When Nintendo rolls out a new product, usually it has a smattering of in-house titles for it, with half of them playable, and half vaporware, depending on third party products to take up the slack. Not so this time, acording to Japanator; there will be 32 in-house games on display for the Nintendo 3DS, their portable 3D gaming platform. You won’t need special glasses to get the 3D effects, although as with most new optical systems there will be a brief learning curve while your eyes figure out the trick to viewing it. The percentages will be about normal though, with 15 playable games and another 17 game trailers. They are taking over Chiba City’s Makuhari Messe Hall 9, the same town featured in so many early William Gibson stories, and the same venue used for the Tokyo Game Show each September. I am not much of a gamer, but this is one system I am looking forward to. For a full list of which games are real and to see coverage of the actual event, go to Nintendo World 2011. The event will run January 8th, 9th, and 10th.
On the last Wednesday each month, the JICC has an Anime presentation free and open to the public they refer to as their Animezing Series. This month the presentation is Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away, a watershed animation and a perfect tale for Halloween. Reservations are required for tomorrow night’s event, since the theater has limited seating and there will be only one showing. They invite everyone who is so inclined to wear their best Halloween costumes, but do not bring costume weapons, not even plastic toys. Remember that the Japan Information and Culture Center (JICC) is part of the Embassy of Japan in Washington D.C, and like all embassies their security team is trained to err on the side of caution. I can’t wait to find out what they have in store for us in November, and for this and other events in and around DC be sure to check out their Calendar.
Just a reminder that Sci-Fi London’s Oktoberfest kicks off tomorrow evening with the Life, but as we know it? event at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich (home of Greenwich Mean Time). This presentation investigates extraterrestrial life in science, science fiction, and comedy. They will also be unveiling their new planetarium program, Astrobiology on pretty much the same topic. I should mention you better already have your tickets if you wanted to see TRON on the big screen before the new version comes out, because that one is sold out. The Studio Ghibli All Nighter still has half the seats left, but tickets are going fast. They will be running Spirited Away, Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Wind, The Cat Returns, and Howl’s Moving Castle in that theater; I would pay to see any one of them in a movie theater, all four back to back would be a serious treat.
Doctor Who Live Kicks off this Friday in London, and will then tour another eight cities across the UK. Running under the tag line The Monsters Are Coming, this will bring a full orchestra with an integrated video and live action presentation to arena venues across the British Isles. Nick Briggs will be on the tour, while Matt Smith has recorded voice tracks to be used in the program. My Pandora Feeder Radio stream is playing Concrete Blond’s Walking in London as I type this, and considering yesterday’s blog topic of Sci-Fi London’s Oktoberfest, I am beginning to think it might be time to get off my ass and get my passport.
Sci-Fi London Oktoberfest is coming from Thursday October 14th through Saturday October 16th, and it is bringing many goodies. It will kick off on Thursday night with a special Planetarium program on Astrobiology at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich (home of Greenwich Mean Time). My personal film favorite may be the UK premier of the live action Time Traveller: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time movie, giving us yet another rendition of this perennial favorite. Another UK premier will be the first ever Serbian feature length animation, in the form of the Cyberpunk soon-to-be classic Technotise: Edit & I. There are an assortment of all-night screening sessions with various focuses as well as a collection of workshops, panels, and gatherings. All in all, an event worth attending.
Time Traveller: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
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This seems a bit different; the Brainwash Movie Festival in Oakland, a drive-in, bike-in, walk-in kind of outdoor movie event. This also seems different; a movie critic making a rather barbed point about the cost of 3D films; thanks, Chris. Finally, some bozo pulled the fire alarm at Otakon this weekend, and thousands upon thousands of Otakus were dumped onto the streets of Baltimore; it is clear the city, not the fans, will take longer to recover.