Be it passion, work ethic, or sheer insanity, those guys and gals who make manga happen sure are a busy bunch. Similarly busy are those guys who make up The Offspring, what with the music and all. What do these two groups have in common? Little to nothing, but that won’t stop the guys from bringing both up in conversation. Along with a few more risque tales involving a certain animated school that may or may not also be a prison. -30-
Frank Inglese Pokemon Snap My first true obsession, dating back to when I was far too young to be addicted to anything at all, was without a doubt Pokemon. My first ever Pokemon game was Blue, followed by Red and then Yellow. As I said; I was well and truly hooked. After receiving my Nintendo 64, it was Pokemon Snap that had me enthralled. My parents, being the ones who fueled the fire of my Pokemon video game dependency, didn’t necessarily know what the title was, but saw Pokemon and naturally believed it to be a good choice…it was! Pokemon Snap took players on a journey into the realm of Pokemon in a way unlike any previous game. It was NOT a turn-based RPG, for one, and you could not capture and collect Pokemon. It was, instead, a game about a young photographer who just so happens to live in the Pokemon world. For the very first time it felt like I, as the player, was directly interacting with the world I dreamed of being …
While things like ghouls, goblins, creatures, and critters tormented me and my heightened imagination as a child, it is the thought of being locked in a high security penitentiary that does a wonderful job scaring me into submission as an adult. While I’ve done no such punishable crimes up until this point in my life, and I have no plans to commit any going forward, I’ve seen too many television series about being locked behind bars…and it scares the living daylights out of me. I suppose, when looked at in this particular light, it’s clear to see why a system like the penal works so well, arguably, because it keeps frightened citizens like myself from doing anything less than legal. Now, if you were to tell me that the institution that would host my incarceration was one akin to that featured in the recent hit Anime series Prison School, well…the rate of crime in my area would multiply tenfold. You see, although I don’t consider myself a felon of any kind, I do understand that …
Now when it comes to manga there is a ton of great choices in the modern age, whether it’s a near endless Shonen series or a range of other genres to really sink into. There is no shortage of quality manga in the modern age, which is why digging through the trenches of the past can be an overwhelming task. After all, who has the time to dig through quality manga from every era? It’s hard enough to collect and read through the likes of 90s classic Rurouni Kenshin or the wealth of volumes that make up the Dragon Ball/Z manga. I mean, that’s just going as far back as the 80s… but manga goes all the way back to the 1950s! Is it worth going that far back? Oh absolutely. It’s a remarkable journey to experience the beginnings of manga firsthand, and to realize it wasn’t just good “back in the old days” or “better now than the outdated stuff”, but that manga always has and will be amazing. The god and creator of …
Anime. That wonderous creation that allows members of reality to take a break and wonder; “What would it be like if I could travel through time…and then blow it up?” It doesn’t even have to be that complicated, perhaps one simply wishes to witness a touching story that sees two star crossed lovers come together and make it work. Or, should romance lie beyond your collection of interests, simply watch a monster fight someone whose strength allows them to punch a building clean in half. That being said, each year bestows upon the world a very particular set of series, some which fall to obscurity and others who remain within the minds of viewers for time undetermined. 2016 was of course no exception and a select few of its offerings lie below… AOTY – ERASED There was no anime like ERASED in 2016. None dared to be so bold. None could follow the level of brilliance it achieved and few even tried. Tomohiko Ito may be more popularly known as the man who directed Sword …
It’s that time of year (give or take a few weeks) where we all take a second and ponder the year that was. However, rather than use this time for introspection or self betterment, why not just think about which games were most fun? Which ones took you by surprise, which ones met your expectations and which ones exceeded them by far. If only there were some already completed list to help spark your though process, complete with pictures and individualised blurbs… Why, who put this here? What luck! A (somewhat) well thought out list of Japanese based video games that made 2016 fun. Talk about a lucky break. Why not give it a look? I’ll meet you down at the bottom of the page. Have fun! GOTY – Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth 2016 was, in the eyes of many fans, a year dedicated to the long-running Monster Taming franchise Digimon. At the forefront of it’s year-long victory was none other than this year’s Game Of The Year; Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth. The first worthwhile …
