Gonna have to compete with Binary Domain
The most disgusting thing Square has ever done? That'd be the Cleveland Steamer they took on the Parasite Eve franchise.
Miyazaki has nothing to do with Ni no Kuni.
Yes, the studio of which he is the head of was contracted to do the visuals for the DS and PS3 Ni no Kuni games, put that doesn't mean Miyazaki was involved. I'm sure he knew what his employees were working on, and may have offered a bit of advice in passing every now and then....but thats probably about it. Trust me, if Miyazaki WAS involved, Level 5 would have broadcasted that from the top of Mt. Fuji. Hayao Miyazaki would sooner give up smoking then work on a video game.
And this isn't even the first time Studio Ghibli was contracted to do the visuals for a video games. Does no one but me remember the PS1's "Jade Cocoon"?
Yes, the studio of which he is the head of was contracted to do the visuals for the DS and PS3 Ni no Kuni games, put that doesn't mean Miyazaki was involved. I'm sure he knew what his employees were working on, and may have offered a bit of advice in passing every now and then....but thats probably about it. Trust me, if Miyazaki WAS involved, Level 5 would have broadcasted that from the top of Mt. Fuji. Hayao Miyazaki would sooner give up smoking then work on a video game.
And this isn't even the first time Studio Ghibli was contracted to do the visuals for a video games. Does no one but me remember the PS1's "Jade Cocoon"?
Well, this just is just one man's experience (8 years of it though) of living in Japan....but I'd argue that Akira is more beloved in America then it is in Japan. What Japan does know of Akira, its mainly through the manga....and from my experience Akira doesn't hold the status of an an "absolute must watch classic" in Japan like it does in America. Anime has been around a long long time in Japan, but in the way that FF7 is beloved in the west as being the first real JRPG to hit it big, Akira is super beloved by a ton of Americans as being the first anime they saw/fell in love with.
God....something about this story just really steams my beans. Yeah, America has made some crappy anime remakes, but, and here is where you can starting spamming me....if a live action Akira HAS to be made, well then I'd rather it be by an American studio then a Japanese one.
Hear me out with this.
Ashcraft says something along the lines of $90 million would be "small potatoes for a story of this size and scope."....well even a budget of $90 mil (relatively low in Hollywood) is pretty much out of the question in Japan. Even a "super high budget" film in Japan maxes out with a budget of around $25-$30 mil....less then a third of what is being proposed for the live action Akira.
Then comes the casting...at first everyone is all "Keanu Reeves?!?! He's too OLD!!!" Well, when casting the live action Yamoto movie, the producers thought it would be appriopriate to cast a 38 year old to portray a 17-19 year old. Then when Justin Timberlake/Zak Efron's name starting to be thrown around, people started to be all "get your pretty boy/boy band singers OUT OF MY AKIRA!" Well, I'd be willing to bet my life savings that if a live action Akira was to be made in Japan, they would at least cast one boy band member for Kaneda/Tetsuo, and it wouldn't be surprising if BOTH of them wound up being cast from Johnny's Entertainment (for reasons I wouldn't go into here, you basically HAVE to cast people from Johnny's Entertainment ((aka boy bands)) in your big budget picture, or will have to pay a very serious price down the road).
Call me naive, but I'd LIKE to see what a big budget (compared to Japan) American re-imagining of Akira would look like, and I do think it CAN be done. Whereas I'm pretty sure how a live action Akira would turn out in Japan....aka: wall to wall boy band cast (live action JoJo says hi), low budget, poor CG, extreme didacticism and overacting. What I want to say is this: if a live action Akira is to be made, and is to do justice to the manga/anime, and its scale and scope....I like the chances of an American studio with serious financial backing getting it right then a Japanese one that will be tight with the checkbook.
And I think this whole "white wash" talk is still way too early. Show me a finalized cast list, then we can have this conversation....but until then, ONE guy, portraying ONE character is having his name floating around. Who is to say that the rest of the cast doesn't consist of primarily asian actors?
Japan does this too, and nobody really raises an eyebrow. Last year, there was a remake of the movie "Ghost" that featured an all Asian cast, and while America was freaking out about a movie that may or may not get made, and we don't know who is playing who in Neo-Manhatten....Japan was off making a movie where Japanese actors are supposed to be playing Romans in ANCIENT ROME
Hear me out with this.
