japan japan japan i loves you

From a japanese soap opera.. most of us agree i think this is what love really is.

Alex

No YOU listen!!!!

Genzoman illustrates the deepest desires of anyone that has played Ocarina of Time, via Go Nintendo.



Alex

monster hunter tri events!!!!!

The great community push continues as Capcom’s Monster Hunter Tri community site now offers a constantly updated schedule of upcoming Arena and Event Quests, along with a mention of what rewards each quest nets you. To access it, head over to the link and click on the gem icon.

There’s a nifty calender on the site, too, that you can import into your Outlook, Google or iPhone calender if you want to keep track of quests personally. So, what’s the Siliconera consensus on the game so far?

Alex

Alex loves japan

So, one boy is trying to tell the girl he likes her. The other boy sneaking around in the box interrupts and says, “please, enter my cardboard box.” The girl looks back and says, “cardboard box?” But, the box boy really wants the boy to play Peace Walker with him. Unlike other Metal Gear Solid games, Peace Walker is designed for teens with a CERO B rating in Japan and a T from the ESRB in North America.

I love what I find sometimes.



Alex

Gigantor review... I want one

Somehow I went from discussing reviewing the neat little bean bag chairs Sumo provides to events like the recent Penny Arcade Expo East to having a seven foot by six foot Sumosac Gigantor in my living room.
Sumo sells bean bag chairs, from the relatively small one-person Omni often seen piled throughout the corridors of gaming fan events, to the giant, (at least) two-person polyester fiber-filled Sumosac Gigantor, which must have been a real bitch to ship to my apartment. I know it was a real bitch getting it inside. They've been trying to get us to review their product for years it seems, leading to an inside joke about reviewing one just so we could use the line "It felt like I was standing up."
They approached us again following PAX East, and we caved, but I was worried about my cats. They like to pee now and again, and I was afraid the simple bean bag chair would wind up a sack of cat urine-scented beads. Not a problem, said the Sumo representative. They would send me something with a removable cover, perfect for my cat-pee sprinkled lifestyle.
And so there's an enormous Sumosac Gigantor in my living room. The cats both love and fear it, for reasons that will become apparent, and I can honestly say this: It's nothing like standing up.
Loved
It Eats Your Will To Move: After two six and a half foot tall men tore open the gigantic shipping box and squeezed its contents through the door to my apartment and stuffed the Gigantor inside of its micro suede cover, I fell upon it in exhaustion, and I did not want to get up. The poly-fill inside the sack bunches where you aren't sitting, providing adequate support while still remaining soft and giving you some room to maneuver. It's less like sitting down or curling up on a cushion, and a bit more like being held. It's supremely comfortable, to the point where I've slept in it several times over the past two weeks, both on purpose and accidentally. It's almost too comfortable, as many of my recent gaming sessions have mysteriously transformed into naps.
True To Form: I'm a large man, weighing somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 pounds. That anything I lay on can retain a fair semblance of its original shape is a miracle. As I mentioned above, I've slept for long periods on the Gigantor, and within a half hour of me getting up, it's back to the shape it was in before I burdened it with my presence. Now and then it needs a little fluffing, but there's nothing wrong with a little fluffing.
Very Roomy: The first night the Gigantor spent in my house was spent with me sprawled out on it playing 3D Dot Game Heroes, my girlfriend next to me playing Plants Vs. Zombies on the iPad, and at least one cat. That's without anyone's feet actually touching the ground. Well, except the cat's, but that was by design. In short, it's one roomy sonofabitch. I image three regular-sized, relatively friendly people could curl up at once without much of a problem.
Removable Cover: A week into testing the Gigantor, disaster struck. It turns out the door to the room with the cat box in it was closed accidentally, and one of my little furry friends took it upon himself to pee on the giant cat bed in the living room. This was discovered by wandering into the living room, dropping down onto the sack without looking, and being showered with yellow droplets. This was both good and bad. Bad, because ew, pee. Good, because the cover didn't let the pee through it, resting atop it in a puddle instead of soaking in. So yeah, if you've got cats, aim for a covered bean bag chair, or sell them for parts.
Cat's Away!: The most fun you can have with an oversized bean bag chair like the Gigantor is its ability to launch your feline friends (or small dogs, I suppose) into the air. Wait until your cat is asleep on it, and then fall down hard onto an unoccupied spot. The poly-fill quickly shifts to accommodate you, launching the cat two to three feet in the air, depending on weight. This is the most beautiful thing you will ever see. I wish I had pictures. Maybe this explains the peeing.
Hated
Space, You're Gonna Need It: Most furniture is rectangular. It helps you place it against walls, arrange it strategically, and put coffee tables near it. The Gigantor is seven feet wide, six feet deep, and about three and a half feet tall. Essentially, it's a giant cylinder. It's great for very open corners, or rooms with lots of floor space just asking to be covered with something, but in a cramped apartment, there aren't many places to put it that make sense. Right now I've got mine in front of my entertainment center, having moved my couch off to the side. I guess that works, but it leads me to my second negative point...
Aesthetically Unpleasant: It's a sack filled with foam. It comes in different colors, but a different -colored lump is, for all intents and purposes, still a lump. Unless you've been following a strictly lump-based decorating style, the Gigantor is not likely to fit your home decor. That means you either need to really want a giant sack in your living room, or you have a basement rec-room or dedicated gaming room you feel could benefit by the addition of an extremely comfortable mound.
So no, the Sumosac Gigantor is nothing like standing up. It's an insanely comfortable mass of micro suede and polyester fluff that could easily be the centerpiece of a more expansive game room or, under the right circumstances, act as a love seat substitute in any situation you find yourself needing a love seat. At $399 you're going to want to be damn sure you have a spot large enough for it, and it isn't the prettiest thing you've ever sat on, but it could very well be one of the most satisfying.
And you can't put a price on cat-flinging.
FINE PRINT EXAMPLE: The Sumosac Gigantor is a product of Sumo Lounge International. Retails for $399.99 USD. Smaller, less-expensive sizes are available. A unit was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes. Played both single and multiplayer modes. Tested it in a variety of situations. Yes, it works really well for...that.

