Hydra_Spectre

@PBandSmelly Netmarble is to blame for this. Studio Ghibli had no involvement in any Ni no Kuni project past the first.
Netmarble is using the Studio Ghibli name and tarnishing it without their actual permission.

@Mach_Rider The movie was not made by Studio Ghibli.
Also, Studio Ghibli and Studio Ponoc have a signature artificial filter that makes their digitally-animated films look like analogue 35mm animation from the past. Even their CGI film Earwig and the Witch has this 35mm filter present.

They actually started this trend of making digital films look like vintage 35mm film.
Rian Johnson did it for his very first digital film Knives Out, and Netflix also did it for The Cuphead Show. Disney also did this for the new Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers movie.
Dune 2021 and The Batman 2022 also did this but they printed out the digitally-filmed footage to 35mm instead of just using a filter.

The Ni no Kuni film looks too pristine and too digital to look like a Ghibli film.
Ghibli's signature look is the retro analogue 35mm film look with grain and gate weave.

It looks like what little 2D animation this has wasn't even made by Studio Ghibli.
Studio Ghibli, even when they went to making 3D CGI films, has a unique analogue style to their films that is rarely ever captured in animation. It makes their anime films look like '80s and '90s anime even when they are made digitally.
They have what they called the Ponyo Filter where they filter the clean digital files with 35mm film artefacts like grain and gate weave.

They actually started this trend of making digital film look analogue, which can either be done with an artificial filter (like what was done with Rian Johnson's Knives Out, The Cuphead Show, and the new Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers movie) or by printing out the digital video to 35mm film then scanning it back to analogue (which was done for Dune 2021 and The Batman 2022).
What little 2D animation is here looks too clean to be from Ghibli. It almost looks like a generic anime TV series rather than a Ghibli film.
Studio Ghibli still applied this 35mm film filter to the cutscenes in Wrath of the White Witch, even on the Nintendo DS version.

I'm checking Studio Ghibli's official Japanese site and they have no mention of Cross Worlds anywhere, and Wrath of the White Witch is the only Ni no Kuni entry officially made with Studio Ghibli.
Yoshiyuki Momose (an animator at Studio Ghibli and Studio Ponoc) still did the character designs for later entries and even directed the movie, and Joe Hisaishi (who did compose the soundtracks to most of Miyazaki's films and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya) did the soundtrack but Wrath of the White Witch is the only one officially made by Ghibli.

This is gonna be even worse than the movie that OLM (Pokemon) and Warner Bros. made.
That movie bombed so hard in Japan that it was only dumped to Netflix streaming internationally with little fanfare.

Also, Level-5 only licenced their IP to Netmarble. It looks like Netmarble is using the Ni no Kuni name in vain to make illegitimate money.
And what makes it even worse is that they have to drive the good names of Studio Ghibli and Level-5 down with it.
I'm pretty sure Netmarble didn't use Studio Ghibli's name in the marketing with permission. That would not be the scummiest thing they are doing.
I'm pretty sure Studio Ghibli would want to cut ties with Netmarble after all of this. They may even want to cut ties with Level-5.
Level-5 would probably have to cut all ties with Netmarble to prove to everyone that they have little involvement in the actual development of this game.

If Netmarble were a single person, I would go full Will Smith on them and tell them to keep Studio Ghibli's name out their mouth.

I think the music in the Museum Mode is what made the file sizes so damn gigantic.
They probably had uncompressed music files here. They may even be in Hi-Res Audio.

@BulbasaurusRex I'm curious if the Japanese version replaces it with a Famicom. Though it would be unusual to see Americans in the '80s/'90s having an imported Famicom.

I do know some commercials for Huawei TVs use Ugly Sonic to sell their TVs. Even though these commercials were after the actual movie came out with the redesigned Sonic.

HBO Asia (for both streaming and TV broadcast) also uses Ugly Sonic for some advertising for the Sonic movie.

Falcom should just temporarily go back to XSEED for Trails in the Sky, Cold Steel 1 + 2, and the pre-VIII Ys games.

@Franklin I had a dream that Aardman's IPs were getting adapted to video games by Kojima Productions and CD Projekt Red.
The main project would be a collab between the three that would be a massive crossover between everything Aardman, and it would be an open world Strand-type life sim.

The cel-shaded CGI here looks like Berserk 2016 or EX-ARM.

@Spaniard It would be bundled with a Super Smash Bros. clone executive produced by Hideaki Anno.
It would be a crossover between all of Toho, Toei and Tsuburaya's tokusatsu/kaiju properties, Evangelion and Gunbuster, and all of their iterations.

