Giant Robot Store and GR2 News

“The animations and St. Amand’s statements served as probable cause to find the aforementioned images, which were photographs of real children.” We freely admit this isn’t the most pleasant story Giant Robot news has brought you in the last couple of weeks. But it does touch on important issues about the gray areas in which animated or virtual pornography exists, and how some people give legal adult entertainment a bad name. Seems the wife of a 24-year-old man in Slidell, Louisiana caught him looking at anime porn, which is legal in that state, on a shared family computer. After the wife alerted local police, who were able to use the anime porn as probable cause for a prosecutable crime, authorities found a damning compilation of pornographic images of real female children between the ages of four and five. The man was immediately arrested, and may be prosecuted further on actual child molestation charges. Clearly, the Slidell man’s possession of anime porn is peripheral to his actual sick interests, but we can’t help being concerned that legal adult anime entertainment will continue to have negative associations because of stories like this. (Anime News Network – Louisiana Anime Porn)
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“Another player, from the Pohang Steelers, is accused of allegedly betting on the match after finding out the outcome would be rigged.” It looks like some major sports in Asia have fallen on hard times, ethically speaking. You may remember the huge sumo scandal in Japan last February, when it was discovered that 25 wrestlers and coaches were implicated in fixing matches and forced to retire. The scandal also forced the cancellation of all the regular sumo tournaments until this coming July. Well, in South Korea it looks like match fixing is at the center of a breaking scandal in that country’s professional soccer league. At least 10 players from three teams, the Daejeon Citizens, the Pohang Steelers, and Gwangju FC, have been accused of taking huge bribes to throw games or manipulate the outcomes. Needless to say, the South Korean sports ministry is furious, and intends to impose fines, jail terms and lifetime banishment on any soccer player found guilty in the match-fixing scheme. (BBC News Asia-Pacific – South Korean Soccer Bribes)
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At E3, it’s all about Motion Games. Seriously, what is as boring as playing a game on a flat screen? (It’s actually fine either way), but at a convention like E3, the eye catchy kinetic energy happens when people are running around, dancing around, and swinging their arms. It doesn’t help that often times, the people doing it are wearing tights. Even the UFC Personal Fitness Trainer as seen below is demonstrated by a team of buffed out ladies. The one below could score a take down, mount, and then a ground and pound. Some of you would let her do it and enjoy getting pummeled. With her game faced, cold stare pose, you’re doomed. But this is actually an exercise game for the X-Box Kinect. Other Highlights? The Kinect software is looking like fun, and the weird thing is, it’s handled like it’s own new planet. I saw Disneyland Adventures, which didn’t move as well as I wished, but it looks like fun for the kids. Kinect Star Wars was fun, swing the light sabers and jump, kick, and keep moving forward. You can use the force by reaching back and pushing forward. You can lift ships out of your way. Yes, this part… it’s cool. (there’s no real point in showing photos but these are good for the kids.) Kinect Fun Labs. Yes, it’s free and it’s part of an endeavor to tie you more into the system. Like the 3DS, you can create a Mii in minutes. No more of the 1 hour wait time while you get your hair just right. This cuts to the chase.

Hulk Hogan was there to promote his Hulk Hogan’s Main Event game. Another for the Kinect. People are racing to take a photo of him.

 

That’s Chilan Lieu who’s working on a new show on HG, and was there for gametrailers.com I tagged along for meetings with Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, and Yoostar!

The holy grail of the entire E3 event. That’s the Wii U and it’s playing the upcoming Zelda, or at least a part of it.  Thicker than an iPad, this is part of the new console. There’s a few more photos of it and with it in the photo collection after the jump. It seems like a retro looking device for some reason. Almost like it’s new/old done on purpose. This is just the special controller. The neat thing is that it’s used in some games as a special controller, almost like a Dungeon Master in a AD&D game. You see a little more than the others. Also it’s reported that you’ll be able to use this to play the games away from your TV, draw on the pad, surf the web, and use it nearly like a tablet. The Wii U looks like a bunch of fun. I’m still thinking it’s design could be a little tighter.

 

Dos dudes… from Angrybananas.com – Thanks much fellas. See more photos after the jump.

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  “One incident this past January resulted in the death of one of the bus drivers.  The driver was killed after being dragged off by one of the park’s tigers in an attempt to check the bus’s engine.” If you happen to be in Harbin, China, and find yourself at the Harbin Siberian Tiger Park with, say, about $300 burning a hole in your pocket, you can arrange to watch live tigers hunt, kill and eat a live cow. No, this isn’t the kind of spectacle most of us would consider seeking out whilst on a presumably well-deserved, relaxing vacation. But it seems to be a hit with tourists, and the park is getting credit for being one of the largest and most successful tiger preservation facilities in the world. On the other hand, though, the park is being criticized for exploiting the tigers to some degree by making their feeding habits a bit of a spectacle. And a dangerous one at that, as the introductory quote above clearly indicates. (TIME Newsfeed – Tygers, Tygers Eating Right)    
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[youtube]ejwKPyfm12Q[/youtube]   Originally from Taipei but now based in Los Angeles, Jeni Yang is an illustrator who experiments with a wide variety of materials and mediums. The incorporation of woodwork in her whimsical and surreal paintings adds a handcrafted feel; the use of pastels and soft wood stains, nostalgia. She works out of a garage in deep Orange County, and spends 50/50 of her time working on the wood portions of her work and painting. In this Giant Robot Artist Friends film, Yang explains her process further and you’ll get to see her use a scroll saw. Take a look at Jeni Yang’s work as part of Synthesis (showing with Jesse Fillingham).
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