First of all, let me explain my on-the-fly coining of words (we all can't be Don King). We all know what a 'trilogy' is pretty much, don't we? Tricycle, triangle, trinity...all in all 'tri' = 'three', right? So what is a 'pentalogy', you ask? Same thing as a trilogy except instead of 'tri for 3' we get 'pent for 5'. Pentagon, pentagram, pentachloronitrobenzene...you get the picture.
So why does the word "Fable" representing XBox videogame series Fable precede the brand new word for '5 related but individual literary works'? Ask series creator Peter Molyneux about that one...
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Who here likes the Turnabout Trial series on DS? Ahem, excuse me, got myself lost in translation there. Who here likes the Gyakuten Saiban series on DS? Oh, once again forgive me, nobody knows what I'm talking about. Ah, who here likes the Ace Attorney series on DS? "OBJECTION!" What? Who can't like the series famous for adding Phoenix Wright to the fictional lawyer hall of fame with Perry Mason and Ben Matlock?
The series is so popular that a manga (illustrated books) series has already been developed in Japan. Now us lucky folks in North America get to flutter these vertically-read cartoon strips starting later this year. Listen further...
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Although I'm fairly sure that at least 90% of you reading this won't care, I'll speak to those finer 10% of educated and gorgeous types who know a good thing when they see it. Who would have thought that one of this generation's most original, most genre-breaking and smart games would have come from (of all places) EA? Yeah, I'm shocked too, and shocked even more knowing that Steven Spielberg collaboration has nearly cleared a cool half-million. So close...
One of my favorite games this generation, Boom Blox (our impression - read it!) is one of those rare gems that nearly converted everyone I've shown it to. Oh, the stupid character designs and blippy music may turn off some, but once you've got the hang of things and you've paired your sense of aggressive concentration with total and absolute destruction...good times!
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A few years ago a friend tried their best to introduce me to the growing online addiction known to millions as Ragnarok. Having known my feelings (i.e. disdain) for all-things MMO, they foolishly thought that maybe this hand-drawn, free Korean-developed system would be the one that finally snagged me. He thought wrong, baby...wrong, wrong, wrong.
It may not be World of Warcraft, but to its legions of fans the online Ragnarok doesn't need to be. Cheap and easy (its free and the technology is ancient), the sensation leaves the sheltered world of PC-gaming for the first time as it ventures into the world of portable gaming on the (what else?) Nintendo DS this December in Japan. Mark those calenders, fans and foes alike!
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So you saw Spiderman 3 last year, and chances are you walked out thinking, "what THAT Venom?" In a cinematic slide that could have been far, far worse (think Batman & Robin), the third Spiderman film still managed to be entertaining and fun despite its over-packed core and waste of important villain arcs. Among them was Todd McFarlane's first bread 'n butter contribution to the franchise, the symbiote-latching Venon pseudo-baddie.
Bad performance by That 70s Show nerd (and I say that with all due respect) didn't help, but the character felt mashed into a bowl of instant potatoes. Well, it looks like Sony may be rectifying the situation for fans and box-office alike as the Marvel character follows another into the wonderful world of spin-off films.
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The Bandwagon Chronicles continue. With the monster success of Nintendo's Wii in comparison to the competition (regional and global) companies of all shapes and sizes are eating great big blackbirds for lunch. Stuffed with this crow and facing the chronic cash injections Nintendo is receiving from its WiiDS Phenomenon, these companies concede failure in projecting the direction of the market and turn 180° to get in on the cashflow/audience appreciation.
One such company is Electronic Arts and its Chief Executive Officer John Riccitello sounds the alphorn to reverberate throughout the industrial mountains. He says that it's time for developers to shift focus to the Wii platform. Read on, bruh... Read More » 
If you keep up with the business side of gaming then you should be aware of Capcom Japan's recent quarterly figures, which have been producing rather impressive results. Those numbers provided good expectations for console software but these revelations also meant sharp declines in their arcade businesses, of course you can also include the general economic conditions of Japanese arcades explains Capcom:
"In this business segment, we tried to create demands and expand our customer base with a community-based approach while engaging the turbulent business environment. Such efforts included improving the efficiency of arcades operation and holding a variety of customer appreciation events. However, the number of customer visits and average customer spending grew at a sluggish pace reflecting market stagnation and declining customer confidence, forcing us to struggle."
Early this year Capcom opened a new arcade in Japan's Shimane prefecture in hopes of contending stronger software sales and widen oncoming losses, but arcade sales still endured a decrease of 3,128 million yen ($28.9 million), and a loss of 73 million yen ($675,515) - compared to an earning of 261 million yen ($2.4 million) during this time last year.
Out of the blue firmware 2.42 update is now live for your PlayStation 3 and ready for you to install. I don't know or actually care what it does but it appears to clean up back-end performance and improve the overall quality of PlayStation 3 and PSone games or something of that nature according to PlayStation.blog, the real feature though is the picture of that beautiful Panasonic HDTV, provided by Kotaku.
Yep, the above pic is actually more appealing than the firmware update itself this time around.
Another day in Japan, another grand mint of a Dragon Quest title sold for Square Enix. Only after two weeks of going on sale on july 17th Square Enix happily annouced that the Nintendo DS remake of Dragon Quest V has already shipped over a million copies since its release, and those are numbers anybody can be proud of.
Last November the DS re-release of Dragon Quest IV also did the same by moving a million, figures like those are impressive but probably foreseen from Square Enix since almost every Dragon Quest game in Japan brings in the bread like clockwork. expect similar result for a DQVI remake, no lie.
from ITmedia
Even with all the soothing laundry detergent colored aesthetics of the Wii, don't think Nintendo has gone tender when it comes to safeguarding their intellectual properties. The red wrath of Yamauchi still rages within the now gentle lamb of the gaming industry. And to show the truth of what I'm saying, Nintendo's suing the pants off of some Japanese companies who enable piracy products to exist on the market.
Wanna know more? Keep on reading...
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