Anime music videos are a favourite pastime for many anime fanatics out there, including myself. It is a pleasure to see a burst of creativity through the use of anime music videos. The SMASH! organisers think so to, so they hosted a AMV competition. The competition entrees were submitted prior to the event, with the judges busy choosing the winners over a two week period leading up to SMASH! 2012. At the event itself, the finalists would be revealed in the Art Room to a group of AMV lovers in a video presentation, which is the only way an AMV final can be conducted.
The main awards were the genre awards. Award categories include Action, Comedy/Parody, Drama/Romance and Dance/Upbeat. Each of them had a few honourable mentions, a runner up and of course, the winner. Not all of the mentioned AMV’s were shown, only the winner. With each category, you will get the chance to check out the winning AMV, whether on this article or on Youtube. This will be the same for the special awards: the People Choice Award, Best Technical Award and the Judge’s Choice Award.
The Action category is the first of the genre awards to be announced. The winner of the Action category was ProjectBarcodeError of Canada with “Bankrupt!” with the runner up was “Save the Light” by Dean Seirafi. This is a great AMV, combining the action sequences of a collection of anime to a fitting song by Machinae Supremacy called Player One. The editing is excellent, helping establishing the tone and atmosphere. You can check out “Bankrupt!” below.
The second genre award is the Comedy/parody award. The winner of this category was “The Battle for 2000: Takoyaki Wars” by Pacotacoshell of the USA with the runner up being “Sorry for Being Hercule, Sincerely Mr. Satan” by l33tmeatwad. Using Cardcaptor Sakura, Pacotacoshell captures the charm of the small battle between Kero and Clow Cards using the Angry Birds theme as music. I see why this won the category. Watching the AMV, it captures the funniest moments between the two as they fight for food. “The Battle for 2000: Takoyaki Wars” can be seen below.
Next was the Drama/Romance award. The winner was “Magic Eye” by Shin of the USA with the runner up being “Color Music” by GuntherAMVs. Shin also entered in this category last year and took it out, making this title his second in a row. Using Steins;Gate as the anime and “No Light, No Light” by Florence and the Machine, Shin captures the drama of the anime well with excellent editing, a great choice of clips and a song that fits the whole dramatic tone. Check out “Magic Eye” at this link.
The last main category is the Dance/Upbeat category. The winner was “DISCO 4.0” by GuntherAMVs of the USA with the runner up being “Coloris” by Stephen Macfarlane. Considering what category this is, it better make someone want to dance. “DISCO 4.0” truly achieves that with an excellent choice of upbeat/dance music and a great selection of clips. While dance/upbeat isn’t exactly my favourite type of AMV (drama and action are my preferred cup of tea), it is easy to see why this was the winner. You can check out “DISCO 4.0” below.
Record of Agarest War 2 Developer: Idea Factory Publisher:Aksys Games Platform: PlayStation 3 Release Date:June 26, 2012 Price:$49.99 – Available Here
Overview: There are many different games in the video game world which fall into certain genres. While some of these games will adhere strictly to the rules of one single genre, others can blend together various mechanics to create something great. Over the past few years, a certain developer by the name of Idea Factory has released a number of titles under the Agarest War name.
Thanks to the nature of these titles, many questioned whether or not they may actually end up making their way overseas. Thankfully, fans of the SRPG genre and of Idea Factory’s creations have been provided each of the Agarest War titles courtesy of Aksys Games. Now that the previously multiplatform series has seen the release of the PlayStation 3 exclusive Record of Agarest War 2, does the third game in the series still have plenty to offer?
Story: In a world where pleas fall of the deaf ears of the gods, one man is determined to reach the gods and resurrect his lost loved one. However after breaking a mysterious seal, he comes face to face with one of the god’s of the world. Unfortunately this god refuses to grant this man’s wish, driving the man to commit the despicable act of deicide. Upon slaying the god, a bright white light engulfs the entire area and is so large it is visible all over the world.
The rest of the world has begun calling this day, the “Day of Light” but it is far from light which has been unleashed upon the world. In fact, the world itself will soon crumble into nothingness. Unfortunately for the world however, its only salvation rests upon the shoulders of the killer of the god himself… Weiss. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, this Weiss has lost all memories about his past and his actions.
