WEEKLY STUFF E-ZINE #25-B (10-31-98) - Anime! Video Games! Manga! ^_^ Contents ^_^ 1.)A Few Crass Words From Kaneda 2.)Some Facts About MixxZine 3.)Dragon Ball Z: Third Season? Yeah, right. 4.)Anime Tidbits 5.)Sega Tidbits 6.)Nintendo 64: Zelda 64 News 7.)Nintendo 64: F-Zero X - Review 8.)Final Fantasy: The Movie 9.)Laws of Anime: Part 1 (of 2) 10.)Mailing List Technical Info ------------------------------------------------------------------ 1.) A Few Crass Words From Kaneda Is it just me, or is Gilbert Gottfried the single most annoying person on the face of your Earth? He's been a corrosion-proof lock, a parrot, a smoke detector, a radio DJ for the dead (The Tale of Radio Station 109.1, Are You Afraid Of The Dark, Cinar/YTV), and he's also been on the New Hollywood Squares. Oh my God, this guy's irritating. I don't take into consideration his personality, or his acting talent, I'm talking about his voice, OF COURSE. It sounds like a car stuck in a snowbank, trying to get traction and spinning its rear wheels. For all you people living in areas that don't get snow, that sounds kind of like a cat getting its legs torn off. If you wanted to see REALLY mindless hostility, that was it, folks. Now that I tihnk of it, there are myriad other celebrities with very annoying voices. Let me run through a few of them. - Tom Snyder - Fran Drescher - That sick girl in the NyQuil commercials who asks, "Why???" - That olympian who broke her ankle in Atlanta '96 and had her coach carry her out, what was her name? - Mike Tyson - That acne-ridden kid on The Simpsons (you know who I'm talking about.) - The English seiyuu for Mihoshi (Tenchi Muyo) - The English seiyuu for Ami (Sailor Moon) - The English seiyuu for Lina Inverse (Slayers) - That fat guy who laughs a lot who co-starred with a robot on some TV show in the early 80's... - That chick who's the lead singer for Aqua (HELIUM) If you have any suggestions for this list, TECHNICALLY you could e-mail them to me. Anyway, I guess that's it for now. Now go outside and play, you're wasting a life here! - Steve Diabo (Kaneda) kokomojoe@compuserve.com ------------------------------------------------------------------ 2.) Some Facts About MixxZine I recently was able to get a few questions answered by Ron Scovil Jr. about my favorite era of Mixx- Zine, the early issues!!! Adam: Why was Mixx-Zine started in the first place? Ron: Victor Chin who is the circulation director at Mixx and I had a company Studio Phoenix that did multimedia anime and manga projects. We met Stu at a video game trade show. He wanted to do manga and so did we so at thattime we decided to combine efforts. Adam: What went wrong early on in the company's creation? Ron: Hmm not much went wrong actually. Adam: Why was Issue 1 delayed and was there ever a 'Special Edition' Issue 1? Ron: #1 wasn't delayed We had to do the print to coincide more with a trade show and promotion. The special #1 just had a grey border. It should have had a gold border or silver NOT grey. Adam: Why all the changes in paper stock in issue 2? Ron: Costs..........and Stuart. It costs more to change. But there was impatience. THe color paper is how the manga magazines are in Japan. Adam : Why did Mixx-Zine go from 100 % manga (like Pulp, Animerica Extra, ect.) to having so many articles? Ron: Again Stuart wanting something more in line with making Mixx Entertainment for the new millineum. Mixx is never going to be 100% manga anymore ever. Adam: Why did MixxZine choose to cut there page count, charge the same price, make the Manga the 'Pocket Manga' size, double up the pages, and make it so your reading the pages is so awkwardly? Ron: Hahhah read eyeonmixx@anime-manga.net It is very well documented. Adam: Why is Mixx-zine shipped so poorly to subscribers? Ron: It is shipped better than most mags polybagged. Adam: Why is Graduation not avaible for stores (like Babbage) to special order? Ron: Stores do not know about the sim game line and trust it will sell.... Adam: How much of Parasyte has been cut? (chapters, and pages) Ron: Just a little blood not much else ~~ If you have an questions that you would like Ron to answer. Please, send them my way and I'll ask him. ablarnold@csi.com ~~ :===================================: This comes from the Eye on Mixx Webboard in a post by Felicia Becerra (koofuku@hotmail.com) Fighting 'hecklers' by moonlight Fooling adolescents by daylight Always running from a real fight He is the one named Stu Levy He will always turn his back on the fans He is always there to repremand He is the one on whom we can't depend He is the one named Stuart.... ......L ......E ......V ......Y With secret plans He thought were subtle to us He is the one