Rant: Avanna's Release Date?

This is a question that has been asked continually over the last month, looking at my Google Analytics alone all of the my top 5 Google search keywords are different combinations of 'Avanna' and 'Release'. As we have no official news from the powers that be I figured I may as well rant and speculate on the topic.

Personally I am placing the blame on squarely on Yamaha, as for their motivations, and how I came to this conclusion, we will go over through the course of this article. Before we begin speculating let us first let us establish what we do, what official statements have been made, and the 'facts' of the situation. First we will have a look at Avanna, her artwork redesigns, what progress has been made on her vocals, and then we will look at the past with Oliver's release last year. Once we have established what we do know, then I will go into my speculation, and the conclusions I have drawn from the situation at hand.

Rant: Avanna's Upcoming Release

I have been following the Avanna discussion on VocaloidOtaku for quite a while and have wanted to blog about her upcoming release. This isn't really news, more speculation and educated guessing, so I can't post it on the main blog, so instead I post it to my (not so new) VocaRant column/sideblog and share my thoughts on the matter with you.

With Avanna's release right around the corner, many people have become impatient, some even doubting if Avanna is going to release at all. I can say, with almost 100% certainly that Avanna is going to happen, things have been in motion too long to stop now. Its the dates and details where things begin to get murky.

Zero-G has suffered many technical difficulties in Avanna's development, what they were specifically, your guess is as good as mine, but as long as nothing has changed (and I don't think they have) they told us to prepare for a 'Summer' release date.

While the informal end of Summer is Labor Day, the actual end of Summer this year is September 20th, because September 21st is the first day of fall. So with that date in mind, I fully expect final details to begin rolling in sometime within the next 2 weeks, with the actual release following shortly in the fall, some time before Christmas.

This sort of Big Al Syndrome should be nothing new to Engloid fans, neither should a rapid info release schedule soon after those technical difficulties are overcome. If you don't recall Oliver's release and his many delays, the actual release took many by surprise as the date was not revealed untill the day before, not even a full 24 hours, he was set to go on sale.

I fully expect that if is releasing it will come by surprise, in a great wave of activity, a gigantic dump of information, and a physical edition & bundles some months later. I see her release as a great dam, now that the normally tight-lipped Zero-G is finally opening up we can finally see cracks in its great surface and feel the pressure building up.

She may, or may not, make that September 20th not-deadline, but I am willing to bet she will be coming out sooner, rather than later...

Rant: anaROBIK vs Fanmades

I have been talking about anaROBIK a lot on VO, particularly because she is a great example of Vocaloid being used as an 'instrument' rather than as a 'character'. Recently she was brought up in a discussion about fanmades.

For those that don't know about her, I have coverage on Engloids.Info

Now personally, I dislike fanmades, I think the idea around them is stupid, and now that there is over 40 different Vocaloid 1-3s, not even counting the various appends, I see little use for them outside of the headcanon of the the fandom.

In many ways she is similar to fanmades: She is a non-canon character, developed by a fan, derived from a Vocaloid voicebank. Despite her origins I don't consider her a 'fanmade'. I point you to why I like her so much. She is an example of Vocaloid being used as an 'instrument' rather than a character.

You must keep in mind that anaROBIK is derived from Zero-G's LOLA voicebank, one of the earliest VOCALOID1s and Robert Hedin (anaROBIK's producer) was one of the earliest adopters. This was a different era, the era before Miku, before Vocaloid2, an era where the concept of fanmades hadn't even been conceived.

Hell, even today the 'concept' of LEON & LOLA that comes to mind when you think of their characters is entirely fanon. If anything the modern ideas of Leon & Lola's characters are all fanmade. The only official art is the one that graces their boxes.

But alas, we are getting sidetracked. Lets get back to anaROBIK...

Rant: In Defense of Zero-G

A little something to keep in mind while people speculate about Zero-G, some going so far to attack them. Others suggesting they take VocaTone up to contract.

Zero-G is a music company first, Vocaloid company second. They have some of the largest audio sample libraries in the world. When Yamaha was going to launch VOCALOID 1 it was Zero-G who was its earliest adopter, of the 6 companies approached they were the first to see the possibilities that Vocaloid could bring.

Don't think for a moment that Zero-G is blind, as an early adopter they had the vision that 5 of the largest music production companies in the world couldn't grasp. They had faith in a product that was still unproven. They have been partnered with Yamaha for 3 generations of the Vocaloid software as other companies have come and gone. Don't think for a moment they don't know what they are doing.

I have personally interacted with some of the Zero-G staff. They have only ever conducted themselves with the highest level of professionalism that you would expect from a company with their rich of a history. I assure you they know what they are doing and if they are committed to releasing the highest quality product possible.

That being said there are many ways to market a product. Constant teasers and community interaction is one thing but focusing on product development, small focus groups, and strategic press releases at project milestones is another. Zero-G has every right to manage their image as they choose.

That being said a thing to remember is that 'fans' don't buy their product, producers do. If they choose to focus their marketing efforts at producers then I certainly don't blame them. They haven't lost sight of the ball, their primary goal is to sell software.