The Robotech Facebook Page has posted new artwork. There is no further information as of this posting.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
NEW ROBOTECH ARTWORK REVEALED
The Robotech Facebook Page has posted new artwork. There is no further information as of this posting.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
TEKKOSHOCON NO LONGER AT THE WYNDHAM GRAND HOTEL
Tekkoshocon Convention Chairman, Jim Gogal, has some big news to reveal via Facebook.
Then there is this Facebook post that gives more detail on why they cancelled their relationship with the hotel.
Will Tekkoshocon be at the Wyndham Grand next year?
No.
What is the new venue?
We are currently investigating this. Negotiations for a venue may take several weeks or months to complete. We want you to join us next year so we will let you know the minute we can. Please be patient.
Why were Artists' Alley and gaming in smaller rooms?
Midway through the year, after several guests were already booked, we were informed by the Wyndham that the King's Garden (those rooms you saw by the elevators, where Artists' Alley was last year) would not be available to us due to construction. We had two choices at this point: work with the space or cancel Tekko. We put Artists' Alley into the next biggest space the hotel had to offer and moved the rest of our layout in order to accomodate every other department that got displaced. The fourth floor was not ideal for anyone, but the activities of RPG/CCG/Video Gaming were able to be segmented into the space while a panel room or Artists' Alley could not.
What happened Saturday night?
I was at Tekkoshocon this weekend and I fully support Jim's decision in this matter. The hotel management, staff and design are not suited to handle an anime convention. It should be interesting to see what venue in the Pittsburgh area they end up in.At 2:15 AM we were approached by the hotel and asked to end all programming and have our guests leave the common floors by 3 AM. The stated consequence was that individuals would be removed from the hotel. We know it was very disappointing that panels, videos, and the dance got cut short and we apologize for the inconvenience. We would like to thank those who were on the floor for your friendly cooperation. You reminded us why we love you so much! <3
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
MACROSS DIRECTOR NOBORU ISHIGURO PASSES AWAY
A tremendous loss for anime industry.
Studio Nue co-founder Haruka Takachiho reported on Wednesday that Noboru Ishiguro, the veteran director of such works as Space Battleship Yamato, the first color Astro Boy anime series (1980), The Super Dimension Fortress Macross, and Legend of the Galactic Heroes, has passed away. He was 73.
From Crunchyroll.Ishiguro directed some of the most highly regarded anime classics of the last five decades, including those listed above as well as Megazone 23, The Super Dimension Century Orguss, The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love? film, and Yōkai Ningen Bem. Ishiguro also conceived of Megazone 23's story and founded Artland in 1978, the studio that co-produced Macross, Orguss and Galactic Heroes, and animated more recent titles such as Mushi-Shi, Demon King Daimao, and Katekyo Hitman Reborn!
Our condolences to his wife, Yumi, his friends and colleagues on their loss.Japan's Asahi Shimbum newspaper has posted an obituary for anime industry veteran Noboru Ishiguro, who passed away at age 73. In 1963, while still a student, Ishiguro started in the business working on the original mecha series, Tetsujin 28. In the 70s he graduated into directing the Space Battleship Yamato series and went on to helm landmarks of the 80s, including the anime movie retelling of Macross, Do You Remember Love?, in addition to Megazone 23 and the 1980 remake of Astro Boy. American watchers of Nickelodeon at the time might remember his children's show Noozles, created in response to Japan's mid-80s koala craze.
UPDATE: Robotech.com now has an article up on the front page and you can discuss in the forums here.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
7.6 EARTHQUAKE HITS SOUTHERN MEXICO
We are thankful to hear from Mr. Jesús Barrero that he and his studio are safe.
(AP) Strong, long 7.4 quake shakes Mexico City
By KATHERINE CORCORAN
Associated Press
MEXICO CITY
A strong 7.4-magnitude earthquake hit Mexico on Tuesday, shaking central and southern parts of the country, sending a pedestrian bridge crashing atop a transit bus and swaying high-rises in Mexico City. At least one building in the capital appeared on the verge of collapse.
More than 60 homes were damaged near the epicenter in Ometepec in southern Guerrero state, though there were no reports of death or serious injury. Fear and panic spread as a less powerful, magnitude-5.1 aftershock was also felt in the capital, where there were also no reports of deaths.
Other aftershocks were felt around the borders of Oaxaca and Guerrero states close to the epicenter.
"It was very strong, very substantial," Campos Benitez, hospital director in Ometepec.
Police radio operator Marcos Marroquin said there were preliminary reports of 60 houses damaged in the municipality but only a report of a broken arm.
