I know I’m not the only one who has been following the news of English Miku’s development since nearly day 1. I was just one out of 39,389 other people who also cast their vote for the English Miku campaign by liking Hatsune Miku’s Facebook page after the announcement at the 2010 New York Comic Con.

So I know I can’t be the only one who has noticed that something very wrong has been going on since the release of English Miku’s first public beta demo at NYCC2011. Since that first demo, the vocals we’ve been hearing in newer songs using English Miku’s beta voice bank seem to be getting progressively worse.

Or are they?

Please read the full story. (more…)

Click to see image of the original page before the 3/11/2013 update.

Updated 3/11/2013: It looks like someone at Crypton may have leaked the information too soon. The page has been altered to remove a lot of the new information, including the new release date. The Japanese blog bunkaextend managed to catch the quote. Hightrancesea from Vocaloidism also captured a screenshot of the page before the removal.

During the recent visit to Singapore by Crypton’s CEO, Hiroyuki Itoh, there was some slightly confusing and conflicting information regarding the release schedule for Hatsune Miku’s English voice bank release. The information slide shown during his presentation said Spring 2013, while Danny Choo’s translation of Itoh’s words were “Summer 2013″.

The words spoken by Itoh are now confirmed with Crypton’s recent update to their ‘Who is Hatsune Miku?’ information page, the first major update since early 2011. The page now has fresh new facts and information on the popularity and achievements of Miku’s software, and the success of marketing and live concert events. Also mentioned is the plans for a new Summer 2013 launch for Hatsune Miku’s English voice bank, a bit later than the previously announced Spring 2013 launch at the 2012 New York Comic Con.

In a direct excerpt from the page: “We are proud to announce that Hatsune Miku English Version is to be released in summer 2013, and we are also planning collaborations with popular labels and artists. Wouldn’t you also like to feature Hatsune Miku as your band’s vocalist and discover new possibilities in the world of music?”.

Other than the announcement by Itoh from his Singapore visit, Crypton has not yet made any public announcement of the new plans. I expect we will be hearing the new announcement very soon.

 
Thanks to the efforts of some live tweeters during the panel, there’s already some new information from the New York Comic Con regarding Kaito and Miku’s upcoming V3 and English voice bank releases.

Two sample songs of Kaito’s English voice bank were shown, and they plan an early 2013 release with both the Japanese and English voice banks.

Hatsune Miku also had a new English demo played. And from what I hear, some people are saying they didn’t like it. I’m unsure if some fans had their expectations too high, or if they opted for yet another non-English speaker to create the demo, the same as they did with the song “Nice Age”.

They plan a Spring 2013 release at the earliest. This is an entire year later than what was originally announced back in 2011, but this is what happens when you make the switch to V3 and start working on 6 Vocaloids at once.

As for the other Cryptonloids, Crypton has said that they have “a desire to create an Append for all Vocaloids eventually”.

They also demonstrated a new custom model of Miku for use in MikuMikuDance, although I’m unsure if this is intended for public release or private company use. It will be based on the same model shown at the summer caravan event.

They also expressed that there are no announced plans for another concert in the U.S., and that overseas performances are quite expensive. Another sponsorship would likely be necessary to make it happen, just as it did before with Toyota and Mikunopolis.

Source: [Link]

There are no audio or video feeds available at this time, but I’ll be sure to update this article later when they come up.

EDIT: Here’s a demo of “1/6 Out of Gravity” using Miku’s English voice bank. Remember that’s it’s still beta.

 
Kaito’s V3 Japanese demo:

 
Kaito’s V3 English demo:

I’ve been feeling sick for the past couple days, so I’ve wanted to take a bit of time off. But I don’t want to miss this announcement since the 2011 Racing Miku is my favorite design by far.

Good Smile Company has announced that the 2011 Racing Miku Nendoroid AND Figma will both receive a second release, as part of their Good Smile Racing sponsorship courses. If you missed them the first time around, here’s your chance!

Qualifying sponsorship packages can be purchased starting today (Japan Standard Time) at 20:00, and will end on October 9th at 20:00 JST. Each figure belongs to their own separate package, and do not come together. So you’ll have to make a choice if you cannot afford both. Qualifying sponsorship packages are usually within the 7000 Yen range ($90 USD), and include several bonuses along with the figure itself. And you’ll also be helping Good Smile Racing in the process!

To read the full product details and purchase the packages once they become available, please visit their respective pages.

2011 Racing Miku Figma: [Link]
2011 Racing Miku Nendoroid: [Link]

 
Just a little more than a week after the launch of Project Diva f, SEGA has revealed the release date for Dreamy Theater Extend, as well as additional game details. This is the PS3 addition/counterpart to Project Diva Extend for PSP, and is not related to the release of PjD f. To buy and play this game, you will need a PSP and a copy of Project Diva Extend. The price is set at 3,900 Yen, and will launch on September 13th.

As with the previous Dreamy Theater games, you’re basically getting the same game you have on PSP, but with enhanced graphics and support for stereoscopic 3D. Dreamy Theater Extend, however, has a few additional extras to make your purchase worthwhile.
 

 
The first announcement is the addition of importing 6 modules from Project Diva Arcade, bringing the total module list to 160 costumes. These modules in left to right order are Snow Miku 2012, Americana, Sakura Miku, Luka Conflict, Rin Deep Red Fox, and Len Deep Blue Fox.

The last announcement is the inclusion of a new “live” mode. In this mode, you can watch up to two characters dance on a stage to one of 11 tracks, while you have free control of the camera angle. The following tracks for this mode are: “Electric Angel”, “Meltdown”, “StargazeR”, “End of Solitude”, “The Disappearance of Hatsune Miku”, “Time Limit”, “Butterfly on Your Right Shoulder”, “Puzzle”, “Just be Friends”, “SPiCa”, and “Worlds End Dance Hall” (that last one wasn’t in Extend for PSP!).

Watch the official trailer below for previews of the mentioned features, and also be sure to check out the official website and the Project Diva Blog for additional images.