Get documents about "SGcafe-Cosplay-Anime-Manga-Sep12
Description
A monthly roundup of SGcafe.com News covering anime, manga, cosplay, vocaloid, dollfie, hatsune miku, otaku, akb48, jpop
Document Sample
September 5th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
SGCafe : Cosplay | Vocaloid | Otaku | Pop Culture
And up until now you’ve never seen skirts of this length in the
A daily publication about Cosplay, Vocaloid, Otaku Tekken series too, because in fighting games, characters do a
and Japanese Pop Culture lot more animation than in other action games. They might
be doing a handstand and such. So this was kind of a new
challenge we did with Havok Physics, and our fans are going
Interview with Tekken’s to benefit from that by having an extra pre-order bonus to
Katsuhiro Harada: Lili’s play with.
—Also not too long ago, you revealed a set of six character
“fluffy” skirt was an costumes created in collaboration with various Japanese
experiment with Havok illustrators you’ve worked with in the past, as well as with
UK comic artist Simon Bisley, who came up a helluva look
Physics for Heihachi. How did Simon Bisley get involved in the artist
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/interview-with-tekkens-katsuhiro- collaborations?
harada-lilis-fluffy-skirt-was-an-experiment-with-havok-physics/
By KarbyP on September 5th, 2012
We caught up with Tekken Project’s Katsuhiro Harada
(development lead) and Michael Murray (senior game
designer) when they were here in Singapore yesterday for an
exclusive Xbox blockbuster games showcase.
Time was short – they had to leave for Korea shortly
after the event – so we weren’t able to ask them a whole
lot this time around. But we did speak with the Tekken
duo on a couple of interesting extras they’ve created for
Tekken Tag Tournament 2: Lili’s fluffy skirt, a Heihachi
costume designed by UK comic artist Simon Bisley, and the
inspiration behind customisable character panels.
—Recently you unveiled a video of Lili fighting in the game
in a knee-length skirt that had amazing cloth physics. What
was that all about?
Katsuhiro Harada (interpreted by Michael Murray):
Essentially it’s an extra piece of DLC that’s being offered as
a pre-order incentive, that we’ve created using Havok cloth
physics.
In most other games that utilise the Havok Physics engine,
the technology usually surfaces as these objects that can
break apart. You don’t really see it being used a whole lot
to animate things like the movement of clothings, so we
partnered up with Havok to try and accomplish something
in that nature for Tekken Tag 2.
1
September 5th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
In Tekken we’ve always done this [putting out a call for
creators who love the Tekken series to design something for
us] in the past with Japanese manga artistes who are quite
interested in Tekken, and some of whom are fans of the
series. So for extra costumes, we essentially chose based on
that criteria, because it’s easier to work with them if they
understand the title and the characters and such.
This time we wanted to find a similar situation with a non-
Japanese artist if possible. And when we reached out to
find out if anyone might be interested, we were told [by the
overseas marketing/PR team] that Simon Bisley was quite
interested. So we were able to have our artists work with him
to come up with something unique.
We understand that the character panels were already part
—So is this similar to your collaboration with Snoop, in that of the arcade version of the game, but will all the new
you wanted to work with an overseas artist to come up with characters you’ve announced have the panels too? Also, what
something that might appeal to people who traditionally was your inspiration behind giving players the option of
have not played Tekken? customisable character panels? I don’t think I’ve seen it done
Well, it’s not just Snoop. Different from the arcades, for the in any other fighting games before.
console versions of Tekken, 70% of our audience are not very Well, first of all, yes, the three artists have each drawn a panel
hardcore fighting gamers. They’re just your average gamer, for all the characters in the game.
thinking of picking up the title.
And this was, like you said, probably the first time it’s done
So this [working with Simon Bisley] is the same not just with in a fighting game. We decided to do it because we wanted
[the collaboration with] Snoop, but also some of the other to give the player freedom to customise as many areas in the
things we’re doing like Fight Lab. game [as possible].
We just wanted to add a variety of different entrances for As we said before, with the Combot you can customise his
people to get hooked on the game. So maybe someone who moveset, and that’s kind of a first as well. Then there’s
wouldn’t traditionally play Tekken, maybe they might find customising the soundtrack of the game, for example you
this particular element interesting, and then from there they can pick which music track you want for the loading screen…
can come in and explore all the other great [core gameplay] so we really want to give the players as much freedom as
features we have in the game already. We just wanted that possible.
extra hook, to get more poeple to at least take a look at the
game first. Another reason we decided to include this feature, is that
the 2D character panels really stand out in the game because
—The last time we talked, you said that if more people pre- Tekken is a 3D fighter. Since with a 2D fighter, the character
order Tekken Tag Tournament 2, then the more free DLC panels are already drawn in that manner, so if you were to
content you’ll be able to make for players – outside of things have a customised panel like that, it wouldn’t really stand
like characters, stages, and techniques. So I’m guessing by out because it doesn’t look so different. But since this game
that you’re referring to cool extras like the customisable is rendered with 3D polygonal models, to have the option
character panels illustrated by artists Shunya Yamashita, to use 2D illustrations for the panels, that’s something we
Tomio Fujisawa, and Junny. thought would be well received.
Tekken Tag Tournament 2 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation
3 will be available in Singapore on September 11. Pre-
order your copy at your favourite video games retailer
today to receive a bunch of bonus premiums including over
150 swimming costumes for the game’s characters. More
details can be found at the end of this post.
2
September 5th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
Five Things we Love and
Gripe on at STGCC2012
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/five-things-we-loved-and-hated-at-
stgcc2012/
By Neubronner Eugene on September 5th, 2012
This year’s Singapore Toys Games and Comics Convention
moved to the still brand new expanses of Marina Bay Sands
(MBS). Many wondered how the event would fare, especially
with some great run-up news in the form of a Sunday splash
feature on cosplay just a few weeks before.
Well, let’s be frank. It was all sorts of great and problematic.
As any event really is. So for those who didn’t make it, or
those who wanna recall the moments alongside us, here’s
SGCafe’s Top 5 Loves and Gripes. We’re also loving the sequence plan outs. Events throughout
Disclaimer: This is in no way in order of relevance, and the day – some held on both such as FightSaber’s – meant
may or may not be tongue-in-cheek. that we could hit either the main stage or side stage and there
was always something going on. From wandering around
and spotting Tristan Eaton doing his unique illustration to
The Loves being surprised by Piko’s sudden mini concert (Didn’t see
Love 1 – Big spaces for big costumes that one coming!) or being wowed by Touya Hibiki (You did
read our news on her exclusive early release right here at
It seems the local cons have settled on shaving off a SGCafe, right?) there was always something going on. We
gigantic space for their main stage events that doubles as never felt like the place was dead in any aspect or respect,
a cosplay location. That’s great, giving plenty of space for especially with the rocking DJ clash between ZANEEDS and
good shots without blocking everyone else’s path. It also MONOMIND to cap things off.
means cosplayers don’t miss out on stage events, which is a
major peeve of ours whenever we’re at Comiket and moving
between the cosplay section and the rest of Big Site. Love 3 – Solid lineup of goods
The variety of goods and exclusives on hand was a success
as well. True, we didn’t get any massive reveals such as
the big ComiCons would get, but there were more than
enough exclusives and special releases around to make it
worthwhile. Hot Toy’s was doing some crazy business, with
queues snaking all over for their lineup of Avengers, Batman
and other Western releases. I just wish more of the stuff at
their booth was actually for sale instead of merely on display.
But hey, we did get exclusive EvilRob releases, the exclusive
worldwide re-release of the freakin’ Thundercats Lion-O (It’s
ok kids, your dad’s are geeking out for that one) a special
release of NANOBLOCK’s Miffy-chan collabo, and more.
That ain’t half bad for our little red dot.
We also fell in love with the fact that Hall C (Which, take note
guys, was not actually part of the event’s scheduled locales)
was opened up for use by cosplayers and photogs. Whether
the organizers actually paid to use that room or the MBS
crew relented (Especially since Day 1 had hellish congestion
along its corridors) to more space is up for debate. But who
cares? It was fantastic!
Love 2 – Events all day, all night
Love 4 – Bringing the GAME to STGCC
It was also a pretty good thing to see both EA and Bandai
Namco bringing out games supporting the event, alongside
3
September 5th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
a mini tourney and several free play booths. There was Gripe 1 – There’s a staging area folks…
some serious hilarity watching whoever was brave enough So that stage area. Great stuff. Why aren’t more people using
to step into the cordoned off area and bust out the super that space? Now, far be it for me to tell you where to sit, stand
saiyan moves to Bandai Namco’s Dragonball Kinect title. and eat, but there were lots of people filling up every corner
Man, do I look that bad when I play Dance Central? (Editor of the exhibition hall’s sides just lounging around. And let’s
Sentinel011: Yes, yes you do) not even get started on those outside or who decided to
cannibalize Hall C. Hang on, hang on, I did say it ain’t my
place to tell you where to go. But why weren’t more people
choosing to sit in that nice area in Hall B where the stage
was at? If there’s one thing Comiket has taught us, it’s that
shoving all your cosplayers in the same place does everyone
– cosplayers, photogs and harried staff – a big favor in
organization.
We don’t know who you are, but you sir, are a braver man
than us….
We did wish there was more space set aside for card games.
Or did we miss that out? We do know Vanguard and other
titles are picking up steam here in Singapore, and we’ll be
bringing you more coverage on that in the future, but where
were the card games at guys! I only saw a handful of folks
playing quietly in corners. I could have sworn I saw Magic This is actually Hall C, and not part of the event. Great idea,
making a splash here last year… fortune smiling, who knows!?! But there’s that big hall next
door too….
If we had to guess, we’d probably pin it to the fact that the
lights pretty much never came on in Hall B. Only a small bit
of the back of the hall was lit, and that was mainly covering
the graffiti section. The rest of it was plunged in semi-
darkness to give the stage ambiance and let the projectors do
their work during various events. Another good chunk was
taken up by whatever was the queue for the next event. I’m
still not convinced it’s the best way to do things, but whatever
works I guess.
Gripe 2 – Paging for Mister Spencer, Paging for Mister
Spencer
And while we loved that we could wander around and find
You see this crowd? This is because it was stupidly easy to something going on anytime, anyplace, it wouldn’t have
get to the event on time. Before time. VERY before time. killed them to give us some announcements on a public
announcement system maybe?
Love 5 – Ease of Transport
Yes, I have a map layout pamphlet that lists down who’s
This is in no way a snub at other events in Singapore, but doing what when.Yes, I have a schedule to follow to hit up
Marina Bay Sands may be the best damn venue yet for all the big highlights. Yes, my editor told me which events
everyone. Not only was it easy to get to the event with the he wants me taking a look at so I know where I have to be
MRT, but once we exited from the station it was basically two all day.
escalators up and there you were. Compared to other events,
this was a serious boon for cosplayers lugging huge props,
photogs tugging their cameras, people going home with their
loot and great coverage for random passerbys who wandered
into the event.
Want to know what we here want at SGCafe? More such easy
transports at events. Ah, we can dream.
The Wha? Why?!?! Top 5 Gripes
4
September 5th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
This is the line for Piko’s audition (You can’t even see Piko!!)
Awesome if you knew about it. Not so awesome if you were
chilling at the main stage instead….
I’m also busy taking photos, lining up interviews, touching
base with both consumers and booth owners, hounding
down celebrity guests for exclusive voice clips and being As kickass as Clive is in his Gundam suit, this is pretty much
waylaid by friends who have more free time than I did at the hell for anyone trying to get around the hordes of photogs….
event. Want more people at a event than just the rabid fans? For the cosplayers and photogs who are probably champing
Make it known guys. at the bit to flame me right now, it’s not about appearing
“stuck up” or grabbing a shot before the cosplayer
disappears. It’s just plain common courtesy for everyone
Gripe 3 – Take those photos in the right spot folks involved. The cosplayer is probably taking a break and
This kinda goes hand in hand with the staging area issue, but shopping around for their own goods. The people around
we figured it was big enough to warrant its own gripe. Look, you are trying to squeeze past to wherever they want to go.
the event organizers know we’re all nuts about cosplay. You And if you happen to take it in front of someone’s booth and,
love it, I love it, we all love it. Will it kill everyone to please God forbid, deprive that booth owner of a sale somehow, do
take photos in the right place (i.e. the area set aside for it)? you think the booth owner is gonna be happy?
Yes, we all have those fanboy/girl moments where we Spare everyone a thought, ‘ey?
suddenly see a really cool Marvel Girl, Bane, Yuna etc.
costume and scream out WE MUST HAVE OUR PHOTOS
NAOOOOO11!!!!1111!!!!!! But please, if you’re the photog ask
politely if they could accompany you to the right spot to take
a photo or if they’ll be there later and then take it there.
Here’s an example off the top of our heads of a great
cosplayer. Some nice lady was cosplaying KOS-MOS from
the Xenosaga series on day one. She must have stood posing
for what must be five minutes or more while The Horde
(TM) descended on her. She did it at the staging area. No
complaints from anyone, right there. Can we all try to be like
her?
We almost walked out the door without even realizing there
WERE tote bags for sale…
Gripe 4 – Why’s the tote bag at the exit and what’s with this
ticket?
We applaud STGCC’s team for helping to save the Earth
by selling con-limited bags and using simple, basic paper
slips for tickets. Anyone who still thinks global warming
isn’t happening and we don’t need to do anything is living a
bigger dream than we can help them with. But would it be a
little bit more realistic to have placed the booth selling these
exclusives someplace that wasn’t, say, right by the exit? By
5
September 5th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
the time I even realized there was such a booth, I’d already By KarbyP on September 5th, 2012
stuffed purchases into a dozen different plastic bags.
The tickets, too, were ridiculously easy to lose. This isn’t as
much of a problem if you bought a one-day pass and used the
stamp at the exit to get back in. It became a problem for a few
folks who showed up on day 2 sans pass. To be fair though,
it was probably the folks fault for losing it in the first place…
No such luck for us with our lanyards.
Gripe 5 – Con food is overpriced.
This is a normal, natural and absolutely expected part of Gravure idol Ran Sakai will play the lead role of Konata
going to a con – realizing that you’re about to be ripped off Izumi in a Lucky Star On Stage live-action musical that
with 6 dollar bottles of tea and more. Still doesn’t stop us will run from September 20 to 30 at the Tokyo Dome City
from complaining. Over and over. Thank God for the free cup Theatre.
of coffee!
This. This right here would’ve cost us 10 dollars at the con!!!!
Sakai was chosen over some 13,000 other hopeful starlets,
all of whom made their way down to Saitama prefecture’s
In closing, STGCC made a good choice moving to MBS. Sure Washinomiya Shrine (the same shrine as depicted in the TV
it’s a little more annoying to get to than, say, Suntec City, but anime series) this past Sunday for an open audition.
the ease of transport worked that problem out quick. Tons of The musical also stars Yurimo Sakurai as Kagami Hiiragi,
events, which we’ve heard no complaints about (and have no Mana Ogawa as Tsukasa Hiiragi, and Wakana Hagiwara as
complaints about), solid lineups of toys, comics and doujin Miyuki Takara.
artists. Great guests, good cosplay, the list goes on.
Not to be mean-spirited or anything, but something tells
There’s still like, half a dozen more events before the year me that “looking good in cosplay” wasn’t exactly one of the
closes, but so far, STGCC is kicking it Gangnam style over criterion the casting crew were looking for.
the others.
Just sayin’.
I’m sure the musical performances are top-notch. Because
something else clearly isn’t.
We’ll let you be the judge.
“Lucky Star On Stage” live-
action musical casts gravure
idol Ran Sakai as Konata
Izumi
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/lucky-star-on-stage-live-action-
musical-casts-gravure-idol-ran-sakai-as-konata-izumi/
6
September 5th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
…Okay, the last trailer above is actually really good.
But do you think it will be good enough to justify paying
6,800 yen to go see the musical, if you happen to be in the
area?
Source: Crunchyroll, Walker Plus
Singapore: Halo 4 pre-order
details, launch-day Ultimate
Deathmatch tournament
announced
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/singapore-halo-4-pre-order-details-
launch-day-ultimate-deathmatch-tournament-announced/
By KarbyP on September 5th, 2012
Microsoft Singapore today announced price and pre-order
details for Halo 4, its flagship Xbox 360 first-person shooter
that will be released here on November 6.
Three SKUs for the game will be sold here: a standard
edition (SRP $69.00), limited edition (S$99.00), and a
limited edition console plus game bundle (S$599.00) that
will come with two controllers and a headset, all covered in
skin designs themed after the sci-fi shooter.
StarHub customers in Singapore will be able to pre-order the
game – any of the three SKUs – from the telco beginning
September 18.
Between September 18 to 25, StarHub will be the only place
where gamers here can pre-order the game. Microsoft has
7
September 5th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
granted the telco, who is a launch partner for Halo 4, an
exclusive one-week headstart.
Launch festivities
When Halo 4 launches in Singapore on November 6 at Funan
Thereafter, game retailers in Singapore will begin taking pre-
DigitaLife Mall, the day’s festivities will include a “Halo 4
orders for Halo 4 on September 26.
Ultimate Deathmatch” tournament – presented by StarHub
All “early bird” pre-orders will come with three pre-order – where fans will compete in the confines of a caged arena
premiums, instead of the standard two premiums. to see who can outlast everyone else, in order to emerge as
At this point it’s unclear if early bird pre-orders refer only to Singapore’s first ever Halo 4 champion.
those made with StarHub, or if those made with retailers will Rules and other specifics pertaining to the StarHub Halo 4
count too. We are currently awaiting confirmation on this Ultimate Deathmatch challenge will be announced at a later
from Microsoft. date.
PepsiCo, Sony Music
Apart from StarHub, Microsoft has also tied up with
PepsiCo’s Mountain Dew and Sony Music for Halo 4′s
launch in Singapore.
PepsiCo will be launching limited edition Halo 4 branded
Mountain Dew bottles nationwide here beginning October
15.
There will also be a Mountain Dew consumer campaign on
Facebook with activities that fans can participate in to win
exclusive Halo 4 prizes, worth over S$100,000 in total.
Game music lovers can also look forward to purchasing the
official Halo 4 soundtrack here, to be published in the region
by Sony Music.
8
September 5th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
Fans who pre-order the soundtrack between October 22 to
November 6 will enjoy a special discount. STGCC 2012 at Marina Bay
Look out for more Halo 4 announcements to come from Sands!
September 18 onwards, once the pre-order campaign has Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/stgcc-2012-at-marina-bay-sands/
kicked off. By SarahColdheart on September 5th, 2012
Halo 4 is slated for a November 6, 2012 release exclusively
for the xbox 360.
Sayuri Sugawara of Final
Fantasy XIII fame to grace
the stage at EOY 2012′s J-
pop Live
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/sayuri-sugawara-of-final-fantasy-
xiii-fame-to-grace-the-stage-at-eoy-2012s-j-pop-live/
By Rika on September 5th, 2012
EOY has announced their first artiste to join EOY2012′s J-
pop Live lineup!