In Mexico City, frightened workers and residents poured into the streets of the capital just minutes after noon local time (18:02 GMT). Telephone service was down in the city and throughout the area where the quake was felt, and some neighborhoods were without power, according to Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard, who set up a hotline for people to report damage.
[snip]
In Huajuapan, Guerrero, near the epicenter, hotel owner Marco Antonio Estrada also reported shaken-up guests but no major damage. He said it was the longest and strongest earthquake he had ever felt and people ran out of their homes and cars.
"It was very strong, but we didn't see anything fall," said Irma Ortiz, who runs a guesthouse in Oaxaca. She said their telephones were down, and that the quake shook them side-to-side.
The U.S. Geological Survey set the preliminary magnitude of the first quake at 7.4 and said the epicenter was 11 miles underground. The survey set the aftershock at 5.1.
U.S. President Barack Obama's oldest daughter, Malia, was reported safe while on vacation with a school group in Oaxaca.
Groups of women hugged and cried at Mexico City's Angel of Independence monument, where hundreds of people evacuated from office buildings said they had never felt such a strong earthquake. Others typed ferociously on their Blackberries.
Monday, March 19, 2012
ROBOTECH.COM WILL BE DOWN FOR MAINTENCE
Starting at 9 a.m. tomorrow the Robotech.com website will be down for maintenance. This should take most of the day so do not panic if the website is unavailable. The Robotech Facebook Page and the Robotech Twitter News Feed will operational during the maintenance period.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
ROBOTECH CONVENTION TOUR TO STOP AT ANIME NEXT
Harmony Gold, in association with
Universal Animation, is pleased to announce that the Robotech Convention Tour
will return to the Garden State for AnimeNEXT, New Jersey’s largest anime
convention.
AnimeNEXT is the largest independently organized anime convention in the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area. AnimeNEXT 2012 is June 8-10th at the Garden State Expo Center & DoubleTree Somerset Hotel in Somerset, New Jersey. The convention is held on a Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
The convention features Japanese creators of anime and manga, voice actors from anime series, Japanese musical acts, artists, vendors and exhibits, panels, workshops, and gaming. Events all focus on aspects of anime, manga, and Japanese culture.
AnimeNEXT is the largest independently organized anime convention in the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area. AnimeNEXT 2012 is June 8-10th at the Garden State Expo Center & DoubleTree Somerset Hotel in Somerset, New Jersey. The convention is held on a Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
The convention features Japanese creators of anime and manga, voice actors from anime series, Japanese musical acts, artists, vendors and exhibits, panels, workshops, and gaming. Events all focus on aspects of anime, manga, and Japanese culture.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
ROBOTECH CONVENTION TOUR TO RETURN TO MATSURICON
The 2012 Robotech Convention
Tour returns to the Buckeye state for MasturiCon in Columbus, Ohio.
MatsuriCon is a small family friendly convention that showcases both
American and Japanese popular culture. MatsuriCon has invited Harmony
Gold’s Vice President of Marketing Kevin McKeever for a weekend full of
panels and workshops for fans in the Buckeye State.
ANOTHER IMAGE OF THE ROBOTECH DVD'S FROM MEXICO
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Monday, March 12, 2012
Saturday, March 10, 2012
THE ANIME ECONOMY - PART 3 : DIGITAL PENNIES
Anime News Network has posted Part 3 of its outstanding series series regarding the economics of the anime industry.
When it came to the actual logistics of delivering the final product, things worked pretty much the same way in 2006 as it did in 1986: the lab assembled the final show onto a broadcast quality videotape. That went to the TV network, and then the lab cut out all the commercial breaks and sent it the duplication plant for home video. And then, when all that was done, the licensor made up some presentation materials and a crappy looking VHS screener copy for overseas publishers to peruse. If they wanted it, the licensor negotiated a deal with them, signed a contract, and then called up the lab again. The lab made a copy of the masters and FedEx-ed them to the publisher. The end.
This system was reliable, but extremely expensive and slow -- two things that online streaming, with its razor thin margins and gotta-have-it-now delivery schedule, make completely unacceptable. With episodes sometimes being finished only hours before they air, the only way to do a simulcast is to send the finished video to the streaming service digitally, as a file. But adjusting to a new, all-digital way of doing things has been a steep learning curve for licensors... and an expensive one.
[snip]
The last year has seen a lot of changes. While tape is still used for backup and archival, many licensors are now quite capable of sending a broadcast quality file over the internet. But they still occasionally need to use professional video gear or bring in outside people to help with technical things, and every time they do, it costs money.
How much money? Most anime these days is mastered on a tape format called HD-CAM. The price of a single recorder starts at US$45,000.
