With the FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO SANTANDER D’ITALIA 2009 next on the race calendar, Codemasters has enlisted the help of Brawn GP test driver and BBC Radio 5 live pundit Anthony Davidson to talk gamers through a lap of Monza in its upcoming game F1 2009. This video, taken from the Wii version, gives gamers a driver’s eye view of the track while Anthony Davidson gives a detailed insight into completing a lap of one of F1’s most iconic circuits. F1 2009 is out this autumn for the Wii. There’ll …
DirectX11 hits alongside Windows 7 later this month, and with it will usher in a new generation of pretty, oh so pretty PC games. Yet the first game to support DirectX11 won’t be a shooter.
Instead, it’s Battleforge, EA’s card-trading strategy game. Not the most obvious choice, we know, but then, you gotta start somewhere.
A recent patch means the game now has “a higher frame rate and new ways of creating graphical effects, such as shadows and lighting”, though with no DX11 cards on the market and Vista support not yet enabled, good luck trying to make that actually mean anything.
DirectX11 hits alongside Windows 7 later this month, and with it will usher in a new generation of pretty, oh so pretty PC games. Yet the first game to support DirectX11 won't be a shooter.
Instead, it's Battleforge, EA's card-trading strategy game. Not the most obvious choice, we know, but then, you gotta start somewhere.
A recent patch means the game now has "a higher frame rate and new ways of creating graphical effects, such as shadows and lighting", though with no DX11 cards on the market and Vista support not yet enabled, good luck trying to make that actually mean anything.
The Japanese population is shrinking. That doesn’t have much to do with video games, now does it? Or does it?
BBC newsperson Robin Lustig has a post up titled “Is Japan a dying nation?” Here’s the rub and the game connection in his piece:
I’m no social psychologist, so I wouldn’t dare to come up with an explanation for why Japanese couples aren’t having enough babies. But one theory is that Japanese women are increasingly reluctant to marry, because they think Japanese men have shown themselves unable to adapt to the needs of a new, more flexible society – and have retreated into a fantasy world of comics, video games and animated pornography where they feel less threatened.
Lustig’s original piece is much longer obviously and can be read in full right here. I suggest that you do read the entire piece before commenting!
His post is making the internet rounds in Japan, and the Japanese internet, namely hugely popular bulletin board 2ch, has a smattering of opinions about it. Here are some of them, translated by DannyChoo.com:
-Make reality more interesting than games please. -Yeah I can live on games alone. -If everybody became obsessed with games then we would live in a peaceful society. -Reality does not want to deal with me you idiot. -The world in the monitor is reality. The world we live in is just imaginary. -To be honest, I don’t want a (real) woman. -Love Plus is reality. -There are too many Japanese people anyway so decreasing the population would be just right. -But the 2D world is ideal. -Oh and its OK to be obsessed with movies and books then? -My (2D) girlfriend is Aika-san. She lets me meet her whenever I want and greets me with a smile if I forget a date – and she does not cost money. Thats all I need. -His words are racist. -I’m 30 and earn 3.5 million yen (35K USD) – how am I supposed to get married? -Why is somebody from a declining country (England) telling me this? -The decline of the population has nothing to do with games or manga. -My partner is Hatsune Miku. I would do anything for her and we are thinking of having kids. -I tried to face reality and it became Love Plus. -We must fight reality! -They should make a game for the DS called “lets face society” -A country of Neets (England) being worried about Japan? -Not sure about England but the hurdle to getting married over the past 20 years in Japan is gone up too high – socially and financially. -Unless there are more job positions then I cant face reality. -Girls in games wont cheat on us. -The solution is to make reality in games. -I’m too busy with work to think about getting married. -But Sanya is too cute. -Solution is simple – make it so that anime and manga characters can get pregnant.
There are something like over 2,500 comments in this same thread on this issue. I don’t see that the declining population as something that can simply be pinned on men who like reading manga and playing video games — or pinned on women who want to focus on their career. There are larger societal issues at hand.
For example, if both parents do work and have small children, they need daycare. Well, daycare is harder to come by than in North America — there is public daycare called “hoikuen”, but parents must apply in advance and there is no guarantee that they’ll be able to put their kids in. Something like this seems like a bigger deterrent to having children than, say, playing Konami DS games, no?
Another issue is that Japan was traditionally an agriculture society with large, extended families. Five children was not some outrageous number! But as the country industrialized in the late 19th century and early 20th century and as it rebuilt during the Post War Era, the extended family structure broke down. Childcare was easier when living under the same roof as opposed to stuffed in tiny urban apartments.