Hey everyone! This is Sarah here and I went to the Singapore
Toys, Games and Comics Convention held at the Marina Bay
Sands convention halls, level 1 on 1st and 2nd September
2012. The first day’s queue was quite long especially for
the internet pickup while the cash only booth was moving
steadily fast.
For those who had bought the actual tickets from the various
stores that had it, you could have picked up your free STGCC
bag from the ticket counter or from their bag counter inside
where a lucky draw was held for those who wanted to
Sayuri Sugawara, a young singer from Akita, recently purchase it. Only those who bought their tickets before the
gained international attention with her performance of Final event would get the free bag.
Fantasy XIII’s theme song 『Kimi ga Iru Kara『(Because You
Are Here) and subsequently enjoyed success touring stages
throughout Japan.
Having debuted in December 2008 after winning a contract
with For Life Music, she has released six singles, two mini-
albums and one full compilation, one of which has peaked at
『14 on the Oricon Daily charts.
December 11 will mark the songstress’ first international
live appearance at Singapore’s very own Esplanade Concert
Hall. Music lovers will not only be treated to the smash
hit from FFXIII, but re-arrangements and originals from the
beloved JRPG franchise whose soundtracks have achieved
critical acclaim over the years. Sayuri, whose second full-
length album is due to be released soon, will also perform
her own soulful originals, both familiar and new.
Since I arrived early, the first performance on the main
Tickets go on sale October 1 via SISTIC, so don’t miss the rare stage was by Fight Saber, they would perform for the
opportunity to catch Sayuri live on stage! Fans will also be afternoon session on both days too. The stage was held in
given the chance to meet the singer in person for autographs Hall B, separate from where the art booths, stores and other
after the concert! activities in Hall A.
To learn more about Sayuri, visit her official channels here: It was quite spacious and if you ever needed a break, you
Website: http://sugawarasayuri.jp could just stand or sit behind the allotted seated area for the
Ameblo: http://ameblo.jp/sayurisugawara audience.
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/sugawarasayuri
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sugawarasayuri
9
September 5th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
Click any of the thumbnails to see a bigger picture. These
The first panel of the day was with Jacky Dosai, Toya Hibiki were from Play Imaginative’s booth. Super Alloy Batman
and Kousaka Yun. The emcee (first on the right) asked how was sold there as their special edition product.
did they find Singapore. Jacky commented that he enjoyed
the Marina Bay Sands very much and would be going to the
casino to play some more.
The session talked about the differences between cosplaying
18 or so years ago and now. At first there was a 50/50 ratio
of males and females cosplaying. In the present, there are
more females cosplaying or even crossplaying. It is perceived
that there are more females because they would like to
experiment with makeup, dressing up and shopping items
for their characters more.
The layout of this year’s convention was pretty good. You
could pass through the artist alley where original artists and
doujin artists sold their merch before you either entered the
hall where the stage area is or to the other major big stores.
Many of them were from out of Singapore too, like Indonesia
and Malaysia. A lot of different fandom prints, artwork,
pins, toys and much more could be bought.
After the panel ended, I checked out the various booths in
Hall A. The walk way was spacious enough to not be too
difficult to walk by and see the merchandise.
This is an artist rendition of Itou Noizi. I am not an artist. Out
of respect to her, the creator of Suzumiya Haruhi, Shana and
much more, the emcee told everyone that videography and
photography was not allowed during her panel. The stage
10
September 5th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
helpers would tell people not to take any pictures or videos
if anyone was seen holding up a camera at her.
As the emcee asked her questions, she sketched some
characters for the audience to see while the camera zoomed
in on her illustration. She only uses mechanical pencils and
normal markers! Her pencil case was big and cute too, filled
with all other stationery.
As Itou drew, she answered questions like “What food did
she like here in Singapore?” – She didn’t know what the
name was but she liked to eat the big crab. (Guests were all
shown around for a food tour and most of them got to eat
the chilli crab.) Prior to coming to Singapore, she wondered
if anyone outside of Japan would know her work. She was
happy and nervous as she talked on that there were fans out
of Japan!
Just for STGCC, Tristan Eaton illustrated this during the
media launch of the event and completed it by the next day
when it was open for the public.
This must be one of the most tiring games to play at
Bandai Namco. It’s a Dragonball kinect game. You have to
punch and do supersaiyan moves to defeat Vegeta and other
characters. Perhaps to get to the boss of the game, you need
to be OVER 9000!
Zaneeds had their own store for posters and their own
records. Yes, that’s Hatsune Miku in Merlion cosplay!
Heheh, so cute. A lot of different toys were sold in the
numerous toy stores too. Movie posters or Middle Earth’s
maps could be purchased at Popcorn and candy or Japanese
related toys and stationery could be bough at Bon Japan!
They had the limited edition KitKats that had green tea or
other flavours not found in our local markets that do not
import Japanese food stuff.
This is more relaxing. Generally relaxing anyway sit you get
to sit down as you DEFEAT YOUR OPPONENT IN TEKKEN.
There was also an EA booth that had sports games to play on
11
September 5th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
the opposite side of the hall. You could sign up in the various
tournaments for the games too.
Maybe they’d have to take the Avengers blimp on top of Hot
Yes. Another artist rendition of Piko. No unauthorized Toy’s booth to get home with a giant Cirno.
pictures or recordings of Piko (although, if you do search
online, there are people who have posted them up) during
his mini concert. Yes, a MINI CONCERT. His panel wasn’t
a talking session, he gave us all a mini concert in that hour
he had with us!
The second thumbnail is the line for his autograph at the
Walk of Fame! If you click to see the larger version, you’ll
notice that there are a lot of people in line to get his signature
or meet him. You can’t even see him since he’s being blocked
by everyone in the queue!
Or maybe not. Hot Toys brought in exclusives like Captain
America, Jim Gordon and Angelica. They looked so realistic!
There were other toys displayed at Hot Toys but you couldn’t
purchase them all. They were just for us to appreciate the
workmanship on them.
If you weren’t interested in getting autographs, you could
still walk around the stalls where people tend to slash prices
down on the second day. Yes. That is a giant Cirno. No, it is
not a mascot. It’s actually a giant doll that you could win in
an auction. I have no idea if anyone won it and if they did,
how would they bring Cirno home?
Baka, baka, baka…
Of course, there was cosplay at the event. It would be weird
if there weren’t any. On day one, there were more children
cosplayers, which was really cute since some of their outfits
were handmade by their parents! The Gundam in the picture
12
September 5th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
with Jake the dog and Finn the human is not a prop. That’s
a cosplayer (Clive) in there and yes, he does move!
It’s very good that the organizers opened up Hall C. It was
empty and you can’t enter the stage or the actual events from
there. However! It was used as a place for photographers
and cosplayers to have photoshoots and a lot of mini photo
studios popped up there. This was the same hall where
people were held in to queue in the morning when the actual
halls were closed. It’s a cool air conditioned place and good
for waiting or walking around for people without making a
crowd outside the halls’ corridors.
The first evening’s closing performance was Monomind and
Zaneed’s DJ party! The first segment was by Zaneeds, then
Monomind, closing with a DJ Battle between the two groups.
Not a cosplayer? Maybe you’re an artist or you just want to
doodle something at the Graffiti Wall! It’s a tradition here
for comic or anime conventions in Singapore to have one. And the second evening’s final stage event was a cosplay
runway featuring both western and eastern cosplay. From
anime, movies and even games!
The two days of STGCC were fun. You got to meet artists,
talk to them. Find people in the same fandom as you, play
the games or buy merchandise. It was quite a good event.
You can tell Gangnam Style is this season’s popular trend. Hopefully next year’s STGCC will have even more guests.
The one in the middle is actually done by Sonny Liew! This was the first time it was held at the Marina Bay Sands.
Besides the small hiccups with ticketing (they need to figure
out somehow since the paper tickets are very easy to lose
especially if you buy a two day ticket), the staff and the
volunteers have been very polite and good.
See you all next year for STGCC 2013!
13
September 5th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
AKB48′s Mayu Watanabe to
perform ED theme and voice
the lead role in Sunrise’s
Nerawareta Gakuen anime
film
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/akb48s-mayu-watanabe-to-perform-
ed-theme-and-voice-the-lead-role-in-sunrises-nerawareta-gakuen-anime-
film/
By KarbyP on September 5th, 2012
Source: Natalie
Petite Rock Shooter X iPhone
project: 2 free game apps to
Mayu Watanabe, better known to AKB48 fans as “Mayuyu”, come in September
has been cast as Natsuki Suzuura (『『『『『) the female lead Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/petite-rock-shooter-x-iphone-
character in Sunrise’s anime film re-interpretation of Taku project-2-free-game-apps-to-come-in-september/
Muyumura’s classic sci-fi children’s novel, Nerawareta By KarbyP on September 5th, 2012
Gakuen.
On top of voicing the lead role, the 18-year-old will also
perform the movie’s ED theme song. This is a different track
from the opening theme that was previously revealed to be
composed and performed by doujin music group Supercell.
The anime movie, which opens in theatres in Japan
November 10, is not an adaptation (like many anime
sites presumed) but rather a re-interpretation of Taku
Muyumura’s original work. Whereas the 1981 children’s
novel revolved around students – lead characters Michiru
Takamizawa and Koji Seki – from a middle school in Osaka’s
Abeno prefecture, this new film is instead set in a Kamakura
school, and tells the story of Natsuki and her childhood
friend Kenji Seki.
Imageepoch ’s Petite Rock Shooter browser game, a Black
Ryosuke Nakamura (TV anime Monster) takes on directing Rock Shooter spin-off that features illustrations from
duties in this Sunrise’s Studio 8 production. Zaneed’s CHANxCO, is getting its own slew of spin-offs in
This is the first time Nerawareta Gakuen (『『『『『『『) has the form of several iOS game apps.
appeared in animated form. Previously the children’s novel Today two of these apps were officially announced: Pursue
had been adapted into a total of six live-action productions: the Mystery of the Sexy Planet, and Maya-tan’s World
four serial TV dramas, and two films. Destruction Diary.
14
September 5th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
Sexy Enemies are thus named for the responses they let out
Petite Rock Shooter: Pursue the when you manage to hit their weak points.
Mystery of the Sexy Planet
(ぷぷぷぷぷぷぷぷぷぷぷぷぷ ぷぷぷぷぷぷぷぷぷぷぷぷ)
Defeat a Sexy Enemy to earn a rare treasure. Then head
back to HQ, pick out new weapons, bullets, and avatar
customisations, before moving on to your next sortie.
Described as a “Shooting X RPG X Sexy” game, Pursue the
Mystery of the Sexy Planet (Sexy Wakusei no Nazo wo Oe) Here’s a partial list of Sexy Enemies and their respective
has players exploring an “Onsen Sexy Planet” (『『『『『『『『) character voices (CV):
as the titular petite heroine, fending off against waves and Great Zukka Seijin (『『『『『『『『『)
waves of Onsen Planet denizens who drop treasure when
defeated. CV: Kaori Nazuka (『『『『)
To attack these enemies, you perform a flick on the
touchscreen in the direction you’d like the heroine’s bullets
to fly.
Great Cande Seijin (『『『『『『『『『『)
CV: Hitomi Nabatame (『『『『『)
Apart from regular enemies, each level in the game app
is also concluded with a boss encounter: giant-sized foes,
officially called “Sexy Enemies”, who are played by various
renowned voice actresses.
15
September 5th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
Great Puchitto Seijin (『『『『『『『『『『)
CV: Asami Imai (『『『『)
Great Garnett Seijin (『『『『『『『『『『『)
CV: Akane Fujita (『『『)
Great Tippo Seijin (『『『『『『『『『『)
CV: Shizuka Itou (『『『)
Great Marakana Seijin (『『『『『『『『『『)
CV: China Kitahara (『『『『)
16
September 5th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
(Seriously, folks, I’m not making this up. This is quite
literally what the Japanese press release says)”
The goal of this game appears to be improving your Petite
Hunters’ stats and going on raids to attack the king of the
Mayans for points. Players are also encouraged to fill up a
book of Petite Hunter illustrations.
Black Rock Shooter: Pursue the Mystery of the Sexy
Planet is a free-to-play title (with paid premium items)
that will be released on the iTunes app store sometime in
September. Supports iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, and
all iPads running iOS 5.0 and above.
Petite Rock Shooter: Maya-tan’s
World Destruction Diary
(ぷぷぷぷぷぷぷぷぷぷぷぷぷ ぷぷぷぷぷぷぷぷぷぷぷ)
Mayatan no Seikai Metsubou Nikki is a simulation slash
calendar app where you raise Petite Hunters in order to stop
the world from ending.
Translated from the press release:
According to the Mayans, the world is slated to
end on December 23, 2012. In other words, the
countdown towards world destruction has already
began.
And the only folks who can stop the world from
ending, are the Petite Hunters. Who love cosplay.
Only through the Petite Hunters’ combined power
can you stop the world from ending. So raise them
in this simulation game, and save the world from
danger.
17
September 5th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
Outside of the core game, Maya-tan’s World Destruction
Diary is also a calendar app that will notify you of various
Petite/Puchitto Rock Hunter anniversaries, read out to you
by various voice actresses.
Maya-tan’s World Destruction Diary will also be free to
download, available from the iTunes app store sometime
in September. Again, iPhones 3GS/4/4S and all iPads are
supported, as long as it’s running iOS 5.0 or above.
18
September 5th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
Don’t miss out on these stunning acts and more at Anime
Festival Asia 2012′s I Love Anisong live this November!
Hatsune Miku S Series
limited edition Walkman is
back – but only in black
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/hatsune-miku-s-series-limited-
edition-walkman-is-back-but-only-in-black/
By KarbyP on September 5th, 2012
LiSA returns to AFA2012
anisong artiste line-up, joined When Sony first announced the Hatsune Miku S Series
by Minami Kuribayashi and Walkman, created to commemorate the Vocaloid’s 5th
anniversary, pre-orders for the much coveted music player
m.o.v.e. sold out within the span of a few hours.
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/lisa-returns-to-afa2012-anisong-
artiste-line-up-joined-by-minami-kuribayashi-and-m-o-v-e/ After all, only 3,939 pieces were available in each of two
By Rika on September 5th, 2012 colours: blue, and black.
AFA has announced crowd favorite LiSA to take the stage Fortunately for Miku fans, there is now a second way to get
once more this November together with singer-seiyuu one: Sony today announced that they will once again open
Minami Kuribayashi and rap-rock duo m.o.v.e. as part of pre-orders for a second batch of “general sales” (non-limited
their I Love Anisong experience. edition) Hatsune Miku S Series Walkman, due to popular
demand.
Angel Beats fans will be thrilled with the return of LiSA, who
featured in the series as a vocalist of in-story band Girls Dead But there’s a catch: the new batch is only available in black.
Monster. The singer, who began her career as the frontman Sony does not have plans to release a “general sales” model
of indie band Chucky in 2005, took Oricon charts by storm for the blue version.
with her singles from the series, as well as the opening theme
And since these new pieces are not considered “limited”
of Fate/Zero. Her new single Crossing Field, theme of Sword
anymore, don’t expect to see a “『『『『/3939″ engraving on
Art Online, was just released less than a month ago.
the backs of these new pieces.
Minami Kuribayashi, propelled to stardom by her
Apart from that, however, the new batch appears to be
involvement in Kimi ga Nozomu Eien, has a multitude of
similar to the initial pieces offered in all other areas.
series and games from over the years under her belt: Chrono
Crusade, My-HiME, Super Robot Wars Original Generation:
Divine Wars, and recently, summer 2012 anime Muv-Luv:
Total Eclipse as well. An accomplished vocalist, she can also
be heard as part of fantastical story-musical group Sound
Horizon.
m.o.v.e. should prove to be a familiar name to fans who
grew up in the years of classic street-racing series Initial
D, whose opening and ending themes such as Around The
World, Gamble Rumble and Dogfight were performed by the
iconic pair.
Newer fans may recognise vocalist yuri as the voice behind
Vocaloid Lily, and rapper motsu is no slouch himself as part
of trio ALTIMA, which debuted last year performing themes
for Shakugan no Shana Final and Accel World with Maon
Kurosaki and fripSide’s Satoshi Yaginuma.
19
September 5th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
If you want one, best head over to Sony’s official online
store in Japan and place an order right now – if you have
a Japan shipping address. Sony Store Japan does not ship
internationally.
Pre-orders are open from now till September 10, 13:00 hours
Japan time (GMT+0900), while stocks last.
Source: Sony Store Japan
20
September 7th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
SGCafe : Cosplay | Vocaloid | Otaku | Pop Culture
A daily publication about Cosplay, Vocaloid, Otaku
and Japanese Pop Culture
First look: Persona 4 The
Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena
Official Setting Materials
(artbook)
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/first-look-persona-4-the-ultimate-in-
mayonaka-arena-official-setting-materials-artbook/
By KarbyP on September 7th, 2012
Famitsu today shared a number of sample images from the
A4-sized Persona 4 Arena artbook, which is slated to hit
bookstores in Japan September 26.
Not only does the artbook contain many of the original
illustrations for the fighting game as sketched by Persona
series character designer Shigenori Soejima, it will also
include many storyboards used for Madhouse’s animated
scenes, long interviews with the developers with character
background details that never came to light, and more.
1
September 7th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
Last week Udon Entertainment published an English
localised version of the original Persona 4: Official Design
Works.
So for those of you hoping for an English version of the
Persona 4 Arena artbook, keep your fingers crossed (and
make sure you pick up a copy of P4:ODW). Who knows,
Udon may bring this one over to the West as well.
Source: Famitsu
CLAMP’s xxxHOLiC to get
The recommended retail price for Persona 4 The Ultimate in live-action TV adaptation
Mayonaka Arena Official Setting Materials (ペペペペ4 ペペペペペペ Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/clamps-xxxholic-to-get-live-action-
ペペペ ペペ ペペペペペペペペ ペペペペペペペ) is 2,520 yen. tv-adaptation/
Although most major bookstores in Japan will stock the By IceTea on September 7th, 2012
artbook, customers who purchase it from Enterbrain’s
Ebten online store will receive an exclusive bonus: two A4-
sized clear files featuring, respectively, an illustration of
Yu Narukami by Shuji Sogabe (Persona 3 and Persona 4
manga), and one of Fuuka Yamagishi done by Shigenori
Soejima.
Fans of CLAMP’s xxxHOLiC rejoice!
The manga/anime series by CLAMP will be adapted into
a live-action series in 2013 to be broadcast on Japan’s
WOWOW premium television station. It is slated to air in
early 2013 and actress/model Anne will play the role of
Yuuko, while Shota Sometani will play the role of Watanuki.
The TV serial will follow the manga, and will be directed by
Keisuke Toyoshimi.
xxxHOLiC was originally published by Kodansha in Young
Magazine and Bessatsu Shonen Magazine, telling the story
of a mysterious shop run by Yuuko, a witch, who grants
people’s wishes in exchange for something precious from the
person. Watanuki ends up in her shop one day while trying
to escape from the torment of spirits and she agrees to help
him get rid of them. In exchange, he works in her shop and
assists Yuuko in granting other people’s wishes.
Source: MANTANWEB | Clamp-Net | WOWOW
2
September 7th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
Project Diva Dreamy Theatre
Extend lets you recreate
the Hatsune Miku concert
experience at home
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/project-diva-dreamy-theatre-extend-
lets-you-recreate-the-hatsune-miku-concert-experience-at-home/ “Hatsune Miku Concert: The Last
By KarbyP on September 7th, 2012
Miku’s Day Thanksgiving Festival”
(初初初初初初初初初 初初初初初初初初初初)
New to Dreamy Theatre Extend, however, is 3D stereoscopic
support (a 3D-enabled display is required), as well as a Live
Appreciation mode featuring content (songs, dance routines,
modules) from the Miku’s Day: Big Thanksgiving Festival
concert held back in March 2012.
Sega today announced not only the price and release date
details for Hatsune Miku Project Diva Dreamy Theatre
Extend, but also a new feature that will be included in this
PS3 app: Live Appreciation mode, which lets you recreate
the Miku no Hi: Kanshasai concert experience at home.
The Dreamy Theatre Extend PS3 app – which requires that
you connect a PSP loaded with Hatsune Miku Project Diva
Extend to the PS3 for the app to work – will be released on
the PlayStation store on September 13, downloadable for the
price of 3,900 yen.
If you’re not familiar with the Dreamy Theatre series, for the
most part these apps are just a way for you to play the PSP
Project Diva games on your PS3 in full HD (which is why the
original PSP games are required). Each version of Dreamy
Theatre only supports the content in one of three PSP titles
– this new one correlates to Project Diva Extend.
A total of 11 songs are supported in Live Appreciation mode:
1. ペペペペペペペペペペペペペ (Electronic Angel)
2. ペペペペ (Meltdown / Roshin Yuukai)
3. StargazeR
4. ペペペペペ (The End of Solitude / Kodoku no Hate)
5. ペペペペペペペ (The Disappearance of Hatsune Miku /
Hatsune Miku no Shoushitsu)
6. ペペペペペペペ (Time Limit)
7. ペペペペ (Butterfly on Your Right Shoulder / Migite no
Chou)
8. ペペペ (Puzzle)
9. Just Be Friends
3
September 7th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
10. SPiCa
11. ペペペペペペペペペペペペペペ (World’s End Dance Hall)
Modules from Project Diva Arcade
Six additional modules from Project Diva Arcade have
also been added to Dreamy Theatre Extend, bringing the
total module count here to 160. These were not originally
selectable in the PSP Project Diva Extend.
(From left to right: Snow Miku, Americana, Sakura Miku,
Megurine Luka Conflict, Kagamine Rin Suou Youko,
Kagamine Ren Aitetsu Youko)
4
September 7th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
it was a well-timed release in tandem with The Avengers
Initiative.
So what exactly can we expect out from the game? We peer
into what’s in store for us:
Download the first installment of Marvel’s biggest
cross‐over mobile gaming event. Level up, gear
up, and fight as Hulk in the first adventure
of an episodic series built exclusively for touch
screen devices. Track down and defeat some of
the world’s most notorious villains like Wendigo,
Abomination, The Kronan, and The Skrulls, and
help THE AVENGERS pull the world back from the
brink of catastrophe. Marvel’s Avengers Initiative,
an episodic mobile gaming event unlike any other.
In the wake of The Pulse, The Vault, a top‐secret
S.H.I.E.L.D. facility in the Rocky Mountains, has
busted open, releasing all of the super‐powered
criminals and monsters imprisoned there. Aboard
the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, Nick Fury recruits a
reluctant HULK to round up all the monsters he
can while S.H.I.E.L.D. can assemble the rest of THE
AVENGERS to figure out who opened the doors to
The Vault‐ and why.
VISCERAL COMBAT
Experience raw, SUPER‐POWERED COMBAT with
blazingly responsive swipe, attack, and combo
controls in a complete gesture based action game.
Disney Marvel releases new
Avengers Initiative game for
iOS, Android devices; brief by
production crew, hands-on
with game
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/disney-marvel-releases-new-
avengers-initiative-game-for-ios-android-devices-includes-brief-by-
production-crew-hands-on-with-game/
By sentinel011 on September 7th, 2012
SGCafe has attended a briefing on the latest Marvel
Avengers game in Disney’s office early yesterday. We spoke
to TQ Jefferson, Vice President of Production for Games
at Marvel Entertainment as well as Patrick Moran, a veteran STUNNING HD VISUALS
Game Director at Wideload Games, an internal video game Stunning HD visuals with huge boss-sized enemies
studio at Disney Interactive. and amazing special effects.
The Avengers has been around for years, and with the recent
movie and its DVD/Blu-ray release, one can’t help but feel
5
September 7th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
unlock achievement badges, character dossiers, and
other bonus content exclusive to the Marvel XP
community.
Here are some points of the game that Patrick shared with
us:
- The Avengers Initiative will be released in an
episodic format. It is slated to be 4 episodes, with the
first episode of the player controlling Hulk. The next
few episodes will come free with the game as more
updates release
- The next episode of The Avengers Initiative is slated
to release before the end of the year, possibly in
December
- It has its own Gaming Universe lore, seperate from
UNIQUE CUSTOMIZATION
the Comic book and Movie Universe, but not without
FULLY CUSTOMIZE Hulk to play the way
influences that the public can relate to
you want to play. Acquire exclusive costumes,
unlock incredible super‐powered abilities, discover - The play style follows closely with current
explosive augmentations, and upgrade all of Hulk’s generation consoles to bring up the experience.
combat stats. - The game take roughly 4 hours long to complete
- Combat is simple on early levels, but gets
progressively tougher as you advance the game,
which you will need different skills and tactics to
beat your enemies
- The Rage meter unlocks abilities and Power
attacks, which can deal damage or provide
supportive abilities like Health Drain
- Syncing your results and achievements with
Facebook game Avengers Alliance with The
Avengers Initiative will be through common email
address when you register both games under
Marvel XP
- Superb visuals and sound, as well as a stellar voice
cast for the characters
EPISODIC CONTENT
Marvel’s CROSS‐OVER MOBILE GAMING EVENT - Reason the game wasn’t produced for the 3DS and
continues with updates, scheduled events, and PS Vita was that they felt the game can reach out
anticipated character reveals, setting a new more onto the mass market via iOS and Android
standard for mobile gaming. Apps, providing more accessibility to the public
- The reason why Hulk jogs instead of leaping or
hopping is because they had to come up with a
compromise on the gameplay and the accuracy on
the way Hulk moves (Editor: I personally felt that
it was also that the Hulk felt more intelligent in the
game as well)
- High-end Android Smartphones with Tegra 3
chip will have improved visuals over their iOS
counterparts, as the game was made using the Unity
Engine
- Versions that support Windows tablets and
smartphones are not planned at the moment
We managed to try the app on our iPhone 4S a couple of days
MARVEL XP
back. So how did it fair in our books? Let’s find out!
Now featured in Avengers Initiative and newly
optimized for touch screen devices, Marvel XP Visuals are stunning on the 4S, with great textures and
is a FREE LIVE SERVICE that TRACKS YOUR sound. The starting tutorial is good as well, teaching you
PROGRESS, REWARDS YOUR ACHIEVEMENTS, how to block and side-step to avoid your enemy’s attacks. As
and helps you experience Marvel on a whole new you play as Hulk, you face an individual enemy at any given
level across multiple games, including Avengers battle, which is reminiscent of old school games. Attacks are
Alliance on Facebook. REGISTER NOW and done by swiping horizontally or vertically, with chances to
6
September 7th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
dish out extra damage via combos when you counter, dodge
or block their attacks. The more flashy combos, the more XP
you gain and the faster you gain abilities.
There’s a crystal where you gain to purchase Powers that
is unlocked when your Rage meter is filled, Augments that
enhance your overall damage, increase health, improve your
Rage Powers and make your enemies stunned longer, and
Stamina that reduces the amount of Damage received. These
crystals also let your purchase Costumes that enhance Hulk’s
stats. You can obtain these crystals by defeating enemies,
smash large crystal shards growing out of the ground, or pick
up the shards littered throughout the battlefield.
The game’s mechanics are simple enough, but there are a Gearbox Software’s CEO Randy Pitchford was here in
few gripes about the game. The game’s quite repetitive, and Singapore recently to promote Borderlands 2, sequel to the
the initial loading screen is quite a put-off as it takes one first-person-shooter slash role-playing hybrid that won the
about 5-10 seconds for the game to load. But from there, the Guiness World Record for having the most weapons in a
game’s menu and gameplay are quite smooth. The bad thing video game.
is, as your level gets higher, your enemies and their levels get On top of talking to us about the new features in Borderlands
exponentially higher as well, which defeats the purpose of 2, Randy – who’s extremely open and transparent in media
grinding through the levels to gain more abilities. The game interviews – also shared with us his thoughts on exploits in
actually gets harder and harder as you continue, regardless the original game (weapons duping, “Armoury” glitch), as
of your level, no matter how much you level up. We had to well as the thought process behind some of the crazy stuff
give up momentarily as we are Unable to go past the Level (crazy awesome, that is) included in the game, such as Axton
50 Hulkbuster Ironman at our current Level 12 Hulk. the Gunzerker’s double-middle-finger taunt.
There is, however, and option to purchase more crystals This is gonna be long, so it might be a good idea to go and
using Real World Money. We are not sure if by purchasing grab some popcorn.
these crystals, will the enemies gain in level and difficulty as
before the purchase. If you have anything less than a Dual-
core Smartphone, you can give up on running this game —The original Borderlands had characters who weren’t like
at the minimum 30 frames per second. Sadly, we are not your typical NPCs/bosses in other RPGs or quest-based
able to test out the Android version of this game, to test the games – Dr Zed, T.K. Baha,, Nine-Toes, to name a few – that
difference between the iOS and Android devices. really established a wicked tone for the game right from the
get-go.
All in all, we had mixed feelings about the game. What we
do hope is that the format of gameplay will be different with And in Borderlands 2 we’re getting folks like Tiny Tina,
the rest of the Avengers team. At US$6.99, it might be hard Handsome Jack. and Ellie (who PC Gamer described as “the
to stomach for casual fans of The Avengers, but we are sure opposite of how most females tend to be represented in
that the hardcore ones will lap it up happily. games”).
How does Gearbox come up with these characters? What
Borderlands 2: An Interview do you guys do in the office, when not making games,
to generate that kind of creative culture? The sort that
with Gearbox Software CEO would take a word written down on the whiteboard –
Mechromancer – and turn it into wicked character class in
Randy Pitchford the game?
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/borderlands-2-an-interview-with-
gearbox-software-ceo-randy-pitchford/ There are so many creative and inventive people I have the
By KarbyP on September 7th, 2012 pleasure of working with every day that character creation
emerges organically as a team experience. Any given thought
comes from somewhere – an individual – and the stickiest
or most interesting thoughts tend to be iterated upon and
built upon by the other people on the team. It tends to go
around and around until a character almost develops a life
of its own. When you get to a point with a character where
you can imagine “What would Tiny Tina do here?” and you
can actually imagine the answer to that question for any
given situation, you know you’re there – you’ve created a
character.
Whether the character is memorable or not, or believable
or not, is really just a function of who has created it, what
their goals are and how inventive they are capable of being.
At Gearbox, we tend to try to amplify and explore creativity
very freely, so you can get some pretty interesting things that
come from that.
7
September 7th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
—Vault hunters Roland, Lillith, Brick, and Morecai, were
silent brooding protagonists in the first Borderlands. You
never really got a sense of who these characters are, apart
from a quick cutscene that introduced them at the beginning
of the game.
In Borderlands 2, these original vault hunters return as non-
player-characters, each with their own personalities and
motivations.
How was the process of re-imagining these classic
Borderlands 1 player characters as NPCs like?
One of the most exciting aspects of the decision to
bring the Vault Hunters from the original game back in
Borderlands 2 as non-player characters, aside from the
inherent awesomeness of getting to introduce a new set of
vault hunters will all new skills and abilities, is that we can
explore the identities of these characters in a way that was
never possible when they were playable characters.
“Who is Roland? What would Lilith do with decision X or
Y?” We feel intimate with the characters if we played the first
game because we became them, yet we never really got to
know them. Borderlands 2 offers us that experience: to get
to know these characters.
We did start to explore the characters in making the first
game, but couldn’t rightly justify acting much on those
explorations without taking control or identity away from
the players.
Borderlands 2 gives us that opportunity and it’s been a fun
experience. I like to think of it as reading a book that later
becomes a movie. Usually, the movie version of the character
is a little different (or a lot different) from the image I had in
my head. But, if the film makers do a good job of entertaining
me and if I believe it, then the new image they create for me
—Each character now has a new type of skill called the
takes over and fills in all the visual blanks.
“Melee Override” that replaces their default melee attack
This is an odd experience for anyone who loves the content with a special technique (Zer0 gets a lunge attack at enemies
they expose themselves to. I like the experience – thinking up to 5-feet awa, Maya can shoot out an orb slag that
about how my mind’s eye version is different from what the damages enemies around it).
creators show me is really enlightening.
How did the Melee Override skills in Borderlands 2 come
In the case of books to films, rarely does the author have about? What gave the team the inspiration to create these
such a command over the character in the film. Casting, skills?
script writing, costume design and film direction are almost
For Borderlands 2 we had a general goal of making more
never the same person as the original author. In the case of
varied, interesting and meaningful skill possibilities than in
Borderlands, it’s us through and through, so it’s authentic in
the original game. So, some of the invention came from that
a whole new way that is interesting.
general goal.
We also have amongst us arbitrary and often unpredictable
inspiration that can happen from anywhere within the team.
I think the orb slag (known as Scorn) was derived from an
idea to allow Maya to cast her Phaselock ability (which traps
your target in an orb) at enemies. In practice, it was simply
more fun for this to be on a different cool-down than her
standard Phaselock ability and it was more fun for this to be
an instantly accessible feature.
So, doing the orb slag as an addition to the melee attack
became a natural solution to that design puzzle. With
Zer0, I think it really was as you imagine – between Paul
Hellquist (Creative Director, Borderlands 2) and Jonathan
Hemmingway [Lead Designer, Borderlands 2 - responsible
for most of the implementation of the character skills] they
just talked it through and decided they wanted to do it.
8
September 7th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
There was a moment where I even tried to kill it because I How useful will players find the jackpot machine? Is it
didn’t think it was going to work. Originally, they wanted to possible to get a Legendary (Orange) or Pearlescent weapons
build the entire active ability around it! in an end-game scenario? Since the loot you get is typically
scaled to your character level.
I was wrong, thankfully, and not only did they get it to work
but it became extremely fun. One of my favorite skill trees in The slot machines were added because they’re fun and there
the game is built around the function. are some areas in the game where it felt natural. The guys
that worked on them decided that the slot machines could
But, I guess my influence helped too because I think we
ended up with a much more suitable active ability and be more than just cash generators – that they could open up
to share loot in a cool way, like the best of the chests in the
a much more varied skill tree. It’s interesting how that
game.
happens – how the interests and influences of the different
talent on the project will morph and shape ideas in an I asked Paul Hellquist (Creative Director, Borderlands 2),
almost chicken-and-egg kind of process where the resulting who personally engineered the reward logic, what the odds
collectively-inspired material is often better than what any were of getting a three-vault-icon jackpot and he said he
single individual would’ve offered and delivered on their couldn’t remember the exact probability, but the odds were
own. around one in a thousand. In Borderlands 2, you can get
some really unique stuff from the slot machines – even
—Right. What about Zer0′s ability to throw kunai knives,
custom skins and heads for your character, or vehicle
or Salvador the Gunzerker’s double-bird taunt (flipping
customizations if you’re lucky – but it ultimately turns out to
middle-fingers up on both hands), which are activated
be a bit of a currency sink, just like a real life slot machine.
by hitting the “class skill activation” button, after your
character’s class skill is already activated ( Zero’s Decoy or —Bosses in Borderlands 1 never really gave you any good
Salvador’s “Gunzerking” dual-wielding ability)? Effectively loot. All the good stuff came from chests that you can access
you’re mapping two active abilities to the same button, after beating a boss fight.
which I thought was pretty clever. In fact, the only boss in the game that dropped really good
The Gunzerker skill “Come At Me Bro”, which allows him loot was the Crawmerax – which you can’t kill unless you’re
to hit the active ability button to flip a double bird while literally at the maximum level.
Gunzerking [dual-wielding], was actually derived from our Does Borderlands 2 handle boss-loot differently?
first demonstration of the game.
Crawmerax was our first attempt at a raid boss. We learned
At PAX Prime 2011 and at the GameStop manager’s event a lot from that, and from the way loot was handled in
around the same time, we presented Borderlands 2 for the first game. Borderlands 2 reflects all of those lessons
the first time and played as the Gunzerker in a mission learned. There are some great chests and some great farming
to rescue Roland from the Hyperion prison bot that opportunities. There are also some amazing bosses, some of
had kidnapped him from the Bloodshot Bandits who had which will drop the best loot in the game.
previously captured Roland.
Borderlands 2 is all about iteration and perfection of the
We ended that demonstration with a little dramatic flair: a systems we invented all brought together in an entirely new
giant Hyperion constructor bot nuking the Gunzerker off the experience of adventures, environments, enemies and loot.
edge of a giant dam. As the Gunzerker was flying backwards
off the dam, someone thought it would be funny if he flipped —New in Borderlands 2: quest objectives aren’t just simple
off the constructor bot that knocked him back with a big, first affairs of killing bad guy A, collect dropped item B, bringing
person double bird. it to NPC C now.
