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Listen To The Secret Tecmo Tape

Yesterday, we broke the news that the second round of oral arguments for Itagaki vs. Tecmo commenced in Tokyo. Dead or Alive creator Tomonobu Itagaki is suing for unpaid DoA 4 wages. These were "special incentive" wages that Itagaki claims were agreed to by the former Tecmo president and the board of directors, but the current president is claiming these "special incentive" wages were made single-handedly by the former president and not approved by the Tecmo board. As we posted earlier, last month Itagaki left Tecmo and filed suit for unpaid bonuses. As Itagaki stated then, "President Yoshimi Yasuda chose not only to violate this agreement, but also turned defiant, telling me 'if you are dissatisfied with the decision not to pay the bonuses, either quit the company or sue it.'"

After the jump, we've posted an audio recording submitted into evidence by Tomonobu Itagaki. The recording is of Tecmo president Yoshimi Yasuda and Ninja Gaiden II producer Yoshifuru Okamoto on January 22nd of this year. It was secretly recorded by Ninja Gaiden II producer Okamoto as he claims he was being harassed and called names by president Yasuda. In the recording, Yasuda says, "The board of directors approved it and signed the ringi (a type of Japanese corporate approval form)." This is in direct conflict with Yasuda's court claim that this "special incentives" proposal was made single-handedly by the former president and not approved by the Tecmo board. The recording helps support Itagaki's claim that his special incentive bonus was approved by Tecmo's former president and the board of directors, and that the current president knows this.

For those who are interested in following the Japanese transcript click here. Along with the audio recording, we've included an English translation of the entire conversation Kotakuite Chinpokomon so graciously did. Many thanks for that, Chinpokomon!

It’s not hard to imagine that Sony knew Microsoft would choose E3 to make its curtain-call announcement of Final Fantasy XIII for the 360. It’s likewise reasonable to believe they searched their catalog of works under development for the best candidate to generate any buzz. What we got was a mixed bag — the trailer of an incredibly expansive shooter, but it didn’t even have a title. It was just MAG: Massive Action Game. It sounded tempting, but very incomplete.

In fact it was shown to a focus group less than a month before E3. One among that group, after seeing the MAG E3 debut, reached out to me, under a promise of anonymity, to describe what was shown and asked of the group. Put simply, MAG — whatever title it comes out under — will be a mercenary combat MMO. We're told that it will more than likely carry SOCOM branding, as Zipper Interactive is behind it. And if so, it could be called SOCOM: Shadow War or SOCOM: Zero. Though Sony did stress it was a brand new IP at the press conference.

At Microsoft's 2008 E3 press conference this morning, Bethesda announced that the eagerly anticipated next chapter in the Fallout series will feature extensive downloadable content that is exclusive to the Xbox 360 and PC versions of the game. No details on what the DLC will entail, but according to Bethesda's Todd Howard it will be "substantial."

Over the past month the Entertainment Software Association has lost a number of high profile members, acknowledged that they spent more than $5 million to move E3 to Santa Monica for a year and taken heat for the role, or some say lack-thereof, that CEO Michael Gallagher has played in the industry since his appointment.

Earlier this week we had a chance to ask a number of pointed questions of Gallagher about some of the news that has recently rocked the association that he runs.

In this exclusive first in-depth interview with Gallagher about the perceptions and problems plaguing the ESA, he reveals that the annual E3 tradeshow made up about 85 percent of the association's operating funds and that the membership dues increases sparked by the show's downsizing were in some cases "substantial." He also offers his thoughts on why companies like Activision, Vivendi, LucasArts and id have left the fold of the association and why the ESA, despite the recent troubles, is still an important and viable part of the industry.

There seems to be two discussions going on about Metal Gear Solid 4. One is about the game's actual reviews, and the other is about actually reviewing the game. Rumors swirled that reviewers weren't able to talk about MGS4 cutscenes and installs — rumors that were later confirmed in IGN UK's MGS4 review and by EGM's decision not to review the game. Konami and Kojima Productions were taken to task for this highly unusual NDA. But what was in this NDA? Kojima Productions' Assistant Producer Ryan Payton contacted Kotaku in hopes of setting the record straight and coming clean.

About those review limitations, Payton says the NDA covered: Install times, length of cutscenes (the ending in particular), number of environments, opening "movie", product placement and a half dozen story-specific items. Payton gets down to specifics, stating, "The game requires an eight minute install, as well as a number of two to three-minute installs between acts." But what about the cutscenes? The rationale, according to Payton, was that they wanted reviewers to refrain from describing which cutscenes were long as it would "ruin" the experience if players knew when a cutscene was unfolding. What's more, Payton adds, "I want to make it clear that, from today, reviewers are welcome to discuss the length of the cutscenes and install times, but we ask that they not get too specific about the cinematic times and what happens in later install sequences..." Hit the jump for Payton's email in full.

The Power Of Kamehameha

InstantAction.com's Rokkitball Trailer

GarageGames' labor of love, browser based action game portal InstantAction.com ads another title to their arsenal tomorrow with the introduction of Rokkitball. Rokkitball is a futuristic, team-based game that weaves together action and strategy to form a very compelling concept in browser-based gaming.

Rokkitball brings a new level of multiplayer gaming to InstantAction, combining the frantic pace of a shooter with the team strategy of a real-world sport," said Alex Swanson, Rokkitball Producer and Designer. "We plan to provide an on-going flow of new content to players through InstantAction, with several additional stadiums and enhanced team customization options already in the works."

The launch of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue is coming up fast and Sony is announcing an action packed soundtrack to go along with. Leading the pack is an exclusive in-game remix of Weezer's "Automatic" and a special remix of Mars Volta's "Goliath." Also along for the ride exclusively in North America are Justice, SebastiAn, DJ Shadow, The Earaches and Pride Tiger.

You can check out the entire list of artists and their tracks after the jump.