Tonight's Night Note is kinda long, so I put it after the jump.

What you missed last night
What Are The Top Selling Games Of 2008 So Far?
Fallout 3 Refused Classification In Australia
Patapon 2 Announced, Let's Look At It
Mega Man 9: Cheap As $10 Chips
Cliff Bleszinski Wants Fewer Buttons
This Wii Hard Drive Is So Damn Phony (And Funny)
Does This Banjo Kazooie Video Confirm An Xbox 360 Motion Controller?

This morning was spent in a police station. An old, dirty Osaka police station where everyone smokes — even, no especially the cops. Late last week, white paint was splattered all over my car. No clue who did it, so I called the police, who was very helpful and said I need to get the car fixed or repainted or whatever before they can start investigation. Turns out that the paint thankfully came off in the carwash, so I was only out like ten bucks. Still I told the officer that I'd bring my receipt to finish my paperwork, I headed over to the station earlier today.

And so I was talking to an officer, and of course cops kept bringing in dudes that had been tethered and cuffed into the station to talk to them about who-knows-what. There was a guy behind me, not a copy, just some guy in workman's clothes, speaking really rough Japanese to another officer. And that officer was speaking rough Japanese back at him. This guy looked late 30s and tough — though, he was also there just to file a complaint about something, I didn't catch what. The guy would break into scary Japanese, telling the cop he was wasting his time or to hurry up or whatever. Seemed like a real asshole.

I was told to wait and sit on a bench in the hallway while they finished up the paperwork. That tough guy sat down next to me and started cussing to himself and cursing the police and whatnot. Then he turned to me and asked in broken English:

"What's your name?"
"Brian."
"Plain?"
"Brian."
(Points to himself, proud) "Kenji."

Kinda left the conversation at that, and the guy smiled at me. He had no teeth. Then the guy went off and started screaming at the cops again, and I went over to the counter and finished signing the paperwork and just as I was leaving, I passed tough guy Kenji, who turned and said to me:

"Bye bye Kenji. See you!"

Dude even waved.

What you missed:
EA Clears FTC Hurdle In Take-Two Bid
Capcom Wants To See You At E3
GameStop's Leaked Xbox 360 Price Drop Info
Thompson Calls Judge "Raving Wild Woman", "Unhinged"
Konami Confirms Elebits 2 DS
What's Coming From Microsoft At E3?
Activision Blizzard Merger Official
SCEE Explains Firmware 2.40 Problems, Says Everything OK Now
Gears of War 2 Cryptically Dated By Epic
Lost Planet The Movie By Solid Snake Is Just Shy Of Confirmed
Animal Crossing Wii At E3 Already Confirmed?
EA's Steve Schnur Explains The Hype Behind The Madden Soundtrack
Beer Pong For WiiWare Gets Neutered, Complaints

After days of digging through name books and websites, we think we *might* have found a name for Micro-Bash. Man, it's been hard! I seriously have spent like an hour or more every morning searching for a good name.

The tricky part is that my family has last name, and "Ashcraft" in Japanese is a little kooky. So as I mentioned earlier, we hafta find a name that not only works in English and Japanese, but a name with two kanji characters or less — and "good" Kanji characters to boot. Plus, we didn't want to find a super common name, but not some totally strange made-up Engrish-Japanese name.

But! We think we sound something that works well in both Japanese and English and with really nice kanji. Naming kids in English is way easier — not having to worrying about things like kanji and freely picking names you like. But, it's done. Whew.

Now we hafta think of a middle name for his US passport.

What you missed last night
Square Enix Announces, Releases Song Summoner For iPod
Soulcalibur IV Adds One More Female Fighter
New Bungie Game Announcement Next Monday?
Nintendo, SEGA, Ubisoft, EA All Back PEGI Over BBFC
2.40 Problems Fixed, 2.41 Firmware Goes Live
2.41 Firmware Brings New PS3 Platinum Trophy
Morrigan, Onimusha's Soki Joining New Capcom Brawler

Now? Nothing, not a damn thing, but the sound of keyboard pounding. I actually don't usually listen to music while I'm working, mostly because my office is in a loft and I'd need to wear headphones so as to not get divorced. I did just update my iPhone in preparations for E3, got rid of a lot of the mellow stuff, like Cannonball and Miles, to make room for some more AC/DC, Butthole Surfers and ABBA. Yes, I have freakishly eclectic taste in music. I do go on musician binges, but that usually results in me dropping the band for a really long time. I prefer shuffling all of my songs.

I put a break down of the artists on my iPhone on the break, check it out, maybe you'll find something worth grabbing before you visit for E3. Be warned, even though it's just artist names, it's a really, really long list. REALLY!

What you missed:
Bonus Round Talks E3 Nintendo with Croal, Totilo and Crecente
The Magical Disappearing Battlefield: Bad Company Stats
Game Club Meets Tonight
Hands-On The Force Unleashed Impressions
First Easy Xbox 360 Question
E3: Dud or a Blast?
Marvel MMO: Gorgeous, Fantastic, Still Very Dead
The Five Finalists For Kotaku's New Comment Czar
"More" Dragon Age Revealed This Wednesday

