Square Enix has been showing the PlayStation a lot of love lately and it just keeps getting better as Famitsu reveals that a remake of the cult hit Tactics Ogre is planned for a PSP release. Square Enix, Inc. (the North American sector of the company) has confirmed that the remake is getting a U.S. release.

Fans of the Tactics Ogre releases will be pleased to know that a lot of the key staff from the original Tactics Ogre (who just happen to be the team responsible for other PSOne classics like Final Fantasy Tactics and Vagrant Story) are on board for this project. Tactics Ogre was originally released in 1995 for the Super Famicom system and soon after re-released for the Sega Saturn (1996) and Sony PlayStation (1997). Part of the Ogre Battle series, Tactics Ogre carries a tremendously big fan base and is among the rarest of games to find.

The remake will feature revamped 3D battlefields, new “Battle Skill” abilities, new (and unspecified) characters while still maintaining a 16-bit look. Though  the original Japanese remake of the game is subtitled The Wheel of Fortune the U.S. release will be called Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together and will also feature a rearranged soundtrack with 15 new compositions. No date has been announced but the press releases promise a future date is coming.

I’m planning on pre-ordering FFXIV when it ships on the 22nd of September. Yes I’m getting the Collector’s Edition. The fangirl inside me will never seize to amaze me. Especially since I’m already planning my month of September around the notion of when to call in sick! And you can bet that that’s going to be the 22nd (if I had it my way it would be that whole month).

I can’t wait to wake up on the 22nd and impatiently wait for my buzzer to go off and open my door to sign for the game. As much as I would like to dedicate my free time to another MMO, I have a feeling this new relationship won’t last as long. I seem to mastered the art of ADD when it comes to gaming as of late. My adult life seems to be conflicting with my utmost desires to procrastinate responsibilities even when it came to writing this article.

I remember the last time I wrote anything about Final Fantasy was my debate whether Square will create a new MMO, which at the time they referred to as Rapture. And here it is and I can’t say I’m extremely excited, but being a fangirl who craves nostalgia I just have to get it. And because of this I think I’m among the ones Square is aiming for.

I’m planning on installing Windows XP or Vista or even Windows 7 on my iMac via Boot Camp. I’m wondering how that will look. Currently I’ve been hearing rumors about Square separating the servers between PS3 and PC. I hope not. I really enjoyed playing cross platform and even worldwide connection. I hope Square doesn’t change this and limit the servers to which country has access to which servers. To me the whole point of an MMO is to play with different people from all over the world not just in the States.

I have the fondest memories of playing FFXI I’m hoping FFXIV will create new memories for me. But new love can never replace the old even with its brightest days and darkest hours. Cheers to SQUARE not messing this one up badly and learning from FFXI’s mistakes.

Ken Ralston

David Schaub

In the beginning of the month, Disney released their latest spin on Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland on Blu-Ray and DVD. Pop Culture Shock is excited to bring to you an extensive Q/A session with Alice in Wonderland’s Animation Director David Schaub and Senior Visual Effects Supervisor Ken Ralston. Schaub has been in the industry for more than 15 years and has worked on I am Legend, The Polar Express, Cast Away, Stuart Little and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Ralston is an industry pioneer and has five Academy Awards for visual effects technology while working at Sony Pictures Imagesworks and Industrial Light and Magic. Some of his credits include Contact, the Back to the Future trilogy, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Return of the Jedi and Star Wars. Together they answer questions about Alice in Wonderland, 3D technology, and the animation industry.

Writters:  Mark Waid and Landry Walker
Artist: Marcio Takara

Man did I like this comic a lot.  This comic was fun and dope.  This issue was my first of BOOM! Studios’ Incredibles comic and they did make a fine impression on me. This comic felt very much like the film in terms of its wit and delivery. It also has that wholesomeness that really sold the concept of the family as a superteam. The plot of this issue is pretty simple; Elasti-Girl has to team up with Syndrome’s right hand girl to stop a recently resurfaced supervillain from her past.  The issue reads like a buddy cop movie since neither of them really likes the other for different reasons. The B-plot in this comic is Mr. Incredible dealing with the kids by getting Violet a job and having Dash go with him and Frozone on patrol to learn how to be a superhero. Those moments were really funny to me since it had this feeling of a good sitcom where the Dad is trying hard, yet failing to a certain degree with interacting with his children.

Marcio Takara’s art in this is really good. His figures stand out and emote well. None of the characters look off model.  The storytelling is done well enough so that the visual jokes pop like they are supposed to. The backgrounds, while not detailed, serve well to let you know a setting, which I must say for my tastes is all I really need. This comic is good if you want an entertaining super hero comic that doesn’t have anyone getting ripped in half, turned to salt, or an arrow in the dome. This comic is perfect to give to a kid, and have them experience some fine comic book fun.

Rating: B

Writer: Grant Morrison
Artists: Andy Clarke, Dustin Nguyen, and Scott Hanna

OH MY!

