Playstation 4 has been announced!

This past Wednesday at Sony's super secretive event, Sony finally announced the Playstation 4!

And it looks like that it's going to be more socially focused. Unfortunately, the cell processor that powered the Playstation 3 will not be powerhouse for the new console which has been coming back to biting Sony in the butt as of recent times. And there will also be personalization which is something that everybody likes!

Here are the official specs for the console itself!

There will also be new things that people have been asking Sony about for years, like cross game chat which can be found on the X Box 360, as well as a new controller which was also shown at the Playstation Meeting 2013 event in New York City. The new controller does away with the traditional 'Select and Start' buttons which have been a mainstay for the console ever since the original Playstation console and replaces them with a 'Share' button which will allow gamers to share their victories or favorite moments of what they are playing by scanning the last few moments of gameplay, tagging it and then returning the player to said game of choice. And gamers will also be able to share their images and videos to their friends on social networking services like Facebook and twitter.

The traditional "Select and "Start" buttons have now been replaced by an "Options" button!

The Playstation 4 will also enhance social spectating by enabling gamers to broadcast their gameplay in real-time to friends by using live internet streaming services like Ustream. During live broadcasts, friends can make comments on the streamed gameplay and, if a gamer gets stuck on a challenging level, friends can also join the game in completely new ways. For example, friends can offer health potions or special weapons when a player needs them most during actual gameplay.

Some other differences with the new controller is that it will have a sensor for the Playstation move accessory as well adjusted shoulder buttons, new analog sticks, a new directional pad and a touch screen and it will also support motion detection thanks to a three-axis gyroscope and a three-axis aceelerometer and improved vibration!

The controller also features several output connectors. A stereo jack which will allow the connection of a headset to speak and hear audio simultaneously, a micro USB port and an extension port are also included. It can be charged via microUSB, a dedicated charging station, or the console itself when the console is turned off.

There is of course, some bad news though here! The Playstation 4 will not be backwards compatible with the 3 previous Playstation console games because of the cell architecture of the Playstation 3 and a new cloud based streaming service made possible via Gaikai, a company purchased by Sony, which will render Playstation, Playstation 2, and Playstation 3 games and stream them to the Playstation 4.

You also won't be able to carry over everything which includes you're game saves from the Playstation 3 to the Playstation 4 either!The main reason for this also has to do with the architecture between the 2 consoles. However, Sony is considering transferring some games over if things aren't too demanding in terms of emulation. All of the PSN games as well as the game saves for them won't be carried over either unfortunately!

The thing that really strikes as weird or just plain worng is the fact that the actual console itself wasn't shown because even Sony doesn't even know what the design of the console will be and will possibly be determined and made for Sony's E3 presentation this June at the Los Angeles Convention Center! The PlayStation 4 will be released during the holidays later this year.  

Crunchyroll adds season 1 of AKB0048 to anime catalog

A little bit of an update to the previous story for anybody who is a fan of the AKB0048 anime which is based on the real life very successful idol group AKB48. The anime and J-drama streaming site Crunchyroll has now obtained the licensing rights to legally stream season 1 of AKB0048 and has launched the first season yesterday at 7:30am PST which is also the same time that new episodes of the 2nd season, AKB0048: Next Stage are launched and 2 to 3 'new' episodes will be made available each week for both free and premium users of the legal streaming site!

So if you haven't seen the first season of AKB0048 or have only watched it through illegal fan sub sites and want to watch it again through legal means, then this is you're chance to do so and also watch the legal fan subs of the 2nd season at the same time, so it's a "win win" situation for everybody.

Could Sony be announcing the Playstation 4?

We all know that Sony has been secretly developing the next Playstation without much information leaking out and every bit of information that has managed to get out has been classified as strictly rumor! But as of last March, a plethora of news concerning the successor to the PS3 has been made available including some of the specs, and even anti-used games measures which will combat the used gaming market. However, this information is purely speculation and hasn't been confirmed or denied by Sony!
The successor to the PS3 is code named "Orbis" and the code name for the new console from Microsoft is code named "Durango" and that Sony was going to let Microsoft go first by announcing they're new console, but it seems like this isn't going to be the case! 
Recently, this video was posted on the official Playstation Youtube channel as well as the North American Playstation blog which basically tells us that Sony will be having an event on February 20 of this year. The event will be held in New York City and will be livestreamed on the internet which is only 5 days away from the 'Destination Playstation' event starting in Arizona which showcases the biggest and best games that Sony has on it's plate for the year ahead.
Meanwhile, members of the gaming industry press as well as investors have been handed an invitation to the event which have offered no further information which has added more fuel to the fire when it comes to the rumors of Sony and the Playstation 4! The only thing that we do know so far is what the specs of the development kits will be for the developers who would want to develop games for the new console and not much else.
Development Kit Specs: System Memory: 8GB Video Memory: 2.2 GB CPU: 4x Dual-Core AMD64 "Bulldozer" (so, 8x cores) GPU: AMD R10xx Ports: 4x USB 3.0, 2x Ethernet Drive: Blu-Ray HDD: 160GB Audio Output: HDMI & Optical, 2.0, 5.1 & 7.1 channels
Please keep in mind that these are the specs for just the development kits and not the console itself! We will just have to wait until February 20 to see whether or not the Playstation 4 will in fact be revealed before E3 or something completely different. I will be keeping you guys updated with further news as it becomes available! 

