Lots of big-name debuts in Britain last week. Gears of War 2, for example. LittleBigPlanet, for example. And those two did predictably well, coming in at #1 and #2 respectively. But you know what we’re going to focus on? Third place. Because that went, in the face of both of the aforementioned title’s marketing onslaughts, to dear old Professor Layton on the DS. Well played, Professor.
DOA Online, gaming’s fatal car accident that we cannot look away from, is going into closed beta soon. November 12, actually. The game is being spearheaded by China’s Shanda Interactive Entertainment Limited and developed by Tecmo’s online game development team, “Lievo Studio.” That’s right, no Team Ninja! The game was originally supposed to be running by the Beijing Olympics. That didn’t happen.
It may not be as high-profile as something like Diablo or Halo, but damnit if something as beautiful as Odin Sphere doesn’t deserve some high-end merchandise of its own. This statue, from Japanese manufacturer Alter, is of Gwendolyn, and will be distributed by Sideshow Collectibles in the West early next year. For $US95, she’s all yours.
There are countless Japanese bikini models who claim to be gamers — if only to get otaku street cred and a fanbase. You know, to be one of us. But Haruna Anno is the real deal. We first met the pin-up model when she was 18 years-old and putting her SNES Street Fighter II cartridge in the ‘fridge as an experiment. If everyday you have to learn something new, today we might as well learn more about her.
Take a look at this craigslist ad. It’s looking for testers for a “music-based videogame”. One from a “Major videogame manufacturer”. Those testers need to be “fans of bands like Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Metallica, Korn, AC/DC and Judas Priest”. The job’s in Santa Monica. Now, we’re not (often) ones to go jumping to conclusions, but a major music game? About metal? And the job’s in Santa Monica, which just so happens to be home to Guitar Hero: World Tour developers Neversoft? It’s got to be Guitar Hero: Metallica. Unless it’s…Guitar Hero: KoRn. *shudder*. Best for everyone, then, if it’s Guitar Hero: Metallica. So if you’re in the area, short on cash, like Metallica and have a visa, go sign up! You’ll get $US25 an hour, plus a copy of the game.
Just as China declares internet addiction a “mental disorder,” 22 year-old Hu Ange from Sichuan Province is now trying to claim insanity after being sentenced to death for poisoning his parents and spending their money on online games. Back in March 2007, Hu’s parents gave him 50,000 yuan ($11,399) to support his seafood business — he spent all the money on online game Legend. Flash forward to July 14, 2007 when he purchased 20 packs of tetramine and poisoned his father the following morning. His father was saved thanks to emergency treatment. Days later on July 20, he bought 45 more packs of tetramine and served them with mixed beef on July 24, poisoning both his parents at lunch. Hu did not respond to his dying mother’s pleas for help, because he was in his room playing Legend. If poisoning one’s parents on multiple occasions wasn’t nutty enough, this wacko’s gotta drag gaming into it.
According to Britain’s Daily Star, page 3 T&A specialist Lucy Pinder (pictured) is a 360 fangirl. And runs a “league” for other page 3 girls, all of whom play “shoot-em-up” (their quotations, not ours) games. How on earth are The Daily Star (and not, uh, us?)privy to this kind of information? And who are they to assume she’s talking about Gears of War 2 when she and her pals could be dedicated Raiden and Ikaruga players? They have “sources”. “Sources” who tell them things like: - Watch out next time you go online with your Xbox for a battle – you could be fighting Lucy. She takes NO prisoners and she takes it seriously.
At Capcom’s Street Fighter event in Tokyo over the weekend, there was an SF history exhibit that tracked Ryu’s character art over the years from the original Street Fighter to SFIV — and all the sequels Capcom spun off in between. By this Capcom chart, there have been 15 incarnations of Ryu over the past twenty years. Think Capcom’s stopping now? Ha, fat chance.「初代」から「ストIV」まで！ リュウの顔が20年で変わりすぎな件 [IT Media]
Japanese erotic game maker Navel has announced that its 18 years-old-and-up computer visual novel Really? Really! will get a (Nintendo DS version next year, complete with touch pen interface and minus the more objectional content. Really? Really! The game follows the characters of another Navel erotic game, Shuffle!, as one of the characters loses her memory, which the player must restore. Originally released in 2006, the game features an Ace Attorney parody. That, and saucy stuff. Pretty sure the DS version will be a toned down affair. Hit the jump for the full version of the above pic. Might be NSFW.
Is there a market out there that needs/wants to stare intently at high-definition renditions of Kylie Minogue’s butt cheeks, Jean Claude’s chest cheeks and Raul Julia’s…cheeks to the extent we need Street Fighter released on Blu-Ray? We’d like to think there isn’t, and that the release of the forgettable, regrettable 90′s tie-in is just part of Capcom’s hype machine for Street Fighter IV (the disc is packed with “bonus” SFIV promo material), but these days, you never can tell. It’ll be out on February 10, just in time to coincide with the console release of SFIV and the theatrical release of the Chun-Li movie.