Ashcraft says something along the lines of $90 million would be "small potatoes for a story of this size and scope."....well even a budget of $90 mil (relatively low in Hollywood) is pretty much out of the question in Japan. Even a "super high budget" film in Japan maxes out with a budget of around $25-$30 mil....less then a third of what is being proposed for the live action Akira.
Then comes the casting...at first everyone is all "Keanu Reeves?!?! He's too OLD!!!" Well, when casting the live action Yamoto movie, the producers thought it would be appriopriate to cast a 38 year old to portray a 17-19 year old. Then when Justin Timberlake/Zak Efron's name starting to be thrown around, people started to be all "get your pretty boy/boy band singers OUT OF MY AKIRA!" Well, I'd be willing to bet my life savings that if a live action Akira was to be made in Japan, they would at least cast one boy band member for Kaneda/Tetsuo, and it wouldn't be surprising if BOTH of them wound up being cast from Johnny's Entertainment (for reasons I wouldn't go into here, you basically HAVE to cast people from Johnny's Entertainment ((aka boy bands)) in your big budget picture, or will have to pay a very serious price down the road).
Call me naive, but I'd LIKE to see what a big budget (compared to Japan) American re-imagining of Akira would look like, and I do think it CAN be done. Whereas I'm pretty sure how a live action Akira would turn out in Japan....aka: wall to wall boy band cast (live action JoJo says hi), low budget, poor CG, extreme didacticism and overacting. What I want to say is this: if a live action Akira is to be made, and is to do justice to the manga/anime, and its scale and scope....I like the chances of an American studio with serious financial backing getting it right then a Japanese one that will be tight with the checkbook.
And I think this whole "white wash" talk is still way too early. Show me a finalized cast list, then we can have this conversation....but until then, ONE guy, portraying ONE character is having his name floating around. Who is to say that the rest of the cast doesn't consist of primarily asian actors?
Japan does this too, and nobody really raises an eyebrow. Last year, there was a remake of the movie "Ghost" that featured an all Asian cast, and while America was freaking out about a movie that may or may not get made, and we don't know who is playing who in Neo-Manhatten....Japan was off making a movie where Japanese actors are supposed to be playing Romans in ANCIENT ROME
Really? Those are probably some of the bulkiest shoes I own actually. I usually wear much longer/skinnier shoes than those, but considering how I was going to be standing in line for several hours, I went with comfort over style.
Well, I needed to get my hands on two systems, and since there are a ton of stores in akiba that a) are going to stock the vita, and b) are going to get relatively larger allotments of units...akiba was my best shot.
Thats me at 1:15.....the only man crazy enough to line up in the rain in Akiba at 5:30 in the morning wearing a designer suit.
Those Wampa kicks are nice, but I'm still in love with my Imperial Guard shoes. I waited in line for three hours for one of like 15 pairs that actually went on sale in Japan.
This is one of the reasons that Japan can't get on board with western games.....Japan has absolutely no idea to market them.
I mean, THIS is the "music" group that Microsoft Japan thought would be the ideal match with Gear 3's marketing campaign (you've been fucking warned):
This makes absolutely zero sense. Gears is an IP that appeal to the core 18-35 year old male demographic...so what does Microsoft Japan do? Well, they take the super obvious route of hiring a "music" act that appeals to preteen-teenage girls.
Imagine if for the next Call of Duty ad campaign in America, Activision went out and hired Reese Witherspoon to be the spokesperson....this makes about as much sense.
I mean, THIS is the "music" group that Microsoft Japan thought would be the ideal match with Gear 3's marketing campaign (you've been fucking warned):
This makes absolutely zero sense. Gears is an IP that appeal to the core 18-35 year old male demographic...so what does Microsoft Japan do? Well, they take the super obvious route of hiring a "music" act that appeals to preteen-teenage girls.
Imagine if for the next Call of Duty ad campaign in America, Activision went out and hired Reese Witherspoon to be the spokesperson....this makes about as much sense.
So many microcosms going on here with regards to otaku culture and akiba going on here that I don't even know where to begin.