Imagine fighting as Jet Jaguar vs. Jet Alone, Ramiel vs. Gigan, Baragon vs. Barugon, Showa Rodan vs. Heisei Gyaos, Kaworu Nagisa vs. Rita Repulsa, Shin Godzilla vs. Legendary Godzilla, Minilla vs. LittleGodzilla, or Legendary Godzilla vs. TriStar Godzila/Zilla.

I will take budget re-releases if they are actually better versions.
This is mostly PlayStation but Silent Hill 2's Greatest Hits release has the bonus story content that first appeared in the Xbox port, back ported to the superior PS2 version.
Spyro 3: Year of the Dragon was pretty janky in its original release but the Greatest Hits reissue fixed most of the issues and is a much better game.
New Super Mario Bros. U has a superior Nintendo Selects on the Wii U release because it already comes with New Super Luigi U. packed in.

I knew that Sonic was going to get a new voice actor for Prime because they needed Canadian voice actors for this Canadian production.

I wasn't expecting he would sound so close to Roger Craig Smith, though.
They sound very similar.

@AlexanderDaniels Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles is included, but not their standalone versions Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles.

I am thinking they are releasing this digitally first before a super fancy physical release ala. Sonic Mania so that people can buy the game twice.

It makes sense from a financial strategy: people will probably buy the game twice or more (depending on how many consoles they want the game on).

That said, making people double-dip is often one of the worst and scummiest business tactics.

This series is amazing. The animators that made this are also animating the Story Mode cutscenes in Sonic Origins (except for the older ones in Sonic CD's standalone version, which are still done by Toei Animation (then known as Toei Doga).

My only gripe with these VIZ Media releases of Castlevania is that they only have DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 tracks for the entire series.
Seasons 3 and 4 were in lossy Dolby Digital Plus with Dolby Atmos on Netflix so it would have been amazing if the Blu-ray was in Dolby TrueHD with Dolby Atmos.
Warner Bros. only distributes them but they have been mostly good with Dolby Atmos in their Blu-ray releases, even HBO shows like Game of Thrones and Westworld get Dolby Atmos.

I really hope VIZ and WB collaborate on making a SteelBook release ala. Game of Thrones with Dolby Atmos for Seasons 3 and 4, and maybe remixes for the first two seasons as well.

@Not_Soos My final straw for getting Paramount+ is if they have 4K remasters of The Godfather Trilogy, including both the original The Godfather: Part III and its re-edited version The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone.

Disney+/Hulu/ESPN+ and HBO Max seems more like my preferred streaming service for Western content, Criterion Channel is great for arthouse cinema, while Netflix is for Asian content (mostly anime and Korean dramas). Amazon Prime Video is great for blockbuster Western content (and some anime like the Rebuild of Evangelion Saga and Vinland Saga).
Crunchyroll is also great for anime.

The only one I have is Netflix while I just pirate everything else. Thankfully, Netflix Philippines sometimes overlaps content with Crunchyroll.

@Nico07 Yes. I can't redeem the iTunes digital codes here in the Philippines. And the US Paramount 4K releases often have no standard Blu-ray disc.
The Japanese 4K UHD release of The Godfather Trilogy is much better for me as it's the only way to get the remastered standard Blu-ray Disc for the original The Godfather: Part III.
The US standard 50th Anniversary Blu-ray box set of The Godfather Trilogy only has The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone even if the 4K UHD version has the original cut.

I also hate how Paramount rarely allows boutique companies like Shout! Factory, Arrow and Criterion to make 4K UHD versions of their catalogue.
Scream Factory's Collector's Editions of Event Horizon and Escape from L.A. are standard-only despite being sourced from 4K masters.
Thankfully, Paramount allowed Criterion to release The Piano in 4K UHD, and as one of their 4K UHD releases too.

Movies Anywhere, however, I can redeem here since I tried subscribing for it using a VPN and it works well.

Anyways, the good VPNs are way too expensive for us as well. And the free ones are too terrible for streaming. I also really want The Criterion Channel but I couldn't get it as well.

If WB is handling this, my ideal scenario would be that the series airs on both Cartoon Network and Adult Swim.
Cartoon Network would get a slightly censored TV-PG version (Cartoon Network is the only kids' network willing to make TV-PG shows like Adventure Time, Regular Show, and Teen Titans Go) while it would air later on Adult Swim with a completely uncensored TV-14 version.