At this point in time, no one is shocked that the latest in the long series of Monster Hunter titles, Monster Hunter XX, is already collaborating with other popular franchises. The last few games in the series had countless tie-ins with not only Nintendo-owned and other Capcom IPs but also Anime series like Ushio and Tora, Fairy Tail, Yowamushi Pedal, and others that are far too abundant to list. Well, Monster Hunter XX hasn’t even been released yet, and already Capcom are revealing ANOTHER collaboration for the upcoming game, and despite how bizarre they have been in the past…nobody expected this: It’s Sailor Moon’s 25th anniversary, and to celebrate you will be able to dress your very own Palico up like the series’ own flagship feline; Luna! Alongside a Luna skin for your cat companion, a weapon (only able to be equipped to the Palico) called the Cutie Moon Rod from the series will also be made available. On top of that, this collaboration will also gift you with a Guild Card Background also reminiscent of …
There are some videogames that you can just lose yourself in, aren’t there? You sit down, you play for a while and before you know it, it’s 4am and you have no idea where the time went. It’s like it’s own fun form of time travel…but what if it were space travel as well? What if, one day, you sat down to play that favourite game of yours and found yourself a part of it? What would you do then? Would you act as yourself, frightened and conscious of consequence? Or would you act as your character and do everything you could to win? Such is the case for Momonga, a player of YGGDRASIL, a DMMORPG in the year 2138 or so. You see, the D in the genre stands for dive, as the future is a place of fully immersive Virtual Reality that has seen gaming evolve exponentially…possibly. You see, not too much is known about Momonga’s world of origin (even his name is inconsequential), as our story begins when he is transported to another …
Everybody knows that Digimon are the champions, it’s in the song, but has anyone ever stopped to think what that means to them? How far are Digimon willing to go to attain this lofty title? Well, peer a little further into the darker side of Gabumon and you may just find your answer. If, however, you do not seek such investigation, ponder a little on the fact that one of Hayao Miyazaki’s most eluded questions was one regarding a certain protagonist’s chest…because anime. -30-
Jahanzeb Khan Street Fighter II Turbo Despite being a die hard SEGA fan and the Mega Drive (Genesis) being my unanimous 16 bit machine of choice, my very first foray into video games ever was through the Super Nintendo. The first video game I ever played was Star Fox (known in PAL territories as Star Wing). Star Fox didn’t necessarily cement my love for video games (the would be Sonic the Hedgehog) but it was still a hell of a way to get introduced to video games. I may love the Mega Drive more but I couldn’t overlook the amazing library of the SNES. There’s just too many quality games on the system, games that are still as relevant and playable today. Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, Super Mario World, Donkey Kong Country, Earthbound, F-Zero, Mario Kart… the list just goes on. What do I consider as my FAVOURITE of them all? Well that answer changes every time I’m asked this question. For now, I’m going to mention the one game that made the SNES VERY …
With the month of March approaching faster than most would care to realise, Madman has come forth with their first guests for the Perth rendition of the aptly titled Madman Anime Festival. And, wherever anime conventions go, cosplayers shall be there. From the intricately sewn lacework of a Victorian era frock, to the purposeful low tech iteration of EVA-01 made from a cardboard box, presentation runs the gamut. There are even those cosplayers who have amassed fans of their own and it is two examples of this trend who are to attend the aforementioned festival as guests. Prominent in the Asia convention scene, Angie will be attending the Festival in what will be her first Australian appearance. Fans will be able to meet, greet and nab some sweet prints and photo books with and from Angie, in the times when she isn’t judging cosplay contests. It has also been made known that Angie will be cosplaying as Asuna from Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale on the Saturday, coinciding with the Australian release. No word though on …
We have all been there before. You have just finished working on something really hard and you can not wait to show it off to all of your twitter followers. However, in your folly you accidentally leak something from Nintendo that had only been shown previously for a whopping 3 seconds. This was the case for 1001 spikes developer Nicalis when they shared a picture on their twitter, which has since been deleted, of their games adorning the Switch. This wonderful act of sharing inadvertently gave Nintendo Switch fans a first look at a dark themed UI as well as a few hints into some other features. Via promotional photos we received a look at the base UI for the Switch, with the bottom 6 icons reading left to right: Game News, Nintendo E-Shop, Album, Controllers, System Settings, and Sleep Mode. Also in the photo are multiple user pictures, denoting multiple user profiles, and a logo in the bottom left hand corner showing whether the console is in Dock mode or Handheld mode. These are in addition to the standard fare, such …
In the continued adventures of legendary visual kei superstar GACKT, he has casually entered into a championship poker tournament known as the Asian Poker Tour. Outside of being a wildly successful Japanese musician and revolutionizing the visual kei genre over nearly 20 years in the business, GACKT had also recently begun his own Youtube gaming channel where he would play video games mostly in silence while surrounded by a selection of expensive vehicles. That said, it still comes as a surprise that GACKT has suddenly revealed himself as a world class poker player entering this tournament without warning or fanfare, for reasons only known to him. Perhaps more interesting to note is that out of 96 entrants he placed 7th, winding up in the top 10 poker players in all of Asia. It is crazy to think that along with the many of projects that GACKT is working on, he still manages to find the time to engage in a high-stakes poker tournament, because that is the kind of thing he just does. In my …
After a 6 year stint on indefinite hiatus, iconic Japanese singer/songwriter, Utada Hikaru returned in September last year with a brand new album titled Fantôme. Since its release the album has gone on to top 1 million units sold making it 4 times platinum in Japan. This is Hikaru’s first album to top 1 million units sold since her breakout smash hit album First Love way back in 1999. Not only was the Fantôme album the top selling album of 2016 in Japan but it also received the Best Album Award at the 58th Japanese Record Awards. To celebrate the album hitting 1 million sales and winning best album, a new music video has been released for the song “Boukyaku (feat. KOHH)” which you can check out below. Most Westerners would remember Utada Hikaru for her theme songs contributed to the Kingdom Hearts video game series such as ‘Simple and Clean’ and ‘Sanctuary’. Rumour has it that she is slated to return for Kingdom Hearts III with another song serving as the theme for the …
Let’s be honest here for a minute guys, the Wii U was a bit of a failure for Nintendo. It sold poorly and never really became a mainstream console, forever in the shadow of its predecessor the Wii. There was a lot of reasons for why this happened, a terrible name, lack of third party support, an overconfident Nintendo and above all else a poor marketing campaign that ensured the console was dead on arrival. With all this taken into consideration, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime has claimed that Nintendo has learned from their mistakes with the Wii U and does not seek to repeat history with the Nintendo Switch. Reggie says that Nintendo ‘thought deeply’ on the failure of the Wii U and they feel that they did not communicate to consumers what exactly the Wii U was and what it was capable of doing. In relation to what they learned he says that they are doing things differently with the Switch, claiming that, “Nintendo Switch is a home console you can play …
Yesterday, Nintendo held a special Fire Emblem focused Nintendo Direct conference. During this conference they announced 3 new Fire Emblem titles alongside the previously revealed Fire Emblem Warriors game. With so many Fire Emblem games announced and so many having been released in recent history, one has to ponder the question; has Fire Emblem reached critical mass? Of the announcements were a new mobile game Fire Emblem Heroes, a remake of Fire Emblem Gaiden for the Nintendo 3DS called Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia and a yet to be titled new Fire Emblem game for the Nintendo Switch. Of course this is all hot off the heels of the announcement of Fire Emblem Warriors a musou styled game from Tecmo Koei stalwarts Omega Force. Fire Emblem Heroes is set to hit mobile devices on the 2nd of February and the other titles are set for sometime throughout the rest of the year. That’s not to mention the fact that there will be another line of Fire Emblem amiibos released to tie in with the …
Dragon Ball Heroes is, arguably, one of the most popular arcade video games to be currently in circulation across the great country of Japan. It is, certainly, highly revered by fans of Akira Toriyama’s long-running Shonen series, and by those who follow it’s video game lineage. In an attempt to capitalise on it’s success even further, and to extend outside of arcades, Dimps (the developers) and Bandai Namco Entertainment conceived and released two titles for the Nintendo 3DS that took the Collectable Card-based system of the arcade game and reworked it to be all-inclusive. Dragon Ball Heroes: Ultimate Mission 1 and 2 were just as well received as their arcade counterpart, perhaps due to the fact that you no longer had to collect physical cards to play, thus eliminating the need to spend further money. Some purists will say that the game then loses it’s heart, but others are just happy to have everything in one place. The latest issue of Shueisha’s V-Jump magazine is set to be released across the weekend, but some sneaky …