named Stuart Levy Breaking hearts by moonlight Screwing SailorMoon manga by daylight Stealing money in his dishonest plight He is the one named Stuart Levy He is the one named Stuart Levy He is the one ... Stuart Levy ------------------------------------------------------------------ 3.) Dragon Ball Z: Third Season? Yeah, right. "The future of new DBZ episodes doesn't look good. I guess FUNimation's FAQ was right, they didn't make any new episodes of DBZ. Why do I say this? First, the two latest dubbed DBZ tapes by Pioneer were supposed to be released 10/13/98, instead they come out tommorrow (10/27/98). They are called Quest (ep. 41-43) and Trouble (ep. 44-46). Now this itself is no reason for alarm, but what I am about to say is. Today, I just received my new DB and DBZ mangas from VIZ. On the back is an ad for DBZ tapes from Pioneer. They tell the names of the last two volumes 16 and 17. They are The Ginyu Force (ep. 47- 49), and Super Saiyan!? (ep. 50-53). Sounds good right? Wrong. The last tape consists of four episodes (the last four) and not the usual three. What does that mean? Here is what I think. 1. FUNimation has not made any new episodes, and this is why Pioneer has been late with the tapes. 2. Therefore, that is why episode 53 is not saved for the next video. Because if 26 new shows were ordered, then episode 53 would have been added to the next set. 26 plus 1 equals 27. 27 divided by 3 equals 9. So if these new episodes were made. That would mean a total of 9 more tapes after volume 17. 3. So either Wuken has been duped or the Cartoon Network is feeding us bull. 4. One last posibility, Pioneer's ad is wrong. Let me know what you think. I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope I'm wrong, but at least I won't be shocked if no new episodes are shown on the Cartoon Network." ~ Source: "Adrian Saavedra (BIO)" in a forwarded message on DBZ ML. ------------------------------------------------------------------ 4.) Anime Tidbits ++ Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind Box Set In the far future, human hubris and environmental disaster has changed the Earth, creating the Sea of Corruption, a poisonous fungal forest on whose edge strange human kingdoms survive. Nausicaä, a compassionate young princess who can communicate with the giant insects called the Ohmu, struggles to heal a wounded world and prevent a new war that may end what little life survives. Writes Stepan Chapman of The Comics Journal, "Nausicaä is one of those rare works that can justifiably be called a graphic novel. To my mind, it's the best graphic novel ever." Artist Hayao Miyazaki is primarily known for his work in anime, which has included such famous works as My Neighbor Totoro and Laputa: The Castle in the Sky. With Miyazaki's anime works now being released in English from Buena Vista Home Video (beginning with Kiki's Delivery Service in September 1998), and his latest film The Princess Mononoke scheduled for a 1999 American theatrical release from Miramax, now's the time to rediscover Nausicaä as published in English from 1988 to 1996! The Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind Box Set contains all four Nausicaä Perfect Collection graphic novels, totaling over 1000 pages, in a deluxe, durable box set. Story and art are by Hayao Miyazaki. It retails for $69.95 USA. ++ The Anime News Network reports that: "American anime mainstay AD Vision has announced its first DVD release. The DVD, scheduled for release at the end of January (simultaniously with a VHS release) of the OAV series "Tekken". Predicted to be a huge seller (as it is based on the mega-hit Playstation fighting games), the DVD version will retail for $29.95, and will be the uncut version. (Subtitled and dubbed versions of both edited and uncut versions will also be made available on VHS.) AD Vision has not yet announced any other DVD releases, but is expected to if the Tekken release does well. Pioneer has announced the release of a two DVD set of their newest title, "Battle Athletes." Expected to be released the week after Christmas of this year, the discs are expected to have three of the six episodes on them each for a total running time of 75 minutes. The packages will also include stickers. " ~Source: Anime News Network http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/ ++ The Kimagure Orange Road TV Series Project Status ++ Current Status of preproduction (10/28/98):Corrections have been made to the masters for the first 24 episodes. The corrections are being checked, and this should be finished by the end of the week. The tape version should be in duplication early next week; the LD version in replication about a week after that. ++ Ah! My Goddess Volume 18 (manga) will be released on November 20, 1998 in Japan. ++ Meredith Dillman (Kyrn) to two manga style inspired comic strips that are worth checking out: http://plaidworld.com/kyrn/omake/palindrome1.JPG http://plaidworld.com/kyrn/omake/palindrome2.JPG (The girl is dressed up as Nausicaa) ------------------------------------------------------------------ 5.) Sega Tidbits ++ Rayearth Final Approval ++ According to Working Designs' web site, Magic Knight Rayearth has just been sent to Sega of America for approval. If all goes well, it should come out early November. The game can be purchased directly from Working Designs for $64.99 (shipping included). In short, the end of the world is at hand! Magic Knight Rayearth is actually coming out in the US. Unfortunately, after 3 years of delays and with such a steap price tag, I doubt many people care. But, it comes with free Rayearth stickers. And if anyone cares, I just picked up the Japanese version of Magic Knight Rayearth for $20. --- Robert Boyd [STAFF], 71064,376 ++ SaGa Frontier 2 For Dreamcast? ++ Multi: Square's upcoming RPG, SaGa Frontier 2, may be ported to Dreamcast. Game Fan reports that the RPG masters have received five Dreamcast Set 5 development kits from Sega. How Square will publish the title on the mega-console is still a mystery, though it seems likely that the new partnership with EA may have some role to play on the future of the game. --- Courtesy Fastest Game Online ------------------------------------------------------------------ 6.) Nintendo 64: Zelda 64 News ++ No Zelda promo tapes ++ NEWS: Nintendo confirmed today there will be NO Zelda promotional tapes sent out to gamers. Instead, the money will be put into a massive theatrical promotion of the game that will cover 11,000 theatres and run for a month, starting on November 6. The company was worried a video will give too much of the game away. Expect the Zelda movie trailers to be very cinematic. FOCUS: I couldn't agree more. Ok, so I would like to have a video for keeps, but I think its a much better way of reaching new people if they spend money for movie trailers instead. Think about it. Nintendo will be preaching to the choir if they send those videos to Nintendo Power subscribers and the people in their mailing lists. The movie trailers on the other hand, will have a broader reach and inform more people about the game. I predict the Zelda movie trailer ads will appear on the opening night of "The Seige", the movie starring Bruce "Armageddon" Willis and Denzel Washington. Opening night for "The Seige" is November 6. Then again, with that kind of budget and reach, we can expect a lot of movies to have a Zelda trailer attached to them.(ds) Courtesy Nintendojo (www.nintendojo.com) Will W. [STAFF], 105340,730 ++ Zelda Novel ++ N64: Sybex has announced that it will publish an officially licensed novel of Nintendo's Legend of Zelda. Scheduled for publication in November, the book will be titled The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - Pathways to Adventure and will be illustrated with full color art featuring characters from the game. The book will be a lead title in Sybex's new Pathways To Adventure series, which catapults characters from the hottest selling video and computer games into print. "What makes this concept different from other licensed game novels is that, as someone reads the story, they'll discover valuable gameplay strategies and secrets that will actually help them beat the game," explained author Jason Rich. The novel will retail for $10. Courtesy Fastest Game News Online SYSOP*Ken Gagne, 75162,3001 ------------------------------------------------------------------ 7.) Nintendo 64: F-Zero X - Review Title: F-ZERO X Platform: Nintendo 64 Publisher: Nintendo Rating: 9.8 A common strategy when releasing a new system is to provide new versions of classic hits. With the Nintendo 64, Super Mario and Pilotwing were given immediate facelifts; but it isn't until now, two years later, that we revisit the first Super NES racing game in the form of F-Zero X. F-Zero is a futuristic racer with thirty vehicles speeding on 3D courses set high over the ground that dip, spin, curve, and loop. Whoever can survive the onslaught and earn the most points, wins! Some original F-Zero courses have been updated to the 64-bit system, but most are new. The racing system has changed: there are still four difficulty settings, but there are four cups of six courses each, with three laps to a race. "Turbo" speed boosts may be used as often as wished after the first lap, but deplete's one's energy, making it possible to literally race yourself to death. At first look, the graphics may seem