It isn’t until he encounters a woman named Eva that he realizes his past actions and is set on a path which can save the world. Weiss must act as the “vessel” which will hold the power of the slain god that has been strewed across the land. It is his mission to revive the same god that he killed, for not only will he be cursed with this fate but even his children must follow the same fate.
However he will not make this journey alone as players will encounter a large amount of compatriots who will join Weiss in his journey to potentially save the world. Among these allies there are certain girls who will act as “pillars” to the vessel and will bring forth the next generation of heroes. Record of Agarest War 2 retains its dating simulation factor, as players will often need to make certain dialogue choices when speaking with their party and what they say can affect their relationship with some characters, either raising it or lowering it depending on their answer. Having certain affection levels can sometimes trigger events with certain characters which unveil more about their background as well as provide some of the title’s well known fan service.
As it stands, the romance element is still relatively unchanged though it is worth noting that there are certain events which may be missed if players ignore even their basic party members as well, not just the girls whom they want to interact with and potentially marry at the end of the generation. This creates a bit of a balancing act which can be confusing at the best of times, though it does encourage players to make their way through the game more than once to see every possible relationship.
Unfortunately the storyline itself is a far from original and the fact that the title uses amnesia is even worse considering how often that condition is used in titles such as this. Thankfully story is saved by the amount of characters that you meet along the way who help brighten up the storyline with their interactions with one another, although it seems that compared to previous titles, these interactions are less frequent and impactful.
Visuals: One of the biggest changes that Record of Agarest War 2 has made over its predecessors is the fact that the game no longer uses retro looking sprites but now features more modern HD sprites. This means that the sprites have an overall smoother look to them and feature more detail than their predecessors. With these new sprites, the game has seen an improvement in the storytelling aspect as well through the use of better visual representation.
For example, in past titles gamers would usually only be treated to a still hand drawn image of scenery while the characters speak to one another during an action segment. While many of these segments still remain in Agarest War 2, many have been replaced with action scenes featuring the sprites moving around in the background while the story is still being told in the foreground.
Another impressive section of the title is the fact that the character’s portraits are partially animated as well, with minor movements while talking with one another. These portraits are one of the biggest treats of the game as a whole as every character is fully detailed and presented in what appears to be hand drawn quality. It is worth noting that the series does contain plenty of fan-service featuring plenty of breasts and even a playable bathing mini-game (more on that later). This fan-service isn’t too heavy nor unexpected for the series, and as someone who has no issue with its inclusion, the service itself is handled well and probably better than it was in past titles, though it does seem to be more abundant this time around.
There are a few downsides to some of the game’s upgrades however. The game’s world map for example appears similar to what one may have found in last-generation titles and the sprite animations themselves are rather stiff for something that now is in HD. This may have been forgivable with the standard sprites before, however now with the visual improvement these stiff attack animations are worse than ever.
Audio: Similar to past games in the series, Aksys has brought Record of Agarest War 2 to North America with the Japanese voice track only. Most gamers would probably prefer this option however and given the fact that the Japanese cast provides an amazing sounding job there is no cause for alarm. Because the title features the Japanese voice track only, this does mean that gamers will need to read the game’s subtitles to understand what is going on, which appear accurate and are handled well.
Agarest War 2’s background music is rather standard affair for a game such as this, featuring plenty of music which you would usually associate with the title. Thankfully the music itself is rather light-hearted and suitable more often than not. Plus the opening video for the game does contain a rather catchy tune which may entice you to listen to it more than once
Gameplay: Out of the three Record of Agarest War games released so far, Record of Agarest War 2 has seen the most changes to the standard formula. At its core, Agarest War 2 is still a strategy RPG though a number of past gameplay features have been changed significantly. Unlike past games, the aforementioned world map is now free roaming, allowing players to freely walk between towns and dungeons rather than following a set path.
