Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 17, 2009 in Videogames
And of course you know that Futo is the largest of the Mini Ninjas! But if you didn’t know that this Edios games looks might be worth keep track of — it’s due out in September and will be eventually be available on the PC, Xbox, Playstation3, Wii and Nintendo DS. In the game Join Hiro embarks on an epic quest to “restore harmony to a world on the brink of chaos”. To battle a magical army of evil Samurai you have to use all of your hard earned Ninja training skills. I just love the look of this game, you can tell that developer Io-Interactive had fun with the details as seen in these screen shots: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 17, 2009 in Science
This is an interesting Science Now segment from the PBS series Nova on doing unmanned lunar exploration on a low budget. It shows how a team working on the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) used every day items to create a payload experiment that would look for traces of water on the moon. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 16, 2009 in Science
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the first mission to land astronauts on the moon NASA has released a freshly restored video from the July 20, 1969 live television broadcast of the Apollo 11 moonwalk. This initial release is part of a larger Apollo 11 moonwalk restoration project and features 15 key moments from the lunar mission. Read more…
This Star Trek USB Communicator is more than a toy that plugs into your computer, it’s in fact a fully functional microphone and earphone that will work with Skype, MSN, AIM and iChat! Better yet it features the official Star Trek chip sound when you open it up along with 21 uthentic sound effects. Now my preference would be for a wireless version of this, but with a 6 foot long USB cable I think you’ll be able to move about your command station in comfort. Read more…
What you’re seeing is not in fact a normal lens cleaner, but in fact is shaped like ladies underwear. It’s the latest gimmick that’s packed with the latest issue of Megastore magazine which is a Bishōjo themed publication aimed at Japanese fanboys. The publisher brags that this is an industry first for lads mags — and as such if you’re easily offended you may not want to look any further:Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 16, 2009 in Science
After several days of waiting Endeavour took off last night for the International Space Station. Part of me loves it anytime a spacecraft takes off and especially when it’s a safe and smooth launch — but another part of me regrets that it’s the year 2009 and NASA is still stuck with a vehicle that was designed in the 70s. But my hat is off to Commander Mark Polansky for a safe trip and return. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 16, 2009 in Animation
If you ever want to see what Pixar does right, take a look at the competition! This trailer for Despicable Me is like a free animation course in how to get a near miss. The first thing you notice is that even though there’s some bounce to the animation (called ‘anticipation’) the comedic results are telegraphed and slow, so you don’t catch yourself laughing. On another level the sound effects sound like they’re from a library and you can tell that the voice actors are just regular screen actors with no audible character traits to their vocals. The results is a mediocre mass of mush that’s destined for the drug store value DVD bin in less than six months. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 15, 2009 in Animation
The Japanese website for the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha film (魔法少女リリカルなのは) just went live today. Nanoha started life as a spin-off of the Triangle Heart anime series — what makes the show unique is that unlike other shows in the magical girl genre Nanoha actually features physical combat (well as physical as animated characters can get). This first film is logically titled Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha The MOVIE 1st and features a parallel history story: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 15, 2009 in Animation
It’s frankly amazing for me to think that Pokémon: The First Movie came out over ten years ago — the release date was July 18, 1998 in Japan, which was followed by an opening in the United States in November of 1999. For a generation of fanboys (and fangurls) this would be their first introduction to the world of anime. This film would be the high point of Pokémonmania, although a shocking 11 other films have been produced not to mention countless TV episodes (605 and continuing!) since 1997. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 15, 2009 in Animation, Fandom
In what seems to be a growing trend of politicians coming out of the closet to embrace their fanboy roots in Japan it seems that Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Shigeru Ishiba (石破 茂) has announced to the public that he is an otaku and proud of it! Ishiba made the announcement on a radio show in which he sited growing up with AstroBoy and being a huge fan of Space Battleship Yamato which is known as Star Blazers in the United States. Least you think that Ishiba is a slacker he did hold the position of Minister of Defence of Japan for a year and was up for the Liberal Democratic Party presidency in 2008.
