Kotaku Australia » america

Kid Napped In PSP Deal Gone Bad

Owen Good — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 02:00:00 +0000

What’s it they say, “You never hear about a drug deal gone good?” Same for selling games. In this case, an unhappy customer took a Utah teen for a ride when the PSP that changed hands didn’t work as advertised.

The suspect’s now in custody, so, this ends well. But it began badly, on Saturday, when a 17-year-old sold his PSP to one Jose Eduardo Espinosa-Arellano of American Fork, Utah, who took it home and said the thing didn’t work right.

He went back to confront the seller and demand his money back, but for whatever reason, that wasn’t happening. So Espinosa-Arellano said, “Let’s go for a ride,” and the kid, saying he was defusing the situation but really lacking some common sense, went along.

That ride went for about 30 kilometres up the road to Salt Lake City, while the victim texted some friends to say, well, whatever was said, certainly the message began “OMFG”. When the driver exited the interstate and came to a stop at a red light, the victim bolted and ran to a gas station.

“The suspect made comments to him were very concerning to the victim,” a law enforcement spokesman said. “He felt like he was in grave danger, and that’s the reason he jumped out of the car.”

Espinosa-Arellano was arrested and taken to jail. He could face kidnapping charges.

Police: Teen Trying to Reason with Man Before Alleged Kidnapping [KSL-TV]

It Was Called Pac-Man Land

Brian Ashcraft — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 08:00:00 +0000

Growing up in 1980s Texas, I have vague memories of this: Pac-Man Land.

Sure, these could be fuzzy memories of something I wish I would’ve have experienced between the ages of five and seven-years-old, but here it is, Pac-Man Land at theme park Six Flags Over Texas.

This Pac-Man children’s play area was open from 1983-1985. It was awesome.

Pacman Land [Flickr via Technabob via Tiny Cartridge]

Rumour: SEGA of America Starts Scaling Back, Lays Off Thirty

Michael McWhertor — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 21:20:09 +0000

IGN is reporting today that SEGA is the latest publisher to start cutting costs, laying off 30 employees from its American subsidiary. No word on where exactly the cuts are coming from, however.

The report from IGN cites unnamed inside sources at SEGA of America, noting that the company had not yet commented on the alleged lay-offs.

While we have no confirmation on our end either, nor have we heard from anyone possibly affected by cutbacks at SEGA, it wouldn’t come as a surprise. Over the past month, we’ve seen job turbulence at EA, Microsoft and Crystal Dynamics, with studios such as Pandemic Brisbane and Factor 5 on even shakier ground.

Bad Economy Hits SEGA [IGN]

America Will Never Get Pokemon Gerbil Cages

Brian Ashcraft — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 07:00:16 +0000

In Japan, Pokémon is on everything. I mean EVERYTHING. Not true in the USA! Good luck finding things like Pokémon curry or Pokémon wonton soup in the States. Why is that? Why?! Over-exposre has led Pokémon USA to be way more selective. Says the company’s Holly Rawlinson:

We get requests for all kinds of products, but now we turn a lot down.

Turned down products include nappies and gerbil cages. Yes, Pokémon USA turned down Pokémon gerbil cages. What the hell are those people thinking? Poké gerbil cages are a GOLD MINE.
Pokemon is Back [NY Times via ANN]