The Week in Review: It watches you sleep. In this week’s edition, a pirate CEO, a new look at politics in a Japanese eroge, sword fighting on the Wii, Kojima’s love of Twilight, and the dark, sorcerous powers of Jerry Bruckheimer.
Why It Was Old Man Virtalo, All Along!
Tero Virtalo, CEO of RedLynx, makers of the game Trials, pulled a Kaz Hirai this week, by telling the gaming public something that it really didn’t need to hear. At a conference, he admitted to adding Trials to torrent sites, but a version that lacked the online scoreboards. His logic was that the lack of scoreboards would entice pirates into buying the full version, because scoreboards are exactly what software pirates care about. Yep, no sarcasm from me there, nosireebob. (link)
No One Does Odd Quite Like Japan
Obama and Putin meet in the the Oval Office, they lock eyes over the Presidential desk and then tumble into a passionate embrace. No, this isn’t some weird post-Cold War slash fiction, it’s part of a new eroge called My Girlfriend is the President, which tells the story of a young girl who suddenly finds herself in charge of Japan after aliens crash land on earth and accidentally kill the Prime Minister of Japan and then use their mental powers to make everything right again. Thanks to an imperfect grip on human affairs however, many things are not the way they should be, like the Russian premier being a shapely young woman for example. It probably gets weirder than that to be honest. Hit the link for the trailer. (link)
Swordfighting on the Wii? Finally!
Nintendo has finally gotten around to using the Wii Remote for what is clearly its true purpose: giving us gamers the chance to swordfight. Shigeru Miyamoto announced this week that the new Legend of Zelda game will use the MotionPlus to simulate actual sword play. Twilight Princess was nearly there, but you really had to want to believe you were engaging in tense duels. Personally, I’m really looking forward to squaring off against a Stalfos or a gang of Moblins in pitched battles, but then again, I’m that kind of guy. (link)
The Sparkle is Nanomachines
Sometimes it feels like you’ve stepped through a broken mirror into a crazy parallel dimension where everyone has a goatee for no good reason. This week was one of those times, as it was announced that Hideo Kojima – creator of the ultra-macho Solid Snake – will be judging a Japanese Twilight fan art competition. Now, I have nothing against Twilight, but it just seems so bizarre, like David Jaffe running seminars on relaxation techniques. Kojima will be donating a signed copy of Metal Gear Solid 4 to the lucky winner, although how much of a prize a Twilight fan would find that remains to be seen. (link)
Prince of Persia Trailer Makes the Unthinkable Real
My fellows, the first sign of the end of days is upon is us, thanks to Jerry Bruckheimer and his eldritch homunculus Jake Gyllenhaal. The first trailer for Disney’s upcoming Prince of Persia flick has hit the net and it actually looks quite good. Not “sweep-the-boards-at-the-Oscars” good, but not gut-twistingly horrendous like all of its predecessors. Truly, ’tis the first sign that Ragnorok will soon be upon us, we just have to be on the watch for a four-headed snake and a goat with a fine baritone singing voice now. Click the link to watch the trailer. (link)
