• japan

    Final Fantasy Cell Phone Game Reaches 2 Million Downloads

    How big are cell phones in Japan? If Final Fantasy IV The After is any indication, pretty damn big. An episode sequel to Final Fantasy IV, the cell phone title has been downloaded over 2 million times and is available for Japanese carrier DoCoMo's FOMA 903i and 703i series as well as for carrier AU's WIN BREW series. It was released earlier this year in February, and new "chapters" appear on a near monthly basis.

    終章控える『FF IV ジ・アフター』累計ダウンロード200万突破 [Gpara via Game|Life]

    3:00 AM on Wed Nov 5 2008
    By Brian Ashcraft
    2,212 views, 22 comments

    Most discussed SmilingPolitely: I already spend an inordinate amount of time with my iPhone and Bejeweled in the bathroom. If ever a FF more »

  • mystery

    Professor De Marco and the Mysterious Cell Phone Part 3: The Reveal

    Yesterday the truth was finally revealed behind the mysterious cell phone received in the mail a few weeks back. I was still pretty unsure of exactly what was going to go down yesterday, so I sent a final text message through the phone asking what was going on.

    A few minutes later I received a reply: "At 3:30 a black car will arrive to your house to pick you up. The mission should take no longer than three hours." Three hours, eh? What the hell, I went ahead and cleared my schedule for the afternoon and got ready to embark.

    At 3:30 on the dot I went outside and lo and behold, there was a black car with a card with my name on it in the window. Not only was the car out there at the assigned time, but they had managed to get a parking spot right in front of my house. If you know anything about parking in San Francisco, you'll know that this is no mean feat, especially in the Mission. My driver was waiting by the car and told me he would be taking me to my destination as he opened the door for me to get in. I looked and made sure the door locks hadn't been sawed of and got in.
    More »

    11:00 AM on Wed Apr 9 2008
    By fdemarco
    24,407 views, 173 comments

    Latest by everybest: That first picture looks like its around 22nd and Florida St! more »

  • mystery

    Professor De Marco The Curious Cell Phone: Part 2

    You may have read last week about a mysterious cell phone that was sent my way with no return address. A series of text messages informed me that I would hear word on the 24th on my "assignment." I checked in on the phone yesterday evening and sure enough there was another text message, this one slightly more ominous than the first...

    A driver has been assigned to escort you to dead drop point. Confirm pick up name for driver. Standby on April 8 at 1700 for pick up.

    A driver? At 5pm on April 8? Hmmm. I'm not really one to just get into car sent by a stranger, but I am dedicated to finding out what this is all about. Seeing as I have documented this entire experience for all to see, if I end up dead in a gutter it shouldn't be too hard to figure out who did it. Please just have "He took one for the team" engraved on my tombstone.

    10:40 AM on Tue Mar 25 2008
    By fdemarco
    7,094 views, 146 comments

    Latest by lemmk: Hey Flynn, it's today! Get on that car and then let us know how it went! If you make it, of more »

  • csi

    CSI Game Uses Cell Phone Calls to Play

    Gameloft has just announced CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - The Mobile Game which they will be releasing in cooperation with CBS. In the game, players will be investigating the seedy side of Las Vegas (does it have a non-seedy side?) and will receive help and clues from the in-game characters in the form of real cell phone messages. From the press release:

    Your cellphone rings, and a detective calls you to the scene — just like a real CSI detective. This combination of game play with popular content and a whole new level of interactivity represent enormous entertainment and business potential for the mobile world.

    It sounds like a pretty cool gimmick actually and leaves me wondering if this might tie in somehow with the mysterious cell phone I received yesterday...

    3:00 PM on Wed Mar 19 2008
    By fdemarco
    2,991 views, 34 comments

    Latest by SadhanaTitus: is it worth buying at $6.99? more »

  • mystery

    Professor De Marco and The Curious Cell Phone

    While I was lazing about the house working hard yesterday I received a Fed-Ex delivery. Not that this is anything unusual, I get Fed-Ex packages fairly regularly but upon looking at the slip I noticed that there was nothing filled in in the senders area. But it clearly said To: Flynn De Marco - Kotaku so I figured it was some kind of game thing. After getting over my initial fear that it might be the head of Gwyneth Paltrow, I opened it to discover a small Nokia phone. No note, no press release, none of the things that usually accompany such things. So I figured I'd go ahead and plugged it in and left the house for the day. Upon my return I heard an unfamiliar jangling and realized it was the phone informing me that I had a text message. I checked it to discover the following missive.

