my.bicycle

Ebisu, biz trip October 2011

2011-12-20T10:57:00.001+09:00

Ebisu, biz trip October 2011, originally uploaded by chronovore.

The famous Lenne Hardt was on hand to help us with the announcer duties on the PRIDE portion of our game! She was tremendously awesome!

clever

2011-12-16T10:05:00.000+09:00

“that would be a lame future for games”

2011-11-18T11:51:00.001+09:00

"The fundamental design of the game became 'Here's a stop sign in your gameplay, you can stop now and come back in a day, or you can keep on playing and it will cost you three bucks, or a buck, or ten bucks, or whatever it is," he said."Not just because it seems unsavoury and I think people will burn out on it, but once you go down that road and start designing the game mechanics around that you can't help but design the whole game around that," he added."I mean, I could be wrong about that, and I hope I am, because that would be a lame future for games."Stewart Butterfield, CEO, Tiny SpeckGlitch dev warns against social "scorched earth policy"

GTA V's trailer re-done in GTA San Andreas - some improvements visible...

2011-11-08T18:17:00.002+09:00

never thought I'd read the phrase “in utero cannibalization”

2011-10-03T21:41:00.000+09:00

Baby Sharks Birthed in Artificial Uterus | Wired Science | Wired.com: After mating, a female produces as many as 40 fertilized embryos, separated between two separate wombs. The embryos take nearly a year to fully develop, but they begin hunting long before that. After about two months, their own yolk sacs go dry. Hungry, they start eating their brothers and sisters. After the rampant in utero cannibalization, only one shark — the biggest and strongest — is left in each womb.
(jwz)

dubstep guns; plenty of fun

2011-09-24T11:01:00.000+09:00

(thanks, Bryan)

the lizard wonders...

2011-09-22T19:30:00.001+09:00

there was a typhoon...

2011-09-22T14:50:00.001+09:00

Typhoon Roke Heads for Stricken Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant - NYTimes.com

Even so, most of Tokyo continued to have electric power even as the eye of the storm passed through the city on Wednesday evening, a testament to Japan’s generally robust basic infrastructure. According to Tokyo Electric Power, about 20,000 homes lost electricity in Tokyo, a city of almost 13 million residents.

I compare this to life in California, where a minor drizzle always seemed to knock out a fair portion of the city's power grid.

Put This On

2011-09-15T22:04:00.000+09:00

Put This On • Twenty-Five Pieces of Basic Sartorial Knowledge So You Don't Look Dumb - mildly sardonic, but no less accurate for it. Thanks, Andrew V.

...but what would the UFC do if he still won?

2011-08-29T16:28:00.001+09:00

Sitting at the post fight press conference the question was posed to Dana White, “what’s next for Anderson Silva?” Before the UFC President could answer though, Forrest Griffin chimes in and says he should fight two guys. Griffin knows firsthand just how good Silva is and while he was making a funny here it might be the only way to challenge “The Spider” at middleweight right now.

woot! some new stuff to show off at last!

2011-08-19T16:57:00.001+09:00

on process

2011-07-18T18:07:00.001+09:00

"Process is an embedded reaction to prior stupidity. When I was CTO of a web design firm, I noticed in staff meetings that we only ever talked about process when we were avoiding talking about people. "We need a process to ensure that the client does not get half-finished design sketches" is code for "Greg fucked up." The problem, of course, is that much of this process nevertheless gets put in place, meaning that an organization slowly forms around avoiding the dumbest behaviors of its mediocre employees, resulting in layers of gunk that keep its best employees from doing interesting work, because they too have to sign The Form Designed to Keep You From Doing The Stupid Thing That One Guy Did Three Years Ago."
- Clay Shirky

ethereal beauty from analog sources

2011-07-14T13:10:00.001+09:00

The Caretaker - some interestingly haunting soundscapes crafted from 78 rpm records. Thanks to The Other Michael.

