "story," with 506 votes. "Character" came in at number 2 with 342 votes, while "voice actors" was third with 335 votes. Design, music, animation, and direction were also ranked highly.
It's interesting to see these results, considering the perception that some of the most popular anime made with otaku in mind are devoid of story and just a celebration of moe. I also wonder if the people who took the survey were being completely honest about what they prefer. The success of anime like K-On! would suggest that story and character aren't that important to otaku.
[BigGlobe.jp via Crunchyroll]
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