Last year was a totally bizarre year at Konami. One of the oddest moments was when game creator Akira Sakuma tweeted that his long-running train series Momotaro Dentetsu was officially over after a very public feud with Konami. Odder still is that a new Momotaro Dentetsu game was just announced.
For better or worse, sex sells. And for some of Japan's most famous game companies, it was what they sold when they first started making games. That's right, many of Japan's biggest game makers have turned to or even had their origins in pixelated pornography.
Takahashi Meijin, Hudson's human mascot, is now at Tokyo game company Mages (formerly 5pb).
Japanese people have the reputation of not saying what they mean. That's not exactly accurate. Plenty of Japanese people are very good at saying exactly what they mean.
It sure looks like it.
On Mar. 1, Konami's takeover of Hudson will go into effect. The merger will mean that Hudson ceases to exist and is dissolved into Konami. Best known for Bomberman, Hudson became a fully-owned Konami subsidiary in last year. [Infoseek]
For years, Japanese gamers have enjoyed the Momotaro Dentetsu series of train-themed, board game-style video games. If all good things must come to an end, it sounds like Momotaro Dentetsu is finished. Kaput.
How do you mess up Tetris? The answer, clever reader, is not: "Put it on the Nintendo 3DS." The 3DS isn't the problem.
When I think Bomberman, I think good, clean, wholesome fun. I don't think of a game where people tell me they'll "break my fucking head with a ratchet".
Old people play video games. By old, maybe that means sixty years old? Seventy? How about 99 years old.
Maybe it's bad timing or just bad luck. But there's a growing list of cancelled 3DS games. That's not good.
Hudson Soft human mascot Takahashi Meijin is leaving Hudson. His gaming nickname might be staying put.
After one of Japan's most beloved gaming mascots Takahashi Meijin revealed that he was leaving Hudson Soft, 23-year-old pin-up model Haruna Anno took to Twitter and her blog. She knew that he was leaving beforehand and talked to Takahashi about his decision, revealing that the conversation made her weep. But there's…
For nearly 30 years, Hudson's human mascot has been Takahashi Meijin, who rose to prominence during the company's heyday. Today, he revealed he's leaving the company.
While most people would peg the beginning of the high definition era around the time of the PlayStation 2 (some games able to run in 1080i), here's one game that was running in HD nearly twenty years ago.
Disaster Report 4, a disaster survival game, was canceled shortly after the Tohoku Earthquake out of respect for victims. The upcoming Momotaro Dentetsu game is joining Disaster Report 4 in the canned bin.
Game maker Hudson is now fully enveloped by Konami. And Konami is firing people and canceling games.
Things aren't looking good for Hudson Entertainment. Early reports from this week's issue of Famitsu magazine bring word of cancellations of Bonk, Bomberman and Omega Five for the Nintendo 3DS... among others.