on the worth of retaining staff

2011-07-11T13:44:00.001+09:00

Sure, there are tons of young people out there who want to work in gaming, but trotting that argument out whenever people complain about working conditions is not just cynical and nasty - it also shows a pretty tenuous grip on reality. Yes, you could continually burn out your staff and replace them with fresh, naive graduates. Yes, in the process you'd conveniently replace people asking for higher wages with people happy to work for a pittance. Unfortunately, you'd also be replacing people who know what the hell they're doing and have the experience and understanding to turn out high quality work in a way that fits into the development processes around them, with people who have to be trained up from scratch - and who's going to do that, if everyone worth their salt is already burned out and gone off to work in an industry that doesn't treat them like pack mules?
GamesIndustry.biz

praise for our Undisputed game (and the UFC Trainer) from “the nightmare”

2011-07-07T16:53:00.003+09:00

But this isn't the first time Sanchez has taken a UFC video game and used it for all it's worth, as the submission specialist whose last two brawls were voted "Fight of the Night" actually uses THQ's "UFC Undisputed" franchise to help him visualize his fights before heading out into the octagon for real.

"When the first UFC game came out ("UFC Undisputed"), I never even dreamed being in such a realistic game," he says. "The game is so realistic looking that I do my late night training by getting on my PlayStation 3 and fighting my opponent 20 times in the game. That way I'm able to see myself knocking him out over and over again. It's a visualization tool for me where you're seeing it, you're feeling it and you can already have that knockout in your mind. As long as you go in and do the work and train, when you get in and fight, you've already seen what can happen, so it's more realistic that it will happen."

But what if you lose in the game, I ask.

"I usually win at least 17 out of 20," Sanchez laughs. "I win most of them, but sometimes I get my butt kicked because I'm tired, so I just turn it off. That's the great thing about the game. If I'm losing, there's always the power switch and I can start over and I never feel any pain."

As for how Sanchez would like to see his character represented in "UFC Undisputed 3," the fighter has only one thing in mind.

"I'd like to see more power in my punches, but that's something I have to show in my fights," says Sanchez. "Maybe if I go out and get a couple of knockouts before the game comes out, they'll give me that power. It's funny, though, because people are always coming up to me and talking about my fights in the game like these fights happened for real. They'll be like, 'Yo, I knocked out GSP as you!'

"THQ gave me skills in the fighting game, now they're making me sweat and helping me train. I love it."
ESPN

a good review for the only tower defense game i've ever liked

2011-07-05T14:28:00.000+09:00

Trenched! It’s a Good Time: Trouble Thinking:

“The past three games before Trenched took place in a turn of the century world of stacking dolls, a suburban neighborhood on Halloween, and a heavy metal album cover. I wish more developers would try some new things with setting. I can understand being conservative with gameplay, it’s hard to QA and a big gamble. But I refuse to believe it’s that big a risk to set games someplace other than Fantasy War, Future War, or Modern War.”

first trailer for our game

2011-06-06T16:27:00.000+09:00

the first press release for our upcoming game

2011-06-03T21:02:00.000+09:00

The critically acclaimed and best-selling MMA videogame franchise returns to take players inside the Octagon™ with UFC® Undisputed™ 3, delivering UFC action focused on intense toe-to-toe combat, impressive visual presentation and increased accessibility.

Featuring the addition of PRIDE Mode, a brand new submission system, new ways to finish the fight and increased accessibility through both traditional and simplified gameplay controls, players will experience intense combat and a pure adrenaline rush every time they step inside the Octagon.

Players will also experience the excitement of a live UFC event through significant visual improvements – from broadcast to cage-side – through new camera positions and the introduction of much-anticipated fighter entrances.

Rounding out the UFC experience with a significantly improved online feature set, including new and updated offerings, UFC Undisputed 3 lets players have their fights – their way – to deliver the most competitive and engaging experience to date for the franchise.

Features:

PRIDE MODE – Compete for the first time within the legendary PRIDE environment featuring official announcers and renowned Japanese MMA league rules, including soccer-style kicks, head stomps and ground knees to the head.
FINISH THE FIGHT – With punishing new moves, a brand new submission system and increased focus on presentation, players will have more options than ever to take advantage of a downed opponent.
FROM BROADCAST TO CAGE-SIDE – Experience the intensity of UFC with new camera positions, compelling fighter entrances, improved facial animations and a gritty, high contrast appearance.
GAMEPLAY ACCESSIBILITY – Get inside the Octagon with a choice between traditional and simplified gameplay control options, enabling players of all skill levels to experience the intensity of UFC while executing simple standing strikes or more complex ground and transition mechanics.
EXTRAORDINARY ROSTER – Go head to head with more than 150 prolific UFC fighters, including the addition of Featherweight and Bantamweight divisions.
EXTENSIVE ONLINE OFFERING – A significantly revamped online experience, including both new and updated features, rounds out the best competitive fighting experience to date for the franchise.

