Update : March 27th, 2003

First look on Ghost in the Shell 2 poster

Here's the first promotional piece of Ghost in the Shell 2 : Innocence. (Courtesy of Aint-it-cool-news)

Spirited Away wins an Oscar and will be re-released

Spirited Away won an oscar for best animated feature last sunday, congratulations Mr. Miyazaki! Therefore, Disney has officially announced that Spirited Away re-released theatrically to 800 screens across America this Friday. This is roughly six times the number of theaters that were screening the film last September. Still, it is far less exposure than usual Disney animated movies.

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance confirmed for North America

Squaresoft confirmed that they will release Final Fantasy Tactics Advance for GameBoy Advance in North America later this year. No price or specific release date were given.



Update : March 20th, 2003

New Astro Boy Trailer

The Tokyo International Anime Fair website is now hosting a 3 minute long trailer (working with Windows Media Player) for the upcoming English language Astro Boy TV series. The TV series, in conjunction with the American live-action movie will commemorate Astro Boy's 40th anniversary. Click here for the link.

New english website of Onegai Please Teacher

Bandai has officially opened its official English language homepage for Please Teacher (Onegai Teacher). The debut in North America of Please Teacher DVD is scheduled on May 6th. Click here for the link.

Latest video games sales in Japan

Here's the latest Dengeki Top 10 list for video games sales during March 10th to March 16th of 2003. This week, Final Fantasy X-2 took easily the crown for the #1 spot. New games like GBA Zelda and Virtua Fighter 4 EVO also did well despite Final Fantasy's popularity.

1	Final Fantasy X-2	Squaresoft		1,543,494	NEW
2	Legend of Zelda : Four Sabers	Nintendo		105,100	NEW
3	Shin Sangoku Musou 3	Koei		86,087	(935,692)
4	Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution	Sega		57,402	NEW
5	Star Ocean 3 : Till the End of Time	Enix		20,765	(433,728)
6	Final Fantasy Tactics	Squaresoft		19,725	(365,936)
7	Kaido Battle	Genki		19,053	(104,151)
8	Taiko no Tatsujin (Drum Master)	Namco		18,955	(474,026)
9	Dragon Ball Z	Bandai		17,504	(510,741)
10	Chaos Legion	Capcom		15,097	(65,720)

Update : March 19th, 2003

Squaresoft hits big with Final Fantasy X-2

Last week, Squaresoft shipped 1.8 million copies of Final Fantasy X-2 to retail stores across Japan. Their preliminary goal is to sell 2 million copies. Its previous release, Final Fantasy X, sold 2.5 million copies in Japan and 5.5 million worldwide. In North America (and maybe Europe), Final Fantasy X-2 should be released before the end of the year. So another hit for Squaresoft's successful track record and their last game before the beginning of Square-Enix.



Update : March 11th, 2003

Berserk Manga finally licensed

Dark Horse Comics in conjunction with Digital Manga announced that Berserk (the manga), from creator Kentaro Miura, has finally been licensed for being translated in english. One of the most eagerly anticipated manga properties in recent years, Berserk was originally published in Japan by Hakusensha and has been serialized in Young Animal Magazine since the early 1990's. An animated TV series followed in 1998 and Media Blasters started to release it in the U.S. in 2002. The manga should begin in the fall 2003. Each volume will read from right to left and the original Japanese sound effects will remain intact.

New website for Cowboy Bebop : The Movie

Sony pictures opened a new website for Cowboy Bebop : The Movie. There will be a limited theatrical release on April 4th. Here's the link for the website : http://www.sonypictures.com/cthe/cowboybebop/

In a related news, Suncoast Motion Picture Company claims that the Cowboy Bebop movie DVD will hit stores across North America on June 24th with a $39.99 US retail price.



Update : March 5th, 2003

Metal Gear remake for the Gamecube

Konami has confirmed they will do a remake of Metal Gear Solid for the Nintendo GameCube console. Shigeru Miyamoto (Mario's creator) is working with Konami on this project.

