Games Cheats and Reviews

While not public, like PlayStation Move’s showing at the World Hobby Fair, Kinect made its Japanese debut at the 2010 Game Tools and Middleware Forum July 1 in Tokyo. The show was widely attended by Japanese game makers, and it was the first chance for many of them to play around with the new motion controller.

Microsoft displayed Kinect Adventures most prominently at the show. When asked to give their impressions, a great many of the developers at the show used the word “immersion” when describing their experiences. Many reported that the need to use one’s entire body contributed to that sense.

A large number of the game makers also claimed that Kinect was more responsive than they previously imagined. Apparently, there was a relatively widespread concern that Microsoft’s new device would be imprecise, slow, and laggy. On the other hand, those same developers described a very specific effective distance for the device. Responsiveness became a problem If they got too close or too far away. Specifically, they had to be around seven to nine feet away from to the device for it to work properly. Several players expressed concern about how Kinect would work in Japanese homes, which tend to be significantly smaller than those in the west.

The newest project from Toshihiro Nagoshi, Sega stalwart and director of the company’s Yakuza, has a real name now.

Nagoshi revealed in Japanese game magazines this week that his latest project, a PSP game unofficially titled “Project K” until now, is now named Kurohyou: Ryu ga Gotoku Shinshou, which we’ll loosely translate as “Black Leopard: A New Yakuza Chapter.” The game also has an official release date now — September 22 in Japan — and Sega’s announced that gamers who preorder the title over there will receive a copy of “Young Kamutai Magazine,” a fictional travel guide to the game’s equally fictional fictional setting of Kamurocho.

As discussed earlier, Kurohyou is a new action game that borrows Yakuza’s setting to tell a story about Japan’s modern underground street punks. Kengo Kora, a Japanese actor who’s appeared in lots of films over there, will provide the voice of hero Ryuya Ukyo.

The biggest Japanese game magazine, Famitsu, has awarded its highest score to stealth game Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. In the process, the publication has shown that, as a source of objective game reviews, it cannot be trusted.

Basically every time a new Japanese game gets released in the west, hordes of western gaming journalists scramble to dissect it as ruthlessly as possible, criticizing it with a negativity bias that is very rare in reviews of western games, no matter how bad.

Classy Gamer analyzes this trend, and the difference in standards between reviews of Japanese games and western games that can be noticed between the western press.

There is no doubt whatsoever that Japan’s influence in the video game market in past times has been paramount. From the classic titles found in arcades to the quirky yet fun console games they produced, gamers of all ages have enjoyed some fantastic games. From Mario to Solid Snake, Tetris to Street Fighter, everyone knows of the great games developed by this little gem of a country. The Japanese influence on gamers was at one stage absolute, and to say Japan ruled the video game market, seemed to some, an absolute fact.

"Kotaku columnist Tim Rogers brings word that store after store in Tokyo is selling out of the Xbox 360 version of Bayonetta. But why?

The Xbox 360 version was awarded a perfect 40/40 score from Japanese game mag, while the PS3 version was not – it received a 38/40. The above picture is from the Yodobashi Camera in West Shinjuku. The tag on the game (??????) means "Sold Out"

Tim says the same sell-outs were visible at other Yodobashi branches as well.

There could be several reasons for this, one of which could be that fewer copies of the Xbox 360 version were ordered by shops unaware that the Xbox 360 Bayonetta was the lead platform. Or maybe lots of people are buying it."

It’s basically a fact that Kojima Productions are the most badass Japanese game team, but their new company photo has just raised their level of badassery even more!

Now we just need a CSI esque show starring the Kojima team and we’re all set

Apple’s recent foray into video games – with the iPhone, the iPod Touch and its ever-expanding online App Store – is causing as much hand-wringing among old industry players as the global economic slump, which threatens to take the steam out of year-end shopping for the second consecutive year.

Among the questions voiced by video game executives: How can Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft keep consumers hooked on game-only consoles, like the Wii or even the PlayStation Portable, when Apple offers games on popular, everyday devices that double as cellphones and music players?

And how can game developers and the makers of big consoles persuade consumers to buy the latest shoot’em-ups for $30 or more, when Apple’s App store is full of games, created by developers around the world and approved by Apple, that cost as little as 99 cents – or even are free?

"The next breakthrough in gaming is not going to be in hardware," Yoichi Wada, president of a top Japanese game maker, Square Enix, told Game Show participants. "It’s going to be in how to create a successful business model."

1UP writes… Our favorite games that haven’t come to America — and possibly never will.

When us old folks were forming our tastes as gamers, it was nice to see and learn about what was being sold in the country of origin for most videogames. Oh, how we’d squeal when a game magazine would show us a selection of awesome games from Japan, in all their explosive, wacky, mostly expensive glory. A Japanese game can still be quite a curio, but price markups still make it harder to get them.

Gambus Kahn writes: Have you ever played a JRPG and thought to yourself, this lame spiky-haired punk needs to die? Do you find the idea of taking out the brave whiny-mouthed hero and his overly frisky healer girlfriend, intriguing? Does the idea of a group of self-righteous do-gooders meeting their fate in the cold grip of impending doom just make you want explode in absolute glee? Then I shall present to you, Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman!: What Did I do to Deserve This? (Note: since this is perhaps the longest game title in the history of overly-long Japanese game titles ever, I’m just going to refer to the game as Badman, thank you! )