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Showing posts from May 22, 2011

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Wacky Wizard Games Imprint and Three New Games Announced by @wwizardgames

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Wise Wizard Games announced the launch of Wacky Wizard Games, a new brand imprint focused on family-friendly, lightweight games. Three games are planned for release in 2024 as part of this new brand imprint: Star Realms Academy, Caution Signs, and Pack the Essentials. If you are interested and attending PAX Unplugged they will have prototypes of Caution Signs and Pack the Essentials. "We are super excited to be adding this new family friendly product line to our catalog. We wanted to maintain the focus of Wise Wizard Games on strategy card and dice games with geeky themes, and have created Wacky Wizard Games as an umbrella for lightweight games with a more whimsical, cute vibe," shared Debbie Moynihan, COO of Wise Wizard Games. Star Realms Academy Forge your own star realms, overloaded with cuteness! A kid friendly but still fun for grown-ups version of the popular Star Realms deckbuilding game for 2 players. A little less math, no reading necessary, but still tons of fun! 

New York Times Top Manga List 5/27/11

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The New York Times  newspaper has  listed  the manga bestsellers in the United States for the week ending on May 27th Update:  This past week marked the return of titles formerly published by  Del Rey  Manga;  Kodansha  America is now publishing them in English. Rank Prev. Rank Title Author Publisher Price Weeks on List Cover 1 - Negima! Magister Negi Magi  #29 Ken Akamatsu Kodansha  America $10.99 $8.24 1 2 1 Black Bird  #8 Kanoko Sakurakoji Viz Media $9.99 $6.69 3 3 2 Maximum Ride  #4 James Patterson ,  Narae Lee Yen Press $12.99 $9.74 4 4 3 Black Butler  #5 Yana Toboso Yen Press $11.99 $8.99 4 5 5 Blue Exorcist  #1 Kazue Katō Viz Media $9.99 $6.69 7 6 - Shugo Chara!  #10 Peach-Pit   Kodansha America $10.99 $8.24 1 7 - Fairy Tail  #13 Hiro Mashima Kodansha  America $10.99 $8.24 1 8 - Biomega  #6 Tsutomu Nihei Viz Media $12.99 $8.70 1 9 6 Rosario + Vampire season II  #4 Akihisa Ikeda Viz Media $9.99 $6.69 7 10 4 Bakuman .  #4 Tsugumi Ohba ,  Takeshi Obata Viz

Sony Confirms "Future Platform" after PS3

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Masaru Kato, the executive vice-president and chief financial officer of Sony, confirmed on Thursday that his company is working on a "future platform" after the PlayStation 3 (PS3) console. In a conference call to investors today, he gave the following statement to explain the company's higher research-and-development budget: For the home equipment the PS3 still has a product life, but this is a platform business, so for the future platform — when we'll be introducing what product I cannot discuss that — but our development work is already under way, so the costs are incurred there. Kaz Hirai, the corporate executive officer and executive vice president of Sony, said as recently as March that his company was concentrating on the PlayStation 3 instead of a hypothetical "near-future PS4": I think the value of the PS3 will continue to rise. Because of this, a near-future PS4 or next-generation home console is not something that we are even debati

SyFy Channel Lists No More Anime After June 9th

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The online  schedule  for the American cable channel  Syfy  currently lists no anime series after June 9th, even though two shows —  Monster  and  Star Blazers: The Quest for Iscandar  — are still in the middle of their runs. The channel will show  Monster 's  7th and 8th episodes as well as  Star Blazers '  15th and 16th episodes on June 9th starting at 12:30 a.m. Syfy   (then called Sci Fi)  launched its anime block in 2007 under the name AniMonday. In 2008, the block moved to Tuesday, and more recently moved to Thursdays. The timing of the block has also shifted; on June 9th the block will start at 12:30 a.m., where previously it had started at 11:00 or 11:30 p.m.

Hughes Leaves Live-Action Akira Project

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The North American film news site Deadline reported on Thursday that director Albert Hughes has departed from the live-action adaptation of Katsuhiro Otomo's manga and anime film Akira  ( DVD ). According to the report, Hughes departed amicably due to "creative differences" on the film, and the studio still intends to keep the film "on a fast track." Deadline further states that Warner intends to put Hughes on another film shortly. The report cites "insiders" for the information. Warner Bros. had not responded to Anime News Network's request for comment at press time. Last week, the movie news site JoBlo.com reported that Keanu Reeves had passed on the lead role of Kaneda in the film, and that "most" of the film's staff had been let go. At the time, the site noted that Hughes was still attached to the project. Screenwriters Gary Whitta, Mark Fergus, and Hawk Ostby were previously attached to the project, but the develop

Anime & Manga Releases; May 24th & 25th

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Anime Releases Title Publisher Suggested Retail Price Cover Air Gear  S.A.V.E. Box Set Funimation $29.98 $17.99 Queen's Blade 2: The Evil Eye  DVD Part 1 Media Blasters $24.98 $14.99 Samurai Champloo  Classic Blu-ray Box Set Funimation $54.98 $32.99 Samurai Champloo  Classic DVD Box Set Funimation $49.98 $29.99 Shin Koihime†Musō: Otome Tairan  Complete DVD Collection Sentai Filmworks $49.98 $29.99 Soul Eater : The Meister Collection Blu-ray Part 1 & 2 Funimation $69.98 $40.99 Soul Eater : The Meister Collection DVD Part 1 & 2 Funimation $69.98 $41.99

Vertical Adds GTO Prequel, Sequel Manga

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Ed Chavez , the marketing director for the New York-based book publisher  Vertical , announced on the ANNCast on Thursday that the company acquired the North American license to  Tohru Fujisawa 's manga series  Shonan Junai-gumi  and  Shonan 14 Days , which serve as bookends to Fujisawa's  Great Teacher Onizuka  ( GTO ) manga series . Shonan Junai -gumi  revolves around a pair of high school-age bikers, and  GTO  centers on one of the bikers, Eikichi Onizuka, after he vows to become the greatest teacher. Fujisawa has been continuing the story in the ongoing  GTO: Shonan 14 Days  manga. Chavez revealed that  Vertical  will release  Shonan Junai-gumi  and  Shonan 14 Days  on alternating months starting next January.  Shonan 14 Days  will be released in odd months (January, March, and so on) , and  Shonan Junai-gumi  will be released in even months. When asked about the status of the original  GTO  manga, Chavez said that the announced licenses were arranged prior to  Tokyopop &#