Category: Multimedia

Split Reason: April 2010 Newsletter

from Split Reason:

It’s been a fun month over at SPLITREASON! Between new products, partner stores, Super Street Fighter IV and Monster Hunter Tri, we’ve had our hands full! Nothing shakes the dust off your Wii mote faster than a sea monster with an appetite. Not only have we learned to slaughter an array of epic beasts, we can cook raw meat to perfection — well done! Who says video games aren’t educational? No more Kraft Dinner for us, from this day forward we feast on Epioth.

We’re excited to announce the launch of the Sarcastic Gamer Store, fresh off the presses with 5 kick-ass designs for gamers and more on the way! Get your personal pwn protection today.

No month would be complete without a new contest to keep the creative plasmids flowing. We’ve commenced our first annual Lego building contest offering up some awesome Lego prizes, free t-shirts, and store credit for each contest entry! Unleash your inner child and help us build a greater future, one block at a time.

Win Wednesday season 2.0 hit the blog a few weeks back. We’re giving away an iPOD touch for the season finale, so keep your laser sights locked on Twitter for a chance to win.

If you’re looking to save a few bucks this month, the active promo of the moment is: NERDALERT — Go get yourself 10% off! (promo expires on May 15th, 2010.)

We’d also love to send a big “Oh Hai Guys” to our friends over at Thrillist for featuring some of our products and offering a great service to serve your laziness. Cut down hours of web surfing and blog trolling by allowing Thrillist to discover the hidden gems of teh interwebs, and deliver all things awesome directly to your inbox.

Now, step into the light, and see what’s new at SplitReason.com… (Don’t forget to hook up with us on our Facebook page for future perks and promotions).

An Extraordinary View of the Future Shines in “Saturn Apartments” Manga Series from VIZ Media

from VIZ Media:

VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, brings the newest title from its partnership with Japan’s IKKI magazine to domestic audiences with the release of Saturn Apartments on May 8th. Created by Hisae Iwaoka, the manga series will be published under the VIZ Signature imprint, is rated “T” for Teens, and will carry an MSRP of $12.99 U.S. / $16.99 CAN.

Far in the future, humankind has evacuated Earth in order to preserve it. Humans now reside in a gigantic structure that forms a ring around the earth, 35,000 kilometers up in the sky. The society of the Ring System is strictly stratified: the higher the floor, the greater the status. Mitsu, the lowly son of a window washer, has just graduated. Five years after his father disappears and is assumed dead, Mitsu takes on his father’s occupation. As he struggles with the transition to working life, Mitsu’s job treats him to an outsider’s view into the living-room dioramas of the Saturn Apartments.

“Saturn Apartments delivers a brilliant vision of a future where Earth is just beyond the grasp of humanity,” says Daniel Gillespie, Editor, VIZ Media. “As Mitsu endeavors to become an adult, he treats us to touching insights on working life, dreams and ambitions, class tension, the value of community and family, and the perplexing loneliness that occurs when people are forced to live on top of one another. It’s a poignant metaphor for urban life, drawn with stunning intricacy and irresistible cuteness.”

Hisae Iwaoka is the creator of several one-shot manga, including Hana Boro (Flower Cookies) and Shiroi Kumo (White Clouds), both of which were serialized in IKKI magazine. Saturn Apartments is her most recent series. A noted artist and illustrator, her installations also have been displayed internationally in the group show “Tokyo Girls Bravo,” which was curated by famed artist Takashi Murakami.

Saturn Apartments is the latest series to be published as part of VIZ Media’s partnership with Japan’s IKKI magazine, bringing a diverse collection of exceptional manga series to audiences in North America. From action to comedy to drama, slice-of-life stories to surrealist fantasies, the uniting themes these works share are an uncommon emphasis on creative quality and on pushing the boundaries of the manga norm. Saturn Apartments is also featured online at SIGIKKI.com, the groundbreaking web destination for a broad range of unique manga designed for mature audiences.

For more information on other VIZ Signature titles and to check out a sneak peek of chapters one through eight of Saturn Apartments, please visit SigIKKI.com.

J!NX: Curse of the Techno Mummy

from J!NX:

New J!NX Classic Tee: Techno Mummy
Thousands of years from now, archaeologists will discover a tomb… well, maybe not so much a tomb but a hole where somebody died. A lone gamer, shut away and forgotten, with nothing but his consoles and peripherals to keep him company in the afterlife. Nobody will have warned those excavators, nobody will have told them about the Techno Mummy’s Curse. Woe be to those who disturb the Gamer’s eternal sleep…

Talesworth Adventure
If you haven’t had a chance to play Talesworth Adventure, you need to make some time. In addition to last week’s mention on Kotaku, it was reviewed on DIYGamer and JayIsGames. Before you know it, you’ll be putting off those TPS reports in your attempts to get Questy past the 30 rooms of peril before him.

