Monthly Archives: February 2009

Toon Zone at Disney/Pixar’s Up NYCC Screening

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Toon Zone posted a report of the Disney/Pixar event at NYCC, with impressions of Pixar’s new Up.

I have to admit I’m somewhat torn about how to cover Up — on the one hand, it’s more movie magic from Pixar, but on the other, Up seems like the kind of movie where knowing more about it will ruin some wonderful, delightful surprises. Seeing the four clips beforehand just gave away exactly where a lot of the early minutes of the movie were leading up to. So, I’ll report that Michael Giacchino (The Incredibles and Ratatouille) is set to start scoring Up next week and Docter and Rivera are excited about that, and the Pixar crew is heading up to Skywalker Ranch to do sound design of the movie in March. Beyond that, my advice is that you should do yourself a solid and stop reading when you hit the silly photo coming up. Just go buy your tickets when the movie opens up on May 29, 2009.

TZ also covers the Q&A session afterward, at which Pixar gave a pretty firm statement on its first live-action film: “They’re not talking about John Carter of Mars yet. So don’t ask.”

Source: NYCC2009: Spending Time with Disney/Pixar’s “Up” (and, Disney’s “Surrogates”)

Marvel Motion Comics Announced

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On the heels of DC Comic’s Watchmen and Batman: Black and White animated comics, Marvel has announced it will also be throwing its hat into the ring with Marvel Motion Comics, available through Marvel.com and iTunes.

Spider-Woman will be the first Marvel property with an ongoing motion comic, which will be “in-continuity” and released at the same time as the issues, written by Brian Michael Bendis. Marvel Motion Comics productions will have a full cast of voice actors and will be produced by Motherland.

Pricing was not announced.

Source: NYCC ’09: Marvel Digital Comics and Beyond Panel Live Blog

New Marvel Animation Series Announced at NYCC

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Marvel had some big announcements on day two of the New York Comic Con.

  • The Marvel Super Hero Squad series, based on those lovable super-deformed versions of your favorite superheroes. According to Marvel, it will be an “action comedy series”, and will star Iron Man as the leader, with Hulk, Thor, Falcon, Silver Surfer and Wolverine on the team. According to the live blog, there are tons of villains and even more heroes to star,including Fantastic Four, Hawkeye, Storm, Wasp, Dr. Strange, Iron Fist, Luke Cage and Misty Knight. No date has been announced yet, but episodes will be shown at conventions throughout the year. A tie-in video game was also unveiled.
  • Iron Man: Armored Adventures, a mix of CGI and cell animation, to premier on Nicktoons April 24. It appears to be similar in style to the Spider-Man animation series which aired on MTV a few years back.
  • The Wolverine and the X-Men series has been green-lit for a second season, which will be a full 26 episodes. The first DVD of the series will be released on April 21.
  • Spectacular Spider-Man will be returning to television “soon”, but no other information was given during the panel.
  • Thor is getting his own animated series, which is currently very early in development and will tie in with the theatrical release in 2010. And in hopes they will finally do the comic justice, Marvel is trying its hand at another Avengers animated series, called The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, for fall 2011.
  • Most likely with the cross-over to Disney’s XD network, Marvel teased some of those Jetix shows will be coming to Marvel.com in the future. No further information was given.

Source: New York Comic Con 2009: Marvel Animation Panel Live Blog

Kids Camp for Rock Band / Guitar Hero Musicians [UPDATE]

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Now that your kids have mastered Rock Band and Guitar Hero, do you think they have what it takes to make real music?

An organization called GameRockers thinks there’s the potential for just that. They have created one- and three-day programs “for the new age of musicians who play Guitar Hero or Rock Band”. From the press release:

GameROCKERS™ is our exclusive 3-day cutting edge game-musician program for the new age of musicians who play Guitar Hero or Rock Band. Loaded with competitions and prizes, students play in bands, write songs, record songs, and play a final concert and Battle of the Bands!

iROCKER™ is our 1-day version of the GameROCKERS program. Also loaded with competitions and prizes, these students get a 1-day course filled with fun, competition, Battle of the Bands, training and prizes. Move over Beethoven, here come the 21st Century Digital iROCKERS!

Do we think this is a good idea? We believe in using videogames to broaden our childrens’ minds and get them interested in things like storytelling, art, and technology, so it certainly fits well with MDIAG!’s core ideals. Hopefully it works just as well in execution as it sounds in concept.

UPDATE: Thanks to What They Play, you can find course and registration information here.

