Results tagged “politics”

A few Japanese game developers have expressed their dismay over the state of Japan's gaming industry as of lately. Capcom's Keiji Inafune stated at the Tokyo Game Show that "Our game industry is finished." Japan's gaming industry has been in a state of decline for several years now, but sharp declines in the Japanese gaming market may indicate that Inafune's words shouldn't be taken as mere hyperbole. As for the console race in the Far East, the PS3 outsold the Wii in the month of September. There is no doubt that Sony's decision to cut the price on the PS3 has contributed significantly to hardware sales. As for the PSP Go, the reviews are in, and none of them are really a surprise (although Joystiq's video review is pretty good). The PSP Go is a bad deal for current PSP owners with large UMD libraries, but holds some promise for digital-only buffs and early adopters willing to pay the high price point. And remember when I mentioned my local Game Crazy closing in my last Treasure Hunter column? Well, mine was only one of 200 locations closing in October. If you happen to live near a soon to be shuttered Game Crazy now may be the time to take advantage of a liquidation sale.

In August the government sponsored "Cash for Clunkers" automobile trade-in program was wildly popular. In fact, the program ran out of money sooner than expected, causing Congress to appropriate more funds. As expected when the program ended auto sales crashed in the month of September. The obvious reason would be the ending of cash for clunkers, but an unexpected problem also explained the lack of sales, many dealerships didn't (and still don't) have enough cars on their lots to satisfy demand. It looks as if the program was a little too successful.

The seemingly perpetual state of decline continues in the anime industry. Last Monday Kadokawa Pictures confirmed that its subsidiary, Kadokawa Pictures USA closed down on August 31. While Kadokawa Pictures USA licensed anime in the US, it let other companies handle the release and distribution aspects. Well known series include Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Spice and Wolf, and Lucky Star. Even after the passing of Yoshito Usui, Japan's TV Asahi network will continue to broadcast new episodes of Crayon Shin-chan later this month. Additionally, the last two installments of the manga will be published by Futabasha in October and November. In other manga news, Gantz is finally entering its final arc after the creator, Hiroya Oku took a three-month hiatus from the series. Gantz is currently licensed for publication in the US by Dark Horse Comics. Some anime fans may remember the anime adaptation of the series a few years back which was licensed domestically by the now defunct ADV Films.

September may have been a look back at the Dreamcast's ten year anniversary, but how about a look back at Sega's first game console, the SG-1000?

The console wars have decidedly taken a turn for the more affordable. As soon as Sony dropped the price of the PS3 to $299 Microsoft responded by dropping the price of its Xbox 360 Elite and Pro models. (Although the company calls the timing coincidental.) On Friday the price of the Elite model dropped from $399 to $299, the Pro model dropped from $299 to $249, and the Arcade model remains unchanged at $199. Unfortunately, the rumors of the Pro model being phased out are true, so if you've been wanting a 360 for some time the Pro model isn't a bad deal at $249. In fact, it's the same price as the Nintendo Wii. If you were counting on those HDMI cables being included with the Elite you're definitely out of luck. (On a personal note, in March I bought an Elite from a regional retailer for $299, with the HDMI cables included. The new price and lack of cables don't make a difference to me, but if I had an HDTV I'd be very happy right about now.)

While the Elite's pricing may be on par with the PS3 the value for each console couldn't be further apart. With a Blu-ray player, built-in Wi-Fi, an easily upgradable hard drive, free online, and some backwards capability (albeit PS1 only), the PS3 clearly wins in the value department. Let's not even mention the 360's hardware failure rates compared to the PS3's. In terms of better online services, better game selection (especially as an RPG gamer), and exclusive content Microsoft is doing quite well. In other words, with price no longer a factor gamers will have to choose what they want more from a console experience. Except for lucky Canadian gamers who have access to the Limited Edition Halo Elite Xbox 360 bundle. With a copy of Halo 3 and Microsoft's official Wi-Fi adapter included at a price of $330 the Elite is suddenly a much better value.

