it is back, it actually is comming back in X-2. that was probably one of the biggest complaints of X I heard.
Thanks for the info! I'm looking forward to FFX-2 even more now.
I believe the Weekly Jump that provided the pages in this case is primarily a manga anthology (like the other Jump manga Shonen Jump). The same publishers also put out a mag called V-Jump, which focuses more on video games (there's also a series of V-Jump strategy guides). Thing is, I couldn't remember if the Advent Children leak came from V-Jump or Weekly Jump.
Didn't the FF7: Advent Children leaks come from a Jump magazine as well? Someone there either really loves Square or really wants to annoy them. Or just wants to sell more magazines.
In any case, as for the pics, I kind of like that the characters have a more "cartoony" look about them than FFX's characters did. Still feels Tetsuya Nomura-ish... bleah:P
As an aside, I hope they bring the Overworld Map back, one where you can actually see your avatar/Chocobo/airship travel around on. That was the one thing I seriously disliked about FFX... no overworld (the little map that they gave you on the airship sucked for exploring).
Yeah, I guess that's true if your target audience is the girliest of girl gamers... but there are other reasons girls like these games; namely, great stories and gameplay. Sure, I'll admit that some of these Japanese bishies are cute (Cid, Reno, Auron, Edgar... the list goes on), but when I'm actually playing Final Fantasy VII or what have you, I'm generally more concerned about Cloud kicking ass than Cloud's ass:)
Yeah, but then you have the case of 101 Dalmatians. Initially, Disney did not like the cold and impersonal look of Xeroxed (as opposed to hand-inked) cels. It took some convincing from his artists to go along with this new time-saving technology.
Historically, it seems that Disney was a booster of new animation technologies, though mainly in the areas of cinematography (the multiplane camera, Technicolor) and presentation (sound, quadrophonic sound, Cinemascope)-- not actual animation.
BTW, this is an old story. This entry in my Journal is from August 15th. This is old news as far as the animation industry goes.
I realize this, but it didn't occur to me to submit it as a Slashdot story until last night:P Thanks for the journal link, too... the article you linked to is a great one that I'd forgotten about.
This is better than the USA Today one, methinks; unfortunately, I had misplaced the URL when I submitted this story to Slashdot (awaits flames patiently):
Yep. Most animation on television is done by Korean studios. The scripting, voice work, storyboards, character design, sound, and editing are all done in the US, Canada, or Europe.
Thankfully, this trend is changing somewhat, as many newer shows move to programs like Flash and After Effects, which allows production houses to have in-house animation departments (and keep some costs down, as there are much less animators needed per episode).
Same here. Sure, because it was a sequel it wasn't as original as the first movie, but I found it much more entertaining.
The only part I thought they could've done without was that song that Jessie sings, and even then, it was better than most all of the musical numbers from other animated films of the time.
Yeah, but pretty much all of the music included (except for the Love Fist tracks... are any of those on there?) is liscenced. Same goes for the Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 soundtrack...
But then again, that's a lot like most movies too, right? o_O
You have to watch out for bootlegs, though; I'm not sure about all of the stores, but at least one of those you listed (Anime Castle) sells Hong Kong bootlegs of soundtracks instead of the real, imported-from-Japan deal. Still, for some hard-to-find stuff, getting a bootleg is understandable... I had to do this to get the Eternal Arcadia soundtrack.
Generally, I've found that (legit Japanese) multidisk sets are fairly inexpensive per disk... most Final Fantasy soundtracks (which are three to four disks long) are around $35-$45 US.
Have you actually seen the Laputa sub? It's got one of the most botched subtitling jobs I've ever seen. On Animefu, all of the reviews for this release back this fact up.
Good looking out ^_^ Truth be told, my PC is dual-boot (Win98SE and Win2k Pro), so technically I could run Windows iTunes if I really wanted to. The only thing is that I have Win98 set as my default OS, as most of the apps-- including certain games-- I use on a regular basis work best in this OS (Win2k I only use for 3D animation and modeling apps). I've never bothered to upgrade either one of them since both these OSes suit my purposes just fine (and besides, WinXP is ugly!).
But again, I also have a Mac running OS X, so I'm not entirely out of the loop;)
What they didn't do was spend hundreds of programmer hrs and who-knows-how-many hours of testing adding up to $???? to get the latest version of Quicktime and iTunes running under an older OS that has a good chance of being on older hardware that may not be capable of running the software at anything resembling acceptible rates.
Actually, I just installed the latest version of QT under Win98SE and it runs just fine. Of course, QT has been available on Windows for years, now...
Windows iTunes is for Win2k and XP only?! I guess lack of Win95/98/NT support comes as no surprise, but still... that bites. No Linux version either. Ah well, there's always my iBook...
