Source: EX
Capcom's upcoming title, Power Stone 2, for Dreamcast / Arcade, will feature a new button layout with the Action button replacing the Jump button, allowing the player to execute differetn actions. 7 different kinds of Power Stones are present, upon collecting 3, the character will transform. Power Stone 2 is scheduled for release in Japan on April 27th.
Square Europe and SVG have announced a partnership to publish and market Squaresoft games in Europe, with Front Mission 3 the first game to be releaasd under the deal.
Dreamcast Tech:
- Sega of Japan will release Dream Passport 3, which will feature support of the Dreamcast digital camera, Dream Eye for video mail and chatting, a new instant messanger program called Ch@b Talk, and the ability to download and play over 300 classic Mega Drive and PC-Engine titles.
- Sega's digital camera, DreamEye, scheduled to be released in Japan release in June, will feature a 640 x 480 maximum resolution, once taken, images can be saved into the built-in flash memory or VMS using .JPG compression. The camera runs on AAA batteries, 31 images can be stored in flash memory. A voice message and photograph can be sent out using the Dreamcast as well as video chat with other people over the internet, Sega will also develop games use the DreamEye in-play.
- Sega has confirmed the development of a new VMS, which will feature a much larger memory, store and playback of MP3 audio, and a headphone jack.
ADV Fansubs is a plan I've been working on bringing to life for over a year now. This was born out of several issues. One was the future availablity of subbed VHS, given most retailers are losing interested in carrying it. Another was the desire to bring some of the "classic" anime titles to the fans and collectors who would enjoy having good commercial versions. These are subtitled videos targeted directly at the fans. A brief example is with our City Hunter TV releases. People familiar with City Hunter know he has a pet word, "Mokkori", which is difficult to translate well in every instance where he uses it. Since this line is targeted at fans, we decided to leave the word as is in the subtitles and to provide a "liner note" at the beginning of the video to explain it's usage. The first two titles are the City Hunter TV series and the Nadia TV series. These will be released at the rate of at least one volume per series each month for $19.98. The primary source for these videos will be direct from ADV via web, mail and phone orders. We also plan to take the ADV Fansubs line to as many conventions around the country as we possibly can. Although we won't be putting the strong marketing push to retail outlets with these titles that we do with our other titles, we will offer them to retail so some stores may carry them as well. A subscription service will be set up for these titles where you can have the video shipped directly to you as soon as each volume is released. The first volume of City Hunter and Nadia are set to begin sales towards the end of this March. I hope that helps explain a little more about the new line. I'll be posting more info here and in the news section of our website as we near release, including where to go to find the videos.
Now I'll give a quick run down on the DVDs we talked about at Katsucon. Current DVDs available right now include:
Tekken
Sonic
Battle Angel
Ninja Resurrection
Queen Emeraldas
Legend of Crystania
Slayers: TMP
Destroy All Monsters
DVDs that are in the works for the next year include:
Blue Seed
Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040
Burn Up W
Cutey Honey
Dirty Pair Flash
Gamera
Gasaraki
Gunsmith Cats
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Lost Universe
Martian Successor Nadesico
Monster Rancher
Plastic Little
Princess Nine
Ruin Explorers
Sakura Diaries
Rurouni Kenshin
Sorcerer Hunters
We are working on Evangelion, Burn Up W, Sakura Diaries, Ruin Explorers and Monster Rancher right now. The next ones to go into production will be Blue Seed, Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040, Dirty Pair Flash and the next volume of Evangelion. Street dates will be announced for each of these as the are assigned.
Honestly, the information is in error. John (Sirabella) did not announce that Media Blasters would not be doing VHS subs of Rurouni Kenshin. He said that we were thinking of not releasing VHS subs of Kenshin. The decision hasn't really been made yet. While it is true that the logistics of releasing subtitled VHS is being affected by DVD, that doesn't mean that releasing a subtitled VHS is entirely unprofitable. After all, all the work that is involved in subtitling a DVD is pretty much the exact same process that it would take to subtitle a VHS version. It's just that it's usually a little counter-productive to release something if you're not going to sell enough to cover the costs involved in producing it. But John also mentioned at Katsucon (which no one seems to remember) that we did extremely well with the Magic Knight Rayearth subs despite the whole DVD issue.
