Before The Matrix, there was Megazone 23. This Japanese original video animation was the first to suggest that people are living in an illusion. This anime is renowned for being one of the earliest influencers not only to similar films made in later years, but it hailed the silver age of anime. Macross (aka Robotech) was released around the same time. Music was a major influence in making Megazone23 just as memorable. While the sound is distinctly 80’s, so was the career of Miyasato Kumi (宮里久美) at the height of her career. She was the voice of the virtual singing idol, EVE.
Sadly, older video releases of this excellent series are out of print. Finding any copy is through either paying through the nose through eBay for a complete edition or waiting for bigger news to release. It was remastered in high definition for Bluray but is only available in Japan. Thankfully, that’s all about to change:
The regular home video release of the documentary Star Trek DS9: What We Left Behind includes what’s left on the cutting room floor to make this look back of this series perfect.
Release Date: August 6, 2019 Shout! Factory
Special Offer: The special edition contains a second Blu-Ray disc with additional material, and is limited to 1,500 copies. It is only available on ShoutFactory.com
The regular home video release of the documentary Star Trek DS9: What We Left Behind includes what’s left on the cutting room floor to make this look back of this series perfect. Usually the amount of clips offered may reach up to six, and sometimes a dozen. I was dumbfounded to find 17 in all! And one of them addressed my most favourite episode, “Take Me Out to the Holosuite.” The set up at the end credits explains it all. I highly recommend watching this work completely to the end.
Not everyone will have seen this work at its limited cinema and convention screenings. When I first heard of it, I did not have the spare funds to support the Indiegogo campaign. For those who did, a bevy of exclusive material can be found in the video vault on the official website.
At the time writing, than posting, the third wave of crowdfunding the creation for more Elder Dice is surpassing expectations! Ever since Infinite Black offered customized dice for Call of Cthulhu and RPG enthusiasts, demand has been exceedingly great! This latest campaign is hitting every stretch goal, and just where it’ll go next depends on what fans want. Next up are Doom Edition d2 coins and they have been unlocked. Could there be any more, or has this company run out of ideas?
These symbol-based dice sets are based on the strange and occult glyphs as described by H.P. Lovecraft and later artists interpreting this author’s works. The Elder Sign, Seal of Yog-Sothoth, Star of Azathoth, Sigil of the Dreamlands are just the names of… Admirers of Infinite Black’s designs will have a tough time deciding on what to get. Maybe it’s best to collect them all. I almost did. This latest campaign offers a wicked playmat which takes inspiration from Egyptian papyri.
Fans of classic computer role-playing games can get to read all about how Origin Systems’ Ultima series came to life. The many hurdles which occurred along the way in the software development cycle are exquisitely explored. It reads like a deeply researched paper. I looked at an early draft of a preview chapter (which is available on www.theira.it). Readers will get to learn more about the creator, Richard Garriott, and how this series developed from its eight-bit days to thirty-two. This book is finished, and just needs support from fans to facilitate translating it from its native language, Italian, to English.
The love for this game is strong despite not having any titles on the latest generation of machines to play. Does anyone want it? No definitive answer exists. This game has seen many sequels and the Avatar returns every time. In this interview, both author Andrea Contato and photographer/artist Enrico Ricciardi talk about their love for this product and how this crowdfunding campaign will go:
Could you please introduce yourselves?
Andrea: Here in Italy, I wrote a lot of articles for computer, technology and videogames magazines. In 2014, I created an online magazine (www.notiziedalfronte.it) whose goal is to document the history of the First World War, as though you were reading events as it unfolded on that day. There is exactly 100 years of delay. That is, on September 20, 2018, you’ll read the news as it would have appeared on September 20, 1918 and so on. This site is followed by more than 3.000 Italian readers. This makes me a historian communicator.
I am a collector of stories. That’s exactly why wrote this book. The Ultima series is special because Richard Garriott was able to change the formula of his games many times. He succeeded at renewing it without losing the loyalty of his fan-base. There are very few video game series that spans their life in decades as Ultima.
Enrico: I am a professional fashion and advertising photographer since 1985 and am based in Milan. Apart from my job, I love all the visual art forms, and I believe the video game medium is one of the new expressions of art. In the last 10 years, the technologies made available to graphic designers and developers has allowed recreating fantastic worlds with extraordinary realism. They are real works of art. One such game is From Software’s Bloodborne (inspired by H. P. Lovecraft). Their amazing use of lighting technique and choice of colours perfectly materialized the gothic atmosphere this great writer described.
Dan Spiller is a name in the Downtown Victoria gaming and nerd scene. He has high hopes Ruby Roundup! a game he made will set a new standard for what card games can offer to gamers and it is on Kickstarter for those who want to help bring it to a larger market. He’s the creative mind behind the newly minted, Always Gold Games. It’s one part board game and two parts random draw. It’s been in development for a few years, and the goal is to accumulate treasure to win. It’s kind of like the days of hunting for gold; stake your claim and dig up as much mineral as you can to get a lot of money. This product had been getting test demos at local events, and according to this game designer, it is not like other card games currently in the market.
His experience in development stems from not only his passion for this subculture but also in being a lifelong enthusiast. He is one of the principal operators of Yellowjacket Games and Comics here in this city. This store is one of five hubs in the capital region to host Magic the Gathering events. When the staff is just as enthusiastic playing these games as they are in making them, it’s a good sign anything they like to create will have that passion behind it too!
Is it madness to want to own nearly every single Call of Cthulhu related gaming product that’s out there? I have six games in my slowly growing collection and this occult hobby makes for a terrific display for those miniatures based products. The first prints of H.P. Lovecraft‘s material can be a gold-mine when it comes to being collectable and valuable, and oddly enough, so can some of the role playing material. The board games are expensive in itself and that has not stopped me from helping crowdfund Cthulhu, Death May Die.
This board game is probably the most anticipated game for all Lovecraft fans to dive into and it has busted records for exceeding the goal within hours of going live. While it is too late to get the all-inclusive package (limits have been placed on production), the rest of community can still purchase the core product itself and order one or more of the bonus miniatures which make up the stretch goals.
By Ed Sum 
Release Date: August 6, 2019
By Ed Sum 
By Ed Sum
By Ed Sum