Nick Catucci's Joysticks columns are frequently typical of the artsy writing of the Village Voice, but at the same time he appreciates the aesthetics and mechanics of gaming better than any joe at a regular newspaper... in other words, he's a gamer. If only more reporters followed his lead... or if only more gamers became mainstream reporters...
I'm all for it. I have a friend who wanted to get into theatrical animation, but found the competition cutthroat. He's been steadily employed in video games for the past three or four years, now.
I'm thinking of brushing up on my own 3D skills and going for a similar job once my current animation gig is over. There's been a serious lull in the non-game animation business for a little over a year now; with layoffs everywhere, and more work going overseas. If EA wants to hire a thousand artists that Hollywood wasn't going to anyway, then that's fantastic:)
Slashdot Mirror
I can't help but notice how appropriate your sig is for this thread ;)
...and don't forget the romantic pop song, sure to become a hit with Final Fantasy fans everywhere!
And amen on FF8...
I believe the Weekly Jump that provided the pages in this case is primarily a manga anthology (like the other Jump manga Shonen Jump). The same publishers also put out a mag called V-Jump, which focuses more on video games (there's also a series of V-Jump strategy guides). Thing is, I couldn't remember if the Advent Children leak came from V-Jump or Weekly Jump.
In any case, as for the pics, I kind of like that the characters have a more "cartoony" look about them than FFX's characters did. Still feels Tetsuya Nomura-ish... bleah
As an aside, I hope they bring the Overworld Map back, one where you can actually see your avatar/Chocobo/airship travel around on. That was the one thing I seriously disliked about FFX... no overworld (the little map that they gave you on the airship sucked for exploring).
Yeah, I guess that's true if your target audience is the girliest of girl gamers... but there are other reasons girls like these games; namely, great stories and gameplay. Sure, I'll admit that some of these Japanese bishies are cute (Cid, Reno, Auron, Edgar... the list goes on), but when I'm actually playing Final Fantasy VII or what have you, I'm generally more concerned about Cloud kicking ass than Cloud's ass :)
Historically, it seems that Disney was a booster of new animation technologies, though mainly in the areas of cinematography (the multiplane camera, Technicolor) and presentation (sound, quadrophonic sound, Cinemascope)-- not actual animation.
True, still one hopes that hand-drawn animation won't completely disappear (at least, non-anime hand-drawn animation).
I realize this, but it didn't occur to me to submit it as a Slashdot story until last night
Disney Decides it Must Draw Artists Into the Computer Age
"Giving up on hand-drawn animation is akin to abandoning pianos because synthesizers have come along."
Thankfully, this trend is changing somewhat, as many newer shows move to programs like Flash and After Effects, which allows production houses to have in-house animation departments (and keep some costs down, as there are much less animators needed per episode).
The only part I thought they could've done without was that song that Jessie sings, and even then, it was better than most all of the musical numbers from other animated films of the time.
Man, that was a great show...
The P.A. guys sure called this one...
Tokyopop publishes a number of Japanese game soundtracks (and compilations of game music). Sometimes I'll see one or two of these in a game store.
But then again, that's a lot like most movies too, right? o_O
Generally, I've found that (legit Japanese) multidisk sets are fairly inexpensive per disk... most Final Fantasy soundtracks (which are three to four disks long) are around $35-$45 US.
Have you actually seen the Laputa sub? It's got one of the most botched subtitling jobs I've ever seen. On Animefu, all of the reviews for this release back this fact up.
But again, I also have a Mac running OS X, so I'm not entirely out of the loop ;)
What they didn't do was spend hundreds of programmer hrs and who-knows-how-many hours of testing adding up to $???? to get the latest version of Quicktime and iTunes running under an older OS that has a good chance of being on older hardware that may not be capable of running the software at anything resembling acceptible rates. Actually, I just installed the latest version of QT under Win98SE and it runs just fine. Of course, QT has been available on Windows for years, now...
Windows iTunes is for Win2k and XP only?! I guess lack of Win95/98/NT support comes as no surprise, but still... that bites. No Linux version either. Ah well, there's always my iBook...
Nick Catucci's Joysticks columns are frequently typical of the artsy writing of the Village Voice, but at the same time he appreciates the aesthetics and mechanics of gaming better than any joe at a regular newspaper... in other words, he's a gamer. If only more reporters followed his lead... or if only more gamers became mainstream reporters...
Nah, I lucked out and got them used at a game store-- 50% less than retail ^_^ No way I was going to spend $100+ on eBay!
I'm thinking of brushing up on my own 3D skills and going for a similar job once my current animation gig is over. There's been a serious lull in the non-game animation business for a little over a year now; with layoffs everywhere, and more work going overseas. If EA wants to hire a thousand artists that Hollywood wasn't going to anyway, then that's fantastic :)