New York Comic Con: Final Fantasy XIII-2 Preview

Square-Enix’s Word to your Moogle Tour ended at New York Comic Con this weekend, and I was lucky enough to be in attendance to try out the sequel to 2009′s Final Fantasy XIII. The playable demo available–the same one gamers first saw at E3, is apparently a dated version of the final product we can expect on January 31st. XIII-2 hopes to flesh out the story of the original game, while addressing issues players had with it’s predecessor. The game opens with Serah, Lightning’s younger sister and our new protagonist, Noel battling a monstrous Titan named Atlas. After an intense, but brief bout with him, which utilizes the Paradigm system again, the party winds up in a city, inhabited with quite a few townsfolk and NPCs. One of my personal largest complaints with XIII was the lack of city exploration that gives the game a more humanistic feel, so it

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Turning Japanese Weekly News (September 20th – October 11th)

VIZ Media Haikasoru Imprint Releases VIZ Media has announced the release of the newest novel to be published under its popular Haikasoru imprint. THE CAGE OF ZEUS, by author Sayuri Ueda, will debut on September 20th and will carry an MSRP of $14.99 U.S. / $16.99 CAN. The eBook edition will also debut the same day on the Amazon Kindle, the Apple’s iBooks Store and the Sony Reader Store for $8.99. Haikasoru publishes some of the most compelling contemporary Japanese science fiction and fantasy stories for English-speaking audiences, and is the first imprint based in the U.S. dedicated to Japanese science fiction and fantasy in translation. THE CAGE OF ZEUS introduces readers to the Rounds, humans with the sex organs of both genders. Artificially created to test the limits of the human body in space, the Rounds are a minority, despised and hunted by the terrorist group, Vessel of Life.

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Turning Japanese Weekly News (August 31st – September 13th)

Japanese Pop Group Ryo(Supercell) Releases Brand New EP SEKIRANUN GRAFFITI Featuring Vocals By Hatsune Miku Following up the release of its first full-length record in the U.S., the Japanese pop artist/group, Ryo (Supercell) has released a brand new EP. The new release, SEKIRANUN GRAFFITI, is available now exclusively on iTunes and Amazon and features vocals from Hatsune Miku, the world’s first virtual pop diva. The EP’s title track, “SEKIRANUN GRAFFITI” (SEKIRANUN means Thundercloud), is also the theme music to the latest Hatsune Miku PROJECT DIVA arcade console game and video game for the PSP, which will be released in Japan this fall. Japanese Pop Group Ryo(Supercell) Releases Brand New EP SEKIRANUN GRAFFITI Featuring Vocals By Hatsune Miku And Available Now From Sony Music Direct On iTunes And Amazon Innovative Multimedia Group Follows Up Chart Toping Full-Length Album With New U.S. Release Featuring Vocals By World’s First Virtual Pop Star Following

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Turning Japanese Weekly News (August 10th – August 30th)

I’d like to first apologize for the delayed news lately. Life commitments and hurricanes can preempt such things. But without further adieu~ Sentai Filmworks Announces License of Coicent and Five Numbers Sentai Filmworks today announced its acquisition of the twin sci-fi anime mini features COICENT and FIVE NUMBERS. Although not directly connected, both films exemplify the best of Japan’s new wave of up and coming anime masters, with COICENT reuniting writer/director Shuhei Moritai and character designer Daisuke Sajiki, who previously collaborated on the seminal CGI anime hit Kakurenbo, while FIVE NUMBERS teams director Hiroaki Ando, (who handled CGI duties for Steamboy and Noiseman,) with character designer Masaru Gotsubo (Samurai Champloo,) and scripter Dai Sato, whose previous credits include HALO: Legends – The Package, Ergo Proxy and screenplays for Cowboy Bebop. Although the two titles will be available separately via digital distribution, Sentai has announced that that they will be released

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Review – Alice: Madness Returns (PS3)

Rating: M (for Mature) PEGI: 18+ Developer: Spicy Horse Publisher: Electronic Arts Release Date: June 14, 2011 BUY Eleven years ago on my birthday, American McGee, a game designer introduced the world to his own dark, sinister version of Alice in Wonderland; American McGee’s Alice which developed quite a cult following, along with a fair amount of critical and commercial success. His grim, macabre version of Alice took place a few years after Through the Looking-Glass. Alice narrowly escapes her burning home, only to listen to the cries of her family as they’re incinerated while trapped inside. She then retreats back into Wonderland, albeit not the wholesome and light hearted version we’ve previously known as a coping mechanism. The original game left many questions unanswered, and American McGee and his studio, Spicy Horse finally decided to answer them, while bringing Alice’s story to a close after lengthy hiatus. Is it