Instead of set battle points, players will now encounter enemies randomly on the field via a random encounter generator. However it is worth noting that players can instantly enter battle at the press of a button on the world map. Now the most revamped section of the game is the battle system, forgoing the fully traversable grid battle field and replacing it with two gridded sections, one section for the player’s party and the other for the enemies. In these sections players are also unable to move characters around at will; instead they will move after attacking or simply by changing the party leader, automatically shifting the party members into formation.
Now another immediate change players will encounter is the fact that only four party members will be able to fight at any given time. It is worth noting that players can actually shift standby characters into battle if necessary, allowing wounded characters to be swapped out for fresh fighters. As mentioned before, the characters are now easy to place into formation and create a linked attack.
Another change made to the combat system is that players will now perform their attacks by simply pressing one of the face buttons on the controller, with certain skill types relegated to specific buttons such as triangle for launching attacks and circle for ranged attacks. The amount of skills players can use still is dependent on the amount of AP the character has at any given time and linked attacks allow players to pool the fighters’ AP and create massive string attacks which can even trigger guard breaks and allow players to unleash another string of combo attacks which are called Ultimate Attacks. It is also worth noting that players can also now unleash EX Skills much easier, in the form of Original Skills that are triggered when certain conditions are meant and players press the L1 or R1 button, with R1 unleashing an even stronger Original skill.
This revamped combat system may be a bit off putting for some who are die-hard fans of the strategy RPG genre, though the new inclusions and easier to understand interface make for a more accessible title with faster battles. Although these battles are now a bit faster paced, there are still plenty of intricate details and customizable options such as distributing points from leveling up, changing usable skills and equipment which give players a chance to micromanage their characters. It is worth noting however that inactive fighters do gain XP this time around, albeit lower XP than the main fighting group, meaning that your party will not consist of only a few high leveled characters mixed in with unused low levels but instead some characters only a few levels away from the active fighters.
Outside of combat players will still have to manage their relationships with the female members of the group and there is one certain mini-game which has been added into the game that allows the player to increase their affection with said girl. These mini-games are actually bathing mini-games that feature some of the most impressive fan service in the game. In these bathing mini-games players will have to massage their romanceable female party members with things such as oil and even ice cream and then they will need to wash them off. It is worth noting that these mini-games are PlayStation Move compatible, though the controller does seem to be the easiest option.
Overall: Record of Agarest War 2 has seen some of the biggest changes to the series, factoring in new battle mechanics, an upgrade in visuals and the addition of more fan service than ever before. Unfortunately some of the visual upgrades have caused other negative aspects of the title to become more evident while other upgrades appear to have actually been detrimental to the final product.
As for the new changes to the battle system, the title feels more like a combination between SRPG and action which actually works quite well and gives players a newer experience instead of the same thing for a third time. In the end, Record of Agarest War 2’s changes provide an enjoyable experience, albeit one with a rather mundane storyline but one that is brightened up by the game’s enjoyable romance system and freshly revamped battle system which will keep players interested for the title’s 30+ hours of length.
Ted Studio: Media Rights Capital, Fuzzy Door Productions, Bluegrass Films, Smart Entertainment Publisher: Universal Pictures Format: Cinema Release Date: June 29, 2012
Overview
Coming from Seth Macfarlane it comes as no surprise that Ted runs in the same vein of humour as Family Guy. However, it is more accessible, less full of American specific humour (such as references to particular athletes or politicians that the general international public may not be aware of, and a whole bunch more heart warming.
Story
Ted starts off as a satirical take on that classic kids miracle type of movie where a wish causes a toy to come to life. It’s something that certainly deserves satire, given the popularity of such films. Opening with a voice over from Sir Patrick Stewart, the movie sets itself up really well and the reason it comes off as a good satire is it so closely mirrors the original material. Seth Macfarlane seems to be holding back a lot of his more out there Family Guy humour in favour of subtler, punchier jokes.
The biggest joke probably comes from the fact that it answers the question of if your teddy bear turns into a magical talking teddy bear, what happens when you grow up? Well the answer is, it grows up with you. Twenty seven years later and the bear who starts off adorable and child-like has turned into what you’d expect from a twenty-seven year old teddy bear, he’s a foul-mouthed, sex-obsessed stoner.