A Centers for Disease Control (CDC) study has found the average American gamer is around 35-years-old, overweight, and depressed. The results from the study are based on a 2006 online survey of 552 gamers living in or around Seattle, Wash. The study implies a direct correlation between gaming, obesity, and depression. While obesity and depression are serious and growing problems within the United States, linking the conditions solely to gaming seems foolish. Furthermore, the study only sampled a tiny population of one state in a very large and diverse country with millions of gamers. The CDC may have a serious case of foot-in-mouth disease. But least in December there will be more interesting gaming topics to read about, like the return of Electronic Gaming Monthly. It'll be interesting how many, if any, former EGM staffers return to the magazine.

If the entire debacle with The Pirate Bay wasn't bad enough for the world of Bittorrent now the courts have set their sights on Mininova. On Wednesday a Dutch court ordered the file sharing service to remove all copyrighted materials or face steep penalties, including millions of dollars in fines. In other internet news, despite a 10 year deal with Microsoft that effectively hands over its search functions to Bing, Yahoo! still plans to roll out major enhancements to its most popular products. Yahoo! Mail, Messenger, and Search will all receive major upgrades in the next few months to better compete with Google. And speaking of Microsoft yet again, the software juggernaut is in trouble over a badly photoshopped image on its Polish web site. In the original image three business people, an Asian man, a black man, and a white woman are all sitting around a table during a PowerPoint presentation. In the Polish image the face of the black man was replaced with that of a white man, but his hands were left unchanged. Considering Microsoft's deep pockets, you'd think the company could have checked the altered image for consistency or better yet, just used two completely different images.

In animation art director Shigemi Ikeda has received an Emmy Award for his work on the Afro Samurai: Resurrection movie. The Cash for Clunkers' car trade-in program ended on Monday. Hopefully you traded in your old beater for a shiny new car with greater gas mileage. On a final note, an 8-story high forest growing on the side of a building in France is just awesome.

On July 8th Google announced plans to create a lightweight operating system designed to compete with Windows. The new operating system known simply as Chrome OS will release on netbooks. Google has stated plans for the OS to eventually run on desktops but did not mention when such a release would occur. Google may be an internet giant but I doubt Microsoft has much to worry about. Windows 7 is slated to release first and reception to the new OS is good. And despite being eight years old Windows XP is still widely in use and is a popular choice for many netbook users. Furthermore, Chrome OS is a new operating system that has yet to be fully tested, especially when it comes to hardware and software compatibility. However, competition is ultimately good for consumers so Google's move into the OS market is a welcome one.

If rioting and censorship weren't bad enough during the Iran protests, Chinese citizens are facing a similar dilemma. Much of the information about riots in the city of Urumqi has been blocked or censored from the rest of China by its government. Additionally, access to social networking sites like Twitter have also been blocked, although people have generally found ways around the access restrictions. In a case of rotten timing World of Warcraft has also been offline for a month in China. Censored information about riots taking place in your own country and no WoW? To put it lightly, that's just harsh.

Last Tuesday the Sci Fi Channel officially became the SyFy Channel to the lamentations of many longtime viewers. Actually, many viewers fear SyFy will continue its abandonment of the sci-fi genre. The name change certainly makes doing so easier. As long as there's still Ani-Monday I can personally overlook the SyFy Channel's attempt to appeal to mainstream audiences. If the SyFy Channel's remake is ultimately too much to bear, how about treating yourself to a 80GB PlayStation 3 bundled with both Metal Gear Solid 4 and Killzone 2? It's not a price drop, but the inclusion of two free games is pretty sweet, unless you don't care for the said games.

Over the weekend Blood: The Last Vampire was screened in about 20 U.S. theaters. Considering the serious lack of advertising and an extremely limited release it actually did quite well. Blood brought in roughly $110,029 dollars which amounts to $5,501 per screen and it was number 32 at the box office. Not too bad for a movie that was barely advertised and had to compete against a juggernaut like Transformers 2.

