Welcome to this week's Movie/Music news roundup, containing new Japanese and Hong Kong Video and Music releases from this week listed at Play-Asia.com. Around 460 new items are covered in this week, including new J-Pop, Anime as well as Japanese, Hong Kong and Western movie releases and much more.

A number of interesting game soundtracks have arrived, this lot includes the Soul Calibur IV OST and the Bemani music albums. While Soul Calibur IV consists of grandly orchestrated themes that portrays the heroic journeys of the heroes, the Bemani music are energetic, even hyper at times.

As a fighter, Soul Calibur IV is mainly using its music themes to highlight the mood of a situation while the Bemani music are vital elements to the game play.

Synthesize, by Fujimori Sota and Pop'n Music 16 Party OSTs carries some very stylish music that deserves to be played repeatedly.

Aside from game music, one of the veteran boy bands of Johnny Entertainment's - Tokio has released a new single, Amagasa [limited versions: type A, type B & standard editions] after 10 months. Going along with the bands' initial "Power Pop" image, Amagasa is a strong beat pop song which seems to blow away the dark clouds with its pulsing force to let in a ray of sunlight.

Here's a summary of all new releases that were published between Saturday, August 30th and Friday, September 5th. If some specific item that you are looking for is missing, please don't hesitate to contact our customer service with your request.

J-Pop Music releases (138)
ENKA Music releases (19)
Anime Soundtracks & Drama CDs (18)
Video Game Soundtracks (5)
Hong Kong Version Music releases (2)
Blu-ray Disc Movies (22)
Anime & Animation (22)
Hong Kong Version Movie releases (23)
Japanese Movies (56)
Non-Japanese Movies / Japanese Version (110)
J-Pop DVD releases (14)
ENKA DVD releases (1)
Misc Japanese Movie releases (5)
Idol DVD (23)

http://www.play-asia.com/SOap-23-83-...9-en-84-n.html ...

Leonardo has found Tec Toy's original game developer, Devworks. This is the company making the original games on the Tec Toy Mega Drive and Master System consoles, among them Pense Bem, which we'll discuss in a moment. Devworks claims to be the only developer for Tec Toy. Their site for Tec Toy work is here, and you can also find a list of all the games they've made. Here's what Leonardo has to say about their upcoming stuff: "They're even making an arcade cabinet with a new Turma da Mônica game (Turma da Mônica being a popular comic book license; back in the old age we had a Wonder Boy title sprite-ported to Turma da Mônica characters). And their Pense Bem Genesis game is even better than a direct port: it actually has scenario in which schoolboy Little Danny is haunted by the ghost of Pense Bem who challenges him to answer the questions!"

For those who don't know, Pense Bem (which means "think well") is a toy/book/game line which teaches kids things like history and geography. Traditionally it has not had a storyline as far as I know, so this would be the first time it has a scenario/adventure mode. It is one of Tec Toy's most popular non-Sega products, and many Brazilian people actually remember it quite fondly from their youth. Also, in that arcade link, notice the giant MAME logo on top of the cab ("damn!" indeed). Keep in mind that this is listed as "in development," but the English version of the site, the only place you can find the arcade reference, hasn't been updated since 2005.

http://www.insertcredit.com/archives/002515.html ...

If you didn't see, Spencer found that KOF 98 UM is coming to Xbox Live Arcade. This is fantastic news, as KOF 98 UM is an excellent game. Buy it when it comes out, that's about all I can say

http://www.insertcredit.com/archives/002513.html ...

Tec Toy Brazil is releasing a new Sega console, the Mega Drive 3, with 86 built-in games. It's got a very router-like design, with two Genesis controller ports on the front. Comes with two three-button controllers, which is really odd, considering the Master System 3 comes with six-button controllers, and looks more like an actual Genesis/Mega Drive. It has composite out as well.

But here's the really interesting thing - four of the games are new. Tec Toy has licensed four EA games and ported them to the Mega Drive, which means official big-budget titles well after the death of the console in the West and Asia (sorry Beggar Prince). The games are Fifa 2008, Need for Speed Pro Street, The Sims 2, and Sim City - ports of mobile games, according to the text on the site (it says versão mobile). If you look at the full game list you'll see that a lot of these games are completely mysterious. Games like Aniversário or Aquaduto are likely simple original Brazilian Mega Drive games...we've discussed their original Master System games before, and I'd imagine this is more of the same. In fact, Aniversario and several others are actually on that SMS list as well, so they could just be straight ports. The list of official games is odd as well. Battle Golfer Yui, for instance! Or the horrifying Crystal's Pony Tale. There is unfortunately no price or release date listed, but I'll get more information as it develops. Thanks to Leonardo for the link and Portuguese help.

This actually has some additional implications. The Genie is going to be released in Brazil (more info here) at some point in the near future, and is mobile architecture-based. These ports show that Tec Toy is already building relationships with large publishers on the mobile front, and further that they are building up their infrastructure for ports. Will Genie games be ports, or originals? That's unclear, but the option is open for the Genie to actually have its own versions of games, rather than straight across dumping of mobile titles (this would allow for controls to be customized, since handsets are so different). Very interesting developments at Tec Toy these days.

Notes for the blogs who will run this story and who don't know who Tec Toy is: This console has built-in games only, there is no ability to play carts. Tec Toy is a Brazilian company with long ties to Sega, and has been their official distributer there for years, distributing the Saturn and Dreamcast officially in the region. They are currently working on a new console called the Genie. Please get the information right.

http://www.insertcredit.com/archives/002514.html ...

The extent to which a game's sounds and music can affect a player's enjoyment is often overshadowed by other characteristics, such as graphics or gameplay. That said, I'm sure most players have had an experience where the audio really contributed to making the game great, whether it was an epic soundtrack, excellent narration, or just intuitive sound effects. Rock, Paper, Shotgun is running a feature discussing the state of game audio in today's market, discussing how far it has come, and where it's going.
"Games present some unusual problems, like the mix having to adjust itself to suit a situation created by the player, rather than the static vision of a single director. Game designers have to have a flexible attitude towards factors such as the amount of time spent listening to the same piece of music and the potential for sonic overload if too many game sounds are played simultaneously. ... CryTek's Florian Füsslin explained that Crysis' lavish soundscape was defined primarily by what information the player needs to hear. 'We often went for the concept "less is more" or let's better say "important things first." We used a pretty solid priority system which cuts quiet or unimportant sounds in an audio busy situation like combat. Together with the right mix we were able to provide a dense soundscape in all situations players might run into.'"

http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl.../09/04/2032231 ...

New from Divineo China



From popular Japanese accessory maker, a protection case for your Nintendo DS Lite. Available in 4 colors: Clear Blue, Clear Pink, Clear Black and Clear White. ...

New from Divineo China



Brand new original replacement lens for PlayStation 3 (model KES-410ACA). ...

New from Divineo China



Brand new original replacement full optical block for PS3, compatible with 40GB console only. ...

via Computer and Video Games


Atari has released a list of the changes to be made in the PS3 version of Alone in the Dark, not due out until November this year.

With the 360 version having scored a disappointing average score of 58, Atari will probably be hoping these PS3 tweaks can improve on that.

Here's the full official list:


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