About a dozen people have e-mailed me this over the last couple days, including several employees from EB/GameStop. It looks like listings for a US version of the upcoming DS RPG,”Harakanaru Gokū Densetsu”, are showing up in a few computer systems. All of the reports point to March (including a Play-Asia listing), though all the EB employees are saying it is shipping 20 March 2007 (and thus actually on shelves on the 21st). There is no official word from Atari as-of-yet.
Thanks to everyone who has written in!
Episode #0060 of the podcast is available for download! We continue to be on-time… go us. With Julian out again this week, we brought back Jeff and Andrew to talk about old-school gaming-related things… specifically, old magazines. Why was there so much coverage of anime and import games back then… specifically DBZ?! We have a plethora of images scanned for your viewing pleasure. Definitely check it out.
SHOW DESCRIPTION:
Episode #0060! VegettoEX, Meri, Jeff, and Andrew discuss old gaming magazines. Why old gaming magazines? Back when anime was still niche, gaming magazines were filled with full-page spreads previewing import games, and so much more! What happened to their coverage of import games? Accompanying images showcase DBZ’s coverage beginning all the way back in 1988 in the very first Nintendo Power!
REFERENCED SITES:
- DBZ in Old Gaming Magazines Images @ Daizenshuu EX
- Magazines Across the Floor @ Daizenshuu EX
- “Harukanaru Goku Densetsu” (NDS) @ Play-Asia
The cover art for “Dragon Ball Z: Harakanaru Gokū Densetsu” for the Nintendo DS is starting to make its way to online retailer listings, such as Play-Asia and Amazon Japan:
Play-Asia is listing “Dragon Ball Z: Harakanaru Gokū Densetsu”, the new card-based role-playing game for the franchise coming out on the Nintendo DS, with a release of 08 February 2007 in Japan.
According to Navarre’s online catalog (which could be updated at any time), the 2nd season of FUNimation’s “remastered” Dragon Ball Z will be coming out 22 May 2007.
Madman Entertainment will be distributing FUNimation’s “remastered” DBZ down in Australia. Seems as if they are not exactly thoroughly excited about the widescreen release, though:
While, we would have ultimately been happier with a 4:3 release, this is out of our control and is a decision that FUNimation has made but will present some interesting ways to view DBZ.
Episode #0059 of the podcast is available for download! Technically, it’s even on-time! This week, Meri and I dove into the history of import gaming with regards to DragonBall. What games were people playing, how did they do it, and why on Earth would you want to play Japanese games… especially today? Definitely check it out.
SHOW DESCRIPTION:
Episode #0059! VegettoEX and Meri discuss the history of import DB gaming. To what lengths did people go, what games did they play, and why would you do it in the first place… especially today? Accompanying pictures detail the process across all systems! Your gaming e-mails and a new contest round out the episode.
REFERENCED SITES:
- Mr. Announcer’s “Dr. Slump” Art @ Daizenshuu EX
- Madman Remastered DBZ Announcement @ Madman Forum
- Remastered DBZ Season 2 @ Navarre Online Catalogue
- “Sparking! NEO” Official Japanese Website
- Import Gaming Photos @ Daizenshuu EX
- Sega Saturn Action Replay 4M Auto Plus @ Play-Asia
- Datel Gamecube FreeLoader @ Play-Asia
- JP PS2 Consoles @ Play-Asia
- DBZ DVD Vols. 43, 44, & 45 @ Amazon Japan
- “Harukanaru Goku Densetsu” (NDS) @ Play-Asia
Episode #0058 of the podcast is available for download! Sorry about the delay, but there’s only so much you can do when you and your files are in different time zones. This past week, we went over all of the big news from 2006, including crossovers, video games, music, and more. We also had an extremely in-depth conversation with our buddy Corey regarding FUNimation’s upcoming “remastered” DBZ DVDs. Definitely check it out.
SHOW DESCRIPTION:
Episode #0058! VegettoEX, Meri, and Julian discuss 2006 as a whole… all of the good news, bad news, video games, crossovers, and more! We also brought on our buddy Corey to discuss perhaps the biggest news of the year, being FUNimation’s upcoming “remastered” re-release of the entire DBZ series on DVD.
REFERENCED SITES:
As you may already be aware, we’re getting close to the last of the individual DVD releases of Dragon Ball Z in Japan. So happily, if not surprisingly, there is more where that came from. Courtesy of forum-goer Payne222, there is an ad in “Weekly Jump” #6-7 that announces the individual DVD relase of the original Dragon Ball anime, based on the Dragon Box release from 2004. The series will be released in 26 total volumes, averaging out to about six episodes per disc. As with the DBZ releases, each cover will have an all-new illustration (not by Toriyama, of course, but still new artwork), and each disc will retail for ¥3990 (about $34 US). It is not clear from the ad how many discs we are to expect each month (it is three with DBZ), but the first volume(s) will be released on 04 April 2007, which the ad terms “Four-Star Ball Day”. Sounds good to me!
That is all the info we’ve got for now, but you know where to look for all the latest Dragon Ball info coming out of Japan, as we ring in the new year. Have a happy 2007, everyone!
It appears that GameStop.com has a listing for a new PSP game entitled “Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai Another Road”. Is this a sequel to the previous “Shin Budokai”? Is Dimps actually still working on stuff? The date is set for 07 March 2007.
Long-time readers may remember that the original “Shin Budokai” was first discovered via a retailer listing online (GameStop, no less) almost exactly a year ago, as opposed to an announcement via “V-Jump”, so this may indeed have some validity to it. We will be sure to let you know anything else as we find out ourselves.