Depending on how the series turns out, maybe censorship is not necessary to get a TV-PG rating and it could air uncut on both Cartoon Network and Adult Swim timeslots.

There's no Paramount+ here in the Philippines yet but the first Sonic movie is on Netflix.
I'm hoping the second movie and the Knuckles show end up on Netflix here too, or else I would have to get Paramount+ to watch the movie and series legitimately, while my family doesn't want to get additional streaming services unless they have a good supply of Korean dramas so we could save money.

That said, Paramount is quite loyal with releasing their TV shows on Blu-ray or DVD. However, they still haven't released the third and fourth seasons of 13 Reasons Why on DVD, even if they released the first two seasons.

Hopefully, the inevitable Sonic box set would include the Knuckles the Echidna show in Blu-ray or even 4K UHD.
Paramount makes great 4K box sets with the likes of Indiana Jones and The Godfather.

@Polley001 AFAIK Hulu Japan is not actually operated by Disney.
It's operated by Nippon Television Network and they are just renting the Hulu brand from Disney, well before Disney+ was even a twinkle in Disney's eyes.

The question is how will this air internationally?
Warner Bros. also produced JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (and its spinoff Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan) and Netflix streams them.
Is it possible for this show to air on Adult Swim? Will it also be on HBO Max? Or will it be like JoJo and go to Netflix?

@ThePizzaCheese She has blonde hair and blue eyes, usually. And she was a redhead in the NES games.
Though you can probably get one of the BLACKPINK members as Zelda, just pray that people won't criticise it for having a diversity recast.

@samuelvictor Zendaya is in Euphoria and she is also in PG films like the MCU Spider-Man films, Denis Villeneuve's Dune, The Greatest Showman, and Smallfoot.
Hunter Schafer is a Euphoria star and she was also in the English dub of Belle, a PG Mamoru Hosoda anime film.

@SteamEngenius @FroZtedFlakerZz She did voice acting in a PG anime film called BELLE.
She isn't destined to be in 18+ films and shows only.

@MoonCabin It should be a 2D animated film by Studio Ghibli.
Earwig and the Witch was heavily limited in its visuals by being a made-for-TV special and as their first film, but it still looked miles ahead of most CGI anime out there, that was made by people with actual experience in CGI.

It would even be better if Toho (who co-produced Detective Pikachu, the Sonic movies, the Mario movie, the Monster Hunter movie, as well as most of Universal's recent films, including Illumination's films) would somehow get the rights to make a Super Smash Bros. crossover movie.

That Classic Tails plushie is super adorable.

@JustMonika SNATCHER was also never released as a PS one Classic.
The PC Engine CD version has slightly better graphics than the Sega CD version, which displays more colours. The Sega CD version does have an improved Act 3 and Justifier Light Gun support.

For Policenauts, the Sega Saturn is the best version, hands down.

@JustMonika Japan never got HD overhauls of these games. They were only released as PS one Classics on PS3, PSP and PS Vita.

Apparently, 16mm film scanned in 4K provides little improvement over a 1080p presentation of a 16mm film.
This can be seen with 4K versions of films shot in 16mm like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Evil Dead having little obvious improvement in comparison to their 1080p versions.

That said, this looks amazing and this is one of the best 4K remasters for a 16mm film I have ever seen.
I love this remaster even more than the official 4K restoration of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

I really wish this could be released officially on physical media. Maybe Discotek or GKIDS can just author discs based on Femboy Films' restoration after securing the rights.

@JustMonika Imagine if they redrew the entire game with a retro anime aesthetic.
The best anime studio out there that still does the retro, pre-digital anime aesthetic of SNATCHER and Policenauts would be Studio Ghibli.

Just imagine if Konami got Studio Ghibli to remaster SNATCHER, while being completely uncensored.
Policenauts would also be one of those games that would benefit from a remaster if they would scan the original artwork and cutscene negatives in a much higher resolution (hopefully 4K).

I am hoping Konami makes a Metal Gear Solid collection and somehow doesn't mess it up.
It would probably have to be a multi-part collection. Ideally, it would be:
Metal Gear Solid Anniversary Collection - Volume I

• Metal Gear (MSX2)
• Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (MSX turbo-R)
• Metal Gear Solid: Integral (PS one)
• Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes (Nintendo GameCube; it would have to be Nintendo Switch-exclusive)
• Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance (PS2)
• Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence (PS2)

Metal Gear Solid Anniversary Collection: Volume II

• Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3)
• Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (PC/PS3/Xbox 360/NVIDIA Shield)

Metal Gear Solid Anniversary Collection: Volume III

• Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops (PSP)
• Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (PSP)
• Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (PC/PS3/Xbox 360/PS4/Xbox One)
• Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (PC/PS3/Xbox 360/PS4/Xbox One)

They cannot get Bluepoint to do these remasters but hopefully, they can get someone great like M2, building on the pre-existing remasters and improving them beyond said remasters and original versions to make the ultimate versions.

