Tag: Press Release

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Tokyo Game Show 2024 Invites Filipinos to Join

Representatives from Tokyo Game Show were present in the Philippines last week to invite Filipinos to join the much-awaited annual gaming event this side of the world. Gamers, developers and the media were invited to know more about the Show and its benefits to the general gaming crowd, which is set to gather 250,000 visitors this year.

Tokyo Game Show is home to big reveals from major gaming consoles and game publishers, as well as the latest in independent gaming development, virtual/augmented reality, entertainment, peripherals and the like.

Their preview to Filipinos show that there is a need for adequate representation as only 11 countries in Asia and Oceania joined last year’s show which gathered around 243,000 visitors across all of its days dedicated for businesses and the general public.

TGS also invites independent game developers to submit their game at its Selected Indie 80 segment to get a chance to share their game without exhibit fees at this year’s event. This has captured the interest of local developers present. Submissions are still open until April 30.

On the sidelines: TGS has rebranded its online-only VR segment into Tokyo Game Show Digital World, featuring a virtual exhibition of select games in a separate VR world which can be browsed using an external program to be available soon.

This year’s theme “Trailblaze the World with Gaming” will also have its largest and updated exhibit layout, focus on global exhibitors and visitors, and invites journalists and content creators to reach out to the publishers and test out games in person.

The four-day video game trade show and convention to be held at Makuhari Messe, Chiba from September 26 to 29 will have 12 areas: General Exhibition, Smartphone Game Area, Gaming Hardware Area, Gaming Lifestyle Area, AR/VR Area, eSports Area, Game Academy Area, Merchandise Area, Indie Game Area, Family Game Park, Business Solution Area and Business Meeting Area. In addition, there will be a pavilion featuring AI business solutions at Business Solutions Area.

More details about the Tokyo Game Show presented by the Computer Entertainment Supplier’s Association (CESA) and Nikkei Business Publications, Inc. will be shared online: Website, Facebook, X/Twitter, Instagram, Tiktok.

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Philippine Qualifiers for Pokémon UNITE this May

Pokémon UNITE welcomes competitive gamers and passionate enthusiasts from all over the Philippines to join the qualifiers for the Pokémon UNITE World Championship Series 2024 this May 11-12.

Teams are encouraged to sign up promptly to secure their chance in representing the Philippines in the Pokémon UNITE World Championships in Honolulu, Hawaii. Registration has opened last April 12.

CBZN Perspective will host live broadcasts of the Philippine Qualifiers on its Facebook Pages: CBZN Perspective, and CBZN TV.

The ultimate prize is the honor of representing the Philippines at the World Championships in
Honolulu, Hawaii, getting a chance to win a total prize pool $500,000 at stake. Travel expenses will be covered by the organizer.

A maximum of 128 teams are expected to compete, making this event a milestone for Pokémon UNITE’s presence in the country.

For more information and to register for the Pokémon UNITE World Championship Series 2024 Philippines Tournament, visit UNITE.pokemon.com/en-us. Stay tuned to Pokémon UNITE on social media for events and updates: Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and X/Twitter.

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Sony Music Entertainment Japan to Debut First-Generation VEE VTubers

Since its initial announcement last year, Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) formally announces the first generation of VTubers under the “VEE” virtual talent development and management project. The first generation is composed of three new talents and two existing ones.

Otokado Ruki, Tulsi-Nightmare Madness IV, Hinahoshi Airu, Kujo Ringo and Syusetu Kohaku are revealed as the first generation members of the VEE project, as the “Dev-a” generation. Their individual profiles, Twitter accounts and debut schedules are revealed today, May 23, 2022.

Profile of VEE’s “Dev-a” VTuber Generation

Otokado Ruki

Otokado Ruki is described as an inferior devil student with a friendly personality. She thought that Nostradamus’ great prophecy would destroy mankind, so she came to the human world to make memories until that time comes. However, the world is all right, and she decided to stay, pretending as a human and going to school. She became a VTuber thanks to her liking of otaku culture, with a goal to know humans better.

Debut: May 27, 2022 (Friday) – 8:00pm JST

Kujo Ringo

The eldest daughter of the prestigious Kujo family, she is a hybrid lady vampire-human. She governs Marc Horte, the western country of the demon world. She comes from the demon world to become the new lord of the “main human beings” who live their lives hard.

Kujo Ringo has a stellar profile as one of the popular VTubers on the SHOWROOM app, has been featured in the SIGGRAPH 2019 VTuber Showcase, and is a host of her weekly radio show.

VEE Debut: May 26, 2022 (Thursday) – 9:00pm JST

Syusetu Kohaku

Kohaku is a fox, not a cat, who was blown into this world from a forest in a different world. As she wonders around the new world she’s in, she stumbled upon a game for no apparent reason. As she got obsesses with the game, she became a hikikomori.

She excels at Apex Legends and has coached other VTubers. She is also an overall winner at the Legion Doujou Cup VTuber Edition in 2020.

VEE Debut: May 24, 2022 (Tuesday) – 9:00pm JST

Tulsi-Nightmare Madness IV

In terms of age, the demon lord Tulsi-Nightmare Madness IV is perhaps the oldest in the roster at 100,017 years old—but she insists she’s just 17. She claims that he had a nice body in the past, but having slept tens of thousands of years (as per her profile), she never grew up; and her magical powers are not enough to make her big.

She needs an overwhelming amount of magical power to make herself big, and the only way to do it is to collect them from her fans via the Makainternet (demon internet). Her dream is to build a humongous castle in Harajuku.

Debut: May 27, 2022 (Friday) – 10:00pm JST

Hinahoshi Airu

Airu is described as an alien from a distant star who seems to like the earth. Instead of invading the earth, she dreams of becoming the main character of a story that saved the earth. She likes to play a lot.

