Dubbed a “sci-fi manga,” Bokurano initiates the tale of fifteen kids whose lives are altered by a chance meeting. A strange man in a seaside cave invites them to play a cutting-edge video game that pits giant robots against alien invaders. But they have to sign a contract first.  And when the purpose of their agreement is revealed, the game stops being fun.  

 

 

 

Attention Fullmetal Alchemist fans! This is your chance to win a free trip to Comic-Con International 2010. Here are the details straight from FUNimation. Read carefully. 

 

 

If you missed Bibo Bergeron’s (The Road to El Dorado, Shark Tale) 2011 animated musical-adventure, you’re not alone.  Unfortunately, the film was never released theatrically in the U.S.  However, you can watch it now, as Shout! Factory has released the film in a two-disc Blu-ray 3D combo pack.  The set includes Blu-ray 3D and 2D, DVD and a digital copy of the movie compatible with PC, MAC, iTunes, iPhone and AppleTV.

 

 

Much like its title, Real is about just that: the gravity of reality. Here, Takehiko Inoue returns to his well-known court of basketball. But instead of the usual hype and trash talkin’ that follows effortless skill, we find the challenges behind wheelchair basketball. 

By Stu Horvath

Last year, we investigated the game development program at the NYU Game Center. Founded in 2008, the center specializes in games-focused study for undergrads and grad students, but so far has only offered an undergraduate minor. Late last year, the center announced it will launch a master’s program starting in fall 2012. We spoke with director Frank Lantz about the now even-more-promising future of gaming at NYU.

Watch It On AWN TV!

At the Pixar Q&A, directors Maciek Szczerbowski and Chris Lavis talk about the journey of the title character in their film Madame Tutli-Putli.

I met with Linda Simensky, the Vice-President for Children’s Programming at PBS. We had strawberries and tea as she graciously shared her 20-years experience on the international scene in public broadcasting, what produced locally stays local and what gets to go international. (More about that later). But things got ugly when I asked her to define “edutainment”. Here was her response:

 

 

On June 1, 2010, this rare fan-selected artwork will be released to the public. 

 

 

On May 4^th 2010, the anime version of Shungiku Nakamura’s best-selling yaoi (boy’s love) manga will be available. This DVD collection contains the entire 12-episode first season, video extras, and a 24-page booklet with character bios and artwork.

 

 

By Matt Ployhar

In my last blog, I talked about a spring-cleaning I did on my contacts database and observed the number of companies that have either gone defunct or underwent massive layoffs since the downturn in the economy.

This got me thinking about how or why some ISVs seem to have weathered the storm better than others.

The most interesting transitions occurring are the ones that are completely disrupting multiple platforms and business models simultaneously. However, while I’ve heard some ISVs complain about the big shifts and transitions, I’ve also heard others discussing how to embrace these shifts as an opportunity. Some platforms seem to be better positioned than others in order to address these changes. When all is said and done, it will likely end up being a survival-of-the-fittest exercise.

Here’s how I view and summarize the biggest macro-shifts impacting the games industries. There are four big standouts for me: mobile, format and business model evolutions, globalization, and innovation game-changers. We’ll start with the largest macro-shifts occurring on devices, and in subsequent blogs I’ll cover the rest of the list.