Archive for July 5th, 2007
Gotta Build Em All: Fake LEGOs, Real Pokemon
Sure Mega Blocks might be ghetto LEGO, but there’s nothing ghetto about these official Pokémon Diamond & Pearl Mega Blocks. These were just released days ago and retail for ¥5250 ($43) for either the Dialga or the Palkia sets. Though, the obligatory cube-shaped Pocket Monsters are totally freakazoid.
Pokemon Blocks [Mega Blocks]
For Whom The Bell Tolls: Microsoft A Couple 360s Short Of Shipping Estimate
Microsoft promised to us, they swore to us that by June 30, 2007, they’d have shipped 12 million 360s. They crossed their hearts. They hoped to die. Death comes tonight, then, because they’ve missed that target, shipping only 11.6 million. And no, I don’t want to hear “oh, geez, so close!”. They made a promise with death, and death is coming to collect. It doesn’t matter if they were 400,000 short or 400,000,000 short, they were short. Time to pay up.
Xbox 360 shipments fail to reach target [News.com]
Shivered Timbers: Phantom Hourglass US Cover?
Final box art for the US release of Phantom Hourglass? Unconfirmed, obviously (no wi-fi, no final rating) but doesn’t it look lovely regardless? Suitably piratical, Link prominently displayed, creepy tired-man holding a map of some sorts…yes, it’s great. October, is it? Wonderful.
[Thanks Walter!]
Clips: Last Remnant
This is the first trailer for Squeenix’s “RPG for the world” Last Remnant. And it presents around, oh, zero pieces of information on how it plays, or what indeed is going on. But it does look very nice. If your proverbial fancy is tickled, the game’s English-language site just opened, so drop by and say hello.
Official Last Remnant - English Site
Virtual Console Update: PAL TurboGrafx Curtain Collapses
Big day today, kids! TurboGrafx titles are finally available in Australia, and rather than dish them out sparingly, Nintendo Australia have blown their load and updated eleven all at once. Titles on offer include R-Type, Bonk’s Adventure and Bomberman 93. But wait. There’s more. Three Mega Drive titles, three Mega Drive sequels: Sonic II, Golden Axe II and Ecco II. Best VC update ever? Most likely, yes. Oh, while we’re on the subject, Europe, you get the three Mega Drive games and Dragon Spirit for the TG16. Aussies, come in for the full list of TG16 titles available.
Bonk’s Adventure
Bomberman® ‘93
Super Star Soldier
Victory Run
Alien Crush
Military Madness
R-TYPE
Dungeon Explorer
Soldier Blade
Motoroader
Vigilante
The Thinking Is Wishful: Microsoft Sticking To 2008 Profit Forecasts
Microsoft’s announcement today that they’re going to be ponying up for the repair bills for busted 360s is going to cost them. Around $1 billion. Small change, that is not. That amount of money would put a dent in any company’s profit forecasts, especially one that’s traditionally struggled to break even, but not Microsoft’s games division. Robbie Bach:
Our goal has been to have Xbox profitable in the coming fiscal year 2008. We don’t think this changes that in any way.
Sound nutty? It’s not. They’ve thrown the bill onto 2007’s fiscal results (which ended, conveniently, last week), so that this year’s aren’t affected. Cheeky sods.
Microsoft says sticking to Xbox 2008 profit view [Reuters]
Interview: Microsoft’s Peter Moore On 360 Warranties, E3 Tattoos [Game|Life]
Sony Health Anomaly: Simple 2000: The Japanese Hardware Chart
This week’s hardware chart may not look radically different—the Nintendo DS Lite and Wii still reign supreme, taking everyone down to Asskick Park for a good sales walloping—but it reflects a generally healthy week for Sony hardware. PSP, PlayStation 2 and PLAYSTATION 3 sales are all up from the previous two weeks. Even the PS3 has pulled itself out from the below 10K per week sales gutter with a 24% week over week improvement. Why the change? Surely, Sony hardware is flying off the shelves due to the release of the new Super Robot Wars OG: Original Generations game.
- Nintendo DS Lite - 157,435
- Wii - 73,919
- PSP - 38,305
- PlayStation 2 - 16,316
- PLAYSTATION 3 - 11,914
- Xbox 360 - 3,154
- Game Boy micro - 377
- Game Boy Advance SP - 179
Overall, much money was exchanged between Japanese gamers and retailers. We’ll see how long this Super Robot Wars sales explosion lasts and how long it will help shift Sony hardware starting next week.
The Bad Touch: Doki Doki Majo Shinpan Goods Rush
SNK Playmore’s inappropriate touching game is getting the useless trinkets (”goods”) treatment with Doki Doki Majo Shinpan crap flying at us from all angles. Following the game’s release to the delight of Japan’s horniest creeps comes the t-shirt, the mouse pad, the cell phone strap, the mug and five types of phone cards. An art book and the already revealed CD soundtrack are also available.
The mouse pad is, of course, of the soft breast design, providing ample support for your wrist between the questionably legal boobs of one of the game’s molestation candidates. The t-shirt reads “Touch! Catch! Witch!” and sports a dual-screened design for proudly displaying one’s unfortunate game purchasing choices.
