I disagree with this statement. The buzz for the Xbox360 has been such that people that had never heard of an Xbox before are at least knowledgeable of the brand.
It's currently impossible to go into any place that sells video games without seeing the ubiquitous Xbox360 lineup brochures. There are numerous Xbox360 commercials on TV, etc.
Whether or not this will relate to a successful release in Japan is up in the air, but at least now people are aware of this thing called the Xbox360, whereas before I told people I had an Xbox, and they thought I was talking about a toaster.
As for the compatibility list, however, the thing that boggles my mind is that NONE of the DOA series is up there. The game that probably has the most brand recognition among the Japanese gaming community, and they don't include it at launch? What are the akibakei geeks going to oggle on the new system? Ninty-nine nights? Not likely.
Here are the lyrics. Please forgive my crappy english.
Just a little too fast. B-DASH! You'll fall down a hole. B-DASH! You'll jump on a turtle, B-DASH! You'll go through a pipe to an underground room, B-DASH! You can breathe underwater! B-DASH! You can jump off a mountain! B-DASH! Maybe you're using Mario a bit much.. B-DASH! Luigi's going to start pouting... B-DASH!
Faster than you can imagine, Mushroom Kids run onto the scene It's the age of Jumping on turtles, bet you didn't do this when you were a kid! (a little different, but ah well) Collecting coins is just my hobby. It's the value of the 50s We were allowed to break the blocks, but now we'd have lawsuit on our hands. Awww! Mom! Awww! You pulled out the plug! Awww! Mom! I just cleared the level! Stop using the vacuum cleaner!
Just a little too fast, B-DASH! You won't get the fireworks, B-DASH! You'll get all the coins, B-DASH! You'll eat mushrooms, B-DASH! Just a little too fast, B-DASH! You won't be able to stop, B-DASH! You'll run through the sewers, B-DASH! The princess is fake, B-DASH!
Riding a fluffy cloud in the sky, thinking of all the people below. 25 minutes in the sea, it's a new diving record Diving into pipes just my hobby. Pick up the coins for luck. I just love picking flowers, it's my god given right.
Awww! Dad! Awww! Don't change the channel! Awww! I was at a good part! You watched sumo yesterday!
Duck and jump there and you'll be kinda surprised. Run really fast,duck and jump. You'll be pleasently surprised.
The song's been out for a while, and there is no sign of it slowing down. Nintendo hasn't done anything about it, and I assume it has to do with the laxer parody laws that they have here. As they are not selling a video game called Super Mario, and are instead paying homage to it, I BELIEVE that it is not an issue legally.
The B track on the single is great. It's just a techno loop of "My glasses are broken" for most of the song, and then at the end "No they're not!"
Take a look at the cars on the road. The tiny green circular sticker on the back of at least 60% of the cars you see is the "Eco Car" sticker. They get better gas milage, produce less emmisions and are better for the enviroment. These cars give a great beneift not only to the environment, but also the owners, who pay a great deal less on their car tax ever year. Hybrids pay even less (I've heard rumors of none at all, but since I don't own one, I don't know).
The same can be said for the new energy efficient refridgerators, ovens, TVs, washers, etc that are pretty much all that is sold any more. It's hard to find non-energy efficent appliances that aren't at a used product store.
Sure, people in Japan are obsessed with the newest thing. Same in america. But unlike in america where you just chunk the old one to the curb, in Japan you either sell it to a used goods store, or pay a nice bit of change to properly recycle it. The new models are often more energy efficient, so it makes sense to buy them and save on your electric bill.
And as one of the "little things" Prime Minister Koizumi has had his "No necktie" campaign in the works since last summer, where he urges salarymen to wear no neckties and jackets in the office during summer to cut down on the use of Air Conditioners, which eat up electricity like no one's business. It's a small thing, but yet another way that Japan is attempting to conserve energy.
Actually, docomo offers this. Almost all japanese phones have an IR port for transmitting data (schedules, email, pictures, etc) from one phone to another. The 900i series also comes with a java app to control the TV and stereo. Even works with cable! =)
Although the Xbox isn't that popular, there are still a great deal of Xboxes in Japan, especially fueled by Halo 2. Xbox 360 is getting a TON of press, and with developers such as Sakaguchi and Team Ninja working with them, they might actually be able to break into the Japanese market this generation.