Digimon World: Next Order is only about a week away from an official release outside of Japan, and yet thanks to the Western world getting a higher quality PlayStation 4 version of the game Japan has decided to follow suit with their own “International Edition” with that release to coincide with our own. Now despite it not being too far away, Bandai Namco Entertainment are continuing to roll out trailers for the upcoming game, which doesn’t surprise anyone, as well as introducing us to brand-new Digital Monsters that we assume have been designed specifically for Next Order. The new trailer, titled “Un-Hatch your Destiny”, is another overview video of Digimon World: Next Order that focuses on the death, rebirth, and Fusions features of the new game, showing partner Digimon perishing in battle only to be reborn though this time as the result of a Fusion between their dwindling data. The trailer IS in English, and can be seen just below this paragraph wherein which I have provided it: Bandai Namco Entertainment Japan today also revealed …
Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers is one of the major releases planned for the Nintendo Switch in 2017, and it’s every bit as desirable as Splatoon 2 and Super Mario Odyssey. In fact, the resurgence of games like Street Fighter and Bomberman (in the form of Super Bomberman R) is the reason why the Switch is a true return to gaming’s humble and exciting roots. Watch the trailer of Ultra Street Fighter II, you can see clips of the launch of Street Fighter II Turbo on the SNES early on, and man was that a magical thing to experience firsthand. What’s great is that we get to relive that magic once more on the Switch, and just in time for the 30th Anniversary of the Street Fighter franchise (25 years for the flagship Street Fighter II itself). Ultra Street Fighter II looks to reinvigorate the gamer of yesteryear, and unite them with the current crop of fighting fans who have been enthralled by the likes of the hugely successful Street Fighter IV and Street Fighter V …
Just when you thought that the hype train for Your Name, Makoto Shinkai’s anime masterpiece, was beginning to slow down, it goes right on and becomes the highest grossing anime film of all time hitting a whopping $281 million USD at the box office and counting. The film is sure to continue pushing that figure higher and higher with it set to open in 92 more countries in this coming year. The record was previously held by Hayao Miyazaki’s seminal anime fantasy Spirited Away. Even the most optimistic of pundits weren’t too sure that Your Name would surpass it, but indeed it has. Just don’t let Shinkai know, he is a little touchy on the subject. Having personally reviewed the film for our site, which you can check out here, I must say that Your Name is every bit deserving of this historic accomplishment. The film is an honest to god masterpiece that has touched the hearts of audiences across the globe. Whether he will admit it or not, Shinkai has done something wonderful in making …
Live from 2017, it’s the 2016 SnapThirty Awards (or whatever they’re actually called). That’s right folks, it’s time to take a look back at the year that was (last year) and ponder the high points that truly made anime and video games shine…also to talk about the Nintendo Switch. But mainly the award thing. -30-
Jahanzeb Khan The King of Fighters 96 One of the coolest things about portable consoles back in the day was that despite them being technologically inferior to home consoles (and significantly so), developers still challenged themselves to bring 16 bit or even 32 bit video games to the confines of the 8 bit monochrome Game Boy. More often than not these transitions weren’t always ideal, but when developers were able to the successfully bring the home console and/or arcade experience to the handheld it was one hell of an achievement. Back in the day SNK and Neo Geo were the absolute kings of 2D sprites and animation, with their arcade technology being the cutting edge of 2D graphics, so much so that systems like the PlayStation and even Saturn struggled to run the highly detailed 2D engine of Neo Geo. SNK’s The King of Fighters series was red hot, and having The King of Fighters 96 on the Game Boy should have been a disaster, but it wasn’t. The game was re-imagined and optimised for the …
The wheels of fate are turning indeed with Arc System Works announcing that they will be bringing their popular BlazBlue fighting game series to the Nintendo Switch. BlazBlue is an anime style fighting game with high octane action and very bizarre phrases such as calling rounds ‘rebels’ and the battle cry that the wheels of fate are turning. Arc System Works did not reveal any footage of the game unfortunately nor did they give a release date but the very fact that we are getting a new BlazBlue game on the Nintendo Switch is reason enough to be excited. I hope my main monster Arakune returns for this new game! -30-