doctor parnassus, i presume

2011-05-10T17:55:00.001+09:00

The visuals in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus are a return to form for Terry Gilliam. The establishing shots of unusual landscapes, particularly the deserts and mountains, but most especially the monastery, were magnificent on the level of Darnkness' tower from Time Bandits. The contrast and saturation, vertical pans to expose and enforce the cheated perspective, the details layered so thickly they nearly transcend to synaesthesia and produce their own scent, and overall the glory that can be found in false shabbiness -- these are all in abundance. I am so happy to have seen such a feast of loveliness.

The performances are great, all around. Christopher Plummer is fabulous as the doctor, which surprised me -- considering the hullaballoo around Heath Ledger's unfortunate death during production, and his prominence on the cover and marketing materials, I had assumed that he'd be the titular character.

It's the story which has left me cold, in its ambiguity and unclear wandering. It would give too much away, but I suspect that the movie's villain is not Mr. Nick, but another character. Or perhaps the traveling Imaginarium's audience is the main villain. Gilliam shows each crowd as being purely concerned with its own fulfillment, pursuing things crassly and selfishly. I will end up watching it again at some point, just to try and figure it out a bit more.

And to soak up those visuals again. Just lovely. But I'd have to agree with this review:

"Trying to puzzle out the theology here is like reading a Dr. Bronner’s soap bottle."

news zoid (times)

2011-05-10T15:11:00.001+09:00

Obama Urges Obama To Back Immediate Budget Cuts.
Newt Gingrich Releases US Diplomat At 67.
Mexico's Slim Ups For Likely White House Bid.
Report: Lockerbie Bomber Had Whooping Cough Last Year, CDC Says.
Tiny Spy Planes Could Push Drive For Online Video.Libya Expose Risks Of Fame.
UN: Libyan Refugee 'Crisis' Agrees To E-sale Model Apple Requires.
Gadhafi Forces Bomb Rebel-held Town In NJ.
Libyan Warplanes Named Honorary Citizen Of Battlefield.
Robbers Defend Making WikiLeaks Suspect Sleep Nude.
UK Expands Throughout US.

Newszoid is back. I had missed it. Well, maybe it wasn't gone. Maybe it just moved to a new DNS and no-one told me. Either its model has faltered, or subtle grammatical changes in typical headline structure have removed some of the natural feeling from its auto-parsing features. But it is still great.

i've seen this argument before, and i didn't agree with it then, either

2011-05-04T16:03:00.001+09:00

"Gamification is also being used in corporate contexts, where employees can earn points for dealing with boring tasks such as updating documentation. Gartner even claims that more than 50 per cent of organisations that manage innovation processes will gamify those processes by 2015.

Perhaps I’m old fashioned, but I thought that doing your job actually involved doing your job, and there was no requirement for it to be fun."

In other words, "Humbug!"

I recall an article predating the use of the term "gamification," and predating 10 years I've lived in Japan, where a research group was tasked with improving a bank's new employee training program. The consultancy used games to educate the new employees. It produced some astonishing results, with greatly improved knowledge retention, greater sense of job satisfaction, and improved communication across the participants.

When the results were shown to the executive board which had paid for the study, despite the readily apparent success of the exercise, they chose not to adopt the games into their curriculum. As executives who had climbed up the corporate ladder the hard way, they didn't feel compelled to lessen the barrier-to-success for those after them. It was hard for us, so why should we make it easier for them? Which is of course reminiscent of that CP/M and DOS-era, user-hostile programmer chestnut, "If it was hard to program, it should be hard to use."

cherry blossoms

2011-05-03T23:37:00.001+09:00

cherry blossoms, originally uploaded by chronovore.

Batzanne

2011-05-02T20:02:00.001+09:00

Batzanne, originally uploaded by Suzanna.

Le muscle du sommeil

2011-05-02T20:01:00.001+09:00

Le muscle du sommeil, originally uploaded by Suzanna.

why would they do this when consumer spending is already down? tax something which is still actively moving.

