ANN Reports on the New Robotech RPG

Yup, it's finally as most people should know by now. Palladium is going full stream ahead with the Robotech: Shadow Chronicles RPG. Anime News Network has put together a very informative article that explains everything you could know about the release. Check it out

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/press-release/2007-09-27/robotech-returns-to-palladium-books

Thanks Chris for the news

Fan Blog: Studio MMG Back Better Than Ever

Studio MMG is known throughout for his impressive flash animations and art. Of course he used to be a very vocal part of the community. MadMapGuy has changed over the months along with his blog. He has moved away from the vocal group to a better creative side. MMG's new blog entitled Concept Central focuses on art concepts and ideas from science fiction and fantasy stories including Robotech.

The blog is already looking great with the Robotech art he has posted up. Check it out and don't judge on the past.

http://conceptcentral.blogspot.com/

Shadow Rising & Funimation deal LEAKED!

I'm not going to say a lot about this. I can say that it's hard to really know if this is for real or not. The leak seems unusual for Harmony Gold to hand over very important documents and information to someone who claims he's basically a stranger to Tommy and Steve. This may just be a hoax, but we'll see.

I am linking to the original post on RDF HQ for everyone. Expect this person's blog and other information to disappear from the face of the planet within a few days once Harmony Gold learns about this.

http://p081.ezboard.com/frdfhqcommunicationscenterfrm50.showMessage?topicID=23.topic

Benny R. Powell Interview by RT Companion

Benny R. Powell is the author of Academy Comic's Robotech: The Movie comic book released in 1996. He is best known for his time at Marvel Comics and his own independent comic studio, Bench Press Studios. I was fortunate enough to interview him about his career and his work on the Robotech Movie comic. Enjoy.

If you have any additional or followup questions for Mr. Powell, please submit them either by e-mail to me or comments of this blog. I will choose the best. Please submit them by the Friday the 21st of September 07.

Benny R. Powell Interview by Robotech Companion: http://www.robotechcompanion.com/interviews/bennypowell.htm

A!PoN's Tommy Yune Interview

This is a bit old. It was done either late 2006 or early 2007. However, I just came across it today and thought some fans would be interested in watching it. A!PoN, an anime podcast group, interviewed Tommy Yune about Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles, its production, and about himself. It took place after fans saw the film, so Tommy spoke more in-depth about why the film is the way it is. Anyhow, some people will find it interested, mostly casual fans.

A!PoN's Tommy Yune Interview: http://www.blip.tv/file/75543/

New Space Station Liberty Shows

Two shows not to miss
Sunday, September 9th at 7:00 p.m. Eastern/4:00 p.m. Pacific Time
Kevin McKeever will be coming on Space Station Liberty to talk about the Warner Brothers deal, Anime Bento, and upcoming Palladium's Robotech RPG. This should be the first time that Harmony Gold speaks out publicly about the live action film. It's not expected that Kevin will cough up much information, but should still be interesting.

Friday, September 14th at 10:00 p.m. Eastern/7:00 p.m. Pacific Time
Kevin Siembieda and Tommy Yune will be on Space Station Liberty to discuss in detail about the new upcoming Palladium's Robotech RPG book.

Remember that all fans are welcomed to join the live interactive podcast either through calling in or downloading the TalkShoe cilent to ask questions through text chat.

Space Station Liberty Podcast Show: http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/talkCast.jsp?masterId=5988

The comprehensive guide on various methods of connecting to TalkShoe: http://terrania.us/talkshoe/

Let the Hype Begin: Robotech Live Action

The new fad has began, it's the fad of big Robots on the big screen. The success of Transformers has made a many interested in cashing in on a fad yet to be born. Rumor has it that Warner Bros. Pictures has licensed Robotech to create a full live action movie out of it. WB has chosen Maguire Entertainment led by Tobey Maguire to produce it for them. "We are very excited to bring 'Robotech' to the big screen," Maguire said. "There is a rich mythology that will be a great foundation for a sophisticated, smart and entertaining film." Drew Crevello from Supercool Hollywood BigTime Prods. is also producing. Craig Zahler will be writing the screenplay.

"Frank Agrama of rights-holder Harmony Gold will exec produce; Jason Netter will serve in a producer capacity. Matthew Reilly brought the project to Warners and is overseeing. Daniel Shafer brought the project to Maguire and will shepherd for the company."

What can a serious fan make of all this madness? Oh it won't be pretty. Robotech.com has already treated it like a silly joke through their news post: "OMG ROBOTECH LIVE ACTION MOVIE!!! Nawww..... could this grapevipe from The Hollywood Reporter and MovieWeb even be true?"

On a more serious note, it appears that this agreement to make a live action movie is extremely fresh and brand new. This means almost no time has gone into the production process or pre-production. A lot of problems will come and it'll take a couple of years to produce the movie. However, its extremely unlikely that the Robotech live action will see the light of day. Companies are known for buying license rights to cartoons, games, and merchandise without ever getting far. This is not Transformers whom had such huge super success with the Transformers cartoons and toys for over 20 years. Robotech does not have this kind of backing. Look at this quote: "Last month, Regency picked up 1980s Japanese anime series "Voltron"" See what I mean? Welcome to the fad of robot movies only created based solely on how well the Transformers live action movie did

The whole point of the articles is to create hype, a lot of hype to drive the production. You could believe that some changes made over at Robotech.com were done to pervent people like me shooting down everyone's hype. Harmony Gold has shown commitment to the Robotech brand and wants their core creations to be released. Shadow Chronicles was completely based on Harmony Gold keeping full control to allow the creativity freedom that Robotech should have. This won't be the case with this live action production. It's possible and likely that HG is treating the live action movie like their other third-party merchandise in where it doesn't really matter what happens to it. It's just more support for their core projects: Robotech Anime.

Hype is important from a marketing point of view, but all I say is that as loyal fans, don't be disappointed if the movie sucks or never comes out.

Long Live Robotech the cartoon.

News Articles:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i1f2de64a1d24bd5585bf89b0691d2011
http://www.movieweb.com/news/67/22567.php

Leave positive hype here: http://www.robotech.com/community/forum/read.php?id=1774514&forumid=31 As Harmony Gold would say, its important to make companies think their Robotech brand is fully supported by fans with no complaints and problems. Too bad we hardcore people aren't always happy. We're die-hard fans afterall.