Source: DVD Animania
Diana has reportedly been briefed on Mr. Miyazaki's films and likes his work. The deal is also reportedly at the primary stages, if it is succesful, a full-scale animated theatrical feature could be somewhere in the future.
Matsuzawa Yumi's "Ashita no Egao no Tameni" will be featured as the main theme to the upcoming Gate Keepers TV series, to begin airing April 3rd.
A new Trouble Chocolate vocal album, "Forever", will be released in Japan on April 12th., listing at 2,100 Yen.
- On a future Dragon Ball video game, Mr. Fukunaga mentioned, "We have major game publishers approaching us." "- major game developers are making mockups, eager to create it." The main current obstacle in production of the game is political issues with the original publishers Japan. "If we got the (permission) tomorrow, we could close the deal in a week and have something out for the Playstation by the first quarter of next year."
- On Dragon Ball and DVD, the article mentions FUNimation is looking closely at DVD technology as a dedicated format solution for fans. "Video stores will generally not take the pure Japanese language tapes. And with videotape, you have to choose (between the originals or the Americanized shows) because you can only fit so much on one tape. But on DVD, we can release both (versions) on the same DVD."
- On future DragonBall merchandise Mr. Fukunaga said "the Playoff card company (which also includes Donruss, Leaf, and Score) will be introducing a new DragonBall trading card game. It will be out in April." An official website, www.dbzcardgame.com has been created for the card game.
On the future of DragonBall seaon scheduling and Cartoon Network, Mr. Fukunaga said "We are working with Cartoon Network to get a better episode schedule in place." "The Garlic Jr. Saga will appear on the Cartoon Network either this month or next. The Trunk Saga, Cell Saga and Android Saga will hit home video in April, and Cartoon Network in September."
Finally, a totally revamped official DBZ website will appear in the spring. Launch is set for before May 29th.
Part One of the interview can be read here.
Part Two is here.
Source: GameProWorld
The supernatural thriller X, with a top of the Japanese pop-charts theme song, is the first anime film designed by the all-female studio, Clamp. X is directed by Rintaro, who has been working in anime for over 30 years and is best known in the US for directing the TV series' Kimba The White Lion and Astro Boy. X will hit NY and LA theatres on March 24th and then unspool in the rest of the country throughout April and May.
Prizes will be awarded including a Grand Prize, 2nd Prize and 3rd Prize. Consolation prizes consist of anime videos, posters, key chains or magazines. Pre-registration is required. For more information, contact William or Tak at Japan Video and Media at (415) 563-5220.
1737 Post Street San Francisco, CA 94115.
Tel.: (415) 563-5220, Fax: (415) 563-5454
For More Inforamation:
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"Record Of Lodoss Wars: Chronicles Of The Heroic Knight will be finished in April and the box set will soon follow. Maybe if we're lucky, we might even see a DVD before the year's up, but no official word on that as of yet."
Bandai has pushed back the U.S. release of Digimon RPG for PSX to late May.
Konami is planning to release a Hello Kitty version of it's handheald Beatmania game. It will feature 8 new songs and improved sound quality, Japanese release is slated for on May 18th, listing at 3200 Yen.
PSX 2 Info
- According to Sony, the opening screen for PSX 2 will change based on use, also the start-screen animation will change based on the insertion of different games.
- Sony will begin upgrading the production method of the PSX2 Emotion Engine CPU from the 0.25 micron process to the 0.18 micron process by the fall, this will translate to more processing power in a smaller physical space which is more energy efficient while generating less heat.
The actors have said that while the cartoons including long running hits such as Chibi-Maruko chan and Daddy Long Legs-have gained respect and popularity both in Japan and abroad, the actors who worked on them get little respect for their contributions.
Source: Asahi Shimbun
Namco has unveiled it's next-generation, general purpose arcade cabinet case, Cyber Lead II, which features a Slot Link System that will allow players to load and save data with Dreamcast VMS and PSX Memory Cards.
