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To: Crecente
From: Ashcraft
Whew! Back in Osaka. Just in time for dinner. And dinner was okonomiyaki and yakisoba. No kidding. True Osaka food. Damn, it's good to be back.
Surprise, Europe: LocoRoco PS3's not months away. It's days. SCEE have confirmed that the "game" will be available next Thursday for the low, low, looooowww price of £1.99/€2.90 (USD$4). Bargain? Hardly. Remember, this is more screensaver than game. So is it worth it? Depends! You'll either be paying peanuts for a LocoRoco-lite, or waaaaay too much for a useless screensaver. All depends on how empty that glass in front of you looks.
LocoRoco PS3 next Thursday [Eurogamer]
Nothing says portable gaming like free coffee! Or something. Starting today in the Ginza Sony Building, you can get free coffee and stare at TV playing on PSP 2Ks. The portable's Japan only TV tuner outputs a fairly nice picture — as nice as the TV phones. The PSP Cafe runs until the 16th. Those who live in Tokyo, swing by and check it out. Those who don't, don't.
At today's Tokyo briefing, Microsoft showed off its new coloured controllers: Black, Pink and Light Blue. I thought Light Blue was green. Looks greenish. Does that mean we'll one day see a light blue Xbox 360 or *gasp* a pink Xbox 360? One can only hope. Click over for pics of matching blouses holding the controllers. Hooray for colour coordination!
Final Fantasy? NOT casual. No room for in-game ads, either! Which means there's a gap in Squeenix's catalogue. A gap that's being filled by a partnership announced that will see Square Enix and Japanese portal site Nifty team up to provide a whole bunch of casual, ad-supported games. Square provide the games, Nifty provide the portal, and ads that appear between levels provide the cash money.
Square Enix ventures into ad-supported casual games [Develop]
Here's the new Lost Odyssey clip Ash was talking about, which was shown at Microsoft's pre-TGS presser earlier today. Some of it's recycled from the first one, but most of it's new. Still got no idea how it plays, but at least it looks nice.
IGN know, they've just sat down with a copy of the new, ready-for-release cut of Manhunt 2. So just what, exactly, is the difference between it and the original, not-suitable-for-release version? They report that the victim of the censor's blade has been the game's death sequences, those little cutscenes you got when successfully bringing an opponent down via stealth. One, involving a set of pliers and a man's kenobis, has been completely removed. All other kill shots have been graphically edited, so that the camera darkens and blurs, obscuring just what exactly is going on. You can still get the rough idea (ie knife to face), just not in the same vivid detail as before.
Manhunt 2 Wii Update [IGN]
Big day for announcements! The latest issue of Famitsu contains one about Yakuza. Specifically, that Yakuza 3 is coming, it's coming for the PS3 and should be out in Japan sometime around Spring next year. No pics or further info just yet, but hey, this news is brand new. Give it time to settle, let it catch its breath before demanding things like screens. They won't be too far away.
Yakuza 3 annoncé [Famitsu, via Jeux France]
Mushiking's a big hit in Japan. How big? Kids don't just want to collect digital bugs, they want real bugs. Even ones that don't live in Japan, and cost a tonne of money to import. And it's driving one species to the brink of extinction. A rare stag beetle, which is only found in Turkey's Amanos Mountains, is being picked clean by "bounty hunters", keen to snatch up the bugs and sell them in Japan for as much as ¥40,000 (USD$350). Crazy. Course, collecting bugs and pitting them against each other is nothing new to Japanese kids (the game is, after all, cashing in on the pastime), but Mushiking has really spurred on the hobby. Welcome to 2007, kids.
Video game puts bounty hunters on the trail that could wipe out the stag beetle [The Times]
Someboy at Sony LOVES their firmware updates. Doesn't matter that we've just had one for both the PS3 and the PSP. We need more. Sony have announced that over the next few days the PS3 will be receiving firmware update version 1.93, while PSP owners will be getting version 3.71. The PS3 update fixes a network disconnect error people were having after installing 1.92, while the PSP one will add "many features that readers of [PlayStation.Blog] have requested". I'm not trawling through official blog posts to find out exactly what those are, so let's assume Sony will just tell us what's in it when it drops.