Read that in George Takei’s voice please.

That was this comic book this week my friends. Flyer than the rest of them. Like Bishop Don Magic Juan walking out of his green and gold Cadillac to enter the players ball. In 12 issues, Grant Morrison has crafted a Batman comic for the 21^st century. It’s full of new dynamics, new villains, and new settings. So I guess its recap time; We return to our Dynamic duo as Robin, who being controlled Slade by what I call his WiiRobin machine, created by Talia (Robin’s mommy dearest), is attacking Batman.  Batman being Batman figures out a quick way to take out Slade and save his partner.  The next part of the book, where Batman and Robin go to confront Talia and Slade, is one of the best parts of the series.  The scene in which Robin talks to his mother about her actions and disapproval of the life he choose is great, and really brings full circle what Morrison started with his first Batman arc, Batman & Son. He’s taken a kid that you weren’t supposed to like at all and humbled him, humanized him so now you really like Damian. Damian, like all Robins, has in his own way lost a parent. He hopes to be a worthy opponent for his mother since she basically disowns him for following the “circus boy” aka Dick Grayson into, for Damian, what is also the family business as much as assassination and evil-dom, crime fighting in a cape and mask. Andy Clarke shines in this scene as he perfectly shows how gosh darn crazy Talia is. She’s like the worst mother ever.

My other favorite scene is where Batman confronts Slade in a hospital bed after getting beaten thoroughly earlier. It’s interesting that he’s never referred to as Deathstroke in this comic. For me this calls back to the way Robin and Slade were depicted in the Teen Titans cartoons as being archenemies. Like Robin’s Joker. Now in that show, it’s never said that Robin is Dick, but it’s alluded to a lot. And I think Morrison is alluding to this cartoon in this issue.  It’s perfect how it alludes to the past 5 of so years of their fights and comes down to “I can drop you like bad habit at any time, old man”.

The last part of this book deals with the reveal of the Domino Killer and the return of a character to the book that isn’t Bruce Wayne, but just as important.  It was such a nice way to reveal something we’ve been seeing since the first arc.  Dustin Nguyen and Scott Hanna does a great job of keeping a consistent look to the comic with Andy Clarke only able to do 12 pages of pencils. I didn’t even notice it until someone brought it up to me.  The colors are a little bright for me at spots but not enough to take me out of this fine story.

So in the end why should you read this comic? I’ll tell you-Bat Electro knuckles punching ninjas in the face.

IN. THE. FACE.

Rating: S rank (higher than A)

“It is kind of up to African-American artists to think about the idea of artwork as reflection and it being visionary. For me, the majority of work by black artists is what I call “reflections of the past,” meaning we have a great history. But what really inspires me about Octavia Butler is that her work is visionary, and it would be great if more black artists looked towards creating work that inspires us into a different reality rather than reflecting the reality that we already have, which is what I feel a lot of black artists do. What really inspires me about Octavia Butler is that she uses the idea of the future to give us new ways to look at social reality and social issues. She very much connects our history and our present with what we are doing now, and gives us a new way to look at ourselves.”

In 3D, natch. I hope The City That Sailed still gets made, though.

Bottom line, Kick Ass is a great movie. Yes I know that is very bland first sentence but it’s true. Kick Ass is the first real super hero action comedy that uses all the troupes and clichés of the genre and turns them on their head. I call it a comedy because even with its serious moments, it still doesn’t take itself too seriously. Much of this due to the fact that the hero of the movie is tweenage girl in a domino mask holding handguns blazing like Chow Yun Fat in Hard Boiled.

Batman & Robin #11
Writer: Grant Morrison
Penciller: Andy Clarke

Let me preface this review by saying that of every superhero comic book on the stands I think Batman & Robin is the best. Period. It has more ideas in 3 pages than most books have in a year. This issue begins with in a villa as we see a man with lashes on his back from a whipping. He also has the letter “W” on his back which he refers to as the “double you”. The Villa is being attacked though, like straight Bad Boys 2 DEA raid style. This guy who is wearing the same gear as the Black Hand peaces out in a helicopter. Then we go back to Stately Wayne Manor as Dick continues to discover new things in this secret area of the mansion while talking to Alfie. On the outside in the graveyard Robin and Oberon Sexton are accosted by some ruffians and proceed to give them a what for! (See you got to talk kind of classy when talking about Sexton, he’s that cool.)

“[The Losers] was appealing to me because, just the way it was pitched, it was five guys that were really good at what they do and they’ve been doing it a long time, and they don’t take themselves too seriously. The tone of it was quite funny and light-hearted, but at the same time, they were bad-ass guys. And, Roque was this pragmatic guy. Of course, you trust him with your life, but at the same time, he’s a bad-ass. His story arc was just a gift to play. I was attracted to it on multi-levels. The script was really good, and with the character I got to play and all the cool shit I got to do, as an actor, I was like, ‘Yeah, this sounds fun!’”

Idris Elba