Blog5 Games

This is an exception. We usually don’t like to post eBay stuff, because someone makes money, and it’s not us. A customized Wii 2006 Toyota Scion XB is up on the auction block. Originally, this one-of-kind was created by Comedy Central and Nintendo as a grand prize for last year’s “Thanksgiving Wiikend” contest.

The car was purchased by Comedy Central for over US $19,000 and then tricked out professionally with a 6.5 Gryphon monitor mounted in the dash which controls the CD/XM ready radio, two 5.8 inch LCD monitors installed in the headrests, a flip-down 10.2 inch LCD monitor with built-in DVD player, two wireless stereo headphones and another 12 inch flip-down LCD. The winner stored the car in a Pennsylvania garage. It only has 337 miles on it! Brian Ashcraft

Wii-mobile For Sale [eBay]

Not that I’m that big a fan of Gundam (read: I am not a fan of Gundam), but everything I’m seeing for this game looks great. Shiny graphics, giant robots, punching giant robots, shooting giant robots…it’s ticking all my boxes. Luke Plunkett

One of my favorite Japan writers Patrick Macias has written up his Wonder Festival 2007 coverage. Light on the game stuff, but heavy on the otaku, Macias dug up the off-beat: Figurine parts, Godzilla, pregnant doll and a neat otaku shirt. He blogs:

“ShodaiGoji” seemed to be the most popular design for kaiju fans to choose from this season, with “KinGoji” following closely behind. What the hell am I talking about? If you know, go and take a look in the mirror. There before you is a big fucking nerd.

Check out his full report for all the nerd pratfalls. Brian Ashcraft

Wonfest Coverage [Patrick Macias]

Since their previous retail model didn’t exactly do too well, Nokia are looking at doing things a little differently this time around. Their new plan?

Everything is on a try and buy basis - there will always be a way for someone to trial a game. It’s super-distribution in that you can send a user a game, they can try it, perhaps send it to a friend, and then that person can buy it.

Users should, in theory (they haven’t finalised this yet), be able to download a full game, but only be allowed to play it for half an hour. To play any more, they’ve got to stump up the cash.

In theory, it’s a sound plan. How successful it’ll be will depend on the N-Gage 2, the games and whether Nokia can pull such a plan off, of course, but now the idea’s been floated man oh man it’d be great if Xbox Live Arcade or the Virtual Console adopted a similar policy. Luke Plunkett

Next gen N-Gage promises ’super distribution’ game sharing [Pocketgamer]

In a four-hour special called “News War,” FRONTLINE examines how news media today is changing. Interesting and fascinating — Worth a watch, if only to see a millisecond of Kotaku. Be sure to blink so you can miss it! Brian Ashcraft

It’s In Part III, Chapter 19 [PBS, Thanks to all who sent this in!]

Filed under: Culture, Nintendo DS, Sony PlayStation 2, Sony PSP, Nintendo Wii, Business

Media Create’s Japanese sales data for the past week has just been released, revealing a PS3-free Top 30 that is headed by a monster hit (yes) for the PSP at Number One. For more mixed signals, set your dials to receive this week’s Top Ten:

1. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd - 705,281 units sold last week (new entry / Capcom, PSP)
2. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni - 80,002 (new entry / Alchemist, PS2)
3. Fire Emblem: Dawn Goddess - 75,359 (new entry / Nintendo, Wii)
4. Sim City DS - 50,826 (new entry / EA, DS)
5. Professor Layton and the Mysterious Town - 49,979 (186,716 sales to date / Level-5, DS)
6. Wii Sports - 47,503 (1,090,736 / Nintendo, Wii)
7. Naruto: Gekitou Ninja Taisen EX - 45,792 (new entry / Tomy, Wii)
8. Dragon Quest Monsters Joker - 40,507 (1,174,576 / SquareEnix, DS)
9. Wii Play - 35,811 (944,586 / Nintendo, Wii)
10. Picross DS - 26,693 (183,357 / Nintendo, DS)

And here are some lessons we can learn from the big figures:

• The PSP is ALIVE, and Monster Hunter is the WINNER
• EA has had a place in Japan, after all (see also: firing the whole Japanese studio was a really clever thing for EA to do)
• There are as many Wii titles as there are DS games in this week’s Top Ten — Japan is bowing to its Nintendo duarchy

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Phil Harrison’s a busy boy - dude’s been everywhere in the news this week. And not exactly for the best reasons. So it’s only fair he be allowed to go on the front foot for once, and try and explain to Americans why SingStar is so wonderful. From part III of his epic interview with N’Gai Croal:

N’Gai: Over here, it’s still not as well-known why [Singstar has] been so successful in Europe. Why would you say it became a hit?

Phil: First and foremost, in the U.S., SingStar Rocks! shipped in November, it’s done incredibly well, it’s just been one SKU. In Europe, we’re up to the sixth major iteration, multiple local language variations. Probably the the thing that most people even in the U.K. don’t recognize is the broad variety of local language variations that we did. There’s a Croatian version of SingStar Rocks! I think we’re up to our 40th different build with different languages. If you’re going to sell music in France, it has to be French. If you’re going to sell music in Italy, it has to be Italian, and so on and so forth.