Updated PS3 and PSP Firmware [PlayStation.Blog]
Doesn't do much more than tease, but then, that's the whole point, isn't it? Nice blood.
As mentioned at today's Microsoft presser, Microsoft will be joining up with Final Fantasy publisher Square Enix and Star Ocean 4 developer Tri-Ace to bring us Infinite Discovery. The game has "situation battle" and is completely in real time. The clip that was shown today had some slight frame-rate issues, but that is probably due to the game still being early in development. Xbox Japan Takashi Sensui called these companies "partners." So, let me get this straight: Tri-Ace is developing, Square Enix is publishing and Microsoft, also a games publisher, is...? Oh, right.
Pretty safe to say BioShock's a winner. Definitely a hit with both the 360 and PC kids. At least some of the credit for its success has to go to its marketing push, for which it was remarked more than once around Kotaku Towers "could not put a foot wrong". Gamedaily has an interview with 2K's "marketing partner" RDA, which is an interesting read:
If you saw the description of BioShock on paper, you'd never say that its success was going to be a slam-dunk. This was a risky game if ever there was one. I mean, this wasn't just a shooter that had you firing at aliens. This is a game about an industrialist in the 1940s who builds an underwater society that begins breaking down because a discovery is made about the peoples' DNA that causes them to go insane and they begin splicing their bodies and ... well, try distilling that down into a 30-second elevator pitch.They didn't bother, instead emphasising things like playing on the notion that it was a "thinking man's shooter", building a community around the Cult of Rapture site and getting fan input on the collectors edition. All of which seem to have got the job done just fine.
Nice, aren't they? Certainly better than the awful Halo 1 figures, and a marked improvement on the not-awful-but-still-kinda-average Halo 2 ones. Series 1 includes the Chief, Cortana, a Grunt double-pack, a Jackal sniper and a Brute. These should be available in early 2008.
Think Rez was the only too-good-to-be-true announcement for Xbox Live Arcade at the Microsoft Japan presser? Hah. WRONG. Not only are we getting Rez, we are also getting another Dreamcast favourite. Ikaruga. For real. Same colour-crossing, same perfect shooter, just with shinier new graphics. Please, begin pinching yourselves. We need to make sure this isn't some mysterious, mass hallucination.
At Microsoft's big pre-TGS presser in Japan today, some new and upcoming Xbox Live Arcade games were announced. One of them, you may find interesting. IT'S REZ. Rez HD, as it's tentatively called, is a shiny new port of the Dreamcast original, and is due in Q1 2008. Mizuguchi:
We are excited to announce that Rez will be given a new life, this time in digital form. The game will be presented in hi-definition and will be accessible to thosewho did not have a chance to experience Rez the first time around. Personally, Rez has been and will always be a lifelong concept. I hope to take what I learned from the experience of creating the original game and look forward to taking it to a whole new level in the future.Rez in 5.1 on a big HD screen? Best news in a long time. Screens are in the gallery below, and you can read on for the to-the-point press release.
Kyle Gabler used to work at Maxis. Dude left, started up his own company, 2D Boy, along with Ron Carmel (also from EA). Their first game? This, World of Goo, which looks pretty special. Please, watch it.
World of Goo Gameplay Trailer #1! [2D Boy, via TIGSource]
Analysts love conference calls. It's as if they are bears, and the money-talking words of a group of businesspersons at a long oak table are sweet, delicious honey. They also love predictions. I love this prediction. Ben Schachter, Evan Wilson and The Pachter all agree that Take-Two will be digging up two franchises in the next couple of years. One is Max Payne. The other is Red Dead Revolver. That would be great! I'm a man who loves his Leone westerns, and Red Dead was just one long slightly-interactive tip of the hat to those classics. A current-gen sequel, where the gameplay actually matches the mood and setting, would be a winner.
