To: Simon
From: Ashcraft
RE: One of Our Cakes Is Missing

Sounds like you had a busy day! If Brandon's lurking around the office, do tell him "howdy" for me. He's good people.

Over the weekend, the family and I went and go sushi. Usually, families go eat conveyor belt sushi (AKA "robo sushi") or yakiniku. And like I said, this past weekend, it was sushi.

On Friday, Saturday or Sunday sushi restaurants are packed with people. The waits are long to get a table. There's a chain restaurant near our house. It's not bad, fairly inexpensive. When we arrived, there was no line and got a booth easily. Half way in the meal, my wife pointed out that the onions on the salmon sushi weren't chopped as finely as they usually were. Everything seemed decidedly bland — more so that usual in a place ike this.

Then it hit me. The restaurant was totally deserted. There must have been less than fifteen people in the entire place, which looked to seat over a hundred. And on a weekend? Unbelievable.

"Wasn't there a sushi restaurant near us that was closed for a while? Like for a few days?" Mrs. Bashcraft asked.
"I don't remember hearing about that."
"Yeah, there was something about it in the paper I think."
I forced down the tuna in the mouth.

We just kinda sat there, finished up our meal and split, went home and waited to get really sick. Thankfully, we were fine. Rule of thumb: Never go to empty sushi restaurants.

What you missed last night
Mario Galaxy sells the crap outta itself
Uncharted gets censored
Haruhi dance in prison
More DBZ movie news
Japanese Actress Admits Halo obsession
Welcome Rock Band

SDF sneaker fiends, be on alert. On offer here: one pair of very shiny, very rare and very expensive ($US 1000+) PlayStation-branded Air Force 1s. How rare? Rare as in they were never made available to the public, only given away to celebrities and Sony execs. We heard Phil Harrison still rocks a pair of size 21s on casual Fridays.
Nike Air Force 1 Playstation Edition [gameSniped]

This comes via commenter Muu, and it's probably easier to explain through watching, but here goes: In the above clip, MIDI is being used to convey musical notes and as art. The individual who created this arranges all the music himself and then pipes it through a program called Music Animation Machine player. The response to these clips has been tremendous, encouraging the creator to churn out more. Actually quite amazing stuff! Hit the "more >>" for, well, more. read more »

Don't forget! Joel Johnson, Brian Crecente and Brian Crecente's hair will be putting on their officially blessed Child's Play fundraiser in two fabulous cities. On Wednesday, December 12th in Brooklyn and Denver, kind hearted and generous gamers will gather to play Guitar Hero and Rock Band, drink some beer and help raise money to benefit hospitalized children for the holidays.

The Brooklyn competition will take place at Barcade (home of the World Famous Kotaku Party 2007) and in Denver, rockers will attend at the glamorous and exciting Walnut Room. In both locations, a donation of ten dollars (either at the door or through raffle tickets depending on the location) could net you a host of currently unannounced fabulous door prizes. All proceeds from bothe events will go to benefit Penny Arcade's Child's Play Charity. Last year's Brooklyn event raised over $US 4,200. This year, let's totally kick the shit outta that total and raise moar.

Joel, who heads up Boing Boing Gadgets, will be handling the Brooklyn bash, while Crecente will be heading up the Denver one. Likewise, Crecente's hair will help with the Denver event. (That, and drink too much beer.) Read more about all this in the link below and help a good cause rock out. Because, really, a cause good enough for Crecente's hair is indeed a good cause.

Funde Razor [Official Site]

...for anyone who ropes a mate into buying a 360. Let me elaborate: if you already own a 360, and you manage to coerce someone else into buying one, you'll both get ten free Xbox Live Arcade games. And not ten rubbish, forgotten ones either, as the deal includes Bomberman Live, Every Extend Extra Extreme, SFII Hyper Fighting and Sonic. Remember, this announcement is for the UK only; most other Europeans won't mind since the same deal's been running in places like Germany for months now. Microsoft's charitable/arm-twisting press release follows.

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Microsoft recently held a huge Lost Odyssey event in Tokyo. It was announced that the game has gone gold and will be out December 6th in Japan. Also, there were orchestral renditions of Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey music as well as fantastic facial hair. Kotakuite Adam was in attendance and picked up a copy of the book The 1000 Year Dream, which consists of 32 short stories by award-winning novelist Kiyoshi Shigematsu that have been incorporated in Lost Odyssey. In order to help non-Japanese speakers understand what kind of stories these are, Adam has done a nice job of translating one of them. That after the jump!