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News Analysis by Steve Brandon
In a deal which may bode well for the prospects of Cardcaptor's success as a children's merchandising phenomenon in North America, Nelvana has announced that it has signed an exclusive deal with Sears Roebuck and Company to market apparel promoting Franklin, the turtle, in Sears department stores, according to an article by Brenda Bouw in the February 14th issue of Canada's Financial Post. Franklin is a cartoon based on the popular children's book series by Canadian author Paulette Bourgeois that has sold over 25 million books worldwide. Nelvana hopes to generate more than $100 million in sales this year, and $150 million in 2001, of children's t-shirts and nightwear through special Franklin "boutiques" in the children's clothing sections of Sears' 850 U.S. stores. (There are also Sears' stores in Canada, but the article only mentions their American stores.) The article carries an interesting quote by Michael Hirsch, Nelvana's co-chief executive: "Nelvana's merchandising and marketing partnership with Sears assures Franklin of the broad U.S. retail exposure that will make the property a household name."
Please note that while the article does not specifically mention Cardcaptor, the infrastructure to push other Nelvana properties, like Babar, Rupert, Little Bear and, of course, Cardcaptor, to American children is now in place, especially in the event that sales of Franklin goods should meet Nelvana's and Sears' expectations. Up until now, I had predicted that Cardcaptor's chances in the domestic market would mirror that of Sailor Moon: it would flop as a children's merchandising phenomenon, but the cartoon would find a loyal cult following, especially among high school, college and university students well outside Nelvana's target audience (and target gender) of preschool and elementary school girls. (I had also predicted that Cardcaptor, like Sailor Moon, would prove to be a lot more popular in Canada, where YTV has a virtual monopoly on commercial children's programming on weekday mornings and afternoons, than in the United States, where Fox Kids, Warner, Disney, Nickelodeon and the Cartoon Network, among other players, all air children's programming blocks to compete for kids' attention, as well as their parents' money.) But, should Nelvana's deal with Sears pan out into other Nelvana properties, this changes the odds for Cardcaptor's success as a children's merchandising franchise well in Sakura's (or whatever she'll be renamed) favour! Cardcaptor merchandise at Sears would be a major boost for character recognition among kids and parents, and, for a children's property like Cardcaptor it's character recognition that makes the crucial difference between a hot property, like Pokemon, and a fizzle, like Sailor Moon. (In early 1995, DIC announced that there would be hundreds of Sailor Moon products on store shelves, but, aside from the toys, there was very little in the way of merchandise to be found.) And, unlike Pokemon, Digimon or Monster Ranchers, Cardcaptor does not feature characters already known to children through video games, so every extra opportunity for added visibility is key to Cardcaptor's success in North America. I still doubt that Cardcaptor will quite match the unprecedented domestic success of Pokemon, but I'm glad to see that Nelvana is much more savvy than DIC was in the way that they market shows and products to kids.
(To add a little fuel to the speculation as to on which channel Cardcaptor will be carried in the United States, Nelvana's Franklin will be aired on Nick Jr., the preschool version of Nickelodeon. Could this mean that Cardcaptor shall air on the main Nickelodeon network? Interestingly enough, the French-dubbed version of Card Captor Sakura (title unchanged) is aired in France on their national version of the Fox Kids network! Here in Canada, while nothing official has been announced (as of February 14th, 2000), I'd be astonished if it was shown on anything but YTV!)
Irwin Toy President and CEO, George Irwin said, "The success of Dragonball Z action figures and accessories will come from our close partnership with The Cartoon Network and the knowledge we have gained from our earlier, successful experience with Sailor Moon. The key, we discovered, was program scheduling. These Japanese-originating cartoons are designed in series format. In order to gain and grow a faithful audience, a five-day, regular time slot is absolutely necessary. It's proved to be a great success in the popularity of our Sailor Moon figures and accessories, and certainly the Dragonball Z series currently running on The Cartoon Network is building a very strong, faithful and growing audience across the country."
Irwin has extended the line with this year's launch of new 5" action figure size that features superior detailing, removable accessories and improved articulation. Irwin has also introduced a Deluxe version of the 5 inch-figures that feature Powerballs that can be launched from the hands.
Popular Manga artist, Rumiko Takahashi is scheduled to make a West Coast Anime Convention appearance possibly in the summer, to celebrate 10 years of her work being available in English.
Animerica Extra magazine will add a new serial, Marionette Generation, that ran for 8 years in the Japanese magazine, Newtype. Marionette Generation, by Haruhiko Mikimoto (Macross, Orguss, Megazone, Gunbuster) tells the story of a high school girl who serves as a caretaker for a lonely artist, when a doll in his house comes to life, the girl must compete with her for his affection.
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