Brian Ashcraft

No Men Allowed (For A Long Time Now…)

Girls only. Japan’s Asahi Shimbun has an article about how Japanese arcades are banning men from sticker picture machines. Why’d they do that? According to the piece, “A growing number of arcade operators are banning men from areas around these machines—popularly known as purikura—to protect customers, such as high school students, from men trying to…

Final Fantasy XIII’s Battle System Detailed

Final Fantasy XIII is due out this year in Japan. For those who are unfamiliar with its battle system, let’s learn about it. Everyday you should learn about something, you know. • Command Stock: Players selection which action they’d like to from a cluster of five “Action” slots. • Cost: Each of these five actions…

Sony Expects Metal Gear Solid 4 Type Sales From Killzone 2

Worldwide, Metal Gear Solid 4 racked up big sales numbers — 4.3 million copies, actually. Sony, apparently, expects the same or better from Killzone 2. What about you? An unnamed and unconfirmed Sony employee reportedly told game site V For Video Games, ““It would be a lie to say Sony has not invested heavily in…

Yes, Yes, White Knight Chronicles Is Getting A North American Release

In an announcement that should surprise no one, developer Level 5 has confirmed its PS3 exclusive White Knight Chronicles is getting a North American release. When asked if this was in the cards, Level 5 president and CEO Akihiro Hino replied, “Yes, it should be, but the launch date has not been determined yet.” What’s…

Sony Pictures Dates Ghostbusters Game

The release date for the Ghostbusters game has been announced by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment in a Ghostbusters Blu-ray movie release — accidently announced, maybe! Doh. A Sony Pictures press release for the Blu-ray release of the Ghostbusters movie reads: “America’s favorite paranormal psychologists are back to save the world, this time with unsurpassed picture…

Nintendo Does Not See Decline In Sight For DS Sales (World Domination)

After selling millions and millions of DS units, you’d think Nintendo president Satoru Iwata would be bracing himself for a decline in sales. Heck, no! Iwata sees DS sales as something that will continue to grow. His logic: Some say the market for the DS is saturated, but I disagree. In Japan, a country with…

An American (McGee) In Shanghai

Like most stories, this starts with a girl. Rather, this starts with a boy chasing a girl — to Hong Kong. The boy wasn’t a boy, but developer American McGee. And the girl? We’ll get to her later. For the time being, she’s the impetus that spurred McGee to start frequently visiting Hong Kong and…

Tough Times

To: Crecente From: Bashcraft RE: Beat to Hell As you know, rough night for the folks at EGM/1Up. Really hope everyone there is able to pull through okay and come out on the other side better, faster, stronger. What you missed last night Rumor: NiGHTS Sequel Was Originally An Xbox 360, PS3 Game New X-Blade…

Gundam Senjou no Kizuna Is PSP Bound

Rumor confirmed! Japanese arcade title Gundam Senjou no Kizuna is getting a PSP version — minus the cockpit display complete with 180 degree screen. Besides the obvious screen differences, the number of players per multi-play team has been halved. Instead of the 8 player vs. 8 player arcade set-up, the PSP version will be 4-on-4.…

Sony Exec Wants More Thrilling Episodic Content

Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios Europe (SCEWSE?) exec Michael Denny is not thrilled with episodic content. He wants it to be more exciting, you know, more cliffhangery. For me, true episodic gaming needs to be more than just selling a traditional game split into chunks. It needs to be games that are specifically designed from…

You’d Most Like To Be Alone In The Dark With…

Darth Vader. The “Alone With The Darth” boxart has been chosen by Kotakuland as its favorite finalists. Congrats to all who entered and a word about contest hijinx after the jump. We actually had to go through and ban people for getting off topic while voting. If you’d like to discuss what you think of…

Your English Language Rhythm Heaven Boxart

While Amazon isn’t the place to pin your hopes and dreams on for game info, the web retail appears to have revealed the English language Rhythm Heaven boxart. What’s more, Amazon prices the game at US$40 and gives it a November 30 release date — both could be placeholders, though. Rhythm Heaven

House Of The Dead: Overkill Devs Want Arcade Machine Feel

Does House of the Dead: Overkill brings arcade shooting to the Nintendo Wii? Yes, says the game’s developer Headstrong Games. According to Lead Designer Alastair Halsby: “We have done our utmost to ensure that it feels like playing an arcade machine — albeit an arcade machine that is out to entertain a paying customer, instead…

Fred Willard’s Nintendo Shilling Lets Us Down

Nicole Kidman. Liv Tyler. Fred Willard? Nintendo has roped in Spinal Tap actor Fred Willard to promote Personal Trainer: Cooking in this disappointingly disappointing clip. Be warned, the below clip is blergh. And it’s not because it’s for some casual cooking game — that’s not the problem at all. It’s that it’s something like seven…

What Do You Do With Your Old Games?

Hey, we’re in a recession! And some of us have old games to unload. What to do, what do do. As Forbes points out, you can take your games to places like GameStop for store credits, e-Bay for cash, website Goozex for online swaping. There article covers a lot of familiar ground, but does have…

The Kind of Cammy Images You’ve Come To Expect

While Street Fighter series character Cammy White did not bring her assets to the arcade version of SFIV, she is doing so to the home versions. Here are some new screens of her in action and of her action.

Japan Getting Resident Evil PS3 Bundle, Console

On the heels of Microsoft’s bundle, Sony has announced its own bundle for multi-platform Resident Evil 5, complete with special RE5 design console. The “Premium Limited” pack comes with a Resident Evil 5 logo 80GB PS3, two DualShock 2 controllers and a copy of the game. Priced at ¥48.980 (US$525), the bundle goes on sale…

Fewer Zombies? More Outfits!

From images we’ve seen, Dead Rising for the Wii looks light in the brain-eating zombie department. But that doesn’t mean it skimps on other things. Things like, well, outfits for photographer Frank West to wear. “One surprising thing was feedback from people who liked the ability to change Frank’s costume,” says Dead Rising Wii producer…

High Quality In-Game Final Fantasy XIII Gameplay Images

While these Famitsu images themselves are not brand new, the high quality scans of them are. They’re the best FFXIII images you’ll get until Square Enix releases them officially. Thank website Final Fantasy-XIII.net for that! Famitsu PS3: High Quality FFXIII Gameplay Screenshots [Final Fantasy-XIII.net via CVG]

About Glasses…

To: Crecente From: Bashcraft RE: The Long Trip Home Ah, Pueblo, Colorado. That’s where my dad grew up. Went to the eye doctor today to, once again, get new contacts. This is the third time I’ve been to the eye doctor in the past month or so. I kinda like going to the eye doctor!…