 taken from kotaku

Alex 

Holy Crap WTF New Stuff From Edsel???

 

So ya new stuff from meh check it out.  Or don't.  I don't care.  I feel like pizza...

Edsel

FFXIV screen shots

So on kotaku i was just browsing as normal and i saw some new screenshots from my favorite upcomeing game! who else is excited?! go check em out here!

Alex

episode 1

This will be on my wedding cake

Alex

TAAANK!!!

Awesome pure awesome i hope you figure out what it is.

Alex

Awakening

The marauding Blight has scattered, but a new, more sinister evil rises in its wake, and once again the Grey Wardens rise to face a deadly foe in the Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening expansion pack.

Forget your humble or not-so-humble origin. Whether pauper or prince, imported character or newly generated for the expansion, this time you're in charge of the Gray Wardens. You're just in time to face off against a new, strangely intelligent, highly vocal sort of Darkspawn, embarking on a quest that could very well unravel the mystery of the recurring Blight once and for all.

Rather than downloadable content, Awakening is a full expansion pack, so you know you can expect a level-cap increase, interesting places to go, people to see, and monsters to kill. What you might not know, is whether you should spend $40 on fifteen to twenty hours of expanded gameplay. Well, should you?

Loved
The Continuing Saga: There's nothing quite like the feeling of completing a lengthy role-playing game, maxing out your characters, and then getting the chance to revisit them, adding an additional layer of depth and power to your creations. Just as I consider Dragon Age: Origins to be the spiritual successor to BioWare's Baldur's Gate, Awakening can be likened, to a point at least, to the Tales of the Sword Coast expansion for Baldur's Gate. The level cap is increased, you visit new lands, you find more powerful equipment, and in the end you (possibly) save the day, again.

But Awakening actually goes a step beyond that. With new specializations and talents, it feels more like an MMORPG expansion than something you see in a single-player game. Rather than simply making you a more powerful version of what you were before, the additional customization options actively work towards defining your character's role in your party. I wanted to be a sneaky rogue in Dragon Age, but always felt like I was simply a weak fighter in leather armor. With the new Shadow specialization, I am the sneaky rogue I wanted to be.

Injecting A Little More Character: While Awakening did briefly saddle me with my least favorite character from the original game, it made up for it with a new cast of characters that, at times, seem even deeper and better developed than the first group, despite having so much less screen time. Of all the new additions, Anders, a quick-witted mage on the run from the prison-like Tower of Magi, completely stole the show. Not only is he ready with a quip at every turn, he's also incredibly fond of kittens. Keep an eye out for animals of the feline persuasion as you play through the game - that's all I will say. It's so adorable, you'll want to sleep with him. You can't, but you'll want to.