Who doesn’t love a good Streetpass? Heck I have even made friends because of it (Hey, Rolan). Well if you are a fan of the Streetpass feature of the Nintendo 3DS, don’t expect to see it return on Nintendo’s upcoming home console/handheld hybrid, the Nintendo Switch. The same looks to be the case for the popular social network Miiverse which is also being retired according to David Young, Nintendo public relations director. Both popular features are set to be retired on the Nintendo Switch in favour of deeper social media integration with Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube and Twitch. All of which will be accessible by the new ‘Share’ button on the Joy-con controller. So while it seems that will be the replacement of the Miiverse function, Nintendo has no plans to introduce a replacement for the Streetpass, which seems like its time has passed. Farewell to Streetpass and Miiverse. Thanks for the memories, but sometimes you just gotta switch things up. -30-
What’s fun is good! Those are the words by which the Shimogamo tanuki family of the fantastic and painfully under appreciated Eccentric Family anime live by. Those very same words will now be the slogan for the City of Kyoto which has announced that the Eccentric Family anime and its colourful cast of magical characters will be the first ever global goodwill ambassador of Kyoto. The ambassadorship aims to use the Eccentric Family characters and series to promote the lovely city of Kyoto to the rest of the world, aiming to raise tourism and help boost the local economy of the city. As part of the inauguration event, the Shimogamo Shrine, the real life shrine which the characters in the series live at, played host to a special ‘Gathering of Tanuki’ event with fans of the series gathering in tanuki coats to celebrate the new ambassorship as well as the news of the upcoming second season of the Eccentric Family anime. ANN were present to grab some photos of the event. You can check out …
The Nintendo Switch will launch in Australia on 3 March 2017 for a RRP of $AU 469.95. This confirmation comes from Nintendo Australia. Stay tuned for more information of different bundles and deals as we head towards the worldwide launch of the system. -30-
You read the headline correctly, it is indeed a new entry in the Street Fighter II series which last saw a HD remaster/remake on the Xbox 360 and PS3 as Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix back in 2008. When clips of a Street Fighter game were shown during the Nintendo Switch presentation, I assumed that the system was basically getting a port of that 2008 title. Little did I know that although it looked similar visually, Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers is an all new title for the Nintendo Switch (and an exclusive so far). It looks to share the same visuals and engine as the 2008 HD remaster, but as the title suggests it will add new content, in particular the “Final Challengers” that are apparently just Evil Eyu and Violent Ken (last seen in SNK vs Capcom: SVC Chaos). Who knows, maybe there’s other characters yet to be revealed. -30-
The Switch could not ask for a bigger launch title than The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and that new trailer was absolutely breathtaking. Still, this title did start out as a Wii U game, and with the Wii U being phased out and production slowing down (if not ceasing) the future of the Wii U version was in limbo. Great news for those still wanting that curtain call for their Wii U as the The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild will also be landing on the Wii U on the very same day it launches for the Switch on 3 March 2017. This has happened before, as The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess began life as a GameCube title, and then ended up becoming a launch title for the original Wii console in 2006. The GameCube version still released alongside the motion-control enabled Wii version. Nearly a decade later history has repeated itself. Those of us who still want to get that extra mileage out of their Wii U have …
Super Bomberman was a series that had not one but a total of five entries on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It had a bit of a Mega Man thing going for it with each game exploring new level themes and importantly introducing a new cast of boss battles for its single player campaign. Of course, Super Bomberman was mostly about the multiplayer, making great use of the SNES multitap device. Super Bomberman 2 was where this series peaked, and we have not heard from the series since 1997… until now. Announced as a launch title for the Nintendo Switch and commemorating 33 years of the franchise, Konami will be bringing the brand new Super Bomberman R on March 3 2017. Bomberman will always be Bomberman, but it’s not a bad game to own when you get your new system because it still stands as one of the most enjoyable multi-player offerings. Plus it has got this cool new aesthetic going for it as a well as a single player mode featuring huge bosses. -30-
