To: Crecente From: Bashcraft
Glad to see you made it to Germany, Bird Shirt and all.
Had to run a few errands and needed to swing by Yodobashi Camera in Umeda to pick up some crap for my computer. As I was making a beeline through the store, I saw a woman descending down the elevator. An ex-girlfriend. Not just someone I dated once or twice, but someone I lived with for a few months light years ago.
Nice enough girl. We got on decent enough. She was, however, a hostess. Not really a concept I understood when I moved in with her. At that time, I was still rather green Japan-wise and young and really didn’t give a toss. So when she said her job was to pour drinks for old men, I just kinda wrote it off as a Japanese custom! The short of it: I was young, she was young, it didn’t work out. She didn’t want to quit — the money was too good. And the entire situation started to weird me out, her being in her early twenties and pulling in ten grand a month.
I decided to move out. Met Mrs. Bashcraft. At a bookstore. We became inseparable. Started writing professionally around that time. Things started happening. More »
Announced yesterday at Leipzig, Konami’s Pro Evo football series will be returning to a Nintendo home console for the first time in aaaaages with a Wii version of Pro Evo 8. Sound good? There’s a couple of catches. First, it’s running later than the other versions, and won’t be ready until Q1 2008. Second, all the press release really mentions is waggle control. No word on anything like online multiplayer or how many leagues/teams it’s going to feature. That’s not to say it won’t feature all of that, just…hold your horses until we get more info. Presser follows. More »
Kojima Productions just posted a podcast conversation between Hideo Kojima, Assassin’s Creed producer Jade Raymond and AC creative director Patrice Desilets. The chat runs about twenty minutes — 8 of which is them saying how much they dig each other’s games. Though, there is some grist towards the end when KP’s Ryan Payton puts forth the PS3/Xbox 360 cross-platform question, asking if they like the rumours and speculation. While Patrice says he personally finds it “fun,” Jade adds: We want to make the best game possible that can be enjoyed by the most people possible. For us, its obviously a bigger challenge to ship simultaneously on both consoles, because they are not the same. But it’s also worth while if that means more people can play the game, so I think that’s ultimately our objective. To just get it out there to as many people as possible.
Payton then turns around and asks his boss Hideo Kojima if he’s tired of people that keep asking whether MGS4 will be on both platforms. Kojima’s response? More »
Shhhhhhhh! Second Life might be getting a bit of a backlash, but don’t tell IBM. The computer co. is enamoured with SL. It’s the future they say! IBM opened its virtual SL Business Center earlier this spring in order to provide sales and support services. According to IBM director of Global Web Strategy & Innovation Maggie Blayney: The real reason why we’re doing this is because we do feel the beginning of a major transformation on how people are going to interact on the Web — going from a flat to an immersive experience… It’s not going to replace the two-dimensional Web but it’s going to integrate and complement it.
Welcome to last year. IBM in Second Life [Reuters] More »
First news of New International Track & Field left me indifferent. Second news is tipping the scales in favour of a positive reception. What am I basing this on? Pretty much the game’s playable character roster, which is up on the newly-launched official site. No real athletes here. Note the inclusion of an adorable Pyramid Head. Or, better yet, Sparkster! I’ve got so many good memories of Rocket Knight Adventures I could knit them into a blankie and just wrap myself in it. Whether the guy can throw a javelin is another matter, but I’d like to think he could manage. New International Track & Field [Official Site] More »
Finally, a Sonic game with attitude!! It’s even created by Team Sonic. That means there is a slight chance this game won’t destroy any fond lingering childhood memories I have of that blue hedgehog. Man, I hope this game has no human kissing. And that the controls aren’t wonk. And that it’s not shitty.
As we mentioned previously, electronics retail giant Circuit City subpoenaed video game shopping community CheapAssGamer.com. Circuit City is demanding that CAG turn over information about registered member Speedy1961, who has been posting CC ads on the site before they are released. Today, CAG Productions CEO CheapyD (aka”David Abrams”) has posted Circuit City’s complaint, which is the basis for its subpoena. CAG has responded: CheapyD has filed an objection to this action — a “Motion to Quash” the subpoena based on procedural errors made by CC’s legal eagles, such as failing to include certain documents. What’s more, it seems that CAG Productions, a New York Limited Liability Corporation, is out of the Virginia court’s jurisdiction, where the suit was filed. Circuit City needs a commission to a New York court. More »
Microsoft just sent word that Project Gotham Racing 4 is nearly done, and will be released in the US on October 2 and in Europe on October 14. It’ll go for $US60. Not content with just this vital information, they also sent along a list of ten more cars that will feature in the game, as well as nine more bikes. Which normally wouldn’t excite me, but I’ve got a thing for Aston Martins, so the 2005 Vantage V8′s inclusion is good news. Rest of the new additions are only a click away. More »
PC shooter Crysis developer Crytek has loads of ideas in the pipeline. Loads! The developer already has an entire team dedicated to the PS3. According Cryteck honcho Cevat Yerli, the studio even has a “separate” room creating “some secret technologies…which are not related to the CryEngine 2.” Crytek also has an Xbox 360 title in the works. It’s not a FPS and a “complete departure” from the studio’s titles Crysis and Far Cry. What about the Wii? Yerli answers: We have Wii development but it’s very small, it’s more like testing ideas. We don’t have a project at this stage… Nintendo Wii is certainly on the radar, we will do something for Nintendo Wii — the question is when. I think some time maybe in three or four years, but nobody knows when.
That’s a pretty big radar you got there, Yerli. Crytek’s Plans [Games Industry] More »