2011-04-28T13:38:00.001+09:00

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development last week urged Kan’s government to at least double a sales tax to 10 percent and to implement increases as soon as possible. Japan’s total public debt will reach 204 percent of gross domestic product this year, according to the OECD, the highest level among nations tracked by the group.

Japan maintains its credit grade for now because of a strong financial system, a surplus of funds within the nation and a “diversified” economy, according to S&P.

"we have such sights to show you..."

2011-04-24T09:03:00.001+09:00

Metal, originally uploaded by Richelle Ludwick.

Glaug-Type, Marines, etc.

2011-04-24T09:01:00.001+09:00

Glaug-Type, Marines, etc., originally uploaded by [Soren].

epic victory in the brick-form.

.gne 2.0?

2011-04-14T15:00:00.000+09:00

Glitch developer Tiny Speck raises $11m.

I've been interested in The Game Neverending since I first heard about it. Some time later, I learned that it was transitioned into what became Flickr. Tiny Speck are some of the people from the Flickr team; that GNE project was a multiplayer online game where items were shared. One of the things people could share was photos, and that portioned apparently blossomed into something so competent that it could actually be monetized -- the most elusive of Web 2.0 goals to attain!

So here they are getting funding, making worlds again. I can't wait to see what this is about!

Culture is Your Operating System

2011-03-21T23:11:00.001+09:00

Culture is Your Operating System, originally uploaded by Tom T.

via warrenellis.com

warning: sound, warning2: drumnbase

2011-03-18T19:46:00.000+09:00

Plum Blossoms

2011-03-14T21:25:00.001+09:00

Plum Blossoms, originally uploaded by dckyoto.

東日本大地震支援チャリティー

2011-03-13T22:11:00.001+09:00

東日本大地震支援チャリティー, originally uploaded by maggot.

he. he is. he is everywhere.

2011-03-03T20:05:00.002+09:00

pretty fly...

2011-02-25T21:28:00.000+09:00

back alley

2011-02-24T21:22:00.001+09:00

, originally uploaded by maggot.

ＣＭカット feature going away

2011-02-10T14:12:00.001+09:00

ＣＭカット機種、生産中止へ…民放批判に配慮(読売新聞) [Japanese language article]: Starting this spring, Japanese manufacturers will cease producing broadcast recording devices which auto-skip commercials. This is apparently due to pressure from an alliance of commercial broadcasters. Once again, consumer-facing features are removed by corporate interests. Sorry, wait, who is paying for these devices? The users, right? This consortium isn't offering to buy my next HDD recorder, is it?

This technology has been in place since 1990. When I lived in Kyoto in 1994, my used (salvaged from the curb junk) VHS deck had auto-skip. It with the feature enabled, it would fast-forward through the break, and stop with less than 2 seconds of real-time gap before resuming play of the desirable content. It seemed like magic at the time.

anyone else remember "salvage 1"?

2011-02-03T12:01:00.000+09:00

Japan's giant net to trawl for space junk - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Japan's space agency has joined forces with a fishing company to build a giant net several kilometres in size to collect debris littering space.

The agency plans to attach the thin metal net to a satellite and will then detach it so it can orbit Earth.

It will snare hundreds of thousands of pieces of junk threatening satellites and space shuttles.

The net and its contents will eventually be drawn back towards Earth and will burn up while entering the atmosphere.

The super-strong space net is being developed with a 100-year-old Japanese fishing net company and is designed to catch small particles as well as larger objects such as spent rocket stages.

Anteater of Broken Dreams

2011-01-30T11:14:00.001+09:00

Anteater of Broken Dreams (aka, Fuck You, I'm A Nighthawk), originally uploaded by Foxtongue.

this. this right here.

2011-01-21T07:51:00.002+09:00

revenge!

2011-01-07T16:20:00.000+09:00

"let us postulate..."

