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OVERVIEW

digiElement Magazine on DVD is a great source for gaming and anime news.  Each issue is filled with informative game reviews, previews, and specials features.

For their second issue, they have a special report on one of the hottest upcoming video games "Jade Empire".  The DVD also features more than 20 video game reviews, previews, and other interesting features.

Anime fans will also find digiElement's coverage of cosplay at Anime Boston along with reviews of hot anime titles Azumanga Daioh and Marmalade Boy. 

To subscribe to digiElement magazine, you can visit http://www.digielement.com/.

DVD VISION TEST

VIDEO: The quality is excellent.  There are no pixels or errors noted.  The colors are solid, and the motion, fluid.  Any digital garbage you see is from the source material.

AUDIO: Some kicking sound on the 2.0 LPCM (Linear Pulse Code Modulation) audio track.  It's real loud, and may cause some hearing loss when the audio shoots up.  There are some segments where the sound is a little fuzzy, but that is due to the recording, not the 2.0 LPCM audio.

DESIGN:  The layout of the disc is simple.  As soon as the main menu comes up, you are hit with a rocking tune.  The background pictures they used were good choices.  The same goes for all sub menus.  

EXTRAS: There is supposed to be an Easter Egg, but I will be dipped if I can find it.

WIDESCREEN REVIEW

FEATURES: Streamlining their menu choices, there are four areas: Games, Anime, Editorial and Special Thanks.

The Games section (the largest of the main areas) is broken down into five sub-sections: A Game Developers Conference special report, a "digiMagic" feature on "Super Mario 3-Time Attack", Reviews, Previews, and digiCinema.  

In the "reviews" segment, digiElement has presented several interesting reviews, covering a wide range of platforms.  Some of the more interesting segments were "Drakengard", "Onimusha 3: Demon Seige", and "Ninja Gaiden".  They also covered some games that were not so so cool, like "Harvest Moon", "Seven Samurai", and "Alias The Game".

"Previews" contains an advanced look at the awesome action game "Jade Empire" along with cool trailers for "Resident Evil 4", "Killer 7", and many more.

digiCinema is a collection of opening scenes from games like "Silent Hill 2", "Tekken 3", and my personal favorite "Parasite Eve".

Last but not least is digiMagic.  Here you will find some old school goodness.

The Anime sub-menu consists of coverage of Anime Boston 2004, and reviews of Azumanga Daioh Vol 1 and some others.  The remaining main sections consists of staff credits, and special thanks.

REPORTING: There is very little "reporting" like in a news cast.  Primarily, it's a collection of interviews, with the question placed at various locations.

FAN SERVICE: Nothing too risqué.  As you can guess, some of the cosplay girls looked really nice.  Since this DVD is made by fans for fans, the whole thing can be considered fan service.

CONCLUSION:

The second issue of "digiElement magazine on DVD" (that's a mouthfull) continues the work started with their first issue.  It has lots of information, high productions values, and fascinating features to wet your videophile appetite.  Unfortunately, the problems that soured the milk on the first volume have gotten worse.

For this issue our test audience consisted of DVJ staffers who cover a wide range of fandom; a Hard core gamer (Dan), a moderate game fan (Mike), a hard core anime fan (Matt) and interested observers (Annie and Kaylanii).

The feature on "Game Developers Conference" was quite disappointing, when compared to their "Evolution of Grand Turismo" feature in volume 1.  To be frank, it's way too short, has little useful information and feels like a typical "promotional" piece put out by recruiters.  I was hoping for a lot more insight into the makings of the GDC and check out the winners of the "Game Developers Choice Awards".  Some trailers of the winners of the best games in the world added to the previews or reviews section would have been way cool.

The reviews in the Game Reviews section were technically well done. As the reviewers gave their opinions, the scenes would change to coincide.  They provided good information in a way that non gamers could digest.  However, the ones giving the reviews are getting worse in their delivery.  Their voices continue to be flat, they lacked any kind of real emotion (even when they liked a title), and sounded like they were reading off cue cards.  There would be awkward pauses in the middle of a sentence, followed by a noticeable inhale.  When there were two reviewers, their banter sounded scripted and dull.  As much as I like the content of their reviews, their voice work needs some serious improvement.

The previews/trailers were great, especially the ones for "Killer 7", "Resident Evil 4" and "Jade Empire". There are some great looking games coming out, making me wish I could afford a Gamecube. 

The digiCinema was another popular feature.  I love watching the opening animation on video games.  To this day, I still enjoy watching the opening to "Parasite Eve".  Unfortunately, this issue marks the last time the digiCinema feature will appear.

digiMagic had the least amount of content, but we were still impressed watching someone play all of Super Mario 3 in 11 minutes.

In the anime section, their coverage Anime Boston feature had very little to do with the actual convention.  Almost the entire thing was about cosplay.  Hey, I like cosplay, but don't call it con coverage when it isn't.  A more appropriate title would be "Cosplay at Anime Boston".

Their anime reviews unfortunately follow the same format as the game reviews; great information, horrible delivery.  They also need to do some better research on their titles.  Marmalade Boy in no way, shape, or form addresses the trauma of divorce.  On the other hand, it does bring to light the interesting idea of wife swapping.  Yet, none of the women in the office are keen on the idea.

We still feel there wasn't enough anime related things to appeal to the anime fans.  While it's great that most of the test audience like games, if you want to attract the anime fans, you need more than a couple of reviews.

The remaining sections on the DVD were typical staff information areas. They really don't need to make these major menu choices.

The menus and the video looked very professional.  The editing was top notch, with tasteful use of background effects kept the video from being too static.  The 2.0 LPCM sound was excellent, with no technical errors noted.

While they are on the right track, "digiElement magazine on DVD" still has some things to work on, most noticeably with their voice overs.  They also need to avoid skimping on their con coverage, or at least being honest on what the feature is about.  Once they fix these issues, everything then they will truly be a force to be reckoned with.

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