What an incredible showing by Nintendo! What a great time to be alive! Nintendo Switch is set to launch on 3 March 2017 with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, ARMS, and 1, 2, Switch! confirmed as launch titles with more to be announced as we quickly head into the historic release. Demo events are planned worldwide so we should be able to try the system over the next couple of months. The price point is $US 299.99 and hopefully we will get a confirmed $ AU price point soon. I’m sure the stream gave you all the info you needed, so here are some quick and dirty game highlights from the stream! Splatoon 2 I honestly would have settled for an enhanced expanded release of the original Wii U Splatoon but it’s a full fledged sequel folks and it’s set for 2017! Looks great from what we can see and the added mobility and portability of the Switch system will certainly make Splatoon 2 a title we can enjoy all day every …
Avid fans of not only the video game industry but of Nintendo specifically will know that tomorrow marks Nintendo’s live presentation of their upcoming console, the Switch, across the globe. Having known about this for a little while now, anticipation within the gaming community is at an all-time high, so the news of image leaks regarding the console’s first wave of accessories has come at arguably the most opportune time. As with any good handheld release, the likeliness of there being peripherals to help not only protect the console but to make it more comfortable for the player is quite likely, and as such, seeing as though the Nintendo Switch does indeed fit the category of “handheld device“, it was only a matter of time before products like this were to be revealed. Surfacing online are a series of images depicting accessories for the Nintendo Switch developed by well known video game accessory company Hori. Most of the peripherals revealed are based, aesthetically, on what we can only imagine to be a launch title for the …
Alas, poor Scalebound. We did not know thee, no matter how much we tried. Since its official announcement way bay in the day of E3 2014, Scalebound served as somewhat of an enigma. With promises of dragons, climactic battles and the musical stylings of The Prodigy, annual trailers were the main source of insight into PlatinumGames’ latest venture…at least, they were. For reasons not totally known, Microsoft has announced the cessation of production on Scalebound. Furthermore, official channels depicting the game in question have been Scalebound-down as it were, removing all mention of it and footage pertaining to it. Of course, the footage of E3s past is still available, just not on the Xbox Youtube account. As of writing, the official Twitter account still stands, though the idea of activity on that front is somewhere between unlikely and pointless. Even the game’s website is nothing more than a home page displaying the news thusly: Today, I have a difficult announcement to share that affects our fans, Microsoft Studios team and a valued partner. After careful …
Your Name has quite simply become a phenomenon. Makoto Shinkai’s film about two teens waking up in each other’s lives which has garnered universal critical acclaim and commercial success has just passed a major landmark down under according to Australian anime distributor Madman Entertainment. In a blog post update on their site Madman confirmed that Your Name has grossed over $1,000,000 AUD at the Box Office, surpassing Spirited Away 10 times over and Pokemon the First Movie 20 times over, making it the second highest grossing anime film ever in Australian Box Office history. The only other anime film to gross higher than Your Name was 2004’s smash hit Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie which grossed a total of $1,367,050 AUD in its time in cinemas. It is worth noting that while Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie received a standard cinema run, Your Name only received a special limited time run, with no where near the same amount of cinemas showing the film as Yu-Gi-Oh! did way back in 2004. With that in mind, cracking the 1 million mark …
We live in a society that is always looking ahead, constantly looking for the next big thing to become ‘hyped’ about. We are all looking for the next thing to fill our lives with a bit of excitement however fleeting that feeling may be. Unless you have been living under a rock for the last year, there is one anime film that has been on the end of anime fans lips around the world, that is Makoto Shinkai’s latest film, Your Name. By the time the film had finally been released it was hard to decipher what all this hype truly meant. It is on track to becoming the highest grossing anime film of all time and even a potential Oscar win. But is it really worth the hype, could all the hubbub be for naught or did Shinkai really create the magnum opus masterpiece his career has been barreling towards with each and every film he has produced? By the time the credits had rolled I knew one thing for certain; there was no …