But what is nice is that because xboxes aren't popular, I can pick up used games for about 10 bucks. And my system was only 100.
And the number of Xboxes in Japan as of 4/10 is 46,6068 according to Famitu Xbox Magazine.
50,000 Yen is a lot of smackers. It's about how much the PSX (DVD recorder et al) is going for now.
One thing to keep in mind is that with Sony being THE name in electronics in Japan, they can charge alot more for their stuff. Play stations 2s still go for around 17,000 yen here ($170), while the new mini PS2 is almost 20,000 yen ($200).
I'd expect to see a lower price on the PS3 when it comes stateside... Maybe 350 or so. Which is still a hell of a lot of money...
Guess I won't be upgrading all my systems like I planned.
I had the same experience with a saqajaweeah dollar. They had to have three managers come and confirm that I wasn't minting my own coins with "united states of america" stamped on it.
In the May issue of FamitsuXbox (comes out in April, oddly enough), there's a huge article with 3 top game designers about their new studios that are exclusive to the xbox2.
One of designers is Sawaguchi, who was the brains behind the Final Fantasy series, and who is currently heading his own studio with other FF vetrans.
He's apparently working on two different RPG titles for the xbox2. One is a very traditional RPG thingy, while the other deals with a main character who is over the hill and who has adventure come looking for him.
Re:Halo 2: The Search for more Money
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Halo 2 Expansion?
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Just a little aside, Da Vinci was notorious for never finishing projects. The mono Lisa is one of some 11* paintings that he finished in his ENTIRE LIFE.
*If I remember my history correctly. College was way too long ago.
Really? They 30 bucks in the states? I get mine for 2000 yen. About 16-17 bucks. They're not a great deal, but they're a pretty good deal. I just wish they'd being back 3rd party games like some old school mega-man action.
If I were Japanese, why in the world would I buy an Xbox when the JP-PS2 has more than 10 times as many titles as the JP-Xbox?
Well, I was faced with that same question, until I looked at the price points. The Xbox is horribly unpopular here, which means it needs to lower its price to succeed.
The Playstation2 STILL costs around 18000 Yen (180 USD). Even used, you can only find it as low as 17000. By comparison, I got my Xbox for 15000. I got two controllers, 2 months of xbox live, a DVD Remote (the reason I bought it) Halo and Project Gotham 2.
The PS2 comes with a controller.
The price was perfect, as it's just a little more than a DVD player. The lack of games hurts me incredibly, though. What games I can find have been discounted heavily, but there just are too few games to keep things interesting. Everything I play is brought over from america or is Ninja Gaiden.;)
Actually, I find the biggest problem to be not a lack of audience (Every child that I teach owns at least one system. More common are 2 or three systems). There just aren't any drop dead amazing games out right now for the big contenders (GameCube and PS2). And there really hasn't been for a while.
I always ask my kids what they're playing, and the answer is always Kirby AirRide or Mario Party. Both of which came out over a year ago. One few kids who are playing recent games (mostly all TV show based) say that the games were fun, but too short, too little to do, etc.
The biggest/best game I saw come out here lately was Ninja Gaiden. Unfortunately at 7000 yen when it first came out, in addition to NO ONE owning an Xbox (I'm the only person I know with one), I can't imagine the sales were very good. Onimusha 3 was a huge hit. But then again, that was also last year.
I believe it was actually marvel and DC who said that comics were failing. Ever year their comics deparmtent makes WAY less than any of their other departments. So why do they keep publishing them? Marketing research. They make SO MUCH money on the movie deals and toys, etc, that they use the comics to find out what people like, and what they want to see as the next blockbuster.
I don't think comics are going anywhere for a while, but they are definately not the money makers they once were.
Re:Introducing Microsoft One Window�
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"One should also note that Rei has blue hair and red eyes ?rather remarkable traits for a Japanese girl!!"
Uhm... unnatural hair colors like purple, blue, white and green look nice. That's it, they look nice. No need to think about *why* they chose that color, it just looks nice!