ABBA
AC/DC
Alicia Bridges
Amil Stewart
Amy Winehouse
Barry White
Beach Boys
Beyonce Knowles
Big Blue Missile
Bobby Darin
Bob Dylan
Bon Jovi
The Brand New Heavies
Buena Vista Social Club
Butthole Surfers
Carrie Undewood
The Chemical Brothers
Christinia Aguilera
Coldplay
Copycat
Corinne Bailey Rae
Daughtry
David Bowie
Dexter Gordon
Donna Summer
Duran Duran
The Eagles
Earworm
Edwyn Collins
Eels
Elvis Costello
Enya
Feist
The Flaming Lips
Foo Fighters
Foreigner
The Gibson Brothers
Gipsy Kings
Gloria Gaynor
Grateful Dead
Green Dead
Herbie Hancock
Iron Butterfly
Isaac Hayes
Jan & Dean
Janet Jackson
Janis Joplin
Journey
Juice Newton
Justin Timberlake
KC & The Sunshine Band
k.d. Lang
Kool & the Gang
Led Zeppelin
Lenny Kravitz
Lipps
Madonna
Maroon 5
Marvin Gaye
Moby
My Chemical Romance
Nelly Furtado
Nickelback
Norah Jones
Ozzy Osbourne
Party Ben
Paul McCartney
Paul Simon
Pink Martini
Plane White T's
Pink
The Police
Prince
The Prodigy
Quincy Jones
REM
Robin Williams
Santana
Seu Jorge
Sex Pistols
The Shins
Simon & Garfunkel
Stan Getz
Stevie Wonder
Sting
The Surfaris
Teena Maria
U2
Vampire Weekend
Village People
Vince Gil
The White Stripes
The Who
Yvonne Elliman
The 5th Dimension
8 1/2 Souvenirs

Man, it's Monday! And a pretty quiet Monday, post holiday. Went to my kid's soccer practice, where another little kid crapped in his pants and had to be taken off the field by the coach. Ah, yes, youth.

Been listening to a lot of Bowie recently, a lot — well, up to Scary Monsters, after which he seemed to lose the plot for a while (warm fuzzy Labyrinth soundtrack memories aside). Heroes just might be in my top five albums of all time...

I always seem to go in phases where I begin listening to one artist or genre, listen to that to death and then move on..........

What's on your playlist? Gonna need some Tunes to listen to on the plane.

What you missed last night
2.40 Fix Coming "Midweek"
David Hayter Begged Konami To Change MGS4 Stuff
Let's Watch The First Mega Man 9 Footage
New Prince Of Persia Screens
Japan Presents Foreign Dignitaries With...A DS Lite

We had a patriotic if abbreviated weekend here in the Tower. Some publishing glitches and such but that's getting to be par for the course now. I did my July 4 resolutions last night (in which I revisit the New Year's Resolutions I never kept) and have decided I'm gonna start and end each day with 30 pushups. Plus, no more eating directly from the fridge. Everything I eat has to go on a plate. I'll let you know how all this goes. I'm a relentlessly self-improving boulangerie owner.

Oh, for gamers in the Bay Area, there will be a comedy showcase this coming Saturday custom fit to gamers' perspective. It's being emceed by Jeff Reitman, a pal of mine from the San Francisco Comedy College, and will feature a lineup of comedians who have worked in the games industry. You can get tickets online, and if you use the Konami code (UUDDLRLRBA) in the coupon code field, they cost $10 instead of $12. The show is on the 5th floor of 414 Mason St in San Francisco, and I'm going to be there (but not performing).

Finally, I should point out that when things got a little wacky in the comments of yesterday's Bourne Conspiracy impressions, I challenged InsidiousTuna to find a clip of the Chuck E. Cheese Rock-afire Explosion band jamming to "Smell Yo Dick" by Riskay. Tuna couldn't produce that, but he did find a wonderful Sims 2 mashup of the song, featuring the titular girlfriend olfactory inspection of the genital area (and, from what I can tell, some retaliatory dutch-ovening). I put it after the jump, just to be safe.

Some highlights this weekend:

Yes, This Is The Chrono Trigger DS Trailer
Games Today: We Do Melodrama?
Rumor: Dueling Rock Band 2 Tracklists
'Performative Play': Games and the 'Real World'
Fifteen Minutes on Wikipedia is Like a Semester at Yale, if Yale was a WoW Server
From the Margins to the Mainland: the Future of Virtual Worlds?

As a YouTube commenter in a Lion King Smell Yo Dick mash-up put it (yes, and they also have an Ed, Edd & Eddy Smell Yo Dick version): "Oh no. You found out I was fucking another girl by smelling my penis after begging frantically. How dignified of you." Quoted for truth.

Actually, kinda miss the 4th. Well, the way it's done in America. People pretty much set off fireworks all summer here — like you can buy them at your local 7-11. So, they're more of a summer thing, which is nice. Not sure about the laws regarding them, but people tend to go down by a river and shoot 'em off at all hours of the night with no problems from the police.

We planned on shooting off fireworks tonight, but ran out of him. The afternoon was spent at the doctors. Going into this, Mini-Bash wanted a girl, but after a ding-dong popped up on the ultrasound, it looks like we'll be adding yet another young lad to the Ashcraft clan. Afterwards, he remarked: When the baby boy is a baby, it'll be cute. But when it grows up, it won't be cute anymore. Valid point.

Now, we just have to think of a name....... And a name that "works" in both English and Japanese and has Japanese kanji. Tricky!

What you missed last night:
Five Games That Matter In Kojima's Life
New Halo Game For E3 (Master Chief Not Included)
Dyack vs. NeoGAF, Part II
360 Rock Band Guitars Work With GH: Aerosmith [Update]
DualShock 3 And Xbox 360 Frankencontrollers
64 Percent of Those Polled Gave Up Wii Fit
Led Zeppelin Uncomfortable With Licensing Songs To Rock Band, Guitar Hero

Have you ever wondered how holiday's creep? Like the Fourth of July isn't until tomorrow, of course, but people tend to try and leave a bit early from work the day before. Some people don't go in at all. Stores close early. I keep expecting that one day all of the holidays are going to meld together and no one will ever have to work again... until we run out of, like, everything.

Do you ever celebrate the Fourth in Japan? Like freak out the neighbors by setting off firecrackers on a seemingly random day, calling up all of the stories in the region asking for watermelon. Trying to find a place to roast marshmallows? Me? I've never been a big fan of the Fourth. Fireworks just don't do it for me and I the only good watermelon is a dead watermelon in my book. We are going up to the cabin for a long weekend to get away from the heat. While my house is a bt more than a mile above sea level, my parent's cabin is more than 9,000 feet above sea level! Crazy. Even though I'm adjusted to high altitude living I still tend to get headaches for the first day or so. Must be the lack of oxygen.

