Japan has its fair share of strange commercials, but this latest one for Disney’s Tokyo resort has to be one of the most adorable ads I’ve ever seen — so much, that the animated short has me convinced that I’d sit through an entire animated series centered around it. The 30 second anime short tells the story of a little girl and her time spent visiting the theme park over the years, from her first time as a kid, to meeting her future husband, eventually growing old together. It’s well animated, and the cute rendition of “A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes” fits it so well. Am I weird for wanting them to make more of these? I’ve included a bunch of screenshots from it after the jump.
Last week the BBC promised to release their first trailer for the upcoming season of Doctor Who, and now they’ve delivered. Oddly enough, it includes quite a bit of Amy and Rory, which leads me to believe that most of what we’re seeing takes place within the first half of the season. If that’s the case, then we’re in for a hell of a ride. It also seems like the Daleks will be making their return — I’d call it triumphant, but when is it ever when The Doctor’s involved. Also, any else notice Cleopatra? What’s that about?
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Mar 27, 2012 in Videogames
By now, it’s no secret that Final Fantasy XIII-2 leaves us with a cliff-hanger. It was announced a few months back that the story would continue via downloadable content, and that there were no plans for a Final Fantasy XIII-3 at this time. The first significant piece of DLC to expand the story featured former cast member Sazh Katzroy, and while it added a few casino games, it was much more of a side-story, and didn’t actually progress the plot. I’m hoping the latest piece of DLC to be announced, the much anticipated Lightning chapter, will do just that. According the Japanese gaming mag Dengenki PlayStation, that particular chapter be made available this May. Read more…
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Mar 27, 2012 in Television
The last few weeks have been absolutely brutal for Sci-Fi fans. First, Fox decides to drop Terra Nova despite relatively strong ratings, then SyFy opts to pass on the latest Battlestar Galactica prequel, even though it looked far more interesting than Caprica. While we had hoped Netflix would provide some light at the end of that tunnel, it now seems as though talks to revive Terra Nova have ceased. I’m sure many of you had your fingers crossed, especially after Netflix managed to pick up Arrested Development the other month. The rumor seemed promising, but perhaps its for the best — the show’s budget would need to be slashed, and I couldn’t begin to imagine what Terra Nova would even be like without it.
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Mar 26, 2012 in Television
HBO has thrown together a twenty two minute special summarizing the entire first season of Game of Thrones. If you’ve already seen the series or read the book, the video provides a decent refresher course, but otherwise, there’s quite a few spoilers. If you plan on watching the series in its entirety, or reading the book instead, you’ll want to steer clear. For me, it’s the first time I’ve had a chance to catch Emilia Clarke sporting her natural brown hair. It’s a real shame she has to dye it blonde or wear a wig for her role of Daenerys, she’s quite stunning as a brunette. Season two premieres April 1st on HBO. Read more…
Yesterday, Doctor Who series producer Steven Moffat stunned everyone when he unveiled The Doctor’s latest companion would be played by soap star Jenna-Louise Coleman. It pains me to say that Coleman character will be replacing Amy Pond and Rory Williams mid-season, but she’ll be making her debut immediately following their departure from the series.
At last weekend’s WonderCon in Anaheim, fans were treated to a short trailer for Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome — a proposed prequel to the recent series, taking place during the first Cylon war. A 90 minute pilot had been filmed with the intent of pitching the series to Syfy, but just yesterday the network announced they would be passing on the series. Although it won’t air on a regular basis, Syfy’s Mark Stern did confirm that they intend to air the 90 pilot as a TV movie at a later date, with the rest of the series produced as webisodes. At least a webseries is better than no series, but I can’t imagine what kind of budget cuts they’ll have to make as a result.
While watching this trailer for Kinect Star Wars, a few choice words came to mind, but if I had to choose one, I think I’d just ask why. Of course, I think it’s pretty obvious why LucasArts and Microsoft have done this. They’ve said it themselves — they’re appealing to the lowest common denominator. Well, congratulations, mission accomplished. More embarrassing footage after the jump. Read more…
I’m sure some of you might already know about Square Enix and their annual rewards program, but for those of you who don’t, you’ll probably want to. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve opened a new game, only to pull out the disc, toss the box to the side and ignore the rest of its contents. I always justify it by thinking I don’t need a instruction manual, or that I couldn’t care less about some pre-formatted health warnings I’ve read a million times, but in doing so, I often miss that little sheet asking me to register the game. I know what you’re thinking — why bother? Find out why after the jump.
It’s a niche series, but I’ve always loved Falcom’s Ys saga. The series has been a staple of staple of the action role-playing genre for as long as I can remember with countless entries in the series, not to mention the numerous remakes or re-releases over the years. It’s not as popular outside of Japan, but niche as it is, Ys has some of the most dedicated fans I’ve ever seen, and Ys: The Oath in Felghana stands as testament to that.
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Mar 20, 2012 in Design, Fandom
I have more t-shirts than any other type of clothing, and though I ultimately blame myself for being terrible with money, the internet isn’t helping matters. Sites like Threadless, TeeFury, Red Bubble, and so many more keep letting artists design these amazing graphic tees, and my bank account takes hit after hit. To make matters worse, Threadless is currently in the midst of a 48-hour sale, with almost every shirt marked down to $9.99 — they usually retail for twice that. Read more…
If you’re a fan of giant robot anime, this trailer might make you wet your pants. It features footage from 2nd Super Robot Wars Z Saisei, a PSP game that features characters and mechs from practically every giant robot series to grace Japanese airwaves is like an otaku’s dream come true. Unfortunately, despite having developed a countless number of these Super Robot War titles over the years, not a single one has been localized outside of Japan. Why? The trailer speaks for itself, check out the list of copyrights at the end. Now imagine the nightmare of trying to secure those rights for an international release. It’s a shame, but who knows, maybe it’ll be a possibility someday… maybe… probably not.