The Japanese population is shrinking. That doesn't have much to do with video games, now does it? Or does it?
BBC newsperson Robin Lustig has a post up titled "Is Japan a dying nation?" Here's the rub and the game connection in his piece:
I'm no social psychologist, so I wouldn't dare to come up with an explanation for why Japanese couples aren't having enough babies. But one theory is that Japanese women are increasingly reluctant to marry, because they think Japanese men have shown themselves unable to adapt to the needs of a new, more flexible society - and have retreated into a fantasy world of comics, video games and animated pornography where they feel less threatened.
Lustig's original piece is much longer obviously and can be read in full right here. I suggest that you do read the entire piece before commenting!
His post is making the internet rounds in Japan, and the Japanese internet, namely hugely popular bulletin board 2ch, has a smattering of opinions about it. Here are some of them, translated by DannyChoo.com:
-Make reality more interesting than games please. -Yeah I can live on games alone. -If everybody became obsessed with games then we would live in a peaceful society. -Reality does not want to deal with me you idiot. -The world in the monitor is reality. The world we live in is just imaginary. -To be honest, I don't want a (real) woman. -Love Plus is reality. -There are too many Japanese people anyway so decreasing the population would be just right. -But the 2D world is ideal. -Oh and its OK to be obsessed with movies and books then? -My (2D) girlfriend is Aika-san. She lets me meet her whenever I want and greets me with a smile if I forget a date - and she does not cost money. Thats all I need. -His words are racist. -I'm 30 and earn 3.5 million yen (35K USD) - how am I supposed to get married? -Why is somebody from a declining country (England) telling me this? -The decline of the population has nothing to do with games or manga. -My partner is Hatsune Miku. I would do anything for her and we are thinking of having kids. -I tried to face reality and it became Love Plus. -We must fight reality! -They should make a game for the DS called "lets face society" -A country of Neets (England) being worried about Japan? -Not sure about England but the hurdle to getting married over the past 20 years in Japan is gone up too high - socially and financially. -Unless there are more job positions then I cant face reality. -Girls in games wont cheat on us. -The solution is to make reality in games. -I'm too busy with work to think about getting married. -But Sanya is too cute. -Solution is simple - make it so that anime and manga characters can get pregnant.
There are something like over 2,500 comments in this same thread on this issue. I don't see that the declining population as something that can simply be pinned on men who like reading manga and playing video games — or pinned on women who want to focus on their career. There are larger societal issues at hand.
For example, if both parents do work and have small children, they need daycare. Well, daycare is harder to come by than in North America — there is public daycare called "hoikuen", but parents must apply in advance and there is no guarantee that they'll be able to put their kids in. Something like this seems like a bigger deterrent to having children than, say, playing Konami DS games, no?
Another issue is that Japan was traditionally an agriculture society with large, extended families. Five children was not some outrageous number! But as the country industrialized in the late 19th century and early 20th century and as it rebuilt during the Post War Era, the extended family structure broke down. Childcare was easier when living under the same roof as opposed to stuffed in tiny urban apartments.
Play Arts, the action figure branch of Square Enix, are making some Bayonetta figures. A quick comparison between the size of the head and the size of the hips shows they’re definitely on the right track.
These were on display at the Tokyo Game Show last week, though both a price and release date are TBA. There were two figures shown; Bayonetta herself, and Jeanne, below.
Play Arts, the action figure branch of Square Enix, are making some Bayonetta figures. A quick comparison between the size of the head and the size of the hips shows they're definitely on the right track.
These were on display at the Tokyo Game Show last week, though both a price and release date are TBA. There were two figures shown; Bayonetta herself, and Jeanne, below.
When some violent games are released in Japan, they don’t make it to The Land of the Rising Sun with all their violence intact.
So red blood might be changed to green blood and the ability to kill innocent people might be cut out all together.
The blood-free Tokyo Game Show trailer for the Japanese version of Fat Princess made it appear as the title was the latest victim of Japanese censors. Kotaku contacted Sony Computer Entertainment, who told the site: “There was just no blood in the TGS version per show regulations. The Japanese version of Fat Princess will have blood.”
It will also have cake and fat chicks. And cute little warriors.
When some violent games are released in Japan, they don't make it to The Land of the Rising Sun with all their violence intact.
So red blood might be changed to green blood and the ability to kill innocent people might be cut out all together.
The blood-free Tokyo Game Show trailer for the Japanese version of Fat Princess made it appear as the title was the latest victim of Japanese censors. Kotaku contacted Sony Computer Entertainment, who told the site: "There was just no blood in the TGS version per show regulations. The Japanese version of Fat Princess will have blood."