    "Accommodation address secured. Mission Accepted. Standby on March 24 for further instructions. Date of final mission: April 8."

    Seeing as none of the other staff members got one, I'm hoping this isn't some sort of bomb sent by a rival blog to take me out, but I must say I'm rather intrigued. Chances are it's for a cell phone game, but I'm crossing my fingers that it's going to be something really cool. Anyone care to speculate?

    10:40 AM on Wed Mar 19 2008
    By fdemarco
    12,419 views, 221 comments

    Latest by OtakuHat: man are you still alive? more »

  • screens

    Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep and Final Fantasy: Dissidia Screens

    Famitsu is currently hosting some new Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep (PSP) and Final Fantasy Dissidia screens. Also available are screens for Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days (DS) and Kingdom Hearts: Coded (cell phone). I got a chance to check out trailers for all of these games at TGS and was on the whole not terribly impressed by the latter two titles although Birth By Sleep looks like it will be the best of the lot. Dissidia also looks great as far as the graphics are concerned, but for gameplay, we'll just have to wait and see. More »

    8:00 AM on Sun Dec 30 2007
    By fdemarco
    20,119 views, 87 comments

    Latest by Soragirl6: I am really syked for Birth By Sleep. Regardless of what anyone said about KH2, I thought it was awesome more »

  • cell phone

    Silent Hill Ringtones From Verizon

    I've been playing quite a bit of Silent Hill: Origins lately and was lucky enough to have met Yamaoke himself at E for All, so when Kotakuite Jesterhead369 dropped me this note in my inbox it piqued my interest. If you have a Verizon phone, you can download several Silent Hill ringtones including the popular Theme of Laura. Each ring will set you back $2.99 for the privilege of carrying a bit of creepy town with you. Unfortunately , I don't have a Verizon phone, but hopefully with the iPhone I hope to get for Christmas and my SH2 soundtrack CD (autographed even!), I can cobble together my own SH ringtone to disturb passers by.

    8:00 AM on Sun Nov 11 2007
    By fdemarco
    4,321 views, 26 comments

    Latest by Ehardergardens: @Zolbrod: The game is good so far, very early. i'm not going to be as critial of it as more »

  • cell phone

    Use Your Windows Mobile Cell Phone To Host a LAN party

    Let's face it, not everyone on the planet has access to high speed internet. Some people living out in remote areas just can't get the kinds of service us fancy, city dwelling folk do. Such was the problem for D15AV0W3D over at The Hushed Casket. After exhausting every available resource to get a high speed connection, he thought he was doomed to dial-up for the rest of his life, never being able to catch up with our rapidly changing modern world. But, with some ingenuity and the help of a Samsung i607 Blackjack phone with AT&T's Edge connection he was able to accomplish the seemingly impossible. More »

    12:00 PM on Sun Nov 4 2007
    By fdemarco
    11,589 views, 39 comments

    Latest by made2last: I am in the same boat as him, but I doubt I could get mine hooked up, I have a Motorola more »

  • tgs07

    Japan's Cell Phone Obsession

    I always thought the phenomenon of cell phones had reached monumental proportions in the U.S., but it's nothing compared to what it's like here in Japan. A ride on the train will have you seeing at least ten to fifteen people on each car with phones out presumably texting or playing games on them. The there's the cell phone charms. They are HUGE over here. Practically everyone has one or two or thirty dangling off their phone. Some are so large they are bigger than the phones. For example, one gal I saw had no less than three small plush animals attached making it impossible to put in a pocket or the tiny purse she was carrying. More »

    9:00 AM on Mon Sep 24 2007
    By fdemarco
    7,622 views, 58 comments

    Latest by GrlGmr: The cell phone market in the US is very large (Cingular/AT&T alone has more than 50 million customers), but gaming more »

  • come on baby

    Raise Babies On Your Cell Phone

    Raising children is easy. If I can do it — Better yet, if Crecente can do it, anyone can. Even Tiffany! Come On Baby, which is hitting UK cell phones soon-ish, is Cooking Mama, but with children and no knifes. The game stars buxom Tiffany, who has just started up her own nursery. Players must change diapers, feed babies and boiling milk to turn her nursery into a "five star baby motel." The game's publisher Ozura proclaims it is: More »

    4:00 AM on Thu Apr 5 2007
    By Brian Ashcraft
    2,122 views, 25 comments

    Latest by Kitsune Sniper: Uh... I'm guessing the developers have never heard of the "Come On Baby" game series, released on arcades and ported more »