Category: Announcements

VIZ Media Offers a New Holiday Promotion That Gives Fans 20% Off on ALL Digital Manga on VIZMANGA.COM and The VIZ Manga App Thru January 8th

Explore New Titles Or Catch Up On Ongoing Series With A Special Discount That Applies To The Entire VIZ Manga Library Of Over 1,000 Digital Volumes 

VIZ Media has just announced a special new promotion to wrap up 2012 that offers 20% off on all digital manga (graphic novel) titles featured on VIZManga.com and available through the VIZ Manga App, including top-selling titles BAKUMAN?, BLEACH, BLUE EXORCIST, NANA, NARUTO, ONE PIECE, VAMPIRE KNIGHT, and more. Enjoy the fun of manga throughout the holiday season with this special offer that runs for a limited-time only from now until Tuesday, January 8th.

Through the innovative VIZ Manga digital platform, registered users are able to use one account to view their purchased manga across more devices than ever, allowing for complete interoperability to read manga. The free VIZ Manga App is the top application for reading manga on the Apple iPhoneÆ, iPodÆ touch, iPadÆ and supported Android-powered smart phones and tablets (including the Kindle Fire), and may be downloaded through the iTunes Store, Google Play Store, and Amazon Appstore. The platform is also accessible from VIZManga.com for desktop and laptop computers.

The VIZ Manga platform features a massive library of the most popular manga series in the world, featuring over 1,000 volumes across over 100 different series, with new series and volumes added every Tuesday. All manga volumes are generally available for purchase and download in the U.S. and Canada within the application starting from $4.99 (U.S. / CAN) each.

Download the free VIZ Manga App for your Android and iOS devices at www.VIZ.com/apps.

To learn more about VIZ Manga, and to explore free Chapter 1 previews of every manga title, please visit VIZManga.com.

 

Enter the Battleground! Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Launches Guardians of Middle-Earth

Authentic MOBA Gameplay Available Exclusively for Xbox LIVE® Arcade and PlayStation®Network

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announces the launch of Guardians of Middle-earth, a new multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game developed by Monolith Productions, available today on PlayStation®Network and tomorrow, Dec. 5, 2012, for Xbox LIVE® Arcade for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft.

With more than 20 playable Guardian characters available for unparalleled competitive play, Guardians of Middle-earth is $14.99 on PlayStation Network, and 1200 Microsoft Points on Xbox LIVE Arcade for Xbox 360. A separate Season Pass can be purchased for just $14.99 more, or 1200 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360, and provides discounted access to a significant amount of additional game content to be released in the future, including Guardian characters and a new gameplay mode.

“Guardians of Middle-earth provides an avenue for fans to experience memorable Middle-earth characters firsthand, including many from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey film,” said Samantha Ryan, Senior Vice President, Production and Development, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. “The game has all of the depth and rich competitive strategy of traditional MOBA games and provides a great entry point for new MOBA players on consoles, since it is set in the familiar fantasy world of Middle-earth.”

In Guardians of Middle-earth, gamers team up as the most powerful heroes from the greatest fantasy epic of all time, bringing up to 10 players together in strategic five versus five competitive multiplayer battle arenas. There will be more than 20 playable Guardian characters available at launch, drawn from both The Lord of the Rings Film Trilogy and The Hobbit Film Trilogy, including Gandalf, Nori, Eowyn, Legolas, Galadriel, Sauron and Gollum. Gamers will be able to connect with other players via an in-game voice communication system, as well as access a comprehensive online stat and leader board system where they can track friends’ victories and defeats. The game will include several characters from the upcoming The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey motion picture, which is set for release on Dec. 14, 2012, directed by Peter Jackson and a production of New Line Cinema and
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM).

For more information about Guardians of Middle-earth, please visit the website at www.guardiansofmiddleearth.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GuardiansofMiddleearth
or on Twitter @GuardiansMe

About Monolith Productions
Monolith Productions, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, is located in Kirkland, WA. Over the past 15 years, Monolith has risen to critical acclaim through an emphasis on delivering quality products such as F.E.A.R., The Condemned series, Aliens vs. Predator 2, TRON 2.0, the No One Lives Forever franchise and Gotham City Impostors.

About Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, a division of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, Inc., is a premier worldwide publisher, developer, licensor and distributor of entertainment content for the interactive space across all current and future platforms, including console, handheld and PC-based gaming for both internal and third party game titles.

