Thursday, August 30, 2007
Yes, Some Japanese People Are Too Polite
11:40PM Brian Ashcraft | To: Crecente From: Ashcraft It’s a vicious cycle of sorts. I’m working on a magazine article, and I’ve been dealing with one particular person at a particular company for over a month or so while I write this article. There’s a fairly standard format for business email writing in Japanese. Here’s what it looks like in English: Mr. PERSON’S LAST NAME I am indebted. This is YOUR LAST name from COMPANY NAME. And then you launch into whatever you are talking about. Pretty basic stuff. There are various ways of addressing people in Japanese and some are more polite than others. Often in writing, you’d use “sama” instead of “san.” So, if I was sending you and email, I’d write “Crecente-sama.” It’s more polite than “san.” Of course, one should never refer to oneself as “sama” or “san,” but rather by your last name only. Doing so is very arrogant. That is, unless you are an arrogant crazed anime character out to take over the world, then by all means refer to yourself as “sama” or “san.” (Oddly enough! Whenever Madonna is on Japanese TV, she refers to herself as “Madonna-san.” Nobody has the guts to tell her, I think.) Anyway! Once a general rapport is established, it might feel more comfortable to use the slightly less formal “san” in email writing — though not always! More »
Woman-Slapping Coming To DS Via Homebrew
11:20PM Luke Plunkett | It was said a million billion times when Rose & Camellia was first seen: slapping women was great on the PC, but it’d be PERFECT on the DS. More interactive, more portable. While an official, boxed copy is just never ever going to happen, French homebrewer Mia has started work on a DS version of the game. Good news! Bad news? Dude says he won’t have time to finish it, and wants help. If you speak French, know anything about DS homebrew and realise this is probably the most important human endeavour of our age, hit up Mia’s site. The rest of you: sit, wait, pray. Rose Camellia DS [insert credit] More »Korea Makes The Bestest Halo 3 Trailer
11:00PM Brian Ashcraft | And the silly Korean Halo 3 promotional clips keep coming! Here’s number deux. This time Master Chief punches a dinosaur in the face, accidentally knocking off his armour and dances with some lady on the subway. After watching this, I have never wanted to play Halo 3 SO BAD in my entire life. Korea, you’ve sold me! More »
Logitech Mating Wii-mote And SIXAXIS?
10:40PM Brian Ashcraft | The people sure love that Wii-mote. It’s maybe about perfect, right? Nope! “If you couldn’t improve on it, we wouldn’t be in business,” says Logitech’s Chris Spearing. The peripheral maker thinks it can one-up Nintendo and made a serious contender. The company is planning to announce a new Wii periph that *may* challenge Nintendo’s remote. And how the hell could they do that? By mating the Wii-mote with the SIXAXIS. Or something. Spearing explains: More »
Key Word For New DMC4 Screens? JUBBLIES.
10:40PM Brian Ashcraft | Hmm. Well. Okay. Just so you know, I did not crop this pic! At all. This is an actual Devil May Cry 4 screenshot from the recent Leipzig trailer that Capcom set to actual websites. Hoping? Hoping that when Japanese gamers see this, they don’t think PS3 or Xbox 360 (or PC, even!), but instead think damn, those buttons look really nice. That embroidery ain’t half-bad, either. And the piping? WOW. DMC4 Screens [Game Watch Impress] More »New Phantom Hourglass Trailer
10:20PM Luke Plunkett | It’s been a while since we had a Phantom Hourglass vid up! In fact, it’s been too long. So here’s the first of the clips leading up the western releases in October. Yes, sorry, it’s incredibly small (argh, the SQUINTING), but it’s also bursting with new footage. More »
Wii Skateboard Asks For Purchase (Not Lawsuit)
9:30PM Luke Plunkett | Black Market skateboards are, next month, releasing a deck based on a certain popular Nintendo console. It doesn’t appear to be officially licensed by Nintendo, even though it bears a striking resemblance to a certain popular Nintendo console’s controller. Knowing Nintendo, this means they might run into legal problems. Hope not! If I didn’t look like six feet of vanilla jelly when perched atop a skateboard I’d totally buy one. [thanks Curt!] More »
Dreamcast Shmup Coming To Japanese XBL Arcade
9:00PM Brian Ashcraft | In that wasteland that is Xbox Live Japan, 360 owners have at least one thing to be excited about. Bullet hell Trigger Heart Exelica is coming to Xbox Live Arcade! The shmup is from developer Warashi, the team behind scrolling side SEGA Saturn shooter Shienryu (too many S’s). The vertical shooter got an arcade release last year and was even ported to the Dreamcast this past February! Not much info on the game in the Arcadia mag blurb (above) about whether it’ll be available outside Japan or when it will hit XBL. It will, and that’s all we know! And hey, if Warashi hasn’t given up on the DC, like hell it’ll call it a day for the Xbox 360 in Japan. Trigger Heart Hitting XBL [Warashi] More »
Warhawk Producer Sick Of Developer B.S.
8:50PM Brian Ashcraft | Gamers aren’t idiots. Bullshit? We smell it from miles away. No wonder it’s a delight to read how upfront and honest Warhawk’s Lead Producer Dylan Jobe is in a meaty GamePro interview. He gets down to brass tacks and speaks his mind about making the tough decision to cut single player, turn it multi-player and if the game is actually revolutionary. Shouldn’t come as a surprise as he did give Crecente balls. Highlights: More »