bland: the cars are small and drab, and the almost nonexistent backgrounds have little to do with the courses. (example: there are no trees in Devil's Forest) But once the race starts, the processing power of the N64 kicks in at 60 frames per second. Curves rush forward at blinding speeds, and jumps materialize quicker than thought, all with the player and 29 other cars on-screen simultaneously. It's enough to make one jump for joy. The soundtrack is sometimes a remix on the original F-Zero tunes, other times new material, but always fast and rocking. An announcer occasionally has a few words to say, and is intelligible despite sounding like he's drowning. Other sound effects are minimal but effective. Control is also simple: gas, brake, turbo. Additional steering buttons make for tight turns or power slides, but almost as important is the ability to attack opponents by crashing into them. Doing so ruins their chances of winning while improving the player's health and status. There are so many ways to play F-Zero, it's hard to count. 18 courses are available initially, with six more later, and then a hidden X-Cup which features randomly-generated courses with every play. Although the possibilities are endless, they do not capture the imaginative design of the preset courses. Although there are four difficulty settings, F-Zero is tough at any level. Even the best racers should start on Novice to get a feel for the game. Besides the Grand Prix, there are also Training and Time Attack modes, and a Death Race, the goal of which is to eliminate all 29 competitors as quickly as possible. And, like all the best Nintendo 64 games, F-Zero supports up to four players. Although racing is a popular and well-populated genre on the N64, F-Zero rises above them all. With clever course design, pure, aggressive driving, and many modes of play including multiplayer, it offers many reasons to play and to continue playing. When a racing game comes along that's this good, there are zero reasons to pass it up. --------- This review is copyright (c) 1998 by Ken Gagne. All rights reserved. Not to be distributed in a modified form. Other reviews, FAQs, etc. by Ken Gagne can be found at: http://www.ziplink.net/~kgagne/vidgames/vidgames.html Original Publication: Sentinel & Enterprise, 26-Oct-98 Genie: Ken.Gagne (Ken.Gagne@genie.com) CIS: 75162,3001 (75162.3001@compuserve.com) Delphi: Ken_Gagne (Ken_Gagne@delphi.com) Internet: kgagne@ziplink.net ------------------------------------------------------------------ 8.) Final Fantasy: The Movie After viewing a CG reel from Final Fantasy VIII we instantly knew that Square's upcoming Final Fantasy movie was going to rock the house and quite possibly be the only movie that could come close to touching Star Wars: The Phantom Menace in story and special effects. Now, a few models and test images have emerged showing us exactly how realistic the movie could be. Of course, the occasional run-in of a spastic Mog, overly yellow Chocobo, or even a cactus-like creature (FF VIII) could make us cringe a little, but we have faith in Square Soft and the men and women working on this monumental project. We predict an intense story that sucks you in with tearful drama, spits you out and pounds your face with amazing battle sequences, and sticks two thumbs up your nose with mystery and suspense. And of course, the character personalities will kick major donkey and the creature and gadget designs will kick donkey as well. The pictures scattered about this page were taken from Ain't It Cool News - the number one movie site on the web. The report that accompanied the pictures was interesting and loaded with information, but some of the stuff didn't seem to jive with what the Square producers had previously mentioned. We first heard about FF: The Movie years ago. Andy traveled to Hawaii and ran smack dab into a movie in development. He didn't see anything though. A few months after this, we received an Alias/Wavefront Maya pamphlet that showcased a few images that Square Soft cooked up to show what the Maya program is capable off. These shots here today could very well be the same thing - just demo shots. But we highly doubt Square would go to the trouble of creating entire scenes and environments just for demos. We can see the old man maybe being demo material, but the other stuff looks pretty good. Not completely believable, but good enough to make us twitch like monkeys with rabies. The two action shots appear to be taken from a briefing room where mecha suits plugged into the walls observe a holographic display of a city. In the Ain't It Cool report, detail possibilities were spilled regarding the main character. Apparently, the main dude in this flick is named Grey and his CG personality is being modeled around the appeal of actor Brad Pitt - or Big Bad Brad Spit as we call 'im. At one point or another, Grey supposedly rides a hoverbike through a densely populated city setting. He may even open fire here and blow away a few hot dog stands and innocent children playing jacks in the park. We received the image of the car well over a year ago. Sorry for holding out, but the car was designed to only be used as a beta Maya test for Alias/Wavefront. Here's one confirmation. Final Fantasy: The Movie will not feature any reoccurring FF personalities. All FF fans already knew this though, as the games never reuse or recycle. We expect to see a Guardian here and there, but for the most part, we believe that the story and setting will mostly be new creations. Final Fantasy: The Movie is rumored to be destined for theaters around Christmas 1999. Could anything come close to topping this movie's computer animation? Well, Star Wars may be a given (if LucasFilm doesn't rush it), and of course, let's not forget about the even more mysterious Namco movie. How awesome would it be if two video game based CG motion pictures opened within the same season? Heck, the same year!? We also have the live-action Tomb Raider, Duke Nukem, and Resident Evil flicks to look forward to as well. Kickin' salami! Next year is lookin' pretty sweet for movie go'ers. --- Courtesy Game Informer; SYSOP*Ken Gagne, 75162,3001 ------------------------------------------------------------------ 9.) Laws of Anime: Part 1 (of 2) Laws of Anime: Part 1 (of 2) 1. War sucks. 2. You CAN have too many women. 3. Smart people wear glasses. 4. Music foreshadows plot. 5. The less you care about sex, the more opportunities you'll get. 6. Inversely, the harder you try, the less you'll get. 7. When you die, make a long speech, and don't finish the last sentence. 8. Snow means love. 8a. Cherry Blossoms also mean love. 9. The beast teams come in fives. 10. In space, you can hear everything. 11. There's always room for flashbacks! 12. When in China, listen to your tour guide. 13. The good guy always has the BLUE aura. 14. Speak softly and pilot a BIG mech. 15. Believe in goddesses. 16. Teachers have excellent aim with small objects. 17. Vengeance with a mallet is the sweetest revenge of all. 18. Honor is sexy; villiany is irresistible. 19. Women are attracted to losers; men are attracted to ANYTHING. 20. The coolest weapon is still the sword. 21. The hero is never really mad until they hurt his girlfriend. 22. Female androids are sexy; male androids are...male androids. 23. The green haired alien girl will always betray her people for the man she loves. 24. School uniforms are cool only when the collar is open. 25. A show without sexual tension isn't worth watching. 26. Love knows no race, species or logic. 27. If it's homemade but tastes bad, grin and bury it (discreetly). 28. Never trust a huge corporation. 29. Romance never comes simpler than a triangle. 30. Never fall for the girl who gives her mech a French name. 31. Never fall in love with a psychic. 32. You can never have too much hair. 33. Sweating is a sure sign of stress. 34. Daydreaming leads to accidents. 35. Everyone wants to conquer Japan. 36. The cute, fuzzy creature isn't what it seems. 37. Cherry blossoms also mean nostalgia. 38. Always take gravity into account. 39. Settings and faces are self generating. 40. Losing your temper can be theraputic. 41. There's nothing sexier than high heels on a mech. 42. You can never have too many subplots. 43. If she sings, she's doomed. 44. You always remember the sad endings. 45. Double suicide is romantic. 46. Outrageous vehicles only make the hero cooler. 47. Nothing delays romance like unruly neighbors. 48. Fancy ice cream is for girls only. 49. The most virtuous character will die. 50. Hot water has innumerable benefits. ~ Source: Anime Fun Page located at http://www.users.fl.net.au/~bcadwgan/anime_fun.htm ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 10.) Mailing List Technical Info ~ Back Issues can now be found at Omega's Vanishing Point, the original home of this E-Zine: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/ablarnold/wsemain.html ~ You can set which Version(s) of WSE you wish to receive. A.) Anime/Video Games, B.) Sci- Fi/Comic Books, C.) BOTH Versions of WSE, or D.) Unsubscribe completely. ~ To subscribe a friend send e-mail to ablarnold@csi.com, with the subject of _Subscribe WSE_ . ~ To unsubscribe send an unsub e-mail to ablarnold@csi.com, with the subject of _Unsubscribe WSE_ . Until next issue. Ja Ne. Adam “OMEGA” Arnold ablarnold@csi.com ; ICQ #7737442 http://welcome.to/vanishing.point/