Since launching in February, Sony’s high-end virtual reality peripheral for the PlayStation 5 has underperformed as far as sales numbers go. The PSVR2, the successor to PS4’s headset from 2016, has sold less than 300,000 units.
Bloomberg is reporting that the IDC estimates that Sony’s latest virtual reality headset may have as many as 270K PSVR2 kits by the end of March (tomorrow). In contrast, according to Forbes, the PS5 has sold around 32 million. The PSVR2 adoption rate is less than 1%.
Sony’s PSVR2 had several things against it when battling for consumer dollars. For one, the headset is priced at $549. Another issue is that it launched during a time of economic inflation. The PSVR2 was also tethered exclusively to the PlayStation 5. Competing headsets like Meta’s Oculus Quest 2 were more flexible and less expensive.
In the Oculus Quest 2’s first year, it sold 14.8 million units. However, comparing Meta’s hardware with Sony’s may be unfair. The Quest 2 was less of a technological powerhouse, but it did launch when more people were stuck at home during the pandemic.
Sony did come out of the gate swinging, thankfully. The PSVR2 launched with over 40 games. Some of them, from what we’ve seen, is quite impressive. However, justifying paying for an add-on accessory that is more expensive than the console it is tied to doesn’t make sense for the average person.
Sony must determine how to make the virtual reality device more appealing to budget-conscious gamers. Either reduce the price by 25% or allow the PSVR2 to be PC compatible. I share Forbe’s speculation that Sony will refuse to allow the headset to work on anything but Sony hardware.
I admit that the technical specifications for the PSVR2 have me interested in buying one. However, I found Sony’s lackluster support of the last VR headset. Although, that is probably due to a few third-party developers making intriguing games.
The 2019 paranormal comedy manga ‘Otaku Elf’ from creator Akihiko Higuchi has been picked up by the Japanese animation studio C2C for an anime adaptation. Set to be released in April 2023, Sentai Filmworks has acquired the license for a release in the United States through the HiDive streaming service.
“What happens when an elf gets isekai’d to our world,” asks HiDive on their website. “She becomes the local deity and centuries later, is reduced to a shut-in otaku much to the annoyance of the latest shrine priestess. Don’t miss out on the HIDIVE premiere of the Otaku Elf (Edomae Elf).”
The anime is directed by Takebumi Anzai and written by Shōgo Yasukawa. Akito Matsuda is composing the music for the animated series while Takeshi Oda acts as both the character designer and the character designer.
Yuka Ozaki (Magia Record) has been tapped to voice protagonist Koito Koganei while Ami Koshimizu (Sailor Moon Crystal) will take on the role of Elda.
“Koganei Koito is a teenager who works as an attendant to the Takamimi Shrine. Rumors have it that a deity dwells within the shrine, but the actual resident is an immortal elf who found herself stuck on Earth some four hundred years ago. What’s more, the elf is a total shut-in who won’t go outside…and has developed a taste for video games! Now the attendants at the shrine have to cater to the elf’s love of the most modern gizmos–from handheld games to virtual reality headsets–in this charming fantasy comedy!”
Japanese singer Akari Nanawo sings the theme song “Kien Romance” while musician Cody Lee performs the ending song “Odoru Hikari.”
Kodansha releases the manga in Japan and serializes it in their ‘Shōnen Magazine Edge’ periodical. Seven Seas Entertainment acquired the rights to release Otaku Elf in the United States in 2021 for both print and digital versions.
GKids announced that they are bringing the gory animated film ‘Unicorns Wars’ to Blu-ray in a special home video release. The DVD box set will include the film’s trailer and several other special features.
“The latest genre-bending animated feature for adults from Goya and Annecy Cristal-winning director Alberto Vásquez, Unicorn Wars will debut on Blu-ray May 9th, 2023 from GKIDS, with distribution by Shout! Factory,” GKids said on their website. “Vásquez’ use of a hyper-saturated color palate and iconography typically associated with children juxtaposes his exploration of religious zealotry, the tortured legacies of military fascism, and the depths of the soul.”