I believe the reason why SingStar has done so well versus Karaoke Revolution is very, very easy to articulate. I don’t know why Alex was struggling over that. The reason is we had real performances–real recordings with the real original music videos–and they had sound-alikes.

Right on the money, Phil.

Every time we post about SingStar, the comments are dominated by Americans talking about Karaoke Revolution. Next to SIngStar, Karaoke Revolution ain’t shit, and while I don’t like SingStar myself I can easily recognise it’s been nothing short of a phenomenon in PAL markets.

If Sony can sell the PS3 version of SingStar to Americans, they’ll sell millions of PS3s to people who otherwise wouldn’t have bought one. Yes, i’m being serious. Don’t give me that look. No doubt Sony realise this, and no doubt we’ll see Phil and the rest of Team Sony shilling the product across America for all it’s worth later in the year. Luke Plunkett

Loot: The Phil Harrison Interview, Part III [Newsweek]

Hey, if it sells like DS-flavoured hotcakes in Japan, why not release it in Europe and Australia. It’s worth a try.

March 1, 2007 - Capcom®, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games, today announced Monster Hunter Freedom 2 for the PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system. Monster Hunter has quickly become one of the most remarkable and successful series for Capcom, with sales in excess of 2.4 million units worldwide. Capcom’s previously released Monster Hunter Portable was a runaway hit, becoming Japan’s top selling title for the PSP system, with an attach rate of about one game sold for every five systems in the country. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd has just released in Japan and is already well on its way to surpassing the previous title with remarkable initial shipment numbers. Capcom plans to release this game as Monster Hunter Freedom 2 across PAL territories in September 2007.

Can’t see it selling 500,000 copies at launch, but to be fair, Capcom probably can’t either. I’m glad this is seeing a Western release - Monster Hunter is one of those “nice idea, I should really go and play that” kinds of games, which the PSP needs a lot more of. Luke Plunkett

Filed under: Culture, Business

With Insomniac Games launching its podcast today, It now seems like everybody has an online audio show. But the Insomniac approach intends to be different than most because gamers get to hear what goes on inside a developer; the twice-monthly show should could be a great marketing and community-building move.

Insomniac plans several regular segments, including interviews with members of its staff and even gaming personalities outside of the Resistance and Ratchet developer. The show will cover basics like gamers’ mail and Insomniac product updates as, but we’ll be regular listeners if it pulls off its fly-on-the-wall aspirations.

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If a new Wii goes for ¥25,000, then how much should a used one command? Kotakuite dokool found out at the Shibuya Mandarake. For those who don’t know, Mandarake is super anal about people taking pictures in their shops and has no problem causing a confrontation about it. Writes dokool;

Lo and behold, after descending two floors of stairs, sneaking past the shoujo doujinshi section, past the auction display cases, and through the Shrine of the Silver Monkey, I finally came to the videogame aisle. There were no shop clerks nearby, and fortunately there were enough people to my left browsing the used PS2 games so as to keep the security camera busy while I snapped my
illicit photos.

The first shot shows a Wii box, with a 28,350 yen (US $238) price tag, slightly above the 25,000 yen ($210) retail price. The second shot has several DS Lites of all the colors of the rainbow (at least, the really boring pastel rainbow), for 19,950 yen ($168) each, again above retail. Sorry for the weird lighting on that one, but my flash went off by mistake and I decided that it was legible enough.

Sure that marked up price tag is cheaper than the US version, but don’t forget that the Japanese don’t get a bundled copy of Wii Sports. Hit the jump for the DS Lite pic, bad flash and all. Brian Ashcraft

Looks like the trailer for Resident Evil: Extinction, the third in the series of zombie flicks based on Capcom’s video games, snuck out onto the internet without us really acknowledging it. Sorry about that, Resident Evil movie! I was busy not caring about the film series and focusing on my not paying attention to it. As someone who hasn’t seen the previous two, am I missing out? I mean, I know there’s lots of Milla Jovovich to be had, but I haven’t heard good things.

Yahoo! Movies has high definition trailers and a Milla slideshow if you’re so inclined. Michael McWhertor

Resident Evil: Extinction [Yahoo! Movies]

Answering rumours that they were planning on taking the 20GB PS3 out back to be shot, David Karraker has had to get out of his comfy executive chair and say:

The type of model found in stores is completely up to what the retailer orders, so if they don’t see a big demand for a particular SKU, they simply don’t order it from us. We continue to manufacture both.

But for how long? Most consumers don’t pick the 20GB version, retailers obviously aren’t ordering them, PAL regions aren’t getting them and Sony probably don’t even want them anymore either, since they lose more money on a 20GB model than the 60GB model.

Time to let go, Sony. Luke Plunkett

Sony: 20GB PS3 Not Dead Yet [Next-Gen]

Filed under: PC, Sony PlayStation 2, Microsoft Xbox 360, Online, RPGs

The hopelessly addicted cast of PSO-World got their hands on the latest issue of Famitsu and with it the first solid details on Phantasy Star Universe: Ambition of Illuminus.