About The Hobbit Trilogy
A production of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM), “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” is the first of three films from filmmaker Peter Jackson, the Academy Award-winning director of “The Lord of the Rings” Trilogy. The screenplay for “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” is by Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyens & Peter Jackson & Guillermo del Toro. Jackson is also producing the film, together with Carolynne Cunningham, Zane Weiner and Fran Walsh. The executive producers are Alan Horn, Toby Emmerich, Ken Kamins and Carolyn Blackwood, with Boyens and Eileen Moran serving as co-producers.

“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” and the second and third films of the trilogy
are productions of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, with New Line managing production. Warner Bros. Pictures is handling worldwide theatrical
distribution, with select international territories as well as all international
television distribution being handled by MGM.

“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” will be released on December 14, 2012, with the second film, “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” releasing December 13, 2013, and the third film, “The Hobbit: There and Back Again,” slated for July 18, 2014.

 

The Black Coat slashes his way onto Kickstarter

The creative team responsible for The Black Coat comic book launched their first Kickstarter campaign today and plan to produce a 66 page graphic novel that tells the further adventures of America’s first superspy if funded. “We’ve always wanted to pick things up where we left off,” said Black Coat co-creator Ben Lichius, “but producing a book like The Black Coat can be cost prohibitive in many ways and so it just hasn’t been a possibility for us to this point.”

The creators are looking toward Kickstarter as a way to raise both funds and awareness for the character and help ease the minds of some eager fans at the same time. “I still get emails on a regular basis asking when we’re going to do more books,” Lichius added. “I think that Kickstarter is a special way for old and new fans to get involved with a project that they love, and in a way they never could before. Obviously the funding is a big part of it, but one of the great things about crowdfunding is the level of interaction that fans get to have – it’s a literal forum for them, as actual investors, to talk about the project, share their thoughts and concerns with the creators, help spread the word about the project… It actually makes fans into fellow creators and I think that’s really cool.”

The new book would be written by Ben Lichius, illustrated by Dean Kotz, and colored by Diego Rodriguez. Ape Entertainment has already agreed to publish the book upon completion. If successful, the team expects the book to be on shelves by early October of 2013.

For more information about the campaign, visit the Kickstarter Page:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/61459799/the-black-coat-the-blackest-dye
You can follow the campaign’s progress on the Black Coat’s website or on Facebook at:
http://www.the-black-coat.com
http://www.facebook.com/TheBlackCoat
And to learn more about Ape Entertainment, visit their website www.apecomics.com.

The Black Coat was created by Ben Lichius and Francesco Francavilla.

VIZ Media Offers Android Users New Free Way to Read WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP ALPHA!

Readers New To Manga Or The Nation’s Leading Weekly Digital Manga Magazine Are Invited To Sample Hot New Series With An Easy-To-Use Ad-Supported Option

VIZ Media gives Android users new to WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP ALPHA or the manga genre itself an easy reason to explore the nation’s leading digital manga (graphic novel) magazine with a new ad-supported option that allows readers to read a complete issue for free.

Readers simply click on the “Free” button in the VIZ Manga app & choose from a variety of promotional offers from our advertising partners in order to get access to each week’s issue of WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP ALPHA with no further commitment required. The ad-supported option is available only to Android users at this time.

Each digital edition of WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP ALPHA treats manga fans across North America to the latest chapters of some of the world’s most popular manga series only two weeks after they debut in Japan’s massively popular WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP magazine. Starting on January 21st, all weekly WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP ALPHA series will be publishing simultaneously with their release in Japan! Don’t miss the latest installments of hot series such as BAKUMAN?, BARRAGE, BLEACH, BLUE EXORCIST, NARUTO, ONE PIECE and TORIKO as well as access to special editorial features and an extensive online fan-supported community. Also explore the range of special content and premium offers that are available exclusively to WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP ALPHA members from VIZ Media.

WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP ALPHA is available through an annual membership that provides 52 weeks of digital access to 48 weekly issues for just $25.99. Each issue may be read on VIZManga.com/sj-weekly, and also on the VIZ Manga App for iPadÆ, iPhoneÆ, iPodÆ touch, and Android tablets and smartphones. For more information on WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP ALPHA and current exclusive subscriber offers, please visit SJAlpha.com.

New People and Scrap to Open a New Home Base for The Real Escape Game in San Francisco

Innovative Interactive Multiplayer Puzzle Solving Game Originally Invented In Japan Returns To The Bay Area On A Semi-Permanent Basis

NEW PEOPLE, a dynamic entertainment destination bringing the latest examples of Japanese popular culture to North American shores, has teamed up with creative company, SCRAP, to launch a new home for the popular “Real Escape Game” at the notable Japanese Pop Culture venue through 2013.