And obviously has never been to Japan. I couldn't keep track of all the girls I saw with blue or pink hair. (I never saw any red eyes, but if I started examining the faces of every japanese girl I saw, I think I might have gotten slapped.)
Actually, as long as it's not a "new release" at Blockbuster, I can get a movie for 5 days for $3. I'd rather drive the 5 minutes, or walk the twenety to te video store rather than sit through the hour/2hour/3hours it'll take me to download the video.
Of course, this is all moot since I have Mozilla, and the page requires IE5 to use. Unfortunately, due to a wonderful little bug in XP, IE crashes my machine.;)
One thing I do like about IE, that I wish they would implement in mozilla is the ability to right click an image, and copy it directly into the clipboard, instead of needing to save it locally, open it in another program and THEN copy paste it.
Bottled water in New York City, I can understand: the water sucks, you would never want to use a public fountain for fear of horrible disease.
Here's the kicker:
Memphis is built on artesian wells. We have some of the best water in the country. They sell our water in supermarkets. In Memphis. People buy this water, in Memphis. They're drinking Tap water without the tap. And pay 2 dollars for it.
I just want to say that I'm *SO* glad that disney is finally deciding to release this stateside. I was one of the lucky GaiJin who got to see it when it opened in Japan last Fall.
When the Disney execs first saw it, they said that they would "never release it" as it "Just wasn't that good." I think Japan proved them wrong about that (number one grossing movie of all time, even beating out titanic).
The main reason I'm glad that they're releasing it stateside (besides the fact that It'll get the publicity it deserves) is that I've been trying to get a copy of it forever, but have only been able to find Japanese-Region versions of the DVD, and my attempts to get it on DIVX have been all but thwarted by the evils of Yu-baba...
Between this and Yoko Kano coming to New York in Sept, I'm a happy fanboy!
Slashdot Mirror
I disagree with this statement. The buzz for the Xbox360 has been such that people that had never heard of an Xbox before are at least knowledgeable of the brand.
It's currently impossible to go into any place that sells video games without seeing the ubiquitous Xbox360 lineup brochures. There are numerous Xbox360 commercials on TV, etc.
Whether or not this will relate to a successful release in Japan is up in the air, but at least now people are aware of this thing called the Xbox360, whereas before I told people I had an Xbox, and they thought I was talking about a toaster.
As for the compatibility list, however, the thing that boggles my mind is that NONE of the DOA series is up there. The game that probably has the most brand recognition among the Japanese gaming community, and they don't include it at launch? What are the akibakei geeks going to oggle on the new system? Ninty-nine nights? Not likely.
I have this feeling of dread that when the PS3 comes out it's just going to be a plastic box with a jelly sandwich in it.
And the jelly will be missing.
And we'll still buy the damn thing.
Ironically, everyone in Japan complained about the aboslutely HORRID voice acting by Kintaku, who played Howl.
The first 5 minutes of the movie were "Wow, he's so bad ass because he's keeping it cool in the face of danger"
After 2 hours, "he's... still... keeping it... cool... EMOTE DAMN YOU! EMOTE!"
It should be noted that the Aichi World Expo is not a Robot Expo, but a Energy Conservation Expo.
It also showcases the latest technology from many major Japanese companies.
The Expo Site, in English
Here are the lyrics.
Please forgive my crappy english.
Just a little too fast. B-DASH!
You'll fall down a hole. B-DASH!
You'll jump on a turtle, B-DASH!
You'll go through a pipe to an underground room, B-DASH!
You can breathe underwater! B-DASH!
You can jump off a mountain! B-DASH!
Maybe you're using Mario a bit much.. B-DASH!
Luigi's going to start pouting... B-DASH!
Faster than you can imagine, Mushroom Kids run onto the scene
It's the age of Jumping on turtles, bet you didn't do this when you were a kid! (a little different, but ah well)
Collecting coins is just my hobby. It's the value of the 50s
We were allowed to break the blocks, but now we'd have lawsuit on our hands.
Awww! Mom!
Awww! You pulled out the plug!
Awww! Mom! I just cleared the level!
Stop using the vacuum cleaner!
Just a little too fast, B-DASH!
You won't get the fireworks, B-DASH!
You'll get all the coins, B-DASH!
You'll eat mushrooms, B-DASH!
