New Anime For Girl Magazine Hits Newsstands Today
Beckett Spotlight: Anime For Girls reaches a growing demographic of the Japanese anime world -- girls!

In Japan, the term Shojo (Shoujo) refers to an anime or manga (comic book) title geared towards female fans. Beckett Publications has been closely watching this fast-growing female market and is now ready to unleash its first "shojo" publication on newsstands - Beckett Spotlight: Anime For Girls.

Anime retailers as well as anime conventions around the world have reported a huge influx of females into the anime realm. Recently, more and more anime DVD and manga releases both in Japan and the United States have been targeting their products towards 12 to 20 year old females. FullStory

Girl power fueling manga boom in U.S.

Sales of Japanese comics — more familiarly known as manga (pronounced MAHN-gah) — are exploding in the United States, and much of the boom is due to efforts by comic book publishers to extend their reach beyond young male readers.

Beyond all males, in fact.

“Manga producers in the United States have tapped into a new audience for comics — the female consumer,” said Milton Griepp, the publisher and founder of ICv2, an online trade publication that covers pop culture for retailers. FullStory

Business magic is in the cards
3C'sgames enjoy support from children and adults

Owner Marc Leier said his shop was active because what occurs there is more than just having fun. The most-played games are Yu-Gi-Oh! and Magic The Gathering, and Leier said children can pick up a handful of skills by holding the cards.

"That's what makes the game so unique," Leier said of Magic. "First of all, it teaches kids to interact on a competitive level."

He also said that youths learn reading comprehension by interpreting the texts and using them in play. Players must think ahead and strategize. Leier also stresses good sportsmanship. FullStory

MomoCon 2005
NEW FREE CROSS-GENRE CONVENTION IN ATLANTA, GEORGIA

Anime O-Tekku of Georgia Tech presents MomoCon, an anime and gaming convention held in Atlanta, GA, March 26-27, 2005 at the Georgia Tech Student Center. MomoCon is a free admission convention, with local vendors and artists selling their wares in addition to numerous special events.

MomoCon’s anime events include panels hosted by anime company representatives, voice actor panels, karaoke events, anime showings (including company screeners), and promotional goodies from many anime companies. FullStory

NCAA Football 2004 - PS2, Xbox, GameCube

What isn't there to like about NCAA 2004. It was an awesome football sim, they've expanded the list of schools, songs, and mascots, taken it online (PS2 only...grrr) and added a slew of new features, and unlockables. This is more than a 'minor update' this is a must have football game. FullStory

Sony sets March date for its mini PS2 launch

ELECTRONICS giant Sony has confirmed it will launch its new hand-held game console in North America and Europe in March.

The company launched the PlayStation Portable (PSP) on December 12 in Japan, where it sells for around £100. It shipped about 510,000 units by December 31 and aims to ship three million units worldwide by March 31. FullStory

Mercenaries Goes Gold
Hitting store shelves for Xbox and PS2 next week.

LucasArts is excited to announce the highly anticipated title, Mercenaries has officially GONE GOLD on PS2 and Xbox and is scheduled to explode onto store shelves the week of January 10, 2005.


Mercenaries is a revolutionary third-person combat-action game that delivers the next level of free-form game play in massive interactive environments. The game gives players the opportunity to take on the role of a soldier for hire in an open-ended world set in North Korea. In the game, players choose to be one of three mercenaries: an American ex-soldier, a British secret agent, or a Swedish bounty hunter. Under orders from Executive Operations, a private military company, the hired mercenary will need to track down the "deck of 52" fugitive members of the old hardliner regime - before they can launch a nuclear attack. FullStory

Kids WB! January Scheduling

Kids WB! is gearing up for an awesome January in order to bring in a New Year full of great television programming. Many of the network's shows are getting new episodes, which are great partners for newly acquired programming as well as seasonal special programming as well. In particular the phenomenon that is Pokemon will spread to Kids WB! when the world premiere of Pokemon the movie: Destiny Deoxys makes its way to the network. FullStory

Nintendo DS Looks to the Future After a Powerful Holiday Season; Millions of Owners Will Enjoy Wild New Games

LAS VEGAS --(Business Wire)-- Jan. 5, 2005 -- The video game industry closed 2004 with a rush to portable game systems, and especially a rush to Nintendo DS(TM). The new year starts much the same way, with the 1.3 million new Nintendo DS owners in North America experiencing games and interacting with one another in ways never before possible. From the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nintendo announces that new games planned for the first quarter of 2005 will expand this community even more by demonstrating that there's more to hand-held video games than pretty pictures. FullStory

PSP Unveiling - with pictures
We took time out of our busy day of gambling and eating to check out one of the most-anticipated gaming systems of all time.

Every year, Las Vegas becomes the center of the technology world for a few days, as companies from around the globe show off what's new and hot for the upcoming year at the Consumer Electronics Show. Giant TVs and surround sound systems occupy the same space as kitchen gadgets and wireless routers, and you can't walk more than 10 feet without seeing something that you simply must have before everyone else. Not surprisingly, gaming has become a much larger part of the show over the years, and 2005 features one of the most exciting platforms ever to hit the scene: Sony's PSP. FullStory

Sony ready to battle Nintendo in game arena - with More pictures

Sony's highly anticipated hand-held gaming device will be released in the United States in March, company executives said Wednesday at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

While Sony declined to offer firm pricing and a target date, it did say the PlayStation Portable will cost about $199--approximately what the PSP sells for in Japan. FullStory

Nintendo ex-president in Microsoft slur hoax

Rumours have been circulating on the internet that a former Nintendo President, in answer to a request by Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer to buy Nintendo, replied: “hey, Ballmer, why don’t you @@@@ (read it yourself)”.

But former Nintendo President Hiroshi Yamauchi never told off Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer during a meeting to discuss a possible Microsoft acquisition of the Japanese game maker, Nintendo said Friday.

In response, Ballmer and Microsoft officials present at that meeting were reported to be "disgusted and making a ruckus," the hoax interview alleged. However, that meeting never took place, Minagawa said. "Everybody in the industry was talking about that and laughing about it," Minagawa said. FullStory