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Case you slept on the news, Rock Band is out. Drums and all. So now's as good a time as any to remind you that, even though it's $US 169, your spending isn't over. You may, one day down the line, want a second guitar. You may want some dodgy hair extensions. You may want a black leather jacket. You may even want a torn, faded, original Slippery When Wet tour T-shirt. That's fine. But you don't need any of those things. Not like you need a cowbell. Those drums ain't shit without a cowbell. So as a public service announcement, we figure now's the time to let you know that prices for decent cowbells on eBay are hovering around the $US 20-30 mark. You've already spent so much, may as well spend a little more, get the job done before the market explodes.
Cowbells [eBay]

Nintendo's decision to ditch MP3 support in favour of AAC playback for the Wii seemed a bit silly. Why would you do that to us, Nintendo? Why ruin our Photo Channel and Excite Truck playtime with your legal ass-covering? Turns out it's not as bad as the move's initial wording would have you believe.

...it's important to note that [the new Photo Channel] is an optional download and is not planned as part of any system updates to Wii. If your Photo Channel currently supports music files in the MP3 format, you can retain this compatibility by electing to not update your Photo Channel to version 1.1.

Additionally, this update will not have an impact on Wii games which use MP3 music files. These Wii games will not be compatible with AAC files and will continue to use the MP3 file format.

So the move's brought about by updating your Photo Channel? And we can still listen to custom redneck soundtracks during Excite Truck? Well why didn't you just say so in the first place, Nintendo! You had us worried sick.
Wii Photo Channel update - if you don't want it, don't get it [Go Nintendo]

Consoles or PCs? Quick, where do you stand. Crytek art director Michael Khaimzon is a PC guy and for good reason. He explains:

My opinion on them in comparison to the PC is that I think the PC is always better. Because the PC you can do so many things with, and the console is just there for the gaming... You cannot create characters on a console — you can't run a 3D program from one, as far as I know. You can't play certain strategy games on a console well, like Total Annihilation for example, or at least I haven't seen one, I think it's limiting to certain types of games.

Sure, it's common knowledge that PCs are way more powerful than consoles. They're also way more expensive. You get what you pay for!

PCs Better [Games Industry] [Image]

Nintendo have gotten hold of some early (albeit "internal") sales figures for Mario Galaxy. You kids didn't just lap it up. You covered yourselves in it, rolled around in chocolate custard THEN lapped it up. Then did it again. Just for kicks. The game's sold an estimated 500,000 copies in the US during its first week on sale, which is not only impressive in its own right, it also makes it, according to Nintendo of America's George Harrison, "the best-selling Mario title ever in its first week". 500K is a lot. And that's just the US. And it's not even Black Friday. And it's not even Christmas! Back-patting press release follows.

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Uncharted has guns. And guns shoot people. Shooting people causes people to bleed. Not in Japan, apparently! When played on a Japanese PS3, Uncharted is bloodless. Sure, Japan has done this before with games like Dead Rising and Resistance. It doesn't matter where you bought Uncharted as the game's still bloodless. The origin of the disc does not matter, but rather, the hardware does. Reader Ed explains:

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Non-Japanese Kotaku readers interested in Club Nintendo's latest swag, you can stop asking your parents to proof-read your angry letter to Nintendo. NCSX and Play-Asia got your back. Both online importers will be taking orders for the Mario Galaxy soundtrack and SNES Wii pad, and while prices are a tad steep, we're confident you of all people can find 17 separate ways to justify the expenditure.

[NCSX]
[Play-Asia]

Previously we covered the inmates at Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center in the Philippines. But it was dark, so hard to tell whether they were actually dancing or trying to escape. Recently, a version in living colour has popped up on the internet. The three dancers in the front have ribbons around their necks which are supposed to be like the ones the anime characters wear. The colour clip really shows the world one thing: This is what musicals in hell look like. So remember kids, don't get locked up in Philippine prisons. They'll make you do things. Bad things. Like dance and wear ribbons.

Thanks, Brian!

