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Steven Spielberg Is Anime Cute, Apparently
Posted by Brian Ashcraft at 11:40 PM on May 15, 2008
To: Crecente
From: Ashcraft
So, Indiana Jones fever has hit the Bashcraft household! We've been watching all the DVDs recently, and Mini-Bash seems really, really into the movies. He asked me the other day why the guy from Star Wars was Indiana Jones. That was a very proud moment. I told him that I'd get him some of the Hasbro Indy toys for his birthday. When I was a kid, I had several of the Kenner playsets, which were all kinds of fantastic. The Hasbro toys, from what I can tell online, seem very much hit or miss, but I he should enjoy them.
Was explaining to the kid that Steven Spielberg directed the Indiana Jones films and that Spielberg is a big fan of the Hayao Miyazaki film Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro — which Mini-Bash adores. He thought it was pretty cool that Spielberg liked his favourite anime director Miyazaki. Mini-Bash wanted me to Google a picture of Spielberg, so he could see what the filmmaker looked like. Upon seeing the filmmaker, the kid replied:
"Cute! He looks like Totoro!"
What you missed last night
Nintendo must pay 21 million bucks
New Pokemons
Microsoft happy it didn't make a portable console
Number one Microsoft consumer
It's OK. Rub your eyes. I did. But it's true: Beyond Good & Evil creator Michel Ancel has told French magazine JeuxVideo that work on a sequel to one of the past decade's most underappreciated titles is underway. And not just underway, but it's been underway for around a year now, with 10-12 staff toiling away on pre-production duties. Good news, yes? Well, sit back down, Mr Bernard Excitey-Pants, because there's a catch: Ubisoft have yet to green-light the project and kick it up into full production. Yes, I'm as confused and angry as you are. No, I have no idea why the hell they're stalling on this.
Sega kiddy arcade game MUSHIKING: King of the Beetles has entered the record books! The Guinness World Records awarded it a certificate for:
Casual gaming? Whatever! This is no casual gaming, buster. Just ask Nintendo! It'll set you straight. Nintendo Europe's senior marketing director Laurent Fischer unloads:
Going to Comic-Con in San Diego this year? May as well pick a couple of these up, make some cash money off some die-hard Gears fans unable to make the trip. This NECA Gears figure will only be available at this year's Comic-Con, and depicts Delta Squad's Anthony Carmine, presumably only moments before his untimely demise. A pic so big you can almost smell that newly-opened toy smell is after the jump.
This was a gimme for Nintendo. After all, Bee Mario was the most adorable thing that fat plumber's done in years, so capitalising on the love-in by releasing a soft, cuddly replica was a no-brainer. It'll be available in July, for around $US 25. If your collectible tastes for the game run to the more supernatural end of the spectrum, a Boo Mario will be available as well. Same time, same price.
If you've spent time on the Japanese nerd internet, you've seen images like this: Pin-up model posing with game hardware. Very common! This, this one's got a little more. That's curvy swimsuit model 
Yeah, you read that right. New. Pokemans. Prepare yourself (though don't get too excited). Although strongly 
There are some touchy questions. Questions that might turn people curt. Questions that need to be asked. Questions like this: Is there any specific reason why there is no multiplayer in Star Wars: The Force Unleased? Adam Kahn, Senior PR Manager at LucasArts, replies:
Has digital distribution made games cheaper? Uh, no. But lots of people thought it would. That's not the only myth surrounding the digital delivery of games: the idea persists that selling your games online will be a way to get around the dominance currently enjoyed by big publishers in the bricks-n-mortar retail sector. Well, according to Mark Rein, that's all a load of codswallop: 
Once upon a time, people thought Microsoft was going to enter the handheld console market. It hasn't! Maybe, it will one day, but for the time being, the company is sitting on the sidelines. Any regrets? Says Microsoft's Shane Kim:
We've had some 
Denis Dyack (right, wearing glasses) might be stepping down. The Silicon Knights president has led the developer through the lengthly Too Human development process, and it seems Dyack is thinking of calling it a day. Says Denis:
Sony have updated their own PixelJunk Eden website with a fact sheet. Why do we care? Well, for one, it's PixelJunk, so we care. But we care more about this: listed under "key features" for the game is "Trophy Support". What the hell are "trophies"? There's been a 
Reader Matt writes:
In 2006, a small Texan company by the name of Anascape Ltd. took Nintendo and Microsoft to court, claiming the pair had infringed on patents Anascape held relating to game controllers (presumably 
Oh, that 
In the history of the internet and video game companies using the internet, can safely say that, yes, we have indeed found the most embarrassing URL. Are you ready? OF COURSE! It is:
Looks like those 
From who? Why, the internet, of course. When a bunch of cosplaying S.T.A.L.K.E.R. fans decided to hit the woods and engage in some wargames, re-enact some of the game's battles, fucking around was not on the schedule of events. They brought real weapons. Real uniforms. Real armoured personnel carriers. To real Chernobyl. The results (and resulting photgraphy) is a sight to behold.