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Turning Japanese Weekly News (July 27th – August 9th)

VIZ Media’s Naoki Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys Wins 2011 Eisner Award Manga Masterpiece Recognized With The Comic Book Industry’s Most Prestigious Award VIZ Media is proud to announce that NAOKI URASAWA’S 20th CENTURY BOYS was recognized with an Eisner Award in the Best U.S. Edition of International Material – Asia category during award ceremonies held at the recent Comic-Con International event in San Diego, CA. Naoki Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys is published in North America by VIZ Media’s Signature imprint. Volume 17 of the series will be released in August. 20th Century Boys is the story of a group of boys who try to save the world. Humanity, having faced extinction at the end of the 20th century, would not have entered the new millennium if it weren’t for them. In 1969, during their youth, they created a symbol. In 1997, as the coming disaster slowly starts to unfold, that

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Turning Japanese Weekly News (July 13th – 26th)

New People Launches a Kickstarter Funding Project for the 2011 J-Pop Summit Festival Fundraiser Supports The Expansion of Annual Bay Area Pop Culture Event Featuring MIKU-KITTY As A Main Character! Donators Invited To Special VIP Party New People has launched a Kickstarter Funding Project for the 2011 J-Pop Summit Festival, which expands to two days – (Sat/Sun) August 27th & 28th – across the city’s Japantown. A Kickstarter page with complete project details is available at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/j-pop/j-pop-summit-festival-2011. The J-Pop Summit Festival is a unique gathering of creative trendsetters and artists whose styles influence people around the world. With the theme of “Fashion, Music & Technology,” the 2011 J-Pop Summit Festival celebrates its 3rd year with edgy new multimedia content from Japan and also blends work and products from innovative local artists and merchants to become a one-of-a-kind event that reflects the essence of “pop culture.” A dedicated web site is

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Turning Japanese Weekly News (June 29th – July 12th)

We apologize for the news being backed up, as many of our editors have been away. So to catch up~ VIZ Media announces the anime series finale of Neuro: Supernatural Detective VIZ Media has announced that the exciting concluding episode of the anime series Neuro: Supernatural Detective will stream beginning Friday, July 1st on VIZAnime.com (www.VIZAnime.com), the company’s own premier website for free anime, as well as the streaming content provider HULU (www.Hulu.com). Neuro: Supernatural Detective is based on a popular manga (graphic novel) series created by Yusei Matsui, and was produced by the famed animation studio, MADHOUSE. The series depicts the adventures of Neuro Nogami, a demon that feeds on unsolved criminal mysteries and riddles of the human world. In order to protect his identity, he forms a secret partnership with Yako, an incisive 16-year-old high school girl. This unlikely crime-solving duo devours one mystery after another in search

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Turning Japanese Weekly News (June 24th – June 28th)

VIZ Media brings the cute and fun characters of Mameshiba to North America Adorable Japanese Character Sensations Make Their Debut In New Graphic Novel Adventure And Character Guide This Summer VIZ has announced the release of its first titles for Mameshiba. The cute Japanese sensations will be introduced in a character guide called Meet Mameshiba! and star in their first-ever graphic novel, Mameshiba: On The Loose!, both to be released in July in the U.S. and Canada under the company’s VIZ Kids imprint. It’s a BEAN! It’s a DOG! It’s… BOTH?! Are they beans? Are they dogs? Not quite either one – they’re Mameshiba! Though they all love to share weird facts, each has its own quirky personality. “With their unique personalities, adorable faces, and love of trivia, Mameshiba will capture hearts both young and old,” says Traci Todd, Senior Editor of Children’s Publishing. “Readers will learn all they need

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Interview with Pro-Gamer, Justin Wong of the Evil Geniuses

Being an avid fan of fighting games all my life, I’ve always had an interest in the fighting game tournament scene, and pro-gamers who are considered to be the best of the best. I decided to catch up with Justin Wong, one of the best gamers in the country, since the fighting game genre and tournaments for professionals have been on the rise. Justin is considered by and large one of the best Street Fighter players in the country, along with placing well in tournaments for games such as Marvel vs. Capcom 2/3 as well. GamingAngels: We noticed that the Street Fighter series seems to be your game of choice. For you, what sets it apart from other fighting games? Justin Wong: I grew up on Street Fighter at my local arcade. It was the most played and the most competitive in New York so I wanted to be the

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