2010-11-22T18:25:00.001+09:00

In case you, gentle reader, are not British but, perhaps, American, I have one big beef with the royal family:
I didn't get to vote for them.
Let me unpack that for you.
There is no democratic accountability in monarchy. As a system of government, in undiluted form it most resembles a hereditary dictatorship — current poster-child: Kim Jong-Il. The form we have in the UK is not undiluted: Parliament asserted its supremacy with extreme prejudice in 1649, and again in 1688, and ever since then the British monarchy has been a constitutional, rather than an absolute one — a situation that leaves odd constitutional echoes, such as the fact that we have a Royal Navy but we a British Army (loyal to Parliament, and not under royal command).
Nevertheless ...
To use a metaphor: let us postulate the existence in the ante-bellum Deep South of benevolent, morally righteous slaveowners who did not flog or rape or oppress their slaves. (I know, I know ... it's a thought experiment, okay?) Would that be enough to exculpate the institution of slavery? I'm pretty sure the answer lies somewhere been "no!" and "hell, no!" Slavery is an inherently oppressive institution because it deprives a class of victims of their most basic right to autonomy, and the failure of a [hypothetical] individual slave-owner to be corrupted does not invalidate this oppressive nature of the system.

found on emusic.com

2010-10-30T16:06:00.000+09:00

xbox 360 kinect scenario

2010-10-29T08:15:00.001+09:00

some kind words about what I spend my day doing

2010-10-21T09:39:00.000+09:00

Review: EA MMA Review - ComputerAndVideoGames.com: "It's the commentary that's the main culprit here. UFC Undisputed has the familiar badges and the big names, but it also has the best commentary in any sports game to date"

tron lebowski

2010-10-20T08:32:00.003+09:00

"Computer games doesn't affect kids; I mean if Pac-Man affected us as kids, we'd all be running around darkened rooms, munching magic pills and listening to repetitive electronic music."

2010-10-08T18:58:00.000+09:00

-Kristian Wilson, Nintendo, Inc. 1989

charlie stross' mind on a bad day appears better than mine on a good one

2010-10-06T13:15:00.000+09:00

Books I will not write, #1 (of an ongoing series) - Charlie's Diary: "(This is all rooted in a vision I had, of William S. Burroughs as a CIA agent, and Philip K. Dick as his young henchman, going head-to-head with notorious gangster and pervert Adolf Hitler somewhere in Hamburg to find out where Hitler is shipping all the computers he can get his hands on.)"

testing

2010-10-04T16:32:00.001+09:00

I'm just testing a new Chrome plug-in; nothing to see, move along...

some days the soundtrack to my life is played on ukulele and kazoo

2010-09-30T15:57:00.002+09:00

...

damn it: xmark'd the spot

2010-09-29T13:42:00.001+09:00

For four years we have offered the synchronization service for no charge, predicated on the hypothesis that a business model would emerge to support the free service. With that investment thesis thwarted, there is no way to pay expenses, primarily salary and hosting costs. Without the resources to keep the service going, we must shut it down.

This is something of a shock; it has been legacy common sense in the "web 2.0" world that, if there is a need you can address competently, the business model will eventually become evident. In the case of Xmarks, one of my favorite services, it never did. It isn't too surprising that they couldn't convince a buyer to try and turn a profit on them, but I'm a little surprised that Yahoo, despite owning an somewhat abandoning del.icio.us, didn't bite on this simpler and more elegant implementation.

work it drive that bit kuh-razy

2010-09-13T10:46:00.002+09:00

don't call it a sellout. this is super cool.

2010-08-16T13:51:00.000+09:00

Make: Online : Gary Numan plays "Cars" with cars

"Wheeee!"

2010-08-16T13:01:00.000+09:00

The Onion - America's Finest News Source: Iran's Nuclear Operation Revealed To Be Cover For Greatest Roller Coaster Ever
"'We have moved wisely and decisively to establish Iran as a regional power in the amusement park field,' said Ahmadinejad, adding defiantly that the nation would not succumb to Western standards for height requirements. 'Wheeeee!'"

sick bubblegum (nsfw lyrics)

2010-08-06T08:37:00.000+09:00

darker, gritter, welcome to 2005. Or 2000. When was this last bit mandatory?

2010-07-22T09:58:00.000+09:00

EA's "grittier, darker" 2010/11 | News:

Publisher Electronic Arts has revealed a clutch of new titles for the next year and beyond, putting an emphasis on dark and edgy themes.

Darkspore redeploys the procedural generation systems of Maxis strategy title Spore, but in an action-RPG with more mass appeal, while Alice: Madness Returns is the horror-adventure sequel to 2000 PC game American McGee's Alice.

