Thursday, January 10, 2008
We Are Fans Of This Okami…Yes.
11:30PM Luke Plunkett | Gotsta love a multifunctional device. As you’ve probably already sorted out, this is an Okami fan. On both sides, fantastic Okami art. On the handle, a delicate, detailed finish. And in our hearts, a deep sense of longing, because we’ve never seen something that could keep us so cool in both the literal and metaphorical sense of the word. And yes, we’d be totally cool fanning one of these. We’d bat our eyelids and everything. Random Stuff Lying Around the Office [Capcom] More »
On Adults Day, Buy Adult Games, Become Adult
11:00PM Brian Ashcraft | Every year, the second Monday of January is “Coming of Age Day.” People turning 20 years old that year get together and celebrate. When one reaches the age 20 in Japan, he or she is finally considered an adult. Being an adult means being able to do adult things like voting, drinking, smoking and buying adult PC games. To celebrate (and initiate), the Akihabara Sofmap is running a special “Adult Time” campaign from January 12nd ~ 14th. Those who purchase new adult video games over ¥5,000 (US$46) will be entered in a raffle which offers prizes like a hug pillow covers, music CD and saucy illustrations. The kicker? This campaign poster says, “Grown-ups, buy an adult game and enter full adulthood.” Adult Hood [Akiba Blog] More »
Halo & Transformers, Together At Last
10:30PM Luke Plunkett | Halo and Transformers? Together? Works with me. The whole Star Wars/Transformers thing already killed my sense of canonical authenticity, anyway. Which – strangely enough – is exactly what this custom Master Chief Transformer is: a custom-modded Star Wars Transformer, based on the existing Commander Cody/Turbo Tank figure. Which means it loses a lot of points for not transforming into a Warthog, Mongoose or other Halo-affiliated vehicle, but still scrapes by because, well. It’s a Halo Transformer. Custom Halo Transformer [Siliconera] More »
News
Microsoft To Buy Logitech?
10:15PM Luke Plunkett | There’s loud whispers in the business community that Logitech, makers of (among other things) fine console and PC gaming peripherals, are about to be bought out by Microsoft. Neither side will comment publicly on the rumours, however one trader has offered this brilliant quote: Supposedly, Microsoft is supposed to be taking over Logitech, offering 48 francs a share. Then the mouse-maker would be worth around 10 billion francs. Looks like somebody’s got a bad case of the sposdas. Logitech shares surge on talk of Microsoft bid [Reuters] More »
A Smart Article On Something Everyone Knows
10:00PM Brian Ashcraft | Yes, yes. Women play video games, we know, we know, blah, blah, blah. As obviously insulting and simplistic as the Lancashire Telegraph’s article “Girls Discover Joys of Gaming” could be, it’s actually not. It’s got nice quotes like this from a “game-her” (geddit?): As soon as I’ve got the kids’ tea sorted I go on the computer. It’s a bit of me’ time and a good way to relax. I play on it rather than watch TV and I suppose it’s like a hobby. The kids ask Can I have a go mum?’ and I say No, this is mum’s game.’ I suppose I like that it’s like visiting a different world. It’s escapism. There’s also numbers like this: According to an online poll, 81 percent of women in England’s North West are gamers. Take note everyone — not that girls play video games (durr), but this is how you write about it. Girls Discover Joys of Gaming [Lancashire Telegraph via VH1] More »
News
Simple 2000: The Japanese Hardware Chart
9:40PM Michael McWhertor | Hardware sales. From Japan. You know how this works, right? The Nintendo DS obscenely outsells everything and the Xbox 360 picks up the tail end. It’s essentially the same story for the last week of 2007, as hardware data from Media Create has finally come about for the end of last year. One interesting aspect, though, is the ass kicking the PSP gave the Wii that week, which may have been driven by Star Ocean and Haruhi sales. Somehow, though, that doesn’t sound quite right. Maybe folks just love the PSP and multimedia options. Let’s give it up for multimedia, people! Nintendo DS Lite – 218,876 PSP – 161,370 Wii – 152,209 PlayStation 3 – 52,706 PlayStation 2 – 25,569 Xbox 360 – 8,304 Media Create Weekly Sales More »
This Mouse Pad Is So Big It’s Ridiculous
9:30PM Luke Plunkett | I don’t know about you, but when I play shooters on my PC, I don’t gently run my mouse across the limited confines of my mouse pad like some lily-livered pussy. I hurl the bastard. Which makes me feel better about myself, but also hinders my performance somewhat. Hence my interest in this, a new mousepad from Ratscar. At 35.4 x 17.7 inches (almost 10x the size of a normal pad) it’s utterly impractical, and at $US 40 it’s waaay out of my price bracket for a mousepad, but…it’d be nice to have the option to hurl both your mouse and your keyboard (and scanner, and printer, and morning coffee) all off the same pad, wouldn’t it? giant mouse pad offers tons of surface area [technabob] More »
TGS 2008 Dates Announced
9:00PM Brian Ashcraft | While some of us are still recovering from last year’s Tokyo Game Show, that doesn’t mean it’s too early to announce the dates for this year’s. TGS 2008 will be October 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th. For those unable to count, that means that, yes, TGS will once again be four days long. The first two days will be business days. Big difference, TGS 2007 was in late September. Good, because it won’t be so friggin’ humid. Pro Tip: For those without press passes, go on Sunday at around 4pm. Last year, it was a ghost town! TGS Dates [Famitsu] More »
Want To Get a Boomerang PS3 Controller?
8:30PM Luke Plunkett | Anyone else kinda miffed Sony went with their “old” design for the Sixaxis? I was. I liked the look of the boomerang controller! If you’re like me and wonder what using one would be like, you could do worse things than try this. If you can ever find one, that is. Spotted by Gizmodo in the seedy underbelly of CES, it’s a dodgy Chinese PS3 controller that’s taking the unique approach of knocking-off an unreleased prototype, rather than the final product. Which should at least get them some points for originality. A Knock-Off of the PS3 Controller Nobody Wanted [Gizmodo] More »
