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Hello Anime and Game fans! It’s Time for Another
Viz Media plans to issue new volumes of the Death Note anime on a monthly basis starting in December -- and Collector's Editions of subsequent volumes will also come with limited edition figurines. And for those of you who didn't make it to Anime Expro this year, here's some of the exciting things to look forward to in the world of anime: Bandai Entertainment's AX Announcements: Bandai Ent. will be releasing the Gundam SEED Destiny special/movie and the two Silent Mobius feature films next year. Their third new license is Agent Aika (previously put out on DVD by CPM), together with the more recent Aika R-16 OVA. Both incarnations of the Aika series are rather famous for being panty-riffic. FUNimation's AX Announcements: Adult Swim has picked up 52 episodes of Shin-chan. Tsubasa season 2 and xxxHOLiC are coming out on DVD in 2008. So are the newly acquired series Negima!?, Darker Than Black, Jyu-Oh-Sei and Love Hina, the last of which they've "license-rescued" from Bandai, the company that originally released it back in the day. Dark Horse's AX Announcements: Dark Horse has picked up a number of new manga licenses, including Gantz, A Wind Named Amnesia, Ghost Talker's Daydream, The Color of Rage (by Kazuo Koike and Seisaku Kano) and Bride of the Water God. That's not all, though - they've also grabbed two Blood+ novels and three different Blood+ manga series. ADV's AX Announcements: Not to be outdone, ADV revealed at their AX panel that they own the rights to the brand new Devil May Cry anime, plus Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora (12 episodes) and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (will be 26 episodes). Geneon's AX Announcements: Geneon has licensed the Deltora Quest anime (still ongoing in Japan) as well as both seasons of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha and the Shakugan no Shana OVA. They're aiming to release the next volume of Hellsing Ultimate this October. Also, Guardian of the Sacred Spirit--a series from the makers of Ghost in the Shell TV--is set to come out sooner than expected. >> VIDEO GAME NEWS Ace Combat 6 introduces several new gameplay features to the long-running flight combat series. By way of Xbox Live, players can now dogfight online in cooperative and competitive matches. Also new is the "allied support system," forcing players to make strategic decisions on whether to bring in allied vehicles such as fighter planes, tanks, heavy bombers, and naval fleets to aid them in battle. Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation is available exclusively on the Xbox 360 and retails for $59.99.
The trailer begins with Bellic driving a classic "Stallion" muscle car over a replica of the Brooklyn Bridge, called the Broker Bridge in the game. It then shows a montage of him arguing with various criminal types while searching for an unnamed individual. The arguments are intercut with various shots of Bellic walking the streets of Liberty City, with landmarks based on real-life NYC locales, such as the Empire State Building appearing in the background. The trailer also contains some details about the game's story. It shows an unidentified blond woman urging Bellic for "No more killing," a SWAT team surrounding a bank, and several car chases with the police. Also on display is the first video evidence that the game will feature motorcycles and helicopters, and sports numerous clips from building interiors--indicating GTA IV may have as much activity inside buildings as outside. Grand Theft Auto IV will ship for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in North America on October 16. >> VIDEO GAME SPOTLIGHT For those of you who played the first God of War you're familiar with the story of Kratos and his struggle to beat Ares, the god of war, in revenge for the death of his wife and child by his own hands while under the maddening power of Ares. God of War II picks up after Kratos's victory as he wields the reins of a god of war, leading his mortal forces in conquest after conquest on the mortal plane. The gods of Olympus , lead by Zeus, become increasingly angry with Kratos and his wrathful wars on earth and so devise a plan to strip him of his powers and kill him outright. An epic fight between The Colossus (true to mythology, a giant animated stone statue) and Kratos while in a weakened state and running through an enemy city is just the first level. The rest of the game follows the action as Kratos, abandoned by all the gods of Olympus , is allied with the once powerful titans (sometimes against their will or better judgment). Through a multitude of large scale locations, the game takes Kratos closer and closer to the stronghold of the Fates who control the strands of fate for all; gods and humans. Along the way there are more puzzles and strange keys than Resident Evil, boss fights, impossible swings, boss fights, insane climbing, and a few more boss fights. Now, when I mention boss fights, you have to understand, these are some real good fights. Battling through Cerberus like giant dogs, harpies, the undead, and heroes of mythology such as Icarus, Perseus (with the voice actor