“The Real Escape Room: SF Vol. 1 – Escape from the Mysterious Room” opens on Friday, December 14th and will run periodically thru 2013. Multiple game sessions will take place most weekends on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays inside NEW PEOPLE’s 3rd floor SUPERFROG Gallery space. NEW PEOPLE is located in San Francisco’s Japantown district at 1746 Post St. (Cross St. is Webster Ave.). More information at: www.newpeopleworld.com.

“The Real Escape Room” will be the newly installed, semi-permanent home for the latest version of“The Real Escape Game,” which is an inventive puzzle solving interactive game event, originally created in Japan, which requires players to cooperate and use their intuition and detective skills to solve multiple mysteries within a limited time.

In “The Real Escape Room: SF Vol. 1 – Escape from the Mysterious Room,” players find themselves locked inside a seemingly ordinary room. It has a desk, chairs, a carpet – everything seems normal. But on closer inspection players will find a series of mysterious codes and puzzles that must be solved in order to find a hidden key to escape. The maximum capacity of participants for each game will be limited to 11 people. Game duration is around 1.5 hours (including introductions and a solution walkthrough). More than 10,000 people have played this game in Japan, China, and Taiwan.

The Real Escape Room: SF Vol. 1 – Escape from the Mysterious Room Game Times:

Fridays: 6:30pm, 8:30pm

Saturdays: 11am, 1pm, 3pm, 5pm, 7pm

Sundays: 11am, 1pm, 3pm, 5pm

Tickets are $28.00 in advance; $33.00 at the door. Tickets and additional information are available at:http://realescapegame.com/rersf1.

“The Real Escape Game thrilled hundreds of players during several sessions held previously in San Francisco, most recently with the Real Escape Game x Evangelion: Escape from an Angel, which was inspired by the hit Evangelion anime series and staged during the 2012 J-Pop Summit Festival last summer,” says Seiji Horibuchi, the President/CEO of NEW PEOPLE, Inc. “We are very excited to again team up withSCRAP to present a brand new installment that will run weekly at the NEW PEOPLE venue. Join other plays and test your powers of deduction and reasoning with this intriguing and fun game!”

About SCRAP Co. & SCRAP Entertainment Inc.

SCRAP Co. (www.scrapmagazine.com), based in Kyoto, Japan, produces the free magazine, “SCRAP” and the Real Escape Game (REG), a new style of live entertainment. Over 200,000 participants have played this game in Japan, China, Taiwan, Singapore and the United States. SCRAP Entertainment Inc (RealEscapeGame.com), based in San Francisco, California, is a U.S division of SCRAP Co., and produces REG in the United States.

About NEW PEOPLE, Inc.
Based in San Francisco, California, NEW PEOPLE, Inc. (www.newpeopleworld.com) offers the latest films, art, fashion and retail brands from Japan through its unique entertainment destination as well as through licensing and distribution of selective Japanese films. NEW PEOPLE Entertainment (www.newpeopleent.com), a film division of NEW PEOPLE, Inc. strives to offer the most entertaining motion pictures straight from the “Kingdom of Pop” for audiences of all ages, especially the manga and anime generation, in North America. Some titles include DEATH NOTE, GANTZ, KAMIKAZE GIRLS, and THE TASTE OF TEA.

Doctor Who’s David Tennant To Guest Star on Star Wars: The Clone Wars

David Tennant, best known as the tenth doctor to play The Doctor on the hit seriesDoctor Who, will make his Star Wars: The Clone Wars debut this week in “A Test of Strength,” airing Saturday, November 10th at 9:30am ET/PT on Cartoon Network.

Tennant will voice the character Huyang, a droid who greatly impacts the journey of a group of young Jedi, who were just setting out to build their first lightsabers in last week’s episode.  The famed actor will continue to appear in the series for the following two episodes, “Bound for Rescue” and “A Necessary Strength.”

“When I heard the Doctor himself, David Tennant, was a fan of Star Wars I knew I had to find a way to get in contact with him to see if he would perform on Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” said Dave Filoni, Supervising Director, Star Wars: The Clone Wars. “The result was ‘Huyang,’ an ancient droid in the service of the Jedi Order, whose sole task in life has been overseeing the construction of lightsabers. I thought David was perfect for the part and he did not disappoint. He delivered a performance which impressed even the Master himself, George Lucas.”

Trivia:

  • This episode marks the first appearance of “Huyang,” an ancient droid in the service of the Jedi Order, whose sole task in life has been overseeing the construction of lightsabers. The character is voiced by David Tennant (Doctor Who, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire).
  • Petro’s lightsaber training maneuver – the Whirlwind of Destiny – was actually created a young fan as part of the Join the Jedi contest sponsored by Hasbro. The winning entry was animated into the show.
  • The training remotes seen aboard the Crucible are the same design as the one seen aboard the Millennium Falcon in Episode IV, and in Jedi Temple youngling training verandah in Episode II.

