Brian Ashcraft

Tomorrow, Mini-Bash Is Seven. Seven!

To: Crecente From: Bashcraft RE: Real-Life Pilotwings My eldest son, Mini-Bash, turns seven tomorrow. Incredible. I remember when he was born. I don’t remember when I was born, but I remember when I was seven. We’ve well entered the realm of crystal clear memories. For his birthday, he wanted a storage case for his toy…

Nintendo “Not Satisfied” With its Online Efforts

Super Mario Bros. Wii does not have online. There is one man who ultimately decided not to include the feature. That man is Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of Mario. In a meeting with investors at E3 last week, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata revealed that Miyamoto decided not to include online. “So I’d like to talk…

PlayStation Network Gaming Gets Freemium Title

With free-to-play games like Farmville proving massive successes, it seemed like it would only be a matter of time before that model game to home game consoles. That time has come. Japanese game developer Acquire is releasing a quest-based PSP title called Bakumatsu Revolution. Hitting the PlayStation Network in Japan, the main game will be…

Steampunk Halo

Master Chief…all Victorian like. Over the course of two months, artist Christophe worked on this steampunk version of the helmet worn by the Halo Spartan. After a series of misses, Christophe was able to use four layers of acrylic paint and PCV pipe to create the effect. Oh, forgot one last material used — the…

Yakuza 4 Will Feature Hostesses

When Sega released the localized version of crime game Yakuza 3, it took out the hostesses. Some people made a big stink. (I hate it when jerks do that!) And now, Sega is releasing Yakuza 4. The Western version will have hostesses. Sega confirmed this to website Siliconera. Other Yakuza 4 mini-games like mahjong and…

“Secret” Pac-Man Drawings

Toru Iwatani created Pac-Man. He still carries top secret documents with him to game conferences. No, really. Iwatani was a speaker at the recent Festival of Games. To the surprise of the conference’s host, Iwatani was carrying the original Pac-Man sketches with him. See that 秘？ It means these documents are secret — well, more…

Why Is Nintendo Doing 3D Now?

In 1995, Nintendo released the Virtual Boy, a 3D gaming peripheral that made people vomit. It was yanked from the market, and Time called it one of the worst inventions ever. Yet, Nintendo has returned again with 3D. Why? And why now? The Nintendo 3DS, however, isn’t the first time Nintendo has thought about giving…

Kinect Unfairly Compared To…A Sofa

This is Kinect. It is Microsoft’s new motion controller system. You cannot sit on top of it. Well, you can, but you’ll break it. You can sit on a sofa. Right now, I am sitting on a sofa! Amazing. For snots and giggles, this comparison between a sofa and Microsoft’s Kinect has appeared on the…

Gundam Gets An Airplane, You Can Fly In It!

Why does the world need a Gundam airplane? No, the question is: Why doesn’t the world need a Gundam airplane? Japanese carrier ANA has painted up a Boeing 777-300 into a Gundam Boeing 777-300. It is part of the ANA Gundam Sky Project that extends to Gundam figures with ANA logos on them. Flying from…

If Lady Gaga Were In Street Fighter IV

Hello, This Is My ArtBlog takes on Street Fighter IV and Lady Gaga. As seen by reader Al.

I’m (Not) Afraid of Americans

To: Crecente From: Bashcraft Back from E3! And feeling recharged, actually. Getting to LA from Japan is a drag. It’s even more of a drag when your flight is delayed and you miss your site’s party. (I hope all your other people liked it!) But totally worth it, and I think we had a great…

Nintendo 3DS vs. PSP vs. iPhone

How does the upcoming Nintendo 3DS compare to the its current competitors, the Sony PSP, the iPhone 3GS? Let’s find out! The original Nintendo DS is thrown in for good measure. Via website HardCoreWare comes these assumptions on how the Nintendo 3DS stacks up: Graphics Processing Unit • Nintendo 3DS: DMP Pica 200 • Nintendo…

Queen’s Blade Cosplayers Look Like This

Blades-meets-boobs Queen’s Blade recreated by real live human beings in assorted outfits. Sometimes it’s the costume that sells the cosplay. Sometimes it’s the cosplayer. And sometimes it’s both. Not sure which ones these would fall under… Queen’s Blade is originally a Lost Worlds style “combat picture book game” and has been published in Japan for…

Tales Studio Is Not Doing So Well

Namco Tales Studio is the developer behind Tales of Phantasia, Tales of Eternia, Tales of Destiny and Tales of Vesperia. The studio has seen better days. A recent financial report has revealed that debt for the studio has piled up so that it has surpassed the studio’s total assets, making the developer insolvent. The Tails…

Sony Cat? Touchy-Feely

Sony mascot Kuro is struck with girl fever World Cup Fever. As seen on Akiba Blog

New Xbox 360 Warns You Of Possible Doom

The new smaller Xbox 360 will not flash the “Red Ring of Death” — the iconic symbol of catastrophic system failure. It’s new warning mark is the “red eye”. Sounds…ominous It’s not necessarily the red eye of death, though. This new 250GB unit is clearly displaying the red dot. That’s only half the story. Apparently,…

Sony Boss Responds To Nintendo 3DS

Nintendo caused quite a stir at the E3 gaming expo with its glasses-free Nintendo 3DS. In an interview with Japan’s Sankei, Sony Computer Entertainment honcho Kaz Hirai had this to say about the glasses-free 3D tech: “In in-house research, naked eye 3D for portable machines is not high and there are presently limits for it.”…

Would You Like To See The Nintendo 3DS’s Cartridge?

Nintendo isn’t only rolling out a new successor to the Nintendo DS platform, it is also rolling out something else: A successor to the Nintendo DS’s cartridge. The Nintendo 3DS cartridge sports a 2GB capacity. While piracy is a problem for the Nintendo DS, there has been speculation than the new 3DS carts will help…

What Did You Think of E3?

Today? Today is Friday. Time for…Wait a second. Today is not Friday. Today is Monday. Last Friday, we were busy. So time for a special edition of Tell us Dammit. This is Tell Us Dammit. Here’s how it works: We ask a question, you answer it. Simple and no strings attached! This isn’t some marketing…

The Kingdom Hearts Keyblade Takes Disneyland

Over at Disneyland forum MiceChat, member AcmePunched created a keyblade weapon from Square Enix’s Disney franchise Kingdom Hearts. That’s no big deal. What she did, however, is. AcmePunched took the Keyblade to Disneyland and had an array of characters pose with it until… “A security guard came up to me and asked about the key,”…