What you missed:
Call of Duty: World at War Figures Show Off U.S., Brit Might
GH: On Tour Activision's Largest DS Launch Ever
Come Party With Kotaku
Dark Sector Devs Helping With Bioshock PS3
Sony: 2.40 Firmware Problems Not Widespread
Once a Labor of Love, Sales of Football Rosters Now Inflame Passions
Battlefield: Bad Company Review: Going For The Gold
Can You Really Win A Wii As A Carnival Prize?

Ooooooooooooh, party. Sounds fun!

Man, my MacBook Pro is really buckling under the head and getting pretty damn hot here. Summers in Japan (well, Osaka) are pretty rough. I just sweat at the thought at typing on that hot machine. Was wondering if you had any fixes? (Well, besides turning on the A/C — which doesn't really work, because my office doesn't have an air condition, but it does have two balconies overlooking a river!) I've got some sort of fan contraption thingy underneath it to cool it down, but it's still quick hot. Any idea?

What you missed last night
New Gears Of War 2 Singleplayer Shots
Capcom Knows Importance of Foreign Business, Opens New French Subsidiary
Even With MGS4, PS3 Sales Flattened By The Wii
Brawl Once "Had A Lot More Characters"
Too Human Online Co-op Hands On
Is This An Animal Crossing Wii Hint?
Rock Band Music Creation To Be "Radically Different" Says CEO

Wow it's been a crazy day. I've spent much of it trying to finalize our E3 plans, which includes that reader party we've been talking about. The appointments are mostly booked for the show. I just have a few companies left to finalize with. Even though there are less attendees this time around, the fact that there really is only two days to see stuff (Tuesday is packed with press conferences) makes fitting all 40 or so companies a real task.

As for the party. I just got off the phone with the bar and we've got everything locked down. The party is going to be at the Golden Gopher in Los Angeles on the Sunday night before E3. I even managed to squeeze Gawker Media up for a little open bar monies. This one will be like the ones we've held in New York and Tokyo. A low-key affair that gives us a chance to hang with all of the people who make our jobs possible.

I'll be posting the official announcement tomorrow sometime. Can't wait!

What you missed:
Resistance 2's Leviathan Unveiled
Blizzard WWI WoW Pet Revealed
Square Enix Confirms Chrono Trigger DS
Infogrames-Controlled Atari Gets 49 Percent Of Publishing Revenues From DBZ
Frankenreview: Battlefield: Bad Company (Xbox 360)
American McGee Gives Gamers Free Grimm
Alpha Protocol Aims Ambitiously For RPG, FPS Fans
Sony Pulls PS3 2.40 Firmware After Reported Problems
One "Mortal Kombat Killer" Avoids Prison Term

Sounds like you had a nice vacation! And I dig the cufflinks. (And the brilliant reader Photoshops in the comments.)

Earlier this evening we went up to Mini Bash's school for the Star Festival. Next week is the Tanabata, which you can read about it here if yer interested. Anyhoo, Mini Bash and all the other kids in his class told the teacher want they wanted to be when they grew up. The teacher then wrote these wishes on slips on paper which we attached to bamboo leaves. Mini-Bash's read:

When I grow up, I want to be Squirtle from Pokémon.

Yep, we're pretty proud. o_0

What you missed last night

Yakuza 3 Announced (No, Not Again, A New Yakuza 3)

Is This Official Chrono Trigger DS Confirmation?

Is Chrono Trigger DS Coming To America?

Minority Report Designer Behind New, Motion-Controlled 360 GUI?

An Elegant Stylus For A More Civilized Age

Namco Bandai Says Soulcalibur IV Install Size "Significantly Overblown"

Rock Band 2 Preview Shows Journey, Foo Fighters, Motorhead And More

I'm back! Actually, I've been back since Sunday night, but I was so swamped with emails and busy work yesterday that I wasn't able to write up a proper day note. Glad to see that Totilo took to the Tower so well and I was happy to see just how well he was treated by the readers.

My week long vacation was spent on a cruise ship as it made its way from Haiti to Jamaica to Grand Cayman to Mexico. One of the reasons I like to go on vacations like this is because it's harder and more expensive for me to access the internet, so I end up cutting lose from the tubes. The trip was fairly relaxing. Tristan and I spent an inordinate amount of on board time playing in the ship's arcade. I managed to loose a lot of money on Stacker only to see a kid win a Wii a few minutes after my last attempt.

The on board kid's club had a whole day that was Nintendo themed, which basically meant they took a bunch of typical games like tag and such and gave them Nintendo names, like Rescue Princess Peach. L-A-M-E.

At one point during our cruise, while anchored off of Haiti, one of the mammoth ship's lines broke and the boat, the largest cruise ship in the world, started tilting. It tilted so much that the water from the pools rushed out and flooded the nearby decks. At which point I suggested we make our way down to something closer to an exit point. They ended up righting the ship pretty quickly, but never said a word to anyone about it.

Turns out one of our readers was honeymooning on the ship. He emailed me yesterday to say he spotted me hanging out by the pool, reading, I suspect. Kinda hope I had my gut sucked in or at least I wasn't scratching anything when he saw me.

While bad weather and crappy kid club times nixed our hopes of kayaking in Haiti, I did get a chance to wear my Clank cuff links with my tux during a dinner. How geeky is that? Suitably obnoxious pic on the jump.

What you missed:
Work for Kotaku (In Comments)
Playing Spore: A Lesson in Teabagging
Sporelebrity Contest Kicks Off
Capcom Wants Bay-Area Gamers For Secret Game Test
Blizzard Worldwide Invitational Wrap-Up
GameTap: Myst Pass-Back Benefits Fans
Konami Whips Up Castlevania Judgment, An Online 3D Fighter For Wii
Xbox 360 Getting a 3D Dashboard Make-Over?
Game Club Beyond Good & Evil: The First Assignment

So, yeah, everyday I've been playing soccer when the kid. When I was younger, I played soccer for a few years, but later, got more interested in baseball. The kid really likes soccer, and man, I'm quite enjoying it! Don't remember liking soccer this much. It's really a great game — love the passing, love it.

What you missed last night
Two New Tatsunoko vs. Capcom Characters Revealed!
Sony Files Multi-Touch Portable Patent
Microsoft: If We Launch A Game On 360 & PC Simultaneously, We Shoot Ourselves In The Foot
Too Human: "This Has To Be The Worst Game I've Played In The Last 5 Years"
Let's Dress Up Chun-Li
Rock Band 2's Guitar Is Easy On The Eye"
Too Human Hands-On: Six Hours In And Half-Way Home

Ahoy! Welcome back from you boating adventure.

Today, I went to the immigration office to see if I got permanent residence. The way it works here (and other countries, too, I guess) is that you typically get a one-year or a three-year visa from your employer, who sponsors your visa. If you are married, then your spouse is your sponsor. That's kinda worrying if you've got a family — like, what if you don't get your visa renewed? (It happens!)

What's more, for me, I can't qualify for a home loan with a spouse visa. Banks just won't lend money! They got burned lending easy money during the Bubble Economy are are extra cautious. Want to buy a house? Most foreigners need that governmental Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval that is permanent residency. To apply, I had to fill out a bunch forms, stating why I wanted residency, divulge personal info. like how I met Mrs. Bashcraft and include pictures of us together over the years. She was my sponsors for my application, and her parents, my in-laws, were like the back-up sponsors. The government checked my tax record, blah, blah, blah, to see if I was being a good foreigner. We've been on pins and needles, 'cause we are too ready to buy a house, sick of paying rent, whatever. And today, we went to the immigration office and learned that, yes, I am officially a permanent resident of Japan. Yay!

What does that mean? Pretty much that I don't have to renew my visa and can stay here as long as I want, but do have to get re-entry permits for my passport when I leave the country (which is something every foreigner has to do — maybe except for Korean-Japanese, not sure). Can't vote with permanent residency, though, you gotta be a citizen for that. In the past, it's been somewhat challenging to get permanent residency, though it probably was much easier for me as I am married and do my part in increasing the shrinking Japanese population.

What you missed last night
Rock Band 2 announced
2.40's In-Game XMB Walkthrough
"Major Retailer" Confirms 360 Price-Cut
DualShock 3 Finally Dated for Europe
Metal Gear Online Stand Alone Confirm, Access Numbers Announced

Alright. I'm out of here. It's almost July and I have a cold. Tell me how that happens. I have to rest up because tonight I am "on the radio." It's a comedy gig. The person who conscripted me said, "You can say anything you want, you can get drunk, we don't care." That means it's Internet radio, so, not even the truckers will be listening. But for anyone who wants to tune in and listen to me swear and embarrass myself, it'll be from 11 pm to 1 am Crecente time tonight. The sites are www.piratecatradio.com or www.fccfree.com, where, I shit you not, Postal 2 is a sponsor (on fccfree, anyway). The episodes are archived in podcast form too.

However, if you are in San Francisco or Los Angeles, it's 87.9 FM on your dial — which leads me to believe this is something broadcast using a college dorm radiator. Oh, also, if you are in Berlin, 104.8 FM, but this'll be about 5 am local time, I think. And everyone there is still in mourning over Euro 2008.

Some highlights today:

Mario Marathon Raises More than $10,000
Microsoft Poll: One of Five Canadian Men Game in the Nude
Blizzard Worldwide Invitational: “There Is No Penguin Level.”
Is That a 360 Devkit on Kojima's Desk?
Preserving Our History: Good Games Never Go Out of Style

Plus a ton of Diablo III coverage.

Ah yes.

Haven't been playing portables much of late as I'm at home all the time, so if I can squeeze in a game, it'll be GTAIV, CoD4 or MGS4 (yes, I started it, and yes, it's quite good!) Hrm, Mrs. Bashcraft plays Mario Kart DS like every damn day, so.................. She still seems to be in the thick of it. (If the thick of it is the year 2005.)

It's your last day at Kotaku Tower! We had a delightful time and appreciate you filling in while Crecente rides around in a boat. I'm sure next week will seem way more relaxing as you helm one site and not two. Also, while I can't speak for everyone, I forgive you for Hogan Knows Best. Maybe.

Thank Luke for the Photoshop. It's brilliant.

What you missed last night
New Adventure Island Coming, Maybe Star Soldier As Well
Amazon's Gold Box Kick Off With Super Cheap SSBB
Blizzard Splashwatch Day Five - Death Knights, Protoss, And Purple Penguins
Arise, Sirs Dan And Sam Houser?
Soul Calibur IV Features Hot Tag-Team Action
Ubisoft + Prince Of Persia + DS Is What You'd Expect
Big Exclusive White Knight Chronicles Coming Financial Year 2008
Did A Boy Really Kill Himself After His Wii Was Taken Away?
MGS 4 Moved Eight Times More PS3s In Release Week
Wii Castlevania Revealed! It's A Fighting Game?

Ha! Nice comic.

So, a friend of mine who shall remain nameless (Hi Jim!) has passed along some promotional clips he made for a TV I have never seen. (Think the show is called The Middleman from the writer-producer who did Lost — so it's a real show and everything.) Anyway! The clips are pretty darn good, I think, and my nameless friend Jim would really like to know what you, Average Kotaku Reader Person, thinks of them. Hit the jump for a couple of the clips. And be gentle! Happily ban anyone who dips into douchebagsville.

