To: Crecente From: Bashcraft
Over the weekend, I was playing soccer with the kid, I set down my cell phone. And when I came back, it was gooooooooooooooone. Maybe I’ve been in Japan, too long, cause I didn’t think anything of setting my phone down. (I mean, people leave their bags on tables at fast food restaurants while they go order!) So this latest loss means that this is the third mobile phone I’ve gone through in the last three years. Here’s where it get unsettling: When I got home, my wife asked why I kept calling her and hanging up. Dialed my phone, hoping to get the asshole who stole my phone on the line, but fucker wouldn’t answer. After that, I quickly had the phone’s service cut.
Luke had an Aussie holiday, so it was just me all night!
What you missed last night MGS4 DVD humour spoiler Robbie Bach on Blu-ray Xbox 360 rumour Konami on MGS4 early release More details about the Akihabara killer SFIV cabinet dated for Japan?
Suspiciously virally PR looking blog Wii Fit is It recounts the tale of one man who submitted the purchase price of Wii Fit as his yearly company exercise expense, and he got it approved. According to the very-excited-about-Wii Fit blogger:
I work in a desk job. It’s very sedentary, and the most physically taxing activity is walking to the building next door for meetings. Because of this, the office has a health and fitness policy, which allows employees to claim an allowance of $AU 158 per year for fitness-related equipment or services: sports clothes, gym memberships, that sort of thing.
Well, I submitted my form to apply for a reimbursement for Wii Fit. And it came through no problems.
Wii Fit‘s interesting and all, but let’s hope this fella does other physical activities besides Wii Fit over the next 12 months.
My boss paid for Wii Fit [Wii Fit is It via Infendo][Pic]
The first details about upcoming Call of Duty 5 hit today. Unlike the modern CoD4, CoD5 will return to WWII. The game will be set in the Pacific Theatre. Also unlike CoD4, the game won’t be developed by Infinity Ward, but CoD3 dev Treyarch. The upcoming title will feature co-op — a first for the series. Also, multiplayer will feature vehicles and squad-elements as well. The game is truly multi-plat, and the Wii version is being developed by a separate Treyarch team and will support the Wii Zapper. The game is gritty, apparently. How gritty?
While the game doesn’t go on sale until June 12th, Reader Snake-87 tips us that as of 10:00AM today his local shop had 500 copies of MGS4. Each copy is priced at 20KD ($AU 79) — and hey, that’s pretty damn close to Japan prices! Certainly, this isn’t the only store breaking the street date — just the only store we’ve heard of in Kuwait doing it! Hit the jump to see how well MGS4 goes with Kuwaiti licence plates.
That Resident Evil 4 Wii port did some good business for Capcom. So the Resident Evil 0 Wii port makes sense! So why not bring that Japan-only Wii port to the US? Well, Capcom USA doesn’t want it, it seems. Like, really doesn’t want it. Capcom exec Christian Svensson explains:
Nothing is ever final, but we’ve been asked twice if we’ve wanted to bring it Westward and twice we’ve declined.
Yeah, would any American Wii owners actually buy it if Capcom ever did decide to port it? Sure a few would, but…
Capcom USA Declines [Capcom BBS via Go Nintendo]
SNK DS title Doki Doki Majo Shinpan let players touch young witches via the DS’s touch screen. Using the stylus you can jiggle the witch jubblies! Saucy stuff, but not pornography. Still, it seems to have inspired computer erotic game Majo Michi, which is also set against vaguely reminiscent story plots and character designs, but also lets players touch young witches. It also possible to do other things as well. Players use their mouse for touching — which isn’t as lighthearted as the DS stylus. Then again, Majo Michi makes up for the discrepancy other ways, we guess.
This Is Totally Not Safe For Work [Official Site]
Via game site Insert Credit comes info that Street Fighter IV will be getting a Japanese arcade this summer as we had previously posted. Apparently, the cabinet set will be released July 18th, and the PCB-only release is supposedly August 10th. This is unconfirmed by Capcom, and no word on outside Japan arcade releases.
Random Thread [mmcafe via Insert Credit]
As we reported earlier, tragedy struck Tokyo’s video game/anime/manga district Akihabara this Sunday. A 25-year-old-man stabbed 17, killing 7. Truly, truly horrible stuff. The killer’s name is Tomohiro Kato, and according to blog Japan Probe, details about him include: He had been to Akihabara many times in the past. He worked for a Tokyo-based temp company and had been sent to Shizuoka for work. He played tennis in school. One of his year book sketches includes a character from Namco RPG Tales of Destiny with messages he wrote in English (after the jump). The mass media has already latched onto the game connection, instead of the tennis one to explain this senseless spree. (Because tennis driving people to kill makes no sense — but apparently video games does!)
Right now, some people are playing Metal Gear Solid 4 — days ahead of its June 12th drop date. While Konami’s UK General Manager Pete Stone is doing his all to keep the street date, it seems to have been broken somehow — whether that be through accidental or nefarious means. According to a Konami spokesperson:
You’ve heard the rumour: Microsoft will be announcing a Blu-ray Xbox 360 on Monday morning at 10am KT (Kotaku Time). Apparently Microsoft is gunning to upstage the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference. Check out what Microsoft Entertainment & Devices Division President Robbie Back has to say about that rumour:
