Need Even More Halo? Check Out Halo: Legends

First it was The Matrix that got the short story, anime treatment with The Animatrix. Then Batman got his with Batman: Gotham Knight. Now, not to be left out, Master Chief will join the anime fray with Halo: Legends: An all new collective of Halo shorts produced by various, popular Japanese animation studios.

Microsoft has chosen Comic-Con as their forum to release all information on Halo: Legends, including a new trailer for the anime which can be viewed below. [Continue Reading]

Afro Samurai Review: Stick to TV, Kid

This is my first review for TGH, so I was rather excited about the whole experience. Then I was told I would be reviewing “Afro Samurai,” and not much changed. I had always wanted to see the show, but never made time to do so. Now, after beating the game and watching a good portion of the series, I know two things to be true. First, all Afro Samurai episodes will soon find their way to my library. And second, the game will quickly find its way out.

The game follows the show’s plot closely, with Afro on his quest to avenge his father, and obtain the number one headband, a headband that is rumored to give its user god-like powers. The show is overflowing with interesting and mysterious characters, and the game tries to accommodate fans of the series by hosting most of those individuals. However, Namco Bandai seemed quick to forget about adding in any sort of story. Having not seen the series before playing the game, I was completely confused by what was going on, but I knew damn well that I wanted to find out. Audibly and visually “Afro Samurai” has all the elements it needs to deliver an enjoyable story, but it simply seems to pass on the chance. [Continue Reading]

Suikoden:Tierkreis Anime Intro (no sound)

On Monday we posted some gameplay footage of the upoming DS rpg Suikoden:Tierkreis. Today we have the full anime intro to the game. Unfortunately there’s no audio, but you can get a taste of what the cut scenes will be like. They’re def’ well done and pretty lengthy with full voice overs and musical scores. And as I said before, developers are getting real good at squeezing all this stuff onto them tiny DS carts, impressively with little to no compression at all. Check out the video and we’ll keep you updated on the latest with Suikoden:Tierkreis.

New Footage of Suikoden DS + Hands On play

 

 

Konami recently held a hands on event in NYC for some of their upcoming games. And to my surprise and many others, there was the latest installment to the Suikoden series. And it wasn’t for the PS3, Wii or Xbox360, it was on that little beast of a system the Nintendo DS. After waiting for what seemed like hours to finally get my hands on Suikoden:Tierkreis, I immediately turned the DS off then back on. Call me a freak but i wanted to see this game right from the beginning, opening logo credits and all. Once the credits were finished your treated to a nearly 2 min anime intro with an excellent score to back it up. Now I don’t know about you guys but it still amazes me to this day how much video plus the full game these guys manage to squeeze onto them little ds carts. Especially when the videos aren’t compressed to high hell.

After the intro is done and you input your desired name the game starts you out (or atleast in this demo) as the main character in a hut talking with your friend at which you’ll notice is fully voiced over with crystal clear sound. The characters are 3d polygon models layered on top of 2d hand drawn backgrounds, a technique not uncommon with rpgs. These backgrounds are beautifully drawn and detailed as hell. So far what I’m seeing I’m liking, good job Konami! You can control movement of the main character by either using the d-pad or stylus. Both control well and will just be a matter of user preference.

Now on to the nitty gritty of every rpg, the battle mode. Just like traditional rpg’s you don’t see the enemies on screen instead as you walk about the environments you’ll encounter random battles at which the screen will flash a bright white light and then the battle screen would show. Your parties level, HP and MP stats are conveniently displayed on the top screen of the ds. On the bottom half you’ll have the choice of using your stylus or d-pad to enter your commands. Which at first seems like a lot of inputs. Thankfully there’s an auto fight button you can press which will help speed up those fights when grinding for higher levels. The character models during the battles are on point and the animations are tight. From some hands on time with this demo it looks like Konami is in the right direction for delivering another solid rpg to the Nintendo DS. And it also got me thinking about something, why is the ds getting all these good rpgs? This system has more rpg’s on it than all the bigger consoles have combined. Not that i’m hating on the DS or anything, i just thought it was worth mentioning. Anyways will keep you posted on the latest info for Suikoden:Tierkreis.

The Sky Crawlers New Trailers…

Those fine folks of the Project Aces team over at Namco looks to be bringing their Ace Combat goodness intact to the Wii. Based of the popular novels and recently released anime of the same name, Skycrawlers puts you in the cockpit of highly maneuverable fighter planes set in an alternate universe. You can read up on our previous story on the game, but in the meantime you can check out these two recently released trailers!

First image of Astro Boy from his new cg movie!

Alright all you Astro Boy fans! Here’s your first glimpse of what the little robot boy will look like from his upcoming cg film. These spy pics show Astro Boy in his final rendered form and they are on point! Also below is a teaser movie poster plus some concept art. I can tell ya that I’m very excited for this flick and know it will deliver. These are the types of cg films that are needed in theaters today. The market today is crowed with to many animal friendly adventures. Although some are good, it would be nice to see some different types of cg films more often. For those that don’t know about this upcoming flick, check a brief synopsis below [courtesy firstshowing.net]

Set in futuristic Metro City, Imagi Studios’ “Astro Boy” is about a young robot with incredible powers created by a brilliant scientist to replace the son he has lost. Unable to fulfill the grieving father’s expectations, our hero embarks on a journey in search of acceptance, experiencing betrayal and a netherworld of robot gladiators, before he returns to save Metro City and reconcile with the man who had rejected him.