As the sequel to last years online RPG, Sega appears to be tweaking it to address the number one complaint amongst those who played the original PSU. Namely, it wasn’t as good as Phantasy Star Online.

While it won’t bring back the gameplay of the original, Ambition of Illuminus will be adding new weapons and clothing that bring back the style of Phantasy Star Online. Entirely new weapon types will be joining the mix including photon whips and slicers, new stages and even a casino, run by the penguin-esque rappies.

Now you Phantasy Star addicts can do your gambling and turn tricks all in the same place!

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To: Ash
From: Crecente

I totally whiffed it on a post about Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 today. Some how I got it in my head that we were back on Feb. 21, instead of Feb. 28 and said the game was out in two weeks. Doh! Oh, that exciting PC gaming news I was telling you about? It looks like it won’t be hitting until next Monday, at least that’s the latest.
I put up our shirt poll. Some neat ideas in there, but I think my favorite was a graphic someone sent in. I’ve already forwarded it to our shirt peep.

While you were sleeping:
My eyes, oh God, my eyes.
Denver gets something cool and people attack it.
Def scratches my shoe fetish
Oh ,Sony.
Blur is one step above meh.

My Second Life story for the Rocky got pushed back a few weeks, so the ulcer feeling has subsided. Unfortunately, it looks like they want this to be very graphic heavy, as in non-texty. Gah! We’re getting an extra greyhound over the weekend, like a loaner, in case ours breaks. JK, a neighbor is off having fun, so we’re dog sitting. Too bad they can’t blog.

Following the announcement of Acclaim’s Top Secret MMO project was a cloud of confusion. How exactly will a game designed by John Q. Public work?

David Perry sat down with Gamespot to talk about the logistics of running a development team that could top “more than 1,000 people”:

The moderators will pull them together as far as keeping them focused. We’ll take votes on it; sometimes we’ll have people coming in to help decide the winner of something. The most important thing is we’ll be directing this so it’s not just a crazy forum of people talking about random stuff. The goal is to try and keep them all going forward. We’ll be working through the individual milestones just like a professional game. We’re starting with a prototype and they’re all going to get copies of that, like a build so they can play at home, and get more ideas and talk about that as we move forward to get to the next milestone.

What about getting paid? When will it ship? And why? Why, damn it?! Perry does his best to clue us in to how his free MMO will not suck out loud. Michael McWhertor

Q&A: David Perry’s Top Secret [Gamespot]

To say that SNK’s Art of Fighting is pretty niche at this point may be an understatement. The 2D Neo Geo fighter saw its debut in arcades in the early ’90s, hot on the heels of arcade smash Street Fighter II, but was rendered arguably obsolete by the company’s own The King of Fighters series. After eleven KoF games, I’d be surprised if SNK Playmore revisits Art of Fighting in any new way.

But it appears that SNK Playmore is tapping into fighter nostalgia, as it will be bringing Geese Howard, Mr. Karate, and the rest of the Art of Fighting crew to the PlayStation 2 this spring with the Art of Fighting Anthology. It collects all three arcade releases on one handy disc. It’s sure to sell well into the triple digits.

Props to the Insert Credit news crew for the tip off. Michael McWhertor

Here it is, the trailer for Odin Sphere, the upcoming PlayStation 2 RPG from Vanillaware and Atlus that Kotaku readers called “gorgeous indeed” and “hot enough to melt your eyes.” This first look at the spiritual successor to Princess Crown comes to the internet courtesy of Japanese news hound Duckroll and should be welcome video therapy for those of you mentally scarred by my earlier Punch-Out!! clip. Michael McWhertor

Wahoo Studios’ Outpost Kaloki X is evolving for its upcoming Wii release to be published by Namco Bandai Games into the much friendlier sounding Space Station Tycoon. Not a port, the Wii space station sim is built for Nintendo’s console from the ground up and will see players playing through a much more fleshed out story-driven adventure than it’s predecessors for the PC and Xbox Live Arcade.

Check out IGN for an interview with the dev team and actual shots of the Wii version, not a hastily grabbed Xbox 360 screen like the one above. Michael McWhertor

Wii’s Space Station Tycoon [IGN]

Somehow this game managed to sneak up on me.

Ubisoft just announced that Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 has gone gold and will be hitting store shelves on March 8, as in one week from tomorrow.

The game will have this spiffy new achievement tracking system too, letting you see how close you are to unlocking any of the achievements. Brian Crecente

Ps. Crap, that was a fast month. Sorry about the date confusion.

Filed under: Simulations

We’ve been waiting for this announcement a while now. In a very irregular press release from EA Japan this morning, originally causing us to think this was a hoax or accidental release, we contacted an equally confused EA rep and confirmed SimCity DS is going global. She let us know that the information distribution is being handled outside of EA’s corporate HQ — hence the confusion. The rep only had one screen to show us of the English version and told us that the game will be out in June.

SimCity DS will allow players to put out fires by blowing on the DS’s microphone, “wireless data exchange,” sign off on proclamations using the stylus and do all the other things that urban planning junkies have been experiencing with the series for 20 years. The game is expected to be rated AO due to intense scenes of sexuality and violence — oh please, it’s SimCity!

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