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 $US20, the tangible product seems a much better investment. Have a look for yourself
So Microsoft is doing pretty good in Japan. Not great, but good. Good enough to beat the PS3 last month. This is the Xbox 360 display at Yodobashi Camera in Akihabara. The banner in the front is an advertisement for an entertainment festival in Akihabara — it’s a red herring, disregard. Back in August, the Xbox 360 sold out in this very store. If you’ve been to Akihabara, you know that this is a very large retailer. Lots of shoppers! So for Microsoft to sell out right here is a good sign, and it’s great for the Xbox 360′s reputation in Japan. This demo set-up is not. Well, no, the set-up is fine, it’s the upkeep. But just as Microsoft starts to gain ground in Japan, an old friend rears its ugly head…
Paul W.S. Anderson is best know for video game adaptations like Mortal Kombat and the Resident Evil franchise. He’s got his hands busy with the Death Race remake. He was going to do the Spy Hunter movie, but he’s no longer attached to that. So what’s on the slate for Anderson? He tells UK paper Sunday Sun:
Like a disturbance in the force, you knew it was coming. With the official announcement popping out for the Japanese market last week, today we hear that Darth Vader and Yoda will be made available as downloadable characters for Soul Calibur IV in the US as well. Which means 360 owners can play as Vader, PS3 owners, as Yoda. Both will be available on October 23 – same day as Japan – and will cost 400 MS Points/$US5.
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.
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…
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:
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:
Somehow, somebody smuggled a clip of the Dragon Quest IX trailer out from Square Enix’s heavily fortified MEGA THEATRE at TGS. Being a smuggled clip, however, it was big on s-s-shaky cam wobbles, low on quality. Here, then, is a far more watchable version.
Forget simple butt touching or boob touching, upcoming DS title KimokawaE features spanking. Multiple spanking. The game follows girls from the underworld who need to be disciplined to adjust to life on Earth. For example, dog-like KimokawaE character Korone often pisses on utility poles and needs a good spanking or she’ll continue to be dirty. If the girls behave, then players get to pet them on the head. There are bathing mini-games, too, that aim to make them enjoy bathing. Game is out December 25th in Japan. It is not yet rated.