Just a little too fast, B-DASH!
You won't be able to stop, B-DASH!
You'll run through the sewers, B-DASH!
The princess is fake, B-DASH!
Riding a fluffy cloud in the sky, thinking of all the people below.
25 minutes in the sea, it's a new diving record
Diving into pipes just my hobby. Pick up the coins for luck.
I just love picking flowers, it's my god given right.
Awww! Dad!
Awww! Don't change the channel!
Awww! I was at a good part!
You watched sumo yesterday!
Duck and jump there and you'll be kinda surprised.
Run really fast,duck and jump. You'll be pleasently surprised.
The song's been out for a while, and there is no sign of it slowing down. Nintendo hasn't done anything about it, and I assume it has to do with the laxer parody laws that they have here. As they are not selling a video game called Super Mario, and are instead paying homage to it, I BELIEVE that it is not an issue legally.
The B track on the single is great. It's just a techno loop of "My glasses are broken" for most of the song, and then at the end "No they're not!"
As for your oven problem, try reading the instruction manual.
;)
I mean, you're complaining about not being able to use your micorwave oven on Slashdot.
The bar for nerds must be dropping.
I guess it might help if you watch the news.
Take a look at the cars on the road. The tiny green circular sticker on the back of at least 60% of the cars you see is the "Eco Car" sticker. They get better gas milage, produce less emmisions and are better for the enviroment. These cars give a great beneift not only to the environment, but also the owners, who pay a great deal less on their car tax ever year. Hybrids pay even less (I've heard rumors of none at all, but since I don't own one, I don't know).
The same can be said for the new energy efficient refridgerators, ovens, TVs, washers, etc that are pretty much all that is sold any more. It's hard to find non-energy efficent appliances that aren't at a used product store.
Sure, people in Japan are obsessed with the newest thing. Same in america. But unlike in america where you just chunk the old one to the curb, in Japan you either sell it to a used goods store, or pay a nice bit of change to properly recycle it. The new models are often more energy efficient, so it makes sense to buy them and save on your electric bill.
And as one of the "little things" Prime Minister Koizumi has had his "No necktie" campaign in the works since last summer, where he urges salarymen to wear no neckties and jackets in the office during summer to cut down on the use of Air Conditioners, which eat up electricity like no one's business. It's a small thing, but yet another way that Japan is attempting to conserve energy.
Actually, docomo offers this. Almost all japanese phones have an IR port for transmitting data (schedules, email, pictures, etc) from one phone to another. The 900i series also comes with a java app to control the TV and stereo. Even works with cable! =)
Although the Xbox isn't that popular, there are still a great deal of Xboxes in Japan, especially fueled by Halo 2. Xbox 360 is getting a TON of press, and with developers such as Sakaguchi and Team Ninja working with them, they might actually be able to break into the Japanese market this generation.
But what is nice is that because xboxes aren't popular, I can pick up used games for about 10 bucks. And my system was only 100.
And the number of Xboxes in Japan as of 4/10 is 46,6068 according to Famitu Xbox Magazine.
50,000 Yen is a lot of smackers. It's about how much the PSX (DVD recorder et al) is going for now.
One thing to keep in mind is that with Sony being THE name in electronics in Japan, they can charge alot more for their stuff. Play stations 2s still go for around 17,000 yen here ($170), while the new mini PS2 is almost 20,000 yen ($200).
I'd expect to see a lower price on the PS3 when it comes stateside... Maybe 350 or so. Which is still a hell of a lot of money...
Guess I won't be upgrading all my systems like I planned.
I had the same experience with a saqajaweeah dollar. They had to have three managers come and confirm that I wasn't minting my own coins with "united states of america" stamped on it.
In the May issue of FamitsuXbox (comes out in April, oddly enough), there's a huge article with 3 top game designers about their new studios that are exclusive to the xbox2.
One of designers is Sawaguchi, who was the brains behind the Final Fantasy series, and who is currently heading his own studio with other FF vetrans.
He's apparently working on two different RPG titles for the xbox2. One is a very traditional RPG thingy, while the other deals with a main character who is over the hill and who has adventure come looking for him.
Just a little aside, Da Vinci was notorious for never finishing projects. The mono Lisa is one of some 11* paintings that he finished in his ENTIRE LIFE.