The Sims 3 will also head down more sinister paths, with Autumn's vampire-starring expansion Late Night, while even the Fight Night boxing series is to be taken in a 'grittier, darker direction' with next year's Champion.

More levity can be found in Wii exercise title EA Sports Active NFL Training Camp, plus EA Sports Active 2 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii and iPod Touch.

I'm not sure when "darker and grittier" became the default position for "improving" games, but I wish we could move past it. Nintendo doesn't need to own the entire cutesy and safe marketshare. Does every enemy need to be dismembered? Does every hero need to be a brooder with a goatee?

the portal bits are cool

2010-07-17T09:42:00.000+09:00

quoted for truth: "Midway’s management never seemed to move fast enough with the trends"

2010-07-15T13:03:00.001+09:00

Troughton resurrects Pitbull name
Robert Troughton, co-founder of UK developer Pitbull Syndicate, has opened a new studio in Newcastle and already secured a development project.

Pitbull Studio opens a year after Midway liquidated the Pitbull Syndicate team, which were renamed Midway Newcastle after an acquisition in 2007 for more than £3 million.

"The North East has a lot of games development talent. It was a very sad day when the old studio closed and it’s really been my dream to revive it, said Troughton, managing director of the new business.

"The industry has changed a lot since the day that we sold the original Pitbull – it was a real shame that Midway’s management never seemed to move fast enough with the trends. We won’t be making the mistakes of the past with the new studio – what happened there has actually strengthened us, I would say, we’ve learnt a lot from the experience of being part of a large publisher."

As Pitbull Syndicate the studio created numerous Test Drive titles, Demolition Racer and LA Rush, and Wheelman for Midway.

Music Piracy

2010-07-14T18:09:00.000+09:00

Music Piracy

By 1882, Edison had a dynamo that operated at 82 percent efficiency. In September, 1882, he had opened a central station on Pearl Street in Manhattan and was eventually supplying electricity to a one-mile square section of New York.

Enter Alexander Graham Bell and his cousin, Chichester Bell. The Bells got together with an instrument maker named Charles Sumner Tainter and they set out to make a better version of Edison's phonograph design. The new design was called the Graphophone and the main improvement was that their version, using recorded cylinders, gave a longer life to the recordings. They could simply be played more times than Edison's tinfoil phonograph design. The intent was to market it as an office aid, much the same as we view tape recorders today, as a dictation machine.

Of course, Edison was irate when he found out about this. He felt that Graphophone had basically stolen his idea. So much so that when Graphophone asked him to pool their patents, Edison said he wanted nothing to do with Bell and his "pirates". No one had even started selling recordings yet and the word "pirate" was already being used in relation to intellectual property. So don't think for a moment that Hilary Rosen thought that up by herself. Edison gets credit for that one, too.

kitties!

2010-06-16T14:42:00.001+09:00

, originally uploaded by maggot.

mashup

2010-06-15T10:16:00.000+09:00

Gorillaz - On Melancholy Hill Trailer (HD)

2010-06-13T08:35:00.000+09:00

UFC Undisputed 2010 Review, Eurogamer

2010-05-26T13:46:00.001+09:00

Eurogamer: "The commentary is near peerless in gaming, Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan's incisive patois adapting to the on-screen action and adding immeasurably to it, no mean feat when every fighter in every weight class is distinguished from the next in profound ways and approaches."

cat. bag. out of.

2010-05-25T11:52:00.002+09:00

MiddleEasy.com | Shaquille O'Neal is an unlockable character in UFC Undisputed 2010

one for your nightmares. you're welcome.

2010-05-11T22:04:00.001+09:00

let's be honest in reviewing our options

2010-04-22T09:52:00.002+09:00

the revised, improved Career mode is shown

2010-04-21T10:06:00.001+09:00

iPerry

2010-04-16T11:33:00.000+09:00

iPad May Be ‘Black Ship’ That Shakes Up Japan’s Book Industry - BusinessWeek:
The maker of the iPhone may challenge Japan’s publishing establishment in a market where e-book sales -- estimated by Nomura Holdings Inc. to be four times those of the U.S. -- come mostly from comics on mobile phones. Sony Corp. and Panasonic Corp., Japan’s two biggest consumer electronics makers, have scrapped their e-reader business in the country and Amazon.com Inc. has yet to offer its Kindle. “There’s a strong chance that a device like the iPad will allow authors to cut out the publishers as middlemen,” said Jun Hasebe, a Tokyo-based analyst at Daiwa Securities Group Inc. “Japanese printing, publishing and distribution industries are strongly interconnected and all three face that threat.” (Brave New World)