 

WETA Offers New Gorgeous Jewellery from Middle-Earth

From Weta


Our range of exquisite jewellery from The Lord of the Rings has had a whole bunch of additions this week.

We are very pleased to be able to present the following seven pieces of exquisite jewellery:

Earlier releases include The One Ring – 18K Solid Gold, The One Ring – Gold Plated Tungsten Carbide and the Elven Leaf Brooch.

All are available to order now!

NINTENDO Teams up with Famous Females for New “Play As You Are” Campaign

Star-Studded Campaign Featuring Glee’s Dianna Agron and Modern Family’s Sarah Hyland To Show How You Don’t Have to Be a Gamer to Enjoy Games on Nintendo 3DS Hand-Held

Consumers in Canada will soon see some famous faces talking about their love for the wide array of games and entertainment options available on Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo 3DS XL hand-held systems. On Oct. 1, Nintendo will launch a new campaign called “Play As You Are,” designed to show how all kinds of women and young girls can explore their interests and express their individuality using the portable Nintendo 3DS – whether they consider themselves gamers or not. TV stars Dianna Agron (of Fox’s Glee) and Sarah Hyland (of ABC’s Modern Family) are teaming up with Nintendo to showcase how games for Nintendo 3DS provide female players with fun, creative ways to challenge themselves and share what makes them unique. Both celebrities participating in the “Play As You Are” campaign will show how games for Nintendo 3DS engage their respective interests and personalities:

* Dianna Agron is not only a music lover like her character on Glee, she is also a dedicated fan, blogger and supporter of visual art. Fittingly, she will be featured in ads for Art Academy: Lessons for Everyone! (Oct. 1). The game lets players of any artistic skill level learn a wide range of painting and drawing techniques that can be applied in real life, from pencils to paints to pastels. She’ll also appear in spots for the puzzle-solving adventure Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask (Oct. 28). Dianna is currently in production on the feature film Malavita, directed by Luc Besson and starring opposite Robert DeNiro and Michelle Pfeiffer.

* Sarah Hyland is a budding fashionista with a keen eye for clothing trends. Her role as Haley on TV’s Emmy award-winning Modern Family is a great match for her fashion-forward style off-screen. She’ll be seen in ads for Style Savvy:
Trendsetters (Oct. 22), which lets players use thousands of items and accessories to create fabulous looks and manage their own customized clothing boutiques. Hyland also will star in a Nintendo 3DS holiday ad featuring Sparkle Snapshots 3D (Oct. 18), an application that lets users take 2D pictures, decorate them with 3D accents and share them with friends.

“These women are all amazing role models with their own unique tastes and talents,” said Ron Bertram, Nintendo of Canada’s vice-president and general manager. “They know firsthand how Nintendo 3DS can keep them entertained and engaged wherever they go. We think young girls and women of all ages will enjoy hearing what they have to say about their favourite games and activities on Nintendo 3DS.” From puzzle games to role-playing adventures and everything in-between, more than 126 software titles are currently available for Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo 3DS XL, with more downloadable content added to the online Nintendo eShop every week. In addition to games, consumers can use the system’s built-in 3D camera and applications like Swapnote to connect with friends in creative ways. Nintendo 3DS users can also instantly watch thousands of TV shows and movies on Nintendo 3DS with a Netflix unlimited streaming membership and broadband Internet connection. Since launching in 2011, the original Nintendo 3DS system has sold more than 19 million units worldwide. Nintendo 3DS XL, which launched on Aug. 19, 2012, has 90 percent larger screens than the original Nintendo 3DS, allowing users to immerse themselves even more deeply into their games and entertainment. Both versions of the system include built-in wireless features such as StreetPass and SpotPass, built-in cameras and the ability to enjoy games, movies and video content in 3D without the need for special glasses. Remember that Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo 3DS XL feature parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about this and other features, visit http://www.nintendo.com/3ds.

About Nintendo: The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii(tm) home console, Nintendo 3DS(tm) and Nintendo DS(tm) family of portable systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System(tm), Nintendo has sold more than 3.9 billion video games and more than 630 million hardware units globally, including the current-generation Wii, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi(tm) and Nintendo DSi XL(tm), as well as the Game Boy(tm), Game Boy Advance, Super NES(tm), Nintendo 64(tm) and Nintendo GameCube(tm) systems. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names such as Mario(tm), Donkey Kong(tm), Metroid(tm), Zelda(tm) and Pokémon(tm). A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo’s operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo, please visit the company’s website at http://www.nintendo.ca.