The future is not now. But it is soon. Remember that streaming games technology we posted about a little whiles back? Something very similar, and a bit more concrete, has just been announced by t5 Labs for the US and Europe. Using a set-top box, t5 say they'll be able to stream console games straight to your TV, just like on-demand movies. No word on pricing schemes or participating publishers (though t5 say they're currently in negotiations), but they're hoping to launch in Q2 2008 in Europe, with a Q3 launch in the US to follow.
'Pay for play' gaming a reality [MCV] [Image]

So Hollywood is making a Dragon Ball Z movie, which will probably suck to varying degrees. Goku will be played by Justin Chatwin, Tom Cruise's son in War of the Worlds. Rumor has it that Mexican actress Camila Sodi auditioned for the role of Bulma, which makes sense as the movie is being shot in Mexico. If true, she might be a good choice. Aqua hair aside, she at least looks like her anime counterpart. Now whether she can act or not...
Sodi Tries out for Bulma [Caiga quien caiga via Dark Diamond]

Got your copy of Rock Band? The band-in-a-box game looks like it's going smash hit. The game was developed by Harmonix and is being published by MTV Games. Electronic Arts is handling the distribution under a three year deal. EA does make money on each sale, but it's considerably lower than if Rock Band was a straight up EA title. Does that mean Electronic Arts is interesting in making its own Rock Band clone? EA Partners general manager David DeMartini:

That's not to say that we wouldn't at some point be involved in the genre, as this is a huge genre that hasn't reached full potential. We wouldn't rule anything out.

I can see it now: Exclusive licenses, yearly updates and a curse. Rock on.
MTV's new music game [Reuters] [Image]

You may like the looks of Japan's DS TV Tuner. You may even fancy one. Know that Japan doesn't fancy them. Japan has gone CRAZY for them. Didn't matter that there was little advertising or fanfare for the tuners, because it all went down like this: pre-orders went up, too many people rushed to Nintendo's site, site crashed, site went back up, pre-orders sold out. All this for a teeny-weeny TV tuner that lets you scribble on the screen. Shine on, you DS-mad Japanese diamonds.
Orders for Nintendo's "DS TV" over-flooded [J-Cast, via CVG]

We already know that at least one Japanese male likes Halo 3. Hell, he even got the logo shaved into his skull! And now we can point to a Japanese female who openly admits to liking Halo. Famed Japanese voice actress Kana Ueda (Rin Tosaka in Fate/stay night) says that she's really into the FPS and claims to have played it for something like 16 hours on Monday night! Apparently she's a hardcore gamer, and the Osaka-raised Ueda was previously really into Monster Hunter Portable 2. Guess that makes MHP2 a gateway game or something. So there ya go!
Kana-chan Getting Her Halo on [K's Laboratory, Thanks Witzbold!]

A team of Australian scientists have made a crucial breakthrough in science's never-ending war on fatties. They've built an exercise bike that's hooked up to a videogame...then gone and strapped two Wii Remotes to the rider. One to the leg, one to the helmet, so that not only is the rider's speed mimicked by the on-screen avatar, but their movements as well. Sounds promising from a theoretical point of view, but in practice? Look at that helmet! You want people to lose weight, not die suddenly, and horribly, of shame.
Aussies Invent Virtual Exercise Machine [News.com.au]

Once upon a time, a Japanese variety program created a "human Tetris" skit. It was funny. We laughed. Then a bunch of people ripped it off! They weren't funny. We didn't laugh. (In case you missed it, here are the lame Big Brother and Nadie es Perfecto versions.) Then somebody, we don't know who, decided what "human Tetris" was missing was women in skimpy bathing suits. Whatever! Not funny, no laughing!! The original is still way better, and the above clip is sort of NSFW.

Bikini Girl [Zaeega via Japan Probe]

Rock Band's controller compatibility was a touch confusing prior to the game's release. Now that it's out...still confusing! Despite earlier reports indicating they would get along like a house on fire, it turns out the wireless Les Paul guitar from PS3 version of Guitar Hero III doesn't work with Rock Band. Anyone hoping to get some guitar and bass action in before the individual instruments are released next year, sorry. No. "But they can fix it in a patch", I hear you whimper, "right?". Right? No.

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Not just the PS3 kids that are getting Rock Band DLC. That'd be so unfair. No, the same content is also up on the Xbox Live Marketplace, with the same songs on offer from the same artists. For the late or forgetful, that means a Metallica pack, a questionable Queens of the Stone Age bundle (not bad, per se, just disappointing given the band's pre-2005 offerings), a Police pack (all 440 points) and individual tracks (160 points each) by T-Rex, Credence, Foreigner, Wolfmother and The Knack. Bundle-haters can lay their pitchforks down, as each track from the three bundles is also available as a separate download.
Rock Band Song Track Packs [Microsoft]

If you haven't seen this already, it's the TV advert currently running in Australia/New Zealand to promote Assassin's Creed. Which officially came out today... and unofficially last week.

