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OVERVIEW

Once again, "digiElement Magazine on DVD" shows why they are the best source for gaming and anime news.  In this jam packed issue, "digiElement Magazine on DVD" has an in-depth report on E3, the Electronic Entertainment Expo. Covering many of the upcoming games and game systems for the next year, you will never find a more through look at this massive event.

That's not all.  Also from E3 they have a massive number of trailers and advanced looks at some of the hotly anticipated games of 2005.  Games like "Metal Gear Solid Snake Eater", "Bloodrayne2" and the "must by" Mortal Kombat Deception!

Anime fans will also find digiElement's coverage of cosplayers at Anime Next 2004 along with looks at hot anime titles "Last Exile" and "Kiddy Grade".

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.  For the first time, there is full motion video on the main menu, highlighting the features on this disc.  The background pictures they used on the secondary menus were good choices.  The same goes for all sub menus.  

EXTRAS: No extras.

WIDESCREEN REVIEW

FEATURES: Further streamlining their main menu choices, there are now only three main areas: E3 Report, Games, and Anime.  The "Editorial", "Special Thanks", and "Next Issue" have been changed from main to minor menu choices.

In the E3 Report section, you have two options, play all or scene selection.  In the scene selection area, each chapter is broken down by company, making it easy to decide what you want to check out.

Also included what is sure to be a very popular feature, the "Booth Girl Countdown".  This 2 minute short highlights digiElement's top 10 choices of hot booth babes at E3.

The Games section (the largest of the three main areas) is broken down into five sub-sections: Previews from E3, a "Mario Time Attack" feature, Reviews, and special looks at "Mortal Kombat: Deception and "Prince of Persia 2". 

In the "reviews" segment, digiElement has presented several reviews, covering a wide range of platforms.  Some of the more interesting segments were for "The Chronicles of Riddick", "Psi Ops" and "Rallisport Challenge 2".  They also covered some games that were not so cool, like "Driver 3" and "Spider Man 2".

"Previews from E3" contains an advanced look at the awesome action game "Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater" along with cool trailers for "Blood Rayne 2", old school faves like "Gradius V", and some looks at the games that are going to come out for the dual screen Nintendo DS.

The "Super Mario" time attack is similar to digiMagic feature in the previous issue.

The Special Looks at "Mortal Kombat Deception" and "Prince of Persia 2" are just plain awesome.  Full of very cool and extremely bloody scenes, if you are not salivating by the end of them, then you are not a true gamer.

The Anime sub-menu consists of a "quick look" at the cosplayers of Anime Next 2004, views of "Last Exile" and "Kiddy Grade" along with reviews of other titles.

REPORTING: The report of E3 is very in-depth, highlighting not only the convention its self, but interviews with various industry representatives.  The narrator is very good at helping explain the vast world of E3.

FAN SERVICE: The "Booth Girl Countdown" is nothing but fan service, so kudos to digiElement on their selections.

CONCLUSION:

The third issue of "digiElement magazine on DVD" (still a mouthful) vastly improves from issue 2.  With more information, better productions values, and some awesome looks at some sweet video games Issue 3 is the new standard all future issues will be judged by.  To make things even better, many of the problems that plagued the second issue have been fixed, and in some cases, surpassing their previous efforts.

Unlike the disappointing "Game Developers Conference" in the previous issue, digiElement's report on E3 was positively outstanding!  Full of fascinating interviews and mouth watering previews, digiElement is on their way to being a major player in the game reporting community.  Thanks to their excellent work, the staff of digiElement have proven that DVD is an viable alternative to print magazines.  On a side note, their "Monty Python" inspired opening was a great way to start the issue off.

I really liked the Booth Girl Countdown (can't imagine why).  Why couldn't it be longer?  Some interviews with these lovely ladies, and cute stuff their #1 choice did would have made it even better.  Here is hoping they do more features like this.

With the "Game Reviews" section, they have made some very positive changes. The reviews, like always, were informative and presented in easy to understand language. The biggest thing they improved on was the reviewers.  They were nowhere near as painful to sit through as in the past.  Instead of sounding like they were reading off cue cards, most sounded relaxed, almost like they were talking to you.  Our "most improved vocals" award goes to Baka Fan Boy.  When he was by himself, his reviews were top notch.  His voice was full of energy, and he even injected some humor into his feature on "Driver 3".

Nevertheless,  there was one reviewer that still didn't quite cut the mustard.  In one case, when this particular reviewer was paired up with another, both of them lapsed into stilted banter, flat reading, and awkward pauses that made issue 2 so awful.  On his own, he didn't do much better.

I am so totally psyched for the release of "Mortal Kombat Deception".  Just from this preview alone, the action, the blood, and the tons of mini games make this the gotta have title of 2005!

It seems like every issue, digiElement cuts back on the anime features, and this issue is no exception.  We only have a couple of actual reviews, an extremely short look at cosplay at Anime Next 2004, and a comedic feature on the rules of dating, based upon "The World of Narue".  While Henry Wong at digiElement has always stated that their main focus is games, they shouldn't slight the anime fans.  I was really surprised that their cosplay feature was only 2 minutes.  That's a major and popular part of fandom for both otaku and hard-core gamers.

While their overall coverage of anime was skimpy, the features they had were well done.  The "Why We Like Kiddy Grade" was the best one. It was full of humor, solid information, and had some very hot looks at the rampant fan service.  The scripted banter was a little too scripted at times, but all in all, I enjoyed it.  Our featured cosplayer Tomoko will be very happy to know that digiElement reviewer Angela's favorite character is Lumiere.

In our review of the previous issue, we mentioned that the "Editorial", "Special Thanks" sections should not be main menu choices.  Well, looks like they took our advice (at least I like to think so), because they are now at the bottom of the screen.  While the location is good, don't just ignore them.  Especially when DVD Vision Japan is now listed in their special thanks section!

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.

"digiElement magazine on DVD" volume 3 has made some serious leaps and bounds over the previous issue.  Their reporting and their vocal work has vastly improved.  Now if they just added a few more anime features, then everything will be almost perfect!

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