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Next Week Is GOLDEN
To: Crecente From: Bashcraft RE: Lucy In the Sky With Vestibular Disease Next week is Golden Week in Japan. You know, the week of national holidays which causes the entire country to shut down. Don’t really have any plans myself other than unpacking. You? What you missed last night Why Won’t Japanese Gamers Buy The…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 1, 2009 - Uncategorized
Nintendo’s Record Court Fine Reduced By Soft-Hearted Judge
Back in 2002, Nintendo were busted by the European Union for price-fixing. Their punishment was a €149 million (USD$200 million) fine, which is still one of the biggest penalties ever handed out by the EU. But for being such co-operative so-and-sos with the whole thing, a judge has reduced the company’s fines to “only” €119…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 1, 2009 - Uncategorized
The Biggest Shmup Debut Of This Generation Is…
DEATHSMILES! The game sold 20,000 copies in Japan during its first week on sale. This is the first traditional shooter to break the Japanese top ten this generation. Originally an arcade game developed by Cave, DEATHSMILES was the company first effort at self-porting and self-publishing an Xbox 360 title. Previously, Cave had brought in developer…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 1, 2009 - Uncategorized
Original Splatterhouse Devs Now Back On The Game
What go around. Come around. Despite Namco Bandai yanking development of Splatterhouse from developers Bottlerocket, the publisher has now hired many of those same developers to finish the game off. Guess Namco’s problem was indeed, as we suggested, with the “upper management” at Bottlerocket, and not the developers themselves. According to The Cut Scene, Namco…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 1, 2009 - Uncategorized
Hey That Magna Carta 2 Sure Took A Long Time
Development on recently announced role-playing-game Magna Carta 2 (which has nothing to do with the actual Magna Carta) first began about four years and eight months ago. What’s taken so long? The first title in the series, Magna Carta: The Phantom of Avalanche, was released in 2001, and the second game, Magna Carta: Crimson Stigmata,…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 1, 2009 - Uncategorized
Street Fighter IV PC Dated For Japan
In April, Capcom announced that the release date announcement for the PC version of Street Fighter IV was coming May 1. Check your calenders, it’s May 1. The fighting game has already been released in arcades and on home consoles. The PC version will be released on July 2 in Japan. It will be released…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 1, 2009 - Uncategorized
Midway: The Soap Opera Is Neither Bold Nor Beautiful
The story of Midway’s recent woes makes for grim reading if you read every story individually. But if you combine them into a single narrative and emphasise the characters, well, you’ve got a soap opera! Kris Graft over at Gamasutra has done just that, weaving the whole sorry tale into a drama starring “the old…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 1, 2009 - Uncategorized
Koei Tecmo Donates To Italian Earthquake Relief Effort
Earlier last month, a deadly earthquake rocked Italy’s mountainous Abruzzo region, killing hundreds and leaving tens of thousands homeless. Koei Tecmo Holdings, makers of Dynasty Warriors and Dead or Alive, and connected company staffers have pitched in and donated ¥3,470,000 (US$35,205) to the earthquake’s relief effort. Every bit helps. コーエーテクモ、イタリア大地震に約300万円を寄付 [Yahoo! Japan]
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 1, 2009 - Uncategorized
Batman: Arkham Asylum Delayed?
According to “sources close to the game”, the upcoming Batman: Arkham Asylum has been pushed back from its planned June release date to sometime later in the year. Speaking with Game Informer, the sources reckon the game will instead ship in the “fourth quarter of 2009”. Apparently neither of the game’s co-publishers, Eidos or Warner…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 1, 2009 - Uncategorized
Red Faction In 400 Tamales (And Red Tape)
So spicy! So Red. Reader Nick sends this photo, writing: This may not have the most red in it but it does have a lot of meaning behind it, but hey when you have 400+ hot tamales, strawberries, a horn, some Van Halen and a leninade then you better be ready for a revolution. Viva…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 1, 2009 - Uncategorized
Update On Final Fantasy XIII And Final Fantasy Versus XIII
In a recent Famitsu article on Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete, Square Enix designer Tetsuya Nomura talks FFVII: ACC. We know about that, tell us about those unreleased Final Fantasy games! Nomura told Famitsu that the voice recording for FFXIII is in its final stages. Versus-wise, Nomura says that the game’s costume designer has…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 1, 2009 - Uncategorized
Why Won’t Japanese Gamers Buy The Xbox 360?
Enterbrain, publisher of Japanese gaming mag Famitsu, has polled its readers as to why they don’t buy the Xbox 360. You know, the reasons why. Here is the breakdown: • Worried about its future 35.71 percent • Price is high 7.14 percent • No games I want to play 3.57 percent • Another reason 53.57…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 1, 2009 - Uncategorized
Some Guy Gets A Blizzard-Only WoW Item, Goes On WoW Rampage
A World of Warcraft subscriber has accidentally been given a powerful in-game item normally reserved for internal testing. And what’d he do with it? Why, he used it. Yes, instead of doing the right thing and returning the item (“Martin Fury”, an in-game shirt), he kept it and went out on a bit of a…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 1, 2009 - Uncategorized
White Knight Chronicles Could Be Getting Voice Chat
Face it, when you’re playing on a console with a controller, typing is tough. Japanese PS3 exclusive White Knight Chronicles has players do just that. The American version may not. Tsubasa Inaba, who’s producing the US version of White Knight Chronicles, tells the PlayStation.Blog: “We realize the necessity of voice chat. We’re trying to get…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 1, 2009 - Uncategorized
A Free Sackboy Residents Of The British Isles
LittleBigPlanet developers Media Molecule must have a lot of knitted Sackboy plushies lying around the office, because they’ve just announced a deal where anyone living in Britain can get one for free. Yes, if your postal address is anywhere in the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland, all…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 1, 2009 - Uncategorized
Major Minor’s Majestic March Sold 600 Copies In First Two Days
New Wii rhythm game seems to have the all the ingredients for a music game hit: The reuniting of PaRappa The Rapper creator Masaya Matsuura and PaRappa artist Rodney Greenblat. The duo also worked on the groundbreaking PlayStation title UmJammer Lammy. Their latest offering, marching title Major Minor’s Majestic March, was released April 24. The…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 1, 2009 - Uncategorized
Left 4 Dead Can Track Your Statistics From Beyond The Grave
Valve have implemented a great new feature within Left 4 Dead that, courtesy of Steam’s obsession with cataloguing data, is able to track and display your game stats. This new stats page can track you performance (kills, deaths, survival time, etc) over time, and show stuff like how often you use each weapon and play…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 30, 2009 - Uncategorized
Square Enix Teases Unannounced “NEW GAME”
Sirens. Breaking glass. Gun shots. Square Enix has launched a new website for a “NEW GAME”. It features a cityscape, a cacophony of sound and a quote from John Kennedy. The Kennedy quote reads: “The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 30, 2009