Five years ago, Akihiro Hino was coming off designing, writing, producing and directing two role-playing games, Rogue Galaxy and Jeanne d’Arc. He was young, ruddy and full of life. Then, the unthinkable happened. His games started taking over the entire country. In 2007, Hino designed, wrote and produced Professor Layton and the Curious Village. The…
Big bad China. The Mainland. The second biggest economy on Earth. Communism. And a whole military complex. Neighboring Japan is worried. What about game companies? It used to be the other way — China worried about Japan. During the early part of the last century, Japan romped through Asia in a smash-and-grab, taking land and…
So, I’m pretty sure my left elbow exploded yesterday, and it is going to fall off and kill me — not to be melodramatic or anything. Actually in pain all day! Having a bit of typer’s elbow and am headed to the doctor’s tomorrow morning. Wish me luck! What you missed last night Microsoft Offers…
While Hollywood and Nintendo haven’t exactly hit it off (remember that Super Mario Bros. movie?), that doesn’t mean Tinseltown is soured on Nintendo. It’s totally excited about the 3DS. In a recent roundtable (via Edge), Nintendo present Satoru Iwata talked about how excited Hollywood was about the Nintendo 3DS. “When we show Nintendo 3DS to…
George Hotz hacked Sony’s PS3, and then told everyone how to do it. That pissed Sony off, and the company is taking him to court. Rival Microsoft is ready to play nice, though. With a gift. Hotz, who also cracked the iPhone, blogged that he’s keen to get a Windows Phone 7. And Brandon Watson,…
A much larger take on the Nintendo DSi XL. As seen on Famitsu.com at a recent event in Kyoto.
With the 3DS pre-orders underway in Japan, peripheral makers are wasting no time releasing things for the handheld. 3DS covers, anyone?
In 1987, game designer Hideo Kojima turned out Metal Gear. That game, however, originally had a big “rejected” rubber stamp on it. Kojima today revealed photos of an early version of the game’s design document. Metal Gear, it seems, was originally called “Metal Gear (Intruder).” This version of the game never went into production —…
Japanese gamers lined up early this morning to place pre-orders for the Nintendo 3DS. I didn’t. I didn’t leave the house until after many stores were already selling out. Yet, I had no problems getting my pre-order. So what’s my trick? Photos from this morning showed long lines in Tokyo’s Akihabara and Shinjuku. According to…
Custom action figures, like these Punch-Out!! ones or this Bayonetta one, are one-off, hand-crafted pieces that sometimes end up on online auction sites. If you live in Japan and make these figures, best keep them to yourself. Or risk getting arrested. Earlier this week, Niigata Prefecture arrested Keiichi Itoh, 35, and Jun Fujita, 36 for…
Singer, songwriter, actor and video game character. Claiming he was a vampire, Gackt used to say he was born in the year 1540, leaving the eternal question: Is he bonkers? No, he’s not. Rather, he’s one of Japan’s most interesting (and colorful) personalities. Songwriter, fashion model, actor, novelist, restaurateur, screenwriter and psychic, Gackt’s done it…
Most things are. Here a troupe of Japanese comedians bring an in-game power from Wii role-playing game The Last Story to life. The power is “gathering” and to illustrate the point, there are comedians like the duo Oriental Radio, Ryo from the comedy group London Boots and what looks to be Kazuko Kurosawa from comedy…
Japan boasts a long curry tradition that dates over a hundred years. Here is some of what the country has to offer. Where do I game? I game here! What you missed last night Nintendo’s 3DS Hits the U.S. On March 27 for $249.99 Nintendo 3DS U.S Preview Bonanza And Liveblog Activision Can Take Its…
Right now, gamers play video games on the Xbox 360, the PS3 and the Nintendo Wii. One day, we will have new consoles. Won’t that be great? Um, no, not according to one of gaming’s biggest studios. “It would be horrible,” says THQ’s Danny Bilson. “It still costs us a fortune to make games on…
Like puzzles? No, that isn’t a puzzle, it’s a question. Wordsnap Contraption is a word-based puzzle game in which players try to create new words — in under two minutes. There are multipliers and a constant flow of new letters. Wordsnap Contraption is a fun little game. Future updates will hopefully expand the dictionary.
A handful of mothers were totally freaked out by sci-fi game Dead Space 2. Those moms are pansies. Dino Ignacio’s mom? While everyone else seems to cover their eyes, his mom laughs in the game’s face, cackles and chuckles. Ignacio is Dead Space 2’s user interface designer. Dead Space 2 is headed to the Xbox…
This year, China is releasing a new controller-free gaming console. New for China, that is, as the world already played this when it was called Kinect. Dubbed a “Kinect clone” by the West, the eBox will come with 30 games built in and a set-top camera that can detect a player’s movements, according to the…
A 42-year-old Japanese male walked into his local cineplex and started watching the latest Gundam flick. As well as recording the anime’s audio with his phone. He is now in police custody. While piracy is only thought to be, you know, filming the actual screen, Japanese copyright law covers audio, too. Under a 2007 ruling,…
Final Fantasy games are just that, fantasy. You know, guys with amazing hair swinging big swords around in mystical locations. Part of the setting for Final Fantasy Versus XIII is a little less fantasy, though. A little more ordinary This is not a bad thing! In fact, what makes the Final Fantasy Versus XIII trailer…
While marveling at the scenery, soaking up pop music or playing video games, you can’t miss it. In Japan, English is everywhere. And the country seems, at times, obsessed with learning it. Of course, most of the English visitors and residents alike come into contact with isn’t really English, but Japan’s spin on the language.…
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