Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Getting Ready for America Help
11:40PM Brian Ashcraft | To: Crecente From: Bashcraft RE: K-I-S-S-I-N-G Actually, I’m surprised Tristan doesn’t already have his own bird shirt! In about two weeks and a half weeks or so, I’ll be heading to back to Texas for a lengthy holiday. I am actually starting to get giddy. My family lives in Dallas, and Dallas isn’t that exciting of a place. But, still! I love visiting America. It’s a blast. There are Americans and American things and big roads and tons of nonsense. I’ve already started making lists of food I want to eat starting with bean burritos. It’s nice living in Japan, but after a while, it becomes really really normal. Belly aching, I know! Actually looking forward to seeing American tv. I don’t have cable here, so I feel kind of disconnected with American pop culture with that regards. Is there anything I need to see? Any CDs or movies that I definitely must see? I’m kinda in the dark! Crib notes appreciated. What you missed last night My Funde Razor contribution It prints money. Still. AC impressions What’s Bionic Commando’s swing like PS3 orange box okay? More »
Activision: Sorry, Now We’ll Make Even More Money
11:20PM Luke Plunkett | Activision had originally forecast that it’d be making $US 1.050 billion in total revenue this Christmas season. Not anymore. No, as the realisation dawned on them that Guitar Hero III and Call of Duty 4 are conjuring money, they’ve bumped that estimate up to $US 1.225 billion. Activision CEO Bobby Kotick: We are well on our way to delivering our 16th consecutive year of revenue growth and the most profitable year in our history. We are confident that the third quarter of fiscal 2008 will be the largest and most profitable quarter ever. More profitable than the Pitfall era, even? Exciting times at Activision Towers! More »
We Blow Our Nose with Haruhi Suzumiya
11:00PM Brian Ashcraft | If there’s game related toilet paper (thank you Suda and co. for that!), there’s got to be game related tissue paper. Better yet, tissue boxes. There is! Upcoming PSP title (and popular anime) Haruhi Suzumiya has its own tissue boxes just waiting to be torn into and used. Customers can even make select which Haruhi images they’d like on which sides of the box. Neato! Haruhi Tissues [Kamikau via Altafista] More »
Our Favorite Japanese Xbox 360 Fanboy’s New Hairdo
10:40PM Brian Ashcraft | Holy crap! Our favourite Japanese Xbox 360 fanboy and Famitsu writer has cut his hair again. Last we saw him he had a Halo 3 logo shaved into the side of his noggin. That’s nothing, and this time he is so not fucking around. This time, he’s gotten four, count ‘em four, designs etched into his scalp. His head is a game billboard! Here’s the rundown: In the front, he got a 3D Xbox 360 iconic logo. A simple “X” is shaved on the back of his head. The side of his head is a Garuda team logo Ace Combat 6 and the opposite side is from the Assassin’s Creed logo. Total time for these creations: Four hours. You know, Jamzy isn’t only the most entertaining game journalist in Japan at the moment, but probably on our spinning blue planet known as Earth. Us, we’re really hoping gaming haircuts will take off as the next big thing. Game tattoos are so, you know, permanent. Hair grows back — that is, unless you are bald! Jamzy’s New Hair [Famitsu 360 PSYCHO!!] More »
DS Sets New British Sales Record
10:20PM Luke Plunkett | The previous record for most consoles (of any kind) sold in a week in the UK was 185,000. That mark belonged to Sony, and was set during the PSP’s launch in 2005. It’s gone now. The new record stands at 191,000, and was set by the Nintendo DS last week. Can’t think of any price-cuts, new colours or big new games on offer for the week, so we’ll just chalk it up to another instance of pre-Christmas madness. DS sets new UK sales record [MCV] More »The Singing Idolmaster Girls Return
10:00PM Brian Ashcraft | Miki Hoshii and the girls are back for more singing, dancing and idol mastering. Next February will see the release of THE iDOLM@STER: Live for You. We’re slightly excited about the game (and the in-concert button pressing). But know: There are people in Japan who are more excited. Way more. More »
Pro Evo 2008 Gets Patched
9:30PM Luke Plunkett | And not a moment too soon. The PS3 version of the game is an awful port, with atrocious framerate issues, but the 360 version has its problems too, particularly with slowdown during replays and set pieces. And that’s not mentioning the busted online play both versions have suffered through. Well, Pro Evo fanatics, a fix might be at hand. Konami have patched the game on both systems, promising improved framerates and a reduction in lag during online play. They also reckon it fixes a problem the PS3 version had when trying to install it on your HDD. All sounds good, but a quick glance at a few major PES fan forums shows the patch seems to have had little effect on the game’s online problems, so don’t get too excited. [Konami Europe] More »
Wii Online Gets Serious (Seems Complicated)
9:00PM Brian Ashcraft | As previously announced, Nintendo is going to step up its online presence in Japan. Telecom company NTT is going to help promote broadband service via the Nintendo Wii. NTT is planning to offer a cut-rate broadband sign up deal that provides online access as well as on-site set-up for Wii users. That’s right, if you cannot figure out how to connect your Wii to the internet after signing up, a NTT employee will do it for you. There will also be call centres which will field calls specifically related to the Wii’s internet connection. Says NTT East Senior exec Tetsuo Koga: I hope our fiber-optic service becomes as popular as the Wii,” NTT East Senior Executive Vice President Tetsuo Koga told a news conference. I think we have won a powerful ally to hit our target to boost fiber-optic subscribers to 20 million by the year ending March 2011. Am I missing something is or does this make it seem like it unnecessarily difficult to connect the Wii to the internet? Doesn’t that go against the entire anyone-can-do-it philosophy that the Wii is built on? Wii Online Serious [Reuters via Image] More »
Commandos Creators Make Movie, Sell Movie
8:30PM Luke Plunkett | Back in 2002, the guys who founded Pyro Studios (creators of the Commandos series of WWII squad strategy games) established Illion Animation Studios. Illion Animation Studios proceeded to start work on a CGI animation film. That film, Planet 51, which is written by Shrek co-writer Joe Stillman, has now been picked up New Line for a global 2009 release. Strangely enough, Pyro Studios will be handling the game adaptations of the film. Crummy games based on movies, that’s old. Crummy movies based on games, just as old. Games based on a movie made by guys who used to make games? That one’s new. New Line takes trip to toon ‘Planet’ [Hollywood Reporter] More »