The bonus features include an interview with the movie director, a feature-length animatic, and the “Working in Blender” featurette.
GKids adds, “A provocative and darkly beautiful horror comedy described as Bambi meets Apocalypse Now, this critically acclaimed technicolor film featured in competition at the 2022 Annecy International Animation Film Festival, and was an official selection at BFI London, Animation is Film, and Fantastic Fest.”
You can watch the DVD trailer below:
The animated film features award-winning actor Ramón Barea as the narrator of the plot.
Gkids describes the synopsis as follows,
“For ages, teddy bears have been locked in an ancestral war against their sworn enemy, the unicorns, with the promise that victory will complete the prophecy and usher in a new era. Aggressive, confident teddy bear Bluet and his sensitive, withdrawn brother Tubby could not be more different. As the rigors and humiliation of teddy bear bootcamp turn to the psychedelic horrors of a combat tour in the Magic Forest, their complicated history and increasingly strained relationship will come to determine the fate of the entire war.”
A co-production of Spanish and French filmmakers, the film received funding from Eurimages, an organization that promotes the arts. It was produced by Iván Miñambres, Chelo Loureiro, and Nicolas Schmerkin.
More layoffs are on the way. Downsizing is limited to Meta, Google, and Amazon as Electronic Arts is now looking to cut costs and office space.
We found out via CNBC that EA recently filed a restructuring strategy with the SEC. It would see a reduction of both the company’s workforce and office footprint. The direction EA wants to strive towards was outlined in a Form 8-K filing. The restructuring plan, known more ominously as “The Plan,” includes the following:
“The Plan includes actions driven by portfolio rationalization, including intellectual property impairment charges and headcount reductions impacting approximately 6% of the Company’s workforce, in addition to office space reductions.”
EA expects the required changes and layoffs to be completed by September 30th, 2023. The Plan will cost Electronic Arts between $170M to $200M due to contract cancellations, employee severance payouts, and “intellectual property impairment.”
Andrew Wilson, the Electronic Arts CEO, updated employees via the company’s blog that “We are moving away from projects that do not contribute to our strategy, reviewing our real estate footprint, and restructuring some of our teams.” Whether this means EA is canceling games currently in development or shutting down servers for existing titles is not known.
I’m concerned that Titanfall 2’s servers could be next. It’s one of the few multiplayer games I still play regularly. Unfortunately, this also makes me wonder if EA will attend 2023’s E3 after so many other companies opted out of the event.
Before the announcement of The Plan, EA had shuttered servers for several older titles. Noypigeeks compared the list below:
Google Stadia versions of FIFA 21, FIFA 22, and FIFA 23
Google Stadia versions of Madden 21 and Madden 2022
The saga of the Batmobile shop that an overzealous sheriff raided has finally ended. An independent report has found that the San Mateo County Sheriff’s office may have overstepped its bounds when investigating a civil matter regarding a single unfinished Batmobile replica from Fiberglass Freaks.
This all stemmed because his Batmobile replica was put on hold due to some payments being missed. This put Anagnostou’s car at the back of the production line. Although he eventually made more payments, this did not bump him back to the front, which, I’m guessing, was too inconvenient for the wealthy realtor.
Investigative reporter, Dan Noyes of San Francisco’s ABC affiliate, has been covering the story since it broke last year. When an independent investigation into the actions of the San Mateo County Sheriff’s office was finally made available, Noyes noticed the county’s attorney was not being entirely honest with the public.
During the Board of Supervisors meeting, when the county’s supervisor, David Canepa, was asked what went wrong with the whole ordeal, he said, “I guess I’m not trying to be cagey. But it’s not eminently clear to me that anything went wrong per see.” Except a lot did go wrong.
Noyes poured through the nearly 50-page report and found the following:
“The sheriff took Anagnostou’s call because he is acquainted with him; Anagnostou is a local businessperson and a friend of the sheriff’s brother.”
The sheriff referred the case to the head of his Vehicle Theft Task Force, even though “this case did not fall within (its) mission.”