Many of you domestic One Piece fans may still be upset with FUNimation's loss of the simulcast, however Viz Media has your back. Starting in January 2010 and ending in June 2010 five new volumes of the One Piece manga will be released per month for a total of 30 volumes. If I were a fan of One Piece I'd be pretty excited about the news minus the constant hits to my wallet. If such a release works well enough perhaps Viz will consider doing the same with other popular titles.

Remember in a previous Geek News Roundup when I mentioned that FUNimation would be streaming the newest episodes of One Piece within an hour of the Japanese broadcast on May 30th? For the time being the deal between FUNimation and Toei Animation is effectively dead, unfortunately. A flaw was discovered on FUNimation's servers that allowed a person to access and leak the episode via bittorrent a full day before it was set to air on Japanese TV. As a result FUNimation has indefinitely suspended its plans for a One Piece simulcast, and has also removed its One Piece portals from Hulu and Joost. Additionally, the company has pulled its stream of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood from its official page, although the episodes can still be found on Hulu and Youtube.

While it can be assumed that Toei Animation most likely had a hand in One Piece's simulcast removal, FMA was probably removed for security reasons. In other words, it is doubtful at the moment that OP will be simulcasted any time soon, as having the episodes leaked before they even aired on Japanese TV was a disaster for FUNimation. At the same time FMA's removal could be simply related to security upgrades. FUNimation isn't completely faultless, as its security was effectively non-existent. However, there is no doubt that due to the actions of one impatient person anime simulcasts may have taken a step backward. The ramifications beyond having the OP simulcast suspended (or canceled) will become eventually become clear.

In other (less aggravating) animation news, Disney Pixar's Up is out, and NPR has an extensive interview with the film's director and co-writer, Pete Docter. The interview reveals much of the creative process at Disney Pixar, and why such films appeal to both children and adults. In short, it is a must listen for any animation buff. Unsurprisingly, the movie is doing quite well at the box office.

While animation fans are focusing on Disney Pixar's newest work, gamers are gearing up for E3 which starts tomorrow. While Sony may be on the minds of many gamers (PSP Go anyone?), Microsoft has quite a few announcements planned. The software giant confirmed the existence of the Zune HD and the supplanting of the Xbox Live video marketplace with the Zune marketplace. Also, EGM rose from its grave when Steve Harris, the founder of the magazine (re)acquired the publishing and printing rights from Ziff Davis. It is unclear if any of the former EGM staff will return to the magazine. And I'm certain no one doubted for a moment the new Lunar remake would find its way to North America. The only question was would Ubisoft pick up the title, as they did with Lunar: Dragon Song. Thankfully that awful reality will never come to pass. Xseed Games announced it has acquired the rights to translate and release Lunar: Silver Star Harmony in North America, as well as a handful of other games.

In a move that should have been made years ago, Time Warner is ready to completely separate from AOL. This may sound rude but, TW should have taken AOL behind the corporate office and put it out of our its misery shortly after the dot-com bust. And GM has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection today. If all goes as planned GM will emerge from bankruptcy as a smaller and more profitable company. As it stands today the company is anything but profitable, as its value on the stock market has fallen to about 74 cents a share. Ouch.

Thanks to the Memorial Day holiday (and not having to go to the night job) my week has been thrown off. Sunday felt like Saturday again, Monday felt like Sunday and today certainly feels like Monday, despite it being Tuesday. And thus the news roundup is a day late.

As if Best Buy, Toys-R-US, and Amazon weren't enough, Wal-Mart has now gotten into the used video games business. Except its trade-in program works very differently. It instead uses trade-in kiosks where a customer scans a game's case, the trade-in value is determined, a customer has to verify their identity with a driver's license and credit card, then a credit is placed on the card within two to three days. The kiosk also allows for DVD rentals as well. So far the machines are only available in 77 of Wal-Mart's 3,656 U.S. stores. I doubt that such a program could threaten GameStop's thriving model, but I can't blame retailers for trying.