Ted is obviously Seth Macfarlane’s voice in the film, not only literally but it’s obvious that Ted embodies Macfarlane’s observational and sarcastic humour to a tee except with a little less social commentary. He’s dry, quick witted, and a good deal of his lines are tongue in cheek. All of the other characters adopt a similar form of humour, but they have their own spin on it that sets them apart.
The chemistry between the three main characters is great and any scenes with two or all three in it are gold. Mila Kunis and Mark Wahlberg have a good back and forth, not only through the dialogue but they genuinely seem to have matching forms of humour. Not to mention the fact that Wahlberg’s scenes with Ted are great, he manages to have a strong best friend chemistry with what is effectively a CGI bear and Macfarlane’s voice.
There are some truly great scenes that are brutally honest and realistic in a way that Family Guy fans may not recognise. The dynamic of John and Lori’s relationship is one of the more honest portrayals of a relationship that I’ve seen in a film, honest not only in the way that it doesn’t sink into melodrama, but in that relationships can still be fun after an extended period of time. Most films will have a couple that have been together for a long period of time tired of each other or bored in their relationship. It’s nice to see a different, less depressing portrayal.
The film almost feels like the first part had Macfarlane planning a certain kind of movie and having it evolve into something more real and emotive than he originally intended. That’s not to say it’s a bad thing, it just feels like at a certain point the movie shifts into a different thing than you were expecting.
The film is extremely self aware, which adds to the humour of it. And while it contains less social commentary humour than Family Guy, it still has a whole bunch of pop references, although they are more internationally accessible. At one point Ryan Reynolds makes a cameo appearance and is referred to as ‘that Van Wilder looking guy’. This self awareness isn’t new for Macfarlane, but it’s good to see it brought into the movie as well.
Visuals
The animation of Ted is fantastic, it really works well and the actors deal beautifully with acting with an animation, especially given how much of a role he plays and the range of emotions they go through. Ted moves realistically and fluidly and his waddle is absolutely adorable and looks great.
There is a fight scene in one part of the movie that is choreographed and acted better than most action films are when both participants are people. It’s got a bit of a Peter Griffin/Chicken fight feel, but in real life which is so much more awesome. Again, there’s a sense of reality missing from most films, which is ironic given one of the characters is animated.
Audio
The film does sometimes slip into the stereotypical over the top soundtrack during some of the more depressing or action oriented scenes, and sometimes that becomes obvious, but overall it is enjoyable.
Ted’s voice sounds like a combination of Peter and Brian Griffin from Family Guy, which is actually addressed in the film when John teases Ted. As mentioned previously, it’s a very self aware film and that’s part of its charm.
Overall
Ted is a comedy designed for adults who have grown up watching those kids films about miraculously speaking toys. It manages to be insulting, hilarious, and charming all at the same time in a way that Family Guy and American Dad sometimes fall short. This is definitely worth checking out, especially if you’re looking for a comedy that is outside the box and aims for that nostalgic bone we all have.
Capcom revealed on Friday at the San Diego Comic Con that the Playstation 3 version of the Street Fighter 25th Anniversary Collection will receive 4 exclusive games. The Games are downloadable vouchers for the Playstation classics Street Fighter Aplha 1, 2 and 3, along with Street Fighter Aplha 3 Max for PSP.
The Street Fighter Alpha series is known as Street Fighter Zero in Japan. Street Fighter Alpha 3 is often regarded as the best Street Fighter ever made. In addition to the 4 exclusive games The Playstation 3 version will also include 175 PSN Avatars. With he inclusion of these 4 great games the Playstation 3 version of Street Fighter 25th Anniversary Edition now comes with a total of 8 games. What do you think of the Playstation 3 exclusive content Capcom has announced for the Street Fighter 25th Anniversary Collection?
Hanabee have made a major announcement during their SMASH! Con 2012 industry panel regarding their participation in the upcoming Manifest 2012 Convention.
CEO of Hanabee, Eric Cherry, spoke in great detail about convention booths in Australia compared to booths in Japan. He stated that he doesn’t want the Hanabee booth to be something that you ‘come up to’ but more something that you ‘come into’. So how does he plan on achieving this? By holding a Hanabee Maid Cafe at Manifest 2012.
