Starbucks closing hundreds of stores [KING5, thanks Ryan!]

I went to a horror movie convention here in Chicago on Sunday because George Romero was due to show up for autograph signing and I was hoping he would grace my copy of Dead Rising with his signature (not expecting that he would at all). Lo and behold he actually did, and on top of that, he was not even aware of Dead Rising...i had to explain to him what it was and he was happy to sign it. Makes me wonder if he is even aware of the legal battles Capcom has had to endure.

Makes us wonder, too. If you can't read what Romero wrote, it is: "Tyler Stay Scared George Romero."

Whilst I was waiting, I readied my Metal Gear Solid collection to get signed.

I went up on the platform where it was my turn to get my sleeve signed. I get my collection out, only to be told by some random HMV employee who was supervising the signing that I'm only allowed to get the sleeve signed. I didn't know how to take it. So I just took out my sleeve, got it signed and shook Hideo Kojima, Yoji Shinkawa and Yumi Kikuchi (Raging Raven) hands. Which kind of made it better.

I wanted to take a quick picture of me with Hideo Kojima, so I shook Hideo's hand whilst my brother who came with me took a picture. For some reason, the man supervising the singing on the platform tried to stop my brother taking the picture, saying that no pictures allowed. But luckily my brother managed to take the picture before he could stop him.So now I couldn't take a picture of my brother and Hideo, which could be the first and last time they meet.

Very disappointing. I traveled such a long way, carried a very heavy bag of MGS games for nothing? It could be the last time I meet the man, and I've already gone through a long process of waiting, might as well sign all the games and let me at least take a decent picture.

Signatures after the jump.

Kojima In London [MATTYBLOG]

It's mostly an immature and dumb flick, but definitely Boll's best so far (not that that's saying much) and he should probably stick to making funny movies. Boll is a humble guy and I actually felt kinda bad for him, he mentioned being one o the most hated guys in the video game world and seemed kinda depressed saying it. I felt bad, but then I remembered he made House of the Dead /and/ Alone in the Dark /and /Bloodrayne /and /Dungeon Siege and then I didn't feel bad anymore.

Thanks reader Vincent for the tip!

I pre-ordered Ryu Ga Gotoku Kenzan! at the Shinjuku Bic Camera in Tokyo as after playing the demo I was really interested in giving the final product a serious playthrough. Today being the release date, I headed over to Bic Camera as soon as I could leave work. I arrived at the store around 7:30pm, got my copy and was told that there were holding a Japanese-style raffle and to take my recipt over to another section of the videogame area.

For those that don't know, a Japanese raffle is a kind of lottery where when it's your turn, you spin a hexangoal box around a few times, and out comes a colored ball to determine your prize. I got the lowest level - a "high quality oil cloth."

The highest reward were fairly large posters for the game, and when I got over there, some guy in a flashy jacket was bent over one of them with a pen in his hand. In case you hadn't guessed, it was indeed the
director, Toshihiro Nagoshi, autographing some of them. I didn't feel right asking for his autograph since he was already making the posters for the winners, but I had the good luck to see that he was on his way out - the poster I had seen him sign was his last.

We rode down the elevator together (with his staff), and then as we got off I worked up the nerve to ask him for his picture. One of his staff was kind enough to offer to hold the camera so I could appear in the picture too...

For a guy as flashily and expensively dressed as he was, he was very nice, and to be honest a bit tired - I think the final push had taken it's toll, as his pants were a bit dirty too.

You know what I'll tell you. I will look like I'm full of shit if I tell you... I went to the bathroom, and the person next to me was Bill Gates. So, I had more than eye contact. Well, no contact. No, no, there wasn't any contact, right. But, you know, it's kind of a weird situation. You're kinda like, 'I know this guy.' There was no bodyguard or nothing there... That's a true story.

Wonder if he got in some time with Sonic in Super Smash Bros. Brawl? He orbited the Nintendo booth during my eagle-eyed stalking, but never dove in. He may disapprove.

Torokun's Page [Deviant Art]

One of the big draw backs of Games Convention is that it is virtually impossible to get a direct flight here. To get to the Leipzig airport you pretty much have to fly to either Munich or Frankfurt. I flew into Frankfurt and then had a leisurely seven hour lay-over that I killed by blowing ungodly amounts of money on robotic roulette, reading and posting on the site.

When I finally hopped over to the gate for my flight to Leipzig I discovered a virtual whose who of game developers waiting to catch the same flight. Standing in the line were folks from the Call of Duty 4 development team; Dave Doak, Free Radical's director; and Castlevania producer Koji Igarashi. They were all sort of milling about in front of the ticket counter waiting to board the plane. A few minutes later I spotted Hideo Kojima sitting off by himself in the business lounge waiting for the call to board. I wasn't able to quite grab a recognizable picture of him with my cell, though I got one later as he stood in line in front of me. He had on some very cool Ducati shoes.

