-
Suggestions
To: Crecente From: Bashcraft RE: Night Flyer WATCH THAT BOB DYLAN DOCUMENTARY. What you missed last night Pocket God Micro-Review: Heaven or Hell? Why Is Square Enix Raising Cash? Rock Band Network Launching Tomorrow U.S. Army Trains with “SimCity Bagdad” Unpaid Internet Bill Leads to Game-Blamed Stabbing
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 19, 2010 -
Reviews
Pocket God Micro-Review: Heaven or Hell?
You are god. That’s the premise of iPhone app Pocket God from the two-man developer team Bolt Creative. But is it a heavenly experience or a hellish one? In Pocket God, players are a divine hand. As the first sentence of this review explains, you are god. And, as god, you can do pretty much…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 19, 2010 -
Why There’s A Naked Final Fantasy XIII Character Model
Looking through the assets on the Final Fantasy XIII game disk data, Japanese website MADOKA Park! apparently noticed something. Something naked. After looking through the disk and turning up character models for all the main characters as well as main Summons and weapons, the site discovered a character model for Oerba Dia Vanille, and she…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 19, 2010 -
Super Mario Bros Wii. Fastest Wii Title To Hit Three Million In Japan
Going on sale in Japan on December 3, 2009, Wii title New Super Mario Bros. Wii has sold over 3 million games. In Japan, that’s not just fast for a Wii title, it’s the fastest. In its first seven weeks on sale, the game moved 3,002,753 units, making it the fastest title to hit the…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 19, 2010 -
So, Does Japan Actually Read Game Magazines?
Apparently! Some people read Japanese game magazines like Famitsu when scans leak early onto the internet. Other people actually buy the print publications. But how many? The Japanese Magazine Publishers Association has released circulation numbers for domestic video games magazines. Data is between October 1, 2008 and September 30, 2009. Title: Weekly Famitsu Publisher: Enterbrain…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 19, 2010 -
Etrian Odyssey III Pushed Back
Upcoming Nintendo DS role-playing game Etrian Odyssey III: Visitor From Star Ocean from developer Atlus has been delayed in Japan. The game was originally slated for a March 4 release. Joining the typical dungeon crawling of the previous Etrian Odyssey games, the third installment will also feature ocean exploring. Atlus attributed the delay to “various…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 19, 2010 -
What Do Gundam, Pro Evo and Nintendo Games Have In Common?
Last year in Japan, people bought tons of ’em, that’s what. Enterbrain, the publisher behind Japanese game magazine Famitsu, has released sales data for fifty biggest selling games of last year. The data was collected for the dates between December 28, 2008 and December 27, 2009. Where applicable, the data in the parenthesis is the…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 19, 2010 -
Kenka Bancho, The Badass Gallery of Tough Guy Faces
This March, fighting game Kenka Bancho is coming to the silver screen in Japan with Kenka Bancho ~ Zenkoku Seiha (Nationwide Domination). It’s bringing hard-nosed facial posturing with it! The cute is provided by idols Erika Yazawa and Mai Satoda. Sneers by the dudes. Thanks, dudes! 里田まい『喧嘩番長 劇場版〜全国制覇』で「夢が叶った」 [Famitsu]
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 19, 2010 -
Why Is Square Enix Raising Cash?
Square Enix, the company behind Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, announced a ¥35 billion ($386 million) zero-coupon convertible bond. As Hiroshi Kamide at KBC Securities Japan points out, “convertible” means that these bonds can be changed to shares at some point before they mature. While Square Enix has around ¥80 billion in on hand cash,…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 19, 2010 -
A Week In Comments
Unpaid Internet Bill Leads to Game-Blamed Stabbing Comment by: Segador Nominated by: (Starman) #number258 I watched a friend go from a quality individual to a fat, pasty, loser in 12 months thanks to his addiction to WoW. He lost his very good IT consulting job because he would stay up past 3am, then crash, not…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 19, 2010 -
Driver’s License So Lost, Can’t Drive
To: Crecente From: Bashcraft Went to the police station this morning to report that I lost my driver’s license somewhere between Narita Airport and Dallas, Texas last month. Had to fill out some forms and get my picture taken again. My picture turned out pretty DARN HOT I must say. The biggest drag? It takes…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 18, 2010 -
This Is How You Promote Final Fantasy XIII Figures
With real people dressed up in costume, that’s how! As Square Enix launches a set of Play Arts figures, and Akihabara’s Kotobukiya retail shop has a special event in store. Or rather, outside store. Over the weekend, a troupe of Final Fantasy XIII were available to pose for photos. There was even a time table…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 18, 2010 -
Activision Won’t Give Up On DJ Hero Just Yet
Last October, Activision’s turntable game DJ Hero tanked. Fret not those who shelled out for game and its peripheral, Activision won’t be ditching the series just yet. If you’re going to make a commitment to doing something original, the odds are that you’re not going to get it right on the first chance,” Activision boss…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 18, 2010 -
Nintendo Claims DSi XL Not Only For Old People
The DSi XL‘s larger size, jumbo touch pen, bigger screen and refined old people colors (Wine Red?) made it seem like the DSi XL is targeted at old people. That’s not necessarily true, says Nintendo. When the DSi XL launched in Japan late last year as the DSi LL, Nintendo rolled out an ad campaign…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 18, 2010 -
Tekken Voice Actor Dead, Police Investigating Suicide
Daisuke Gouri passed away this past Sunday at around 3:00 pm in Tokyo after being discovered wandering the streets in Nakano ward, blood dripping from his arm, before collapsing face-down. He was 57 years old. Besides an impressive list of anime credits, Gouri also voiced Bass Armstrong in the Dead or Alive series, Mister Hercule…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 18, 2010 -
Ready To Booze It Up With Yakuza 4?
You can tell a lot about a game by its deluxe bundles. Some games, like BioShock, have figurines. Other games, like Modern Warfare 2 and its night vision goggles, have extravagant items. Yakuza 4 just wants you drunk. One of the goodies for deluxe version of upcoming PS3 exclusive Japanese crime drama Yakuza 4 (Ryu…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 18, 2010 -
NSFW: Gladiator Begins Gets Sexy Time Slip Cover
That gladiator lady is back! This alternative slip cover for PSP game Kentoushi: Gladiator Begins was a freebie at an event in Tokyo’s Akihabara. The standard cover has a shirtless gladiator dude. The back of the cover reminds people on Japanese internet of one thing: a porno. This is not pornography, it is a video…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 18, 2010 -
Japan’s 2ch. Replies To RPG Complaints
Last week, website IGN published a list of ten ways to fix Japanese role-playing games. Japan’s 2ch., the largest internet forum in the world, has responded. IGN’s list criticized things in Japanese role-playing games like the lifeless environments, linear gameplay, stereotypical stories and traditional battle systems. (Read the full list here.) 2ch., where users post…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 18, 2010 -
Guess Who “Loved” Avatar?
Have you seen Avatar, the James Cameron opus? One of gaming’s Twitterati has, but who? Who, who, who? The rest of the Twitterati kept themselves busy to boot. Glad to see that game designer George Broussard (of Duke Nukem Forever fame) is keeping busy! Halo composer Marty O’Donnell loved him some Avatar. Deep thoughts by…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 18, 2010 -
Do You Want To Game In 3D?
Here’s how it works: We ask a question, you answer it. Simple and no strings attached! This isn’t some marketing survey or whatever. It’s an emotional investment in you. Yes, we’re interested in knowing you, Kotaku reader person. You probably know oodles about us – more than you even want to, we’re sure. But, hey,…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 16, 2010
Brian Ashcraft
Brian Ashcraft's posts