The company will be working alongside the Doki Doki Station Maid Cafe in order to set up what Cherry hopes to be ‘a true Maid Cafe experience’ for Manifest attendees. The Hanabee Maid Cafe is said to feature hourly performances as well as other activities for attendees.
There is no one big on the seyuu scene than Shin-Ichiro Miki. At his panel at SMASH! 2012, he comes out to a roaring reception, similar to that of a rockstar. To be quite honest, he actually dressed like a rockstar, complete with a pair of sunglasses. Then again, he truly deserves it. He has been involved in the voice acting business since 1989, which means he has 23 years of experience under his belt. In those years, he has amassed over 230 voice roles in anime, games, drama CD’s and even dubbing for popular foreign films.
Like Sagara Tange’s panel, Miki answered questions from the fans and enacted some live dubbing from his more famous roles. However, the structure was quite different. Instead of the questions being first and then the live dubbing, the two sections were intertwined. The questions asked ranged from personal questions about his favourite things to questions about his professional career. Miki divulged into his hobby of motorsports, especially his love of car racing. He currently owns a Toyota AE86 but also reveals that he isn’t a great drifter at the moment. One day, I’m sure he will be. One more point, if you send him something, maybe some Japanese wine. That is his favourite drink.
In terms of the professional questions posted, Miki talks about how he works on his roles. He revealed that he draws the character within him and studies the character well. He wants to know what the character would say and how he would say it. He also revealed that there is no challenging role in the business. He has found that no particular role has been hard or easy to perform. He also divulges into a personal story when he started out. As he was being introduced into the world of a seyuu, his senpai gave him some alcohol, presumably when he was underage. For adult reasons, he stops the story there.
In what was a somewhat awkward moment, the panel divulged into the world of Yaoi, or Boy-love media. Miki has been involved with Yaoi media, but after a few moments, he was comfortable to talk about it, showing his professional side. Miki revealed that, whenever a role comes along, he is only interested in two things: drama and a good story. He applies it to Yaoi as well. If the content has a focus on drama and tells a good story, even with an overtly sexual tone, then he would do it because he is quite the professional. If the sole focus is sexual content, then don’t expect him to take the role. A fine mantra if you ask me.
In an interview with Bloomberg Thursday at the Allen & Co media conference Vivendi Chairman Jean-Rene Fourtou said that he has been in talks with Microsoft, Take Two Interactive, and Disney about buying Vivendi’s 61% in Activision Blizzard. Which currently sits at 8.1 billion dollars US. All three companies Vivendi is interested in selling Activision Blizzard to aren’t interested in acquiring the company despite Activision Blizzard being the largest US publisher.
Activision CEO Bobby Kotick is also helping Fourtou look for a suitable buyer. It should also be noted that Activision’s sales have slipped 6% over the last year according to the NDP, and if for example Microsoft did end up purchasing Activision Blizzard the companies sales would drop even further, as they wouldn’t be publishing games across all platforms. Who do you think will pick up Activision Blizzard?
San Diego Comic Con is usually the go-to place when you want to announce something relevant to your geekdom. Avatar: The Legend of Korra is no different.
The creators have confirmed that while it was originally announced that Book 1 will have only 12 episodes, and Book 2 will have 14, it appears that Nickelodeon has ordered 26 more episodes after that! Bringing the total to 52 episodes chronicling the adventures for Korra and her gang.
The Legend of Korra panel at SDCC has revealed even more tasty news for Korra fans. If you wish to remain in the dark for the goings-on for Book 2, I suggest you read no further.
The Korra gang will be traveling to the Southern Water Tribe after a 6 month time skip.
Korra uses the Avatar State for frivolous things, making Tenzin upset with her.
Large focus on the state of the Spirit World and it’s history.
Mako and Bolin go separate ways – Mako goes under Lin and becomes a cop, while Bolin remains a Fire Ferret and Pro-Bends.
Asami takes over Future Industries.
Korra’s very spiritual uncle Unarok is of the Northern Water Tribe and has twins – a boy and a girl. Their voice actors have been selected but unannounced.
Kya and Bumi, Aang and Katara’s two other children, will be appearing in Book 2.