Analysts' double-take on Take-Two earnings [GameSpot]
We saw the leaked screens this morning, but Microsoft just confirmed, in their presser, that Ninja Gaiden 2 is official. Release date: 2008.
Sakaguchi just confirmed the Lost Odyssey Xbox 360 release date at the Microsoft Pre-TGS Presser. It's going to be 6,800 Yen on December 8, 2007 in Japan, January 2008 for other parts of Asia, and February 2008 for America and Europe. See the liveblog for more info.
Capcom have lost it. Least their marketing department has. They've announced that they're going to be funding an expedition deep into some South American jungle, manned by the nutty Centre for Fortean Zoology, with the aim of recovering specimens and/or proof of giant anacondas, which are rumoured to clock in at 12 metres. So, yes, a monster hunt. A Monster Hunt. In honour of Monster Hunter Freedom 2. Best of luck, gents. And I hope Capcom's funding extends to coverage should your entire team be eaten alive by a 40ft jungle snake. Press release follows.
And we're in! The place isn't exactly packed, but folks keep filing. Though, right now, I have an entire row to myself. Fingers crossed no one sits next to me. I need room to, you know, stretch out. The event starts at one o'clock which is in 15 minutes. That's soon! We'll be live blogging the presser once it starts.
Here's a strange one. Vivendi are pushing Sierra to get cracking on new IP, which they see as vital in terms of competing in the console market. Sierra's Senior VP of marketing Al Simone:
Next year, we're looking to bring original IPs probably at a pace that most third parties haven't in the past few years.New IP? What about old IP? Homeworld, King's Quest, Space Quest...that's where you need to be looking, not some new IP. Yes, I know, this is a backwards argument, since 9 times out of 10 something fresh and new trumps a tired old franchise, but not this time. The world needs a new Quest for Glory, and it needs it NOW.
Dutch site Fok! are reporting that GT5 Prologue has been priced for the European market. Priced extortionately. €45 (USD$60) is what you'll pay for the Blu-Ray version, which if correct is bloody cheeky of them considering this is an overfed demo. Yes, it has 40 cars and some online shenanigans, but €45? That's full-price territory. We've contacted SCEE for clarification, will update when we hear back.
Prijs van Gran Turismo 5 Prologue en features GT5 bekend [Fok! Games, via neorej @ NeoGAF]
I've touched down in Tokyo, but doors haven't yet opened yet for Microsoft's pre-TGS presser and people in suits mill about getting ready. They should be letting us in shortly. Well, letting us into a lobby, where we'll wait until the event starts. Love waiting! Check back for our live on the ground coverage of the event.
With pop-rock games Guitar Hero and SingStar certified success stories, and Rock Band generating plastic instrument lust, MTV's Stephen Totilo looks at the chances we'll see a "Hip Hop Hero" emerge. He speaks to Harmonix's Alex Rigopolous and Get On Da Mic developer Denis Lacasse of Artificial Mind and Movement about the lack of hip hop games that involve actual rhyming and turntable skills.
Hey, Halo 3's coming! Just in case you needed reminding. Or weren't in the know. Furthering the marketing madness accompanying the game's release is news that Microsoft (in conjunction with sponsors Best Buy) is about to get charitable with their Xbox Live Gold pursestrings: the three days following the game's midnight launch (so September 25-27) will see everyone on God's green earth given a Gold subscription. Everyone. It's temporary, yes, and will expire once the clock strikes September 28, but hey, it's free. Let's see if XBL can cope with a million voices suddenly crying out...