What you missed last night
Metal gear Solid 4 loses top sales spot
Just How Many PLAYSTATION Network Registrants Are There?
How Sony Plans For 2008 Financial Profit
First Shots Of PS3 Video Download Service, Due In "Summer 2008"
Blizzard Splashwatch Day Four - Lost Edition
Another Akihabara Stabbing Today
Gears Of War 2 Screenshot Bonanza
Otomedius Gorgeous Trailer Loaded With Shooting, Boobs
Connecticut Senator Searching For "Rape Scene" In GTA IV
Denis Dyack Tells Too Human Trolls "Put Up Or Shut Up"

This morning wife and mother-in-law took the train to a Buddhist temple to ask for a healthy birth. As you may or may not know, this pregnancy has been rather tough on her. It was like that for Mini-Bash's, but this time seems to have more teeth that dig in and bite. The baby, says the doctor, is healthy and strong. Wife still has bad days. Today, for instance, her mother said the moment Mrs. Bashcraft got off the train, she threw up. When she got to the temple, she threw up. After lunch, ditto. When she got back on the train, and so on. (She seems fine right now as she watches TV! Just going out of the house seems to take a lot out of her.)

At the temple, she bought two talisman or amulets — what the Japanese call "mamori". The orange colored one in the picture is for the unborn baby, to protect it. When Mrs. Bashcraft went to the temple today, she took the one she kept for Mini-Bash while he was in her belly, returned it and said thank you for a healthy birth. (Yeah, I know, she was five years late, but whatever.) The other amulet, the yellow one, is to protect Mini-Bash. At the temple, she also bought a white cloth called "haraobi" which pregnant women wrap around their stomachs to keep them warm. It's basically an old fashioned maternity girdle. She won't be able to start wearing it until the 27th of this month, because according to the Buddhist calendar that the "Day of the Dog". Since dogs give birth easily, it's advised to start wearing the haraobi starting from that date. (Note: This "Day of the Dog" changes every month, so I think it's the 4th of next month, but I'm not sure.) Fingers crossed this stuff works.

In case you are curious, hit the jump for look at the back of the envelope from the Temple that the haraobi came in.

What you missed last night
"Hot Coffee" Class Action Suit Claims Show Very Few Were Offended
Microsoft To Let Other Companies Build, Release 360 Consoles?
New Duke Nukem Screen Is Small
A Terrifying Glimpse Into The Future Of The Halo Franchise?
"Everyone Will Be Really Excited" About Blizzard Announcement

Nothing says sacred like Babies R Us!

Tricky quiz!

Got sent a copy of Metal Gear Solid 4 today from Kojima Productions. I've been playing through Grand Theft Auto IV, which I still haven't finished, because I've been dealing with a gajillion different things — more than one human should have to at one time! Getting towards the homestretch of that game, and I really like it. But MGS4 just popped up. Usually, I'm finish-one-game-start-another kinda guy, but kinda interested in checking out MGS4.

So............. Whaddaya think? Should I finish GTAIV first and then start MGS4 or just go ahead and start MGS4?

What you missed last night
MGS4 ships a million in Europe
Premium DS Lites for Japan
Simpsons meet... Quake III
Limbo of The Lost devs protest
Crave ditches ESA
PS3 trophies?

To: SECRET GUEST EDITOR PERSON
From: Ashcraft

Today, five years ago, Mini-Bash came kicking and screaming into this world. Just ate chocolate cake! Which was quite nice. Presents include a fuckton of Indiana Jones toys, some Transformers, Totoro on DVD, a Totoro book, one small Totoro and a GIANORMOUS Totoro that no-way-no-how-forget-it will accidentally fall into a gutter. It's like almost the same size as Mini-Bash. If he wants to take it to Texas, we'd hafta buy that thing its own seat.

Anyway, SECRET GUEST EDITOR PERSON, I am going to collapse. Too much cake, too much transforming and I'm sick of being the Soviets. Kid should let me be Indy every once in a while. Nite!

What you missed last night
Why Rick Moranis wont be in Ghostbusters game
CoD 5 screens, details
PSN cards finally hitting stores
Hands on with Ultimate Band
Pro Evo announced

Short note, as I'm visiting the nation's capital and my hosts are beginning to find me antisocial, distracted and withdrawn (as I usually am.) I'm told the neighborhood where I am staying was at the forefront of the Crack Dealing Movement of the 1980s. That's Washington for you, just so much history, right around every corner. Hope you enjoyed your weekend. Leigh done got herself quoted in the New York Times, talking about Metal Gear on the Week in Review page, which is where the serious thinking goes on. Other choice cuts from the weekend:

MGS4 (and Leigh!) in the New York Times

Behind the Scenes with Spider-Man: Web of Shadows
Spoilers: Limbo of the Lost's Terrifying Ending
Weird Artistic Timewaster of the Day: Immortality
More on the Playstation-edu Initiative
Settlement Makes GTA Movie Impossible
Bungie Screenshots Verify "Chill Out" Remake

It's Friday night and I'm spending it waiting to board a plane back to Denver from Los Angeles. It was a pretty exciting week spent looking at the offerings that will be shown at this year's E3 next month. It may not quite be the same caliber of games that were shown last year, because, well last year was insane. But we've got some very interesting triple-As headed our way.

Tomorrow morning I fly with the family to Miami and then Sunday we board a ship to cruise around the Caribbean for a week. I've sweet-talked MTV's Stephen Totilo to guest edit on the site during my one-week vacation. Despite his insane schedule, he was kind enough to agree to fill in for me as I sleep... lots. I left the key for Kotaku Tower under that flower box next to the shed in case he asks. Oh and I think the ban hammer maybe under my bed... or in the laundry basket. Feel free to swing it around a bit when I'm oot and aboot.

Have fun, talk to you in a week!

Ps. I'll say hi to the pirates for you.

