1. Good news for Canadian anime fans, as it looks like YTV has been approved to start their own anime channel.

   Hope it’s not a specialty channel, though.

2. Heard about this from all over. Trouble was brewin’ in Boston today, thanks to Cartoon Network/Adult Swim’s promotion for Aqua Teen Hunger Force.

   Admittedly, they probably could have done better. Say, featuring a name or CN logo or something. Maybe perform it in tangent with some posters or billboards?

   Still, I think that those calling it a “terrorism hoax” are going a bit overboard.

   Merriam-Webster defines a “hoax” as the following:

   1 : an act intended to trick or dupe : IMPOSTURE
   2 : something accepted or established by fraud or fabrication

   What this really boils down to is people misinterpreting a viral ad campaign, no trickery involved. Ergo, in the defense of those who initiated this campaign, I do not believe that the charge of a “hoax” or intent to fool people into believing that this is a terrorist attack should hold.

   All the same, between this and Sony and Lord knows what else, I think maybe companies ought to step back on this viral marketing thing. At the very least, maybe think things through more.

   Do we need laws to regulate such advertisements?

   The good news for them, as I see it, is this: they could probably auction these things off on eBay and recover their legal fees, or a part of them anyway, if they use a little tact… (i.e. DON’T go saying something like “These are the items that caused a false terrorist panic in Boston! Buy now and terrorize your friends today!” Bad idea, that.)

3. On to brighter news. If you like transforming robots and you like dousing people with enough water to… well, make people really wet (after the “Wee for a Wii” incident, just about anything else sounds distasteful, sorry), then boy-oh-boy, has Hasbro got the answer for you!

   Or at least, Hasbro Germany. No telling elsewhere.

   All the same, to tie in with the upcoming movie, Hasbro will be releasing a TransFormers Super Soaker, with four spray nozzles, and expandable shield, and a huge tank to ruin your back, even when you’re not lugging a pack full of books through school!

   But at least that last part is easily remedied, once you find a worthy target…

4. The Allspark has also landed quite an exclusive deal, as Activision has requested their help in finding out what bonuses you want in the upcoming TransFormers video games. Speak out, and let your voice be heard!

   …oh, and I think this will be more on the up-and-up than the whole Mega Man X Collection fiasco was, thank you very much Mr. Inafune.

5. After that roster build-up a few weeks ago, Newsarama has come through again for New Avengers fans, this time with a 7-page preview of the upcoming issue #27.
6. So, I of course use this space to talk about comic books. And video games. And, when the occassion calls for it, video game-based comics.

   And with that, today I make note of the impending release of issue 2 of the Dragon’s Lair comic book.

7. Hey, remember that piece I mentioned yesterday about how a company called Splitfish had a way to give Sony its rumble back, and everything could be fine and dandy (as rumble is concerned) in Sonytown?

   Never mind.

8. So Mario Kart 64 can’t save Ghost Data. And according to Game|Life, it ain’t gonna, either.

   Me? I’ll live. But he does pose an interesting question regarding the possibility of other games that use the memory pak…

9. Sigh, idiots.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 1st, 2007 at 5:37 am and is filed under The Daily 'Shroom. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.