Source: Rock Band and Guitar Hero Conquer Summer Camp

Time Out Kids Recaps Friday at NYCC

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Time Out Kids is covering the NYCC this weekend, and they’ve posted their Friday recap along with some must-visit booths:

- Marvel lets fans pose in front of a green screen, and superimposes the image in a comic-book setting (you pick up the final picture online. It’s free!)
- Ugly Doll is doing a giveaway every day at 6pm
- The Pac Man booth is dripping in retro cool. Dig those Pac-Man hats!
- Christy Kane sells slightly macabre shirts, dolls and jewelry, aimed at the Emily the Strange-loving set (and yes, they’re there too)
- Video-game buffs can try out a plethora of new games at the Activision booth, among others
- Legendary NY comic store Jim Hanley’s Universe is having a massive sale, including buy one graphic novel, get the other for half price (and yes, they have plenty of copies of Watchmen)

Keep an eye out for more NYCC coverage throughout the weekend.

Source: New York Comic Con — Friday Recap

New Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 Trailer

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Confirmed: Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, which will be released on your favorite console later this year, follows the storyline as first published in Marvel’s Civil War event from a few years back. MDIAG! parental note: Although you might be excited to show off this game to your kids when it comes out, you should be aware that it’s all about their favorite superheroes fighting against each other, not with. So they might be a little confused when Captain America goes up against Iron Man; and although it may be slightly spoilerish, everyone probably already knows Captain America dies at the end.

Nonetheless, click on the link below to view the latest trailer of the game from the NYCC.

Source: NYCC 09: Fuse your powers with this Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 trailer

Wii Music Sales Analyzed By Nintendo

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With the juggernaut that is everything Wii, it was surprising to analysts when the NPD numbers indicated Wii Music didn’t quite live up to expectations this past holiday season. Nintendo has been trying to stay optimistic about the title, but now it’s finlly coming clean on why word of mouth never reached company expectations.

“There are people who highly appreciate it and those who do not appreciate it at all,” Iwata said, adding that perceptions can be changed. It’s all about word of mouth to him, as he said, “A cycle is born where people who have hands-on experience can immediately understand its appeal, easily explain the positive experience they had to those around them, who then spread that information to the others.”…With Wii Music, the company was never able to achieve this “positive cycle,” and Iwata says Nintendo now needs to “reevaluate” why it hasn’t been able to “clear that hurdle.”

Readers – if you played it, what did you think of it? Did it meet your expectations, and did your family enjoy it enough to recommend it to others? Share your experiences by posting in the comments.

Source: Nintendo: Wii Music needs to ‘clear the hurdle’

TMNT: Smash Up Announced

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Super Smash Bros. Brawl fans, take notice. Ubisoft today announced its latest entry in the Turtles franchise, TMNT: Smash Up, as part of the 25 year celebration at New York Comic Con. After suffering through a few bad Turtles games in recent years, this one at least comes from good pedigree – Game Arts, which was responsible for SSBB on the Wii.

Joystiq has posted the trailer from the NYCC. Click the link below for a first look.

Source: First TMNT Smash Up trailer reminds us of something

Digital TV Transition – An MDIAG! PSA

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MDIAG! doubts any of our readers would be blindsided by the digital TV transition that was postponed from February to June 2009, at least on your primary TV sets. But you might be surprised just how many of you have rabbit ears on those hand-me-down sets in your kids’ playrooms and bedrooms. So as an MDIAG! Public Service Announcement, consider yourselves warned:

You see, when Congress postponed the mandatory cutover date from its original place on the calender (February 17th), it also gave stations the option of sticking to that original date. Thus, what could end up happening is that half a city’s local OTA stations would go all-digital in under two weeks, while the others delayed things until June.

Time to justify the purchase of a new compact HDTV set as a replacement, right?

Source: Stations can still yank analog plug this month, though many won’t

Amazon VOD Over Roku Now In Beta

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The Roku digital video player is no longer for Netflix alone. A private beta to test Amazon Video On Demand over the device has now begun, according to Engadget.

Over at the Roku forums, an official has made clear that demand was exceptional and the pool of private beta testers has now been chosen. Sadly, there’s no mention of when Roku plans on sharing the love with the public at large, but Dave Zatz has appropriately pointed out that YouTube could be following close behind.

This is turning into the little device that can do just about everything you would want it to. Between the amount of family-friendly content available on Netflix, Amazon and YouTube, and at a price point under $100, it should be a no-brainer purchase to expand your video library.

Source: Roku takes Amazon Video On Demand into private beta