I couldn't help but think that if the plane went down it would sort of be like The Day the Music Died for gaming... and I wouldn't be around to write about it.

If we have any spares or irregular Phil clones, we're willing to accept offers. Serious inquiries only.

...as i walked in the door Uwe Boll was standing right there. So i had to go over and say hi, i grabbed the attached pic of myself and him and made sure to thank him for pissing off videogame fans everywhere. He mubbled something in German and i heard a few shit and fucks coming out his mouth. ...he is quite a nice guy. I picked up his autograph and walked into the theatre.

Burger Time
Tetris
Microsoft Flight Simulator X
Cooking Mama
Solitaire
Outrun

No, on second thought. Don't ask about Outrun That could actually be made into a movie, and we don't want to give him any ideas.
There are some cool guests [It Came From Lake Michigan! Thanks Teekan!]

I asked Inafune-san a question,
so I'll quote myself and him verbatim:

Me: "Itsu Dead Rising 2 ni tsukae ni hajimemasu ka?"

Inafune: "Mokkai"

There you have it. My Japanese was bad, so I said "tsukae" instead of　"asobu." But then again, a meaning of "tsukaeru" means "to be　serviceable" or "to be useful" so I guess I sounded a little mean. I apologize for my horrible Japanese mistake.

On Thursday at the comic-con my brother and I wear walking to the hospitality suite in the nearby Marriott hotel when I noticed an older man in an expensive suit standing next to some black car. I found him to seem strangely out of place, and thought "hey, it's a guy-in-a-suit"(In a slightly pejorative fashion). After I passed the man I hear someone come up to the vehicle; feeling curious, I turned to look,only to see everyone's least favorite director of videogame-to-movie adoptions, Uwe Boll. He expressed relief to the old man, whom I assume was his chauffeur, and quickly entered the car. I pulled out my camera to take a picture, however it takes about five seconds for the camera to start up, and by that time Uwe was already in the car with the door closed. While such a picture would be of little value, I suppose I figured it would have been nice to have a picture to go with this email.

Capcom just rang the rusty old Kotaku mailbox, sending word that there won't be one Lost Planet signings, but two! From the email:

WHAT: Lost Planet Game Signing Event

Get your copy of Lost Planet and have it signed by the development team! Free posters while supplies last!

WHEN: Friday, January 12, 2007
5:00pm - 8:00pm

WHERE:
GameStop at Bellevue Square
248 Bellevue Square
Bellevue, WA 98004
425-453-1696

EB Games at Union Square
151 Powell St.
San Francisco, CA 94102
415-362-7601

WHO: Keiji Inafune, executive producer for Lost Planet at Bellevue Square
Jun Takeuchi, producer for Lost Planet at Union Square

Both at Union Squares. In different cities and states. Confusing! Anyone who goes, do snap pics for Kotaku Stalku. Brian Ashcraft

Friday night. I was just wrapping up a handful of posts, ready to head to the Spike TV Video Game Awards. Despite my personal feelings for the VGAs, I was excited to attend. I'd get to talk to some famous and semi-famous folks on the red carpet, slip Rachel Leigh Cook my card, then watch Tenacious D rock out and bask in the insanity of the show. As I put away the laptop, my stomach warned me something was wrong.

I hadn't eaten but a handful of random snacks all day, so I assumed it was just hunger. Better eat a proper meal, I though. After heading down to the Galen Center at USC, I decided "I should get a Fatburger and put something in my stomach." One third of a Fatburger later, I threw in the napkin. Or towel. Back to the VGAs!

That's when, to my surprise, I saw Tetsuya Mizuguchi (of Rez and Lumines fame) walking out of the VIP area with two lovely ladies, one decked out in an Every Extend Extra t-shirt by Beams. I yell "Mizuguchi! Can I get a pic?" He complied, giving me his best goblin face. I thanked him, we shook hands and Miz sped off to catch up with CliffyB. They hugged! So sweet.

As I approached the two, ready to grab a shot, my stomach gave me the signal: this Fatburger is scheduled to launch within the hour. Shit. I grew more delirious as fever took over, but had the common sense to stay away. If I approached the two, I was sure someone would wind up with vomit splash on their red carpet walking shoes. And I wanted to prevent being blacklisted from press access at all future events.

