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Five Health Care Games to Make You Healthy (Or Get You Sick)
In the United States, health care has passed. Some people are pleased, some are not and others are even indifferent. So let’s talk about video games! To mark the occasion, here are five doctor-type games. SimHealth From the folks who gave us SimCity and The Sims, SimHealth: The National Health Care Simulation was released in…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 22, 2010 -
Your Favorite Animal Is…
To: Crecente From: Bashcraft RE: Haiku Gonna go to the zoo tomorrow, I think! I like rhinos!! What you missed last night Team Fortress 2 Gets Its First Batch Of Player Made Content Kotaku Census 2010: The Games You Love Why Predators Got Made Halo: Reach Matchmaking Needs Your Help To Be Better Which Of…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 19, 2010 -
How To Write Pokemon Music? Pretending!
In the West, when one says “Pokémon music”, this song probably leaps to mind. We are not talking about that this song. Besides heading up the Pokémon franchise, Junichi Masuda also composes battle music for the series. “There is no doubt that I am inspired by many great composers. But when I work on the…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 19, 2010 -
FFXIII Director Wants To Remake Final Fantasy VII
Here we go again! Final Fantasy developer Square Enix continuing mentioning “Final Fantasy VII” and “remake” in the same breath. Previously, Final Fantasy VII character designer mentioned the prospects of a FFVII remake, and then FFVII game director Yoshinori Kitase mentioned how he was never tired of answering questions about FFVII remakes. Now? When asked…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 19, 2010 -
Samurai Champloo Music Producer Is Dead
Music producer Jun Seba, known as Nujabes, passed away in late February. His label made public the sad news today. Late nite February 26, the 36-year-old Nujabes was in a car accident in Tokyo. Efforts to revive him proved futile. Nujabes was known for his cutting edge hip-hop — such as the soundtrack work he…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 19, 2010 -
Why Predators Got Made
Money. Easy as that. But there’s another reason as to why filmmaker Robert Rodriguez signed off on the film. Before we get to that, watch the movie’s brand new debut trailer. Rodriguez, known for his Spy Kids and action films, wrote a Predator script in the mid-1990s while waiting for Desperado to go into production.…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 19, 2010 -
Jamie Foxx Joins Kane & Lynch Flick
In 2008, actor star Bruce Willis, known for his Die Hard films, signed on to play mercenary Adam “Kane” Marcus, who with batshit insane partner James Lynch is out to retrieve a stolen microchip. He now has a co-star. Veteran stunt coordinator Simon Crane will make his directing debut and helm the picture, and scribe…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 19, 2010 -
Today, My Barn Door Was Open (GAH)
To: Crecente From: Bashcraft RE: Fancy Arrow Tech Holy smoke! This is embarrassing. Had breakfast, got dressed and took the kids to the eye doctor this morning. It was a nice morning, so we walked there, stopping by 7-11. After the doctor’s, we walked to the supermarket and bought some soft drinks. Then we swung…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 18, 2010 -
Square Enix Will Do Its Best For Final Fantasy Dissidia Sequel
PSP game Dissidia: Final Fantasy features a smorgasbord of Final Fantasy characters. The game was a hit! It sold over a million copies. Do you know what means? It means that there will probably be another one! Square Enix has never been known to shy away from sequels, spin-offs and franchises. When asked about the…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 18, 2010 -
Quantum Mechanics Made Easy With Manga
For years now, manga textbooks have been explaining things like the English language and cooking. So why not electronic circuitry, quantum mechanics or even thermodynamics? These manga teach advanced subjects and were spotted at a university bookstore in Tokyo. Manga textbooks [kenlee via DannyChoo]
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 18, 2010 -
Why Doesn’t Pokemon Get Global Simultaneous Releases?
DS title Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver were released in Japan on September 12. The games didn’t come out in North America until this March. With so many games these days getting either global or near global releases, what gives? “We do our best to make our games so North American players can enjoy the game…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 18, 2010 -
Japan Lines Up For…Digital PS3 Recorder
Noodles. Toy figures. And grab bags at New Years. Japan loves lining up for stuff, and the PS3 torne digital recorder is no exception. Torne went on sale as an individual peripheral and also bundled with the PS3. By 9:00am this morning in Japan, over 200 shoppers lined up in front of the Akihabara Yodobashi…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 18, 2010 -
Crap Game of the Year Coming To Xbox 360
Um, Hooray? Forget Game of the Year, the Japanese internet has the Kuso (“Crap”) Game of the Year. And last year’s winner is coming to the Xbox 360. Computer title Sengoku Hime 2 is a historical simulation game in the same vein of Koei’s Romance of the Three Kingdoms franchise, but with adult content. The…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 18, 2010 -
This Character’s Voice Actress Might Surprise You
Hana is a character in Yakuza 4. She is a clerk at in-game finance company Sky Finance. This is what she looks like in the game. What does her voice actress look like? Like this. SEGA used advanced face scanning technics for many of the game’s voice actors so that the character models resemble their…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 18, 2010 -
Return of the Pee Bottle Guy (And Fishy TV Reporting)
In early January, a Japanese news program did a piece on “netoge haijin” or “online game invalids”. A follow-up to that report has appeared, and some believe the segment is fake. The slang “netoge haijin” went mainstream in 2009 in part due to news reports like this. There was also a book by journalist Osamu…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 18, 2010 -
The Yakuza 4 Hummer Limousine Pulls Up
In large Japanese cities, driving a big American car can prove challenging. There are endless narrow backstreets and fixing the car in a parking place can be a nightmare. Try imagining doing that in a Hummer. No, a Hummer limousine. To draw stares, SEGA rolled out this Yakuza 4 branded Hummer limo on the Tokyo…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 18, 2010 -
Cannot Find My House Key
To: Crecente From: Bashcraft RE: Infinite Space Any idea where I put it? What you missed last night Rumor: New Xbox 360 Model Slims Down [Update] Tokyo’s Virtual Child Porn Bill Delayed Bad Company 2 Video Spoofs Modern Warfare 2’s “F.A.G.S.” PSA Dead Mario And Crucified Jesus Kotaku Census 2010: PIRATES!
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 17, 2010 -
Resident Evil Creator Wants To Make 3D Horror Game
Shinji Mikami, the game designer behind Resident Evil, has always had a game he’s been dying to make. “When it comes to my personal desires, I’d like to make a true-3D horror game, something where you’d use glasses like in the Avatar film,” he told Japanese game magazine Famitsu. “It’s been my goal since the…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 17, 2010