Monday, October 20, 2008

Mother 3 Handbook Will Blow Your Baby Blue Socks Off

11:20PM Luke Plunkett | What’s the perfect companion to the new Mother 3 English-language translation? Why, this unofficial Mother 3 handbook. It’s a guide. Made by fans (Fangamer & Starmen). It’s a Mother 3 book. It’s a work of art. There’s professional printing, there are over 200 pages, and there are even clay model replicas of the game’s characters sprinkled throughout for colour. Amazing. The book will be released free online next year, but at $US20, the tangible product seems a much better investment. Have a look for yourself More »

Microsoft, This Is How You Blow Your PS3 Lead In Japan

11:00PM Brian Ashcraft | So Microsoft is doing pretty good in Japan. Not great, but good. Good enough to beat the PS3 last month. This is the Xbox 360 display at Yodobashi Camera in Akihabara. The banner in the front is an advertisement for an entertainment festival in Akihabara — it’s a red herring, disregard. Back in August, the Xbox 360 sold out in this very store. If you’ve been to Akihabara, you know that this is a very large retailer. Lots of shoppers! So for Microsoft to sell out right here is a good sign, and it’s great for the Xbox 360’s reputation in Japan. This demo set-up is not. Well, no, the set-up is fine, it’s the upkeep. But just as Microsoft starts to gain ground in Japan, an old friend rears its ugly head… More »

LittleBigPlanet Will Be Out ‘No Later Than’ Nov 7 For PAL Users

9:30PM Luke Plunkett | SCEE just sent out a statement in response to the you-may-have-heard-of-it-by-now LittleBigPlanet delay. In short: if you’re a PAL user, don’t panic. The game will be out “no later than the week commencing Monday 3rd November”, with the title rolling out across Europe, Australasia and the Middle East throughout that week. The wording seems to rule out any hope of a firm release date for any of the regions, so feel free to badger the shit out of your local game store until their stock turns up. More »

Sam Raimi Says World of Warcraft Would Make ‘Brilliant Movie’

9:00PM Brian Ashcraft | After years (no, decades) of trying but failing, Hollywood finally got comic book movies right. Video games haven’t fared as well. Director Sam Raimi is responsible for the silver screen version of Spider-Man and offers this insight as to why video games movies, well, suck: There has been 40 years of different comic books… Writers have had to really get into the characters of the superheroes themselves. They explore their relationships, their loves, their villains, their stories — there’s so much more to draw upon… More »

Bungie Coy Over Next Publishing Deal

8:30PM Luke Plunkett | For as long as most of you will remember, Bungie and Microsoft were like *this*. Bungie made Halo, Microsoft published it. But these days, Bungie fly solo, and while they’ve got a deal in place with Microsoft for the short-term, in the longer term, their options are open. Bungie’s Brian Jarrard: More »

Why Isn’t Grand Theft Auto HUGE In Japan?

8:00PM Brian Ashcraft | Game developer Yoshiki Okamoto is best known for his years at Capcom, where he worked on titles like Gyruss and Forgotten Worlds as well as his involvement in Final Fight and Street Fighter II. He’s an industry vet and has been around. When he looks at the current Japanese game landscape, Okamoto says there’s at least one thing that does not compute: More »