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To Heart medley (3:46) - Kaoru Wada Adobe Flash Player required. |
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Although not revered on the level of the Street Fighter gaming franchise, SNK Playmore's, The King of Fighters series has a very dedicated and passionate fan following. The fighting game seemed to strike a chord in Hong Kong in particular, where a manhua series was created by Andy Seto, debuting with the publication of The King of Fighters: Zillion. Wing Yang and King Tung, two artists that also hail from Hong Kong, would go on to adapt further manhua after Andy Seto’s initial work. This publishing duo is responsible for a long running series of graphic novels based on the popular fighting game series, which include manhua adaptations for The King of Fighters 2001-2003, as well as The King of Fighters Maximum Impact series. Fans of Wing Yang and King Tung’s work on The King of Fighters manhua series are in for a real treat this year, thanks to the folks at DrMaster Publications. |
At E3 2006, Square Enix announced the multi-platform project, Final Fantasy XIII: FABULA NOVA CRYSTALLIS, which in Latin, translates to, “the new tale of the crystal.” The company went into detail and explained that this project would in fact encompass multiple video game titles released on different gaming platforms. So far, three games have been officially announced; two for the PlayStation 3 and one for mobile phones. All three games will feature different characters and settings, but will all be encompassed within the Final Fantasy XIII: FABULA NOVA CRYSTALLIS universe. Over the past year and a half, a couple of teaser trailers have been released for the two PlayStation 3 titles, which fans have obviously been salivating over. A couple of new extended trailers have recently been leaked into the online community and, well what more can I say, just keep reading and you may be rewarded. |
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-- Justin Sevakis at Anime News Network has written an open letter to the anime industry, in which he discusses some very touchy subjects, chief among those, being the issue of fansubs. His editorial is a very thorough and informative read, and gives some great insight into an industry that is at a crossroads. -- Bandai Entertainment’s recent acquisition of Lucky Star, will have the company partnering up with Kadokawa Pictures once again for a North American release. These two companies joined forces most recently with The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, which turned out to be a huge hit on this side of the Pacific. Will they experience the same success with Lucky Star, which is one of the most popular anime series in Japan right now? -- ADV Films has recently made the first episode of Pumpkin Scissors available for viewing on the multimedia news site, IGN. This new Studio Gonzo and AIC co-production, is one of the strongest anime titles to be released in North America this fall. -- Check out our exclusive interviews with Julie Ann Taylor, Kari Wahlgren, Stephanie Sheh and Patrick Seitz. |
From a sales and fan perspective, video game music has always been very popular in Japan, with a huge fan base in the West as well. The music used in Role-playing games in particular, has really struck a chord with people from around the world, because of their beautifully composed and arranged musical scores. In the late 90’s, with the growing popularity of video game music in North America, numerous English websites popped up, with the hopes of spreading the gospel about VGM. One such site, was RPGFan, which has been around for years now, and they are still one of the best sites out there, with very extensive coverage of video game soundtracks. Flash Frame Omake recently did an interview with Patrick Gann, who is currently the Chief Soundtracks Editor at RPGFan. Anyone who is a fan of video game music needs to read this interview! It is an insightful look into the world of VGM as well as Patrick’s career, as a respected writer of video game music. |
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