Namco-Bandai’s official community for Dragon Ball games is holding a contest for one pretty lucky winner to receive a free trip to San Diego Comic-Con which includes airfare and hotel, along with some spending money. Most important to fans, the winner will also get a chance to meet and interview Ryo Mito, producer of so many of the recent Dragon Ball video games. There are a whole bunch of other prizes being tossed in for the winner, too, so even if you are the most casual type of fan you probably want to take a look at this one. Head on over to Goku’s Corner for all the information.

Online retailer Play.com has a listing for the as-of-yet unnamed Dragon Ball game for the yet-to-be-released Nintendo 3DS:

Nintendo is still being incredibly coy about a release date for the system, and retailer listings and information are subject to change. Can we really expect the game on 19 November 2010, and will the game be released simultaneously throughout the world? We will of course keep you up-to-date!

The sixth volume of the Majin Boo Battle arc was released tody, 2 July  2010, and has been added to the TV animation comics section of the “Manga Guide”. You can grab it for ¥730 (~$7.50) from either Amazon Japan or CDJapan if you would like. This is the final volume of the arc, and the final volume of the series — after roughly four and a half years and 39 volumes later, the TV Animation Comics have come to an end. At this point there is still no word as to whether Shueisha will be having similar releases for either the Dragon Ball or Dragon Ball GT anime series.

After some time, the listing on Happinet’s official release website has finally been updated with the upcoming Kai Blu-ray and DVD releases. We have known for quite a while now that there would be 33 DVDs and 8 Blu-ray box sets, but now they have unloaded tons of new information via their website and a press release to distributors. They will now be classifying releases by arc rather than a continuous numerical count from 1 to 33 (DVD) or 1 to 8 (Blu-ray). This makes sense if you consider that they stuck a 5th disc onto Blu-ray box set #04 to finish out the Freeza arc of the series.

The previously announced Blu-ray box sets have now been re-titled as box sets #01-04 of the “Artificial Humans and Cell arc”, and the same has been done with DVDs #19-33. They are also now listing all of the release dates up through August 2011. Along with the update came some beautiful new artwork from Tadayoshi Yamamuro, which is being used as the new place holder image on various retail sites.

The episode count has also been updated from the “planned” 99 episodes down to a solid 98 episodes. However, with episodes 55-98 being released under the “Artificial Humans and Cell arc” title, we can infer that the Majin Boo arc would begin with episode 99. The series, which was originally rumored to only have around 100 episodes, would indeed be going much farther past that mark to include the entirety of Dragon Ball Z — a rough estimate would now put the series at somewhere around 140-150 episodes. In addition, since these two arcs comprise 44 episodes, each Blu-ray box set will now contain 11 episodes instead of the typical 12 as was previously done with the first portion of the series. The last disc of each Blu-ray box set will only contain 2 episodes, while the others will again contain 3. Similarly, the last DVD volume will also only contain 2 episodes.

The listing on CD Journal states that the Dragon Book included in the first “Artificial Humans and Cell arc” Blu-ray box set will contain another interview with a cast member, and an interview with Team Dragon (AKB48), the group responsible for Kai‘s new ending theme. It will also come with a non-credit version of both the new opening and ending animations that premiered in Kai episode 55. The first “Artificial Humans and Cell arc” Blu-ray box set and DVD are due out 02 October 2010. The Blu-ray box set will run you a pretty ¥14,679 (~$168), which is a tad cheaper than before due to having one less episode, while the DVD is staying at the standard ¥2,940 (~$30).

It will be interesting to see if the cover designs for both releases will change at all. The Blu-ray box sets in the first portion of the series were printed in a light blue, and when placed side-by-side on your shelf, the spines combined to form the light blue kanji for Kai (改). I imagine they will stick with the same design, but simply change the color to clearly distinguish between the different portions of the series. We could probably also insinuate that the DVD colors will change from red to royal blue, as that is what happened on Happinet’s site, but that may be a bit of a stretch. The one thing we do know is that Tadayoshi Yamamuro will continue to provide the artwork, so do not plan on that changing anytime soon!

Thanks to both Desire Campbell and Dan_the_Rebirth for their image help.

Shueisha’s official listing website has been updated with all of the final information about the upcoming Extreme Battle Collection guide book. The listing includes the book’s cover and some other details:

You can grab the book from Amazon Japan at the full retail price. There still is no word yet as to whether the book will be printed in color like previous anime-related guides. You will also note that book specifically notes it will cover both Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, but makes no mention of Dragon Ball Kai. I assume this means the guide will not be covering the Kai anime series at all. In the meantime, I anticipate we will be hearing something about “Round 2” sometime soon, so we will keep you posted about that.