What you missed:
Take-Two Settles FTC Compliance Issues In EA Bid
Clone Wars Games Slated For Holidays, Trailers Hitting Spike TV Friday
WoW Getting Level 30 Mounts
Sega Creates Robotic Girlfriend
Little Big Planet Rolls Out With PlayStation Experience Truck
MGS 4: The Big Boss Of Japanese Sales
EA: Best Of Luck To Former EALA Head Young In Amicable Parting

Oh nice! Good to get use out of the things you purchase.

Bright and early tomorrow, Indy IV is *finally* opening in Japan, and as I mentioned earlier, Mini-Bash and I are going to see it. Bracing myself for the worst! (Hoping for the best.) The one thing I really, really, really hate about Japan is that movies take donkey's yonks to get here. Like man, I'd kinda like to see Iron Man or The Hulk.

At least they subtitle the movies here... Hate dubbing!

What you missed last night
Standalone MGO?
Real Niko Bellic
Alone in the Dark review legal mess
Game reviewers seven deadly sins
BioShock PC's DRM gone
More Max Payne movie
The Cliffster fixing up Gears of War 2

When I first read your Night Note I got this lovely mental picture of your actual dwelling being dipped in molten bronze. Don't worry, you all escaped in time.

I finally recieved a my PlayStation 3 back from Sony today, finally repaired after crappy out shortly after my birthday last month. I've missed my shiny black Foreman grill-looking friend, and after clearing out the games I had been storing in the empty space left by it in my entertainment center I slowly eased my Sony buddy back into place, took a step back, and sighed a contented little sigh. The family is all togehter again, and all is right with the world. I might still have no games for it, but playing Mana Khemia on my PS2 just didn't feel right. Not only that, my blu-ray movies look much better on the PS3 than they did sitting in little tear-soaked piles on the floor.

Perhaps I'll try out this newfangled Metal Gear Solid 4 everybody is on about. I hear it's the bee's knees.

What you missed:
Take-Two Settles FTC Compliance Issues In EA Bid
Clone Wars Games Slated For Holidays, Trailers Hitting Spike TV Friday
WoW Getting Level 30 Mounts
Sega Creates Robotic Girlfriend
Little Big Planet Rolls Out With PlayStation Experience Truck
MGS 4: The Big Boss Of Japanese Sales
EA: Best Of Luck To Former EALA Head Young In Amicable Parting

HELLO FAHEY.

So! Today, I got a postcard in the mail from immigration. A while back I applied for permanent residence here in Japan. Permanent residence would mean that I would never have to renew my visa and could stay here as long as I like. Sounds good! (However, it would not entitle me to the right to vote in national or local, which is reserved for Japanese citizens only.) Basically, it would help ease worries that a refused visa could, you know, split up the family — a very scary thought. Granted, this hasn't been approved. I have to go to immigration, and then they will tell me yay or nay. According to the post card, must go there in the next few weeks. Kinda nervous! Hope I got the permanent resident visa...

Was talking to fellow Japan resident and buddy CheapyD today from CheapAssGamer about the game drive for troops. CheapyD's a good dude — still need to take the guy out for sammiches or something at E3. Last year at TGS, he treated Crecente and I to a sumo match in Tokyo and then bought us all booze later. For a guy named Cheapy, he's surprisingly not cheap.

Wait, maybe he is cheap and generous. I imagine you can be both, no? Well, Cheapy is!

What you missed last night
Hard proof that Tecmo Japan is lying?
One of these special incentive DoA4 contracts is fake
Tecmo Says Team Ninja Exodus Rumors False, Calls Out U.S. Media
Sporepedia and Spore Xbox 360 controller
EA monitoring naughty Spore creators
MGS4 database
AMD Graphics Chip More Powerful Than Every Game Console Combined, Says AMD

Hi Fahey!

I've been up since 4AM doing stuff. I AM VERY TIRED.

Good news! Today, the little baby in Mrs. Bashcraft's stomach started kicking or punching with enough gumption that we could feel it. Really, really amazing stuff. There is a small person in her stomach. And it moves. Think about it! Heavy stuff, man. Still months off from the birth and happy that Baby Bash is "genki" as the folks here say. Now, I just need to figure out what to call it...

Oh, and here's a totally non-gaming magazine article I wrote about a design office in Tokyo. There are pictures. You look at them.

What you missed last night
Square Enix has the bestest parties
Tecmo slaps Itagaki with gag-order
New FF Versus XIII scans
PSP, WiiWare, XB Originals masking online cracks
Sonic Unleashed looks good
Lost Planet movie?
MGS4 had "minimal impact" on PS3 sales
McWhertor's MGS4 review

WOOT. Back from a four day weekend! Very, very relaxing. Good to be back. Hello, all! I missed you.

No, really. :)

What you missed last night
MGS4 Japan sales numbers
Kojima appears on Korean national English test
Wii update kills Freeloader
Tecmo employees sue Tecmo
New Nvidia
Gears new movie director
Boom Blox a dud

So! Lots of stuff happening on a Sunday night. Which is very unusual. Friday nights, you sometimes get news, as companies try and sneak bad press out after everyone's gone home, but Sunday nights? That's new. What's surprised me most about the whole thing however wasn't the timing, but the sheer volume of stuff that came out of it. Can't remember anything off the top of my head that compares. Sure, some of it sounds a bit patchy, and some of it sounds like complete baloney, but on the whole, a lot of the stuff checks out. I really feel for the guys at market research company Intellisponse - ie the source of the leaks - about now. I've a feeling this will be a Monday morning they will not enjoy.

For all the Microsoft/Activision news that leaked overight:
Please, consult this handy round-up.

Here's everything else you missed:
Valkyria Chronicles Statue: Alicia
This Might Just Be The PlayStation Phone
Afrika: Sixaxis Camera Controls, You Can't Drive
Resistance 2 Gameplay Vids

You're totally right, GTA IV's ending did sort of fizzle on some level, though I don't know if I'd agree that the last third was bad. I'd say more like the last hour was flat. Here's the problem as I see it. I think game designers and developers are following the tradition story-telling model set by books. There's a beginning, a middle and an end, or to be a little more specific an intro, rising climax, the climax, falling climax and then the denouement.