ATI to work on Nintendo's next console

ATI Technologies announced they have signed an agreement with Nintendo to co-develop a graphic hardware for Nintendo's next console system. Previously, ATI Technologies helped Nintendo to create the Gamecube graphic chip set.



Update : February 24th, 2003

Sega and Sammy announces merger

Sega and Sammy announced that the two companies will merge on October 1st, 2003. Sammy's president, Hajime Satomi will become the president of the new company. Sega will hold 54% stocks of the new company and Sammy will hold 46%. The merger agreement should be signed by the end of May. This is not that much of a surprise since Sega had many financial problems over the past years and they needed a financial boost to pursue their restructuration. Sammy, on the other hand, is a wealthy enterprise, making most of his profits from Pachinko machines (very popular in Japan). They are also well known for their hit 2D fighting video game, Guilty Gear X.

Next Dead or Alive to be online

Tecmo mentioned that their upcoming Xbox title Dead or Alive : Code Cronus will have full support of Xbox Live. More info should surface at this year's E3.

Konami to continue the Castlevania series on PS2

Konami announced that their classic franchise will debut on the PlayStation 2 in the fall of 2003. The project will be headed by Koji Igarashi, the same producer of Castlevania : Symphony of the Night for the PlayStation 1 and Castlevania : Harmony of Dissonance and Castlevania : Aria of Sorrow for the Game Boy Advance. They also mentioned that the game will be on display at this year's E3, which will be held at the Los Angeles Convetion Center on May 14-16.

Sony and the Broadband adapter

Sony announced that starting in May, the PlayStation Broadband Unit (Network Adapter + 40GB Hard Drive) will be available for sale in game shops across Japan. This is great news because the unit was extremely hard to get and previously you could only buy it through Sony's online shop.



Update : February 11th, 2003

Spirited Away nominated at the Oscars

Spirited Away has been nominated today in the category for best animated feature. This is the first Academy Award nomination for director Hayao Miyazaki. Other nominations went to Ice Age, Lilo & Stich, Spirit : Stallion of the Cimarron and Treasure Planet. Good Luck Spirited Away!

New Evangelion RPG game coming for PS2

Bandai announced that they are working on a new PlayStation 2 RPG based on the classic anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion, the game will be released by the end of the year. More info should be available in the coming weeks.

New promotion when buying a Gamecube

Nintendo of America announced a special GameCube promotion; from now on, those who purchase a Gamecube system will receive one of the following games for free: Resident Evil 0, Star Fox Adventures, Metroid Prime, or Mario Party 4.



Update : February 3rd, 2003

New commercial for Zone of Enders 2

Konami has released a new TV commercial for their new PS2 action game Zone of the Enders 2 : Anubis. The game is scheduled to be released in Japan on February 13th, for 6800 yen.

Click here for the link (~6 megs).

Final Fantasy X-2 pre-order

DigiCube has begun accepting reservations for the upcoming Final Fantasy X-2 game for the PlayStation 2. Those who pre-order the game in advance will receive a special Yuna Cellular Phone Strap. Final Fantasy X-2 will go on sale in Japan on March 13th, for 7800 yen. Squaresoft hopes to sell at least 1 million copies of Final Fantasy X-2 just the first day.





Update : January 28th, 2003

Finally, good news for Xbox in Japan

The Japanese launch of Dead or Alive Xtreme Volleyball seemed to have gone very well, with 72,881 copies sold in the first day. The event was so important, Japanese gamers had to wait in lines outside (in the rain) to get their game. This is great news for Tecmo and a good sign for future Xbox games. Dead or Alive is a worldwide franchise hit and the volleyball game is no exception. Go Team Ninja!



For your information, Japanese gamers were very anxious about this release because when you pre-ordered the game, many interesting goodies were given alongside, take a look at the pictures below.



Another positive sign was Xbox Live, it made a good impact in sales resulting a place in the Top 10. The Japanese packaging was extremely appealing; Phantasy Star Online Episode I and II was included in the kit. I guess that's the kind of move you had to do if you want Japanese gamers to buy an american console. Microsoft has a lot to do in 2003 to gain more Japanese gamers on their side.






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