Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z takes place in the world of Ninja Gaiden, but it’s not canon, says Team Ninja’s leader.

This Isn’t Cosplay. It’s Theater!

Those battling Ikki Tousen girls are bringing their torn clothes and short skirts to the Tokyo stage. The manga turned video game and anime series is getting a theatrical adaptation. Known as Battle Vixens in the West, Ikki Tousen is the latest anime/game property to be turned in a stage production, following in the footsteps…

Square Enix, COD‘s Japanese publisher, announced that Call of Duty Elite won’t support Japanese—no plans, either.

24 Hours Before Wii U Launch, Reggie Surprises The Nintendo Faithful in NYC

Nintendo of America boss Reggie Fils-Aime did the Jimmy Fallon show on Friday, got some dinner and then… he took a stroll to the Nintendo World Store. He found more than 50 people camped out to pick up the Wii U at midnight Saturday night. I tagged along to see what happened. I walked the…

The Biggest Anime of the Year Steamrolls Japan

Late last night, two things happened in Japan: the first six minutes of Neon Genesis Evangelion: Q 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo, and that movie’s midnight premiere. This wasn’t just the first screening of a big time anime. It was a party. An event. Japanese website Gigazine was on hand at the midnight screening in…

Snackopalypse 2012: Hostess Products Disappear from Store Shelves, Internet Price Gouging Begins

This morning I reported on the closing on Hostess Brands Inc., the company that’s been keeping America in Twinkies, Ho-Hos and Ding Dongs for 82 years. I suggested readers rush to the store and buy all of the Hostess snacks they could before they disappeared. If you didn’t heed that advice, it may already be…

This FPS Controller Will Shoot You in the Face

Two big shooters fired out this fall: Halo 4 and Call of Duty: Black Ops II. If you are into shooters (I mean, really into shooters), maybe you are looking for an edge. That’s exactly what Japanese peripheral maker Hori hopes it can offer with its controller designed especially for FPS games on consoles. But…

Zynga’s Boss Near Tears, Says Wall Street Journal, as He Grapples With Turning the Company Around

Well, now you’ve done it. Yes you, Facebook user, you’ve made Mark Pincus cry. Taken public and valued at $9 billion in so doing, Zynga’s stock price has slid to a quarter of its value at the initial public offering, and taught a harsh lesson to the CEO about what happens when you run a…

Oh Look, A Crazy 70’s Movie About A Baby Who Is A Grown-Ass Man

Where do I even start with this trailer for The Baby, a 1973 cult classic about a gigantic baby that looks like a regular man? The crazy hammy acting? The insane premise (which is really, if I’m not mistaken, the same as a particularly late nightish Will Ferrell skit from SNL)? The constant, shrieking violins?…

Tell President Obama to Honor the Veterans of Halo 4

The White House’s bullshit feel-good “We the People” initiative is, like all Internet petitions, worth the paper it is printed on.* Most of the petitions lodged there demand things the executive branch cannot effect on its own. The remainder are protest tantrums, like the secessionist fantasies a bored and distended mainstream media are indulging in…

Backhanded Box Quotes: When ‘Best Call of Duty Ever!’ Isn’t a Compliment

Welcome back to “Backhanded Box Quotes,” a collection of measured, thoughtful criticism from the user reviews of Metacritic. This week we examine games from two series that frequently are accused of impersonating each other: Call of Duty: Black Ops II, and Halo 4 Call of Duty: Black Ops II Released: Nov. 13. Critic: MasterOfMetroid (Metacritic)…

There’s No Such Thing as a Free-to-Play Game

I’ve tried to be fair to the concept of free-to-play games, which you see a lot of in mobile gaming. Yes, it all seems a bit cynical—it trades a single price for a potentially unlimited revenue stream, but there’s nothing necessarily illegal or unethical about that. It does depend on making some substantive portion of…

This Is One Of The First Indie Games You Can Buy On Your Wii U

It’s called Chasing Aurora, and it’ll be out Sunday when the Wii U launches. It’s a multiplayer game with a handful of different modes. Seems pretty interesting! Check out their website for more

Challenge the World’s Best Trainers in Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 Beginning Monday.

On Monday, Pokémon enthusiasts can challenge the top 12 trainers from this year’s World Championships in Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 The trainers and teams will be distributed over the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection sometime on Monday, and will bring three-time world champion Ray Rizzo’s stable of Tyranitar, Garchomp, Cresselia, Hydreigon, Rotom, Metagross along with…

GREE Closes OpenFeint, Gives Game Developers a Month to Avoid a Potential “Poor Player Experience”

Before Apple had Game Center it had OpenFeint, a gaming network that brought a cohesive online experience to countless iPhone, iPad and eventually Android games. Some of us may have opted to miss out on its fun features, but for many game developers it was a priceless tool. Come December 14, OpenFeint will be no…

EA Sports Expands Course Offerings in Basic Version of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14

Mea culpa: When Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14 revealed its cover stars yesterday—Arnold Palmer and Tiger Woods—I missed the biggest news in the cover art: Its basic course roster has gone up to 20. That’s four more than the 16 the game has usually included in its standard version for high definition consoles, with about…

Stan Lee’s The Week in Gaming Apps

Legendary comic book creator Stan Lee only had his hand in one of the five Gaming Apps of the Day this week, but I’m pretty sure the rest of them were probably his idea at some point anyway. It was a great week for gaming apps, with the exception of Monday. Apparently somebody didn’t get…

Amazon’s Black Friday Lightning Deals Include Max Payne 3 for $15, Kinect Star Wars for $25

Amazon will be selling games on the cheap all next week. Here’s a list of their “lightning” deals which all last just a few hours. Expect even better deals for the Monday after Thanksgiving (that’s two Mondays from now—Cyber Monday!). Click the link below for all the deals. Video Games Holiday Lightning Deals

Jailed ArmA Developers Denied Bail In Greece

More than two months ago, a pair of ArmA developers from Bohemia Interactive were arrested in Greece for suspicion of espionage. Ivan Buchta and Martin Pezlar have now spent weeks behind bars because of a legal system strike (jeez), and now, they’ve been denied bail. According to the Czech site Rozhlas (as translated by Eurogamer),…

This Week’s iPad Charts: All That Matters is LostWinds 2 is Free

Yes yes, Angry Birds Star Wars is great, everybody loves it, it kills everything it touches, whatever. Have you played LostWinds? The sequel is free right now. You should go grab it. Come back and read this later. You’re probably busy playing the game now, so I’ll keep this week’s spiel brief. Angry Birds Star…