Posted by Michael Pinto on Jun 13, 2009 in Japanese TV
It was only a matter of time until virral video marketing found a way to Japan — in this case this ad campaign is for Fit’s Gum which is manufactured by Lotte. I have to say that the dance music is rather catchy and i like the added touch of the secondary dancers: The first who is a mannequin and the second girl in the dog outfit. By the way you’ll notice the ever so cute Akita Inu doggie in the lower right corner of one of the spots. Read more…
On this day in 1916 film and TV producer Irwin Allen was born in New York City — in his career of over thirty years he created a slew of amazing show like Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Lost in Space, The Time Tunnel and Land of the Giants. In the 70s he turned his talents to disaster film, producing such classics as The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jun 11, 2009 in Videogames
I’ve been following the fame of Vocaloid software mascot Miku Hatsune via the dozens of fan videos from Japan for some time now, so it’s cool to see that Sega will be featuring her in an upcoming Sony PSP game. What’s great about the trailer above is that it almost reminds one of a classic old school MGM musical from back in the day, it’s my bet that after this game comes out that it’s only a matter of time until she stars in her own anime series (although she’s made some cameos so far). Read more…
There was a time in my life where the one thing I looked ahead to was the next Martin Scorsese film, and then in 2002 that was all take away for me. I spent about a year waiting for Gangs of New York and when it came out I found myself totally deflated. Most of the film was great except for one minor thing, and that would be Leonardo DiCaprio who in retrospect single handedly ruined what should have been a great film. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jun 11, 2009 in Videogames
Being the pivotal historic event of the 20th Century up until now I thought World War II had it all — but obviously that isn’t good enough for today’s consumer market so Activision went ahead and improved it by adding zombies! I honestly couldn’t complain about Call of Duty: World at War Map Pack 2 but my understanding of the franchise was that it prided itself on being historically accurate. I mean why not go all the way and add some werewolves and vampires too? Read more…
“The House slashed NASA’s manned space exploration $4 billion budget by 16 percent for 2010, as the White House will wait patiently to hear more of NASA’s plans once the shuttle fleet is retired. The $670 million cut will leave just $3.21 billion, which is less than what the U.S. space agency is working with already.” Read more…
If you came of age in the era of Pokémon prepare to feel like an old timer: Every generation has their entry level show which introduces them to the world of anime and the current hot show with the elementary school set is Bakugan Battle Brawlers (爆丸バトルブローラーズ ). With Bakugan there have already been over 50 episodes of the anime series aired in both Japan and North America with and additional 55 millions toys sold last year. So it’s no surprise that a videogame had to come out of this: Shown above is the trailer for the upcoming Bakugan game which is due out later this year for the Wii and DS. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jun 9, 2009 in Star Trek
As cool as the iPhone seems to be getting these days there’s still a certain magic to the original communicator from the original Star Trek series. While you can’t sync this Star Trek Communicator Keychain with iTunes it does include eight sound effects from the original crew of the Enterprise. And of course the famous opening noise too! Read more…
Dr. Tezuka: He's smiling in this photo, but I don't think he would be pleased with this game.
I could be wrong: Astro Boy may just turn out the be the very best animated film of 2009. But sadly everything I’ve seen makes me think otherwise — and this teaser trailer for the videogame based on the film is the latest example. It just looks like they a sprite of Astro Boy and chucked him into some pre-existing generic 3D game engine. There no charm that one might associate with the cute boy robot of yore, just tons of things that seem to need to be beaten up for no reason at all. I’ll never guess why the estate of Tezuka didn’t insist on creative control, it’s as if the crown anime jewels of Japan have been turned into cheap throw away trinkets. Well with any luck this won’t kill the franchise for more than a decade or so…