More so then the physical media, a region free Vita NEEDS to simultaneously support multiple PSN accounts across multiple regions a la PS3. Sony has said that most Vita titles will be available for download. That combined with multiple account support would be absolutely ideal. But if only the physical media is "region free", well then you're still going to have to pay the premium to get imports. Simply making the way the Vita handles accounts more like the PS3 could solve all that though...
I don't want to be that guy, but I have severe reservations about this game. For me the DS version was a colossal (and boring) letdown, and pretty much nothing I've seen/played so far has lead me to believe the PS3 version will be any different.
All of this doesn't make much sense to me. Isn't the point of getting a 3G unit the appeal of it being "always connected"? Lets say my friend wants to send me an invite to play a game, is the system going to push that notification to me, or am I already going to have to be connected to get that message? How about connecting to PSN to download a demo....is the time spent downloading that demo going to eat into my allotted time? Or are "being connected" and "online gaming" two separate things under this model?
To quote Plinkett: "George Lucas is a master of the art of ruining things."
Good lord I hope this is an extreme departure from the DS version. That game was an absolute snoozefest (even the voice actors seemed bored in their roles). Yeah, it looked pretty...but that was about it. If they just take the DS system and modify it for play on the PS3, not even a flashy coat of HD paint will make this game worthwhile. Ni no Kuni on DS managed to even outdo Dragon Quest in its clutching to tired gameplay mechanics.
To everyone out there whooping and hollering that the DS version never got an English language release...you weren't missing much. Go watch the FMVs on youtube, or go and watch Ponyo on Blu Ray...and you'll equally if not more satisfied, because in the actual gameplay department, there really wasn't anything there to write home about.
And I don't know why people would be freaking out over the price tag. Yeah, we in Japan have to pay top dollar for this kinda stuff (big budget/AAA = more $$$$)....this game, like every other game that comes to the States, will get a $60 release.
To everyone out there whooping and hollering that the DS version never got an English language release...you weren't missing much. Go watch the FMVs on youtube, or go and watch Ponyo on Blu Ray...and you'll equally if not more satisfied, because in the actual gameplay department, there really wasn't anything there to write home about.
And I don't know why people would be freaking out over the price tag. Yeah, we in Japan have to pay top dollar for this kinda stuff (big budget/AAA = more $$$$)....this game, like every other game that comes to the States, will get a $60 release.
L-O-V-E me de la and tribe...love love love. But I don't know, they seem to be an entirely different scene entirely, and roughly 20 years apart at that. If I could have it my way, I would much rather have had rap go the de la/tribe route then the route its on....but amongst modern rap, I think Kanye is pretty harmless.
that should read ...."I got 5 passports I'm never going to jail."
If you hate Kanye just because of his ego, then either A) you hate ALL rap music, or B) you've never listened to any other rap music. Out of all rap music, to just pick on Kanye because of his ego doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Ego boasting/bragging has been part of rap since its inception. On Rappers Delight, they're talking about having limousines, color tvs, "having more clothes then mohammed ali", and "super sperm".
It just comes across to me as a double standard. I rarely if ever hear people say "I hate Jay Z....the ego on that guy is terrible." And yet if you ask me, if Jay's lyrics aren't MORE boastful/egotistical then Kanye's, then they are certainly on equal footing.
Lets look at a verse from Otis on Watch the Throne:
Jay: "I got 5 passports I'm never going to jaii."
Kanye: "I made Jesus Walks I'm never going to hell."
Kanye is certainly aware that rap is a scene where boasting/bragging is a huge part...and he purposely, (and humorously) goes over the top.
A one of the reasons I like Kanye is because his boasting is about models and designer clothes, not killing people, etc that so many other rappers out there resort to all the time.
It just comes across to me as a double standard. I rarely if ever hear people say "I hate Jay Z....the ego on that guy is terrible." And yet if you ask me, if Jay's lyrics aren't MORE boastful/egotistical then Kanye's, then they are certainly on equal footing.
Lets look at a verse from Otis on Watch the Throne:
Jay: "I got 5 passports I'm never going to jaii."
Kanye: "I made Jesus Walks I'm never going to hell."
Kanye is certainly aware that rap is a scene where boasting/bragging is a huge part...and he purposely, (and humorously) goes over the top.
A one of the reasons I like Kanye is because his boasting is about models and designer clothes, not killing people, etc that so many other rappers out there resort to all the time.