In other news, buying a DS flashcart just became a little harder, but not impossible to do. Nintendo has successfully convinced Amazon and eBay to ban the sale of R4 cards, along with other types of flashcarts. Nintendo faulted piracy as the major reason, although homebrew enthusiasts are bound to suffer as well. Although there are still plenty of other places to buy flashcarts on the internet. Meanwhile, Sony is finally rolling out more innovative uses for the PSP. Music downloads and digital video game rentals are an upcoming possibility for the handheld, although music downloads have not been completely confirmed. Such news makes the PSP a little more competitive with the iPhone, although time and E3 will tell what Sony has in store. If the rumors of a new PSP without a UMD drive are confirmed, future music downloads and digital game rentals aren't all that surprising.

To enjoy the benefits of everything from games to books going digital one needs a fast and reliable internet connection. Many people in rural America certainly didn't get that with the satellite internet service provider, HughesNet. A class-action lawsuit brought on by two California HughesNet customers claimed the service provider often throttled bandwidth, had extremely low usage caps and at times provided download speeds worse than dial-up. $70 a month for service that is sometimes worse than dial-up? Yikes.

On the political front President Obama announced new car and truck fuel economy standards of 35.5 mpg that must be adopted by 2016. Surprisingly, both car makers and environmentalists praised the new standards. Of course with the government bailing out both GM and Chysler (which has since gone into bankruptcy), the praise isn't all that surprising after all. Excessive credit card fees may be coming to an end in February of 2010, as mandated by a new bill passed by both the House and Senate last week. President Obama signed the bill into law on Friday. Credit card companies have complained the new laws will hurt consumers in the long run, but it's hard to have any sympathy for the companies. Finally, how long does it take for a staunch conservative to reverse his views on waterboarding after subjecting himself to it? About six seconds.



Image courtesy of Neocrisis.

Last week consisted of a parade of bad news, and something tells me 2009 will be more of the same until the economy recovers. Although this should be welcome news to Pittsburgh Steelers fans. I was personally neutral this year and every year the Eagles don't play. Anyway, this is a geek news roundup so on to the news.

Remember World of Goo and its astounding 90-percent rate of piracy? The game's publisher Brighter Minds, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Given the game's high rate of piracy the news is not too surprising. Speaking of things going bankrupt, or something close to it, the global marketplace for anime is expected to shrink in 2010. The outlook for anime and other forms of entertainment are rather bleak as things stand. And Toonami Jetstream, the last holdout of the Toonami brand was shut down. On the upside, there are always other places to watch those Naruto episodes online.

Things are not looking good for the Future of magazines like Nintendo Power, and other magazines published by Future. Print in this country may not be extinct but it certainly is on the threatened, if not endangered list. But hey, at least the eBay auction of Hardcore Gamer was met with success. I guess you really can sell just about anything on eBay.

Thankfully, political news was much more entertaining this week. With luck, we'll never have use the name "Blagojevich" in the form of a written or spoken sentence again. The Illinois senate unanimously voted to impeach the governor, and to keep him from ever serving in Illinois public office again. The media blitz week was bleeping golden, I tell you. Not to be out done the national House Republicans quietly struck down a bill that would have delayed the transition to all digital TV until June. With all the ads on network TV, in newspapers, circulars and the like, it's hard to believe that 7% of all U.S. households are still not ready yet. Then again, when is anything ever done in a timely manner in the States?

In case you didn't realize it the iPhone can't play Xbox 360 games, but that won't stop people from trying. Or at the very least, trying to fool others into beliving they actually can. I'm almost afraid to ask how many people may have fallen for such a trick. Perhaps someone will add this interesting tidbit to Wikipedia before the site possibly changes the way entries are added and edited. If editors who are opposed to any changes in the system decide to sue Wikipedia founder, Jimmy Wales, perhaps he can borrow Stan Lee's laywers for a while.