That was it. I knew my night at the VGAs was over. I handed my tickets to Freeloadin' Scott Andrews, sped home, car window down just in case, waiting for my digestive system to go in reverse.

Didn't take long, but I took comfort in the fact that I'd met one of the few game designers I've always admired. It's a shame I didn't have the strength to stay, as I'd have like to chat him and Cliff up a bit. Plus, if I got Mizuguchi sick, I'm going to feel awful. I was also bummed that I didn't get to retell a full night of adventure to the Kotaku readership.

Hopefully, I'll be back next year in full health to absorb the full impact of the VGAs and give Miz a big old mancrush-style hug. Michael McWhertor

You're in Vienna. Your big time PSP game is getting a Christmas touch-up. How do you celebrate? Deface property! And then after that, scribble on small Austrian children. Here's super nice Tsutomo Kouno inking out a scene on a display at Subotron Shop, a retro-gaming and game culture shop in Vienna. Brian Ashcraft

Kouno Goes Drawing Krazy [Fanboy, Thanks newq!]

David Jaffe is quite quickly becoming, for me, the game developer's Everyman. He's neurotic, gets drunks and spouts off and seemingly spends a disproportionate amount of time worrying over what other people think of him. And by other people I don't mean his bosses or his equals, no I mean you, the gamer.

As I mentioned in the duplicate post about Jaffe's drunken interview at the Playboy Mansion: Anyone who, while roaring drunk at the Playboy Mansion, tells his Sony handler to "go fuck yourself. Go to the Grotto and fuck yourself, because no one else there is going to" is deserving of plenty of admiration.

The morning after Jaffe had some major reservations about the interview. But it turns out things went OK for him, at least judging by his Sunday blog entry:

The other bit of press is from last month's Playboy Mansion Party. This is the video I thought would kill my career as I did it while shit-faced. I also did it at the URGING of Jeff Reese, the marketing guy I share the scene with in this clip. But gametrailers did a nice editing job and made me look- I think- not like an ass! Thanks GameTrailers! :)

Come to think of it, maybe he's more the Woody Allen of developers than the Everyman. Brian Crecente

SICK NO MORE! [Jaffe's Game Design]

Microsoft's J Allard isn't only too cool for periods and shift keys, but also hair. Even fake hair is too cool for J. And when manly things like HONOR and PRIDE are on the line, J says "meh."

Backstory: 2003. Newsweek N'Gai Croal is doing something I'm legally not allowed to (talk with Jallard). A gentleman's agreement was reached. Recalls Croal:

The bet: whether the PSP would reach worldwide shipments of 10 million units within the same 12 month span of time it had taken the PS2, give or take 3 months. We took the pro; Allard, the con. If we were correct and the PSP hit its mark, Allard would wear a dreadlock wig for the entire month of May, including the week of E3 2006. But if Allard were right and the PSP missed our agreed-upon milestone, he would get to shave our dreads. Onstage. During the Xbox E3 2006 press conference. In front of 1,500 attendees.

Sony hit that mark, E3 came and went and Jallard balked. Just like every time he wusses out when we try to contact him. Remember J, we don't think you are a COWARD or a LIAR for not holding up your end of the deal. A former fatty, yes, but yellow? Nooooooooooo. Brian Ashcraft

J Allard Won't Wear A Wig [Newsweek via Game Break]

God, can you imagine this being your life? Imagine that you're a vapid, stuck-up quasi-celebrity, a media whore. You have no talent except a panache for fashion, a pretty smile and the inexplicable attention of photographers and journalists, yet you some actually manage earn a living showing up parties, smiling prettily for the camera and pretending to be nice to creeps and perverts. Wouldn't you just be filled with self-loathing?

Thank god I'm not Cliffy B! Florian Eckhardt

Lohan attends Gears of War party, Upskirts Not Provided [The Last Boss]

Snapped and sent our way, that's producer Jade Raymond (Assassin's Creed) and game designer CliffyB (Gears of War) backstage at X06. Young and pretty, working on killer titles and proud owners of good dental hygiene. Yep, we're insanely jealous.

That begs the question: Which one are you more excited about? And we're talking about their games here, kiddos. Brian Ashcraft

Just hours earlier, Mega Man creator and Dead Rising producer Keiji Inafune endured sitting in a folding chair for an extended period of time while grown men in shorts talked at him in a foreign language. Kotakuite Dan was on the spot, sending us a wonderful description and pics of the event. Hit the jump for the full account and a photo gallery. Brian Ashcraft

My friends and I arrived at the mall at around 3:30, with a line already forming around the EB Games entrance. When we went inside, the clerk greeted us with a "Dead Rising?" When we let him know that we were looking for the game, he let us know that all of the copies for non-preorders were taken already, but to check back at around the time of the signing to see if their shipment had come in. Luckily, a voice from the back room piped up and told us that there were plenty of copies that had just arrived, so we picked up our games and headed to the end of the line.