Once others at Gearbox saw the animation, well, that just In this sequel some of the mission objectives will actually
had to become a skill! There was already a lot of intent require you to do specific actions, such as purposely leaving
and design at the time for the Gunzerker’s tanking tree (his three robot enemies in a stunned, critical state (but not
“Brawn” tree), so the idea of the double bird serving as a killing them), lighting a Vorkid on fire with an elemental
taunt was a natural fit. weapon, and luring an enemy into a trap – objectives that
threw me for a loop because I was so focused on killing stuff
I think elsewhere in the game there already were I hadn’t realised that the game would not let me proceed if I
explorations of follow-on effects using the active ability just went on a killing spree.
button, so it was a pretty naturally designed and
implemented feature at that point. So I suppose this is another example of that iteration of the
first game’s systems that you talked about? What’s your
The kunai is another one of those “wouldn’t –it-be-cool- favorite quest or quest objective so far?
if” discussions that not only gets out of hand, but becomes
a thing. It’s one of the things I love most about working I think you got it – it’s about variety of experience and about
with the team at Gearbox – just so many passionate and memorable adventures. It’s about fun. The first Borderlands
clever people that creativity can come from anywhere and game only scratched the surface of what is possible and we
everywhere and everyone is just so excited to allow this really applied the lessons and experience we had to bring
thing we created to be the vehicle for everyone’s passion and things to a whole new level in Borderlands 2.
capability to produce entertainment for our customers. It’s To answer your question about my favorite – and I don’t
a blast! want to spoil anything here so I’ll be a bit vague – but among
—The last time we played a build of Borderlands 2, we my favorite missions are the ones with mutually exclusive
noticed that a jackpot weapons vending machine was added turn-ins.
to this sequel. To explain, imagine a character who is important to you
needs something that you can provide. Imagine it’s a unique
9
September 7th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
thing. One of a kind. Now imagine that as you are ready After all, you did say that the General Knoxx DLC was really
to provide that unique item, another character for a totally meant as a way to give players their “vault treasure” that was
different, but interestingly conflicting reason, begs for the promised to them throughout the game’s storyline (in the
same thing. It’s entirely unique and you can only help one end, the vault was just a prison for an ancient monster). Did
of the two characters. You can choose to help one or help someone on the team decide to just sneak it in and leave it
neither, but you cannot resolve the mutual exclusivity of the there for players who want to get more guns to play with? If
conflict. The choice isn’t about branching paths or anything, not, when did you first realise this was in the game, and why
the choice is about you as a player. did you decide not to remove it?
The choices we all make in such situations teach us This is a great question. I’ve seen this one debated on-line
something about ourselves. It’s a really interesting construct quite a lot. I’m pretty sure none of us have ever gone on
we’re exploring in a few different ways in the objectives record to answer this question and there is a reason for that.
and missions of Borderlands 2 and I’m really interested I’m going to maintain status quo and invoke magician rules
and excited to discover what, if any, impact these kinds of here: “A magician never reveals his secrets as that would
missions have. destroy the illusion.” Hopefully, if you enjoy the reality
—In the original Borderlands, it was possible to dupe of the situation you have on your hands, you’ll appreciate
weapons in multi-player games by having one player drop that answer in the same way as a magician’s audience that
his entire inventory onto the ground, and quit the multi- has just experienced the joy of wonder from witnessing
player session without saving. something that they know is impossible would not *really*
want that feeling of wonder spoiled by being told how it was
This turned out to be a godsend for many Borderlands
done without any magic at all.
players, as friends didn’t need to bicker over who gets which
legendary weapons in a co-op playthrough. It also made The intellectual side of each of us knows that there is no
money a non-issue in the game – which was great because magic, but the illusion lets us all feel like children again
people could focus on playing it, rather than grind for money for just a moment. I like that feeling and I love that we’re
or weapons. sometimes able to create that feeling for others. It’s why we
do what we do. So, thanks in advance for letting us keep some
Was this intentional design, or was it something you guys
of the wonder safe.
didn’t realise was possible until the game had launched? If it
had been the latter, could you talk about why you ultimately —I love that you guys didn’t want to ruin the fun for folks
decided not to patch the game to remove the exploit (which who enjoyed doing that.
for the most part did not negatively impact players’ game Speaking of weapons, so in Borderlands 2, each weapons
experience)? And more important, will players be able to do manufacturer now has its own signature trait for all their
this in Borderlands 2? wares. For instance, Tediore weapons are disposable –
We realized that duping was possible. There are a lot of instead of reloading, when it’s out of ammo you just throw it
things that are possible that are, at their roots, a form of at your enemies and it’ll explode like a grenade, and a new
cheating. We could’ve stopped it, but we would’ve had to piece of the same weapon would appear back in your hands.
do some nasty things under the hood or require an always- How is the damage for Tediore weapons’ explosions
on experience [like in Diablo 3], which we’re not really calculated? Will the discarded weapons do more damage if
motivated to enforce since there are so many users who have it were a rocket launcher, versus if it were a pee-wee pistol?
offline use cases that we do not want to interrupt.
That is a geeky technical question! I’ll give you a solid
Also, it would’ve taken a lot of resource and attention to stop answer: the damage done by a thrown, exploding Tediore
that kind of behavior, and for what? We think it’s kind of weapon is a function of the weapon’s capabilities and stats
fun for some people to exploit systems. We don’t like it when and the amount of ammunition that remains inside the
players purposefully try to ruin the experience for others weapon that is thrown, modified by other player stats of
and we have taken pains to do a better job of making that course. There are some pretty cool follow-on effects of the
harder to do, but we think players who are having fun with thrown Tediore that are a joy to discover, so I won’t spoil all
the systems are still having fun. There’s a fuzzy line there of those follow-on mechanics here.
that is difficult to see, but I’m pretty certain our philosophies
are right on the matter and we do our best to try to make our —Finally, do you have any examples of how powerful
software and our priorities fit with our philosophies. There characters can eventually get? In the original game, building
are always limits in time and space and human capability, a “gold class” character was a matter of finding the best
but I think if I focus on our intent the right solutions tend to class mods, and smart stat pumping so that you had a “8/5″
naturally follow. instead of “5/5″ skill points for the skills you need. But now
that Bad-ass ranks are also in the mix, did anybody in the
In the Secret Armoury of General Knoxx DLC, there is development team tried to mess around and see just how
a quest (Armoury Assault) where you can infiltrate the ridiculously powerful they could become?
armoury and loot dozens and dozens of rare weapon chests
under a three-minute countdown. You were supposed to be (Bad-ass ranks and class modes are explained from 4:38 in
able to do it only three times per playthrough (after which, the following video)
the quest is activated only on a second playthrough), but We have some end-game raid-type encounters that demand
players have since found an exploit that made use of a hole some pretty well built characters. The QA team has had a
in the entrance to drop in, loot nearly the entire armouy LOT of time to develop and iterate some pretty high end
without triggering the countdown, and do it over and over. characters and we’ve been collecting an absurd amount of
Again, was this something intentional? telemetry during this game’s development.
10
September 7th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
We know a lot about optimal builds for throughput. We
know a lot about best support builds. We know about best
builds for keeping up rate of fire. We know a lot about burst
damage. We know a lot about a lot with this game.
Having said that, given the nature of the procedural weapons
generation system and how big and complex the game is, it
is impossible for us to know everything. We’ve included the
ability to inspect weapons from the menu. On the PC, one
can take a screenshot that includes a picture of the weapon
and the item card with its stats.
I imagine that some industry folks out there will be using this
feature to populate online databases that, coupled with skill The story tells of the trials and tribulations endured by
tree builders and other bits and pieces of information, can Hana and half-wolf children Yuki and Ame, both of whom
let one really min-max the hell out of this game if one is so constantly shapeshift between their human and animal
inclined. forms, in this charming animated feature that is sure to
capture the hearts of its viewers with its tender, sincere
There are some unbelievably difficult optional or end-
themes of family and growing up.
game encounters in the game that even the best of us
have a difficult time beating in near perfect raid-team Screenplay co-writer Satoko Okudera, who also worked on
configurations, but I imagine through good data and Hosoda’s previous two feature films, weaves a touching
cleverness, some players will be able to discover ways to narrative with the talents of Yoshiyuki Sadamoto’s (Chrono
solo the same content. It’s one of the things that is exciting Cross, .hack series) simple yet memorable character designs.
about making a game like this. We cannot imagine all of the Ghibli fans will be glad to know that executive producer Seiji
possibilities and we have learned never to underestimate the Okuda (Howl’s Moving Castle, Kiki’s Delivery Service) is also
power of a hard-core gamer! on the movie’s impressive team of staff.
Wolf Children officially hits theaters today 6 September,
only at Filmgarde Cineplex!
Borderlands 2 for PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 will be
released on September 21 in Singapore.
For pre-order details, read our previous story here.
ペペペ SPECIAL GIVEAWAY ONLY FOR SGCAFE’S FANS!
ペペペ
Entering this lucky draw is easy!
Summer Wars’ Mamoru Step 1: Make sure you already ‘Like’ SGcafe’s Facebook page
Hosoda tells a folktale with a at http://www.facebook.com/sgcafe.cosplay
modern twist Step 2: ‘Share’ this picture before Wednesday 12th
September, 11:59PM (make sure your share is public!)
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/summer-wars-mamoru-hosoda-tells-
a-folktale-with-a-modern-twist/ Step 3: Comment on the picture with “I want to win SGcafe’s
By Rika on September 7th, 2012 exclusive Wolf Children giveaway!”
Directed by Mamoru Hosoda of The Girl Who Leapt Through Five lucky winners will receive a pair of season passes to
Time and Summer Wars fame, Wolf Children chronicles the watch Wolf Children and an exclusive movie premium!
life of two children born of a human, Hana, and a wolf-man, ペ RULES:
Takao. ペ You must be located in Singapore to qualify (how would
you receive your prizes otherwise?)
ペ Only shares made viewable to the public will be
considered.
11
September 7th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
Tokyo apparel brand A Bathing Ape today announced that
Kyary is g.u.’s FASHION they will be releasing a collection of six t-shirts themed after
MONSTER Street Fighter II, to commemorate the fighting game series’
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/kyary-is-g-u-s-fashion-monster/ 25th anniversary.
By Rika on September 7th, 2012 A total of six designs are available:
The new face of Uniqlo’s sister apparel chain g.u. has just
been unveiled: it is none other than Kyary Pamyu Pamyu! Ryu VS Ape Tee
Known for its highly affordable casual wear, g.u. has teamed The similarity between Street Fighter and BAPE is that
up with the model-singer in a campaign to promote her both are top “street” brands that came out of Japan. So the
upcoming single, FASHION MONSTER in conjuction with concept of this tee is to pit the two against one another in a
its 2012 Fall/Winter collection. The campaign tagline is “For 16-megabit classic graphic style.
The Free Adult”, reflecting g.u.’s commitment to freeing
consumers from high-cost clothing (hence the name, a pun The world map on the back of the tee uses a BAPE CAMO
on “jiyuu”, meaning “freedom”.) design.
Also available in white (front, back)
Readers not living under a rock should be familiar with
the bizarre but catchy viral favorites PONPONPON and
Tsukema Tsukeru, and if the sampling we get on the Milo Street Fighter Tee
promotional video is anything to go by, Kyary’s new single
looks set to surpass its predecessors yet again!
FASHION MONSTER goes on sale October 17th.
Visit g.u.’s campaign site here: http://fashionmonster.gu-
japan.com/
Street Fighter teams up
with street apparel brand
A Bathing Ape for 25th
anniversary T-shirts Street Fighter II’s main illustration, re-imagined in a Baby
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/street-fighter-teams-up-with-street- Milo “arrange” style.
apparel-brand-a-bathing-ape-for-25th-anniversary-t-shirts/ Milo on Street Fighter Logo Tee
By KarbyP on September 7th, 2012
Features the Street Fighter II main logo on the front, with
the eight main Street Fighter II characters, done Baby Milo
style, illustrated on the back.
12
September 7th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
Fighter Logo Tee, Milo Guile VS Ryu Tee) are BAPE.COM
Milo Guile VS Ryu Tee exclusives.
From September 22 onwards, the tees will also be carried in
three BAPE retail stores:
• BAPEXCLUSIVE™ ペペペペペ
• BAPE STORE® DOVER STREET MARKET
• GINZA COMME des GARÇONS
Source: BAPE.COM
Every single Little Battlers
A scene where Guile and Ryu are figthing, where their Experience robot model –
fireballs cancel out one another’s, done in an original graphic
style. from past to present – will be
featured in Danball Senki W
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/every-single-little-battlers-
Milo on Character experience-robot-model-from-past-to-present-will-be-featured-in-
danball-senki-w/
By KarbyP on September 7th, 2012
Evokes the all-too-familiar character-select screen that
greeted players right after starting the game. Television commercial for Danball Senki W (Little Battlers
Experience W) calls the game “the ultimate PlaMo craft
RPG”.
Milo Ryu Hadouken Tee Why? Apart from cross-platform play (PSP and Vita), the
game will apparently feature all robot models from past to
present, plus new models that have yet to be announced.
Outside of the regular LBX robot line-up, the game will also
feature “Killer Droids”, which are these boss enemies several
times the size of a regular LBX model.
Little Battlers Experience is set in a futuristic universe
where teenagers and adults alike collect combat-ready
miniaturised robots called “Little Battlers” that they do
battle with, Pokemon style. For more information on the
game and anime series, read our previous story here.
Danball Senki W (‐‐‐‐‐‐‐W, or Little Battlers Experience
W) comes out for the PlayStation Portable and PlayStation
Street Fighter’s main character Ryu performs a Hadouken in Vita platforms in Japan October 18.
this original design, remixed in Baby Milo style.
Also available in black (front, back).
Phoenix Wright returns as
the ace attorney in Gyakuten
Availability
Saiban 5
The T-shirts will first go on sale on September 20 both on Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/phoenix-wright-returns-as-an-ace-
BAPE’s web store as well as at Tokyo Game Show 2012. All attorney-in-gyakuten-saiban-5/
six designs are priced at 7,140 yen (~US$91) each.
Note, however, that two of these shirts (Milo on Character
and Milo Ryu Hadouken Tee) will only be available from the
Tokyo Game Show, while another two shirts (Milo on Street
13
September 7th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
By KarbyP on September 7th, 2012 Payne‘s younger brother will go up against Wright as the
In other Ace Attorney related news, the release date for case’s prosecutor.
Professor Layton VS Ace Attorney (3DS) has been refined Like with Professor Layton VS Gyakuten Saiban, this new
from a vague “sometime in 2012″ to November 29. Gyakuten Saiban will utilise 3D polygonal character models
as opposed to the 2D sprites used in past games. As a result,
the game camera can now pan all around the courtroom,
depicting the drama from different angles.
The shift from 2D to 3D might induce concerns from fans,
since the series is known for its characters and their often
2D animations. Famitsu says that Capcom has tried to retain
the “2D touch” as much as possible, and that many of the old
characters’ trademark responses will not be missing.
Phoenix Wright will return as the lead character in the next
“numbered” instalment of Capcom’s courtroom adventure
series, Gyakuten Saiban (ペペペペ), this week’s Famitsu
magazine revealed.
Gyakuten Saiban 5 (GS5), first announced at the series’ 10th
anniversary event back in January, takes place one year after
the events of the fourth instalment (known as Apollo Justice:
Ace Attorney in the West), itself set seven years after the
third game. Sometime within that seven years, Wright had
lost his law license due to a conspiracy, and spent his days
earning a living as a pianist and poker player before ending
up as the defendant in the game’s first case.
In 5, Wright has finally returned to practicing law after an
eight-year hiatus, in order to fulfil an “important promise”
he had made to an unspecified individual. In doing so, he There were also three screenshots depicting what may be
will take on a case that’s more difficult than any he has faced hinting at new gameplay systems. One of these screens has
before – or so Famitsu teases. a bunch of object silhouettes lined up behind a selected
person of interest, with the word “Update” appearing front
A mysterious new female character, who’s decked out in a and center on the screen. A second screenshot shows a
yellow and light blue outfit, moon-shaped pierced earrings, “Let’s Ascertain” (ペペペペペ) button in the top-left corner of the
and biker gloves, will serve as Wright’s assistant in this new touchscreen, while the usual “Court Records” button sat on
title. the top-right corner.
The final screenshot is from Cross-Examination mode (of
the witness’s testimony), and shows four facial expression
icons – one in each corner of the touchscreen, along with the
words “pick out the weird facial expression” (ペペペペペペペペペペ
ペ) in the center.
Unlike previous games, Motohide Eshiro (Okamiden,
Gyakuten Kenji/Ace Attorney Investigations) will serve as
producer on Gyakuten Saiban 5, with Takeshi Yamazaki
(Gyakuten Kenji) as the scenario director. Noriyuki Iwadare
will compose the game’s music. Series creator Shu Takumi,
who was the director and scriptwriter for the first four
games, will apparently be taking a backseat, likely busy with
putting on the finishing touches to Professor Layton VS
Gyakuten Saiban (ペペペペペペ VS ペペペペ).
SGCafe will be at Tokyo Game Show 2012. Expect a full
hands-on report on the Gyakuten Saiban 5 demo from us
The game’s first case, part of which will be playable in a demo shortly after TGS has begun.
at Tokyo Game Show 2012, has something to do with an
explosion in the courtroom. Screenshots show a mysterious
man wearing a helmet and goggles, conspirating: “With this,
all the evidence now points to that girl…”
Wright’s client in the case is Shinobu Morizumi (ペペペペペ), a
frail high-school student who has a medical condition that
can cause panic attacks when she gets nervous. Winston
14
September 7th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
Source: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05
15
September 12th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
SGCafe : Cosplay | Vocaloid | Otaku | Pop Culture
By KarbyP on September 12th, 2012
A daily publication about Cosplay, Vocaloid, Otaku
and Japanese Pop Culture
Metal Gear Rising:
Revengeance cancelled on
the Xbox 360… in Japan
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/metal-gear-rising-revengeance-
cancelled-on-the-xbox-360-in-japan/
By KarbyP on September 12th, 2012
Tekken Tag Tournament 2 was released here in Singapore
yesterday. Since then, we’ve heard that quite a few gamers
were frustrated that the alphanumeric codes included in
their copies of the game – which were necessary for online
play and to download the pre-ordered bonuses – did not
work.
“Who do I complain to?” One of my personal friends
wrote on Facebook, before signing off with a long trail of
symbols indicating his exasperation. I can understand how
frustrating that must be, since there’s really no way to find
Kojima Productions and Platinum Games’ lightning-bolt- out if this was an isolated case (i.e. only the codes included in
action title still slated for both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox your copy did not work), or if everyone faced the same issue.
360 platforms outside Japan. But within the land of the As it turns out, this was an issue that affected all Tekken Tag
rising sun (heh), there will be no Revengeance. Tournament 2 console players in Asia: the codes didn’t work,
Today a message on Kojima Pro’s website announced simply because they’re not ready to be redeemed yet.
that the Xbox 360 Japanese version of Metal Gear Not till September 13 for Asia, and September 14 for Europe,
Rising: Revengeance has been canceled, due to “various according to Tekken oyabun Katsuhiro Harada:
circumstances” (no real reason was given). The site
apologised to gamers looking forward to playing the
Japanese version on the X360, as well as to partners who
might be affected by the decision.
The announcement did not mention anything with regards
to the English or International version of Metal Gear Rising:
Revengeance outside of Japan, so unless you hear otherwise,
it’s probably still safe to expect to see Raiden and his robo-
canine fight crime on the X360.