For more info on AstroBoy himself, check here. AstroBoy hits theartes in 2009.

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Capcom vs. Tatsunoko video blowout!

Capcom is back with their latest tag team brawl fest, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom. In these latest videos courtesy of Gamemanx from EVO 2008, we see just how the gameplay goes down. And from the looks of it fighting fans are in for a treat! That’s if this game manages to reach U.S. shores. For now peep the insane combos, air juggles and slick gfx’s in the videos below.

Afro Samurai is back!

Awwwww sh!t, that’s right Afro Samurai is back in an all new movie! Dropping in  january 2009 on Spike tv, this is the sequel to one of the hottest anime on american tv’s to date! I for one can say that I’m excited and can’t wait to see more sword slashing mayhem to some phat RZA beats (it just seems like hip-Hop and anime were meant for each other!). And from the trailer below, it looks like it’ll deliver. Peep the synopsis and phat trailer below.

Unit out…

Spike TV’s critically-acclaimed, funktastic anime series “Afro Samurai” returns with an original movie event set to premiere on the network in January 2009. “Afro Samurai: Resurrection” stars Academy Award®-nominated actor Samuel L. Jackson opposite, Emmy Award®-nominated actress Lucy Liu. Award winning artist The RZA once again provides the original score. “Afro Samurai: Resurrection” is produced by Japanese studio GONZO in association/partnership with GDH K.K. and FUNimation Entertainment.

“Afro Samurai: Resurrection” is based on the original art and story telling of manga artist Takashi Okazaki, of a black samurai’s quest for revenge and justice for his murdered father. Samuel L. Jackson (The Spirit), who also serves as an executive producer, reprises his role as the uncompromising hero, Afro and his motor-mouthed sidekick Ninja Ninja. When his father’s body is stolen from its grave, Afro is forced to pick up his sword and wreak bloody vengeance against an army of deadly foes lead by a sadistic mastermind.

Lucy Liu will give voice to Sio, a beautiful, seductive and sadistic mastermind plotting to destroy Afro Samurai. Liu is the star of several Hollywood blockbuster action-adventure films including Charlie’s Angels and Kill Bill and has joined the cast of the ABC drama “Dirty Sexy Money.” Liu can currently be heard as Master Viper in the animated film Kung Fu Panda.

Additional casting includes Mark Hamill as Bin, Sio’s manservant and protector and Yuri Lowenthal as Kuma, the teddy bear-headed warrior from the original “Afro Samurai” series. Best known as the young hero Luke Skywalker in the original “Star Wars” trilogy, Mark Hamill has had a successful career on Broadway, as a voice actor in both animation and video games and as a comic book creator. Yuri Lowenthal is the voice of Sauske in the hit children’s anime series and cultural phenomenon “Naruto.”

PSN Brings Xam’D Exclusive

If you didn’t know, PSN is now supporting DLC for movies, sitcoms, and others.  It would seem that the service went live the day that it was first mentioned for the PlayStation Network at Sony’s E3 2008 Press Conference.  Well someone said that that DLC would kill Blu Ray in a decade or so, but it looks like the partnered deals (whether you think it was dirty under the table tactics or not) that Sony has, with several movie houses, is allowing them to bring all kinds of downloads via their Video service.

The service includes full motion features in either SD, and HD where available.  Most of which you can download for prices under $20.  Looks like that Fujitsu 500GB 2.5″ HD doesn’t sound like a bad investment if your interested in this feature.  Typically in for a the long haul, I’m sure BR will stay around for a while, but perhaps planning early for the next thing is not bad idea. While its nice to go back and see past episodes of Smallville, and several other shows ( you need to see the list, its long) what really caught my eye was Xam’d.

What’s Xam’d? Some exclusive anime, straight from Japan, right to world viewers, via PSN.  If anime can now get out here this fast, via PSN, I’m in.  By the way Sony, subtitles please … after all it is Japanese Animation.  Take a look at the latest trailer for Xam’d.

Don’t know who Maysayuki Miyaji is? Fine, I’ll educate you. He’s worked on Blood+, and other titles like Eureka7. This show has the look and feel of Eureka7, if you’ve ever seen the series.

SFIV – Animation Clip (Spoilers)

If you don’t mind seeing some spoilers like myself, check out this long animated clip from the upcoming release of Street Fighter IV.  The thing is, the clip still still doesn’t answer the burning question: is Shen Long playable in the game?  However, all hints from the clip show him alive and well and given the time period in which this title takes place, it’s looking more and more plausible that the powerhouse will be playable.  In addition to Ono’s comment with EGM/1upShow that “we wouldn’t put such a high profile character in the clip if they weren’t accessible” makes you wonder even more.

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