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  Halo: Reach, Laser Tag and the Law of Convenience

  Last week more than a million people logged in to their Xbox 360s, plopped down and got a taste of upcoming first-person shooter Halo: Reach. And that was just on the first day. I spent a bit of time checking out the beta for the upcoming shooter from developer Bungie. But later that week I…

  By Brian Crecente Published May 10, 2010
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  Yes, I Forgot Mother’s Day

  To: Crecente From: Bashcraft Mother’s Day was this past Sunday. I honestly thought it was supposed to be today. No, really. (T_T) I got a call from my mother, thanking me for the flowers she got — flowers that Mrs. Bashcraft had sent her without telling me. I then told my mother she should thanks…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 10, 2010
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  LittleBigPlanet 2 Unveiled with This Snazzy Trailer

  Digital puppetry? Intelligent design? Homespun tales? Whole games? It looks like LittleBigPlanet 2 isn’t just official, it’s going to be amazing. Not only is the official trailer live, there’s a whole page dedicated to the upcoming game up over on LittleBigPlanet.com. LittleBigPlanet 2 will feature a revamped Popit that will let you “bring your characters…

  By Brian Crecente Published May 10, 2010
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  Report: Chinese Superstar Zhang Ziyi Loses Fiance To The Internet?

  One of China’s most successful actresses Zhang Ziyi (Rush Hour 2, 2046) is engaged to Vivi Nevo, a venture capitalist and a hardcore online gamer. Make that was engaged, rumors say. According to XINMSN, Nevo also occasionally enjoys online dating — which can be problematic if, you know, one is already engaged. “Now, it seems…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 10, 2010
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  Sony’s Game Division Is Doing Pretty Good

  2009 was a rough year for many companies. Sony’s video game business is doing pretty good, apparently. While Sony has not yet disclosed its financial results, the company does expect a slight dip in its forecast and has issued a revision for the financial year ending on March 31, 2010. Sales and operating revenue for…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 10, 2010
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  Watch Mario Galaxy 2’s Video Instruction Manual

  New Super Mario Bros. Wii is easy to understand. Mario Galaxy 2, a little less so. To help get fans of the former to purchase the latter, Nintendo will be bundling a DVD instruction manual with the galactic sequel. You can see a preview of the DVD, which is for the European and Japanese markets,…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 10, 2010
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  The Activision vs Infinity Ward Of The Racing Game World

  Codemasters, the studio behind racing games like Dirt and the upcoming F1 2010, is taking another developer to court, accusing it of “poaching staff”. Late last year, Trevor Williams and Nick Wheelwright – former Codemasters executives – broke away from the British studio and formed their own new team, called Playground Games. Codemasters now alleges,…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 10, 2010
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  It’s Kinda Like Project Natal, But With Virtual Skirt Lifting

  The words “kinda like” are being used loosely. The words “skirt lifting” are not. Japanese adult game developer Teatime, known for its first-person “shooter” adult game, has already brought face tracking “T-Cam” tech to its games, allowing players to look at in-game heroines from various angles, including, well, up female characters’ skirts. The developer went…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 10, 2010
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  A Black Widow Of Your Very Own

  Collectible company Hot Toys wasn’t going to let an Iron Man 2 license go by without at least one figure based on the film’s aesthetic highlight: Scarlett Johansson in a tight, tight jumpsuit. Sure, they’ve done one for Iron Man, and one for War Machine too, but those are dude’s in robot suits. That’s easy.…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 10, 2010
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  Apple And Nintendo, A Short History of Rivals

  In March 2006, Nintendo released the DS Lite. The portable kicked off a wave of Apple comparisons. Here’s why: The DS Lite was first released in white – iPod white. The DS Lite’s color scheme mirrored the iPod of the day, and even Nintendo’s simple, modern packaging seemed Apple-esque. The DS Lite was not, however,…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 10, 2010
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  New FIFA Game Coming (But It’s For Facebook)

  When EA bought casual games developer Playfish, people thought it would mean EA games based on fluffy animals. Nope. Turns out the “well-known brand” the studio has been working on is a Facebook version of football series FIFA. The game will be called FIFA Superstars. Details are thin on the ground, but from the way…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 10, 2010
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  What’s It Like Going On Sale In Akihabara?

  Pretty darn great, that’s what. For someone who covers Japanese pop culture, seeing one’s own work absorbed and digested by said culture is quite thrilling. Japanese Schoolgirl Confidential, my tome to the impact Japanese schoolgirls have made on the country’s society and popular culture, has gone on sale in Japan. I never intended the book…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 10, 2010
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  America, You Spend A LOT Of Money On Video Games

  When it comes to spending money on video games, nobody does it quite like the US of A, with research finding that Americans spent over $25 billion on the things in 2009. The exact figures is $25,300,000,000, a tally made all the more frightening considering it doesn’t include new hardware or new accessory sales. Factor…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 10, 2010
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  This Pikachu Pancake Does Not Look Good

  At all. As seen on Hawty McBloggy

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 10, 2010
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  Dragon Punch Chun-Li Where It Counts With This Male Supplement

  This is Stree Overlord. It’s a supplement for men aimed at helping with…yeah. And to help sell it, we have two of Street Fighter’s most famous characters going at it hammer and tongs on the front of the box. Sorry it’s been censored, but what’s going on under that fish should stay under that fish.…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 10, 2010
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  Ten Reasons Why Teenage Girls Become Otaku

  Everyone has their reasons. What’s yours, sister? Japanese website Otalabo polled over 600 individuals about what led them to become an “otaku”. Otalab focuses on polling teenage females, and it should be noted that the website uses the word “otaku” and not the gender specific fujoshi, which means literally means “rotten girl”. The term “otaku”…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 10, 2010
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  Let’s Imagine New Pokemons!

  On Sunday, Japanese kids’ show Pokémon Sunday showed silhouettes of new characters in the all-new forthcoming game Pocket Monsters: Black and White. Time to imagine what these characters will look like! Pokémon Black and White is a completely new Pocket Monster series. And this fall, the fifth-generation Pokémon series will be released on the Nintendo…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 10, 2010
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  Marvel vs Capcom 3: Four New Challengers Enter

  There’s a Marvel vs Capcom 3 feature in the latest issue of Game Informer Magazine, and along with some new screens of the game, a number of previously unconfirmed – though strongly hinted-at – characters have been revealed. The “new” characters are ones we already guessed at from the game’s first promo art, but hard…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 10, 2010
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  Old Haunts

  To: Luke From: Owen Re: Half a Move As some know I was down in the Bay Area this weekend for a couple things we’ll learn more about later. But it was nice putting actual faces to some names I’ve gotten to know over the past year, whether it was the guys at EA Sports…

  By Owen Good Published May 9, 2010
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  Wii at Last, Wii at Last, Thank God Almighty …

  So President Obama, once again, dinged video games in a speech. I’d rather send a more uplifting message, where a console is judged not by the content of its games, but the color of its skin. As we know, today is an historic day* in America – the first black Wii is available for purchase.…

  By Owen Good Published May 9, 2010