Source: Kojima Productions Harada didn’t go into detail as to why the codes that come
with our copies here in Singapore will only be useable
tomorrow, even though the game was released September 11,
Tekken Tag Tournament 2: but I’m guessing part of it has to do with the fact that Tekken
Tag Tournament 2′s Japan release date: September 13.
codes for online mode and
So think of it this way: Asia (Japan, Singapore, etc)
pre-order bonuses do not was supposed to receive Tekken Tag Tournament 2 on
work… yet (Asia & Europe) September 13. But since the North American release date
is September 11, Namco Bandai Partners here in Singapore
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/tekken-tag-tournament-2-codes-for-
decided to distribute the game earlier, so that there’s lesser
online-mode-and-pre-order-bonuses-do-not-work-yet-asia-europe/
confusion on when the heck we’d received the game in our
neck of the woods. And so that we could practice offline two
days in advance of our Japanese counterparts (games are
almost always released on Thursdays in Japan).
Just one more day till we can officially play Tekken Tag
Tournament 2 online.
1
September 12th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
According to the piece in Famitsu magazine, Inafune visited
their offices on a certain day in September on the premise
that he would talk about the game. Or so Famitsu thought.
In the end, all Inafune did was bring Famitsu a piece of
concept art – which will be shown online tomorrow – but
would not say anything concrete, apart from that Yaiba
would be a refreshing zombie action game with “ninja” and
In the meantime, if you want to get in some practice bouts “mecha” elements. And that more information would come
before jumping on online ranked matches tomorrow, head forth on September 20, the first day of Tokyo Game Show.
on down to Tough Cookie Gaming Cafe later today, our
favourite place to play fighting games at here in Singapore.
Tough Cookie has more than enough joysticks to go around,
and a couple copies of TTT2 for customers to play with,
so you won’t need to bring anything down (although if you
could bring your own copy of Tekken Tag Tournament 2, that
might be a good idea in case too many people show up to
play).
Tough Cookie Gaming Cafe is located within Parklane
Shopping Mall, level 2 (35 Selegie Road #02-25B, Singapore
188307). Its opening hours are from 3PM to 3AM Mondays
to Thursdays and 11am to 3am on weekends.
Rates are as follows (with effect from August 1, 2012):
CONSOLE
$3 per person per hour (you’re not tied to a single console,
so feel free to mingle)
$12 whole day
LAN
$2 per person per hour
$12 whole day
For more information on Tough Cookie, visit their Facebook
page.
Keiji Inafune’s Yaiba: “Ninja”
and “Mecha” are keywords,
Koei Tecmo likely to be
publisher
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/keiji-inafunes-yaiba-ninja-and-
mecha-are-keywords-koei-tecmo-likely-to-be-publisher/
By KarbyP on September 12th, 2012
… And that’s how we end up with a Famitsu story on a brand
new game, without information on its developer, publisher,
platform, or anything else pertinent.
Except there’s a very high likelihood that Koei Tecmo will be
publishing Keiji Inafune’s Yaiba, and not solely because of
Keiji Inafune is keeping a tight lid on details for his the “ninja” connection.
upcoming zombie action game, Yaiba. Not even the folks As it turns out, Koei Tecmo owns the trademark “Yaiba” in
from Famitsu – who has the scoop on Yaiba in their Europe, registered on August 31, 2012.
magazine this week – knows what the game is like.
2
September 12th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
The objective of this mode is to earn as many fan votes as you
can throughout the five day period. In other words, this is an
event where you’re competing with several other idol groups.
Specifically, in the third performance of each day, you’ll go
head-to-head with a rival idol unit who’s performing at the
same time your unit is.
These rivals can be any characters from within 765Pro,
876Pro, 961Pro, or even Mobage’s Cinderella Girls social
game.
When you beat your rivals, you will unlock their name cards
in one of the game’s “Record” galleries. In other words, don’t
expect to see a 3D character model for any of the Mobage
Cinderella Girls – chances are they’ll only appear as 2D
illustrated cards that you can collect.
Which can only mean that the title would be coming to
the West. Not at all surprising given that Keiji Inafune has
always been vocal about the Western video games industry
being at least five years ahead of Japan.
Source: 1, 2, 3, 4 To help you beat your rivals in SOF mode, you’ll be able to
use “Memories Bursts” (#######) here, exclusive to SOF
mode. These are power-ups that boost your score, similar to
Idolm@ster Shiny Festa: the Memories Appeals in previous Imas games.
characters from Mobage’s However, in order to use Memories Bursts you will first need
Imas Cinderella Girls social to accumulate energy in a Memories meter, which gradually
increases as you play the game normally or when you watch
game make an appearance music clips.
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/idolmster-shiny-festa-characters- Idolm@ster Shiny Festa for the PlayStation Portable (PSP)
from-mobages-imas-cinderella-girls-social-game-make-an-appearance/ comes out in Japan October 25.
By KarbyP on September 12th, 2012
Source: Imagebam
Guilty Gear XX Accent Core
Plus R is coming to the
PlayStation Vita
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/guilty-gear-xx-accent-core-plus-r-is-
coming-to-the-playstation-vita/
By KarbyP on September 12th, 2012
Sort of. The Mobage Cinderella Girls are possible rivals in a
mode called “Star of Festa”.
As you accumulate fans and increase your idol rank in
Idolm@ster Shiny Festa’s regular mode of play, at some
point you will receive an SOF Pass, which unlocks Star of
Festa mode.
In the game’s fictional universe, Star of Festa is a 5-day live
event with each day consisting of three live performances
(three different songs).
3
September 12th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
One more way to get your Guilty Gear on: on top of be patient for now and wait for September 13, 12 midnight
an already announced PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 port Japan time (11PM Singapore/Hong Kong time, tonight).
of Guilty Gear XX ΛCore Plus R, this week’s Famitsu Any guesses what Project Omega might be? It’s certainly not
magazine reveals that Arc System Works’ fighter is headed this.
to the Vita too.
In the same issue of Weekly Famitsu, it’s also mentioned
An anonymous netizen who got his copy of Weekly Famitsu that a teaser site for Keiji Inafune’s zombie game, tentatively
early provided the image above, with most of the details titled “Yaiba”, will come up on September 13 as well. This
blurred out (to encourage people to, well, actually buy teaser site will explain the concept of the game and provide
Weekly Famitsu for the full details). some visuals for us to look at.
But even with the details blurred out, if you take a closer look
But all of that will only happen tomorrow. So, go play some
at the info box, you can clearly see that the release date is Tekken Tag Tournament 2, or something.
listed as “Sometime in 2013″ in Japanese.
In the meantime, see what else Weekly Famitsu revealed this
week, if you haven’t already.
Famitsu magazine headlines:
new heroes and rivals
in Project X Zone, Keiji
Inafune’s zombie game
“Yaiba”, etc [Updated X2]
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/famitsu-magazine-headlines-new-
heroes-and-rivals-in-project-x-zone-keiji-inafunes-zombie-game-yaiba-
etc/
So I guess unlike the PSN/XBLA versions of the game, the By KarbyP on September 12th, 2012
PlayStation Vita port will actually contain the full arcade
experience at launch.
More details for the Vita version should emerge later this
week.
Anyone in the fighting games community excited over this?
Source: Imagebam
Teaser sites for Sega’s
“Project Omega”, Keiji Batsu from Rival Schools and Tekken’s Alisa joins the cast
Inafune’s “Yaiba” set to come of Project X Zone (update: now with scans). Keiji Inafune’s
“surprise” title at TGS is a zombie game tentatively called
online September 13 [rumour] Yaiba. Village “genres” in the new 3DS Animal Crossing. All
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/teaser-sites-for-segas-project-omega- this and more in this week’s Famitsu magazine headlines.
keiji-inafunes-yaiba-set-to-come-online-september-13-rumour/
By KarbyP on September 12th, 2012
Expect to hear more about these games later in the week,
since Famitsu magazine doesn’t officially hit news-stands till
tomorrow in Japan. Also expect a more detailed report on
some of the bigger titles listed here, if and when Japanese
netizens post mag scans or pictures of some of the pages
from this week’s issue.
If you live in Singapore and are interested to pick up a copy,
Kinokuniya Books usually has them in on Fridays.
Update: the information has been corroborated by a second,
independent source. Project Omega is real, guys! Still, we’ll
keep the [rumour] tag for now.
Original story: According to a netizen who got his copy
of Weekly Famitsu early, Sega will put up a teaser site
tomorrow for something codenamed “Project Omega“, a
brand new game from the makers of Jet Set Radio.
The URL for said teaser site is http://sega.jp/project-
omega - but don’t head over there right now. All you’ll get
is the huge 404 error page, just like the image above. Just
4
September 12th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
#”. Previous games in the series replaced the “Machi” with
Yaiba (tentative title) “O-Mise” and “365 Nichi” respectively.
Tobidase Doubutsu no Mori (the
new Animal Crossing)
地地地地 地地地地地地
Platform: Unknown
This is a zombie game produced by Keiji Inafune, likely to
be the surprise title he’ll be showing off at the Tokyo Game As with past Animal Crossing games, Mr Resetti will
Show next week (and that’s on top of Soul Sacrifice, a game reprimand you should you reset or shutdown your system
he’s producing for SCE WWS). without saving. But this will only kick in from the second
Photo source: Imepic reset onwards.
You can now pick a “genre” for your village… Well, the
wording suggests that what you’ll really be doing is decreeing
Earth Defense Force 4 a specific set of laws/ordinance, that will change the genre
of your village.
地地地地地4
Some possible village genres given included:
- One where cheap flowers are planted everywhere, to bring
out the simple pleasures in life
Platform: PS3, X360 - “Morning type” village
Release date: Sometime in 2013
- An affluent village
Online multiplayer is supported. In fact, the wording here
seems to suggest “massively” multiplayer online, or at least
- A village that never sleeps, in which case operating hours
more than the typical four-player co-op scenario as seen in
for shops are extended.
most shooters.
A character, Rolan, will now let you coordinate the wallpaper
and carpet in your room for 3000 bells.
Tongariboushi to Mahou no Machi With a “My Design PRO” feature you’ll also be able to send
your custom designs (of shirts and whatever else you can
地地地地地地地地地地地地 create custom drawings for in the game) to others via QR
codes.
Platform: 3DS
Release date: Undecided
I actually have no idea what this is. Guess we’ll find out later
this week.
Update: Okay, this looks like a new entry to Konami’s
Animal Crossing-like series, Tongariboushi to Mahou no
____. Was previously rumoured to be in development after
Konami made a trademark registration for “###########
5
September 12th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
New rivals/enemies:
Professor Layton VS Ace Attorney Juri Han, Seth (Street Fighter series, Capcom)
地地地地地地 VS 地地地地
Jedah Dohma (Darkstalkers series, Capcom)
Riemsianne (Shining Force EXA, Sega)
Heihachi Mishima (Tekken series, Namco Bandai)
Ayame Kouma (Sakura Taisen series, Sega)
Skeith (.hack series, Namco Bandai)
Release date is November 29… but we already covered that
last week.
Jet Set Radio
Platforms: PS Vita, PS3, X360, iOS, Android
Release date: Sometime in 2012
Price: 1000 yen
The takeaway here appears to be the price: 1000 yen in
Japan regardless of platform.
Project X Zone
Pics from: 1, 2
New comrades announced:
Batsu Ichimonji (Capcom’s Rival Schools/Justice Gakuen,
from Capcom)
Vashyron (End of Eternity/Resonance of Fate, Sega)
Alisa Boskonovitch (Tekken series, Namco Bandai)
Neneko & Neito (Yumeria, Namco Bandai)
6
September 12th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
The exhibition will be held at the Osaka Tempou
Cross-Reviews Special Installation Gallery [####################]
(mapfan, Google Maps) from 24 November 2012 to 17
February 2013, open from 10AM to 8PM daily, seven days
a week.
Ticket prices are at 2000 yen (1,800 yen for pre-reserved
tickets) for adults and university students, 1,500 yen (1,300
yen) for middle and high school students, and 800 yen (500
yen) for children four years old and up to elementary school.
Little Big Planet PS Vita – 9, 9, 9, 9
Final Fantasy III (PSP) – 9, 8, 7, 9
Tiger & Bunny: On-Air Jack (PSP) – 8, 8, 8, 8
Kingdom of Amalur: Reckoning (PS3, X360) – 9, 8, 8, 9
Source: Tales @ Nihongo de OK
Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece
Exhibition going to Osaka
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/eiichiro-odas-one-piece-exhibition-
going-to-osaka/ Eiichirou Oda’s One Piece Exhibition was previously held
By KarbyP on September 12th, 2012 at the Mori Arts Center Gallery in Roppongi Hills from
March 20 to June 17, to commemorate the manga’s 15th
anniversary. Over 510,000 visitors came to the exhibit,
which set a new record for the Roppongi-based gallery.
Here are the exhibition details in Japanese, for those of you
who might want to do a search for the gallery venue:
■■ONE PIECE■■■■■■
■■■■■■■■■■ ONE PIECE■ ■■■×■■×■■■■■■■■
■■■2012■11■24■■■■■2013■2■17■■■■ ■■■■■
■■■■■10:00■20:00■■■■■■19:00■
The Eiichirou Oda One Piece Exhibition will feature a new
exhibit exclusive to its Osaka run, so that folks who’ve been ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
to the Roppongi Hills exhibit in Tokyo will find something
new should they revisit. ■552-0022 ■■■■■■■■■■■1-5-10
Of course, existing exhibits like the Bouken Panorama ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
Theatre (black-and-white pic in the gallery below) will be at ■■■■■■■■■■ ■■■■■
the Osaka location.
The One Piece X Mado Lounge restuarant collaboration, on ■■■■■■-■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
the other hand, will not be available, since Mado Lounge
probably doesn’t have a resutaurant there. There’s nothing ■■■■■■■■■■■■
stopping the exhibition organisers from setting up a similar Source: Famitsu
food collaboration with another nearby restaurant, however.
7
September 12th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
This is how Milla Maxwell,
Tales of Xillia 1 heroine,
looks like in TOX2
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/this-is-how-milla-maxwell-tales-of-
xillia-1-heroine-looks-like-in-tox2/
By KarbyP on September 12th, 2012
Leaked magazine scans of what we presume to be Famitsu
Weekly reveal Milla’s new look in Tales of Xillia 2, along with
another “main visual” illustration that’s hailed as a dream
collaboration between artists Daigo Okumura, Mutsumi
Inomata, and Kousuke Fujishima.
All three were artistes involved with character designs for
the original Tales of Xillia, as a result of Namco Bandai’s
increased budget for the title, made to celebrate the 15th
anniversary of the Tales series.
That said, most of the characters in the first game were
designed by either Fujishima (Jude Mathis, Alvin, Elise
Lutus) or Inomata (Milla Maxwell, Leia Rolando, and Rowen
J. Ilbert).
Fujishima had previously worked on the Tales of Phantasia,
Symphonia, Abyss and Vesperia games, while Inomata the
Tales of Destiny, Eternia, Destiny 2, Rebirth, the Tempest,
Hearts, and Graces titles.
So they were both approached to give the characters in
each of TOX1′s two playable chapters – one starring Jude
(voiced by Tsubasa Yonaga), and the other Milla (CV: Miyuki
Sawashiro) – distinctive looks.
With Tales of Xillia 2, however, character design work fell
squarely on the shoulders of Daigo Okumura (who came
up with the design for Tipo in TOX1), as both Fujishima
and Inomata are not involved this time around. Although,
of course, many characters from TOX turn out to be making
their way back into the sequel.
Tokkurin.net, which also stumbled upon the scans, noted
that it was interesting for the developers to introduce Milla
in TOX2 simply as “Milla” instead of “Milla Maxwell”.
Tokkurin speculates that this might be Milla from an
alternate timeline, or perhaps an indication that Milla has
accomplished the mission she was tasked with as a Maxwell.
Tales of Xillia 2 is slated for release in Japan November 1,
2012.
An English version of the first Tales of Xillia is coming
sometime in 2013.
Source: @kazu4281, image 2
8
September 12th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
Transformers: Fall of
Cybertron XBOX360 Review
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/transformers-fall-of-cybertron-
xbox360-review/
By sentinel011 on September 12th, 2012
There are two types of Transformers fans – one who grew
up watching the G1 Optimus Prime and another who have
watched all three Transformer movies Michael Bay has
created. So how does Fall of Cybertron cater to both fans and
gamers of these two genres? Developer High Moon Studios
takes storytelling to another level with this sequel.
War of Cybertron was good, but it is Fall of Cybertron
better? Many things have improved, such as the graphics,
the story’s pacing as well as its movie-like depiction of the
entire game. While sniping, blasting and machine-gunning
your way through the missions is enjoyable, arguably the
most fun parts were the melee attacks of the Combiners and
Grimlock. DLCs are planned to give multiplayer a boost, with
the Dinobot Destruction Pack up soon.
All in all, whether you are a Transformers fan or not, you will
have a Bot-gasm time playing Fall of Cybertron. Read our
full review here!
9
September 18th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
SGCafe : Cosplay | Vocaloid | Otaku | Pop Culture
A daily publication about Cosplay, Vocaloid, Otaku
and Japanese Pop Culture
AFA ID interview exclusive:
ANIKI
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/aniki/
By Rika on September 18th, 2012
At 40 years young, Aniki says his career in anisong has only
just begun. Even now, he tells us that the recent tragedy
of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake completely changed his
perception of heroes. Although his songs heavily revolve
around themes of heroism and manliness, it was not until he
saw the heroic acts of volunteers and others working to help
Japan recover that he realised these heroes existed outside of
movies and anime as well. The revelation that every person
is someone else’s hero so touched him that he dedicated his
new albums to them in a show of support.
Perhaps one of the most well-loved names in anison
The unpredictable nature of the industry makes it impossible
today, Ichirou Mizuki returns to the AFA stage for another
to forsee what awaits for him in the future, and Aniki admits
electrifying performance! Known as Aniki (big brother) to
that there are still a multitude of goals he has yet to achieve.
his fans and fellow performers and the man behind anisong
He is always looking forward to opportunities where he can
powergroup JAM Project, the humble performer takes no
collaborate with other anisong singers, both Japanese and
credit for his success, claiming it to have been a miracle that
international. The chances he now has to travel abroad and
he is now known worldwide as a legend. He lives well up
hold anisong concerts in many places brings great joy to the
to the title and more, however! Aniki has been keeping the
singer, and he literally aims to reach for the stars by taking a
hopes of many children and fans alive by provided themes to
page out of Macross’ book and striving for a concert in outer
more than 1200 series over the decades, ranging from anime
space! Fight on, Aniki! We are cheering for you!
to games and tokusatsu series, and currently holds a record
for performing a whooping 1000 songs at a live event that
lasted 24 hours. Anisama in Shanghai 2012
The Japanese pop icon is not only a familiar face in
the anime industry. His charismatic stage presence and
“postponed” due to anti-
participation in rakugo, a traditional comedy performance Japan protests in China
art, led to his appearances on variety shows,TV commercials Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/anisama-in-shanghai-2012-
and voiceovers. These often featuring his trademark saying postponed-due-to-anti-japan-protests-in-china/
“Z!” (pronounced “Ze!”), taken from the timeless classic By KarbyP on September 18th, 2012
Mazinger Z theme song to which Aniki tells us he owes his
career. “Had Mazinger Z never existed, I might not be here
now,” he says.
