Monday, August 13, 2007
Grave Cleaning/Kotaku Facebook Group Joining
11:40PM Brian Ashcraft | To: Crecente and Flynn From: Ashcraft RE: Travelling Man Spent the weekend in Kyoto, cleaning the in-laws’ family grave. O-bon is a huge holiday in Japan. You can read all about it right here. The country kinda grinds to a halt this week, which means Japanese game news might be slow-ish. My wife’s family is all pretty much from Osaka, but the family grave is in Kyoto. Basically, we loaded up and went to some mountain in Kyoto Prefecture and pulled weeds out of the family grave. Unlike most American graves, it’s more than a marker and a plot of dirt. Their family grave has a super short staircase that leads to a square block of rock and obelisk. Pulling weeds for dead people isn’t nearly as grim as it sounds. The amazing thing was that there were graves for Westerners in this remote cemetery. They had lived and died in Kyoto like almost a hundred years ago. Can you imagine? What you missed last night: More »
Gran Turismo 5 Dated For Japan
11:20PM Luke Plunkett | Think GT5 is still awhiles off? Quit your thinking, it’s not good for you. Stick to listening. Listen to Kazunori Yamauchi, for example, who reckons the game will be out in Japan by next summer. Around July-ish. Which if precedent is anything to go by (and it normally is, that’s why they call it precedent), we can expect an American release by next Christmas and a PAL release in…what, 2009? And that’s if everything goes according to plan. Which, it being Gran Turismo, it probably won’t. Gran Turismo 5 next July [Eurogamer] More »
Upcoming PSP Slim Shortages In Japan?
11:00PM Brian Ashcraft | Hardware launches mean one thing: Hardware shortages. This September’s PSP Slim launch looks to be no different. Amazon Japan pre-orders for the PSP Slim (PSP-2000CW) have already closed, and the Sofmap in Akihabara is posting signs mentioning that because of shortages, customers can reserve only one PSP Slim. It also seems like they’re not letting customers pick which colour they want. Also! Sofmap is allowing one 1seg PSP tuner per person. Whenever new hardware launches, I can’t help but thinking some of the demand is created through forced shortages. Call me jaded. PSP Slim Registration Starts [Akiba Blog] More »Japan’s Take On The Angry German Kid
10:40PM Brian Ashcraft | If you’ve been near a computer in the last two years or so, you’ve probably seen this. It’s a clip of some German kid flipping out while trying to play Unreal Tournament. Some say it was faked, some say it’s real. We really don’t care about that! What we do care about is this wonderful parody some Japanese dude did of that meme. It’s great. Also, if you understand Japanese, the remixed version is a hoot as well. More »
Best Buy Institutes Halo 3 Tax
10:20PM Luke Plunkett | May not be its official name, but a Halo 3 tax it is. The image above shows the rrp for two Xbox 360 peripherals, from xbox.com itself, compared to Best Buy’s new 360 peripheral prices. Notice anything? Yes, they’re now selling them all for USD$3 OVER the recommended retail price. This applies for all 360 peripherals, too, not just the two pictured. Guess they figure lots of people will be buying stuff for Halo 3, it’s the third Halo, they’re all three bucks extra…oh my, the symbolism is so rich you could bake a cake outta it. Classy move Best Buy, way to fuck the little guy. Best Buy’s Halo 3 Tax [XBL Radio] More »
Acting And Game Motion-Capture? Same.
10:00PM Brian Ashcraft | By bringing Sméagol and Gollum to live in Lord of the Rings, actor Andy Serkis set off a hailstorm of controversy. His proformance was so good that many Academy members felt he should be nominated for an Oscar (the Academy felt otherwise). He is able to inject great humanity into his motion capture work. Heavenly Sword marks the first time that Serkis has done motion-capture for a game. What’s the difference between doing motion-capture and doing traditional acting? More »
Yes, Too Human Is Still “On Track” For 2008
9:30PM Luke Plunkett | You’d be forgiven for wishing Too Human would just crawl into a deep, dark hole and never be seen again. The big delays have been one thing, but the brewing lawsuits between developers Silicon Knights and Epic? Surely it’s going to throw a spanner (the 117th at last count during the game’s development) in the works. Not so, according to Microsoft, who have said the game’s still “on Track”. Regarding development of Too Human, we are still on track for a 2008 release date, as we announced most recently at E3 2007. Yes, you are, providing things go well in the lawsuit. If they don’t, and Epic come up trumps, the game’s engine must be destroyed, which might just have an effect on that timeframe. Microsoft: Too Human Still “On Track” [Next-Gen] More »
BOOB PILLOW And WOMAN HANDS!!!
9:00PM Brian Ashcraft | Two words: Total meltdown. Earlier, we posted that dork snuggle cushion for PC dating sim D.C. II -Da Capo II- would be letting people get their squeezes in on August 10th at Akihabara retailer Gamerz. Well, today is August 11th so how’d it go? Squishingly. Apparently, in five hours, those humps were squeezed (count ‘em) 340 times! This wasn’t just lonely men grabbing and groping the “special gel” filled cushions, but open-minded women. What’s more, there was a sign tacked on the pillows that read ã”自由ã«ãŠã‚‚ã¿ä¸‹ã•ã„. Can’t read that? No problem! Because below that it also read “Touch Free” in English. Yes, these boob pillows are foreigner-friendly! I look at this and know what I see? Bridges being built, walls coming down, cats and dogs living together. Boob pillows are progress. Hit the jump for another truly surprising picture. More »
Do The Hardcore Care About 360 Reliability?
8:30PM Luke Plunkett | Think we’re all of the opinion that the 360’s a little on the unreliable side. So there’s no debate about that. What there can be debate over, however, is whether the console’s poor reliability matters to existing 360 owners. A New York Times article from the weekend investigates just that, publishing quotes from a whole bunch of 360 fanboys and generally painting a picture that a lot of 360 owners aren’t fussed about below-average hardware, because they’re getting (or are looking forward to) stuff like Halo 3. But there is little doubt the faithful will be there in force, and thrilled about it, having forgiven Microsoft for the flaws in its console. “I’m on my third 360,” said Benjamin Lin, an 18-year-old Halo enthusiast from Seattle, “and it’s working great for me.” Interesting angle to run with. After all,”forgive” is a very strong word, and one I don’t think many people would actually use in relation to the 360’s reliability. “Endure”, perhaps, or maybe even “tolerate”, but not forgive, and probably not “forget”, either. Xbox 360 Out of Order? For Loyalists, No Worries [NY Times] More »
