News - Geneon announces anime PSP UMD releases
Posted by
Richard Brownell
at 09:15:16 PM EST on 5.31.2005.
Anime publisher Geneon Entertainment today announced the upcoming release of two of their biggest titles on the UMD format. The titles chosen are
Hellsing and
Gungrave. Each will have its first two episodes available on August 16th for the suggested retail price $14.98.
"Japanese animation and video games have always gone hand-in-hand; the anime fan base is largely the same group of consumers that's purchasing the PlayStation Portable already, so it's only natural for us to gravitate to that format," said Jim Yardley, Vice President of Sales, Geneon Entertainment. "The episodic action makes great on-the-go viewing."
Hellsing tells the story of a secret war brewing in the nightŠ where the worst enemy of the darkness is one of its own. The rogue vampire Arucard is the ultimate weapon against the undead and humanity's last hope of survival in an unholy war. The UMD release of Hellsing will pave the way for the release of a long-anticipated sequel,
Hellsing Ultimate OVA Series, currently in production, which I personally can't wait for.
Based on the PlayStation 2 game of the same name,
Gungrave follows mob enforcer Brandon Heat as he returns from the dead driven by a thirst for revenge against the organization that betrayed and murdered him.
Geneon has now officially put anime on the PSP in North America. Time will tell if other anime publishers follow suit.
Comments
Please
log in or
register to post comments.
+0 karma
dmgice 6.6.2005 at 05:05:30 PM
And a brand new Hellsing ANYTHING is indeed awesome. :-D
+0 karma
atomicd 6.4.2005 at 02:20:39 AM
Now, if they just include SamChamp... good stuff.
AD
+0 karma
drumlord 6.1.2005 at 04:47:31 PM
dmgice: Your post there is about as befuddled as my personal conclusions. I do know that things can become confused when the information comes from a Japanese studio to a US publisher to an external PR group into press release form which likely goes through 3-4 edits before being released...that mistakes can slip through the cracks. There are too many points of human error. Regardless though, a Hellsing SOMETHING will be coming soon :P
+0 karma
flassh81 6.1.2005 at 04:38:49 PM
I wonder if they will release Devil Man on umd. :) "I'LL SOAP YOUR TITS FOR YOU!! WHA HAY!!" -Akira Fudo
+0 karma
dmgice 6.1.2005 at 03:40:24 PM
Drumlord, you're right. It says sequel in the press release. That's a bit different than what they said back in April, when it was a "retelling" of the series that was more faithful to the original manga instead. Oh, this new one has a different main director than the TV series. o_O Tomokazu Tokoro instead of Umanosuke Iida and Yasunori Urata. It's also being developed seperate from Gonzo Digimation Studios. While GDH is involved in finances and distro, they aren't making it. o_O
Yeah, that press release is a bit.. I dunno.. seems off. But it may just be some left over cynicism from E3. I had a bit more on tap this year.
+0 karma
shin gallon 6.1.2005 at 03:30:48 PM
Hellsing is way overrated. It tries entirely too hard to be "cool", and fails in the way Cowboy Bebop doesn't.
Now if they put Last Exile or Giant Robo on it, then I'll get excited.
+0 karma
wolvenone 6.1.2005 at 02:37:23 PM
I actually think the UMD is a fairly decent standard for portable movies. However, it would have been better if Sony had gone with using mini-Blu-Ray disks instead, as they have a better capacity and are inherently slightly more skip-resistent.
Now, I don't really mind anime companies releasing movies via the UMD format.
However, I must admit that I dislike how many of these companies are going about selling UMD's. Instead of charging as much or more then a regulerly DVD, these folks should be selling UMD's at a discounted price.
After all, even if other companies pick up the format for portable movies (like Sony hopes,) they're still going to be limited to being played on smaller devices. So they are less useful, but besides that, people whom have bought a UMD are very likely buy the DVD if they haven't already. Therefore it'd be a very effective cross-premotion campaign.
Oh well, no real sweat off my back, I'm not even going to buy a PSP until the price comes down some.
+0 karma
xexyl 6.1.2005 at 02:29:21 PM
pixy: the n64 also outsold the psx for nearly three years.
+0 karma
pixy misao 6.1.2005 at 12:59:13 PM
"stickboy_42 - 5.31.2005 at 09:55:09 PM
But it is true...there aren't nearly enough good games for it yet...but they will come."
I remember hearing this once before, I believe Nintendo said the same thing when the N64 launched. And I don't remember running out of fingers when I counted how many good games it had.
+0 karma
vinny 6.1.2005 at 12:39:46 PM
A cell phone that plays UMDs? That'll be one big cell phone...LOL
+0 karma
flassh81 6.1.2005 at 09:39:49 AM
funny thing cause ive just recently sworn that the ONLY movies/series i will donwload from torrents are animes. Ive become tired with the constant re-releases with extra bonus content less than a year after the regular edition has been out. Oh well.
