Friday, September 28, 2007
Yes, I Actually Like My In-Laws
11:40PM Brian Ashcraft | To: Crecente From: Ashcraft RE: Flu Bummer about the colds over there in casa Crecente. Hope you guys feel better soon! Right now, I am at the in-laws place. We went to dinner at some fancy hotel. I really like my in-laws. Like really, really like them. My father-in-law is a photographer and has an office full of the latest Macs — I type this in that office! I think because he doesn’t have a “normal” job that my why was able to accept me not having a normal job (sitting on my arse all day, writing about video games). What’s more, her mother, who is fifty, is still really attractive. And not in a fifty year old woman still trying to be attractive sort of way. She’s aged well. That was one piece of advice from my dad: Look at their mothers. The future looks bright for Mrs. Bashcraft! What you missed last night Street Fighter Sprites HP prototype Dudes in dresses doing Lucky Star Shane Kim wonders about Microsoft Halo 3 profits Ah, John Howard… More »
Japan Losing GTHD Once GT5 Prologue Hits
11:20PM Luke Plunkett | Hey, Japan. You can’t have your cake and eat it too. Sony have announced that when Gran Turismo 5 Prologue hits later this year, the free Gran Turismo HD concept download will be done. On September 30. Gone. Finished. No way you’re going to be playing some GT for free when you could be paying to play a bit more! Sucks for Japan, then, but what about the rest of us? We haven’t heard from SCEA, but an SCE Europe rep told us they “have no plans at the moment to remove the demo from [their] network”. ダウンãƒãƒ¼ãƒ‰çµ‚了ã¨å½“サイトã®ãƒ©ãƒ³ã‚ング更新終了ã®ãŠçŸ¥ã‚‰ã› [Official Site, via Game|Life] More »PSP Haruhi Game Invites Stalker-like Stares
10:40PM Brian Ashcraft | Bandai Namco has posted a clip of its upcoming Haruhi PSP game Suzumiya Haruhi no Yakusoku. The game boasts an original story with multiple endings, a volleyball mini-game and motion portraits that allow players to stare (yes, stare) at Haruhi character as they blink. There are two words for this and they are “fucking” and “creepy.” Haruhi Game [Siliconera] More »
DS Scrabble Offers Naughty Help Suggstion To Stuck User
10:20PM Luke Plunkett | Hasbro’s DS version of Scrabble contains a help function. If you’re stuck for a word, the system can check your remaining letters, check open spaces on the board and, only after consulting the Chambers Official Scrabble Dictionary, give you a word. That’s just what Belfast resident Zachary McAdam did the other day, when he was stuck with five letters and no idea how to use them. The game’s suggestion? “Lesbo”. For real. Seems the term can actually be found in the official dictionary the game uses, offensive or not, so with the dictionary copied wholesale, “Lesbo” came with it. Not particularly scandalous, then, just… interesting. I had no idea naughty words were in the official dictionary. If I had, I’d play a lot more Scrabble. Slang word shock on Scrabble video game [Belfast Telegraph, via Next-Gen] More »
Nintendo Says Get to the Back of the Box [Update]
10:00PM Brian Ashcraft | Nintendo knows it. People buy Nintendo consoles to play Nintendo games. So no wonder third parties don’t get much respect! Mike Wilson from developer GameCock explains the situation: …we discovered that it’s actually the letter of the law with Nintendo to put the publisher’s name on the front of the box and the spine, and the developer only on the back. Obviously, this flies in the face of our philosophy of who deserves the credit, and how gamers can actually see who made the game they love or hate, and thereby develop a relationship with their favourite artists, just like authors, musicians, directors, and so on. Nintendo of America says it’s a customer service issue, and they believe people might try to call the developer if they have a problem with the game, and they want them to call the publisher, who is the licensee of NOA. Sure, it’s a Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval thing, but c’mon. Seems like unnecessary branding on Nintendo’s part — like they’re taking credit or something. GameCock Interview [GameSpot via Go Nintendo] Hit the jump for the update. More »
Nintendo Says Get to the Back of the Box
10:00PM Brian Ashcraft | Nintendo knows it. People buy Nintendo consoles to play Nintendo games. So no wonder third parties don’t get much respect! Mike Wilson from developer GameCock explains the situation: …we discovered that it’s actually the letter of the law with Nintendo to put the publisher’s name on the front of the box and the spine, and the developer only on the back. Obviously, this flies in the face of our philosophy of who deserves the credit, and how gamers can actually see who made the game they love or hate, and thereby develop a relationship with their favourite artists, just like authors, musicians, directors, and so on. Nintendo of America says it’s a customer service issue, and they believe people might try to call the developer if they have a problem with the game, and they want them to call the publisher, who is the licensee of NOA. Sure, it’s a Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval thing, but c’mon. Seems like unnecessary branding on Nintendo’s part — like they’re taking credit or something. GameCock Interview [GameSpot via Go Nintendo] More »
Baddest, Britishest SSFIITHD Sprites Unveiled
9:40PM Luke Plunkett | Can’t get enough of these. Somehow Capcom are completely overhauling their Street Fighter II character designs, while at the same time keeping everything you grew so attached to in the originals. In this case, like Bison’s cape. Or Cammy’s… biceps. I’d have liked a better shot of M. Bison, show his hat and scowl in all their HD glory, but maybe they’re saving that for a later day. A special day. Cammy’s above, Bison’s after the click. Post details: Flying Dictators and their Clones (New Art Inside!!!!) [Capcom] More »
Activision Talking Up Bizarre’s New Racer
9:20PM Luke Plunkett | They don’t mess around. No sooner is the ink dry on Activisions purchase of Project Gotham creator Bizarre than they’re out talking it up. As you’d expect, Bizarre are going to be put to work on a racing game. How good a racing game? Why, a damn good one, of course. Activision’s Robin Kaminsky: We believe Bizarre’s development capabilities coupled with Activision’s world class marketing and distribution resources should enable us to take the racing genre beyond where it is today. Let’s hope she really means it, and doesn’t just mean they’ll take the genre from where it is and…add a few wet roads and some bikes. Activision: ‘We’ll drive rivals crazy’ [MCV] More »
How Akihabara Lost Its True Otakuness
9:00PM Brian Ashcraft | Akihabara isn’t really all that, anymore. It’s like post-Giuliani Times Square with fat girls in knee-highs. Nerds have been replaced with tourists, yuppies and couples on *get this* dates. Big business like chain stores have moved in, closing Mom ‘n’ Pop shops and adding a layer of gloss that didn’t exist before. Hit book/movie/TV show Train Man made otaku cool, and Akiba culture mainstream. Journo Patrick Macias tackles in the issue in The Japan Times, writing: …what you can’t find is what it was that made Akihabara buzz in the first place. It wasn’t just anime, manga, and video games that built it, or continue to sustain it even today. Instead, Akihabara was the side effect of collective fantasy and private desire desperate to find expression through technology, through commerce, molded plastic, pixel, and drawing paper. Now, those dreams are threatened by a dull and dreary reality. Bummer. At least Osaka’s Den Den Town still has its nerd cred. Otakool [The Japan Times] More »