I remember a time when the only thing Michael Bay did to ruin a film was add a few too many explosions. Now he seems content ruining our favorite Saturday morning cartoons — I’m not sure how we let it come to this, but something tells me it’s all you who went to see Transformers in the theaters, just to stare at Megan Fox. Earlier today, Michael Bay caused a bit of a stir when he let slip that his upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film wouldn’t feature any mutants, but rather aliens. Yeah, that’s right, he actually said they’d be from an alien race, so let me ask — was sitting through three of films starring Shia LaBeouf really worth this? Read more…
If you’ve been curious about Star Wars: The Old Republic, but don’t want to commit to purchasing a subscription right away, starting today and throughout the rest of the weekend, the MMORPG will be free to play. In order to access the free weekend pass, you’ll have to live in a territory in which the game has been officially released. In addition, only users who have never had an active Star Wars: The Old Republic account will be eligible. Read more…
Here’s an interesting bit of news for you LEGO collectors out there — Sideshow Collectibles will start stocking sets in the near future. The online retailer is known for having exclusive, limited edition pieces while offering special incentives to repeat shoppers. In fact, they even offer flexible payment plans, though I’ve always been a little weary of purchasing anything I couldn’t already afford, but with the price of most LEGO sets these days, its nice to have options. Unfortunately, Sideshow hasn’t revealed any further information. Whether or not they’ll carry every product line, or if they’re planning to release exclusive sets remains to be seen, but you can keep informed by signing up for their LEGO newsletter here.
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Mar 14, 2012 in Videogames
If you’ve been following the site, it’s no secret that I’ve been looking forward to playing BioWare’s Mass Effect 3. Critics have praised the game and while some gamers have voiced concerns regarding everything from day-one paid downloadable content to the doctoring of stock, royalty free photography, I’m still enjoying my experience for the most part. I admit that I’m not a very social gamer but due to BioWare’s new interactive “Galaxy at War” system, you’re almost forced to deal with the multiplayer aspect just to improve your single-player campaign’s ending. Fortunately, there are a couple workarounds for those of you with an iOS device. More after the jump.
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Mar 14, 2012 in Videogames
Set for release later this week, Square Enix unveiled latest trailer for Chaos Rings II. As some of you may recall, Chaos Rings served as Square Enix’s first major title for the iOS and Android platforms, praised for delivering a fully-developed, traditional Japanese role-playing experience. Some reviewers have even cited it as one of the best titles the company has developed in recent years — though, I’m sure that’s open to debate. Read more…
It’s just a rumor, but Latino Review claims to have the scoop regarding the plot of Iron Man 3, including its potential villain — if you can call it that. Since it’s just a rumor, I’m not really sure how much of a spoiler it’d be but better safe than sorry. If you absolutely want to avoid any rumors about the film, and considering The Avengers hasn’t even hit theaters yet, that might not be a bad idea, then read no further. Otherwise, hit the jump.
If you’re a die-hard fan of Epic’s Gears of War, or just a fan of awesome looking props, you’ll want to feast your eyes on this 1:1 scale replica of snub pistol featured in Gears of War 3. Although I’m not a huge fan of the series, I have a soft spot for ornate Sci-Fi weaponry, and even I have to admit how sweet this piece looks. Read more…
Fans of Marvel’s animated universe are getting ready for next month’s premiere of Ultimate Spider-Man — well, most of them any way. Some are still wondering what happened to Marvel’s The Spectacular Spider-Man which ended its run after two seasons, despite being well received by fans and critics alike.
If I’m going to buy overpriced Japanese t-shirts, there’s only one retailer I really trust — Uniqlo. Stylish, well-crafted, and comfortable to wear, their t-shirts will often catch your eye with with quirky prints or bright colors. In Japan, the retailer teamed up with Konami to release a line of Metal Gear-themed shirts celebrating the series’ 25th anniversary. I’d probably kill for a few of these designs, but seeing as their shirts usually retail for around $45 a piece at conventions, I’m not sure if I have the cash to spare. The shirts will be available this April, but I have no idea if you’ll be able to find them in any of the three Manhattan locations located in the US. You might have better luck at major anime conventions later this summer — otherwise, a trip to Japan might be your best bet. Check out more photos after the break. Read more…
Animated shorts never seem to be as good as the actual shows they’re based off, but with Community making its return to NBC later this month, something’s better than nothing.In the first installment of Community: Abed’s Master Key we catch up with the study group as they discover their study room tables missing due to budget cuts. Dean Pelton makes Abed his unpaid intern/assistant, handing him a key — as to what the key actually does, we’ll just have to wait and see. Only the first part has been released so far, but future installments will be available via Hulu. Community returns from its hiatus March 15th, 8PM Eastern/Pacific on NBC.
I’m not sure how many of you have been keeping up with Ridley Scott’s Prophets of Science Fiction — not every cable provider carries the network it airs on — but it’s been a pretty good season so far. The season’s coming to an end, but what better way than to feature the man behind the force itself, George Lucas. The season finale airs tonight at 10 PM Eastern on Science.
A Star Trek drinking game? Why not, someone had to do it. Truth be told, there are a few episodes seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation I wouldn’t care to sit through unless I had some drinks in me. It’s been years since I first stumbled across Beer Trek, a site dedicated to creating the ultimate Star Trek drinking game. When I say dedicated, of course, I use the term rather loosely. It’s more of a compendium of rules for series, characters, situations, etc. Trying to memorize all of them would be fruitless and trying to follow them could lead to some serious alcohol poisoning.