Imagine if Limited Run makes a three-cartridge/disc Metal Gear Solid Anniversary Collection physical release. It would be amazing.

And if Konami can actually see fit to rekindle their ties with Kojima, they should also make a VR remaster of Zone of the Enders 1, to package it as a collection with The 2nd Runner MVRS, alongside HD remasters of SNATCHER (with newly made hand-drawn artwork) and Policenauts (with digitally restored and remastered graphics and FMVs from the original artwork and film negatives [either 16mm or 35mm]).
Konami can even include the non-Kojima games like Portable Ops, Revengeance, Ghost Babel, AC!D, the NES games, and the one we don't talk about.

@Daniel36 Even better. Don't use a filter at all, shoot it in actual 35mm film or even 16mm film for a grungy retro look.
There are still some recent films being shot on 16mm film such as First Man (partially, since the Moon landing climax was shot in IMAX 70mm) and mother!.
Marvel Studios' Eternals was also partially shot in 16mm but most of the film was shot digitally (with some scenes being shot in IMAX Digital).

I would love an '80s-inspired Streets of Rage film.

As for Yakuza and Shenmue, they would probably work better as JDrama series, hopefully ones that are very high budget and co-produced by Hollywood, similar to Netflix KDramas like Squid Game.

I am hoping and praying that this collection still runs on the Retro Engine, specifically the Sonic Mania iteration (or an upgraded version thereof).

I am also hoping and praying for a physical release with Genesis/Mega Drive-inspired reversible cover art that matches Sonic Mania Plus' reversible cover art.

@Anachronism I would love for the extremely fluid 2D animation of the '90s and 2000s to come back.
I really wished that Walt Disney Animation Studios was just experimenting with 3D CGI with Chicken Little before making a comeback with The Princess and the Frog. With Tangled being yet another experiment to translate their classic 2D style to 3D.
Unfortunately, The Princess and the Frog failed at the box office (partly because it came out around the same time as James Cameron's Avatar) while Tangled became a massive hit.

Frozen was going to be a 2D film but it was made 3D instead after the failure of Winnie the Pooh 2011 (which they released alongside Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two, so it was doomed at the box office). Which is even more sad since Frozen could have been the biggest animated movie of all time that single-handedly brought 2D back into mainstream theatrical Western animation.

Right now, Russia of all countries is doing their best part in preserving the classic 2D style of Disney with films like Prince Vladimir, but even then, they are pushing for 3D more than 2D.
The film is really great and it's about the man who spread the religion of Orthodox Christianity to the Slavs of Kyivan Rus' (the nation that would eventually become Russia, Ukraine and Belarus) and united them.
My hope for fluid Disneyesque 2D animation is no longer in the West, but with the Slavic countries of Eastern Europe. Too bad most of the Russian animation that gets exported to the West are the super-cheap and poorly-dubbed CGI films like that Pinocchio film with Pauly Shore.
Anime is too different a style from Disney and their animation is usually more choppy (with exceptions like Studio Ghibli's films, Makoto Shinkai's films, Mamoru Hosoda's films and AKIRA) but I like anime too.

I really hope they would release Final Fantasy Dimensions in a similar style.
I hate how the more popular localised smartphone version looks.

A pixelated 16-bit style port of the game with the soundtrack from the smartphone version, however, would be great.
The original game was made for G-MODE Japanese feature phones.

It would also be great if they could release Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, Kingdom Hearts coded, and Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII this way, since all of these G-MODE games are lost to time.
Before Crisis is completely lost aside from a fanmade RPG Maker remake, with an official 3D turn-based remake being made as part of Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis; Kingdom Hearts coded was remade as Re:coded on the DS and was adapted into a movie for Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMIX; and Final Fantasy IV: The After Years was ported to the Wii and PSP plus remade in 3D for smartphones and Steam; Final Fantasy IV has been ported multiple times already and originated on the Super Famicom.

