I’m intrigued by Exclamation Warriors. Partly because it looks so damn fun, but partly because I know that, not being a Japanese Club Nintendo member, I cannot have it. Except… now I can! YesAsia have copies of the game for sale, and while it’s all in Japanese, for a game based on shouting that’ll be half the fun. Or, if you can speak Japanese, all of the fun. Zekkyou Senshi Sakebu Ren (Japan Version) [YesAsia, via Go Nintendo]
For all the gazillion characters in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, I am excited to have Snake beat the crap outta Mario. Or even, have Mario beat the crap outta Snake. I mean, who isn’t?
Happy birthday, Atari 2600! This month (ie October) the dusty old console turns 30, and is busy doing what everyone else does when they hit that age. Namely drinking itself into a stupor before sobbing gently into its pillow, asking questions of the cold, dark night – like why it can’t find that special someone – before its friends all tell it to shut up, stop being so melodramatic and be thankful it was part of the real Atari, and not the shambling, rotting “Atari” of 2007. Happy 30th birthday, Atari 2600! [Engadget]
A man’s got to eat. And that man is Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi. His studio Mistwalker is releasing two RPGs for the DS next year. First up is AWAY ~Tsuresarareta Hitobito~ out January 21, 2008. Sakaguchi is responsible for the scenario, while famed composer Nobuo Uematsu will be supplying the music. The game is developed by Artoon. Characters are created by Naoto Oshima, who recently did Vampire Rain. March 2008 will see Blue Dragon DS (temporary title), which we previously covered. It’s developed by FeelPlus+ and is akin to the Xbox 360 version. Both games are being published by AQ Interactive and price at ¥5,980 ($US 51) each. Gooch DS gaming doesn’t come cheap, kiddos! New Mistwalker Games [NeoGAF]
The Game Boy isn’t a handheld. It’s a lifestyle choice. Some may even go so far as to say it’s a religion. Sticker fiend Gamebombing does, hence his collaboration with Venezuelan label R-evolucion on this shirt, called Cruz. Best part? No, not the simple, charming religious symbolism: the graphic’s done in glow-in-the-dark ink. R-evolucion: ‘Cruz’ t-shirt [Digital Gravel]
Last year was all about Second Life. The MMO was portrayed as teh future. Has it panned out? A new study from Boston-based research group Yankee Group states that the user growth rate hit its peak in October 2006. From the study:
Despite near-continuous coverage in the popular and business press, metaverses like Second Life are experiencing slowing growth and limited impact because of the tethered nature of their virtual world experience.
Meaning that users would like a more mobile experience instead of being tied to their PCs, apparently. The study also says that the average SL user spends 12 minutes in world. Each month. Funny, I thought they’d need a little longer — 15 minutes or 20 at most. SL Hype [Next-Gen] “
Horse sushi? Eaten it. Whale? Ditto. Poisonous blowfish? No prob. But fat chance on getting me to eat this Halo 3 sushi. Dancer and physics major Allison created this 3 logo, writing:
Now, I’m not a gamer… it would be an insult to real gamers to call me one. However, I do enjoy playing Wii Sports and Legend of Zelda on the Wii, and if it didn’t require so much time or money, I probably would play WoW for a while…
This makizushi took two hours to make. You read that right. Two hours. Halo 3 Sushi [Sushi Day, Thanks Zen Zie!]
Ack! Well, lame-named Platinum Games (formerly the awesomely named “SEEDS“) has posted its new homepage today. The start-up company is actually named PlatinumGames and not Platinum Games. The company seems to be in full hiring phase, and the website is wall-to-wall recruitment. Specially, the company is looking for planners, programmers, designers, sound designers and web designers. PlatinumGames is even looking for foreigners who can speak Japanese. There are messages from PlatinumGames’ bigwigs Shinji Mikami (Resident Evil creator), Hideki Kamiya (Devil May Cry creator) and Atsushi Inaba (Okami producer) in which they talk about why they entered the industry and whatnot. In the “About Us” section, PlatinumGames president and former Capcom 3rd Production Studio member Tatsuya Minami explains why the ho-hum name “PlatinumGames” was chosen:
The meaning of “platinum” is that it doesn’t deteriorate, and it holds its quality over time. Users won’t be betrayed by the quality, which will remain high.
Deep. Minami also says PlatinumGames will be making “original” titles for a worldwide audience. Sounds reminiscent of the SEEDS manifesto, so we are expecting interesting title from them. Name still sucks, though. Click through the site, there are pictures of a PS3, so maybe they’re working on a PS3 game or just playing one for fun. Who knows!
Hit the jump for a pic of Kamiya’s Gundamized desk.
There’s a post up at the official Bethesda Blog by their PR guy, Pete Hines, announcing a competition where fans can design their own perks for Fallout 3, the developer’s upcoming RPG based on the popular Interplay franchise (well, until Interplay sold it, that is).
It’s all part of Bethesda’s celebration of the 10th anniversary of Fallout. You know, the anniversary that No Mutants Allowed did a pretty smashing job of celebrating already.
If you think you’ve an idea as awesome as Bloody Mess, Pack Rat or my personal favourite, Kama Sutra Master, then write it up and send it in to them. And demand payment if it gets accepted… or the cake pictured above (which I was lucky enough to see in the flesh/icing earlier this year – through a haze of appletinis).
Happy Birthday Fallout! Who Wants Cake? Fallout Perk Contest Announced [Bethesda Blog, via GameSpy]
Sony have released a PC program which lets you design and edit your own, user-created PSP themes. Icons, backgrounds, the works. It’s free, it’s in English, it’s a small download and, best of all, it’s in English. As you can see, all you need to do is substitute the existing icons with your own, and you’re good to go. Only thing left unanswered now is just why you’d want to change the theme. Who doesn’t love cookies? PSP Theme Creation Utility [Sony Japan, via PSP Fanboy]
