Cosplay World Record Broken

The world record for the largest gathering of people dressed as video game characters was broken Saturday May 23, 2009 at the London MCM Expo. 376 cosplayers gathered breaking the previous record of 342. Congratulations to all who were involved.





More pictures at Guinness World Records

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XBox 1 vs 100 Beta Starts June 1

The beta season for the US version of XBox Primetime's 1 vs 100 begins Monday, June 1st at 10:30PM ET. The program is hosted live by Chris Cashman and will be free for XBox Live Gold Subscribers. The show will run for 2 hours and players can log in anytime during the show for chances to win Microsoft points or other prizes. Each round one player is selected to be "The One" and 100 players selected to be "The Mob". Everyone else logged in during that round are "The Crowd" Your best chance for winning prizes is being selected as "The One" or as a member of "The Mob", but a video of the Canadian beta showed the top 3 scorers of "The Crowd" winning points each round as well. Also you earn entries into a sweepstakes drawing just for being logged in and playing along.

This is a very interesting concept. I do wonder how much it will cost after the Beta season, because they seem to emphasize that the "Beta Season" is free to Gold subscribers. Which might mean there will be a fee for future seasons. Will just have to wait and see on that one. I'll be playing along Monday night, and my gamertag is ZirocStormkiler if anyone else is going to be playing.

Here is a look at the Canadian Beta from Giant Bomb


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XBLA Deal of the Week Bionic Commando: Rearmed

Microsoft has the XBLA remake of the original Bionic Commando game on sale for half off this week. You can get Bionic Commando: Rearmed for just 400 points. I loved playing this game on the NES, and need to pick up the new Bionic Commando game soon.



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Blood: The Last Vampire Opening

Yahoo Japan is streaming the opening of the upcoming Blood: The Last Vampire live action movie. It's only about 5 minutes, so I can't really say much about how good I think the movie might be, but the trailer at Sony Pictures looks like it might at least be a decent movie. There's no release date for the film in the US yet, but will be released in Japan on May 29, UK on June 12, and France on June 17.

I've seen the original Blood: The Last Vampire anime which the movie is supposed to be based from, but it was several years ago and I don't remember to much about. Should probably watch it again soon. I did watch Blood+ when it was ran on Cartoon Network and really enjoyed it, so I'm hoping the new movie is good.

Image from eat.sleep.geek
News source Animenation News Blog

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New Manga Loot

Bought a few new manga today. Got the next to last issue of Shojo Bear, which be ending it's run with next month's issue. I was really disappointed when I heard this. I've been reading Shojo Beat since Dec. 2006, and it introduced me to several really good manga I might not of read otherwise. Since I'll no longer be able to buy Shoho Beat after next month decided to pick up my very first issue of Yen+. If I like the manga it runs, I might continue buying it. Anyone have any opinions of Yen+?



Also picked up Negima! volume 22, and Rosario+Vampire volume 1. Haven't read any of Rosario+Vampire or seen the anime, but have heard it's pretty good.

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Utada, Fanboys, and Terminators

Went to Best Buy today to pick up a few items. First was Utada's newest US album, "This is the One". It's a very good album. My top 3 songs from it are "Come Back To Me", "Simple and Clean" (Disney's Kingdom Hearts), and "Sanctuary" (Disney's Kingdom Hearts 2)


Also picked up a couple new movies. Got Fanboys on DVD. This was an ok film. It had to quite a few jokes that you had to be a fan of Star Wars to get. I liked that the studio decided to keep the Cancer plot thread, because it gave meaning to their trip to Skywalker Ranch other than just a group of geeks wanting to be the first to see Episode 1. Also picked up the new Skynet Edition T2: Judgment Day on Blu-ray. Picked it up because I didn't have it on DVD, plus it came with a $50.00 Sideshow Collectables gift card exclusive from Best Buy. I was actually lucky getting this because when I looked in the Blu-ray and New Release sections they didn't have any of the Skynet Edition on the shelf. I couldn't find any special display for them either, but as I was looking through the TV on DVD section I found 1 copy someone has sat down there.

Not sure if I'm going to use the gift card yet, because your limited to using it on select items. And right now the only two figures it can be used on that interest me are Wicket and Misa Misa. Everything else eligible for the card are out of my price range even with the $50 off. I might wait awhile since the card is good until May 31, 2010 to get something. If anyone is interested in seeing what all items the card can be used on you can see a list on their Gift Card Page.

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Kanon Patch Updated

NDT has released an updated version of their Kanon patch. Now Makoto and Nayuki's paths can be completed. Previously only Shiori's path was completely translated. The next path they will be finishing is Mai's.

Get the patch at NDT's site

You can purchase Kanon at the following sites
All Ages Version at Himeya Shop
18+ Version at Eroge Shop

Image from Anime Galleries.net

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One Piece to Begin Simulcast May 30th

Funimation and Toei animation will begin airing new episodes of One Piece, subtitled in English, in the US and Canada 1 hour after they air in Japan. The first episodes will begin airing May 30th at 9PM CDT on the Offical One Piece website followed soon after by Funimation partner sites.

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Fanboys on DVD May 19

Fanboys will be released on DVD May 19th. Fanboys is a movie about a group of friends who decide to break into George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch to steal a print of Episode 1. It had a limited run in theaters, and unfortunately the theater here wasn't one of the ones showing it. But I can finally see it this Tuesday. Anyone else wanting to see this film?