With ubiquitous cell network coverage in Japan, every day I see many commuters on the train reading mail, watching TV on OneSeg viewers (phones and PSP support this as well as dedicated viewers), but I also see more notebooks, netbooks, and micro-netbooks. At one point I thought the iPad's size might prove detrimental to adoption in Japan, but I'm no longer sure.

And in Japan, Apple-as-a-brand has never been stronger. The original iPod became wildly popular in Japan even without access to the iTunes Music Store, as the Japanese record companies dragged their feet and were unwilling to entertain Apple's courting of their market. More than likely it came up during those negotiations that, with audio CDs available for rent in Japan, they were only going to lose money as people ripped CDs directly or traded through peer-to-peer networks.

If Apple continues to pressure iPod Touch/iPhone/iPad devs to prevent their applications from being able to locally sync their own content (see recent eReader, Stanza, and comic reading app history), Apple will be losing one of the leverage areas to pressure publishers to cooperate with them.

savage

2010-04-14T11:01:00.001+09:00

savage, originally uploaded by Foxtongue.

"If you can't do what's right you can always do what's left"

2010-04-12T15:42:00.001+09:00

—Them Crooked Vultures, No One Loves Me & Neither Do I

dev diary - THQ's producer (Hi, Neven!) and Marc Laimon

2010-04-09T11:04:00.000+09:00

“The first transport is away!”

2010-04-02T15:19:00.001+09:00

making hands with their hearts and hearts with their hands

2010-03-26T07:15:00.001+09:00

The Nightmare Before St. Patrick's Day

2010-03-19T00:56:00.001+09:00

"Now it's a fight" - good thing one of us showed up early.

2010-03-18T10:32:00.001+09:00

UFC 2010 Undisputed

2010-03-16T14:15:00.001+09:00

Galactica: Sabotage

2010-03-11T23:42:00.001+09:00

pretty darned tight.

flynn lives

2010-03-09T22:23:00.000+09:00

program-glitch-esc

Everything these guys do is great.

2010-03-06T16:33:00.001+09:00

bertie wooster = bruce wayne

2010-03-06T09:10:00.000+09:00

What if Bertie Wooster, rather than being a mere layabout, was also Batman?

“Good morning, sir. I have prepared a breakfast of scrambled egg, kippers and bacon, as per your request.”
“Fantastic, Jeeves! I tell you truly, I’ve worked up a massive appetite and that’s no mistake.”
“Am I to assume that tonight’s excursion went well, sir?”
“Well, it started off a bit sticky. My cape got all tangled when I went to punch this one hooligan in the face.”
“Ah, yes. The cape.”
“Jeeves, we’ve had this discussion twice now. The cape is part of the ensemble.”
“We have had this discussion twice, sir, because your cape has gotten tangled up in your legs twice.”

topped by thorns

2010-03-04T22:11:00.001+09:00

, originally uploaded by maggot.

new GORILLAZ! so good.

2010-03-03T08:27:00.001+09:00

i'm just GlaD, OStensibly this means something wicked this way comes

2010-03-02T14:46:00.004+09:00

Shacknews - Portal Patch Adds Morse Code, Achievement - Portal 2 Speculation Begins:

Interior transmission active
External data line active
Message digest active
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
System data dump active
User back up active
Password back up active
Beep beep beep beep lol

(Thanks to AndrewV for the heads-up.)

G4 preview of our game, from a recent UFC event

2010-03-01T16:53:00.000+09:00

Xbox 360 Games - E3 2010 - UFC Undisputed 2010

“Welding is easier than anyone who hasn't done it thinks. Entry-level welding is almost trivial, like a hot glue gun that spews steel.”

