Anime and Events

Convention season is officially cancelled. The 2020 Tokyo Olympics will take place in 2021. Spring and early Summer cons are cancelling to comply with the large gathering regulations. Crunchyroll Dubbing is experiencing delays, and new Spring titles are noticeably less. Though slowed, anime production is likely to continue, as most of the production aspects can be done digitally.

Comics

The Comics Industry has officially crashed. How? Diamond Comic Distributors is the exclusive direct market distributor for DC, Marvel, and many more. Earlier this month, Diamond announced they are forced to close due to COVID-19. This has put the print comics industry in a choke hold. For the indie side, it’s “pencils down” as production screeches to a halt. For DC and Marvel however, it’s “business as usual”. The big two are expected to release comics digitally as well as utilize smaller distribution companies.

Sales will undoubtedly decrease as most print comics do not sell well online. This is due to indie web comics following a tipping model rather than a purchase model. Sites like Webtoon and Tapas allow creators to earn revenue via ads and reader tipping. And while Comixology is the digital go-to for mainstream style comics, the print format is not web friendly.

Console Wars

Playstation and Microsoft have stated there is no production delay for their new consoles Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X respectively. This news comes as a pleasant surprise as a lot of industries are experiencing delays. Current specs for both are available on this IGN chart. With most of the specs being identical, price will remain priority. We at GeekCaster speculate Playstation will remain on top due to its international consumer base.

Meanwhile, Nintendo is right on time. In addition to the Animal Crossing release, the company had a surprise mini-direct. The direct hints at a new Smash DLC character. The character will be from Nintendo’s newest fighting game; ARMS. Characters Min Min and Twintelle are fan favorites and most speculated to join. The mystery character will release in June.

TV & Film

The Entertainment Industry is floundering. Production grinding to a halt. Release dates pushed back. Films direct-to-streaming. Streaming services like Netflix and Hulu are reducing video quality to conserve bandwidth as the world’s internet usage increases. Netflix is currently the least impacted, with most of it’s original titles wrapping up production just before the virus escalation. The second season of Altered Carbon aired in February. Season 2 of The Umbrella Academy is currently in post-production. The release of Disney+ in France and India is delayed, while the streaming service cuts bandwidth use by 25% in active countries.

Most noted film postponements are the Wonder Woman sequel, Wonder Woman 1984 and Black Widow. Both films feature a female lead, and both films follow the recent hype of Birds of Prey. Comic projects have finally started to focus on women in comics. Because of the virus, we have to wait a little longer.

Video Games

Doom Eternal and Animal Crossing recently shared a release date (March 20). Game Stop received a large amount of backlash after refusing to close for the releases. The video game retailer attempted to claim “essential business” status, citing their tech products as vital resources for the newly created home workforce. This did not go over well with many state and local governments, Pennsylvania even suspending the company’s business license for the state. Game Stop is set to close 300+ locations in 2020.

Blizzard servers are experiencing an increase in issues due to the surge in online play. Overatch and COD: Modern Warfare have seen an increase in wait time for online matches.

Stay tuned for updates and in-depth analysis on the topics above!

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Just kidding!! Seriously though if you haven’t had the pleasure of playing on the NES, do not fret, for the new miniature NES is here to fulfill your gaming needs. 

The original Nintendo Entertainment System was an 8-bit video game console which is obviously owned by the Nintendo franchise. This bulky home video game system was originally released on July 15th, 1983 in Japan as the “Family Computer,” but that name did not stick well with the 1985 American version of the product.

For an 8-bit console, it skyrocketed to new heights, and was labeled as “the best selling console” of its time. The Family Computer, aka the Famicom, came along with the arcade games Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., and Popeye. The Famicom had a good run, but it’s slow performance and the gaming crashes that came along with it caused the updated version of the console to be released under the name “Nintendo Entertainment System.”

Now an even more updated version of the NES is going to be released on November 11th of this year, but a smaller version of it. The new system will look just like the original, the gray box with the rectangular controller, but it will be able to connect with the Wii and Wii U remotes. Oh also, another cool thing about the new console is that it will have 30 games installed into the system. The games included are:

• Balloon Fight
• Bubble Bobble
• Castlevania
• Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest
• Donkey Kong
• Donkey Kong Jr.
• Double Dragon II: The Revenge
• Dr. Mario
• Excitebike
• Final Fantasy
• Galaga
• Ghosts’N Goblins
• Gradius
• Ice Climber
• Kid Icarus
• Kirby’s Adventure
• Mario Bros.
• Mega Man 2
• Metroid
• Ninja Gaiden
• Pac-Man
• Punch-Out!! Featuring Mr. Dream
• StarTropics
• Super C
• Super Mario Bros.
• Super Mario Bros. 2
• Super Mario Bros. 3
• Tecmo Bowl
• The Legend of Zelda
• Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

You know what’s awesome? You can relive these classic video games at the cost of $59.99! Like how even. Everyone should just be grateful that Nintendo didn’t jack up the cost of the system to match the original price of the Wii U.