RiffTrax: Our riff of “Avatar” is now available!

from RiffTrax:

By now, everyone knows the story of how Avatar single-handedly changed moviemaking forever. Its visionary director (whose name escapes us, you know the one, he’s that guy who didn’t win an Oscar this year) proved that progressive films can succeed in today’s marketplace. As long as progressive means “completely unoriginal and devoid of depth” and the high praise heaped upon the work is entirely based upon it being nice to look at. In this sense, Megan Fox is a progressive actress, and The Hills was the most important television show of the last 10 years. It is truly a bold, experimental piece of work, keeping in mind that crystal meth and fat substitute Olestra (which brought the phrase “anal leakage” into our lexicon) were also the results of experimentation.

For those of you who haven’t seen it (*cricket cricket*), Avatar is the story of just how pretty a jungle planet can look in 3D, and maybe there are some people fighting in it or whatever. It’s also a great refresher on some of your favorite 90s action movie dialogue clichés.

Get it here.

The Legend of Neil: Season 3 Shooting Now

from The Legend of Neil:

Dear Fans of Neil,

Thanks so much for sticking by us! We’re 5 days in to a 14 day shoot for season 3. It’s going to be an epic season! A bunch of new characters mixed in with your old favorites. Or should I say “Ooooold favorites?” The creator/director has been updating daily on our Facebook fan page and our Twitter as well. Join us on either site, pick your poison and raise a glass of dragon period ale as we push to make season 3 the best season yet!

“The Guild” Comic Book

from The Guild:

The Guild comic book, issue #2 (of 3) was released yesterday. This issue features cover art by Matthew Stawicki (shown) and Kristin Donaldson. In #2, we finally get to see all the Guildies. If you want a preview of the comic, Comic Book Resources again has a sneak peek. And like the first issue, the comic is already getting some great reviews — here’s one from Airlock Alpha, and two more here and here. The response from our fans to the comic has been tremendous, from 200+ people showing up to the signing at Golden Apple Comics to reports of The Guild as some people’s first comic book ever purchased. Thanks so much for the support!

Dark Horse Comics alerted us to the fact that due to a distributor glitch, stores in NY, PA, MI, parts of TX and MO, and most of Canada did not receive issue #2 yesterday but will be getting it next week. They also announced the release of issue #1 as an iTunes App, so you can now enjoy the comic for 99 cents on your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad. Here’s the link to the iTunes Store. Dark Horse will release each of the three issues to iTunes, about a month after the print version (exact dates are hard to know, since iTunes has an approval process which affects the release, but we’ll keep you posted).

Pick up your copy from your local comic shop, or buy online from Things from Another World or any number of online retailers.

If you just can’t get enough of the comic, here are some additional links for your enjoyment: Felicia’s blog entry about issue #2, a quick interview with Felicia by Dark Horse, and a cool “Making of” feature that shows issue #1 in various stages of production.

–The Guild management

Irreference Report: April

from Quirk Books:

Dawn of the Dreadfuls Hits New York Times Best-Seller List
Check out this prequel to the original monster mash-up phenomenon, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.
Read an excerpt and check out the book trailer.

Quirk @C2E2 on Flickr
See photos of all the wacky antics and comic-inspired debauchery at C2E2.

Quirk’s Series of Tubes:
Find Quirk Books on Facebook
Find Quirk Classics on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Watch our videos on YouTube
Admire our photos on Flickr

Introducing Weta Legs — a costuming revolution!

from Weta:

Introducing:
Weta Legs — a costuming revolution!

Weta is today hugely excited to bring to the world Weta Legs, a digitigrades leg extension for performers, costumers and anyone who’s ever wanted to walk like an animal.

Since they were displayed a year ago on the Internet for the first time, there has been tremendous interest from performers across the world.

Weta Legs are a unique, low profile, professional grade, reverse leg stilt for creature and costume performances in movies, television, theatre, circus, street performances and other creative contexts. Something previously reserved for commercial film and television projects, they are the first of their kind available commercially to the public.

Check out the Product Video on wetaNZ.com.

“It’s a real thrill to be able to present these stilts to performers across the world,” says Richard Taylor, Weta’s Creative Director and five time Academy Award winner. “Kim Graham has really nailed this and we’re very proud to be working with her to bring these legs to the market.”

Kim Graham — the inventor of the Weta Legs:

“The greatest challenge was to build something all my friends could wear and build cool costumes over the top of. And this was a tremendous challenge. I wanted to incorporate everything, low profile, ease of use, light weight, comfort and adaptibility. All of these are extremely important to a performer who will be wearing these for long periods of time”.

Weta Legs are sold online at wetaNZ.com and shipped world wide.

What is “digitigrades”?

In essence, it means “walks on its toes”. Us humans put our heels flat on the ground, but what we call the foot on an animal such as a dog, is really its toes. Its “heel” is therefore the next joint off the ground and it points backwards. By using the Weta Legs, you can imitate this way of walking.