*If I remember my history correctly. College was way too long ago.
Really? They 30 bucks in the states? I get mine for 2000 yen. About 16-17 bucks. They're not a great deal, but they're a pretty good deal. I just wish they'd being back 3rd party games like some old school mega-man action.
If I were Japanese, why in the world would I buy an Xbox when the JP-PS2 has more than 10 times as many titles as the JP-Xbox?
;)
Well, I was faced with that same question, until I looked at the price points. The Xbox is horribly unpopular here, which means it needs to lower its price to succeed.
The Playstation2 STILL costs around 18000 Yen (180 USD). Even used, you can only find it as low as 17000. By comparison, I got my Xbox for 15000. I got two controllers, 2 months of xbox live, a DVD Remote (the reason I bought it) Halo and Project Gotham 2.
The PS2 comes with a controller.
The price was perfect, as it's just a little more than a DVD player. The lack of games hurts me incredibly, though. What games I can find have been discounted heavily, but there just are too few games to keep things interesting. Everything I play is brought over from america or is Ninja Gaiden.
In my experience....
Actually, I find the biggest problem to be not a lack of audience (Every child that I teach owns at least one system. More common are 2 or three systems). There just aren't any drop dead amazing games out right now for the big contenders (GameCube and PS2). And there really hasn't been for a while.
I always ask my kids what they're playing, and the answer is always Kirby AirRide or Mario Party. Both of which came out over a year ago. One few kids who are playing recent games (mostly all TV show based) say that the games were fun, but too short, too little to do, etc.
The biggest/best game I saw come out here lately was Ninja Gaiden. Unfortunately at 7000 yen when it first came out, in addition to NO ONE owning an Xbox (I'm the only person I know with one), I can't imagine the sales were very good. Onimusha 3 was a huge hit. But then again, that was also last year.
I believe it was actually marvel and DC who said that comics were failing. Ever year their comics deparmtent makes WAY less than any of their other departments. So why do they keep publishing them? Marketing research. They make SO MUCH money on the movie deals and toys, etc, that they use the comics to find out what people like, and what they want to see as the next blockbuster.
I don't think comics are going anywhere for a while, but they are definately not the money makers they once were.
so.... It's a magic 8-ball?
And obviously has never been to Japan. I couldn't keep track of all the girls I saw with blue or pink hair. (I never saw any red eyes, but if I started examining the faces of every japanese girl I saw, I think I might have gotten slapped.)
"AIEEE! Etchi Gaijin!!!!" *POW!*
Actually, as long as it's not a "new release" at Blockbuster, I can get a movie for 5 days for $3. I'd rather drive the 5 minutes, or walk the twenety to te video store rather than sit through the hour/2hour/3hours it'll take me to download the video.
;)
Of course, this is all moot since I have Mozilla, and the page requires IE5 to use. Unfortunately, due to a wonderful little bug in XP, IE crashes my machine.
One thing I do like about IE, that I wish they would implement in mozilla is the ability to right click an image, and copy it directly into the clipboard, instead of needing to save it locally, open it in another program and THEN copy paste it.
Bottled water in New York City, I can understand: the water sucks, you would never want to use a public fountain for fear of horrible disease.
Here's the kicker:
Memphis is built on artesian wells. We have some of the best water in the country. They sell our water in supermarkets. In Memphis. People buy this water, in Memphis. They're drinking Tap water without the tap. And pay 2 dollars for it.
I just want to say that I'm *SO* glad that disney is finally deciding to release this stateside. I was one of the lucky GaiJin who got to see it when it opened in Japan last Fall.
When the Disney execs first saw it, they said that they would "never release it" as it "Just wasn't that good." I think Japan proved them wrong about that (number one grossing movie of all time, even beating out titanic).
The main reason I'm glad that they're releasing it stateside (besides the fact that It'll get the publicity it deserves) is that I've been trying to get a copy of it forever, but have only been able to find Japanese-Region versions of the DVD, and my attempts to get it on DIVX have been all but thwarted by the evils of Yu-baba...
Between this and Yoko Kano coming to New York in Sept, I'm a happy fanboy!
I love you Australia.
Thank you.