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To recap, just in case you’ve missed one of the biggest franchises in the Nintendo Universe, each generation of video gamers has witnessed a new release of some form of a Pokémon game. Let’s do a slight timeline of a few of the games, shall we?

• 1998, Step 1 of getting gamers to interact with other people: Pokémon Red and Blue allowed gamers to trade and battle with their friends by linking their Gameboy’s with a GBA Link Cable. You just need to link the Gameboy’s together in order for this to work.
• 2010, Step 2 of getting gamers to interact with others because Step 1 wasn’t effective: Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver came with a Pokéwalker which allowed Pokémon trainers to level up and transfer their Pokémon with a tiny little Pokéball that clipped onto your pants. You just need to go for a walk in order for your Pokémon to level up.
• 2011, Step 3 of getting gamers to interact with others because they thought last year would work for sure but it didn’t so they had to try a different method: Pokémon Black and White stepped up their interaction game and made it easy to battle friends wherever you are, regardless of whether you’re in the Pokémon Center or not. Hey. Look at that. Interaction via wireless settings. Go exchange friend codes and play with your friends.
• 2013, Step 4 of getting gamers to interact with others because apparently gamers have no friends so this method didn’t work either: Pokémon X and Y took the internet settings on the DSi to a whole new level by allowing gamers to find friends via streetpass. Pokémon trainers don’t even need to search for other players anymore because the DSi does it for them. All you need to do is be in the same location as someone else who is playing Pokémon X and Y and you get rewards for doing so.
• 2016, Step 5 of getting gamers to interact with others because clearly all of the other steps did not go according to plan: Pokémon GO allows Pokémon trainers to catch Pokémon just outside of their homes! Go for a walk and catch other Pokémon! Be on the same team as your friends and challenge the gym which is located at different spots! JUST GO OUTSIDE AND TALK TO PEOPLE.

Do you get why Nintendo and Game Freak are pushing Pokémon GO so much now? The companies have tried in the past to get gamers to interact, but people always found a way to either cheat the system or not even interact at all. The app is actually forcing people to leave their homes and interact with human beings which is a good sign. I am a gamer myself and honestly I don’t like leaving the house because I know that I have every game console and every game cartridge in America in my basement. Why leave home and step out into the real world when I have tons of fantasy worlds in my tv screen? There used to be no point in leaving, but now there is. The beauty of Pokémon GO is that it brings the fantasy world into reality. Now there’s a reason why I walk two towns away from home, and that’s to catch Pokémon.

Now here’s some of my Pokémon GO adventures; When the app was first released, my dad and I were sitting in the car, leaving CVS Pharmacy. As we stop at the stop sign, my dad notices this male teenager who looks oddly familiar to him. I turn to see who the boy is, and it took me just a few moments before I realized that the kid skateboarding down the street was my sister’s friend. He was making his way towards the pharmacy, not to pick up necessary goods, but to catch Pokémon.

Another experience I had was just the other day when a group of friends and I decide to go to the carnival. Of course, the whole ride there was the four of us constantly checking down at our phones to see if there are any Pokémon near by. The whole time we were out and about, one of my friends decides to scream “Are you playing Pokémon GO?” which eventually just got shortened to screaming the name of the app at anyone on their phones. On our way to the carnival, we run into my brother’s friend who is also looking down at his phone. My friend notices him and screams “Pokémon GO?” My brother’s friend shows us his phone screen and asks “How did you know?” And he walks away, continuing his adventure. You can just tell whenever someone is playing the app. It’s like this weird connection gamers have. Or maybe we just assumed that every person staring at their phones while wearing a backwards baseball cap was playing Pokémon GO. Later on that day when we were going back to my friend’s house, this car sees my friend group and I and pulls over to the side of the road. The driver rolls down his window and screams “Pokémon GO?” at us. We all turn to see one of our other friend’s driving around his younger brother while playing Pokémon GO.

As opposed to me running into my fellow gaming friends, Shayla Wiggins, a 19-year-old from Wyoming, ran into a dead body. The female teenager was playing Pokémon GO during her morning walk in order to catch Pokémon when she discovered a man’s body faced down in the river. So not only does the app actually work and get gamers to leave the house, but it also helped find the body of a missing person. Who knows what Pokémon GO will hold in store for us next.

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