News: 7th Manga Taisho Awards & Nominees

The 7th Manga Taisho Awards has begun with its committee choosing this iteration's 10 nominees.  In English, the title of the awards translates to "Grand Cartoon Prize."  It was established to promote newer manga titles, and the committee is composed of bookstore owners overseeing their respective stores' manga.  Any manga from 2013 and with 8 or less volumes in the series are eligible for the prize.  A second round of voting will determine who the winner is for 2014.  On March 27, an award ceremony will take place for the announcement of the winner.

[Updated] News: Double Fine's Broken Age Backers & Official Release

Double Fine has announced the official release date for their point and click adventure for the regular public.  Kickstarter backers will be getting Part 1 early, but the rest of us will have to wait until January 28.  The option to pre-purchase is already available on Steam with a 10% special promotion.  It will be for Windows, Mac, and Linux.  Part 2 will be coming later this year as a free update.

• Pre-purchase Broken Age: $22.49
• Pre-purchase Broken Age + Soundtrack: $26.99

[Original story]...

News: SimCity Offline Mode

Update 10 for Maxis's SimCity will provide a single-player option for those wanting it.  There was a lot of heat and anger thrown the developers' way when the game was released last year on March 5th.  An always-online requirement was something people had complained about day one.  Players will finally get their wishes fulfilled, having the ability to load and save whenever they please.  General manager, Patrick Buechner, made the announcement in a blog post.  He said more details will be revealed later and to keep an eye on future blog posts.  With this new update, modders will have more freedom to create and implement game mods into SimCity.

News: New Sgt. Frog Anime in March

For those who loved the crazy antics of the alien frogs from Sgt. Frog series, you'll be happy to know that a new television anime for it will be airing in March 22.  It will be called Keroro, and Haruki Kasugamori will be directing it at animation studio Sunrise.  Another studio, Gathering, will be helping in the animation as well.  The original cast from the first series will return.  No details on the story have been provided yet, and how long the anime will run has not been stated.

I'm not really familiar with Sgt. Frog; I've only read the first manga volume and barely watched 2-3 episodes of the first anime.  It's comedy was a bit over-the-top zany and not something I usually prefer.  It did elicit a few good laughs, however, so maybe I'll pick it back up in the future.  The Sgt. Frog manga by Mine Yoshizaki was first adapted into an anime in 2004, and it ran for 358 episodes.  The series was licensed and released in North America by Funimation Entertainment.  Tokyopop picked up the manga and released 20 volumes before the company shut down.  Because of Sgt. Frog's popularity, five movie adaptions were also done.

*source and image from ANN

News: 2nd Season of Mushishi to Air in April

A 2nd season for the anime Mushishi was announced Sunday during the premiere of its one hour special, Mushishi Tokubetsu-hen: Hihamukage.  The special was an adaption of the original creator's, Yuki Urushibara's, two-chapter special manga spinoff, which Kodansha published in its Afternoon magazine.  The 2nd season will be called Mushishi: Zoku-Shou, or Mushishi: The Sequel Chapter, and it will air in April 2014.  It will reunite most of the original staff of the first series.  Animation Studio Artland will once again be handling the animation production; Hiroshi Nagahama returns as the director and series script supervisor.  Yuto Nakano will be reprising his role as the main character named Ginko, and Mika Doi will be the narrating voice again.

Feature: Video Game Pre-orders of 2014

When every new year begins, a fresh batch of release dates soon follow.  Teaser trailers and updates start flooding in as the developers inch closer to their deadlines.  Meanwhile, gamers flock to forums and websites to see the titles piling up, wondering what they should be adding to their pre-order lists.  If they were fortunate to escape the holiday sales unscathed, their wad of cash is sure to diminish as they explore the gaming possibilities of 2014.  We all like an assortment of genres, preferring one game mechanic over the other.  Will a particular video game give me countless hours of entertainment?  Will the gameplay be fluid and responsive?  Is the story going to be satisfying?  These and many more questions flutter through our heads as we peruse our gaming prospects.  I usually try to go where I’ll get my money’s worth; I don’t like risking day-one purchases on lesser known titles.  Reviews are my friend in most cases, but I like watching gameplay videos on the web to make a decision.  Solid controls, fresh combat, or a unique atmosphere are what I look for in any game.  An intriguing, well-written story is an aspect that sways my wallet a lot of the time as well.  Whether from Japan or from Western developers, RPGs is one of the first genres I check out.  Of course, others are attracted to the next shooters releasing, and some prefer the slower pacing of puzzle games.  However, with so many interesting games releasing this year, and with the varying degrees in what people like, I will only be focusing on the titles that have caught my eye.  As more announcements and dates surface, I may do an additional post in the future.

Wish my wallet was bigger.