Thursday, May 15, 2008

Steven Spielberg Is Anime Cute, Apparently

11:40PM Brian Ashcraft | To: Crecente From: Ashcraft So, Indiana Jones fever has hit the Bashcraft household! We’ve been watching all the DVDs recently, and Mini-Bash seems really, really into the movies. He asked me the other day why the guy from Star Wars was Indiana Jones. That was a very proud moment. I told him that I’d get him some of the Hasbro Indy toys for his birthday. When I was a kid, I had several of the Kenner playsets, which were all kinds of fantastic. The Hasbro toys, from what I can tell online, seem very much hit or miss, but I he should enjoy them. Was explaining to the kid that Steven Spielberg directed the Indiana Jones films and that Spielberg is a big fan of the Hayao Miyazaki film Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro — which Mini-Bash adores. He thought it was pretty cool that Spielberg liked his favourite anime director Miyazaki. Mini-Bash wanted me to Google a picture of Spielberg, so he could see what the filmmaker looked like. Upon seeing the filmmaker, the kid replied: “Cute! He looks like Totoro!” What you missed last night Nintendo must pay 21 million bucks New Pokemons Microsoft happy it didn’t make a portable console Number one Microsoft consumer More »

Sega Bug Game Makes World Tourney Record

11:00PM Brian Ashcraft | Sega kiddy arcade game MUSHIKING: King of the Beetles has entered the record books! The Guinness World Records awarded it a certificate for: The arcade game for which the most official tournaments have been held is SEGA’s Mushiking: King of the Beetles, with 100.297 officially-sanctioned competitions held between May 2003 and November 2007. No wonder those dudes are so happy! If you had threads like that, you’d be thrilled. Sega Gets Record [GPara via Sega Nerds] More »

Nintendo Says There Is No Casual Gaming

10:40PM Brian Ashcraft | Casual gaming? Whatever! This is no casual gaming, buster. Just ask Nintendo! It’ll set you straight. Nintendo Europe’s senior marketing director Laurent Fischer unloads: For me, you are a gamer or non-gamer… I think most of you know that you can spend ten or twenty hours on an internet flash game and have not realised. The guy who plays these games regularly — he’s a core gamer… Someone who is fifty-years old who only plays Brain Training, but plays it like a core gamer is a core gamer… I don’t like this word casual so much. Because people consider that casual needs to be something easy. If you’re good at any game you can play at a high difficulty level… Take Tetris. There is incredible gameplay, it’s very simple, very easy to understand, but it’s also very different. I think a game can be a light enough to enjoy and for all gamers to become a core gamer on it… There is no casual gaming. There is just a different way to play. Fischer doesn’t like the word casual so much? Talk about an understatement. No Casual Gaming [CVG] [Pic] More »

Comic-Con Exclusive Gears Figure Is Here Today, Gone Very Soon

10:20PM Luke Plunkett | Going to Comic-Con in San Diego this year? May as well pick a couple of these up, make some cash money off some die-hard Gears fans unable to make the trip. This NECA Gears figure will only be available at this year’s Comic-Con, and depicts Delta Squad’s Anthony Carmine, presumably only moments before his untimely demise. A pic so big you can almost smell that newly-opened toy smell is after the jump. More »

They Listened: Buy Bee, Boo Mario Plushies

9:30PM Luke Plunkett | This was a gimme for Nintendo. After all, Bee Mario was the most adorable thing that fat plumber’s done in years, so capitalising on the love-in by releasing a soft, cuddly replica was a no-brainer. It’ll be available in July, for around $US 25. If your collectible tastes for the game run to the more supernatural end of the spectrum, a Boo Mario will be available as well. Same time, same price. Super Mario Galaxy Plush Doll: Bee Mario [Play-Asia, via Go Nintendo] More »

Curvy Japanese Bikini Lady Shows Us Bape Nintendo DS

9:00PM Brian Ashcraft | If you’ve spent time on the Japanese nerd internet, you’ve seen images like this: Pin-up model posing with game hardware. Very common! This, this one’s got a little more. That’s curvy swimsuit model Yuuri Morishita holding the pricey and hard-to-get Baby Milo/Bape limited edition Nintendo DS. While we noticed that this DS was somewhat popular, we haven’t actually seen a non promo image of the Bape DS! So here it is. With this lady. And look at that, the limited edition DS looks like a regular DS with stickers on it. A shot of the DS on what looks like Morishita’s mattress or something. More »

Pokemon Platinum Announced, Due In The Spring

8:30PM Luke Plunkett | Yeah, you read that right. New. Pokemans. Prepare yourself (though don’t get too excited). Although strongly hinted at last month (and subsequently spilled in a few Japanese mags earlier in the week), it’s only now had its wraps officially taken off by Nintendo. Titled Pokemon Platinum, it’s due sometime in the Spring. Those hoping for a new, full Pokemon adventure will be disappointed to hear it’s just an expansion to Diamond/Pearl (much like Pokemon Yellow, back in the day). Those happy with any Pokemon they can get , however, should still be tickled pink. Click through for a couple of new, teeny screens. More »