And yes, that's Massive Attack's Teardrop. It's almost like watching the intro sequence to an episode of House. Of course, Altair has a tendency to kill people while Hugh Laurie does the opposite, but it's two sides of the same coin as far as I'm concerned.

I think you could put that music to just about anything, run the video at 15fps, and end up with something as haunting as, say, the hungry open-mouthed stares of your 90-year old grandma.

Raiden fans rejoice! A compilation of the entire Raiden Fighters will hit Xbox 360s next year. It's be developed by developers who worked on the original games and will get a standard DVD release. Probably won't be a perfect arcade port, but the disc will have LIVE compatibility. Can't wait!

Raiden Fighters [Insert Credit]

There's an achievement present in the upcoming Turok that's got some people upset. It's called "Grab Bag", and is awarded when you "kill at least 1 creature, 1 enemy, 1 teammate, and yourself in the same round of a public match". Oh, the outcry! The shame of it all! How dare they encourage fragicide, how dare they undermine online play like this, blah blah blah. Oh give it a rest, you old windbags. You can only earn an achievement once, team-killing happens with or without an achievement and be honest: how many of you were ever going to play Turok online anyways?

Turok gives achievement for team killing [CVG]

Here for your enjoyment is a scene from the upcoming Hitman flick, starring Deadwood's Timothy Oliphant.

Going by this clip, Agent 47 does a hell of a lot of jumping. It's amazing his legs still work. Oh, and look out for the less-than-subtle shot of the Hitman game running on a TV in the background. I thought the reference was obvious enough, but then they go ahead and focus on it. Nods and winks to the Eidos title, sure, but you don’t need to punch us in the face with them.

VIDEO: Hitman - Hotel [MovieWeb, via Ars Technica]

United States senators and presidential hopefuls Joe Lieberman, Sam Brownback, Evan Bayh, and Hillary Rodham Clinton have written to the ESRB, asking the organisation to review its rating policies and suggesting an Adults Only rating for the recently released Manhunt 2. The Hollywood Reporter writes that the senators and other lawmakers asked the ratings board to consider the "robustness, reliability and repeatability" of the current ratings process in light of "'ultraviolent' video games and the advances in game controllers", presumably referring to the motion controlled Wii version of Manhunt 2. Clinton, the report writes, is moving for a unified rating system across films, television and games.

Senators urge tougher rating for "Manhunt" game [Reuters/Hollywood Reporter]

Are Canada's video game development subsidy priorities out of whack? Outspoken Silicon Knights head Denis Dyack thinks so, calling Quebec's financial ability to attract developers "insane". When not knee deep in development of Too Human for the Xbox 360, Dyack worries that money going to powerhouse like Ubisoft, EA, and Eidos, all of whom have developers in the region, is creating a brain vacuum elsewhere. Those hoping for an end to the tense relations between programmers and Canadian provinces Ontario and Quebec won't find any relief, but an inside look at Silicon Knights is worth the peek at Gamasutra.

Silicon Knights' Dyack: Quebec Game Company Subsidies 'Insane' [Gamasutra]

First rule of extending the life of a game is multiplayer. The second is providing tools so players can create their own content.

If you'd like to head over to the Internode Games Network, you can download WicEd, a map editor for Massive's RTS World in Conflict. Seeing as WiC had multiplayer from the get go, this utility is for those who wish to follow up on that second rule.

Be warned, it's a chunky 350MB, so start your horses now and unclog those poker chips from your Internet tubes. There's also a 7MB hotfix for the editor, which was just released today.

The editor fits nicely with WiC's Movie Maker and Broadcast Tool. Makes you wonder what Massive will pump out next.

World in Conflict Patched to 0003 - With New Map, and map making tool
[Internode Games Network]

The weekly PlayStation Store update, typically a Thursday affair, has arrived a bit early, bringing with it new downloads for Rock Band and savings on older games. But we'll get to that in due time. As mentioned earlier today, a pair of PlayStation Eye titles, Aquatopia ($US 1.99) and Operation: Creature Feature ($US 4.99) are now available for purchase, joined by a demo for MX vs. ATV: Untamed, a 715MB download. But that's not all!

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