Aniki attributes the success of his timeless hits to the
emphasis of three important characteristics: Originality,
simplicity and clarity. Originality is important, as the song
must be able to stand out with a fresh and unique sound. He
also keeps the children that often make up his main target
audience in mind, paying special attention to its simplicity
and clarity since complicated lyrics would make it difficult
Anisama in Shanghai 2012 -Next Stage- was supposed to
to sing along to.
happen at the Mercedes-Benz Arena on October 27 this year.
As of yesterday, however, that won’t be the case anymore.
Due to the escalation of anti-Japan protests in China over the
Sankaku islands (which the Chinese call “Diaoyu Dao”), the
organisers behind Anisama Shanghai yesterday announced
their decision to “postpone” the concert to an unspecified
1
September 18th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
later date for now, out of concern for the safety of artistes A new PS3 model with SSD storage would certainly make a
and staff involved. lot of sense. According to this Eurogamer story, installing an
SSD into your PS3 can reduce load times in Gran Turismo
The concert itself has not been axed. Not yet, anyway.
5 by about half. Rumours of flash storage in a new model of
But it might as well be. No timeframe was specified as to PS3 have been circulating the net for several months now.
when the new date for the concert might be, or if fans could
Fortunately, we won’t have to wait long to find out if the
even expect to hear about such details in the near future
rumours are true. Sony Computer Entertainment is slated
(which is no fault of the organisers’ really). The Anisama
in Shanghai 2012 management will also begin to issue full to hold a pre-Tokyo Game Show press conference this
Wednesday.
refunds to ticket-holders beginning today, September 18,
through Shanghai event planner HIS (that’s who you need Check back with SGCafe again on Wednesday for all the big
to contact if you happen to be holding on to a ticket). PlayStation news to come out of the press conference.
This year’s Anisama in Shanghai would have been the anime- Source: Polygamia
centric concert’s second year in a row to be held in China,
after a successful run last year in February. The concert line-
up for Shanghai 2012 included Minami Kuribayashi, JAM Shin Megami Tensei IV’s 2nd
Project, May’n, Luna Haruna, and Nana Mizuki. trailer hints at both modern
Source: Anisama in Shanghai 2012 HP
and ancient settings
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/shin-megami-tensei-ivs-2nd-trailer-
New PS3 models might come hints-at-both-modern-and-ancient-settings/
with 12GB SSD or 500GB HDD
By KarbyP on September 18th, 2012
storage [rumour mill]
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/new-ps3-models-might-come-
with-12gb-ssd-or-500gb-hdd-storage-rumour-mill/
By KarbyP on September 18th, 2012
Step aside, Persona 4. You’ve basked in the limelight long
enough. Now it’s time for the Shin Megami Tensei series
(Persona being a spin-off of the SMT games) to shine.
Atlus today uploaded to YouTube a second trailer for Shin
A new model of the PS3 equipped with 12GB SSD storage has Megami Tensei IV for the Nintendo 3DS, which shows a
been advertised at a shop in Poland, Polygamia.pl reported number of scenes from the upcoming RPG with nary any
today. context.
According to the Polish website, certain retailers in the There’s some western mythology going on. Then we see
European country have received materials from Sony a dessert. Then the trailer cuts to a scene in some urban
detailing two new PS3 models: a PS3 Slim with 500GB of surroundings – streetlights, high-rise buildings and the like.
HDD storage, and a second model that’s equipped with 12GB
SSD. Rumour has it that the SSD version will sell for 199 And that’s when we catch a glimpse of what might be part
Euros, while the 500GB HDD version will go for 299 Euros, of the gameplay in SMT IV: a man is shown playing with his
and that both models will hit stores September 27 in Poland. watch, which starts up an app – “Area Scan”. Translucent
white squares emerge all around him, before spreading out
into the distance.
A holographic screen then appears, informing us that our
mysterious person of interest is actually standing in the
middle of Shibuya. An eerily quiet Shibuya.
Then we’re once again shown a mix of scenes seemingly
suggesting that SMT IV jumps back and forth between
ancient and futuristic settings. Graphics during battles
appear to be rendered in a mix of 2D and 3D animation
styles.
At some point the voice cast starts speaking (not in order of
appearance in the trailer): Hiroshi Kamiya (Gundam 00′s
Tieria Erde, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensi’s Nozomu Itoshiki)
plays Jonathan, Kazuya Nakai (One Piece’s Zoro) voices
2
September 18th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
Hobb, Miyuki Sawashiro (Persona 3′s Elizabeth) as Isabeau, the characters in TOX2 are designed by Daigo Okumura) on
and Katsuyuki Konishi (Bleach’s Keigo Asano) as Walter. their adventure at some point.
In a way, this is a poetic reunion (or “a dreamy
collaboration”, according to Famitsu) for the three
aforementioned illustrators – Fujishima, Inomata, and
Okumura – who shared character designer credits in the first
game.
Expect to see more Tales of Xillia 2 in-game footage in this
format (30-second TVCMs) in the coming weeks; this new
one is only 『2 in a set of seven that Namco Bandai will
collectively call “TVCM Series 3″. Odd naming convention,
if you were to ask us – Series 1 and Series 2 only saw one TV
spot each.
Tales of Xillia 2 is slated for release in Japan November 1,
2012. Gamers who pre-order the title in Japan, according to
the TVCM, will receive a ”Tales of Xillia 2 -Before Episode-”
short story and official design materials book, a product
code for up to three character DLC costumes, and PS3 XMB
dashboard skins (17 designs in all).
An English version of the first Tales of Xillia is coming
sometime in 2013.
In the video’s description Atlus says to expect a massive
cover story on Shin Megami Tensei IV in this week’s Famitsu Source: Famitsu
magazine.
At the Tokyo Game Show, which begins this Thursday, a “no- Cosplay as a trademark in
cut” version of this very trailer will also be shown; only once
per day during the Business Days (September 20 and 21, the Philippines?
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/cosplay-as-a-trademark-in-the-
open only to media and industry folks), and multiple times
philippines/
throughout the days that are open to the public (September
By SarahColdheart on September 18th, 2012
22 and 23).
『『『『『『『IV『『『『『『『『『『 – YouTube
Tales of Xillia 2 commercial
features in-game footage of
TOX1′s Jude Mathis and Milla
Maxwell
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/tales-of-xillia-2-commercial-
features-in-game-footage-of-tox1s-jude-mathis-and-milla-maxwell/
By KarbyP on September 18th, 2012
(Image from Cosplay Cool Centre)
There has been a sudden furore over the word “cosplay” in
the Philippines as it has been trademarked by Cosplay.ph.
As quoted:
Famitsu has first dibs on a new Tales of Xillia 2 commercial “The purpose of the wordmark was preemptive
– entitled “A new journey for those two” – that features in- in order to keep the word “cosplay” safe so that
game footage of Jude and Milla, respectively the male and it cannot be used to impede us from organizing
female protagonists of the first TOX. cosplay events, because it is very closely associated
Jude Mathis (character design: Kousuke Fujishima) and with our branding. We believe that this measure
Milla Maxwell (Mutsumi Inomata) join Tales of Xillia 2 was imperative for us to grow and flourish and so
protagonists Ludger Will Kresnik and Elle Mel Martha (all
3
September 18th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
that we can continue to develop world-class events
that we all know Filipino Cosplayers deserve.”
Further investigation from members of the Filipino Cosplay
community have noted that this was because of an event
that happened in the past. A yahoo group called Pinoy
Cosplay was formed in 2000 and in the later part of 2005,
the url “pinoycosplay.com” was bought by a Mike Abundo.
He created a cosplay forum and had no connection to the
admins of the more established group. He did not stop there
and continued buying over other urls similar to another
Filipino cosplay forum site, trying to lead people to his own
forums.
As this “cosplay” has been trademarked by Cosplay.ph since
2011, there has been no reports about any serious ‘action’ Fans of popular shounen series Naruto would recognise
taken over the word. the group behind “Lovers”, one of the opening themes for
Interestingly, there has been a similar outcry in Singapore Naruto: Shippuden. The invitation to provide an opening
where the word cosplay was trademarked in 2005 but theme for Naruto was a dream come true for the four, whose
nothing has happened since then. What are your thoughts interest in anime and manga extend beyond their time as a
over the word “cosplay” being trademarked or copyrighted band.
in your own country? Even now, their love for the Naruto series has not waned
Do you believe that the ones who would hold the trademark/ a bit, and 7!! still visits manga cafés twice a week, with
copyright would be honourable enough to safeguard it as bassist Keita being the biggest fanatic of all. Inspired by main
long as there are no major interruptions over your own character Uzumaki Naruto and his willingness to push both
cosplay activities? himself and others to excel beyond their own boundaries, the
band tells us they would like to write another song for the
series based on that concept if given the chance.
AFA ID interview exclusive: 7!! is still young in terms of their musical career, having
7!! made their major label debut only very recently, and AFA
ID marks their maiden gig outside of Japan as well as
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/afa-id-interview-exclusive-7/
their first in Indonesia. While performing for audiences in
By Rika on September 18th, 2012
Indonesia is entirely new to them, their commitment to
making the experience a memorable one made sure to leave a
great impact on their audience. To this lively-spirited group,
SGcafe wishes them all the best. We can’t wait to see where
their talent takes them!
AFA ID interview exclusive:
bless4
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/afa-id-interview-exclusive-bless4/
By Rika on September 18th, 2012
Performing for the first time out of Japan, we have
newcomers to the anison scene, 7!! with its four members:
Nanae on vocals, guitarist Michiru, bassist Keita and
drummer Maiko.
As the pronunciation of the group’s unique name is a sure
point of debate amongst newer fans, 7!! explained that 7 in
Japanese is pronounced ‘nana’ while ‘oops’ is an expression
of surprise, usually vocalized as “eeeeeehh..” (represented in
the band’s name as a pair of exclamation marks). Thus, 7!!
is pronounced Nana-eeehhh as a nod to vocalist Nanae, who
first conceived the idea of the band in her high school years.
After asking her friend Keita to join as the bassist, Keita in First in the AFA ID Super Anisong Stage interview line-up is
turn recruited Michiru to be the group’s guitarist, and Maiko bless4! A vocal and chorus group comprising four brothers
was invited after Nanae witnessed her perfomance on drums and sisters: Akashi, Kanasa, Akino and Aiki, bless4 is a name
at her high school festival. well-known among anisong fans for ‘Gekkou Symphonia’,
the ending theme to Aquarion EVOL.
Formed when the siblings were inspired by the strong
presence of music in Okinawan culture, the band was
4
September 18th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
originally named BS4, but because it sounded too similar Famitsu.com has just published an article on Dead or Alive
to the names of Japanese TV channels, it was modified 5 revealing that Virtua Fighter‘s Pai Chan will join her Sega
into their current name Bless4. The name also reflects the cohorts Akira Yuki and Sarah Bryant as part of the guest
siblings’ idea of being able to share blessings through their character contingent in Koei Tecmo’s upcoming 3D brawler,
music. Dead or Alive 5.
As a group, each sibling does their part to support the Apart from a couple of screenshots of Pai, the article also had
group as a whole: Akashi is the band’s frontman, Kanasa screens of Mila, a brand new female character to the series
excels at songwriting and managing the band’s schedules, that Koei Tecmo Europe unveiled yesterday, who appears to
Akino helps to style and dress her siblings and Aiki is head be a kickboxer similar to Zack.
choreographer for the band’s dances. Dead or Alive 5 comes out for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation
3 consoles on September 25.
On top of their love for music, Bless4 are also anime
fans! In their earlier years spent growing up in the US,
their aunt would send them recordings of Dragon Ball
episodes. Even though they didn’t understand Japanese,
the straightforward story and energetic fight scenes
communicated all they needed to know. Keeping the series
they grew up with close to their hearts, the group hopes to
write and perform a piece for a Dragon Ball movie one day.
While they are not strangers to performing overseas, AFA
ID marks the group’s first visit to Indonesia, a warm and
welcoming country whose multitudes of J-culture and anime
fans was a pleasant surprise to the siblings. “It is truly a
beautiful thing to think that although we live in different
places, the anime we like is the same,” they said, and felt it
was truly remarkable how anime could become fans’ gateway
to interest in Japanese culture too.
Virtua Fighter’s Pai Chan
joins the guest roster in Dead
or Alive 5
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/virtua-fighters-pai-chan-joins-the-
guest-roster-in-dead-or-alive-5/
By KarbyP on September 18th, 2012
The rumours were true after all. Well, copyright registrations
don’t lie.
5
September 18th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
Source: Famitsu We”ll bring you more on Keiji Inafune’s Yaiba next week,
right from the showfloor of TGS.
Teaser trailer for Keiji Source: 4Gamer
Inafune’s Yaiba promises that
“The dead will die again”
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/teaser-trailer-for-keiji-inafunes-
yaiba-promises-that-the-dead-will-die-again/
By KarbyP on September 18th, 2012
It’s officially the stroke of midnight now over there in
Japan. Like we reported earlier today, a teaser site for Kaiji
Inafune’s ninja+mecha+zombie action game has went live,
giving us a first look of what the game would be look.
We had thought that a single piece of concept art would be
all we’ll be getting for now. But as it turns out, Inafune was
kind enough to give us an entire teaser trailer. There are a
couple of screenshots as well.
“Yaiba” (or “blade” in Japanese) appears to star a ninja who
is at least partially cyborg. So that solves the mystery of
what Inafune meant when he said that the game would have
“ninja” and “mecha” elements. The other two keywords he
thrown around were “zombie” and “action”.
6
September 22nd, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
SGCafe : Cosplay | Vocaloid | Otaku | Pop Culture
—Other than Tekken Tag Tournament 2 are you playing
A daily publication about Cosplay, Vocaloid, Otaku anything else at the moment? Last time we talked you said
and Japanese Pop Culture that you were going to be picking up Persona 4 Arena.
Ah… Persona 4 Arena… I’m not playing that anymore.
MCZ|Tokido: “I’m no longer —Huh? Why not?
playing Persona 4 Arena” Now that Arc System Works has announced the new Guilty
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/mcztokido-im-no-longer-playing- Gear and the new BlazBlue, all the Persona 4 Arena players
persona-4-arena/ have gone back to playing those games, including me.
By KarbyP on September 22nd, 2012 In general I buy every single fighting game for consoles when
they come out, but if a game turns out to be “no good game”,
then I stop playing.
—So by that do you mean Persona 4 Arena is a “no good
game”?
[I'm sure a lot of people like the game but] it’s just not for
me. I found it to be a little boring.
—I actually thought you might like it more, since Persona 4
is similar to Street Fighter in the sense that SRKs/reversals/
invincible moves are fairly important.
We ran into Hajime “Tokido” Taniguchi yesterday at the Yes, but the reversal is too easy, just press two buttons. I
Tokyo Game Show. The talented multi-fighting game pro didn’t really like that.
chatted with us about two games he’s been playing – Tekken —I see. Are you still playing Street Fighter X Tekken?
Tag Tournament 2, Street Fighter X Tekken – and one game
he’s stopped playing: Persona 4 Arena. Yes, in fact that’s my main tournament game right now,
because of the Street Fighter 25th Anniversary.
—Now that the new characters for Street Fighter X Tekken
—Hey Tokido, what a coincidence. What’re you doing are out, who do you think are the top for characters in
wandering around on the TGS showfloor? SFxTK?
Tokido: I’m waiting for Fuudo to finish up at his booth, so we Of the new characters, Cody is really strong. And after the
can both go back together. Fuudo’s home is very near to the patches, Dhalsim is strong too, especially now that Ryu has
TGS venue [Makuhari Messe], I’m staying over at his place become weaker.
tonight.
And then… Rolento is still very strong. And of course, Chun-
—Nice! So what games have you been playing recently? Li is top-tier.
Recently I’ve been playing Tekken Tag Tournament 2, which So my top four are (not in any specific order), Cody, Dhalsim,
has just come out last week. Rolento and Chun-Li. Ryu, although not as good as before,
—Who do you use in Tekken Tag 2, and why? is still very good.
I use Kunimitsu and Lars. Kunimitsu because she is console- —That’s an interesting list. A while back Sako said in a
exclusive character, so the people who have been playing Famitsu SFxTK column that his top four picks were Ryu,
the arcade version do not know very much about Kunimitsu Ken, Kazuya, and Rufus.
yet. That levels the playing field a little for me. Also I think Yes, that was before the patches. Now, a lot has really
Kunimitsu has potential, so that’s why I picked for. changed in the game.
—Right, Kunimitsu. Yeah, and she appears to be —What criterion do you look at when determining if a
invulnerable to mid attacks. character is strong or weak in Street Fighter X Tekken?
Yes, some mids. Mostly I look at the reach of the attacks, and whether the
—What about Lars? moves are safe from a distance or can be punished from far
away.
As for Lars, he’s just really good. Lars makes a very good
tag partner for any character in the game, because he has a
good Tag Assault combo. 6+LK (f+3) to go into back-facing If you have any questions you’d like to ask Tokido, post them
stance, then while rising RP (2), 6+LP (f+1), LK (3) (note: the in the comments below today. We’ll pick some good ones
commands listed here may be inaccurate; we’ll check with and try to get them to him.
Tokido again later today).
1
September 22nd, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
Stay tuned to SGCafe for more coverage from the Tokyo with different assessment criterion – examples provided
Game Show 2012. include dance-focused, singing-focused, and more. Top-
ranking players in each day’s contest can win various
in-game prizes, ranging from 3D modules, to interior
Hatsune Miku: Live Stage decorations and items for their club.
Producer to be released on
iOS and Android (finally!)
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/hatsune-miku-live-stage-producer-
to-be-released-on-ios-and-android-finally/
By KarbyP on September 22nd, 2012
Hatsune Miku: Live Stage Producer is scheduled for a Fall
2012 release on both the iTunes and Google Play app stores.
iOS devices supported include the iPhone4, iPhone4S, iPad
I can’t stress the “and Android” part of that headline strongly 2, and the new iPad. Android devices must be on firmware
enough. About time Sega gave Hatsune Miku fans using 2.3 or higher to run the game. The game is free to play, with
Android devices something to look forward to. paid DLC planned.
Hatsune Miku: Live Stage Producer is a simulation game
app in which you’re the club manager where Miku performs
at.
Your club makes money when customers come in to watch
Miku perform. But here’s the thing – in the game world of
Live Stage Producer, Hatsune Miku isn’t that famous yet.