The problem is that while video game storytellers totally knock the first four out of the ball park, often delivering amazing hooks in their stories that get your wrapped up in the rising action and climax of the story, the stories fall apart after the climax. It's as if the idea of providing some sort of gradual step down from the over-the-top, thrilling story of a typical action game is wrong and the concept of wrapping things up in a neat little package of resolved issues is almost blasphemous.

I can see two reasons this happens. Among some developers I'm sure their is a desire to pad a story and make the game longer. This gives many games, like GTA IV, what I'm going to call a false climax. You have a point in the story where you feel like it should be over, but instead you're hit with more rising action and another, much less powerful climax and absolutely no resolution.

Other developers, I think want to leave the door open for a sequel and, like in Bioshock, feel like they need to walk readers down that path before the story ends, even though they've already accomplished everything they need to to deliver a powerful story. The end result, of course, just waters down the entire experience.

My two cents at least.

What you missed:
Spore's Organic Fruit Fucker in Motion
Three New Screens From Fable II
Fitness Instructor Reviews Wii Fit
Return of the Game Club
Rumor: Details On Sony's Motion Controls, No "Break-Apart"
Frankenreview Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns Of The Patriots
No Place For Hideo: MGS 4's Hidden Themes
Lunchtime With The Brothers Chap: Strong Bad's Creators Speak And Eat

His first PS3 game is Metal Gear Solid 4? Yeah. Good luck with that.

So I finished GTA IV today! Was really, really disappointed with it. "It" being the last 1/3 of the game, in particular the last mission. Whole thing just kinda petered out, fell flat, couldn't find anything else interesting to do or say with the characters, missions or the story.

It's something I'm noticing more and more often in games - they wow you in the opening act, but by the end have run out of steam (see BioShock for reference), and you wind things up on a downer, thinking less of the game at the conclusion than you did at the beginning.

So developers! If you can, try not to blow your whole load on the first 1/3 of a game. Some of us like to actually finish a game, and like to finish it on a high (see Call of Duty 4 for reference)!

Here's what you missed:
Nyko's Wireless Nunchuk Attracts Nintendo Lawsuit
Do We Have Our First Rock Band II Artist?
Gunmetal PS3: The Unboxing
Robbie Bach: PSP Is A "Cautionary Tale"
Next Rock Band Album: The Pixies
Shane Kim: Japan's A "Long-Term", "Challenging" Market

You may recall that my dad, who recently turned 70, was drawn back to gaming after watching me play Grand Theft Auto IV. At the time he expressed some interest in picking up a Playstation 3 because he "had already tried the Xbox." This morning he did just that.

Not only did he buy the Metal Gear Solid 4 Playstation 3 bundle, but he actually stood in line for it. I kid you not. He was the only one standing in line at the Moultire, Georgia GameStop, but he at least he did it.

While it was great to hear that he's jumped back into modern day gaming, I had forgotten the inevitable sea of questions he was going to hit me up with once he got plugged in. We spent five minutes alone trouble-shooting his controller over the phone before we realized the thing I had turned off automatically. Gah!

What you missed:
Old Snake Says Don't Litter, Smoking is Bad For You
Seizure-Inducing DS Game May Change Testing Laws in UK
MGS4 Midnight Launch Goes Hollywood
Our Metal Gear Solid 4 Review In Beta, Pushed Back
Nightwing, Bane And Clayface Revealed For LEGO Batman
Jeff Bell Departs Microsoft, Shane Kim Gets Promotion
Stan Lee, Ellijah Wood, Carlos Santana... and Crecente Duke it Out With Spore's Creature Creator
Spore's Fruit Fucker, Or Why I Love the Creature Creator

To: Crecente
From: Ashcraft
RE: Sporelebrity

So! It finally happened. Metal Gear Solid 4 launched. I went out and checked the launch here in Osaka. Seems like the US launch was more successful with bigger crowds, bigger hype. For a AAA game (and hardware bundle), the Tokyo lines were surprisingly short. Like compared to how, say, Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G moved games and software in Japan with hundreds of people turning out at multiple locations across Tokyo in droves, the MGS4 launch here was way low-key. No doubt Sony is hoping MGS4 will do the same in Japan. Guess we'll find out when the official sales numbers come in.

As I mentioned in the comment section: Granted, it was raining in Tokyo (sunny in Osaka!) and there was that recent Akihabara tragedy, but from what I saw MGS4 doesn't look like it's doing gangbusters here. Maybe the actual sales figures will be different or maybe the game has legs or maybe everyone will be picking it up on the way home from work. Who knows?

Tomorrow I have the day off! I shall spend it reading a very cool looking Japanese monster book Yokai Attack! and drinking pricey Japanese beer. Tomorrow will be awesome. I can feel it.

(Oh, and creepy spider, dude.)

What you missed last night
Metal Gear Solid 4 launch delayed in Spain
Nintendo says only "geeks" want more Wii memory
Metal Gear Solid 4 San Fran launch
Sixaxis bundle clearance
Kojima NYC madness
Metal Gear Solid 4 Osaka launch
Metal Gear Solid 4 Tokyo launch

What you missed:
Take-Two Gets Into FTC Pissing Match
Nintendo Denies Connection to Wii Fit Ass Vid
The Incredible Hulk Review: The Beast Within
Become Kotaku's Next King of Comments
Dungeon Runner's Gold-Excreeting Bling Gnome Spotted

I have been up since 4 this morning and am TOTALLY BLOTTO. But! Good new, I have steak tonight, Japanese beef. Big, fat steak. We all had steaks, and they were something like $30 a steak. The in-laws came by today and had lunch. They brought meat. Delicious meat.

What you missed last night
FFXIII still PS3 only
UT3 box talks Gears 2 exclusive stuff
Rose and Camellia are back
JT transcript
Konami cancels Akihabara MGS4 event
Microsoft 360 RPG screenshoot blowout

Meat after the jump.