10,000 US retailers will open for Halo 3 midnight launch [GI.biz]
The hunt for El Dorado, the lost city of gold, begins this November as Sony officially confirms that PS3 exclusive Uncharted: Drake's Fortune with be hitting the US on the 20th of that month. According to GameStop's website, his puts it either on the same day or within a day of heavy hitting titles like Haze, Rock Band, Mass Effect, and History Channel: Battle for the Pacific, the latter of which deals with similar island themes, only likely in more realistic and therefor boring fashion. I know I have said it before, but this holiday gaming season is going to see me living penniless in the streets by January.
Uncharted gets firm US date [Eurogamer]
Daniel DeMatteo, vice chairman and COO of GameStop, tells the New York Times that non-hardcore gamers are "playing a more important role" in the current video game buying demographic and that the company is "having to retool the way we think of things in our stores in terms of merchandising, layout and also customer service because it is no longer only the hardcore gamer walking in who knows exactly what he wants." It's unclear if DeMatteo finished the term "customer service" in relation to Gamestop with a straight face, but he does expect big sales of the Wii and the PlayStation 2 this holiday season, referring to the latter as the "one real value video game machine out there now."
I need a truly great, next-generation Tom and Jerry game, and I am hoping that maybe - just maybe Deadline Games A/S is the developer to give it to me. The Total Overdose and Chili Con Carnage developer has just signed a deal with Eidos to develop new video games over the next three years, including no less than ten titles based on classic Hanna-Barbera studio properties like The Flintstones, Yogi Bear, the Jetsons, and the aforementioned cat and mouse duo. The new deal has Deadline looking to expand in a big way. They'll need it to develop a physics engine worth of my dream T&J title. If I don't get realistic cat-body deforming when Tom runs headfirst, mouth-open into a suddenly dropped ironing board, Deadline is totally fired.
While I'd normally be content to shun "machinima", following Valve's impressively witty introductions to Heavy Weapons Guy and The Soldier, I now long for a Valve-produced feature on the characters of Team Fortress 2. Say, why not a Saturday morning cartoon? Based on the bar-raising intro to the game's Engineer, seen above, it's starting to become less of a request and more of a demand. Valve, I beg of you, at the very least include each of these cinematic mini-masterpieces on the game disc.
The semi-unofficial Sony bloggers at Three Speech sat down with a trio of key Sony Computer Entertaiment execs—namely Jamie Macdonald, VP of Worldwide Studios, Paulina Bozek, Executive Producer of SingStar and Peter Edward, Director of the PlayStation Home Platform Group—to chat about all things "Game 3.0." User created content is a Big Deal at Sony right now, with SingStar, LittleBigPlanet and Home leading the charge. So, what can we expect from Home? How about adults-only areas?
While the potential may sound saucy, Home's 18-plus zones will most likely be less randy than other unnamed online social networks, with Edwards riffing about stuff like casinos and mature rated game trailers being restricted to the kids. Expect less "Wild West" experiences, says Edwards, and more family geared Home socialising.
Luc Bernard is the mind behind the interactive fairy tail Eternity's Child, which is heading to the Wii and DS. After reading the story I posted yesterday, Bernard contacted Kotaku to offer up some exclusive details on another game he has in the works, The Rose Princess. At its heart, The Rose Princess is a story about a cello player and her rabbit, which seems cute and harmless enough, but then the details start coming. The cellist in question is found one day by said rabbit, lying amidst a field of dead roses (yes roses grow on bushes, but it's a different world than we live in). The girl is cursed so that everything she touches dies. Luckily her newfound friend isn't quite a living thing. No, Mr. Cuddles is a failed entertainer machine...a mechanical bunny created to sing and dance who can do neither. Before I continue, let me warn you that Mr. Cuddles is about to get a lot less cute.
Sony is bringing high def, high stakes poker thrills to the PLAYSTATION 3 this Thursday, September 13th with High Stakes on the Vegas Strip: Poker Edition. Sporting six-player online multiplayer and five styles of poker—Texas Hold'em, Super Hold'em, Billabong, Tahoe and Shanghai—it's sure to induce some intense poker faces when it hits the PlayStation Store. The game features leaderboards and in-depth stat tracking, 1080p resolution for an extremely detailed look at face cards, voice chat and a fascinating spin on human anatomy.
