News Archive

As posted over on Anime News Network:

A proven leader in the action figure and youth electronics categories, Bandai America Incorporated today announced that it is returning to FUNimation Entertainment’s Dragon Ball Z franchise as the North American master toy licensee. Fans of all ages are poised to see one of their favorite brands, considered one of the most successful anime properties from Japan, recapture the excitement since Bandai America’s last Dragon Ball Z lineup in 2000.

“We are proud of this partnership with Bandai America and we look forward to unveiling the new line,” said Bob Brennan, director of licensing at FUNimation Entertainment. “We are confident that together with Bandai we can move into the new era of Dragon Ball Z.”

“Beginning Spring 2008, the Dragon Ball Z toy line will be reborn like no one has ever seen before,” said Colleen Sherfey, director of marketing, Bandai America. “With our expertise in action figures, existing fans will have their ravenous demand for exclusive Dragonball products satiated, while new kids will be drawn in by the unique play patterns and toys.”

So there you go. All sorts of information to chew on. Enjoy!

Thanks to Sebastian for the heads-up on this one. Check out the following info from over on Gamespot:

It’s been a rough month for Atari, starting with the dismissal of five members of its board of directors, courtesy of parent company Infogrames. While the outgoing directors had been replaced within a week, a group of frustrated Atari shareholders accused Infogrames of intentionally undermining the company’s stock price in preparation to buy out the remaining shareholders.

The month is ending with even more corporate drama for the company, as an Atari Securities and Exchange Commission filing last week revealed that it is currently embroiled in a dispute over its Dragon Ball Z license.

According to Atari, the company has the rights to release games based on the series thanks to a pair of agreements with US anime firm FUNimation Productions. However, the publisher received a notice from FUNimation earlier this month accusing it of breaching those agreements.

As a result, FUNimation now claims that Atari’s license to make Dragon Ball Z games has been terminated. Atari doesn’t agree and has been distributing the games as usual. The two companies are now in talks to reach a temporary agreement that would buy them time to resolve their issues regarding the original license.

Dragon Ball Z has been Atari’s most prolific licensed property in recent years, bringing in $85 million in the company’s fiscal 2005, according to its latest annual report. The remainder of Atari’s current catalog is headlined by properties like Dungeons & Dragons, Backyard Sports, and Godzilla. Should Atari lose the Dragon Ball Z license, it would join Driver, Stuntman, Transformers, and a handful of Hasbro games like Monopoly as high-profile losses to the publisher’s stable of properties.

We definitely were not too far off by covering all this Atari news as-of-late. We will definitely keep you up-to-speed on developments as they come in. All I can say right now is that I am glad I imported “Sparking! METEOR”…!

Atari’s latest press release says everything you need to know, I suppose:

NEW YORK, Oct. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Atari, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATAR), one of the world’s most recognized brands and a third-party video game publisher, today announced that development is complete on Dragon Ball Z(R): Budokai Tenkaichi 3 for the Wii(TM) and PlayStation(R)2 computer entertainment system. The immensely popular Dragon Ball Z series is the gold standard of anime-based video games, with more than 25 different games and over 10 million units sold since May 2002. Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 is the first Dragon Ball Z title to incorporate online play with the Wii, making it one of this holiday’s must-have fighting titles.

Developed by Spike, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 is the ultimate Dragon Ball Z title, putting fans into the action like never before. Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 incorporates the most robust character lineup of any Dragon Ball Z game, a more in-depth story mode and enhanced graphics. Fans playing on the PlayStation2 system have the option to unlock several more hours of hidden game play with the Disc Fusion System, which requires either Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 1 or 2 to unlock never-before-seen battles. “We are constantly trying to push the envelope with Dragon Ball Z games to help keep our community excited,” said Donny Clay, Producer, Atari, Inc. “Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 is the ultimate Dragon Ball Z experience for newcomers and fans alike. Whichever platform you choose, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi is an impressive fighting game for this holiday.”

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 features a roster of over 150 playable characters, 30 enormous and varying 3D battle environments, fine-tuned fighting controls for the Wii and unlockable game play for the PlayStation2 computer entertainment system. For more information on Dragon Ball Z video games, please visit http://www.atari.com/dragonballz.

If you have not already, check out Episode #0099 of the podcast, where Meri and I gave our initial thoughts on the game (we have had “Sparking! METEOR” on the JP PS2 since it came out over there). Look for our final thoughts on the game in the near future, as well. The game is due out in the US on the PS2 on 13 November 2007 and the Wii on 03 December 2007.

Futabatei Shimei let us know that the official “Sparking! METEOR” website has updated with three passwords. These allow you to to unlock three “versions” of characters (Goku, Vegeta, & Broli) equipped with some items that you otherwise would not be able to obtain in the game (including a throwback to the “Budokai” series with the “Breakthrough” capsule).

Neat stuff — I will have to check this out a little later.

There is also a re-listing for the DVD box set of Dragon Ball (non-Z) movies 2, 3, & 4 due out 12 February 2008.

Huh. I still see this box set everywhere, so it does not seem to be out-of-print or hard-to-find. No additional info on this one, yet, either.

We initially heard some trickles of into out of FUNimation’s Anime Weekend Atlanta panel (which we did not actually attend ourselves), but it would seem that a new RightStuf listing is confirming that the company will be releasing a double feature disc containing both the Bardock and Trunks TV specials. It is due out 19 February 2008, and there is absolutely no word on whether or not it will be as phenomenally frame-by-frame remastered with the utmost respect and care for the integrity of the film as the rest of the TV series has thus far received*.

*admittedly over-done-sarcasm

SonEric84 just posted this over on our forum, and it was too good to pass up on sharing with everyone here on the main page. Ever want to cosplay as Majin Buu? Have a couple hundred dollars to spend?

Yeeep! There you go. Spend that money!

While I am busy playing through “Sparking! METEOR” (nyah!), those of you patiently waiting on “Budokai Tenkaichi 3″ can check out some new updates over on IGN. In addition to some new videos, Donny Clay has updated the blog with a bit of ramblings concerning attacks and techniques. All in all, it is nothing really special, except the little mess-up in here:

Moves like Android 15’s ultimate move where he pummels you seven ways to Sunday or when Piccolo twists his opponent’s wrist, tosses him and blasts him in mid-air for example.

We let it slide last year during a video interview when he did not know what particular movie certain characters were from (honestly, unless you are fans like us, we can fully admit that it is difficult)… but this is a written blog, which gives you plenty of time to double-check your facts (no, #15 is not in the game), and perhaps write some complete sentences.

Ooooh, we kid because we love. Well… actually we have absolutely no idea who the guy is or what exactly he does over there at Atari, but I’m sure we would love, regardless. Hugs ‘n kisses.

You will get some first impressions of the game in this weekend’s upcoming podcast episode.