+0 karma
drumlord 6.1.2005 at 09:36:36 AM
dmgice: the press release from Geneon said sequel. I could have sworn it did anyway, but I'm at my other job and don't have access to that email at this time :P
+0 karma
rahvii 6.1.2005 at 08:53:07 AM
ok... 2 episodes per UMD... hey the UMD can store a whole movie, WHY JUST 2 EPISODES AHGG!!. Damn them.
And I thought that 4 episodes was alreaady a rip off...
+0 karma
dmanjdb 6.1.2005 at 08:27:04 AM
My theory is that the UMD movie format may thrive while the PSP may take a tumble if they don't release games soon. With lack of games and little PSP support @ E3 the PSP is look the way of the Lynx. Is so ironic that 3 moths ago we were talk how many games are on the PSP and how little games appears on the DS.
Anyway I see the UMD movie format taken to the Sony (Ericsson) cell phone line in like 2 years.
+0 karma
dmgice 6.1.2005 at 07:50:10 AM
That's pretty cool. I can't wait to buy that series on UMD.. oh wait.. *glances over at all four DVDs of the TV series sitting on his shelf* Or, I could just rip it into MP4 right now and save myself some money. Anime, and especially anime with computer graphics in it like Hellsing, looks great on the Play-Yan........... I mean PSP. Yeah, the PSP.. because that's what we all watch movies on these days. Because Sony's so amazing and we all bought our PSPs to play MOVIES and not games. It's nice to see it being supported though. A few suggestions and questions though.
WHY GUNGRAVE? GUNGRAVE IS TERRIBLE.
Geneon should dip into their library and pull out the shows that f'ng MATTER. You know what I mean: Paranoia Agent, Serial Experiments Lain, TEXHNOLYZE, Chobits, and ROD The TV. But.. GUNGRAVE? Blah.
Oh, The Hellsing Ultimate OVA Series is not a sequel. It's a RETELLING of the series but more faithful to the books. So, if it has any continuity at all with the TV series.. it will begin right after Episode 7. But -most likely- it will be a little less dramatic art style coupled with more sardonic and naughty manga sence of humor. We all wanna see Alucard in his little pimp hat. hehe
+0 karma
kenshin73 6.1.2005 at 06:29:42 AM
Hellsing is a great anime.
What are you talking about Shin.
It would be nice if they put Great Teacher Onizuka.
+0 karma
shin gallon 6.1.2005 at 04:28:19 AM
Now if only they'd put some *good* anime on it, they might have my interest.
+0 karma
darknesstear 6.1.2005 at 04:04:19 AM
A Nintendo system and many games? Does not compute.
+0 karma
stickboy_42 6.1.2005 at 12:19:07 AM
mindkiller317:
I didn't say that there weren't good games for it..I just said there weren't a lot of them . You say there are a lot, but compared to any other console out right now with the exception of the DS, it has a very small library. In itself,k it has pletly of great games, but as a whole it doesn't make it against the PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, or GBA as far as quality numerous titles. But they will come very soon, and everyone will be happy!
Don't know why I am really commenting a lot on the PSP...I don't have one myself. I got a DS which is not that great only because of low game selection (which will change soon as well), and after looking at the PSP's price tag and battery life...I decided I will wait until the price drop significantly.
+0 karma
sgt. baker 5.31.2005 at 11:42:03 PM
Ill start buying UMDs, when GOOD movies come out on them. Basically, when Citizen Cane and Shawshank come out on UMD, Ill be the first in f***ing line.
+0 karma
eclipse 5.31.2005 at 11:34:18 PM
wow...what a TOTAL ripoff....2 episodes for 15 bucks?!?!?! NO THANKS!
+0 karma
mindkiller317 5.31.2005 at 10:05:55 PM
There are PLENTY of good games on it! But now that the launch window is over, the titles seem like a trickle, but give it until holiday, then you'll see alot more games. Just like with DS :)
But where the hell is Big Lebowski on UMD? The crappy rip from DVD to memory stick leaves me with much to be desired. And no clean "TV version" please. Do you see what happens, Larry? Do you see what happens WHEN YOU FIND A STRANGER IN THE ALPS!?!?!
+0 karma
stickboy_42 5.31.2005 at 09:55:09 PM
That is because they have to make game from scratch or spend time porting, but all they need to do for movies is change the formatt, set up the discs, and ship it.
But it is true...there aren't nearly enough good games for it yet...but they will come.
+0 karma
vinny 5.31.2005 at 09:51:46 PM
Yay... more movies.
So, is the PSP going to get a constant stream of quality titles? Because in the next couple of months, there are about a billion movies and 5 games coming out.
digg this story!