However, their Japanese mobile versions are unique. Kingdom Hearts coded had 2D characters and less complex cutscenes, while this version is lost; Final Fantasy IV had exclusive dungeons and items that were not ported to the PSP and PIxel Remaster versions; The After Years had different pacing in the original Japanese release and some exclusive items and dungeons; Before Crisis was only ever officially released on these mobile phones.

Square Enix and G-MODE should collaborate on preserving their mobile games such as their exclusive versions of Kingdom Hearts coded, FFIV, FFIV: The After Years, and BC:FFVII.

@GameOtaku Nah. The Disney canon has a stronger continuity and better quality control.
That said, the Sequel Trilogy is disappointing.
The Last Jedi was the only sequel I really enjoyed and it's as great as Revenge of the Sith, but The Rise of Skywalker was terrible.

@DavidMac Toho has Pokemon, Monster Hunter and Dragon Quest.
Toho also co-produced the Sonic movies and almost all Universal films, including Illumination's films.
Toho should make this Super Smash Bros. Cinematic Universe a real thing by working together with video game companies and Hollywood studios.

Imagine if Toho has five current cinematic universes:

• The Makoto Shinkai Universe (at least The Garden of Words, Your Name., and Weathering With You are confirmed to be in the same universe)
• The Tohoverse (which started with Godzilla 1954 and may continue with their upcoming 1940s kaiju movie)
• Hideaki Anno's Shin Japan Heroes Universe (Evangelion, Shin Godzilla, Shin Ultraman, Shin Kamen Rider)
• Legendary's MonsterVerse
• Jeff Fowler's Super Smash Bros. Cinematic Universe.

Maybe they can even tie in the Tohoverse with the Shin Japan Heroes Universe and the MonsterVerse like how they somehow tied GODZILLA 1998 with GMK.

Still, I would be happiest if Toho brings together these video game companies to make a Super Smash Bros. Cinematic Universe. They are the last hope in making a Super Smash Bros. Cinematic Universe.

At least she looks somewhat a bit more cartoony.
Elise looked like a Final Fantasy character who was somehow transported into the Sonic universe.

The Sonic movie had the best human companion for Sonic. Tom is much better than Chris Thorndyke or Elise.

I just hope GoldenEye would get a similar PC port, especially since it was based on an earlier version of the Perfect Dark engine.

Tails is still my favourite Sonic character and he is probably the most adorable video game character of all time.
I would definitely check this out.

@sleepinglion Judging how great the Star Wars Sequel kabuki play was, the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy works better as anything other than the actual films.

Except for The Last Jedi, which is the only Star Wars sequel I liked and I really loved it.

@SergeEXE The vertical resolution on the PC version is 192px, the same as the DS screen, as this is based on the DS version.
It just gets scaled to fit the resolution.

The SNES has a 256x224p resolution, so you are losing a bit of vertical resolution compared to the DS even in 4:3, since the DS already had a 4:3 screen (which even had the same horizontal resolution as the SNES).

The maximum aspect ratio of the PC version is 2.40:1, which is greatly expanded over the DS' 4:3.
This would be great for a 3840x1600p ultrawide screen.

Square Enix has this tactic of making mobile and PC users betatesters before the eventual console releases.

They will probably eventually release Chrono Trigger on Switch and other consoles after this update.

This is amazing, especially since it blends together SRPG and RTS elements together.

I really miss good RTS games, especially since MOBAs are essentially dumbed-down, multiplayer-focused RTS games.

@Mando44646 Play it on PC since even a toaster can play them.
And the mods can make the experience even better.

You can even play in ultrawide (whether with an actual ultrawide monitor natively or with custom resolutions and letterboxing) which you cannot do on PC.

I'm betting that the Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters are getting a console release for the 35th Anniversary.
It makes too much sense.

Of course console and mobile would betatest the Pixel Remasters for the eventual audience release, since this is what Square Enix did for Final Fantasy VII and IX.

Looks like a leg piece of litson manok (Filipino roast chicken) to me.

Night Dive is great.
I really wish they work with Square Enix on remastering Ion Storm's games (Thief Trilogy, Deus Ex 1 and 2, Daikatana, Anachronox, Dominion: Storm Over Gift 3).
It would be great especially if Deus Ex can have vanilla, PS2 and Revision content on consoles and PC in one package, while it gets regularly updated with Caustic Creatives' additions to the Revision mod pack.

If the Cloud Versions are even worse than the original PS2 versions, they really messed up.

@Teksetter The only console where you can get physical copies of all of the games are on PS4/PS5.
But the best versions of these games are on PC, even if they are on Epic Games Store.