Current Events

Portal 2: Potatoes Fuel Glados?

Ever since the birth of Portal in 2007, gamers across the world have eagerly been awaiting a sequel game, myself included. This video game is slated to be one of the most anticipated games of 2011, however nothing we dreamed up in the weeks leading to this moment could have truly prepared us for the return of GLaDOS. Not only has she returned for Portal 2, but she has infected thirteen other video games developed by Indie Studios; titles such as Defense Grid: The Awakening,

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State of Gaming

No Place for Hideo? Or Just a Very Big Promotion?

On March 30th, it was announced that Hideo Kojima, famed writer/director/producer of the beloved Metal Gear Gearand Metal Gear Solid series, had achieved a massive promotion within Konami, the company that he works for and that covers his games. The change became effective on April 1st (hmmm……just in time for April Fool’s day), but it was no joke. Before I get into the details of Kojima’s new job, though, let’s have a small recap of who Kojima is.

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Shadow

GameStop Power Up Rewards 2010

Today, I went in to GameStop, my coveted gaming hidey hole, to trade in some old games that were collecting dust on my entertainment center and I got a surprise. Sure, I’m like everyone else and watch TV, but hadn’t seen any of the commercials about their new rewards program. How does it work? What is it? Are there options? Does this make my EDGE card completely useless? Is there anything new? If you’ll hold on to your controller long enough, I’ll

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Conventions

Sakura-Con 2012

Sakura-Con 2012 was by far one of the best cons I’ve been to in a long time, largely due to all the awesome friends I got to see and a total lack of drama. Furthermore, it was one of the con’s biggest years for guests. This year there were three major musical performances and a whole bunch of industry people. Voice actors, directors, and producers came in droves, and for good reason: this was Sakura-Con’s fifteenth year, and the staff gave it their all to make it their best.

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An Insider's Look at Japan

An Insider’s Look at Japan: Asakusa

When visiting Japan for the second time in March 2010, I was reminded of the interesting duality of culture there. Many of us see Japan and think of technology, high fashion, and modern pop culture. J-pop idols, maid cafés, anime, and manga are all prevalent, of course, but it’s really interesting to see just how seamlessly Japan’s old culture is integrated into the vast urban sprawl of Tokyo.

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Hitmage

An Insider’s Look at Japan: Akihabara

Akihabara, the Electric Town. This is the crown jewel for anime, manga, game, and tech fans in Tokyo. Located only a scant 5-10 minutes from Asakusa, the famous temple district in Tokyo, this place has absolutely anything you could ever want, and there’s so much to see it took two trips to see everything I wanted to (or at least had time to). Akihabara has an interesting little history.

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Drake

AM2 2011: Convention Organizer Interview

For the past few months word has been spreading about a new anime convention coming to Los Angeles, California, on July 1st – July 4th at the Anaheim Center. I recently had the opportunity to interview Mr. Chase Wang, one of the organizers of the event, to discuss their plans, challenges and other general information of running a first year anime convention on Yahoo Messenger.

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