My apologies if you have been having trouble connecting to BBI's webserver over the past couple of weeks. Easily appear to have been having a few intermittent problems with their hosting servers. Hopefully this has now been resolved.

Yumeria, Namco's sci-fi-themed, 3D bishoujo adventure game, released for the PS2 this spring, will be making the transition to anime at the start of next year. At around the same time as the release of the game, a Yumeria manga, produced by Yukimaru Katsura, started running in Dengeki Daiou. This proved to be a hit and helped boost sales of the game. Following the news of the Tales of Phantasia OVA, Namco seem to have decided to go all the way with Yumeria by animating another one of their successful game-based series.

The anime lacks a lot of the "wow" factor which drove the release of the game. Nishioka's (Vampire Princess Miyu) character designs don't seem particularly inspired and aren't quite as cute as Okumura's designs for the original game. There has also been very little effort made by Namco to expand the Yumeria fanbase by promoting the TV anime outside of domains already dominated by existing fans. As a result, I fear Yumeria will become forgotten by fans before it's even been noticed - a shame as I feel that as long as the anime achieves a good balance between the cute, happy, real world and the horrors of the Dream World, the series will definitely be one worth watching. (Previous incarnations of Yumeria have so-far concentrated more on the cute aspects - something I would normally be the last person to complain about, but it does make the story a little less gripping than it would otherwise be.) The first episode of the series will air on BS-i at 12:30 am on Friday, January 9th. Be sure to watch it! Mone mone~~!

Eva news now. Well, old news but I thought I should mention it anyway. Tomorrow sees the release of Shin Seiki Evangelion 2 for the PS2, a combination of action and adventure game. Being a game designed and produced by Gainax, it suffers from the usual nigh-incomprehensible control system and a game engine programmed by enslaved chimps. As a result, this is a game for Eva fans rather than gamers.

On the bishoujo game front, there's quite a bit to report. While Key are as inactive as ever and seem to be working towards a 2150 Winter release for Clannad, Leaf, on the other hand, are working hard to bring us an updated version of their first visual novel game, Shizuku. The new package will hit shelves in January, 2004, exactly 8 years after the original release. Leaf have been very secretive as to exactly what the update entails but given that the game is 8 years old, it would be sensible to expect virtually everything, from the music to the event CG, to be redone. The release of the DVD versions of Routes and Utawarerumono are set to go ahead on November 28th and December 12th respectively - the new cover images on the DVD boxes are so cute (particularly Eruru on the Utawarerumono one), they almost make me want to buy the games again. *^^* Aquaplus will also be releasing volume 1 of the Comipa OVA, Comic Party Revolution, next month.

Things aren't quiet in the VisualArts stables either. While Key are content to sit around and do nothing, other companies in the VisualArts group have been more than making up for their lazy sibling. Studio Mebius (of Snow fame) seem to be busy with two new PC adventure games in the works. Toki no Uta (The Verse of Time) and Tomodachi Ijou, Koibito Miman (More Than a Friend, Less Than a Lover) are both slated for a release in 2004. Although no further details have been provided yet, Studio Mebius have promised that lots more information regarding these two titles will be made available in December. For those interested, Studio Mebius are also hiring at the moment.

The VisualArts group has also had a bit of a reshuffle over the past couple of months. Studio Ring is a new software house set up by a group of employees from Studio Mebius (one of the reasons behind the sudden recruitment drive). Studio Ring seems to have taken over the Nanami to Konomi no Oshiete ABC project, the third game in what used to be Zero's "Hajimete" series. Since Zero seems to be concentrating on games of an increasingly dark nature, an agreement appears to have been reached between Zero and Studio Ring to transfer control of the project (possibly along with ownership of the previous two games). Studio Ring are also developing at least one new game of their own although no details on this are available at present. Nanami to Konomi no Oshiete ABC will be released on December 26th.

December is a good month for fans of Koge Donbo with not one but two new artbooks due out next month. Chocola 2003, the next installment of all things DiGi Charat, will be available from the 20th, shortly followed by a Pitaten artbook on the 24th.

Lastly, I want to remind everyone before I go that there are only 8 days remaining until everyone's favourite bug-basher hits the PS2. Ichigeki Sacchuu!! Hoihoi-san will be released on the 27th of November. BUY IT. Or else. ^_-

MMORPGs are are a fun way to unwind. There's only one problem with them - other users. Final Fantasy XI, while a little unstable at the moment because of the influx of new U.S. players, seems to have a 'better' class of player than most MMORPGs. While there are always a few rude, unfriendly players around, the vast majority are good people. Contrast this with Ragnarok Online. I accept that the majority of players are still good mannered and helpful. However, I think it's true to say that RO does have more bad players than is normal for a MMORPG. Whether this is true of other ROs besides iRO, I'm not sure - it would be interesting to see if the proportion of bad players on a server varies from country to country.

There's a small update in the gallery for the exceptionally bored. It's a quick coloured doodle I did this morning, the first thing I have drawn with my new tablet. Getting the hang of drawing without pen and paper didn't seem to take me too long at all. A shame my drawing skills as a whole are still dire.