Have your voice heard in SnapThirty’s annual Japanese Video Game of the Year Awards for 2016. There will be a special Reader’s Vote award for Japanese Video Game of the Year alongside the normal slew of awards. That said, it is time to take up arms and support your favourite Japanese Video Game of 2016. Vote below for your favourite game and if your favourite isn’t on the list add it in with the ‘other’ option. Keep in mind that only games of Japanese origin are in contention here. Enough talk, get voting Snap Family! -30-
Have your voice heard in SnapThirty’s annual Anime of the Year Awards for 2016. Once again there will be a special Reader’s Vote award for Anime of the Year alongside the normal slew of awards. That said, it is time to take up arms and support your favourite anime series of 2016 Vote below for your favourite anime and if your favourite isn’t on the list add it in with the ‘other’ option. Enough talk, get voting Snap Family! -30-
Death. The end of the line, the final curtain, the part in the number where you shuffle all the way off this mortal coil. It is a part of life that has many synonyms and thus many interpretations…especially if anime gets involved. Then it turns into this whole shebang that may, or may not, be undone by wishing on a set of magical bestarred balls. On a slightly happier note, there’s a new voice to add to the chaos that is this podcast. Brace your eardrums. -30-
As we count the weeks, days, and three months or so leading up to the launch of the Nintendo Switch, we at SnapThirty are going to take a stroll down memory lane and revisit each of Nintendo’s legendary system (except for The System That Shall Not Be Named). Starting off with the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), we reminisce on our fond memories and favourite games. Jahanzeb Khan Castlevania Castlevania is best described as a video game that is far greater than the sum of its parts, and the debut title on the NES ranks comfortably with the likes of Mega Man, Contra, and Metroid as one of the leaders of 2D action platforming. Castlevania introduced a methodological combat mechanic situated in a ingeniously designed action platformer. Perhaps among the earliest horror video games, the original Castlevania had you take control of a tough as a tank Vampire Hunter by the name of Simon Belmont. Castlevania had all the right ingredients: unique personality and mechanics, sound level design, brutal and satisfying boss battles, distinguished aesthetics, and above …
The Winter Anime season of 2017 has yet to interest me too greatly. Usually, by this point in time, I’m inundated by a high volume of new Anime to sink my teeth into, but judging by the list of series’ set to begin airing over the next week or so…this season’s going to be a slow one for me. Having played the video games too many times to admit, it’s Akiba’s Trip: The Animation that has my full focus this time around. Akiba’s Trip: Undead And Undressed, originally released for the PlayStation Vita, has seen some three re-releases at this point in time, meaning that the game is more than just a fluke success. That’s why it makes sense that an animation studio like Gonzo would pick up the rights for an Anime adaptation. Strangely enough, this mostly unheard of Anime, and by extension video game series, is also receiving the simuldub treatment, with the English Dub being released shortly after that of the original Japanese. We saw this with Space Dandy quite some time …
There are some undeniable facts in this world. You can never have too much of a good thing, nobody actually knows what they’re doing when checking for an avocados ripeness, and when a game garners over 6 million dollars, there is going to be some residual interest. This was the case at E3 2015 when the creator of Shenmue, Yu Suzuki, stole the limelight at the Sony press conference by announcing a Kickstarter for Shenmue 3, in an attempt to spark interest amongst developers and fans alike. Fast forward to today where that spark is now a full fledged forest fire. However, in lieu of thousands of trees being destroyed, there is just a developer chomping at the bits to get behind this momentum. That developer is Sega Europe and it has been revealed that they have registered, at the very least, three domain names related to Shenmue. These include: the vanilla sounding shenmueremastered.com, the 100% NOT a typo shemnuegame.com, and the main character of this article shenmuehd.com. Whilst it is not unheard of for a developer to register domains …
Some time ago, Bandai Japan updated the official Digimon: Digital Monsters website to feature a countdown timer alongside an interesting graphic sporting both series mainstay Tyrannomon accompanied by the original V-Pet, released in 1997. The timer was obviously counting down to the re-release of the V-Pets we came to know and love in our youth. Not only was it the images that gave it away, but the long line of re-makes and re-releases that Bandai have been rolling out over the past year. Well today that timer finally hit zero, and with it came the reveal of what is indeed a pair of very exciting re-makes. Now, I have spent a great deal of my day attempting to translate the onslaught of information that came with the announcement, but that is not the hardest feat I have attempted to accomplish today…it is this; relaying it to you all in an understandable and concise manner. Considering I do not read, write, or understand Japanese, I have had to use a series of translation applications to discover …