It will also have cake and fat chicks. And cute little warriors.
Previously, ACE Team co-founder Carlos Bordeu told us about his studios’ interest in bringing the delightfully bizarre Zeno Clash over to Xbox LIVE Arcade. Having been powered by the Source Engine on PC, the transition to Xbox 360 for the first-person brawler seemed like the way to go.
And, according to publisher Atlus, it was. As spotted by NeoGAF user Volcynika, the Ultimate Edition will bring new "modes, features, added content, and improvements based on fan feedback." One such addition is the co-op Tower Challenge mode.
ACE Team has been graciously supportive of Zeno Clash on PC post-launch, so it’ll be interesting to see if these extra features in the XBLA version get added back to the original by way of a patch. To be fair, I suppose you have to give people a reason to want the shiny new package, right?
Not that the game’s melee system didn’t work well on the standard mouse plus keyboard combo (it did), but I think tackling Zeno Clash with a controller may very well be something worth experiencing. Also, Achievements — don’t act like you don’t want ‘em.
Previously, ACE Team co-founder Carlos Bordeu told us about his studios' interest in bringing the delightfully bizarre Zeno Clash over to Xbox LIVE Arcade. Having been powered by the Source Engine on PC, the transition to Xbox 360 for the first-person brawler seemed like the way to go.
And, according to publisher Atlus, it was. As spotted by NeoGAF user Volcynika, the Ultimate Edition will bring new "modes, features, added content, and improvements based on fan feedback." One such addition is the co-op Tower Challenge mode.
ACE Team has been graciously supportive of Zeno Clash on PC post-launch, so it'll be interesting to see if these extra features in the XBLA version get added back to the original by way of a patch. To be fair, I suppose you have to give people a reason to want the shiny new package, right?
Not that the game's melee system didn't work well on the standard mouse plus keyboard combo (it did), but I think tackling Zeno Clash with a controller may very well be something worth experiencing. Also, Achievements -- don't act like you don't want 'em.
With Resident Evil 5: Alternative Edition, Capcom is bringing RE5 to the PS3 with new content and PS3 Wand controls.
Starring Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield, the new mission is another 2 hours of content and takes place three years before the main plot line of Resident Evil 5.
The updated version of RE5 will be released next spring in Japan.
With Resident Evil 5: Alternative Edition, Capcom is bringing RE5 to the PS3 with new content and PS3 Wand controls.
Starring Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield, the new mission is another 2 hours of content and takes place three years before the main plot line of Resident Evil 5.
The updated version of RE5 will be released next spring in Japan.
Zeno Clash is on the way to Xbox Live Arcade, says Atlus, who promises new content, a new cooperative mode and gameplay fine-tuned to gamer feedback.
Zeno Clash: Ultimate Edition will is scheduled to release in March 2010. The first-person brawler will include a new cooperative mode in the game’s Tower Challenges, Atlus said in a release. The game will also feature “new features, and added content combine with a series of tweaks and improvements based on fan feedback to deliver the definitive version of the critically-acclaimed game.”
No price was named in the release. Atlus’s announcement also teased an “as-of-yet-unannounced other new mode exclusive to the Ultimate Edition,” plus other features.
Zeno Clash is on the way to Xbox Live Arcade, says Atlus, who promises new content, a new cooperative mode and gameplay fine-tuned to gamer feedback.
Zeno Clash: Ultimate Edition will is scheduled to release in March 2010. The first-person brawler will include a new cooperative mode in the game's Tower Challenges, Atlus said in a release. The game will also feature "new features, and added content combine with a series of tweaks and improvements based on fan feedback to deliver the definitive version of the critically-acclaimed game."
No price was named in the release. Atlus's announcement also teased an "as-of-yet-unannounced other new mode exclusive to the Ultimate Edition," plus other features.
Sony today released a bunch of new Gran Turismo 5 screens. They’re all from replay mode of course, so don’t expect things to look like this in-game, but still…they are lovely, aren’t they?
Sony today released a bunch of new Gran Turismo 5 screens. They're all from replay mode of course, so don't expect things to look like this in-game, but still...they are lovely, aren't they?
Some gameplay in this latest trailer for Dragon Age: Origins. Seriously, you didn’t expect that statesmanlike speech to quell the bloodthirsty citizens of Denerim, did you? Not when everyone carries huge swords and wears huger shouldermopads during an ordinary day.
Some gameplay in this latest trailer for Dragon Age: Origins. Seriously, you didn't expect that statesmanlike speech to quell the bloodthirsty citizens of Denerim, did you? Not when everyone carries huge swords and wears huger shouldermopads during an ordinary day.