While we were waiting, someone who some people in line claimed was Major Nelson was handing out free XBox 360 shirts, thanking us for supporting the 360. The shirts were nothing special, just a tiny 360 logo on a plain white shirt, but it was better than nothing, and gives me yet another piece of gaming attire to throw on the pile. A couple different media sources were filming the event - one was definately Capcom, and one was probably MS, and they would intermittently tell us to throw our copies of the game in the air for some photo ops.

So when the doors finally opened, they let people in five at a time to get their games signed. When I got to the man himself, I got my game signed, plus a tattered copy of my Capcom Design Works book. It looked like Inafune was obliging all kinds of autograph requests, as I saw someone with an autographed copy of Mega Man II walk out of the place with his cartridge signed.

Pics Here [Flickr] Thanks, Dan!

For some, this will come as a shock. Mario isn't voiced by an actual Italian guy. It's hard to believe because his voice sounds so authentic that it puts Chico Marx's Italian stereotype stick to shame. Instead, Mario's in-game chatter is brought to life by journeyman actor Charles Martinet, the guy that played Arnie the Dinosaur in Nine Months. Here's Charles wondering around the Comic-Con last weekend. Reader Tim snapped the photo and said:

Charles was really nice! People were going up to him requesting a Mario voice mail message, and he would happily do it.

Thereby emotionally scarring legions of bug-eyed, mouth-gaping children. And kiddos, there ain't no Easter Bunny or Santa Claus, either. Brian Ashcraft

Learn About Charles [Official Site]

It wasn't only Kojima's doppleganger that was making the rounds at Comic-Con. To promote Halo action figures, the game's developer Bungie rolled out a man in a Master Chief suit and some other dudes in t-shirts and jeans. Kotakuite Victor was on hand and has this to report:

They had the Master Chief w/ a Bungie rep walking around all morning promoting the autograph signing at 12pm today w/ 10 members of Bungie ( game programers & art designers) They were setup at the Joyride Booth ( Halo Action figures) and signing autographs, I was able to chat w/ them a bit, all I got was the the game is coming along smoothly and is definetly on track for a "2007" release. And one guy said he's programming all the Covenent "interior" levels for Halo 3... Wish I got more out of them...

So do we, but you did well, Victor. Brian Ashcraft

Victor says that Brent Lewis (Writer), Lorraine McLees (Creative Director), Lee Hammack (Art Designer), Tom Doyle (Art Designer), Isaac Hannaford (Art Designer), Robert McLees (Art Designer), Jean "Moebius" Giroud (Halo Graphic Novel Artist) and some other dudes with shitty handwriting were signing autographs.

Don't blame hipster Xbox creator J "James" Allard for turning pale and pudgy. He's been squirreled away, giving his heart and soul to Microsoft's "secret" iPod killer. Subsistence means a steady diet of Jolt cola and Combos cheddar cheese crackers, and the opportunities to emerge from his work hovel have been few. Here is J in a rare moment, enjoying the fresh air, wearing a sweater hoody and looking like Uncle Fester. The other smiley person? Why that's former G4 television host Laura Foy. Brian Ashcraft

More Here [GamerTagRadio]

More Moore Here [UK:R]

Thanks to Metafuture for scoring this once-in-a-lifetime footage of a historic E3 media event. Florian Eckhardt

That's Hollywood badboy Jack Nicholson Christian Slater getting his game on at the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation's Celebrity Carnival. The yearly event is used to raise money for pediatric AIDS research.

Nintendo set up a DS lounge and shoved portables in celebs' hands, telling them to play or bossman Reggie would bust out the can of whoopass. O.C. star Rachel Bilson, Ellen Pompeo from Grey's Anatomy and Christian Slater (Broken Arrow, True Romance) all got up close and personal with Nintendo's sexy hardware. Two more pics after the j-u-m-p. Brian Ashcraft

More Here [Siliconera] Thanks, Regan!

Bust out the Adidas kicks and Kangol caps. Xbox-centric Gamertag Radio interviewed legendary rapper Darryl "D.M.C." McDaniels as he checked out Gears of War at E3. D.M.C.'s not really a gamer. He talks and talks about things like being an honorary Dominican for five years. Non-sequiters abound, D.M.C. talks a lot.