We have already put our orders in with Bashcraft, hoping that he’ll secure at least one of each for his trip across the Pacific. Fingers crossed that Customs lets them pass!
Doki Doki Majo Shinpan Promo Goods [Official Site, thanks Erik!]
Pissing Contest: Australian Hardware Sales Tally
Presented here for your perusal, disbelief and endless bickering, the Australian hardware sales figures for both April-June 2007 and, more importantly, all-time. Apr-Jun figure is first, followed by total sales.
Nintendo DS - 74,435 / 589,873
PlayStation 2 - 45,492 / 2,052,193
PlayStation 3 - 27,645 / 54,728
Nintendo Wii - 26,676 / 106,538
Xbox 360 - 21,440 / 181.561
PlayStation Portable - 20,068 / 288,757
Just like those little pictures of a man and a bus that were always so helpful in dinosaur books when I was a kid, for reference, Australia is a nation of 20 million souls.
[data provided by GfK]
Day Note: 38 Seconds
To: Ash
From: Crecente
Re: Cowboys are Rad
We did a little timed running today during my weekly running workshop. The coach had us run 200 meters at a sustainable pace, as in not sprinting. And this was after spending an hour doing training on the track and running a mile. My best time of the two 200 meter lets was 38 seconds. Not shabby, but there’s no way I could do that for a mile. Maybe one day.
What you missed:
My impressions of Rock Band
The Rock Band FAQ
New MGS trailer at E3
Microsoft extends the 360’s warranty and we talk to Peter Moore about it
Looks like Mike’s prediction about a PS3 price drop was dead on
The E3 game line up, at least what we know of it so far
Hey, wait a second. Are you even going to read this. You’re in Tokyo today aren’t you? Doh!
Zzzzzzz: PlayStation Store Update: Nothing To See Here
If you’re waiting for this week’s PlayStation Store update to hit, you might want to make other plans. It doesn’t look like we’ll be treated to much in the way of updates to the PLAYSTATION 3’s download service this week. No word from PR, nothing added to the store. Of course, there’s still hope. We could get a trailer or two before bedtime, but it seems that Sony is going to coast between last week’s solid update and whatever the team has planned for the week of E3 2007. I’m guessing it’s something big. In the meantime, those of you who didn’t download the Dynasty Warriors: Gundam demo can busy yourself with that. Just kidding. It sucks.
Instead, you can watch this trailer for Nucleus which was added to the European version of the PlayStation Store earlier today.
Only In Japan: New Shots, Details On Otomedius
Konami’s boob-filled, super cute shooter Otomedius—announced at the AOU 2007 expo in Japan—has been quietly testing at various locations in Japan. The game, which uses a combination of traditional controls and a touch screen, makes plenty of nods to the long running Gradius and Parodius series, capitalizing on the maiden craze that still holds otaku in its grasp. Gpara has tons of new screenshots and character artwork of the game, including its two shipmaiden heroines and its first two bosses L.B. Gopher and (wait for it) TiTi XIV.
The game is scheduled for a 2007 release in Japan, but I have a hard time believing that it will make its way out of Japan. It’s weird and Konami USA avoids weird like the plague. It’s unknown what hardware platform Otomedius is running on, but it takes advantage of the e-AMUSEMENT system which adds network support to arcade games.
We’ll keep you update on any and all breaking Otomedius news. Believe me.
Otomedius [Gpara]
Rain O’er Me: Gnomes Rain Down Upon Azeroth, Die For Advertising
World of Warcraft players were treated to an uncommon occurrence recently when hundreds of gnomes fell from the sky, perishing upon impact. Their corpses were arranged in sequence to advertise the web site of WowMine.com, a third-party service dealing in in-game gold sales. The corpse storm was triggered by a client-side hack, according to a post on blogger Raph Koster’s site, and were arranged in text form just outside the server’s bank and auction house.
Scummy? Maybe. Creative? Definitely. Blizzard doesn’t look favorably upon the act of gold farming or reselling of virtual assets from its ultra popular MMO, so some vendors are forced to work around traditional methods of publicizing themselves. Given that we’re now talking about their actions, it sounds like they were successful.
Gnomes Rain From Azeroth’s Skies [Clickable Culture]
Screen Update: Mass Effect
Some spectacular new screens from the upcoming RPG.
Feature: 10 Things You Didn’t Know about Halo 3
Think you know everything about Halo 3? GamePro highlights 10 questions and answers from our recent trip to Bungie Studios to discuss weapon balance, detachable turrets, the Mongoose, Melee design, the Spartan Laser, matchmaking, stats, and social networking.
Screen Update: Condemned 2: Bloodshot
Get your gore on with these new screens!
Screen Update: Rock Band
Check out these slammin’ new screens!
News: Virtua Fighter 5 to feature online multiplayer for Xbox 360
Sega announced on Friday that Virtual Fighter 5 for the Xbox 360 will feature online multiplayer, something the PS3 version lacked when it was originally released in February.
Screen Update: The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night
Wii want Spyro, and now we’ll get it. Check out these new screens from The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night!
Screen Update: Jenga
Jenga is ready to topple over your Wii this November. Check out these new screens!