Hated
Identity Crisis: By the end of Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening, I was left with an odd, conflicted sort of feeling. Awakening certainly didn't feel like downloadable content; it's too big to fall into that category. It's marketed as an expansion pack, but the amount of work BioWare put into fleshing out the new characters and the new, more intelligent Darkspawn threat goes far beyond what I'd normally expect from a simply expansion pack. It mostly resembles a full-blown sequel, but it stops short, never quite reaching that level. Indeed, it almost seems as if BioWare consciously knew they were putting too much work into Awakening and pulled back at the last minute, leaving me with the gaming equivalent of being on the verge of sneezing but never quite making it there.

I suppose my only complaint with Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening, then, is that the development team put effort into the expansion. It seems silly, but the feeling remains. While I enjoyed my time with my new companions, taking on a revived and evolved threat and making decisions with consequences just as world-shaking, if not more so, than in the original game. I just felt that right when I was reaching my stride, the game stopped, as if afraid I might enjoy myself too much.

Still, uneasy feeling or no, Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening is twenty more hours of Dragon Age: Origins, and if you felt the same way I did about the original release, feeling slightly unfulfilled isn't going to stop you from milking every second of enjoyment out of the expansion that you can, and there's plenty of milk in those udders.

Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening was developed by BioWare and published by EA on March 16 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. Retails for $39.99 USD. A copy of the game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes. Played through the entire game on PC, then fiddled about with the PlayStation 3 version.

Messageto all

this is amazeing

Happy Friday

Alex

yet another reason why i love japan

Only they could come up with this... its awesome =)

Happy st.patty's day

Alex

Something will happen in 7 days

Maybe you'll eat a turkey sandwich. Perhaps, you'll drink a glass of carrot juice. You may even read watch television. The future is endless. The reveal for this countdown teaser is not.

Japanese game company CyberConnect2 is running a teasing that is teasing something in seven days. The site simply reads "7 days to go".

[In Seven Days, Something Will Happen] CyberConnect2 is best known for its own on Naruto games and on the .hack franchise of games. So the odds are pretty good for a new Naruto game or a new .hack game or the long overdue .hack//naruto lol

Alex

Laura Croft... not tomb raider

Not surprisingly, Square Enix announced today that developer Crystal Dynamics is at work on a new Tomb Raider game. Except, this one isn't called Tomb Raider, the famous words nowhere to be found in the game's title.

Instead, the game is called "Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light". Strange to forgo such a recognised brand, but then, it's a downloadable game, not a full retail title. And in the words of Crystal Dynamic's Darrell Gallagher, it's "something completely new and very different to what people might be expecting". Add in the fact the name isn't as relevant as it once was, and maybe dropping the "Tomb Raider" thing isn't the worst idea of the week.

It'll be out later this year, and there's no other information at this stage, with the game due to be shown off for the first time at GDC next week.
taken from Kotaku

Alex

FF1 and 2 on iphone and touch

For those of you chomping at the bit for Final Fantasy XIII, here's a fun little surprise to tide you over: Both Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II are now available on the iPhone for $9 a pop.

The original Final Fantasy includes the five bonus dungeons, The Soul of Chaos pack and The Labyrinth of Time, added to later editions of the game. While Final Fantasy II contains the five bonus dungeons added with the Soul of Rebirth and Arcane Labyrinth pack.

Both games are also available for the iPod Touch as well.

Guss what I'm gonna be playing on my ipot touch for the next couple of weeks to months to forever.... this is awesome.

Alex

Love Plus Better Than Love?

A few days before last Christmas, a line stretched around a Tokyo bakery. The customers were waiting to buy Christmas cake. But they weren't waiting to buy just any cake.

In Japan, Christmas is akin New Year's in the U.S. — secular and spent with friends. Yes, there are Japanese Christians who celebrate the religious aspects, but the holiday does not carry the connotations of being with family necessarily. It's more of a "party" holiday, one for dates and one to eat cake with your mains squeeze.

The cake was part of a promotion for Konami's Nintendo DS game, Love Plus. The cakes, which were sold at three different bakeries in the Tokyo Metropolitan area, featured the characters from the game. But why were people getting these Love Plus Christmas cakes? There is a proud history (internet history, that is) in Japan in which folks take pictures of Christmas cake in front of a computer screen displaying some sort of dating sim. It is a gag of sorts, but there is a ring of truth to the loneliness. Konami had tapped directly into this subculture with the cakes.

Konami is primarily known for three series: Metal Gear Solid, Bemani and Pro Evolution Soccer. That is starting to change. Love Plus was released in September 2009 and was unlike anything Konami had done before. Sure, Konami had developed dating games — tons of them. But those titles focus on the beginning of the relationship — the wind-up, if you will. Love Plus gives players the pursuit, but then asks this question: You've got the girl, so now what are you going to do?

