Hideo Kojima doesn’t just make video games like Metal Gear Solid 4. Oh, no. Hideo Kojima also appears in an English test! Above is a national English aptitude test for Korean high school students, which mentions the famed game creator. The text selected is dated and is from circa 2002. Anyway! From the test:
The events of 38-year-old Hideo Kojima’s life prepared him to design the amazing video game Metal Gear Solid 2. As a child growing up in Kobe, Japan he played outdoor games like thief-and-detective, peeking around corners in much the same way as Solid Snake, the hero of MGS2, does today. In middle school he wrote five 600-page science-fiction novels. When one of his friends brought a camera to school, Kojima took up filmmaking, using his camera. Then he charged neighbourhood kids 50 yen each to see his own movies. By the time he reached college, he had worked for Nintendo to develop video games using film techniques and became famous as a video game designer.
Wait, wait. So little Kojima stole some other kid’s camera to make movies and then charged other children 50 yen to see his movies? That explains a lot!
Hit the jump for the Korean text.
Oh dear. I’m getting reports starting to trickle out of Australia that the latest Wii update (3.3) has done more than block the Twilight Princess save-game exploit. I’m hearing it’s killed Datel’s Wii Freeloader as well, which if true, will not go down well in Europe and Australia at all. Especially with Smash Bros’ imminent – and very late – release in PAL territories in two weeks serving as a poignant reminder of just why so many people own a Freeloader in the first place. I’ll update once we get some confirmation either way.
Girly mags in Metal Gear Solid? Nothing new! So in an effort to keep with traditional and not disappoint, Playboy magazine pops up in Metal Gear Solid 4. As in past games, this girly magazine can be used to divert enemy troops’ attention by leaving it on the ground, but having Snake read it boosts Snake’s psyche. To “read” the mag, switch to FPS mode. Clever in-game joke: The cover says “Hideo Kojima Interviewed”. Hit the jump for more images.
Want to take a break from the glut of fantasy MMOs? Maybe a football-themed (the English kind) title is that way to go. That’s where developer Interzone has decided to put all its balls. I mean eggs. Egg balls. Anyway, it’s put all its somewhat-spherical hopes in Interzone Futebol.
According to the announcement release, Futebol will take your standard football game formula, ala FIFA or Pro Evo, and replace all those daft AI opponents with potentially daft real people. There will be a levelling mechanic, allowing players to access new moves and upgrade their skills.
“Players will also improve their personal rankings and their team’s rankings, earn money through salary or sponsorship, and customise their character at creation, during game play, and by buying virtual items from Interzone’s online store”, the release goes on to say.
A social networking system is to be included, so players can invite friends to matches and organise games. The only bad news is Futebol will debut in Latin America, which I imagine will serve as testing ground for the product.
While Interzone has a base in Western Australia, the developer is most definitely global, with studios in Chicago, Brazil and other locations.
Press release after the jump.
First Dead or Alive creator Tomonobu Itagaki sues former employer Tecmo, now this. On June 16th, two Tecmo employees filed suit with the Tokyo District Court for unpaid wages, demanding 8.3 million yen ($AU 81,570) in payment. According to the suit, the workers were illegally placed on a “flexible hours” work scheme, starting four years ago. From that point, overtime wasn’t paid, apparently. The plaintiffs represent all 300 Tecmo employees and contest that because of this dubious employment structure, overtime for the employees exceeded over 100 hours per month in unpaid overtime.
I was just browsing the various Australian game developer websites – as you do – when I spotted this gem in the recruitment section of Tantalus’ website:
We are expanding into an exciting new phase of growth and development, aggressively recruiting for a brand new title. The title is an entirely unique Tantalus-originated IP for Next Generation Platforms, funded by a top tier publisher for worldwide release at Christmas 2008.
Turns out the studio’s earlier call for potential employees was less general and more specific. Going by the jobs page, it’s also after 3D artists and programmers, as well as a designer and producer.
I got in contact with CEO Tom Crago, who was able to confirm the statement as accurate. The only addition was that the title has slipped to 2009 (the site’s being amended as we speak). Otherwise, he wasn’t able to say any more, at least for now.
Tantalus recently made the Develop 100 list for 2007 – the only wholly-Australian company to do so – so I can see why a big publisher would be more than happy to trust the company with an important project.
Tantalus [Official site]
The Nintendo DS truly opened up the gaming to a larger audience. Same for the Nintendo Wii. But are these new gamers actually gamers or are they simply passing through? In short: Is casual gaming a fad time bomb waiting to implode? Analyst Hiroshi Kamide from KBC Securities Japan states:
Casual gaming growth has been the primary driver for the industry over the last three years, the key player being the Nintendo DS. We believe DS hardware demand has now peaked globally. A downturn in software demand is likely to follow, as casual gamers are ‘happy with their lot’ and do not need to consume more. We feel that the same predicament awaits the Wii console with its similar market expansion angle. Titles such as ‘Brain Training’ and ‘Wii Fit’ do not act as ‘gateway drugs’ to turn non-traditional gamers to core repeat users. We feel this is a structural industry issue that cannot be easily changed.
Whey-hey, new graphics cards. Time to simultaneously drool over performance specs while complaining about the financial outlay required to satisfy said drooling! NVIDIA has debuted its new GTX 200-series line of graphics cards today, with the announcement of the GTX-260 and GTX-280. Here’s the technical skinny: The 260 has 192 stream processors and 896MB of memory, while the 280 has 240 stream processors and 1GB of memory. Click through for a benchmark, highlight of which is the fact the god-like 9800 GX2 still has both these cards beat.
I should probably open with the important news first: EB Games Australia has the exclusive on the “official” collector’s edition of Bethesda’s Fallout 3. So if you haven’t put your pre-order down yet, now might be a good time unless you fancy missing out on the bobblehead and tin case.
Now, I’ve whacked quotes around “official” because Red Ant plans to put together a pre-order bundle for other retailers that may turn out to be very similar to the CE. A few may have noticed that retailer Games Warehouse has posted what it believes the pre-order bundle will contain. The thing is, Red Ant made it clear to me that it hasn’t finalised these details.
Hit the jump for a comparison of the two “CEs”, as well as specifics on availability.
Friend of Kotaku Jack Thompson was kicking back at his Florida home today when there was a knock at the door. “Whoever could it be?”, he probably asked himself as he set his morning coffee down on the table. Opening the door, he was greeted by…a pair of US Marshals. Who had been sent to Jackie Boy’s home by Judge Federico Moreno. Why? Oh, probably because Thompson sent a letter to Moreno last week, which ended with: “We find yesterday that enemy combatants at Guantanamo are to get more due process from federal judges than what I am to have. I guess my ‘mistake’ was not killing 3000 people to make my point…”.