Fans won’t be rushing to the club in throngs to watch her
perform. Not at first.
For the club to succeed, as the manager you’ll need to
schedule lessons – voice training, dance training and trivia,
for instance – for Miku to train her strengths. There are
six parameters in total: Singing, Dancing, Style, Cuteness
Talking, and Variety.
And you’ll need to schedule performances regularly,
of course. Initially, only two songs are selectable for
performances: Marginal, and Kouya to Mori to Mahou no
Uta. Sega promises that more Hatsune Miku songs will be
added to title, however, as DLC.
As Miku’s skill increases, you’ll be able to task her with taking
on difficult contests. These “contests” are essentially daily
leaderboard rankings. Every day, new contests will appear
2
September 22nd, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
Instead, the base of the joystick lever has a magnet attached
to it, which moves in the opposite direction of whichever way
you push the stick lever in.
A sensor at the bottom then tracks the magnet’s movement
and translates that to directional inputs on the computer.
Sanwa Denshi (三三三三) calls this prototype a “small-
type magnetic-sensor lever” (三三三三三三三), and according to
Nozomi Sato from Sanwa Denshi’s sales department, this is
the first time (here at Tokyo Game Show 2012) that they’ve
ever shown off the prototype to anyone.
In fact, we were but only the second group of folks to
approach the good people at Sanwa to find out more about
the prototype lever – two hours prior to our visit, 4Gamer’s
reporters were there to check the joystick out. At the time
we’re putting this story online, 4Gamer’s report on the
prototype has yet to be published.
So unless there’s a mistake somewhere, we might actually
be the first in the world to report on the magentic-sensor
prototype.
Oh, and in case you don’t understand what in the world I’m
talking about (since I’m really not a joystick expert by any
means), here’s a video to demonstrate.
Advantages of the magnetic-
sensor lever
Kunio Saito, the engineer at Sanwa Denshi’s technical
department who created this prototype, said that it’s several
times more durable than existing levers; as the magnetic-
sensor stick is not mechanical in nature, there is virtually
zero wear-and-tear to worry about. “Infinite life cycle” were
the words, in English, that sales rep Sato used.
Sanwa Denshi’s “small-
Not only that, but the prototype lever allows for analog
inputs by default. In that regard, you could say that
type magnetic-sensor lever” although the magnetic-sensor lever’s outward appearance
might resemble that of a joystick, in terms of usability the
prototype on display at Tokyo prototype would essentially work like a bigger and sturdier
Game Show [video] version of the analog sticks found on our console controllers.
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/sanwa-denshis-small-type-magnetic- How much bigger? I wasn’t able to measure the stick’s
sensor-lever-prototype-on-display-at-tokyo-game-show-video/ “throw distance” (how far the lever can be pushed in one
By KarbyP on September 22nd, 2012 direction, from the neutral position), but a rough estimate
would be about close to twice that of the Sanwa Denshi JLF
lever that’s equipped in nearly all of today’s quality console
fight sticks. Note, however, that a gate was not attached to
the prototype; a square-bounding gate is usually attached to
the JLF lever in fight sticks.
When we checked out Sanwa‘s booth over at the Tokyo
Game Show today, we saw something rather spectacular
on display: a prototype joystick lever whose shaft was not
connected to the micro-switch sensor, usually found at the
base of the lever.
3
September 22nd, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
PS3 concept fight stick – called “Seiki” or “Hope” – showed
off at last year’s TGS. Again, there’s been no progress on the
development of Seiki, and no plans to turn it into an actual
product. They simply decided to make it to show gamers,
custom-stick modders, and manufacturers what might be
possible.
Other sights at the Sanwa Denshi
booth
Apart from the magnetic-sensor lever prototype, Sanwa also
had on display a custom BlazBlue stick outfitted with lights,
a clear ball-top, and clear buttons, as well as another concept
prototype with rounded buttons that they said might be
appealing for puzzle or music games (I’d love to play Pop’n
Music with this controller; sadly, Konami no longer ports
PnM games to consoles).
Saito said that the analog nature would be a good fit for
games like Konami’s Winning Eleven and Sega’s Virtua
Striker series of soccer games. Currently, Konami’s Winning
Eleven Arcade Championship cabinets are equipped with a
standard joystick by default. However, the game also allows
players to bring their own PS3 controllers and hook it up to
the cabinet for analog controls, so there might be a market
for this product.
But that’s not all the magnetic-sensor stick would be good
for. Though it may be analog in nature, Saito also said that
it would be possible to implement digital-only controls for
fighting games.
“In the computer programme, you can set ‘trigger’ values
for the magnetic-sensor stick so that a directional input will
only be detected when you push the lever to beyond a certain
point,” he explained in Japanese. “This acts as a virtual
micro-switch, so the possibilities are there.”
Sanwa Denshi has applied for a patent for the magnetic-
sensor lever, and is currently awaiting for it to be granted.
That said, currently Sanwa has no plans to develop this into
an actual product that. Not at this point anyway.
Why make a prototype joystick lever if you don’t have plans
to deploy it as an actual product in the near future? When we
posed that question to both representatives, they would only
say that being a leading arcade parts manufacturer, Sanwa
Denshi is often looking at new possibilities and challenging
themselves from an engineering standpoint. So don’t expect
to see the magnetic-sensor lever released any time soon.
Speaking of prototypes to never come out as an actual
product, we also checked with Sanwa on the status of the
4
September 22nd, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
Stay tuned to SGCafe.com for more coverage from Tokyo Here are the recommended retail prices and release dates
Game Show 2012. for the new models in Japan, US, and Europe. No concrete
information on price or availability has been announced for
Asia yet.
PlayStation @ TGS: New PS3
models, PS Vita colours, and
a price drop for the PSP
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/playstation-tgs-new-ps3-models-ps-
vita-colours-and-a-price-drop-for-the-psp/
By KarbyP on September 22nd, 2012
All three models are offered in two colours: charcoal black
and classic white.
For a limited time beginning November 22, Sony will also be
offering a PS3 “starter pack” in Japan that bundles a copy of
Everybody’s Golf 6 (also known as “Minna no Golf 6″) with a
PS3 250GB in your choice of colour. The starter pack carries
a recommended retail price of 25,980 yen (including tax).
At Tokyo Game Show 2012 Sony finally took the veil off those
new PS3 models you’ve been hearing rumours about for a
while now. As it turns out, the 12GB SSD model is exclusive
to the European market initially.
Outside of the new PS3 models, Sony also announced
two new colours for the PS Vita, a launch month for the
PlayStation Plus service on PS Vita, and a new price point
for the PSP.
Whew, that’s a whole lot of PlayStation to detail. Let’s get
started, shall we?
New PlayStation 3 models
The new PS3s are not only slimmer than the current slew
of PS3 Slims, but also lighter by over 20% (50% when
compared to the original PS3 60GB version launched in
November 2006).
Three models of the new PS3 will be released this year –
250GB and 500GB HDD configurations, as well as a 12GB
SSD model that will be launched only in Europe initially.
5
September 22nd, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
PlayStation Vita announcements PlayStation Plus on PS Vita
And finally, Sony also announced that its PlayStation Plus
programme will come to the PS Vita in November 2012.
PlayStation Plus is a subscription-based membership
programme that gives users free games every month (that
you can access and play as long as you stay subscribed to PS
Plus), hour-long trials of full retail games, as well as other
benefits such as online game saves and automatic system
updates.
If you already have a PlayStation Plus subscription on the
PS3, your existing subscription will be valid for the Vita as
well.
Outside of free games and game trials, PlayStation Plus on
the Vita will feature:
Online game saves – members will be able to automatically
Two new colours for the PS Vita – “Cosmic Red” and “Cypher or manually upload game save files for compatible games to
Blue” – will be available in Japan from November 15, 2012. the Cloud. Up to 1GB of storage has been allocated for save
Both the 3G/Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi only models will come in the files on each PlaySTation Network user’s account.
new colours.
Automatic content downloads and updates – the PS Vita will
Like the existing Crystal Black and Crystal White units, automatically download game demos and game updates, as
Cosmic Red and Cypher Blue PS Vita models will be priced well as Vita firmware updates, so that you won’t have to wait
at 29,980 yen for a 3G/Wi-Fi unit, and 25,980 for the Wi-Fi the next time you pick up your Vita to play.
only configuration.
Automatic Trophy sync – currently PS Vita users have to
manually access the “Trophies” app to sync their unlocked
game trophies to their account online. With PS Plus, the
VIta will automatically start up at a designated time to sync
Trophy information instead.
PSP price drop
Not much to say here, except that the existing PSP model will
now be priced at 13,800 (PSP only), while PSP value packs
(which comes with a pouch and other accessories) will be
sold for 14,800 yen.
Read more of SGCafe’s TGS coverage through the following
URL: sgcafe.com/tag/tgs
Tokyo Game Show: Day 1
Photos
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/tokyo-game-show-day-1-photos/
By KarbyP on September 22nd, 2012
A “Reader” app will be released free for the PS Vita in the
middle of October. Through the app and Sony’s “Reader
Store”, PS Vita users in Japan will be able to access over
3,000 comics. No word yet on if the Reader app and content
will be available in regions outside of Japan.
Here are some of the sights we saw on Day 1 of Tokyo Game
Show 2012.
6
September 22nd, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
Not a whole lot of cosplayer photos yet (check back with us
on the weekend for that), but there’s booth babes (called
“booth companions” in Japan), a life-size bust of Phoenix
Wright, and more.
7
September 22nd, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
so elaborate and creatively designed. They showed many
that I didn’t expect. I can see that so much effort was put into
their cosplay.
What came to your mind when you found out that there were
many fans of anime and J-Pop in Indonesia?
AT: I’m very happy to know that we have something in
common. If I ever find someone who has done a similar
cosplay to mine, I could spend some time to chat and discuss
our common ground.
What inspired you to start cosplaying?
AT: I started out cosplaying since I was younger. I love to
draw fanart, and I have friend who is a fanartist as well. It
AFA ID Interview Exclusive: was my friend who brought me into cosplay, and since then
I’ve been cosplaying for quite some time now.
Akatsuki Tsukasa If you’re not cosplaying, what do you usually do in real life?
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/afa-id-interview-exclusive-akatsuki-
AT: I’m a part-time model, and sometimes when I’m not
tsukasa/
doing any cosplay project, I accept costume commissions.
By Rika on September 22nd, 2012
On Day 2 of AFA Indonesia, we got a chance to interview So, you’re from Taiwan! Could you tell us how many
AFA guest Akatsuki Tsukasa, a lovely lady from Taiwan cosplayers there are in your country?
whose stunning cosplays of popular characters such as AT: So many! We have lots of cosplayers in Taiwan. It’s big
Vocaloid’s Hatsune Miku and One Piece’s Boa Hancock have enough we could just go out and bump to one another even
captured attentions of fans worldwide! Dressed for the day if it wasn’t during an event. There are even some venues we
as the galactic fairy Sheryl Nome from the series Macross usually go to and gather at when there is no event held.
Frontier, she tells us about her first experience attending an
Many cosplayers look up to you. Do you have any cosplay
event in Indonesia, fulfilling cosplay dreams and gives us
idols of your own?
some advice to share with her fellow cosplayers!
AT: I do! Kaname and Reika! They’re from Japan. So
meeting Kaname here is kinda like dream come true.
You’ve cosplayed so many characters from so many series!
Do you have any favorites among all the characters you’ve
cosplayed so far?
AT: Yes, I do. It’s Sheryl Nome from Macross Frontier, the
one I’m cosplaying now. She’s a singer, and her character is
very strong and brave in the series.
This is the first time you’ve come to Indonesia. Do you have
any cosplayer friends here?
AT: Before I came here, I had no Indonesian friends. But
over the last few days, I made some new ones. I want to meet
more cosplayers and exchange coscards.
What are your thoughts on Indonesian cosplayers?
AT: From what I saw here, Indonesian cosplayers are really
hard working on their costume designs. And during their
performances, they really brought up the characters to life.
You can feel the atmosphere, it was great. The costumes were
8
September 22nd, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
By Rika on September 22nd, 2012
What’s the most difficult cosplay you have ever done?
AT: Probably Megurine Luka from Vocaloid. There are so Cosplay has been the heart of SGCafe’s forum culture,
many details on the costume that I spent one and a half week and SGCafe is re-branding our three characters to further
just to do up the designs alone. reinstate Japanese culture. Our characters are now named
Are there any cosplay dreams of yours that have yet to come from M99-chan, kneesocks-chan and Blurking as Kyuu-
true? chan, Zet-chan and Kouma-kun respectively.
AT: I really want to go to the seaside, on a boat, as Nami from SGCafe provides a further challenge to all cosplayers who
One Piece. Just like in the series! have been yearning to do an original cosplay based off official
designs – cosplayers are encouraged to come up with any
concept costume to suit our three mascots, or they can
simply cosplay the characters based off our concept art.
Philippine cosplayers will be the first in Southeast Asia to
experience the thrill of creating and cosplaying their original
concept costumes, a taboo action that supposedly defeats the
purpose of cosplaying as your favourite character.
With this fun and exciting concept to revitalize and ignite
the passion of cosplaying, SGCafe will pick the best designs
and cosplays at CosplayMania at the Manila Finals! The
And what’s next on your cosplay list? cosplayer who can make the best original interpretation of
the characters will become SGCafe’s official ambassador! Of
AT: I plan to do Kuroko, from the series Kuroko no Basuke. course, there will be awesome prizes waiting for you.
Is there any advice you can give to cosplayers who are just This segment will be featured on Day 2 at the exhibitor booth
starting out? stage area! Be sure to check it out!
AT: My advice, before you start cosplaying, you should read To participate, please register the form here and at SGCafe’s
the comic or watch the anime couple of times to understand booth upon arrival.
the emotion and the behavior of the character you’re about Please register with us early to avoid disappointment!
to cosplay. That way, hopefully you can be as genuine as the
character itself. The minimum criteria to represent each character will be as
follows:
Akatsuki Tsukasa, together with Kaname, were the judges
for ARCC x CLAS:H Competition hosted by AFA ID, where Kyuu-chan
Indonesia’s representative for AFA 12 this November was Character/personality: Quiet, soft spoken, cautious
chosen. We wish her all the best in her future projects and
look forward to seeing what she can come up with next! Physical features: round face frame, purple hair with 1 braid
Accessories: Spectacles, headphones (any colour and design)
SGCAFE PRESENTS: Zet-chan
PROJECT OrCa Character/personality: Spunky, outgoing
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/sgcafe-presents-project-orca/
Physical features: small face frame, long grey hair with twin
tails
Accessories: Ribbon (any colour and design)
Kouma-kun
Character/personality: Confident, easy-going, joker of the
trio
Physical features: sharp facial features, brown spiky hair
9
September 22nd, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
Accessories: None
Thursday, September 20
Another good representation would be to totally switch the
September 20′s stage event focuses on Hatsune Miku
character’s personality over; example will be Kyuu-chan can
collaborations, and it appears that they have an
be noisy and a risk taker.
announcement or two up their sleeves.
Guidelines:
Sega is also teasing that a Hatsune Miku “new model” might
1. Cosplay as Kyuu-chan, Zet-chan or Kouma-kun perform a dance segment during this stage event. Now,
2. Follow the section “Character personalities” for the before you get too excited o, know that “new model” Hatsune
minimum criteria Miku-san probably refers to this (scroll to the end of the
post).
3. No restriction to types of costumes as long as minimum
criteria is met Thursday, September 20
Prizes: Hatsune Miku Project Diva games outside of Diva f (Diva
Arcade, Dreamy Theatre Extend, to be specific) will take
1 Autograph board of all the guests (Jesuke, KANAME三,
center stage on Friday’s event.
Reika)
1 Autographed photo of Shoko Nakagawa Saturday & Sunday, September 22
1 Cosplay.ph T-shirt & 23
Finally, the stage events for Saturday and Sunday are
Have fun and see you at Project Diva f demonstrations catering to female and male
Cosplaymania! audiences respectively.
In other Hatsune Miku related news, the new edition of
Comptiq magazine has everyone’s favourite virtual singer on
Hatsune Miku stage events the cover (illustrated by Hatsune Miku designer KEI) this
at Tokyo Game Show: Catch month. Every copy of the mag also comes with a Hatsune
Miku Summer Guidebook that features many of the modules
them “live” from September and art done for Hatsune Miku Project Diva f.
20 to 23 on Ustream
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/hatsune-miku-stage-events-at-tokyo-
game-show-catch-them-live-from-september-20-to-23-on-ustream/
By KarbyP on September 22nd, 2012
A different Hatsune Miku stage event will take place at Sega’s
booth at Tokyo Game Show everyday from September 20 to
23. Here’s how you can catch all of it from the comforts of
your home, school, or office.
Tomorrow, Tokyo Game Show 2012 finally kicks off.
Although we’ll be bringing you reports from the show Source: Sega
floor, many of the publishers attending the show – such as
Sega – will also be live-streaming events from their booth
throughout the four-day period. In Sega’s case, you’ll be able Hirohiko Araki of Jojo’s
to catch all of the action live from either Ustream or Nico
Nico Live.
Bizarre Adventure Makes
The link above also shows you the full stage-event schedule Shonen Jump 1-Shot & 1st
for Sega, which includes presentations for Hatsune Miku, Artbook in 12 Years
Yakuza 5, and Phantasy Star Online 2. Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/hirohiko-araki-of-jojos-bizarre-
Interestingly, the Hatsune Miku stage event starts at the adventure-makes-shonen-jump-1-shot-1st-artbook-in-12-years/
same time every TGS day – 3PM Japan time (GMT+0900), By IceTea on September 22nd, 2012
or 2PM Singapore time. The contents for each event,
however, are completely different.
10
September 22nd, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
But these bikinis will only be available to you if you pre-order
the game.
So if you plan on picking up the game but have yet to put
down a pre-order, you might want to get in touch with
your favourite games retailer as soon as possible – only six
more days to Dead or Alive 5′s September 25 release date in
Singapore and the US.
The mangaka for Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Hirohiko
Araki, will return to Weekly Shonen Jump with a
new on-shot manga next month. He will also be
publishing his first new art book collection in 12 years
then. These announcements were made in 25 Years with Jojo
anniversary booklet that was bundled with the October issue
of Ultra Jump.
Araki’s fictional manga cerator alter-ego Rohan Kishibe will
be ‘contributing’ his latest manga chapter titled “Kishibe
Rohan wa Ugokanai ~Episode 5~” in this year’s 45th
Weekly Shonen issue out on October 6. Preorders will be
opened soon for the new artbook too, which will include
illustrations, a hisotyr of Araki by his first editor, and the
latest encyclopedia of Stands. More information woul be
released in Ultra Jump magazine and Araki’s official website.
The 25 Years With Jojo booklet will include 22 other
mangakas art and messages contribution to celebrate the
25th anniversary of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. They include
mangakas such as: Kubo Tite (Bleach), Eiichiro Oda (One
Piece) and Takeshi Obata (Death Note).
Source: [Akiba Jigoku!]
Yes, Virtua Fighter’s Sarah
and Pai has bikini costumes,
just like the rest of the DOA5
ladies [photos & videos]
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/yes-virtua-fighters-sarah-and-pai-
has-bikini-costumes-just-like-the-rest-of-the-doa5-ladies-photos-videos/
By KarbyP on September 22nd, 2012
Yes, Virtua Fighter’s Sarah Bryant and Pai Chan will get
bikini costumes, too, like the rest of the female cast in Dead
or Alive 5 (including newcomer Mila).
11
September 22nd, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
Of course, don’t buy a fighting game just because it has girls
in bikinis.
Here, let Dead or Alive 5 producer Yosuke Hayashi and Team
Razer pro gamer Fuudo (Street Fighter, Virtua Fighter) show
you the finer points of Dead or Alive 5 in a real match:
The above video was part of an exhibition tournament held
between Dengeki Online and the developers of the game,
Team Ninja. This is actually the second time Dengeki Online
has done an exhibition tournament with Team Ninja, and so
they’ve taken to calling this a “revenge match”.
Some more matches between Dengeki Online and Team
Ninka (with the DOA5 girls in bikinis, to boot):
Source: Dengeki Online, Tecmo Koei
12
September 27th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
SGCafe : Cosplay | Vocaloid | Otaku | Pop Culture
A daily publication about Cosplay, Vocaloid, Otaku
and Japanese Pop Culture
TGS2012 – Cosplayers galore
[Part 1]
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/tgs2012-cosplayers-galore-part-1/
By sentinel011 on September 27th, 2012
Cosplayers are a staple in Tokyo Game Show, and we
managed to take a couple of cosplayers around the hall. The
standard of cosplay is not too far off from Singapore, we feel.
Of course, most of the cosplayers dress up as characters
from game series. From Final Fantasy to Monster Hunter to
Resident Evil and even Street Fighter, cosplayers add a little
bit more flavour to Tokyo Game Show.
With that, enjoy the pictures!
1
September 27th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
More pictures in our gallery below:
2
September 27th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
(Photos by Ivan Lee)
TGS2012: Cure Cosplay
Collection Night rocks the
evening with 200 cosplayers
participating
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/tgs2012-cure-cosplay-collection-
night-rocks-the-evening-with-200-cosplayers-participating/
By sentinel011 on September 27th, 2012
Cosplay is an integral part of anime and game conventions,
and what better way to have a segment catered to cosplay at
a games convention? We check out the many great cosplays
not only from Japan, but from Thailand, Philippines and
USA too.
Here’s a collection of some of the pictures within the Cosplay
Collection Night!
3
September 27th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
More pictures can be found in our gallery below:
4
September 27th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
5
September 27th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
6
September 27th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
(Photos by Ivan Lee)
Game Review: Borderlands 2
– GUNS! GUNS! GUNS!
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/game-review-borderlands-2-guns-
guns-guns/
By sentinel011 on September 27th, 2012
Is it a problem that I find Tiny Tina, Borderlands 2’s insane
explosives expert, to be the most hilarious 13-year old girl
ever? Should I be worried for my mental state of health that
I sided with a group of hillbilly hicks who sleep with their
cousins over the wee Irish-sounding folk of Overlook?
Probably. But with as much fun as I have with 2K’s latest
outing in Borderlands 2, I don’t think I give much of a damn.
Read on for whether this wins it a great score.
The four hunters are hulked up versions of the first game’s
own four heroes. Each comes with their own unique skill –
Salvador the gunzerker flips out two guns and goes akimbo,
eventually able to dual wield even rocket launchers. Axton
deploys a portable turret that dishes out damage while also
buffing allies within its reach. Maya’s phaselock ability stops
one enemy dead in its tracks for allies to either blast away at
or slow down while dealing with others. And finally Zer0’s
deception skill stealth’s him and powers up his next attack.
7
September 27th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
with the Italian artist behind lifestyle brand tokidoki to see
what he has to say to his fans this year!
Having been a regular guest at STGCC since the very first
time the event was held here, we asked Simone just what
it was that kept him coming back to our little island and
found out, to our pleasant surprise, that it was not out
of obligation that he returned annually; in fact, he enjoys
STGCC immensely, and tells us how amazing it is that
everyone is so enthusiastic. The artist also revealed that he
loves coming to Singapore to shop, as well as to meet new
people!
If there’s a problem, it’s that the guns guns guns mantra
may have been taken a bit too far. Eventually players will
find several amazing weapons to hang on to, and then it
becomes a case of popping open chests in the vain hope
that something new and even more amazing shows up. It
doesn’t help that while it is easy to compare weapons side
by side, everything boils down to comparing arrows. So a
new shotgun I picked up does less damage and shoots fewer
pellets, but it has greater accuracy and a faster reload speed.
Or this one might do equal damage, but has a spread that
makes even Moxxi’s loose reputation seem positively saintly
in comparison. After a while, it gets tiring staring at green For Simone, inspiration can come from anything at all. He
and red arrows, and loot is going to be left rotting on the tells us that his idea for Sandy and the rest of her pals from
floor. the series Cactus Friends, for instance, came to him from
the time he had spent near a desert. The craziest type of
character he has created thus far is a monster-type, bound
for a commercial that he can’t yet reveal to us. The illustrator
added that, for some reason, he is especially fond of to
mixing violent and cute themes together.
Character ideas can also be based on things that he really
likes. The Royal Pride series, Simone tells us, was influenced
by underground punk rock and fast cars. He does have much
more up his sleeve, however! When we asked if he could
share with us the secret to churning out character after
lovable character for tokidoki, Simone only could tell us that
it all came from his own ‘secret stash’. Guess we’ll have to
Borderlands 2 is a winner. The humor keeps coming fast and wait to see what he’ll surprise us with next!
furious, loot is plentiful, and the raid bosses are an amazing Simone does not only stop there as he too thought of creating
idea for co-op Vault Hunters. While the main game might be video game base on the character Sandy from the Cactus
over quickly, there’s no doubt that it is fun as hell while the Friends series. Perhaps a plot base type he told us with all
ride lasts. smiles and enthusiasm, but sadly due to the many project at
Read up our full review here! hand, it would still be in the thought process until further
notice.
STGCC Interview Exclusive: As it is still too early to say for Simone Legno on what
new products that we could expect from tokidoki, he told
Simone Legno us that they are but a small company who are too busy and
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/stgcc-interview-exclusive-simone- already with many projects on hand that. Aside from that
legno/ they are expecting something big from what we have found
By Rika on September 27th, 2012 out, though it is still under confidential, that much we found
out.
Simone however would love to collaborate with Star
Wars being that it is one of his all time favorite and
having work with other productions like Marvel and Street
Fighter in 2010. Also if you are wondering about possible
collaborations that he is interested in from the J-Culture
side, he told us that if given a chance, he would like to
try working on tokidoki x Japanese robots style or even
something smaller out of from.
His wish though that in 5 years time, he hoped that tokidoki
Known for his quirky, playful character designs, Simone would be in the other countries around the World.
Legno is a familiar name to returning visitors. We sit down
8
September 27th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
simplicity of the moves now gives players slightly more game
TGS 2012 – DmC: Devil may variation in terms of moves, especially air combos with the
Cry game play impressions Devil/Angel Pull functions.
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/tgs-2012-dmc-devil-may-cry-game-
play-impressions/
By sentinel011 on September 27th, 2012
With Capcom remaking its Devil May Cry franchise, it makes
fans wonder if appealing to girl gamers by making the male
leads look like Robert Pattinson from Twilight. However, can
the game play save Ninja Theory’s DmC and its stigma and
please the fans? We let our hands-on experience will decide.
While ultimately we are fairly satisfied with the new DmC,
we did not play enough to understand most of the story,
to understand why Dante’s hair was black initially, not
to mention he now looks like a teenager overdosing on
drugs. Alas, we shall wait for the full game to be released for
the consoles on January 15, 2013 for the PS3 and XBOX360.
The long going Devil May Cry franchise began early since
Playstation 2′s launch, with the entire concept of this TGS 2012 – Metal Gear
awesome demon hunter who has a dark history of his own.
Much have since passed, with some hits (Devil May Cry 3)
Rising: Revengeance tested
and misses (cue Devil May Cry 2). First impressions of the and impressions
character designs already put most fans off. But after since Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/tgs-2012-metal-gear-rising-
a game play trailer revealed at past game conventions, a revengeance-tested-and-impressions/
couple of fans are willing to give it another chance. By sentinel011 on September 27th, 2012
DmC: Devil may Cry is an alternate reality where Dante look The first playable demo for Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
like he is still right smack in high school, despite being 20. takes place in this year’s Tokyo Game Show. We often hear
Dante’s signature white hair replaced by dark coff of short that Metal Gear Rising isn’t canon just because it lacks the
black hair, still wields a sword and 2 guns. However, certain sneaky approach all other previous Metal Gear games are.
game play changes have been made, and while we found the How does it fare on our demo test?
moves familiar, the method to pull off these moves aren’t. We found this experience to be irrelevant, as what we
feel brings the best Metal Gear experience would be its
storytelling and the way the cut scenes are portrayed –
flashy and awesome, yet down to earth (to a certain extent).
However, since Metal Gear Solid 2, I’ve been wondering on
how wonderful if Raiden could have a hack-and-slash game,
as the typical espionage game prevents him from dishing
out his flashy swordsman moves we all see in numerous cut
scenes.
Jumping is still X button, as with shooting with the Square
button. Triangle buttons are your standard attacks, while
the Circle button allows you to do alternate melee attacks.
L2 initiates Angel mode, and depending on which button
you press you can fire out a chain to pull yourself towards
your enemy or do some enemy crowd control with a large
blue scythe. The Devil mode allows you to do powerful melee
attacks that break through shields with its gigantic red axe
and pulls your enemies toward you. Enough about that, let’s now focus on the game itself. As
Dodging is different now; you press L1 or R1 to dodge either mentioned, this isn’t the typical espionage game that the
left or right. Gone are the days where you have to hold L1, X Metal Gear Solid franchise is known for. Metal Gear Rising
button and your left analog stick to roll side to side. While is a third person hack-and-slash game, much like Platinum
it might seem easier on paper, implementing this system for Games own Bayonetta.
seasoned DMC players will prove quite a bit of challenge. The
9
September 27th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
Gameplay is tight, fluid, and looks pretty darn awesome in All in all, we feel that this 15 minute demo shed light on how
our demo. Despite the lack of anti-aliasing most PC gamers great this game is turning out to be. Purists of the Metal Gear
are used to nowadays, Metal Gear Rising still looks very Solid series should stick to the espionage type of games, if
good. Environments are detailed, and everything still looks they feel so compelled to give this particular game a miss.
and feels like a standard Metal Gear game. But however, we feel that many Metal Gear fans who simply
want to enjoy game franchise’ greatness for what it is, that
is its story and art direction, we feel that they will not be
disappointed.
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance will be out in stores for its
US release on February 19, 2013 for the PS3.
STGCC Interview Exclusive:
Jason Paz
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/stgcc-interview-exclusive-jason-paz/
By Rika on September 27th, 2012
The game’s pretty straightforward, with Square and Triangle
buttons as standard slashing moves, X to jump, and R1
to dash. Of course, there is the ‘Free Cutting’ mode where
you can time your slashes with a press of your button.
Holding L1 allows you to go onto the mode, and flicking
your right analog stick will have your sword cut towards that
direction. For example, you hold the right analog stick up,
and then let it go in a swift motion much like flicking your
finger downwards on your smartphone; your sword will cut
downwards. It takes quite a bit of practice to get it right,
though.
We were given the opportunity on Saturday to be able to
There can be no dodge. Offense is the best defense! interview Jason Paz, a new addition to Marvel’s stable of
Blocking or parrying is another skill you need to master. remarkable talent. A man filled with passion for illustrative
By pressing the direction of your opponent’s attack on your art, Jason was more than willing to share with us his feelings,
left analog stick and Square at the same time, you can inspiration and influences.
effectively parry most attacks. You can only block, not parry, Still in the last year of his contract with Marvel, the artist is
attacks like those from Gekkos. We feel that the Boss fight ever eager to absorb and learn as much as he can. His early
with LQ-84i, the robotic dog with an optical neuro AI is exposure to the public came in the form of art competitions
best played by parrying its attacks when it rushes you with a where his talent first gained recognition, and subsequently
Hyper Mode charge attack, as it gives you more chances to Jason joined comic studio giant Marvel as an inker. Jason
inflict damage onto it. The chainsaw fitted onto its back can told us his greatest influence is Carlo Pagulayan, a fellow
be attached to its tail when it’s not doing its charge attack. It artist who Jason frequently works with, and his idol is none
is able to do sweep and hack attacks at you. other than Bryan Hitch of The Ultimates fame, with whom
he had the honor of working with, alongside other artists
like Stephane Roux. His working experience, Jason said, has
been nothing but awesome thus far, and one day he hopes
for more opportunities to work with more artists, especially
those from DC.
We noticed there are different bars for you to equip certain
items such as grenades, as shown in the demo. Items can
be obtained by hitting specific types of boxes throughout
the game. To equip an item, press the Select button and go
to the tab that enables you to highlight the item you have While he was in Singapore, we asked Jason about his
just obtained. To use the grenade, we have to press L2 to impression of the AMC drama series, “The Walking Dead”,
ready the grenade and R1 to release it. There’s a guided Frank Darabont’s television adaptation of the comic series
trajectory showing you where it will land. We believe that by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard. He
there are more items where you can equip to give Raiden found it was much more realistic than what readers of the
various power ups and boosts, perhaps greater agility, speed comics would be familiar with, and the producer had given
armor or damage? an added depth to the characters and overall story that was
not found in the original series.
10
September 27th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
When asked his impression of the artists who had gathered always been a point of fascination and deep interest for him.
at the event, Jason exclaimed that there is an amazingly wide We wish him the best of luck in his work!
pool of talent to be found here!
K-On After-School Tea-time
STGCC Interview Exclusive: Vehicle Navigation System
Stephen Segovia Announced
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/stgcc-interview-exclusive-stephen-
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/k-on-after-school-tea-time-vehicle-
segovia/
navigation-system-announced/
By Rika on September 27th, 2012
By shia on September 27th, 2012
It Media has just announced that RWC will be collaborating
with K-on to present the K-on! After School Tea-Time
Navigation System.
We spoke with Stephen Segovia, an up-and-coming Filipino
artist under an exclusive contract to Marvel, whose talent
has graced the covers of “Dark Wolverine Vol. 1, #77”, “Iron
Man Thor Vol. 2, #2”, and “Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk”.
When asked when exactly it was that he realized he had
finally made an achievement, Stephen told us it was during
the two months’ break after “Thor: The Deviant Saga”. Later,
when he was asked to work on “Xtreme X-men”, that he
finally felt that he was important and he felt really fortunate
to receive the job.
If given the choice between DC and Marvel, the former has
Stephen’s vote. His favorite characters in the DC universe
are none other than the Batman and Nightwing, his reason
being that he feels they are more realistic and easier to relate The Navigation system will guide users via the voices of 5
to, relying on their own skills as well as a variety of ingenious K-On members, Yui, Mio, Ritsu, Mugi and Azusa. The 5
inventions to aid them instead of superhuman powers. girls will also talk amongst themselves occasionally as the
driver drives. An example of the voice is shown the picture
below(with translations).
Character
Stephen finds the arts scene here in Singapore to be Azusa : Please drive safely
extremely vibrant, brimming with the talents of so many Character + K-On Members
artists of all kinds, from graffiti to fine art, and the Azusa : We have reached the destination. Thank you for the hard
work(In driving).
illustrator jokingly told us he wished to be reincarnated as
a Singaporean in his next lifetime so he could experience Yui : Thank you for the hard work. Azu-nyan worked hard too.
what it is like here. He also said it was an enjoyable time
Azusa : Th-Thank you very much.
seeing visitors cosplay at the event even though it is not
As the user drives more , he/she will unlock more new icons
explicitly stated to be part of the program, and was very
and memorial album pictures.
impressed by the hard work and attention to detail put
into their outfits. The cosplay community, he observed, is
continuously growing here, just like the comic scene.
As his work has primarily focused on existing characters thus
far, we asked him if he had any ideas for an original creation.
Stephen told us he wished to create a character based on
the samurai if given the chance, as the Japanese culture has
11
September 27th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
K-on! After School Tea-Time Navigation System is on sale
now online at the Princely Sum of 39,800 Yen at the
following address.
The device is detachable and comes with it’s own specially
crafted case, along with a stylus that shaped in the neck of Source : ITMedia , OHP , Manufacturer OHP
Yui’s Guitar.
This fits snugly into a carrying pouch that looks like the
Sakura High school schoolbag that the girls tote around.
“Puchimas – Petit Idolm@ster
-” comic to receive anime
adaptaion
Source: http://sgcafe.com/2012/09/puchimas-petit-idolmster-comic-to-
receive-anime-adaptaion/
By KarbyP on September 27th, 2012
K-on! After School Tea-Time Navigation System comes It’s not quite the second season of Idolm@ster anime that
with : some fans had hoped for, but in many ways this is even
better. Yesterday at TGS Yozo Sakagami, producer-in-chief
• The navigation device for the entire Idolm@ster series, announced that Dengeki
Maoh’s Im@s spin-off comic, Puchimas, would be adapted
• Original crafted clear case, into an anime series.
• A stylus shaped as the neck of Yui’s guitar The four-panel comic series by manga artist Akane is about
• Sakura High School Carrying Case “puchi-idols” – cuddly caricatures of the main Idolm@ster
cast – who are kept as pets by various members of the
• AC Adapter
765 Productions office. Voice actresses or seiyuus for the
• Cigar DC Adapter ensemble cast will voice not only their original characters,
• USB Cable but also their respective puchi-idols. For instance, Asami
Imai will voice both Chihaya and the puchi-idol Chihya.
• Suction Cup stand
• Quick reference guide
• Decoration Stickers
12
September 27th, 2012 Published by: VR-Zone
Puchimas’s OP, which you heard in the trailer above, is
entitled La La La Wonderland, and it will be released as a
CD single on November 28. No date has been given for the
anime series itself, but more details on it will be published
in the next issue of Dengeki Maoh this month.
Outside of the Puchimas news, Sakagami also lifted the veil
on a slew of Idolmaster announcements.
As the stage event was themed after the fictional Namassuka
Sunday TV programme as seen in the Idolm@ster anime
series, there were a few other activities as well, including a
Hibiki Challenge and, of course, live performances from the
personalities in attendence: Manami Numakura (Hibiki),
Asami Imai (Chihaya), Yumi Hara (Takane).
A full report on the Namassuka Sunday stage event will come
soon on SGCafe, so stay tuned for more.
13
