Red Line - Trailer

Takeshi Koike is an animator known for his highly energetic and outrageous style! He directed animated commercials and the opening credits of films and came to fame as the director of Animatrix's World Record episode as well as for his work on the film Dead Leaves and was also responsible for the pilot episode of Afro Samurai.



Koike is working on a new film whose release date is still unknown at this time, but awhile back a trailer released showing off more of his outrageous and highly animated style. The film is titled 'Red Line' and is somewhat like Speed Racer only way more over the top and stylized in a manner only Koike can deliver! You can watch the trailer for his new film here, and hopefully more details about it will release soon.

Satoshi Kon's Next Film!

Fans of Anime director Satoshi Kon (Perfect Blue, Millenium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers, Paranoia Agent, Paprika) will be pleased to know that Satoshi Kon is working on a new film called 'Yume-Miru Kikai' (Yume Robo or literally, "The Dreaming Machine"). This new film appears to be aimed at general audiences and is a futuristic take on folklore tales. A Japanese website has gone online and features some stills as well as production artwork for the movie. So feel free to check out it's gallery section for more!

http://yume-robo.com/

Dante's Inferno - Anime Compilation

EA Games will be releasing a new game called 'Dante's Inferno' loosely based on the original poem. And to help market it they've hired some of the top anime studios in Japan to create a compilation of short animated films based on their new property. A new trailer was released awhile back and you can view it here:

You can view the trailer for the game here.

Epic Mickey

Disney's 'Epic Mickey' is a game currently in development exclusively for the Nintendo Wii console, and it's drawing quite a lot of buzz due to it's nature, under development by Warren Spector and his (now Disney Interactive acquired) studio Junction-Point, the game is planned as a somewhat twisted return to the classic Mickey Mouse alongside paying tribute to the Disney and Mickey Mouse characters of olde, including Walt Disney's first animated character Oswald Rabbit!

Game Informer has a big story on the game along with many interesting articles, including one that details the history of Mickey Mouse that animation history enthusiasts will find interesting. You can find the Mickey Mouse article here. A lot of classic Mickey Mouse cartoon environments and characters, most notably the villians, will play a huge part in the game. The game is also planing to feature a painting mechanic in its gameplay that will make use of Nintendo's motion controls. An interview with Warren Spector can be found here.

Also of interest is that a lot of early concept art was revealed for the game which really displays an original and totally radical steampunk vision of Disney. Although the art direction of the game has been toned down, a lot of the early concept art is a sight to behold!

You can find more concept art here & here.

Assassin's Creed: Lineage

Many of you might be picking up the game 'Assassin's Creed II' today! You'd be interested in knowing that Ubisoft has created a prequel film for the game called 'Lineage' that details events that happened to the game protagonist's father before the game begins.

The film was made by Ubisoft after they acquired Montreal-based Hybride Technologies. A veteran FX studio that worked on films such as '300' and 'Sin City' that are also currently working on James Cameron's 'Avatar.' Ubisoft hopes to expand itself into film and other mediums to make the most out of its gaming franchises and this film is a test of their ability to do so as well as to help market 'Assassin's Creed II.'

The film uses the same voice and mo-cap actors from the game filmed on green screen that were later composited against CG environments taken directly from the game itself! The entire film has now been made available to watch!



'Assassin's Creed: Lineage' takes place after the first 'Assassin's Creed' and its upcoming PSP game sequel 'Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines' and acts as a prequel to 'Assassin's Creed II.'

The first and second game are now both available for the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360.

Additionally you can find a better quality version of the film along with making-of videos on Ubisoft's official Youtube page.

Final Fantasy XIII - Release Date + Announcements!

The official release date for Final Fantasy XIII in North America has been revealed to be March 9th 2010! Square Enix has released a new video to reveal it along with more announcements, interviews and new gameplay footage! You can watch it here:



The game will be releasing for the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360!

Oban Star-Racers, Charley Harper, Art of Star Trek the movie

Arriving Tuesday:

You might have seen the $200 version of the Charley Harper Book, and thought -that could possibly be the best book in the world, but I don't have $200. Well, guess what? Now the publisher has released the same book, in a smaller format for a fraction of the original cost. Stop by and see it for yourself and discover the amazing Charley Harper.


The Art of Star Trek came in last week and flew in a flash before we could even post it arrived. So be warned, if you liked the movie, this book is very cool and very reasonably priced. Check it out on Tuesday!


The Art of Oban Star-Racers will be here Tuesday too.


For those who aren't familiar with it. here's a trailer



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