2010-02-27T13:57:00.000+09:00

When I grow up I want to be Adam Savage, Ask MetaFilter (Thanks, TimK)

Code Monkey

2010-02-27T00:07:00.001+09:00

clever marketing for Japanese version of Dante's Inferno

2010-02-24T15:26:00.000+09:00

Though if it's that hot, I'm also worried about "the tenth ring of hell" a little later on in the day. (andriasang)

more on "project ten dollar"

2010-02-20T14:48:00.000+09:00

'Project Ten Dollar' will alienate consumers, warns retail | News: "According to Chipsworld MD Don McCabe, the only people that will be affected directly by these moves will be consumers, who will find the resale value of their games is suddenly much lower than they're used to.

'The person you're pissing off the most is the consumer,' McCabe told GamesIndustry.biz. 'This affects [them] directly - they pay the same amount of money and yet the resale value is much reduced. From a retailer's point of view, they'll just readjust [the price] bearing in mind you have to buy the voucher"

that would be good in a hot pot.

2010-02-16T14:28:00.000+09:00

Monstrous 10-Foot Crab Discovered In Japan - crab - io9

fascinating new stunt for dlc implementation: project ten dollar

2010-02-13T22:57:00.000+09:00

Downloading the Future | Editorial: "Downloadable content is, beyond a doubt, the burning issue of the year so far. On every major gaming news site, a story about DLC is bound to attract hundreds of comments, many of them brimming with outrage from consumers with strongly held views. Within the industry, conversations are (usually) more civil, but the question of what it's appropriate to release as DLC and how to integrate it into a business model is hotly debated.

This week, another log has been thrown on the fire, with EA boss John Riccitiello telling BusinessWeek that the company's inclusion of premium DLC codes in new copies of Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age: Origins were no coincidences. This is the vanguard of something EA calls 'Project Ten Dollar', it seems - an attempt both to limit the appeal of the second hand market, and to claw back some revenue from those consumers who continue to buy used games."

I've been expecting this for the past two or three years. The idea of tying a game to a downloaded patch which will allow you to finish it may seem reprehensible, but the used market is such a shut-out of the publishers and developers that this isn't particularly surprising.

more mainstream mma coverage: rampage in a nike ad

2010-02-13T16:39:00.001+09:00

Human Chain from NikeSportswear on Vimeo.

our game getting “face time” in USA Today is a sign

2010-02-09T16:37:00.001+09:00

New features for next 'UFC' game unveiled - Game Hunters: In search of video games and interactive awesomeness: Developers will update moves for its Sway and Posture Systems to help with dodging standing strikes and deliver stronger attacks from varying positions.
Online, players will be able to form fight camps and leagues as well as train with human opponents to prepare for online matches for fights in Career Mode.
During Career Mode, the game will track each player's action and use data for in-fight commentary and opponent intelligence.

memories of twin peaks

2010-02-08T11:30:00.001+09:00

“Brother Ben, this is the best damn sandwich I ever ate, it's a baguette, with brie and butter, had four of these damn things every day I was there.”

Binary, with tea

2010-02-04T11:53:00.001+09:00

Binary, with tea, originally uploaded by monamerique.

behemoth is making another game!

2010-02-03T07:13:00.001+09:00

Tiny paper birds.

2009-12-22T09:53:00.001+09:00

Tiny paper birds., originally uploaded by Ollie Crafoord.

Warren Ellis in FILAMENT Magazine

2009-12-16T20:21:00.001+09:00

"At what age is it best to crush a child’s dreams so that they have an easier time stepping in to the status quo?"

You fool. You do not do such things to children. A child is like a poison missile you aim at the Future. You encourage, fund and resource their dreams to the fullest extent of your capability, knowing that your reward will be the pain and misery of generations yet unborn. (link)

PoisonMissle

2009-12-09T08:10:00.001+09:00

PoisonMissle, originally uploaded by mckenzee.

so we’ve announced that we’re going to announce something?

2009-12-08T10:43:00.001+09:00

Khabrein news:

December 6: UFC Undisputed 2010 and UFC Undisputed 2010 release date to be announced soon. Now it is official. The highly popular UFC Undisputed 2009 will have a sequel next year. UFC has formally announced on Spike TV that it will be launching UFC Undisputed 2010 pretty soon.

Queen Adreena - Jolene

2009-12-06T20:24:00.001+09:00

A lovely cover.

The Next Generation episode 4 - Uneventful Day

2009-12-02T21:41:00.001+09:00