The head of the task force spent 6 months investigating, and then took a crew of four department personnel to raid the Batmobile garage in Indiana.
The report appears to point to the entire ordeal that targeted Fiberglass Freaks in Logansport, Indiana. The company’s owner Mark Racop was done as a favor for Sam Anagnostou by former Sheriff Carlos Bolanos.
Remember, Mr. Anagnostou had already tried to take Mr. Racop to court in a civil case in California, which was thrown out because it would have fallen under the jurisdiction of an Indiana court. Thus, Anagnostou decided to take another route. Unfortunately, one included bypassing the proper venue and putting Racop through one hell of an ordeal.
It is unknown if former Sheriff Carlos Bolanos will face any repercussions based on the investigation’s findings. But, in the end, we know that San Mateo County wasted $10,000 to send a team of officers to Indiana for a needless raid, and another $55K was spent on the report.
I spoke to Mark Racop last August before the criminal case against him was dropped. Unfortunately, he now has PTSD and claims that this misuse of public funds and resources has cost his business over $350K. When I talked to him over the phone, it was apparent that he had been run into the ground. He, however, said he would persevere, and he has.
The Batmobiles take quite a few years to complete because of the customized parts and the supply line issues plaguing the automotive and construction industry since 2020. In addition, Racop told me that fiberglass was one of the most challenging things to get ahold of since the U.S. Government took priority regarding that material.
Lackadaisy premiered their pilot film today on YouTube, three years after their very successful Kickstarter campaign ended in 2020. The 27-minute traditionally animated movie is rated PG-13 due to the drinking and the violence, but without the swearing.
Lackadaisy began as a webcomic in 2006 by Tracy J. Butler, who became inspired after researching the history of her century-old Saint Louis home and of her love of jazz music and the 1920s aesthetics. Her love of animation also inspired her, having grown up with Disney animated films, Looney Tunes and Don Bluth animations. When she first created Lackadaisy, she was imagining it as an animated film. She had dreams of having her story to someday become animated in a way that would resemble similar animation styles and music quality that she had grown up with. With her background as a game developer, graphic designer, and illustrator, Tracy was well aware of how complicated and expensive this dream would be.
Before going forward with a Kickstarter campaign, creator Tracy Butler and director Fable Siegel approached several studios with the concept of an adult animated series that follows booze drinking anthropomorphic cats as they indulged in crime during the 1920’s Missouri era. However, according to producers, studios thought the project would be too risky to finance, even if it did sound like an interesting idea. Hollywood studios in general have this idea that when it comes to adult animation, only the sitcom format appeal to adults.
After the failed attempts at pitching to several networks, Tracy and Fable decided to turn to the fans. They launched the Lackadaisy: The Animated Short Film Kickstarter campaign on March 16th 2020 to a fund a proof-of-concept short animated film. If this was successful, it would show the studios that adults are interested in far more than just sitcom-type of animated content. The campaign had reached it’s $85,000 goal 6 hours after it launched. At the end of the Kickstarter on April 17th, it had reached up to $330,256 with 5,957 supporters.
The animated Short was originally planned for a 2021 release, but then the world went through a shut down, so most of the production and creation was done remotely from around the world.
The style of animation was specifically chosen to resemble a slightly rough animation style seen in classic animated films created before animation creation was replaced with something called CAPS, which is an early computer-based program that was developed by Pixar. Up until the 1980s, Xerography was the method of choice. This technique involves transferring pencil line art directly to animation cells that creates a textured appearance. You can see this inking and photocopying type of animation having been used in film’s such as Disney’s 101 Dalmations (1961) and Don Bluth’s The Secret of NIMH (1982).
You can watch this video here to see what it was like to animate this Short from someone who worked on the animation project:
Because of the choice to create the animated Short independently, Lackadaisy had more control over the art, animation, music, and voice cast. Every decision was made for a reason that they felt made a difference in the quality that they were looking for in a story that is beloved by fans around the world.