Hikounin Sentai Akibaranger season 2 announced!

Last year, Toei decided to do something a little bit different by creating a show that was geared towards the adults who used to watch the Super Sentai Series as a kid by coming up with a parody of the Super Sentai Series itself called Hikounin Sentai Akibaranger (Unofficial Squadron/Task Force Akibaranger).

The basic premise of the show is this:

Three individuals (a Super Sentai otaku, a cosplay otaku, and a closet anime otaku) are chosen by a beautiful scientist to become the "Unofficial Sentai Akibaranger" and "protect Akihabara" from a powerful group of villains that exist in their delusions. However, the fight eventually gets literally real when the villains begin to materialize in the real world.

This is REALLY a show that you have to watch for yourself is the only way to describe it!

Recently, the second season of Akibaranger was announced at the tail end of a "Kamen Rider x Super Sentai Live & Show 2013" event which was held at the Tokyo International Forum in Japan on the evening of July 12th! Sorry, but there's no subtitles so you guys will have to make do with it.

Unfortunately, there was no other information was given but I will keep all of you updated when new info becomes available like the premiere date! If you are an American fan who loved the first season like many of my friends from RVT Entertainment have, then you will want to download the subbed episodes from TV-Nihon!

Update: The fine folks at TV-Nihon have subbed the season 2 announcement of Akibaranger so everybody who has watched the Youtube video that wasn't subtitled can now download the subtitled version of the announcement and watch it for themselves!

My thoughts on the premiere of "AKB0048"

I just recently got finished watching the debut of the anime based on the very popular J-Pop idol group AKB48 called "AKB0048"! And to be quite honest, it is very different from your usual anime that you find watching nowadays. Like I said on the last episode of The Nerd Fortress Podcast before the hiatus, I have no idea what is is about stories with a post apocalyptic future with an oppressive government that feels like that they have to have control of everything or vice versa, but it just absolutely fascinates me!

AKB0048 tells the story of 4 teens who decide to audition to become members of the fictional group AKB0048 that are the successors to the real life popular Japanese Pop idol group AKB48  in a dystopian future where music is deemed illegal after an interplanetary war broke out where the Earth's ecosystem was damaged, and humanity was forced to flee the planet.

Not only does AKB0048 perform free concerts, they also take up arms to defend not only their careers, but their fans as well from the illegal ban on art and entertainment which also labels the idols as terrorists! And did I forget to mention that there are giant mechas in this anime also? 

Unfortunately, the only way for you to experience the anime for yourself is to download the first episode at http://evetaku.com/blog/2012/04/akb0048-episode-01-released/ since the Youtube video I previously had posted has been taken down because of a copyright claim!

Also, some of the members of AKB48 like Sumire Sato, Mayu Watanabe, and Amina Sato voice the 77th generation trainees of AKB0048 while popular voice actresses such as Mamiko Noto known for her work on the Japanese versions of Gunslinger Girl, Hell Girl, Witchblade, Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple, and many others voicing the real life AKB48 member Haruna Kojima, Yukari Tamura, known for her works on the Japanese versions of games like Soul Calibur II, III, and IV, NIGHTS: Journey into Dreams, and Star Ocean: First Departure, as well as animes like Ouran High School Host Club, Fullmetal Panic!: The Second Raid, and S-CRY-ed, as well as the voice of Navi on the 35th anniversary season of Toei's Super Sentai Series, Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger as real life AKB48 member Mayu Watanabe among others!

If your a fan of AKB48 or are a fan of action and sci-fi anime like the Gundam series, then this anime is definitely worth checking out! Sadly, I don't think this anime will be dubbed into English and given a North American release since AKB48 is mostly considered either underground or unknown in the American music market that is vastly different to the Japanese music market in Japan!

So don't feel bad about downloading fan-subs of this American AKB48 fans!