Debut: May 27, 2022 (Friday) – 9:00pm JST

Aside from the five new members, VEE introduces Hanabi, its public relations officer in charge of sharing updates from the project:

VEE is Sony Music Entertainment Japan’s largest virtual talent development and management project in history. With the tagline “VTubers are human too,” they made it their business to discover talents and to continue nurturing them. More information is available on the VEE project website, as well their Twitter and Instagram accounts.

Sony Music Japan’s VTuber investments include Virtual Cinderella Project in cooperation with Bilibili, produced by Rino Sashihara; the VERSEⁿ project under Sony Music Labels’ NeOFRONT brand and Helixes; and the multilingual PRISM Project. Sony Music Japan also has a major investment in ANYCOLOR Inc., the management company of Nijisanji.

Photo Handouts from Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc. · ©VEE

First posted on Anime Corner May 26, 2022

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Korean Animation Studio Debuts V&U Symphoria VTuber Group

Symphoria, a new VTuber group under the V&U (Virtual & Universe) brand, unveiled its cast of Virtual YouTubers last May 8, Sunday. The new group is composed of office lady-slash-idol fan Liora Walkyria, magical girl Penelope Wiseman and twins Celine and Helen Etherna.

Meet the V&U Symphoria VTuber members!

Liora Walkyria

Liora is a working Valkyrie who is ~2,100 years old. She likes idols and cute things, but dislikes paperwork, physical activity and remembering things. Her gaming interests include rhythm, FPS and gacha games.

Her singing prowess is revealed with the release of her cover of Kanaria’s MIRA. She looks forward to doing a concert at an offline venue.

Twitter · YouTube

Penelope Wiseman

Penelope is a great elf magician who is also good at singing. As her final trial to become a full-fledged magician, she has to collect a hundred thousand wishes. Wishes are formed when someone is truly moved by music.

She likes playing games, the night, and being loved. She’s also interested in J-pop, K-pop, and Jazz. She plays League of Legends, Teamfight Tactics, rhythm games, FPS and the like. One of her goals is to compose a song, as well as to not get angry.

She is proficient in Korean, and is learning English and Japanese. Penelope has released a cover of ado’s Yoru no Pierrot.

Twitter · YouTube

Helen Etherna

Spirit of Fire Helen is described as a non-playable fire spirit character created from re-used assets by lazy developers. It took a tongue-twister from a player for her to yell “Do you want to ever play the game? Take this seriously!” This is where she became aware of her independence.

The playful red-haired character likes spicy food and sand-bathing. It is later revealed that she doesn’t like ghosts, darkness, and long game descriptions. Her goals include doing a 3D live concert, and achieving top game rankings.

Twitter · YouTube

Celine Etherna

Spirit of Water Celine is Helen’s twin sister who claims that Helen has not yet been patched. She explicitly hates the word “skip.” She’s okay drinking coffee or tea, eating strawberry cake and adding mayonnaise. In contrast with Helen, she prefers swimming and taking a bath.

Both Celine and Helen like to play games, but singing is Celine’s ace in her sleeve. Just like Helen, Celine aims to be at the top of the gaming scene and have a 3D concert with Symphoria members.

Together with Helen, Celine has covered Hachoiji & Giga’s GIMME x GIMME.

Twitter · YouTube

The V&U Symphoria VTuber project recruited talents through a global audition and collaborated with reputable writers to produce each character. Their first merchandise set will be coming soon.

V&U is a joint project by animation company Maro Studio Inc., and virtual character planning company Metaro Inc., both based in South Korea. Maro Studio produced and co-planned the K-Pop animation series “Shining Star” in collaboration with SM Entertainment. Maro Studio is also involved in content creation for the virtual characters of SM Entertainment’s girl group Aespa, ae-Aespa.

Banking on the expertise of Maro Studio which has been working on VTubers since 2019 and has been awarded the 2010 Korea Content Awards Presidential Award in the field of Animation, it has formed a professional team and established Metaro Inc. as an independent VTuber corporation.

Source: Press Release / © 2022 METARO All rights reserved

First posted on Anime Corner – May 24, 2022

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PRISM Project’s Rita Kamishiro Held Successful Fundraiser for Mental Health Awareness Month

Rita Kamishiro of PRISM Project has successfully raised US$10,000 during her charity stream last May 15 for the United States-based National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). The charity stream held in support of Mental Health Awareness Month brings together other virtual personalities such as Ying, Meru Matsuro, and Phase Connect’s Pipkin Pippa to discuss their personal experiences and the tips they had learned on their own mental health journey.

During the charity stream, all of the donation goals have been unlocked by the community. The accomplished goals lead to the next set of events for the PRISM agent, such as “trying to run a 5K while eating ghost peppers,” playing Minesweeper in VR, and doing a themed “anime character workout.”

Mental health is a topic Rita is passionate about, and she is happier to be able to bring awareness about it through her platform. Following the stream, she thanked her fans for raising so much for a good cause.

NAMI is the largest grassroots mental health organization in the US dedicated to helping people affected by mental illness. As NAMI amplifies its message, “Together for Mental Health,” it continues to help build better lives through advocacy, education, support and public awareness.

Youth.gov notes that the National Mental Health Month was established in 1949 to increase awareness of the importance of mental health and wellness in Americans’ lives, as well as to celebrate recovery from mental illness.

As a PRISM agent, Rita Kamishiro plays a variety of games and hosts her RKNGL radio show on stream. Rita actively shares her journey to become an idol on a weekly basis to her 24,000-strong YouTube subscriber-base. Watch the 4-hour Charity Stream in full on Rita Kamishiro’s YouTube channel.

Source: PRISM Project

First posted on Anime Corner May 21, 2022