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Did The PlayStation Move Just Get A Little Less Sexy?
It all started in the late 1980s and early 1990s. But it wasn’t nearly as sexy. Game makers began releasing titles with 3D polygons, giving shape to what was previously flat. By 1994, Namco released Tekken, one of the first fighters with 3D polygons. Yet that was nothing compared to what Namco did two years…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 20, 2011 -
Spoil Your Portal 2 Experience And Hear The Ending Song Now
Haven’t finished Portal 2 yet? Go on and listen to the game’s ending tune. Do it. And those who’ve already breezed through the game, have another listen. The song is by Jonathan Coulton and dubbed “Want You Gone”. Coulton also wrote “Still Alive”, the ending tune for the first Portal. If you’re not familiar with…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 20, 2011 -
Japan’s Most Beloved Characters. Together At Last.
CATCH ‘EM ALL | OSAKA, JAPAN: Astro Boy, Doraemon, Hello Kitty And Pikachu stamps – with a One Piece cameo. (Photo by Brian Ashcraft) How To Make Old Games Look Better On New TV Sets Confusing headline, I know, because this is going to take some explaining. This is the SLG 3000, and it apparently…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 19, 2011 -
One Hundred GameCubes Or Somebody’s Trash?
When the GameCube went on sale back in 2001, Nintendo priced the console at ¥25,000 and at US$199 for the US. So if you were to purchase a hundred GameCubes back then, you’d spend a pretty penny. But what about in 2011? An online Yahoo! auction offered the chance to purchase one hundred of the…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 19, 2011 -
Capcom Is Getting Serious About Casual Gaming
After revealing a social networking spin on Resident Evil, Osaka-based game maker Capcom says its creating a new brand called Beeline Interactive to focus on smartphone games. You could say Capcom is making a beeline for smartphone games.
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 19, 2011 -
One Of The Worst Keyboards Ever. Reborn!
The Atari 400’s keyboard sucked. It wasn’t so much the brown and orange color scheme, but those pressure sensitive keys. Japan’s Niyari ditched the pressure sensitive nonsense and is releasing an Atari 400-style computer keyboard, complete with low-profile keyboard keys. It’s not for old Atari machines, but for those hoping to give their desktop a…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 19, 2011 -
Why The Xbox 360 Doesn’t Have An Exclusive Mortal Kombat Fighter
“Unfortunately, the circumstances didn’t allow us to make a 360 exclusive,” Mortal Kombat boss Ed Boon told website Eurogamer. “I’m not allowed to talk too much about it, but I can tell you we certainly wanted to do an exclusive for 360, but that’s all I can say. It was not a decision we made…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 19, 2011 -
Xbox Japan Confuses Game’s PS3 Version With Xbox 360
On the latest installment of Xbox Japan’s Inside Xbox, a bunch of games for this April were introduced. Some of the games are Xbox exclusives, some of them, like WRC: FIA World Rally Championship, are not. Out this month in Japan, WRC: FIA World Rally Championship is a rally racing title based on the actual…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 19, 2011 -
Is The PSPgo Out Of Production? [Update]
According to what’s supposedly a Sony Store employee blog, no more PSPgo shipments are planned and the portable is apparently out of production. Over on the official Japanese Sony Style page, it is not in stock and shipments are TBA. When asked about this, Sony replied, “It is a very exciting time for PlayStation portable…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 19, 2011 -
Don’t Watch This For T&A, Watch It For Button Mashing
Playboy’s Jo Garcia is a big gamer. Ultimate Fighting Championship octagon girl Brittney Palmer is a big button masher. Together, they go boob-to-boob knuckle-to-knuckle in Mortal Kombat. It’s kinda hard to tell what’s going on, between the shiny pastels, the bizarro controller exercises (PowerGlove, really?) and the whole schtick. Shouldn’t be any surprises for what…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 19, 2011 -
New Mortal Kombat: Legacy Episode Wants You To Fuck Protocol
Picking up where the first episode left off, the second episode of the new Mortal Kombat web series once again has Jeri Ryan as Sonya Blade and Michael Jai White as Jax hot on the heels of 300’s Darren Shahlavi as Kano. Mortal Kombat: Legacy is a series of nine live-action shorts that explore the…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 19, 2011 -
When Paper Robots Kick Ass
Everything is now digital. This sentence, for example, doesn’t exist in tangible space. But there was a time when you could reach out and touch everything. There was a time when paper was king. That time is over. But don’t tell that to Tomohiro Yasui. In his hand-made ring, paper is still king – and…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 19, 2011 -
That’s A Nice Suit. Like Something A Professor Would Wear.
TREASURE REPORT | TOKYO, JAPAN: Waterboys’ actor Hiroshi Tamaki appears at a press conference for DS game, Treasure Report. (Photo by Game Watch Impress) These Ladies Go Beyond A Fatal Attraction This week’s cosplay round-up is dominated by the ladies, with not one Felicias but two, some Final Fantasy favourites and a pair of Zelda…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 18, 2011 -
Are These Silent Hill Movie Images Scary?
You’ve see the Silent Hill: Revelation 3D set photos. And if you haven’t here they are. How will the set look in the film? Probably something like this latest batch of movie stills. The images don’t look as unsettling (or beautiful) as the set pics, but they’ve got fire! And fire is scary. It’s warm,…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 18, 2011 -
Another Game Canceled Due To Japan’s Earthquake
Disaster Report 4, a disaster survival game, was canceled shortly after the Tohoku Earthquake out of respect for victims. The upcoming Momotaro Dentetsu game is joining Disaster Report 4 in the canned bin. Momotaro Dentetsu is a series of dice-based video game board games which take players to different areas of Japan. The reason for…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 18, 2011 -
Baraka Sure Is Ugly
But is he uglier than he was in the original, viral Mortal Kombat clip? For the Mortal Kombat: Legacy web series, the character’s make-up is getting reworked. He looks more troll and monstery and not nearly as unsettling as he did in the original clip. In that re-imagining, Baraka was an expert martial artist who…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 18, 2011 -
Resident Evil Reborn As Social Networking Game
This June, Resident Evil: Outbreak Survive will hit Japan’s Gree social networking service. Set in Raccoon City, the game has players work together with friends, sharing healing items and putting together teams of rescued allies to complete missions.
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 18, 2011 -
Is This Game Ripping Off Final Fantasy?
Pandora’s Tower, an upcoming Nintendo-published role-playing game, looks great. It also looks a lot like Final Fantasy. Japanese netizens are quick to point out that images on the box art for Pandora’s Tower look incredibly similar to character art for Square Enix’s most recent role-playing games, Final Fantasy Versus XIII and Final Fantasy XIII. Pandora’s…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 18, 2011 -
New Metal Gear Solid Figures Sneak Out
Besides making Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, Square Enix also makes plastic figures under its Play Arts brand. And this summer, it’s releasing more Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker Play Arts figurines. There’s Peace Walker character Kazuhira Miller as well as a Snake Battle Dress version. Each is ¥5,040 (US$61). If you do decide to…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 18, 2011
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