The good news? If you're American, Ubisoft have just made available another batch of classic titles on Valve's Steam platform, headed by Beyond Good & Evil, Brothers in Arms and a couple of Rainbow Six titles (the excellent Rogue Spear and Lockdown). The bad news? If you're from Mexico, Brazil, Great Britain, Ireland, Belgium, The Netherlands, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Poland, Greece, Russia, China, India, Japan, South Korea (and hey, North Korea too, why not), Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and everywhere else on the entire planet, you can't buy them. What gives, Ubisoft? You too good for 6.3 billion people's money?
If you dug Gears of War for what it was - and hey, it was a great shooter - move along. Nothing to see here. If, however, you need a little context for your button-pressing, and were left cold by the first game's hole-riddled story, read on! Kudo Tsunoda, from Microsoft, has said that the team working on Gears 2 are aware of the first game's narrative shortcomings, and are working super-hard on fleshing things out for the sequel:
Nintendo uses forced shortages to create hype? Oh, that's rich. Why would Nintendo ever do that? Points out Nintendo's Dervin Camden:
A PlayStation.Blog post about an upcoming Warhawk tournament actually contains something far more interesting: news of a line of miniature Warhawk figures. Gentle Giant studios are currently at work on the project, and when done will be releasing a line of 6" replicas based on the series' trademark fighter. They'll even come with little plastic stands, so it looks like they're flying, and you can pick them up off your desk and be all "mmmmmyyyeeewwwwww, pew pew pew" when nobody's looking.
Capcom has announced it will be bringing the expansion to Rocketmen: Axis of Evil to the North American PlayStation Store tomorrow with the Xbox Live Arcade version hitting today. Rocketmen: It Came From Uranus will set interested gamers back 400 Microsoft Points or $US 4.95 depending on your console of choice. You will, as with most expansions, need the original release. Full details on what's included in It Came From Uranus is after the jump.
Capcom has partnered with Devil's Due Publishing—apparently I'm out of the comic book publisher loop—to introduce a series of comic book titles based on properties like Bionic Commando and Lost Planet. The video game publisher already has a line of comics based on the Street Fighter universe published by Udon, who in turn is providing artwork for Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix.
According to some number-crunching by the Guardian, Sony might actually be losing more money per PlayStation 3 sold than its figures show.
Microsoft totally 
Glenn Beck, star of the previously posted 
The Consumerist printed a letter from a reader, Grant, who claims his Xbox Live gamertag, "theGAYERgamer," was banned from Xbox Live. When he called Microsoft customer support, a rep reportedly told him that while she wasn't offended by his gamertag, "the greater Xbox community" had found his it offensive, thereby warranting a ban.
The newest issue of Weekly Famitsu magazine reveals another soul in the Soul Calibur IV character roster. Like new ladies Angol Fear and Scheherazade, both designed by well known Japanese guest artists, the newest addition to the Soul universe comes courtesy of Gantz creator Hiroya Oku. As you can see, the fighter known as Shura sports four swords, two on each hip, plus ample and prominent cleavage, in front and back. They certainly have a "type."
The deadline for Electronic Arts' bid to acquire Take-Two is this Friday, May 16th, so we thought it'd be a good time to review what we've learned so far to see where things currently stand.
Vivendi Games, which contributed some $US 340 million to its parent company's "very good" first quarter, continues to place much of its success on Blizzard Entertainment. The World of Warcraft developer provided an impressive $US 295 million to Vivendi's games division, with a good portion of that cash coming from the MMO's 10.7 million subscriber base. Vivendi says games revenue was down, year over year, with some of that poor performance due to unfavourable exchange rates. Yawn! Who cares about another billion dollar year? We're not Rob Pardo's kids! Where's the next WoW expansion, already?
Naruto: Path of the Ninja 2, a sequel to October 2007's DS title, is in the works from D3Publisher and Tomy Corporation, planned for a September 2008 release.
With a reported 9.9 million Xbox 360s sold through in the United States as of the end of March, something catastrophic would have had to happen to prevent Microsoft from reaching the 10 million mark first. Fortunately for the gang in Redmond, the company has avoided certain doom, announcing that it has reached the corporately coveted figure, beating NPD estimates by a day.
Sony Online Entertainment announced that its upcoming titles, The Agency and Free Realms, will support real money transactions, through the company's ongoing partnership with e-commerce platform Live Gamer.
Do Playboy models love video games? On a first meeting with Jo Garcia, it'd be easy to levy scepticism. She's Playboy's "Cyber Girl Of The Year," beating out 52 weeks of rival models in an online-only competition. It just happens, Garcia said, that she's "really big into games."
Denis Dyack kept things short and sweet at yesterday's Xbox 360 Spring Showcase event. He wanted to make sure we had plenty of time to play through some co-op on Too Human.