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Final Fantasy Dissidia PSP Combo Pack

Sony will be releasing a PSP/Final Fantasy Dissidia combo pack which will come with a PSP-3000 system, Final Fantasy Dissidia game, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children UMD, and a 2GB Memory Stick Pro DUO. The combo pack will be released August 25 and retail for $199.99. These PSP's will only be available at Gamestop.



Source: The Feed
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Prince of Persia Movie Footage

Not sure what the name of this program is, but it is an interview with producer Jerry Bruckheimer and includes some footage from the Prince of Persia movie. Anyone looking forward to this movie? I didn't even know they were this far into production.



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Dance Like a Fly, Bite Like a Mosquito

Funny live action commercial for Punch-Out for the Wii. Anyone played this yet? Is it any fun?

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First Dakimakura and other May loot

Mid-May loot post and it includes my first Dakimakura. The Dengeki G's Festival Comic Vol 6 I ordered from J-List came in this past week. It came with a Asakura Otome Dakimakura. A Dakimakura, for those who don't know, is a pillow case for a body pillow which features an anime character printed on it. They are extremely popular, and some of them sell for $100.00 or more. I also picked up a couple of video games and manga this week, which you can see after the jump....



Higurashi: When They Cry, Cotton Drifting Arc Volume 1. Just recently finished the Abducted By Demons Arc a few weeks ago, and really looking forward to reading this one. Need to get around to playing the game one of these days.


Volume 3 of Jim Henson's Return to Labyrinth finally came out. It's been so long since volume 2 that I was starting to worry they had decided not to finish the project. Unfortunately, it looks like there might be another long wait for the 4th and final volume. The author, Jake T. Forbes, says in the afterward concerning volume 4,

"I'm afraid I must ask you to wait yet again. Volume 4 will see Toby's story to a close, but there are still a few dramatic knots to untie before it goes to press."

On the bright side it seems work on Legends of the Dark Crystal volume 2 is moving along, as there are a few pages of artwork from volume 2 included at the end of the book. Now I want to watch Labyrinth again.


Picked up Persona 3 FES at Gamestop on clearance for 50% off. It's a very good game so far. Just finished the first full moon boss battle, and working on leveling up before the next one.


Also got Fable 2 since Best Buy had it on sale for 29.99. Although they were sold out, so I had to price match it at Wal-Mart. Played a little of it so far, but stopped after completing the first dungeon. Plan to play it once I finish Persona.


Ok and now what most of you probably clicked on this article to see. The pics of the Dakimakura. You know it's true. Don't try to deny it.




Unlike some Dakimakura's that have the character pictured on both sides in varying states of undress, this Dakimakura only has Asakura pictured on one side.


Do you own any Dakimakura's? Which characters do you have?

Click now for J-List

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May Issue of Compace

Got the May issue of Compace in the mail today. Another Japanese magazine I ordered just for the figure it came with. And this magazine is thick. Like phone book thick, and features various manga such as Lucky Star, Churuya-san, Melty Blood, and Code Geass: Nightmare of Nunnally. Do many of you buy magazines just for the bonus items?

More after the jump...




This one came with Kagami from Lucky Star.


It also came with a Tsukasa promo card for the Weiβ Schwarz CCG.


Kagami relaxes and reads some manga while enjoying some snacks.


This figure of Kagami is extremely cute.


Anyone know what kind of snacks those are?


Color image of the Tsukasa promo card from the April Comptiq.




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As promised...

As promised here are photos of the poster that came with the April issue of Comptiq. One side of the poster is a character from Flyable Heart, and the other side is a character from Canvas 3. I'm not familiar with either series/game, so if someone knows the character's names then please feel free to comment below.



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First May Loot

First loot of this month came in today. I ordered the April issue of Comptiq from J-List for the Konata figure it came with. J-list doesn't carry Compace, so I had to order it from Ebay to get Kagami figure. Hopefully it will be be in sometime this week. Can't read of lick of Japanese though, so the magazine is just decoration for now. But if I ever get around to learning any written Japanese it's something to practice with.

More after the jump...




Konata came packed in quite a large box for the size of the figure. She's only about 2 inches tall.


She's nicely detailed for such a small figure. I wasn't to keen on the tear drop on her head at first, because it looked more like a hair accessory than an emotive icon at first. But after putting the figure together with the desk it looks better.


Konata comes with a removable book bag.


This issue also had information on a Lucky Star CCG (Collectible Card Game), and even came with a promo card. Since, I don't have anywhere to put the card on display, I left it in the envelope in the magazine. The name of the game is Weiß Schwarz.


This is what the card looks like.

There was also a pull out double sided poster. I forgot to take a picture of it though. I'll snap a pic tomorrow or Monday and post it then. They also had a article on the new Wii Haruhi game. The game looks like a visual novel style game, which means it'll probably never see the light of day in the US. It would be a shame though if it doesn't the screen shots look like it might be a pretty good game.


In a last attempt to get Soul Calibur 4, and Devil May Cry 4 for only $10 I went by Best Buy again to see if just maybe they had gotten some more of the games in before the sale end. They hadn't so I used my $15.00 in Reward Zone certificates to buy Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core for the PSP. which was $19.99.

The game has an interesting control scheme, which takes some getting used to. Especially the timing for blocks and dodges. Combat is done in real time and you cycle through commands such as fight, spells, items using the left and right buttons on top of the PSP, and if you time it right you can dodge or block incoming spells or attacks with the triangle and square buttons. My biggest problem with dodge is it usually dodges your right toward the enemy getting you hit anyway, especially against large bosses like Ifirit.

Well that's all for now. Need to head for bed. Will post pictures of those posters later, and have two other orders that should be in sometime this week.

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