The game not only takes full advantage of the Nintendo DS hardware, but allows a player to talk, send emails and even "caress" her via the Nintendo DS's mic and touch screen. It's the combination of senses (audio, tactile, oral) that separates Love Plus from Konami's other dating sims. The fact that the game takes place in real time and uses tens of thousands voice expressions and over a hundred cutscenes makes Love Plus seem far more organic than anything to hit the Nintendo DS before it. The game's characters even change the way they speak to the player over the course of the game.

As columnist Tim Rogers pointed out, there was a stink about male players getting "too" in to Love Plus. This certainly could have been a publicity stunt. Konami even polled 500 Japanese men if they wanted to fall in love with a video game character. (Sixty-four percent said "yes"!) Likewise, the one about the guy who "married" a Love Plus character was a publicity stunt or performance art or both.

Love Plus is not alone. There are countless dating sims and PC visual novels that connect with players on emotional levels. Ditto for console titles that run the gamut of role-playing game to action game. Video games can move us. The bells and whistles of the Nintendo DS aside, Love Plus attempts to move player in the same way any video game does: Through an investment of time. By playing a game, you are giving a chunk of time, a chunk of your life to that game. What Love Plus has explicitly done like some many good dating games before it is turned that investment from the game itself and turned it into a character in that game. The appeal of that character for some players becomes undeniable, because when they look at that character, they see experiences, movements that they have spent together.

This week, Konami has announced that it will be releasing another Love Plus game with the temporary title Love Plus+ (Plus). Konami is running a campaign to collect people's names so the Love Plus girls will have a larger vocabulary to draw from. That's all we really want as humans: Someone who remembers our name, someone to eat cake with, someone to spend time with so that we don't feel alone. Love Plus in a small way offers just that.

Konami has plans to localize the game for us here in the west.

Alex

Stargate Resistance Dev Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

Stargate Resistance couldn't ride to the rescue soon enough to save Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment, which announced yesterday over its forums that it has sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company promises full continued support for the game, which released Feb. 10.


In a statement, FireSky, the Cheyenne Mountain in-house studio behind Stargate Resistance, said the bankruptcy filing was itself controversial within the company "and may be rescinded." It notes however that Chapter 11 provides for the reorganization of a company's debt into a manageable plan; it's not liquidation or the dissolution of a company. "Our entire staff is in-house working on upgrades and expansions for Stargate Resistance, and we continue to be motivated and excited by the response we've received from our customers."

The company's filing seems to be tied to the conduct and dismissal of Gary Whiting, Cheyenne Mountain's now former chairman and CEO. Shareholders have filed a complaint against him in Arizona court, according to a statement on the company's site. Cheyenne Mountain alleges Whiting put Cheyenne Mountain on the hook for a payment to a shell company he controls, and that Whiting's dealings with that company have also exposed Cheyenne Mountain to a lawsuit in Utah. They also say that Whiting and his company bought stock from Cheyenne Mountain and its subsidiaries but failed to honor the purchase terms or make payments.

"It is uncertain at this time what the affect of Mr. Whiting's actions and the pending litigation will have on the Company's operations and financial condition," the statement says.

Alex

Kitase Talks : FFVII Remake?

Final Fantasy XIII releases in less than three weeks, but people still can't stop pining for Final Fantasy VII, released XIII years ago. But Yoshinori Kitase, answering hypothetically, said a remake by modern standards might take XIV years to make.

Speaking to TechDigest, Kitase, the producer of Final Fantasy XIII (and director of VII) said a remake would be attempted if it were feasible to complete in a year. And that's hardly likely. His complete answer:

If it were possible that we had all the right facilities and the right environment to be able to make and prepare a Final Fantasy VII remake within a year, we'd very much like a go at it! But even Final Fantasy XIII has taken over three and a half years to create. If we were to recreate Final Fantasy VII with the same level of graphical detail as you see in Final Fantasy XIII, we'd imagine that that would take as much as three or four times longer than the three and a half years it has taken to put this Final Fantasy together! So it's looking pretty unrealistic! But if any such situation came about by any remote chance, then yes, we'd do it!

Granted, we're extrapolating his offhand calculation that a remake would take 4 times as long to create as an original on a three-and-a-half-year development cycle. The operative concern here seems to be whether Square Enix could pull it off in a year. And no, that doesn't sound likely.

Alex