While New Year's in the northern hemisphere means cold weather, down here in Australia, it's summer time. So instead of huddling in front of a fire, I'm on the beach with a beer, listening to this.
To me, summer means three things: Outrun, Coronas with lime and the sweet, sweet sounds of former Kyuss and Fu Manchu drummer Brant Bjork. This is one of his finer works, called Arcade Eyes, a tribute to the golden years of, well, arcades.
Have a listen, and while you freeze your ass off, think of me as I sit on the golden sands of South Durras beach, New South Wales, with a beer in my hand and a smile on my face. Happy new years, everyone!
This is Shinya Arino, comedian, television personality and all around bad gamer.
Back in 2007, I hung out on the set of Arino's show Game Center CX and interviewed the jumpsuit-wearing gamer. Arino is truly a funny guy — and not a very good gamer! But he's so persistent and has such a likable personality, that it's actually enjoyable to watch him trying to clear old, difficult retro games as he dies over and over again.
For New Year's, Game Center CX is doing a special, and there is a live stream. So far, website Tiny Cartridge points out that it's featured a performance of a Japanese punk version of "Camptown Races". The special is apparently going for the next several hours. So if you're gonna watch, do it now. It is in Japanese, but surely, stuff like plaything through Ice Climber transcends linguistic boundaries?
LEMON PACK on Justin.tv [Justin.tv via @rdb_aaa via Tiny Cartridge] [Pic]
To: Crecente
From: Ash
RE: Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow
No snow here in Texas. But it snowed in Osaka, apparently! I always love when people in Colorado blow off six inches of snow as no big whoop.
This is a look a my 2010. What did you do this year?
Happy New Year!
What you missed last night
The Year, NSFW
Possibly Illegal Lengths To Get Xbox 360s In Japanese Homes
Roger Ebert's Past Game Addiction Made Him Sad
From the Mouths of Babes, Withering Criticism
David Bowie's Son Is Excited About The World Of Warcraft Movie
Okay, that's not fair. Duncan Jones is more than just David Bowie's son. He's also the son of fashion model Angela Bowie.
And, of course, Jones is a terrific filmmaker in his own right, helming the wonderful sci-fi flick Moon.
Jones tells Badass Digest that he's "very cynical" of directors who claim to be gamers. "I think there are less real gamers involved in directing only because you have to spend so much time making films that there's no time to be a hardcore gamer", he says. "I'm just slightly insane and I stay up all night playing games. In the day I'm working and at night I play games."
While conceding that there are obvious game elements that will never make the jump to film, Jones thinks that World of Warcraft could work well as a film. "If you're going to make a film of a game it's got to be about the essence of why you, the audience, care what's going on," says Jones. "There are certain games where that will work, and there are certain games where it doesn't." World of Warcraft, the director points out, is one of those games that he thinks will work.
"I'm hugely jealous of Sam Raimi," Jones told me. "I really believe World of Warcraft could be the launch of computer games as good films. And from the little I've read of interviews with him the way he's approaching it makes so much sense. It's what I was talking about — it's not worrying about how the game plays, it's about creating the world of the game and investing the audience in that world."
The World of Warcraft film is still very much in the very, very early stages, with apparently only a few dozen pages of treatment typed out. Raimi is busying himself with Oz: The Great and Powerful, an origin story about the Wizard of Oz.
MOON's Duncan Jones Thinks WARCRAFT Could Be The Great Video Game Movie [Badass Digest via NME] [Pic]
Spotted (via Siliconera) in PSP title The 3rd Birthday, one of several in-jokes the game has.
Anecdotal evidence at best, but a mountain of Love Plus items apparently didn't exactly move like hotcakes at Comiket.
The Comiket goods Konami is offering cost around US$67 for each set. There are three different sets, one for each Love Plus character.
Developed by Konami, Love Plus is a love simulation game for the Nintendo DS.
Online, there are some people reporting that the Love Plus Christmas event was a bit of a bust, while others blame Konami for going on a merchandising and sequel tear, driving the franchise into the ground. It also might be that fickle fans have simply moved on.
Love Plus is planned for the Nintendo 3DS, and it will feature "boyfriend lock" face recognition software to prevent cheating.
コナミブース「ラブプラス」グッズが売れないので急遽「俺妹」に変更!? [オレ的ゲーム情報]
This year, famed film critic Roger Ebert said games could never be art — a mistake he later admitted. While Ebert might not be a fan of games, that doesn't mean he didn't used to play them obsessively .
In a "Siskel & Ebert" holiday gift guide from 1989, Ebert and his former co-host Gene Siskel fumble their way through a game of Tecmo Bowl and find it endlessly amusing that you can make the players say "hut, hut, hut, hut".
While arguing about who won and marveling at children gaming for a whole hour a day, Ebert revealed, "I got one of these sets (NES) at home, and I started playing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with it. And after a while, after a week of this, I'd find that every time I had a spare moment and every time I came home, I was in front of the set playing with these mutant turtles."
Continuing, Ebert said, "It got to the point where it was making me quite unhappy, because I was so obsessed with it, and I finally unplugged the machine and said, 'That's it for Nintendo.'" Ebert added that his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game was so hypnotic and so repetitive that he didn't think it was good for his mental health. While he apparently quit Nintendo cold turkey, Ebert did review a PC game in 1994.
Be sure to stick around to see Ebert take photos of a baby gorilla.
Because I Told You So: Roger Ebert Plays Tecmo Bowl In 1989 [Because I Told You So]
Japan's Comiket, aka Comic Market, grinds on, and folks are buying self-published manga, games and photobooks. But it's really hard to overstate how big the event's cosplay is.
Previously, Kotaku posted the first day of Comiket cosplay. Here's more, including shots of the second day's festivities.
010年最後の晴れ舞台!, 今年最後の笑顔をありがとう!, コミケ79は気合いだ [Ota-Suke]
【速報】コミケ&となコス コスプレダイジェスト3 【コミケ79レポ】 [Moeyo.com]
[コミケ79] ガチからネタまで、コスプレいろいろ【ギャラリーその3】, [コミケ79] ガチからネタまで、コスプレいろいろ【ギャラリーその2】 [Kotaku Japan]
No, it's not Halloween. It's the end of December, and Japan is dressing up at Comiket, or "Comic Market", the country's biggest gathering of fan fiction, toy figures and otaku.
Sure, folks are buying self-published manga, games and photobooks, but it's really hard to overstate how big the event's cosplay ("costume play") is. Hordes of amateur cosplayers mill about the convention center, posing for photos.
Previously, Kotaku posted the first day of Comiket cosplay. Here's more, including shots of the second day's festivities.
010年最後の晴れ舞台!, 今年最後の笑顔をありがとう!, コミケ79は気合いだ [Ota-Suke]
【速報】コミケ&となコス コスプレダイジェスト3 【コミケ79レポ】 [Moeyo.com]
[コミケ79] ガチからネタまで、コスプレいろいろ【ギャラリーその3】, [コミケ79] ガチからネタまで、コスプレいろいろ【ギャラリーその2】 [Kotaku Japan]