The fourth Dragon Ball Kai Blu-ray box set was released yesterday, along with the next two DVD volumes. The Blu-ray box set contains episodes 40-54, which are presented in full screen and broken up onto five discs with three episodes per disc. The box set will set you back a pretty ¥19,950 (~$225), costing just a bit more than normal due to the extra 5th disc. I will note that the next Blu-ray box set is not scheduled to be released until sometime this October, which is one of the longest gaps between Blu-ray releases yet. In comparison to the Blu-rays, the Kai DVDs will run you a “measly” ¥2,940 (~$30), and instead are presented in the broadcast’s original widescreen aspect ratio. Picking up right where they left off last time, Volume #13 contains episodes 37-39, while Volume #14 contains the next three episodes, 40-42.

In addition, Happinet and Amazon Japan have already unveiled the cover art for next month’s set of Kai DVD volumes, both of which are set to be released 27 July 2010 for ¥2,940 (~$30). Volume #15 will contain episodes 43-45, while Volume #16 follows with the next three episodes, 46-48. Again, these DVDs are presented in the broadcast’s original widescreen aspect ratio.

Amazon Japan is listing a release date of 30 September 2010 for the upcoming Dragon Ball TAG VS on the PSP, complete with cover art:

The game retails for ¥5229, and international folks can pick it up on Play-Asia for about the same price at $59.90.

Here in the US, we can look forward to the game (coming out as Tenkaichi Tag Team) on 19 October 2010 at our standard price of $39.99 according to Amazon. There is no cover art for the American version yet, but it seems like the European version (hitting on 29 October 2010) will be using the original Japanese cover art, so there is a good chance we will get it, as well.

Cover art for the various “Kokoro no Hane” (Kai ending theme #2) CD singles coming out in July have made their way online. The various “Team Dragon” group- and individual-based ones seem to be receiving near-identical cover art with a photograph of the group, while the regular edition and “Miracle Battle Card” version receive Dragon Ball artwork on their covers:

All of the eleven different versions of the CD single drop in Japan on 21 July 2010.

The upcoming Raging Blast 2 for the PS3 & Xbox 360 has a few bits of release details leaking out today, as well. Amazon is listing an American release set for 02 November 2010 (both for the PS3 and 360 with expected MSRPs of $59.99), but it does not appear to have a firm date set in Japan as-of-yet.

Dragon Ball Origins 2 (released in Japan as Dragon Ball DS 2: Charge! Red Ribbon Army) is officially out in North American stores today. Here is the press release if you are into that:

DRAGON BALL®: ORIGINS 2 NOW AVAILABLE EXCLUSIVELY FOR NINTENDO DS™

SANTA CLARA, Calif., (June 22, 2010) – Leading video game publisher and developer NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc. announced today that Dragon Ball®: Origins 2 exclusively for Nintendo DS™ is now available at retailers nationwide. Dragon Ball: Origins 2 is the sequel to the original Dragon Ball: Origins for DS. The iconic Dragon Ball story continues as players embark on an action-packed journey around the world in search of the seven legendary Dragon Balls.

Players take on the role of young Goku and various allies he meets along the way, as they face off against the menacing Red Ribbon Army. Dragon Ball: Origins 2 offers the opportunity to play as series hero Goku as well as friends including Krillin, Bulma, Yamcha and more, each with their own abilities and power-ups. By playing the single-player adventure, special multiplayer stages including challenging boss fights unlock and become available. Two players can join up together to complete multiplayer challenges via a local wireless connection. Players are also able to carry over their saved character from the single-player mode as they battle alongside friends in co-op mode.

A fun mix of fierce fighting, dynamic action, exploration and puzzle-solving awaits, as Goku and friends must utilize a wide range of skills to maneuver through each level. With support for both stylus and button input options, players can choose how they control Goku to unleash aerial attacks, land devastating combos and interact with the environment. A situation-based camera adapts with the changing gameplay to bring players closer to the action as they jump, swing and charge through forests, underwater areas and more. Meanwhile, key boss battles switch to side-view to emphasize the signature fighting style of the Dragon Ball series.

Dragon Ball: Origins 2 for Nintendo DS is rated “T” for Teen by the ESRB and carries an MSRP of $29.99. For more information about the game, please visit www.namcobandaigames.com or http://dragonball.namco.com. To join the official fan community, please visit http://www.gokuscorner.com.