This week in Japanese Twitter is our weekly roundup of tweets from Japan’s most famous game creators
Child of Eden will be more than first-person Rez according to the game’s creator, Tetsuya Mizuguchi. He elaborated on his ambitions for the game through a series of tweets today.
That’s it, videogames; I’ve officially had it with audio logs. They were a cute diversion a few years back, but now it seems like every post-BioShock game environment is strewn with more recording equipment than a Guitar Center. Aside from the latest Batman — excused for being set in an insane asylum — I’ve never been able to comprehend why anyone would capture the intimate details of their day-to-day lives on tape, only to leave said recordings out in the open for any caped crusader or genetically-enhanced super-soldier that might be passing through. Then again, I guess I still don’t really understand the point of Twitter, either.
Anyway, Raven Software’s newest first-person shooter, Singularity, absolutely overflows with that sort of atmospheric junk. And that’s just one of the many, many ways Raven’s game gives off a serious BioShock vibe. For starters, Singularity opens with a helicopter crash over the Pacific Ocean — BioShock, a plane crash in the Atlantic. Both games drop their silent protagonists into strange and perilous ruined cities where mysterious, flesh-mutating substances have been unearthed. They also both allow you to collect and trade the aforementioned gene-altering materials to customize and upgrade your abilities. I could go on for days, honestly, but all that’s really missing here are guys in retro-looking diving suits, a soundtrack loaded with Bing Crosby songs, and the ability to unleash swarms of bees from your hands.
Twitter is growing in Japan. What was the hot buzzword of 2008 in the United States is only now becoming commonplace on the other side of the Pacific. Each week, we’ll be scanning the Tweets of various Japanese industry figures and translating the best of them for you. Don’t worry if you don’t recognize the names. We’ll include some of each creator’s most famous games next to their tweets.
It’s a slow week for Twitter in Japan. The country is just coming off a week-long string of holidays called Golden Week and people are still getting back into work mode. This week, Yoichi Wada discusses foreigners at Square Enix, Kojima shows off his new toy, and HIdeki Kamiya says he doesn’t like Bayonetta porn.
Gamervision reports: As the "games as art" debate roars on, film critic Roger Ebert finds his name in the headlines again, this time after a lengthy attack on the gaming industry in a recent article entitled "Video Games can never be art." In it, he claims that games can’t be art for a number of different reasons, none of which deviate from his traditional slander on the medium. More recently, however, he has found himself defending his opinion on Twitter.
In the days since his article went live, many have apparently claimed Ebert is simply too old to "get" video games, an argument that he was quick to rebut: "Over and over, the gamers tell me I am too old to appreciate video games," he replied, "Not a one is too young to appreciate art."
Apparently, gamers hit a nerve. Since then, he issued another statement, claiming, "I’m not too old to "get" video games, but I may be too well-read."
Naughty Dog commented on their twitter that contrary to what most people believe, NPD does cover Wal-Mart on their monthly sales.
Square Enix USA, perhaps taking a hint from all of Square Enix Japan’s Twitter talk, is teasing an unannounced game.
"Oh and working on stuff for an unannounced game," Sonia Im, Assistant Director of Public Relations at Square Enix tweeted. "Think people are going to be shocked and stoked 
"
I’ve never been one to identify with the “victim” mentality. I try to live my life in a way that what happened to me doesn’t define me. That being said, it’s been a really hard week for me. As someone who has been sexually assaulted, I try to steer clear of anything that would bring back memories of what happened. Since I live, breathe and sleep gaming that usually isn’t a problem. Then Tuesday morning comes and as I log into my Twitter account (@MetalGearBAE) to find it flooded with articles on a game called ‘Rapelay’ by Illusion.
And of course, people are outraged. The game was banned and pulled off shelves only to have it garner so much attention that it went viral. As I read the articles and watch the videos I am utterly disgusted. My stomach actually flips over. I sweat. My eyes well up. I can’t get it out of my mind.
As I sit here on Thursday afternoon I realize that instead of waking up early like normal, I’ve slept in until late in the day both days since this news story became so popular. I’ve just HAD to get outside, to see the sun and not feel trapped. And I want to get away. Far, far away from my life right now and I really have nothing to run from. Besides being disabled, (and I’ll save all that mess for another column) I love my life and everyone in it. I’m blessed to have a wonderful family and a great set of friends.
So what’s the problem?
I realize that I feel victimized all over again.
There is my outrage over this game.
For anyone- man or woman who has been assaulted, it is always there with you. The fear and anxiety is always lurking in the background even when you move on and I am amazed that someone would find it fun to rape women over and over in a video game. Or maybe I’m not amazed. The world seems to be turning into something I’m not proud of lately.
People are angry because they believe that someone will play this game and go on a raping spree.
To me, that’s the same as saying someone will play GTA4 and go on a crime spree.
I’m just not buying it. Sure, it happens but those people already had a screw loose. It could have been any trigger that set them off. A word, a movie, television or toast. Crazy is Crazy- you can blame it on what you want.
I’m thinking that ‘Rapelay’s’ developer has never had a mother, sister, wife or friend be assaulted. If they did, they would understand the enormity of what they have done. Maybe it won’t reach millions of women and no one will care. Maybe what they wanted was a massive amount of attention to be able to work on a REAL project. I don’t care about that.
What I care about is the anger that I have at them for thinking this is acceptable entertainment and for making me feel like crap all over again. I wonder about my other gaming friends and how this makes them feel. I wonder if I’m being over dramatic.
Most of all, I wonder what it would be like to see the people at Illusion face to face and how they would feel to see my tears. What would they think about my story?
I’m sure we will never know.
Sharing: It’s Win/Win
Bioware’s Christina Norman, Senior Technical Designer, has revealed today via twitter that "Project Wombat" has been started for Mass Effect 3. She also gave us a clue that it might have to do with a new system for ME3.
Andriasang: Here’s what Final Fantasy father Hironobu Sakaguchi thinks about the intro, courtesy of his Twitter.
Tweeted the Gooch earlier today: "A long opening movie. It’s nicely done, but you don’t need this It’s movie-like, but you don’t need long openings in games."
This comment was quickly picked up by Japanese gaming blogs because — well, it’s the guy who made Final Fantasy, which has gone on to become one of the most movie-heavy games around, complaining about movie length.
Square-Enix are sure getting a lot of use out of Twitter, as yet again, questions that have been on fans minds are getting some answers via the official Square-Enix Members account.
This time the topic of Final Fantasy IX came up.