New Outfits!
If Avatar: The Last Airbender is to be looked to for reference, however, Book 2’s premier date will still be a long ways away, as the premier date is still unknown.
At SMASH! Con 2012 international guest star Sakura Tange took to the stage for her celebrity panel. Sakura is a voice actress most famous for voicing the titular character in Cardcaptor Sakura, Sakura Kinomoto. Now that’s a lot of Sakura!
She opened up her panel with her adorably broken English, which caused the English speaking host to visibly swoon at her very presence. The host informed us all that he would be asking Sakura questions that had been pre-selected from a pool of fans and staff alike, instead of the usual crowd interaction in which fans can ask in person. As unfortunate as that was, they did select some excellent questions.
Sakura was asked how she originally decided to become a voice actress and she revealed that very early on in her life she had realised her voice was very unique and characteristic for certain types of roles. This led to her decision to try to become a voice actress and sure enough she landed the lead role in Cardcaptor Sakura and the rest was history.
She spoke briefly about her lengthy hiatus from voice acting, which seemed like a little bit of a touchy subject, so she did not talk too much about why she left voice acting but more so about her reasoning for returning. She decided to return to voice acting when she was approached about a role in the popular video-game series Love Plus, in which she plays a Punk Rock loving character for the player to date.
Follow the Questions and Answer portion of her panel she took to the microphone for some live dubbing of Cardcaptor Sakura. After a few mistakes with the video, she finally was able to reenact some of Cardcaptor Sakura’s greatest moments, one from episode 3 and another from episode 15.
After this she had a little bit of crowd interaction in which she acted out her role in Love Plus with a Japanese speaking member of the audience which resulted in said audience member breaking down into tears (presumably of excitement/joy). Just when it seemed like she was all done with her panel, she whispered something quickly to her translator to which he announced to the audience that Sakura wanted to do a quick Dead or Alive voice performance. She spoke a few sentences (that went untranslated) in the role of Kasumi from the Dead or Alive games to which those in the audience who understood erupted with applause and with that she left the stage and her panel was concluded.
I personally found her panel to be incredibly enjoyable, largely due to her adorable use of the English language and her sheer enthusiasm and love for her fans in attendance. It was a pleasure to attend this panel myself as a Cardcaptor Sakura fan and it was great to see the person behind the voice we have grown to know so well.
WWE has reported that Dolph Zigglar, Zack Ryder, and Raw annoncer Justin Roberts were involved in a car accident while leaving the San Diego Comic Con Yesterday. Thankfully, no one was seriously hurt. Zack Ryder did suffer a minor neck injury. Justin Roberts suffered a minor cut on his leg, while the extent of Dolph Ziggler’s injuries are not known. All 3 men declined to go the hospital, and Ryder and Roberts are now driving to Phoenix Arizona, while Ziggler took a flight out of San Diego. The Accident happened when their limo was margining onto the highway, and a car rear ended them at full speed.
It is unknown at this time if WWE will pull Ziggler out of the Money in the Bank match tomorrow due to his injuries, but as of right now Ziggler is scheduled to compete in the match. Hopefully Ziggler will be able to compete tomorrow night at the Pay Per View.
There is no one big on the seyuu scene than Shin-Ichiro Miki. At his panel at SMASH! 2012, he comes out to a roaring reception, similar to that of a rockstar. To be quite honest, he actually dressed like a rockstar, complete with a pair of sunglasses. Then again, he truly deserves it. He has been involved in the voice acting business since 1989, which means he has 23 years of experience under his belt. In those years, he has amassed over 230 voice roles in anime, games, drama CD’s and even dubbing for popular foreign films.
At SMASH! Con 2012 international guest star Sakura Tange took to the stage for her celebrity panel. Sakura is a voice actress most famous for voicing the titular character in Cardcaptor Sakura, Sakura Kinomoto. Now that’s a lot of Sakura!
Follow the Questions and Answer portion of her panel she took to the microphone for some live dubbing of Cardcaptor Sakura. After a few mistakes with the video, she finally was able to reenact some of Cardcaptor Sakura’s greatest moments, one from episode 3 and another from episode 15.