who played him in the classic Clash of the Titans), and others. Toss in a very Prince of Persia time stop ability at certain locations for both fights and puzzles and you have yourself an epic story that is God of War II. On the Ten Scale In summary, great fun, loads of action and puzzles. Epic boss fights and locations. A few camera angles were hard to work around but otherwise a great game. >> ANIME SPOTLIGHT The time is the future. The place is the domed utopian city known as Romdo. The people are happy, comfortable in their paradise, and tended by their robotic servants called auto-raves or Entourage which are companion, computer, and personal assistant all in one. Life is perfect, on the surface at least. Behind the face of the government a secret has been silently festering in the darkness. A being known only as a Proxy has been bound by scientists and studied for unknown reasons. Unrelated to that, some auto-raves have contracted a rare and incurable virus which causes them to behave unexpectedly, even irrationally, with a free will of their own. Re-l Mayer, granddaughter to the viceroy of Romdo and a detective with the Intelligence Bureau, is investigating the effects of the virus. An investigation that leads her to be attacked by an unknown and deformed being, a Proxy, and throws her world into a spin of lies and deception that makes a lie of the truths she once knew. Vincent Law, an immigrant from outside the dome, works as a civil servant and technician hunting and analyzing the infected auto-raves in order to become a fellow citizen. He too is hunted and attacked by the unknown creature, all the while the government moves to cover any evidence of the creature or its attacks. What is the Proxy? Why does the government want it back so badly? What of the world outside the dome? What ties it to these two characters and how far must they travel to uncover the truth about it and themselves? Ergo Proxy moves at a good speed, each episode moving the story forward at an easy pace but with each volume leaving the viewer sitting on the edge of his seat in anticipation of what is to come next. Voice acting and animation are both superb. The story is both gripping and entertaining while retaining an occasional light feel of dark humor. Opening and series music are well selected and the closing theme, “Paranoid Android” by Radiohead works as a good send off. All in all, this writer looks forward to the next installment of Ergo Proxy. On the Ten Scale In 7 days planet Graceland is about to be destroyed. The planet, locked in a vicious civil war, has been threatened with termination by the Milky Way Federation. >> SPECIAL OFFERS >>THE EXPRESS CLUB MEMBERSHIP PROGRAM Benefits Include:
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Namco Bandai To Release Afro Samurai Game: Namco Bandai revealed a trailer for an Afro Samurai video game at their 2007 Editor's Day presentation, which took place recently. A company rep said the game will be “uncut, uncensored [and] unadulterated.” On that note, it'll be rated M, although we don't yet know when it's going to hit shelves. 
Final Guitar Hero '80s Tracks Revealed -
Complete list of songs now available: RedOctane and Activision today announced the final batch of songs to be included in its upcoming semi-sequel Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s . Set dead in the middle of everyone's favorite hair, spandex and makeup decade, RedOctane has announced that it will include songs made famous by artists such as the Dead Kennedys, Winger, Judas Priest and The Go Go's. 
Beautiful Katamari Skips PS3, Goes Wii - Rumor: Sources allege publisher has quietly canned the PS3 build of the quirky title; started work on Wii effort instead.
Namco Bandai revealed earlier this year that it was developing the next-generation Katamari Damacy sequel, Beautiful Katamari, for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Up until recently, the developer continued to work on both versions of the project. However, sources close to Namco Bandai tell IGN that the studio ran into some trouble with the port of the game to PlayStation 3 and these issues, coupled with the stalled sales of the system, have led to the project's quiet cancellation. Looking to better-than-expected sales of Wii, the company has, say insiders, re-shifted resources to ready a Wii build of Beautiful Katamari instead. Given that the title cannot be ported from Xbox 360, the game is being re-concepted for Wii.
Ace Combat 6 Lands October 23: For fans of flight combat, Namco Bandai's Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation marks more than just a new set of unfriendly skies. It also signifies the debut of Hori's Ace-Edge Flightstick, the Xbox 360's first flight sim accessory. Namco Bandai today sends word that Ace Combat 6 will taxi onto store shelves with the Ace-Edge in its hold come October 23.
Second GTA IV trailer unspools - Further video sampling of forthcoming Rockstar game shows series will feature trademark felonies: The (faint) possibility of a nonviolent GTA IV was shattered today, when Rockstar released the 
Title: God of War II 
Title: Ergo Proxy 
Attention bargain hunters! We have tons of clearance DVD’s (buy two and get the third free) 