Friday, March 9, 2012
ROBOTECH CONVENTION TOUR RETURNS TO MATSURICON
The 2012 Robotech Convention
Tour returns to the Buckeye state for MasturiCon in Columbus, Ohio.
MatsuriCon is a small family friendly convention that showcases both
American and Japanese popular culture. MatsuriCon has invited Harmony
Gold’s Vice President of Marketing Kevin McKeever for a weekend full of
panels and workshops for fans in the Buckeye State.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
CATCH A SCREENING OF 'CARL MACEK'S ROBOTECH UNIVERSE' IN CHICAGO THIS APRIL
Harmony Gold in association
with Reed Exhibitions are pleased to announce that Carl Macek’s Robotech
Universe documentary with be screened at C2E2 in Chicago, IL on April
15th at 10:30 a.m.
SCREENING TIME AND LOCATION
The documentary will be screened at C2E2 on April 15th at 10:30 a.m.. C2E2 will be held at the following location.
McCormick Place
2301 S. Lake Shore Drive
Chicago, Illinois 60616
Phone:312-791-7000
Fax:312-791-6543
TTY:312-791-6505
http://www.mccormickplace.com/
SCREENING TIME AND LOCATION
The documentary will be screened at C2E2 on April 15th at 10:30 a.m.. C2E2 will be held at the following location.
McCormick Place
2301 S. Lake Shore Drive
Chicago, Illinois 60616
Phone:312-791-7000
Fax:312-791-6543
TTY:312-791-6505
http://www.mccormickplace.com/
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
THE ANIME ECONOMY - PART 2 : BRIGHT SHINY DISCS
Anime News Network has posted Part II of their anime and the economy. Part II focuses on the impact of home video on the anime industry. The article begins with the differences between the North Amercian and Japanese home video market.
To a Westerner, the Japanese DVD market seems horribly overpriced. With the average disc running over ¥7,000 (US$92) and only containing 2-4 episodes of a series, the cost of collecting a single show can easily run several hundred dollars -- more than many American fans spend in a single year.
The prices actually stem from a business practice we used to have in America, too: rental pricing. Basically, back in the dawn of the home video business, the industry was constructed in a way where "niche" releases were only meant to sell a few thousand copies, mostly to video rental shops. Prices were high (typically $89.95 in America), but video shops benefited from having a wide and semi-exclusive selection of movies that normal people would never pay for. At those prices, only a few thousand sales could mean over a million dollars of revenue. Initially, video industry people didn't think there was much of a market in selling to collectors.
Once again, the information in this series is outstanding and makes it a must read!But the fans proved them wrong. Otaku of all kinds (not just anime fans) started buying the videotapes and laserdiscs, and they bought them at those high prices that were intended just for video stores. There was no reason to lower it. In fact, there were a few experiments to drop the price to a more affordable amount, but that usually resulted in a slight increase in sales -- not enough to make up for the drop in revenue.
MASTERPIECE BETA FIGHTER ON SALE FOR $129.99 USD
Robotech.com customers also get an exclusive "pilot data" card containing stats and background info about Rand!
CLICK HERE TO PLACE YOUR ORDER FROM ROBOTECH.COM
Monday, March 5, 2012
ROBOTECH SOCIAL MEDIA WINNERS (SO FAR)
Over the past few weeks fans who follow Robotech on Twitter or like Robotech on Facebook have been entered into a drawing to win free Robotech prizes. So far here are the names of the winners and the prizes they won.
Check the official Facebook and/or Twitter pages again next week when they announce another new giveaway item!Jan. 27th prize - 2012 Calendar
• Holly Letson of Alabama
• Girge Pablo of Argentina
Feb. 10th prize - We Will Win EP
• Mark Weiss of Connecticut
• Javier Diaz Zelaya of Honduras
Feb. 29th prize - Macross Saga DVDset
• Richard Sears of Tennessee
• Alucard D. of Peru
THE ANIME ECONOMY - PART 1
Anime News Network has started a new multi part series on the business of anime. Here is an excerpt from part 1.
It used to be, back in the 80s when Japan was flush with money, a company would just decide to make a one- or two-part OAV. They'd throw a few hundred thousand dollars at an animation production company, and the production company would haphazardly churn out an OAV. They'd release it on video, a few thousand rental shops across Japan would buy copies, and the show would turn a tidy profit. Or if a longer series seemed possible, the TV networks would pay most of the cost, and support the show with commercials.
Those days are long gone. The collapse of Japan's bubble economy hit the rental market hard, and media companies stopped feeling so adventurous about making direct-to-video content. The TV networks also drastically cut the number of shows they're willing to spend money on...
The article is very good and it show how much the industry has changed from the "Golden Age" of the 1980's
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