Players can shout "Go fish!" or "UNO, bitch!" for a mere $US9.99 following Thursday's PSN updates. Who's in?
Sega has announced a pair of upcoming addition to the Wii Virtual Console in the form of Crack Down and ESWAT. The former, distinguishable from the more recently released Xbox 360 Crackdown by its space and top down shooting/explosives planting thrills, was originally released on Sega's System 24 arcade hardware.
Similarly, ESWAT follows the arcade to Sega Genesis to Virtual Console path, but uses an Altered Beast brand of sidescrolling action featuring a super cop in a tubby exoskeleton.
Both are 800 Wii Points (aka $8 American) and are expected some time "soon."
Enemy Territory: Quake Wars feels like it has taken forever to get here, and honestly I had started to lose interest in the title, but the recently released launch trailer here has my interest rising anew. It reminded me about all the things that really matter in life: spaceships, giant robots, and lasers. How could I have strayed so far from the true path?
Some of our more eagle-eyed web surfing readers spotted on the official Namco Bandai Games web site "TBD" release dates for PLAYSTATION 3 versions of both Eternal Sonata and Beautiful Katamari. The latter also included hints about the rumoured Wii SKU. Both titles are currently only confirmed for the Xbox 360. Not long after the stories on each title were posted, Namco Bandai hive workers pulled the listings for the non-Microsoft consoles, leaving only the Xbox 360 release dates up.
Clerical error or something far more sinister?! It's hard to think "sinister" when one is discussing an RPG occurring in the mind of a dying Polish composer or rolling things up with a katamari, so we'll remain simply sceptical of the listings. Maybe we will know more after our trip to Tokyo next week.
Thanks to our tipsters for the heads up.
Some developers and publishers may piss and moan that Nintendo dominates sales charts, making it hard for third-parties to compete on the Wii and Nintendo DS. Not Capcom! They're turning competition lemons into profit lemonade, as the company's stock soared to highs not seen since its Onimusha 2 days. With a stock value boosted by "expectations sales" for Wii games, Capcom is laughing all the way to the bank. Sales of Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition are expected to exceed the company's expectations, according to the Credit Suisse Group in Tokyo.
The Simpsons Game might be the best selling Simpsons game of all time—that is, if EA keeps pumping out marketing gold like this Rockstar Games inspired clip. I may justifiably hate The Scorpions like they were responsible for the murder of my family, but even I reflexively fist pumped to this new The Simpsons Game spot. Sure, the game may turn into a derivative putrid stew, but can you deny the power of this clip?
We now know the date of "the future." It's when Insomniac Games' Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction will be released in demo form via the PlayStation Network. According to IGN, we'll all be wearing silver jumpsuits, issuing commands to our personal sex robots and tossing back food pills while playing the PLAYSTATION 3 demo of Ratchet & Clank Future on October 4th, 2007. The demo will feature a playable version of the game's first level, the city of Metropolis, and, I presume, redefine awesome.
See you in the future!
As with any really huge game release, GameStop stores around the country are already receiving their truckloads of Halo 3 to be ready for the big launch day. Unlike other huge game releases, however, GameStop employees will not be able to rip open the boxes of Halo goodness and lick them, bring them home to play early, or take photos of themselves sticking the case down their pants. GameStop corporate has distributed an email warning that any employees who so much as nick the packing tape on a Halo 3 case will be fired on the stop. It covers employees from game advisors on up to district managers, and even accidental openings are grounds for termination. I can only assume this will be enforced via surprise inspections, possibly involving jackbooted stormtroopers.
GameStop getting strict with Halo 3! [Rated-M]
The man who eats, sleeps, breathes and craps Castlevania, Koji Igarashi, sat down with Game Informer to chat about the future of the classic Dracula slaying franchise. With "IGA" and crew already hard at work on wrap