Brian Ashcraft

Is Drool Bad For MacBook Pros?

To: Mikes From: Bashcraft Know: Typing with an infant in your lap is not easy — esp. when he or she is trying to slam the keyboard when his or her drool covered baby hand. Drool is just drool, no biggie, right? Surely, that’s the “Pro” part of a MacBook Pro — drool proof. What…

Don’t Expect Localized Game Center CX Sequel

Game Center CX is a fantastic reality TV show with a couple of fantastic DS games. The first game made it to the US with a localized version. That doesn’t mean its sequel will. The DS games knowingly pay homage to Famicom-era day games of yore. The first game was introduced to American gamers as…

PS3 Sales Up 288 Percent From Last April

The PLAYSTATION 3 has outsold the Wii for the past two-and-a-half months. That we know. What percentage the Japanese PS3 sales have spiked since the same month last year, that we didn’t — until now. According to April data released by Famitsu publisher Enterbrain, PLAYSTATION 3 sales are up 288 percent from the same period…

BioShock 3 Might Be Returning To Rapture

Corridor shooter BioShock takes place in underwater city Rapture. BioShock 2 takes place in underwater city Rapture. BioShock 3? According to 2K Marin’s creative director Jordan Thomas, the setting is “one of the characters we don’t want to let go.” Thomas added that he thinks Rapture is still “fertile” for as much exploration as the…

Bullet Hell Developer Offers Arcades Its Games For FREE

Cave, the Japanese developer behind such shmup classics as Mushihime-sama Futari, recently announced a revolutionary way to release arcade games in Japan: For free. Not free for me or you, we’ve still gotta pay. But rather, free for arcade owners. Instead of having arcade owners buy costly arcade set-ups and then trying to make money…

Atari Jaguar Getting New Game This Year

The Atari Jaguar was a flop. Though, despite being discontinued in 1996, the console continues to get lovely made games from indie devs. Never say die! The latest game is Mad Bodies, a Breakout-style shooter. The game’s developer Force Design worked on this title for six years — something even more remarkable when you consider…

One More Day For Red Faction Entries!

This is it, we’re a day from the day we’ll stop taking your red Red Faction contest entries. Contest closes next Thursday at midnight! What’s happening? We’re giving away a copy of futuristic third-person-shooter Red Faction: Guerrilla, platform of your choice. Here’s how you can win it: Take a picture of red things — the…

Final Fantasy Creator Mentions New Projects, Says Something About LEGO

Hironobu Sakaguchi, the game developer behind Final Fantasy and Xbox 360 RPG Lost Odyssey, is hard at work on a new role-playing-game and building four-wheel-drive LEGO. “Making Legos is when I’m troubled with something,” Sakaguchi blogs. “What I’m troubled with is graphic settings for the next new game project.” While he says the project is…

Square Enix Has “No Plans” For English FFXIII Blu-ray Demo

Just because the Final Fantasy XIII Blu-ray demo powered Japanese PS3 sales, don’t expect the same for the West. Heck, don’t expect a Blu-ray demo for the time being. When Final Fantasy XIII producer Yoshinori Kitase was asked by website VideoGamer.com whether there will be a Blu-ray FFXIII demo, the producer replied, “The type of…

That Crecente Guy Sure Is Influential

GamePro is listing its 20 most influential people in gaming from 1989 to 2009. Ranked at number 20 is Kotaku Managing Editor Brian Crecente — or as GamePro calls him “The Provocateur“. How provocative. “Kotaku was a little-known, little-read blog in Gawker Media’s online publishing empire until Brian Crecente transformed it into the PR-terrorizing powerhouse…

Which King of Fighters XII Cover Do You Want?

There are two fighters: Iori Yagami or Kyo Kusanagi. American publisher Ignition has narrowed down the choices for The King of Fighters XII cover boy and is asking folks to choose between these rivals. Because forthcoming The King of Fighters XII is a multi-platform game, there are actually four different covers to choose from. Us?…

Marvel: Marvel vs. Capcom 2 Slated For June Release

In its financial report, comic book giant Marvel dated the re-release of classic fighter Marvel vs. Capcom 2. That date is June 29. And that date is, if you check your calendars, a Monday. Marvel does note “scheduled release dates are subject to change” in its report, so that means just that: this release date…

Look What’s In My Living Room! Samurai Armor!!

To: Crecente From: Bashcraft Sure, it is a miniaturized suit of armor (about 2.5 ft tall), but it’s still a suit of samurai armor. Since tomorrow is Children’s Day in Japan, families with male children put out displays with kabuto, which are samurai military helmets, so that the boys will grow up healthy and strong.…

Red? How About Glowing Cat Eyes?

James sends this. We applaud the red, but are totally freaked out by the cute cat. What’s happening? We’re giving away a copy of futuristic third-person-shooter Red Faction: Guerrilla, platform of your choice. Here’s how you can win it: Take a picture of red things – the more the better! Be sure to include a…

iDOLM@STER Characters Stretched And Shamed

The Japanese internet has discovered (hacked?) the “debug mode” for PSP title THE iDOLM@STER SP, making iDOLM@STER character posing possible. Make that, embarrassing NSFW posing possible. Proceed with caution. You have been warned! The discovery of this mode turns the PSP game into a make-shift version of adult PC erotic title 3D Custom Girl (not…

Nothing Says Charity Auction Like Mai Shiranui

Will the Mai Shiranui statues ever stop? No, no they won’t. This figurine adds to the deluge, but all for a good cause. At the Volks Osaka hobby showroom has a Mai Shiranui from SNK’s The King of Fighters. She’ll be up on the Volks charity auction block. The proceeds will go to the Make…

Xbox 360 Propaganda For Japan

Take free! This “Xbox 360 super catalogue” is being distributed at Japanese retailer Messe Sanoh. Don’t be fooled by the cute Xbox 360 console character, it’s good old fashioned propaganda. The cover reads, “Xbox 360 over PS3 if you are picking multi-platform games.” At the bottom of this pamphlet, there’s the Xbox 360 console line…

Hugh Jackman: Wolverine Game “More In-Depth”

Some are already calling the Wolverine video game better than the Wolverine movie. Hey, actor Hugh Jackman is impressed with the game, too. During production, Jackman was so dazzled that he had some of the video game dialogue shoehorned into the film script. “In fact I was able to bring some of the lines of…

Myst Is On The iPhone Right Now (And Big For An iPhone Game)

The iPhone port of Myst has gone live. The game is priced at US$5.99, and the download size is extra large. As we posted back in August, Cyan — the developer behind the puzzle-based series — announced it had a small team working on a port of it’s 1993 point-and-click classic Myst. The team may…

What Sequels Does Japan Want?

Lots of games get sequels. Some of them Japanese games want, and others Japanese games want really bad. Game magazine Famitsu polled its readers about which franchise sequel they crave the most. Here’s the raw data: (Oh, and do please tell us which sequel you would like!) 1. Sakura Taisen (aka Sakura Wars) 267 votes…