When Lackadaisy premiered at 2 pm EST today on March 29th, the highest live-view count it had was around 12 thousand. Since it finished airing it’s premiere on YouTube, it has remained trending on Twitter at #4 as of this publishing several hours later.
The movie description is: It’s 1927 and the Prohibition is the law of the land. For Rocky, Freckle, and Ivy, the night shift are never dull.
There is an extra scene after the credits, so look out for that!
Watch the 27-minute short film here:
Eight software programs were used to create this animation. Which includes Toon Boom Harmony, Clip Studio Ex, Storyboard Pro, Blender, and a few Adobe programs, among other software programs.
Cast credits include Belsheber Rusape as Freckle, Michael Kovach as Rocky, Lisa Reimold as Ivy, and Benni Latham as Serafine, Malcolm Ray as Nicodeme, J.J. and Carnival Barker, SungWon Cho (also known as ProZD) as Mordecai, Valentine Stokes as Zib, Ashe Wagner as Mitzi, Bradley Garett as Wick, Jason Marnocha as Viktor and Asa Sweet, and Walter Tomas Viola as Horatio.
So what do you think of this indie animated film? Would you like to see more of this? Do you agree with Hollywood studios in their perception of what adults prefer to see in the type of animated format, that being sitcoms? We would love to hear your thoughts so feel free to share them!
Sentai Filmworks acquired the North American licensing rights to the magical girl reboot anime ‘Tokyo Mew Mew New’ when the series first debuted in 2022 from Japanese animation studios Yumeta Company and Graphinica. Sentai streamed the first season to HiDive and it has been announced they will also release the second season.
“Ichigo and her friends are back and ready to save the world again,” HiDive said on their website. “… starting on April 4, 2023 when we stream TOKYO MEW MEW NEW Season 2!”
The series is based on a manga created by Reiko Yoshida and is directed by Takahiro Natori and written by Yuka Yamada. Satoshi Ishino is designing the characters while Yasuharu Takanashi is composing the music.
“Ichigo Momomiya has just entered high school, and on her to-do list is to experience a high school romance. She finds the perfect candidate in Masaya Aoyama, an animal-loving kendo player concerned about the environment. After receiving some tickets to a museum exhibit featuring Red Data Animals, she manages to get a date with him.
Said date is unfortunately cut short by an earthquake, an emergency evacuation, being merged with the DNA of the Iriomote Mountain Cat, and a rat monster attacking her and Masaya. After a quick save from Mint Aizawa, alias Mew Mint, Ichigo awakens her powers as a Mew Mew. And so begins her role in a battle to save the planet from alien invasion.”
The ‘Tokyo Mew Mew’ manga was written by Reiko Yoshida, illustrated by Mia Ikumi, and by Kodansha from 2000 to 2003. The manga received two spin-offs including ‘Tokyo Mew Mew à la Mode’ by Mia Ikumi and ‘Tokyo Mew Mew Olé’ by Madoka Seizuki.
The series was previously adapted by the Japanese production company Pierrot. Their version ran from 2002 to 2003 before being canceled after 52 episodes.
The adult animated series ‘Royal Crackers’ is making a comeback. Adult Swim has renewed the series for a second season. Most of the first season’s cast and crew are returning to the show, which follows a family fighting for power in a business making crackers.
“Leading into the premiere of Adult Swim’s newest animated comedy “Royal Crackers” this Sunday, Adult Swim announced today that it has ordered a second season of the series. The new half-hour comedy created by and starring Jason Ruiz follows the Hornsby family as they vie for control of their once-successful cracker company,” Adult Swim said in a statement.
“We’re all super grateful Adult Swim gave us the chance to tell more stories about our characters,” said Jason Ruiz. “And if you can’t wait to see what happens in season two, then buckle your seatbelts for season one.”
The team released a teaser for the upcoming releases:
Family businesses are fragile. Three new Royal Crackers episodes coming April 2 pic.twitter.com/lKzKd5v2eK
The cast includes Andrew Santino (“Dave”), Jessica St. Clair (“Veep,” “American Housewife,” “The Deep Dive” podcast), David Gborie (“Exploding Kittens,” “All Fantasy Everything” podcast), Maile Flanagan (“Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks,” “Naruto,” “Not Dead Yet”) and Fred Tatasciore (“Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal”).
