Tuesday, December 11, 2007
On Middle Names (What’s Yours?)
11:40PM Brian Ashcraft | To: Crecente From: Ashcraft RE: Rock Band Practice So the packing has started! Mrs. Bashcraft spent half the day packing her suitcase. (I still need to pack mine.) At least one fourth of her suitcase is instant ramen and udon. I told her she could get that in America, and she said it’s just easier if she brings her own. She does like the food in Texas, but starts craving noodles after a few days. They’re not so healthy, but I guess they remind her of Japan. We got new suitcases. All of us. Matching, too. Mrs. Bashcraft decided she’d put our initials on it. Since I am an America, I have a middle name, which is “Eugene”. (Yeah, I know.) Thanks to dual citizenship, Mini-Bash is also an American and has a middle name: “Atom”. (Named after Astro Boy!) That leaves Mrs. Bashcraft, who is neither an American nor has a middle name. (By law, Japanese people can only have first and last names. From what I understand, this has to do with how the government groups families and the readability of names.) So all the suitcases have three initials on them but hers. All my life I’ve thought most people pretty much hate (and hide) their middle names, but here she was actually wishing she had her own. When I saw her suitcase after dinner, I noticed a big “C” between her first and last initial. She had decided to give herself a middle name — “Catherine”. What you missed last night Xbox Live Pisses Off Japan Reader feels bad for Suda Why only 100 friends Dying comic Hello Kitty Xbox More »
News
Namco Bandai Pinch Dr Kawashima For Mobile Game
11:40PM Luke Plunkett | Dr. Kawashima has been very, very good to Nintendo. With his polygonal mug offering the kind of sanguine advice that’s as useful for housewives as it is old folks, the Brain Training DS games have sold about a billion and one games over the past few years. Which explains why Namco Bandai would want to get hold of the good doctor’s licence for their upcoming mobile phone game Brain Coach with Dr Kawashima. A Namco Bandai Europe rep: The formula of this application has already proven successful by establishing a base of millions of Nintendo DS players worldwide, and with Dr Kawashima’s approval we are pleased to bring this official mobile game to the larger mass of mobile phone users. So it’s a complete rip-off of the DS game, then. Just for phones! And even more people have one of those than a DS. All signs point to many, many sales. [Pocket Gamer] More »
Heavenly Sword Dev Dishes on Upcoming Games
11:40PM Brian Ashcraft | This post has a spoiler. Thus, we’re putting it behind the jump. Here is a picture of a giraffe. More »
Stringer Says “Actual Innovation” Is Next
11:40PM Brian Ashcraft | Sony CEO Howard Stringer gave a press conference today in Tokyo. He said that the PS3 is on the rebound with strong Black Friday sales in the US and the console outselling the Wii in Japan. Now that Sony is on the upswing, String hinted at what’s next: “The next cycle is actual innovation”, Stringer said. Perhaps this quote was taken out of context, but what does that mean the last cycle was? Farting around? Still, we’d really like to see a full transcript (hasn’t popped up online as of posting), because that’s an odd thing to say! Regarding that next cycle, Sony plans to expand the PlayStation Network, which is now used for downloading games and demos. Stringer did not give details or any word as to when this expansion will happen. Just know: It will. One day. Stringer Presser [Mainichi] More »
Old Punk Songs Are New Rock Band Content
11:40PM Luke Plunkett | More Rock Band DLC has shown up for 360 owners. PS3 owners? Tsk tsk, not Thursday yet, is it? For now, then, this is a 360-only show. On offer is “I Fought the Law” by The Clash, “Rockaway Beach” by The Ramones and a cover version of Buzzcock’s “Ever Fallen in Love”. As per, the tracks are 160 points each or 440 for the three. [Microsoft] More »Fresh Ghostbusters Screenies
11:40PM Brian Ashcraft |
HMV Ditching CDs For Games
11:40PM Luke Plunkett | HMV can see the writing on the wall. Nobody buys CDs now. Nobody. But everyone buys games! Putting the two together, the British retail giant has announced that as CD revenues drop by an estimated 10% per year, they’ll be replacing them on the shelves with more games. But they’d best get a move on; Britain’s specialist “high street” retailers have been dropping like flies over the past year or two as the market for store-bought CDs and DVDs falls through the floor, and if HMV can’t win the punters over with games then they’ll soon be following. [The Telegraph] More »
Xbox Live Error Message Pisses Off Japan
11:40PM Brian Ashcraft | In the recent fall update, Microsoft expanded player profiles to include things like where we live. In Japan, if players tried to enter the Japanese kanji for Takeshima (”Bamboo Island“), a group of small islands in the Sea of Japan, the characters were not recognized. Both Japan and Korea claim ownership of the islands: Japan says its part of Shimane Prefecture, while Korea claims its part of North Gyeongsang Province. The island only has like twenty or so permanent Japanese residents. There are more Korean residents. So maybe Microsoft is just hoping to side-step a very, very controversial issue of which country actually owns the islands by not letting anyone register the Japanese “Takeshima”. Well, no. If you typed the Japanese kanji for “Dokdo,” the Korean word for the islands, Xbox Live would accept it. That’s right, Xbox Live Japan wouldn’t accept the Japanese name for this area, but would accept the Korean name for it. And that inadvertently indicates which country Microsoft thinks owns the islands! The internet flipped out with comments over at popular site Nico Video hitting a thousand. Commenters called this “horrible” and “awful.” Microsoft has since said it was a mistake in the new update and is correcting the error. The funny part? In the news clip after the jump, the caster continually refers to the Xbox 360 as the “popular” Xbox. “Popular” in America, that is! More »
EA, Blizzard Move Into Eastern Europe
11:40PM Luke Plunkett | Both EA and Blizzard are moving boldly into the wild, untamed markets of Eastern Europe, with the publishers announcing two moves that will see their games tap into two of the continent’s fastest-growing markets. First up is EA, who have signed a deal with Pan Vision that will see the Nordic company distribute EA’s games in the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Blizzard, meanwhile, have revealed they’re working on a Russian-language version of World of Warcraft, which will launch in Europe sometime early next year. [GI.biz & CVG] More »
