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High Scores And Egos: There's Always A Bigger Doodle Japan’s latest gaming love affair is SEGA PSP title Phantasy Star Portable. Since going on sale July 31st, 500,000 copies of the game have been shipped in the week following its launch. No Western release has been announced for this action RPG as of yet.
セガ、PSP「ファンタシースターポータブル」発売から1週間で出荷本数50万本達成 [Game Watch]
While a lot’s made of Microsoft’s failure to really crack the Japanese market, that’s nothing on their inability to really make a dent in continental Europe. After all, Europe’s a much bigger market than Japan. So where do Microsoft think they’re coming up short? It’s not the UK, they’re happy enough there. No, it’s “some of the more Mediterranean markets”, says Microsoft Europe’s Chris Lewis, who overlooks the region’s fiery passion in favour of their casual gaming habits:
Let’s pick on France, Italy and Spain, for example. There’s a much more casual gaming orientation there – people like to dip in and out, they’re not perhaps so likely to buy multiple consoles and they are more price-sensitive markets.
Sounds perfect! For the Wii, that is.
Three new Max Payne movie promotional stills. That’s one of them right there, and the other two are after the jump. In the above pic, that’s Marky Mark as Max Payne and actress Mila Kunis as Mona Sax, who apparently learned to shoot a gun while filming Max Payne. Well, that’s what IMDB says.
Two more images after the jump.
The first Fable let you knock boots with the lady types. Even let you marry them. Which was great, but is nothing on what Fable II will let you get up to. The game’s achievement list has been released, and amidst the usual progress-based stuff, one feat in particular stands out. The Swinger. Which rewards you with 5G for taking part in an orgy, provided you do so “responsibly“. Which should be fun, but really, professional swingers will want to string their adult-oriented achievements together, linking it with The Bigamist, the Pied Piper (Start a party where at least 5 villagers are dancing), the Party Animal (Get 15 villagers drunk in under three minutes) and The Menace To Society (Commit an act of public indecency).
Fable 2 Achievement List [Xbox360Achievements, via Dtoid]
In the West, Final Fantasy XIII is coming to the Xbox 360 and the PS3. That means extra work for Square Enix. But that doesn’t get company exec Shinji Hashimoto down. Dude is pumped about this multi-platform release. Hashimoto tells UK magazine Play: Obviously, we announced the title for both the PS3 and 360, so in that sense we’re very excited to be able to appeal to a new user base ans to fans that are users of both PS3 and 360.
…Another thing I’m excited about it that it’s traditionally taken about a year for localisation to take place, so the Japanese version can reach audiences around the world. But with this titles we’re focused on decreasing that time gap. That means, right now, we’re not only involved in creating and developing, but also working hard to deliver the title in a fresh state to everyone in the world.
Sounds like Square Enix is doing its best to close the gap that’s existed for its Japanese and Western customers. Good for them.
FFXII Will Be Delivered [VG247][Pic]
Never ones to shy away from a chance to earn an extra buck or two, EA have announced they’ll be releasing a “Premier Edition” of upcoming RTS Red Alert 3. Exclusive (at least in Europe) to GAME, the premium box will see the game packed in a metal tin, along with five exclusive MP/skirmish maps, a DVD with a making-of featurette (along with the sure-to-be-tasteful special “Women of Red Alert 3″), a soundtrack and, curiously, an “Exclusive Beta Key to a future C&C game!” Exclamation is theirs, not ours. The only C&C game we can think of on the horizon is Tiberium, but with that not due for a while, be sure to keep that beta key somewhere you won’t forget about it. Command and Conquer Red Alert 3: Premium Edition – GAME Exclusive! [GAME, thanks Ben!]
There’s a stirring editorial at Destructoid over the recent murder of a taxi driver in Thailand by a youth who cited Grand Theft Auto as his inspiration. While the piece focuses on violence and its (non-existent) link to video games, I feel the logic applies to other issues (say, drug use) as well: Grand Theft Auto has nothing to do with depravity. These acts of violence are the direct result of the decisions that these people choose to make. It’s been said countless times before in a long list of editorials by the games industry, but it needs repeating for the unconvinced of the world. Videogames are not the enemy.
Why do people choose to do the things they do? Who the hell really knows? Blaming things on violent videogames is not the answer though. I’ll admit that games like Grand Theft Auto or Gears of War may have the propensity to give an ill individuals ideas, but these cats are already toast. Some other flame has burned them before fantasy indoctrinated them.
With the amount of rubbish we’ve had to put up with over censorship and classification, I realise I’m preaching to the converted. But it’s always good to see the merits of our plight being appreciated internationally.
Violence in games doesn’t translate to real violence [Destructoid]
As Fahey previously pointed out in his feature, Olympic athletes like video games. Many athletes like video games, it seems. As Olympic runner Tyson Gay points out:
Olympic track athletes spend a lot of free time trying to be the best in their favourite video games. So much so, our fingers sometimes get more tired then our legs do in actual races.
According to Gay, playing video games helps take his mind off pre-competition jitters. He’ll be running for gold in the 100m at the Beijing Olympics. Above, he explains his development as a runner through a painting he did of a tree trunk.
Athletes play video games as Olympics go virtual [Yahoo! News][Pic Thanks, Zhien!]
BioShock dev Ken Levine isn’t all about Ken Levine. He’s also all about Grand Theft Auto IV dev Sam Houser. Good for him! Here’s Levine on Houser, his new BFF:
He is absolutely the most intense guy in the world… He’s like Rasputin, you know. He’s intense… But that’s how you make great stuff. You don’t make great stuff by wearing a nice sweater and drinking a martini: you make great stuff by digging your fucking teeth in… I know Sam now… I’ve been lucky enough to get to know Sam… Since BioShock‘s come out — I was a huge fan of his, and I think he really liked the game, and he felt is was something that was greatly interesting. I can’t speak for Sam, you know, but that’s my interpretation of what he said.
Hey, the martini and nice sweater racket did wonders for Frank Sinatra. That guy was no slouch.
Houser made GTA by digging his “fucking teeth in,” says Levine [VG247]
A release date and the opening of the Oceanic beta? Surely that’s enough great news, right? Well, it would be, if you didn’t pick up on this tidbit. From the announcement:
Thousands from Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, and Singapore have been invited to join us in bringing WAR to the other side of the world.
They will play on servers located on mainland Australia and will pave the way for the simultaneous launch of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning across North America, Europe, and the Oceanic region on September 18th.
Emphasis mine. Local servers? It’s about time a big-name MMO took our country seriously (and for EA to stop shafting us).
Now might be a good time to check out the Collector’s Edition and the exclusive preorder deal.
Beta Goes Down Under [Mythic Entertainment]