There are times when I am glad to be proven wrong, and Wrestle Kingdom 11 made me feel silly for having such low and cynical expectations going into it. Not only was it miles better than last year’s somewhat lukewarm Wrestle Kingdom 10, but it also blew the superb Wrestle Kingdom 9 clear out of the water. Wrestle Kingdom 11 taught me to never doubt the innovation and potential of underdogs. It also helped that the English localisation was great thanks to the solid play by play commentary from Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino. A huge improvement over the disastrous English commentary panel in Wrestle Kingdom 10 which featured Yoshi Tatsu of all people. Despite New Japan Pro Wrestling losing most of their top stars to WWE, Wrestle Kingdom 11 proved to be the best iteration yet all thanks to a fresh and unpredictable wildcard. Wrestle Kingdom 11 literally blindsided me with a main event that I am confident in calling as among the timeless classics of the modern era. The strong main event was complemented …
Naruto who? I have no idea who that is, but I think who you’re trying to talk about is the rambunctious young ninja Boruto, right? Yeah, Boruto, he’s destined to be the saviour of the ninja world. The one and only Boruto Uzumaki, who can compare? So Naruto is dead and gone…well, not literally, but time continues flowing ever forward and with that comes growth. Our old friend Naruto has had two children now with his beloved wife Hinata, and the oldest of the two, Boruto, reminds the old man a little too much of himself, but you know this don’t you? Of course! You’ve seen Boruto: Naruto The Movie, but you’ve yet to play the game, and that’s where things get tasty! On the horizon is the latest and greatest Naruto fighting game title; Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 – Road To Boruto. While this new title isn’t exactly a totally different game from the last, it IS a heavy expansion that follows the story of the aforementioned movie. This expansion was revealed …
In the more recent years, Square Enix have been doing some strange things with their number one IP Final Fantasy in the way of cross-promotion. With the latest iteration of the series, Final Fantasy XV, they have collaborated with Audi, Beats By Dre, and Nissin Cup Noodles in what can only be described as the most gratuitous product placement in video game history…barring perhaps Pepsiman. Look it up. At this point in time it is expected for huge franchises like Final Fantasy developed by huge companies like Square Enix to gather money for a project wherever they can, or to build on a game’s popularity whenever they can. With Square Enix’s venture into the world of mobile RPGS, Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius, is is a new collaboration between the game and real life superstar Ariana Grande that is not only confusing but exciting the world of both modern music and modern gaming. In what I can only imagine is an attempt to give Brave Exvius a wider reach, Square Enix have decided to collaborate with …
What better way to ring in the new year than discussing the one that was? Why, delving even further back of course. Back to the days of canteen lines, rules declaring those without hats may not play in the sun and that good ol’ pastime that has been taking the “tennis” out of “tennis ball” for decades. So sit back, relax (ignore the constant hum of a fan straining against the sweltering heat) and ring in the new year with a smile on your dial. It’s 2017, people, let’s make it a fun one. -30-
Now that the Anime adaptation of Hirohiko Araki’s JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable has reached it’s finale, fans of the long-running series are thirsty for more. Most are anticipating the release of a preview for the upcoming Part 5: Vento Aureo, whereas others are looking towards the realm of live-action cinema to scratch their itch. Luckily famed director Takashi Miike and crew have exactly what what we need to drive away any withdrawal symptoms that come with a lack of JJBA content. Across the new years celebrations the very first visual for the upcoming live-action JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure film, which will be focussing solely on Part 4: Diamond Is Unbreakable, was released online. This image shows lead actor Kento Yamazaki in full costume as the story’s protagonist Josuke Higashikata. The most prominent reaction to this visual reveal is that of a positive one, with many saying that it is as close as a filmmaker is going to get to recreating his look from the Manga. It’s great to see that many are fans of …
