Just found out about this news~ And it seems it isn't reported on any English websites yet~

On June 8th, YAMAHA hosted a Nico Nico Douga live stream and released news about the upcoming successor of the Vocaloid system - Vocaloid 3 (called Vocaloid 3 editor)

As I read through, it looks like they are really shooting for making Vocaloid a multi-language and international culture trend. I will do my best to give a summary of the event information.

Two more voice actors, Toshiyuki Morikawa and Taliesin Jaffe, was announced that they will appear at Anime Expo 2011 as Guests of Honor.  Morikawa has voiced Griffith from the anime adaption of Berzerk, Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, and many more.  Jaffe has done English voicing for known series such as Hellsing, Ikki Tousen, and DearS.  Less than a month until Anime Expo 2011, the current list isn't as impressive as last year.  But stay tuned for further announcements.

Press release inside

Earlier this year, Square Enix announced the second direct sequel to be ever released for any Final Fantasy game, Final Fantasy XIII-2. And knowing about the Final Fantasy franchise, their games never have any connections to the previous one. At E3, Square Enix happened to have a playable demo at their booth and I was able to get my hands on it. From what I can say, the game has been improved, but for better or worse? More after the jump!

Japanese pop sensation Yuya Matsushita made his first American live performance in San Jose, California at the anime convention, FanimeCon 2011. Matsushita is probably best know for his music featured in several anime series including Durarara! and Black Butler. More recently, he has made appearances in Japanese television dramas and movies. See what this young rising star had to say about his rise to stardom!

We managed to get a sneak peak at the new upcoming game, Dead Island, with the developers from Techland. Dead Island is a first person horror action adventure game that takes place on a zombie-infested island where players have to survive using only items available on the island. Developed for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Microsoft Windows platform, will this game be better than the current zombie titles such as Left 4 Dead or Dead Rising series? Continue reading for more information about the game.

Hello Ocasters! We are back after a short hiatus to bring you the latest and greatest diatribes about none other than Wondercon 2011. We bring you our impressions about the convention in general, cosplay, guests, and panels like the Green Lantern. We also dig deep about the Priest panel and our video interview with Min Woo Hyung, the creator of the original manwha. All that and more await you! Stay tuned for our Fanime 2011 discussion, and a special discussion between David and I about Sucker Punch and live action adaptations of anime. Coming soon!

The multipart segment of the iPhone Japanese games series is back!  Ever since my first iPhone Games list, more companies have started to release new games based on old classic game titles, but with new looks and extra features. Read the games after the jump!

Video game maker Sega had ran a contest for fans to submit their own songs for the popular rhythm arcade game, Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Arcade. One of the songs selected, Hanamai Tsukuyomi Tan (花舞月詠譚), was written by our own resident columnist and anime singer Yukie Dong with production done by the talented Hoskey. Congratulations to them both!

The song is freely available to download from Sega's own page.