Other words for digitigrades leg extensions are “digilegs”, “reverse leg stilts” or “dogleg stilts”.

Who is Kim Graham?

Kim Graham, from Seattle, Washington, has been sculpting since the 80s in a wide variety of media and sizes ranging from 22′ wide fiberglass dragons to fired clay figuratives to architectural ceramic pieces. Primarily self-taught, Kim has in recent years moved away from her special effects/fantasy based mold-making work to focus intensely on one-of-a-kind fine art sculptures.

Kim started the development of the Weta Legs three years ago and has continually refined and developed the design. She has worked for the last year in Wellington with the Weta Workshop technicians.

Follow Weta Online! Twitter | Facebook

The Webby Awards Honors LUMINA the Series for Best Editing

Lumina

from Lumina:

Lumina the Web Series has been selected as an Official Honoree for the Best Editing category in The 14th Annual Webby Awards. As a result of the exceptional quality of submissions this year, the Academy has chosen to recognize work exhibiting remarkable achievement that was not selected as a Nominee. Out of the nearly 10,000 entries from over 60 countries submitted to the 14th Annual Webby Awards, less than 15% are awarded the status of Official Honoree. Only four, including Lumina and the Sony web series Angel of Death, were selected as Official Honorees for Best Editing.

The Webby Awards Official Honoree distinction marks the groundbreaking Hong Kong web series’ eleventh award distinction since its online release last fall. Previous honors include one Streamy Awards nomination for Best Cinematography, six Indie Soap Awards nominations, including for Best Writing and Best Directing, and three American Soap World Awards nominations. “I am so proud of my team, especially of our editor Bettina Enigl for her hard work and dedication to her craft,” says Lumina writer and director Jennifer Thym. “This is a great honor and I hope our success encourages other filmmakers to explore the web series medium.”

About Lumina the Web Series:

Written and directed by first time American director Jennifer Thym and the debut release from her film production company RockGinger, Lumina the Web Series is a dark densely woven fantasy series set against the sparkling backdrop of Hong Kong. Lumina stars actress JuJu Chan, who also starred in the acclaimed RTHK reality show on poverty. Michael Chan and Vince Matthew Chung co-star. The series features music from around the world, including songs from groundbreaking music collective The Enigmatic Army, American college circuit favorite Tim Be Told and China Global Battle of the Bands winner Killer Soap. The entire nine part first season of Lumina is now available to view on luminaseries.com as well as on Lumina’s American distribution partners’ websites, koldcast.tv and blip.tv. A special DVD release with behind the scenes footage and bonus material is on the way.

About RockGinger:

RockGinger is a film production company founded in 2008 by award-nominated film director and producer Jennifer Thym. Thym’s debut film project, the groundbreaking fantasy web series Lumina (nine webisodes, 63 minutes total running time, released fall 2009), garnered eleven distinctions in four different award ceremonies and has been viewed in festivals and on online platforms around the world. She also is producer of the independent feature film Jasmine, starring Jason Tobin, Eugenia Yuan, Glen Chin, Sarah Lian and Byron Mann. Her latest project is the action feature film Bloodtraffick.

About the Webby Awards:

The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet. Established in 1996 during the Web’s infancy, the Webbys are presented by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, which includes an Executive 750-member body of leading Web experts, business figures, luminaries, visionaries and creative celebrities, and Associate Members who are former Webby Award Winners and Nominees and other Internet professionals.

The Academy is an intellectually diverse organization that includes musician David Bowie, Internet inventor Vinton Cerf, Martha Stewart, The Weinstein Company’s Harvey Weinstein, Arianna Huffington, Flickr co-founder Caterina Fake, Ogilvy’s Chief Digital Officer Lars Bastholm, Simpsons creator Matt Groening and Virgin Group Chairman Richard Branson. Members also include writers and editors from publications such as The New York Times, Wired, Details, Fast Company, Elle, The Los Angeles Times, Vibe, and WallPaper.

J!NX: 20% off to Celebrate “Talesworth Adventure”

from J!NX:

New J!NX Classic Tee: Release the Kraken Boxer Briefs
There are many beasts among the depths. Yet they should not be feared. Rather, they should be allowed to roam free, and not be caged in some stuffy dungeon. Sure, titans may clash and there will be casualties. That’s no reason to hold back the creatures that lurk below. All entendre aside, these boxer briefs will support your unmentionables better than a Harry Hamlin loincloth.

Talesworth Adventure
Sean “Jinx” Gailey has spent his free-time starting games since he was 7, and lately, he’s been getting into the habit of finishing them. His third game, Talesworth Adventure, is a puzzle game that challenges you to guide the fearless (and not very bright) Questy through 30 rooms of peril. It has already been mentioned on Kotaku, and is currently the featured game on Newgrounds. To celebrate, we’re offering 20% off all products from now until Sunday night. Just use code “QUESTY” during checkout. Not valid with any other offer or sale item.

-Team J!NX