How's things? In a complete oddity, I managed to somehow finish all of my work of the day at like 3:30 p.m. It was a moment so stunning that I went outside and sat in the bench in our backyard for a good ten minutes, staring out across the field of grass and wildflowers.... then I came back in and found more work to do. Moment killed.

Oh, in case you missed it. Here is the comment I left in your Indy night note question:

I thought it was fine, and that it fit nicely into the canon. Not as good as the first two, but better than the third. Why all of the hate? Here's my theory:

A lot of people are comparing the latest movie to their memories or the overheard nostalgia of the first three movies. The fact is that the Indiana Jones movies, which I love, are all a bit over the top, silly and nonsensical. But when I, for one, watched them starting when I was 12 or so, I was in awe of what I saw. Watching through them a second time with Tristan recently, not so much. I still loved them, but they were much better in my memories.

What you missed:
APB Full Public Beta Coming, New Art Here
IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey Coming To Consoles
Ninja Gaiden II Review: Swan Song or Death Knell?
Hands On With Eternity's Child
Interview: Flagship Studios On Life After Hellgate Launch
Impressions: My Pokemon Ranch
Interview: Turbine Confirms Console Project, Talks Future Plans
More Details On Portal 2's Bad Guy
Zelnick: Take-Two Experimenting With Microtransactions

Pheeeeeeeeew! What a day. Lots of news. Lots of stuff. Go, go, go.

Today, I advanced purchased two tickets to the new Indiana Jones movie, which is opening in Japan later this month. You see it? I've gotten an earful from both Luke and McWhertor who hated the flick. I'll be going in with low expectations. Very low. The kid, though, man, he's thrilled!

What you missed last night
Star Ocean 4, Infinite Undiscovery Trailers
Tales of Vesperia bundle
English presser of Microsoft's Japan RPG presser
Last Remnant on Xbox 360 first
Star Ocean 4 coming to Xbox 360 in 2009
RIP Soul Calibur
Afrika priced, dated
Portal 2 casting call reveals details?

Over the weekend, I was playing soccer with the kid, I set down my cell phone. And when I came back, it was gooooooooooooooone. Maybe I've been in Japan, too long, cause I didn't think anything of setting my phone down. (I mean, people leave their bags on tables at fast food restaurants while they go order!) So this latest loss means that this is the third cell phone I've gone through in the last three years. Here's where it get unsettling: When I got home, my wife asked why I kept calling her and hanging up. Dialed my phone, hoping to get the asshole who stole my phone on the line, but fucker wouldn't answer. After that, I quickly had the phone's service cut.

Luke had an Aussie holiday, so it was just me all night!

What you missed last night
MGS4 DVD humor spoiler
Robbie Bach on Blu-ray Xbox 360 rumor
Konami on MGS4 early release
More details about the Akihabara killer
SFIV cabinet dated for Japan?

I'm not sure what has me in a fouler mood; the fact the cat pissed right next to the goddamn $125 looks-like-a-potted-plant cat crap hut; N.C. State lost 17-8 and trailed 9-0 in the first inning, playing for its first College World Series appearance since its only visit in 1968; or the fact I duped two posts this weekend. Also the cat is feigning a limp. Yes, feigning. Because she wants me to go to the vet and spend $140 so she can come home and eat placebos and, I dunno, get a kickback from the doctor or something.

While I wasn't busy sulking, we got these stories out that may be of interest to you. Now I am off to drink Early Times.

Rumor: LucasArts to Halt All Internal Development
MGS4 Unboxing and Start Menu Video
EVE Online Convenes Real-World Elected Council
The Challenge of Naming Games
USB HDD on Nintendo Horizon?
I'm Sorry I Have to Do This to You
MMO Business Models: Subscriptions vs. Free To Play
A Politician Who Actually Games

I don't know about you, but after a crazy hectic week like the one we just had I can't wait to knock off for the weekend, drink Mojitos and relax. By relax I mean yard work. Yes, I'm one of those crazy people who enjoy the relatively brainless, physical-intense process of keeping a heavily landscaped yard up to snuff. I also plan on cooking meat and faux meat on the grill. Do you miss having a yard in Japan? I don't know how I would deal with that if I lived somewhere where land was such a premium.

What you missed:
Amazon Snags Exclusive Fallout 3 Survival Edition
Soulcalibur's Secret Apprentice In Action
LucasArts Confirms Layoffs, Says The Dev Is Still Healthy
The Olympic Gamers
Analyst: LucasArts Layoffs About EA, Studio Politics
In Memoriam: Remembering Volition's Chris Allen
Turnin' Around: Highlights From THQ's Press Event

To: Crecente
From: Ashcraft
RE: Bioshock 3! Delayed GTA DLC?? First Glimpse of DNF WTF!? Ice Cream Sandwiches!!!!!????

BioShock 3? Yay! More underwater corridors!!

Today is Friday. This you probably know. If not, yes, today is Friday. Took the wife to the doctor's in the afternoon for an ultrasound. Baby seems very healthy, very active. Probably won't know if it's a boy or girl until next month or the following. Asked Mini-Bash which he wanted. His reply? "If I say a girl, it will turn into a boy."

Bought a mask, too today! Probably remember seeing people wearing them here — maybe not! People usually wear them when they're sick (and don't want to get others sick) or when people have bad allergies (and don't want to get sick). Most folks here wear masks out in public here of course. But! I'm modeling this fetching mask around the house so Mrs. Bashcraft doesn't get sick. Nothing quite like breathing in your own sick breath! YUMMY.

What you missed last night
New RE5 screens
Afrika trailer answers questions
Ex-Lucas Staffer Talks
Massive LucasArts layoffs
Darth's apprentice in SC4
Saints Row 2 GTAIV parody
Deadly Creatures impressions!

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