Warner Bros. Discovery describes the synopsis as follows,
“Royal Crackers was once the king of snacks, but the empire is crumbling. When the family patriarch, tyrannical company founder Theodore Hornsby Sr. ends up in a “super coma,” the rest of the Hornsbys will take their lack of talent and business acumen and try to make Royal Crackers the success it once was. To highlight the series launch, Adult Swim constructed a billboard that’s as unusual and unstable as the Hornsby family’s company.”
The first three episodes will debut on Adult Swim on Sunday, April 2, and the following day on HBO Max.
The time of E3 may be coming to an end. After a rough couple of years of canceled and neutered Electronic Entertainment Expos, 2023’s event is quickly becoming irrelevant.
IGN discovered that two more big names in gaming have decided that E3 isn’t worth their time. SEGA and Tencent are out. This comes after Nintendo, Microsoft, Sony, and Ubisoft decided to bow out of this year’s E3.
So, who is going to be left on the showroom floor? EA? According to various knowledgeable individuals interviewed by IGN, there may be no reason for the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) to allow E3 to continue. A quick glance at ESA’s website shows very little info about the upcoming event.
E3 is scheduled for June 11th-16th at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Unfortunately, the event’s official schedule page remains empty, with just over two months left. Considering the expense and planning the average person and journalists need to consider in order to attend, the lack of information isn’t helpful. In addition, ticket prices for the Digital Showcases, In-Person Showcases, and In-Person Demos have not yet been released.
E3’s troubles are nothing new, but this year it feels like all of the errors and missteps are finally taking a toll. E3 was canceled in 2020 for obvious reasons. The following year, video game fans were treated to a strictly virtual affair. Then last year saw both live and broadcast events scrapped entirely. Are three years of misfortune enough to bring the long-running expo to an end?
There may still be hope. Even if a skeleton crew of publishers and hardware developers show up, it may give them the breathing room to better engage with the attendees. Covering a convention or expo is always challenging for journos. When there’s too much going on, we have to get thrifty with our time, and this could mean great games or novel ideas don’t get the press they deserve.
If a considerable number of negative reviews weren’t enough to dissuade you from buying something on Amazon, a new feature may. An exclusive story from The Information revealed that the massive online retailer finally, after 28 years in operation, added a much-needed warning label on products with above-average return rates.
If a product is being returned frequently, the warning tag above will show up just below the product’s bullet point features summarization. However, it is not clear how many returns will trigger the warning to pop up on a product’s page. Will Amazon filter if customers return a product because it’s defective or doesn’t match the description?
Returns cost Amazon a lot of money, especially since shipping back to the warehouse is free for the customer. Considering Amazon is now cutting 9,000 employees, eliminating unnecessary customer returns could mean fewer employees will lose their job when the next round of layoffs happen.
A report from CNBC in 2022 stated that 16.6% of merchandise sales were returned in 2021. Sadly, Amazon does not make the critical numbers public. However, in ’21, the company did post over $100B in first-quarter revenue. So, it would be reasonable to estimate that returns cost Amazon millions of dollars annually.
I’ve long wondered if Amazon dedicates enough staff to monitoring the junk that gets sold on the retailer’s site. Until the past two years, I rarely returned anything to Amazon. However, we’re seeing more and more sellers using misleading images or descriptions on product pages. One such questionable product we reviewed was the Indiana Jones Grail Diary replica.
Over the past year, I have contacted Amazon multiple times regarding blatant rip-off products or unlicensed knock-offs. Not once did the company get back to me. Some more egregious listings would use images of official products, but customer-uploaded pictures showed that what was being sold were cheap imitations. Some of these products could be potentially dangerous (i.e., questionable PC power supplies).
Have you purchased anything from Amazon that turned out to be a knockoff? Let us know below.