Listen Here [Gamertag Radio]

Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima mixed with the pelebs and swung by the Microsoft booth for some Gears of War action. The spankin' CliffyB title was shown behind closed doors for journos and apparently big famous game designers interested in working on 360 titles. Hint: In the picture, Kojima isn't the fat guy, but the dude in the white jacket. —Brian Ashcraft

More Here [Neo-GAF]

Nintendo had a strong showing with it's Wii and DS. Check out our liveblogging of the Nintendo press conference for a blow-by-blow description of the event. Nintendo followed through with a strong line up, including games like Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Super Smash Bros. Brawl (with surprise guest Solid Snake), Wario Ware: Smooth Moves and so much more. Nintendo's rumored $249 price point might make your PS3 purchase a little easier to swallow. You can check out all of our Wii coverage here.

Sony also made waves of their own at their highly anticipated press conference. Unfortunately, the excitement petered out somewhat when they announced that you'd have to drop $500 or $600 on the PS3. Still, there were a ton of game announcements and demos, as well as neato controller functionality and PSP emulation updates to help stave off sticker shock. Check our hands-on impressions for more.

The final Big Three player Microsoft held its more understated presser just after Nintendo, dropping the bomb everyone know was coming: Halo 3. A bit more surprising was their "day one" deal with Rockstar to get Grand Theft Auto IV to release alongside the PS3 version — with a handful of Xbox 360 exclusives — and their Live Anywhere technology. You can read our cynical take on the whole thing here.

On the third party front, RPG monolith Square-Enix announced dropped some major Final Fantasy details. After showing off the Final Fantasy XIII trailer for the PS3, they went on to reveal two more FFXIII titles as well as exclusive Wii and DS software.

In addition to showing a new Metal Gear Solid 4 trailer, Konami and Kojima Productions finally gave PSP gamers what they wanted from day one: a true MGS for PSP. Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops will ship for the PlayStation Portable next year.

For more exclusive coverage of E3, be sure to check out our Kotaku Stalku and Justify Your Game stories, or peruse virtually everything we did from just one post.

Word from Capcom was that Mikami didn't do many interviews. Perhaps he wasn't allowed to do them, because when he did, he'd say things like he would rather cut off his head, than see PS2 ports.

"This is the director of Okami," Inaba said right off the bat. The previous day, I saw Inaba is a cubicle, looking down a flock of European journos. He looked bored.

"Nice to meet cho."

We shake hands. And Mikami adjusts his sunglasses. The morning haze still hangs over LA. There's no sun in the sky.

"I'm really impressed with Okami. When's it going to be out in the US?"

"September?" Mikami asks Inaba.

"Yeah, September."

"Are you working on anything now?"

"I'm on vacation until June," the director says. "So I'm just thinking now."

"Enjoy your time off."

"Thanks, and tell everyone about Okami," he says fiddling with those shades.

"I will."

Shinji Mikami [Answers]

Actually, Itagaki was a total sweetheart, offering up a hearty "Good morning!", some cigarette breath that matched my pounding hangover perfectly, and a formal, but awkward, photo op with yours truly. Thanks, man, but I'm still pissed about buying Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball.

Reader redban was at E3 yesterday and sent in this photo of his buddies CliffyB and Joe Rogan hanging out. Did we miss some press release for the next season of Fear Factor, or is there an actual reason Rogan looks like a pirate now?

What a swell bunch. Go watch their show.

Earlier this week, our intrepid Weekend Editor Mike McWhertor spotted a Halo 3 t-shirt before the trailer was shown at the Msoft E3 presser. Frankie at Bungie.net had this to say.

The buildup to the trailer was not without its gaffes. We spotted one of our own staff wearing his Halo 3 t-shirt before the announcement and quickly told him to zip up his jacket. Amazingly, in that 20 second window - a Kotaku reporter spotted him and actually blogged it.

Make that a handsome Kotaku reporter. (Ladies, he's single. We think.)

Post Here [Bungie] Thanks, D!tfli

Family Guy and Batman fanboys have been queueing up for literally minutes to receive the heavenly scrawl of one Mr. Adam West. That pleasant look on Adam's face is most likely due to the previous doughy gentleman's request "Adam, will you sign my breast?!?".

Yeah, he had 'em.

By far the most retarded thing we've heard so far at E3 came this afternoon courtesy of a lady from Chicago in line at Gameloft's booth, who said, with absolutely no trace of irony, "I've been waiting an hour and a half to see Paris Hilton! I'm going to feel really stupid if she doesn't show!"

ME: "What games are you looking forward to?"
WILLIAMS: "Of course, Spore. Also, Battlefield 2142, Crisis, Brothers in Arms. WoW always kicks my ass. My son and I always play, and it makes me feel like Rain Man."