In Asia they take their food and drink merchandising strategies seriously. Pop star-branded Pringles, Final Fantasy soda, you name it. This Energy Tank energy drink for Mega Man 9 is pretty much the best game-to-beverage promotion ever, though.

It looks just like the Energy Tanks from Mega Man 2 onward, that fill up your entire health bar when consumed. In Japan and needing a 8-bit pick-me-up to get you through the day? Here’s your answer.

Source: Siliconera

On October 30, 2008, the land of the rising sun will be treated to a fictional Bosnian with a blazing gun. In other words, the localized version of Rockstar’s GTA 4 will be released in Japan just before Halloween, or as the Japanese call it, “Bad American Cosplay Day”.

Full press release after the jump. Read more…

One of the most popular games from E3, and one of the most anticipated titles for the PS3, Media Molecule’s LittleBigPlanet, has finally received a release date — in Japan.

According to the Sony Computer Entertainment Japan website (via MCV), the fully customizable, side-scrolling adventure is set for a release date of October 30th. For eager PS3 gamers in the West, the release date is still unknown.

LBP is just one of the few first-party titles coming to the PS3 this holiday season, which also includes Resistance 2 and Motorstorm: Pacific Rift.

I’m expecting a North American and European release date for LBP soon, and hopefully, it’ll be released before Christmas.

Source: mcvuk.com

Apparently it means no worries…for the rest of your days. Well Sony, we are worried!  We still don’t know if Hakuna Matata is coming to the US and Europe! Read more…

If you had this song stuck in your head all week, I can’t really blame you. Thus, I have translated it. It’s pretty much exactly as kooky as we thought. Hit the jump for English lyrics, Japanese lyrics, and what the hell, even some romaji. I fully expect YouTube karaoke now, though…

Read more…

It appears that the recently released (in Japan) Ryu ga Gotoku Kenzan! is a side story to the Ryu ga Gotoku series, known as Yakuza in North America. The true third part in the series is on its way— and sooner than you’d think.

Ryu ga Gotoku was a gamble. It was expensive and attempted to recreate a real-life locale authentically. It was a decent hit in Japan, but when it came to North America touting an expensive voice cast it failed to capture much attention from gamers. Read more…

Out of many of the video games out there, the Shin Megami Tensei games do a wonderful job at being mature without being gratuitous. Rather than padding out the game with over the top mature content, such as jiggling boobs or excess violence, they fill their games with genuinely disturbing material. Many of the things that go on in any given SMT game can range from disturbing to flat out nauseating in concept but they are never without a point, which is more than some games could say. Read more…

Sony wants you to buy a PlayStation 3 for Metal Gear Solid 4, so they’re trying to make it as easy as possible. Aside from the bundles already announced in Japan and North America, Sony is adding three more to tempt Japanese gamers. Come see the pretty colors! Read more…

Konami have had a lot of trouble with the Metal Gear Online Beta, from wrong codes, to mysterious Konami and Gamer ID’s.  Events have gone from bad to worse, with their servers being unable to hack the influx of players.  The Beta is delayed indefinitely in the US and Europe, and has been officially delayed until the 25th April in Japan. Read more…

Mario Kart has dropped in Japan, with modest lines waiting to greet the next iteration of go-cart racing at the Shibuya Bic Camera. Supply didn’t seem to be a problem, with several large boxes still waiting to be emptied once the lines had subsided, which meant that everybody walked away happy. Read more…

Expect this game to put the PSP at the top next week.

Is anybody else impressed that the Wii has managed to hang with gaming’s portable darlings for so long? Neither of Nintendo’s next-generation competitors have managed to even come close. Read more…

Tables continue to be turned this week as the formerly dead-in-the-water PSP fended off all contenders for this week’s sales crown. Most people will point out that the PSP was never exactly a failure, it just hasn’t had the monstrous success that the DS has enjoyed. Read more…

Cave announced a new shoot-’em-up arcade title—DoDonPachi Dai Fukkatsu—at this year’s AOU show in Japan just a few weeks ago. At the time, the announcement rekindled my desire to see these great niche titles find new life and popularity on the current generation of consoles. News out of Japan seems to indicate that hope for such things may not be lost. Read more…

Sales of the Xbox 360 in Japan have been struggling, so Microsoft is looking to lower the price for its Arcade version to boost sales, according to the Associated Press. The price will be cut 20 percent, from 34,800 yen ($325) to 27,800 yen ($260). Read more…

Japan’s first day sales of Devil May Cry 4 are in. Predictably the Playstation 3 version outsells its Xbox 360 counterpart almost 5-1. Don’t expect the same to happen in the US, or even Europe. Read more…

Odd, and entirely true; Square Enix put a trailer for the new installment of their much-loved series online – and then tried to prevent fans from getting to it. Read more…

So the first Gran Turismo 5 Prologue TV Spot is here, and what a glorious looking trailer for Japan it is. If only the game was being released in the West at the same time. Watch the trailer that shows off the Skyline R-35 after the jump. Read more…

We have seen reports from Japan and Europe showing that Playstation 3 sales are up, even thrashing the Wii in Japan three weeks running. Yesterday saw Sony boast a 300% sales increase in America since the beginning of November. But are things really that rosy for the Japanese giant? Read more…

We have seen reports from Japan and Europe showing that Playstation 3 sales are up, even thrashing the Wii in Japan three weeks running. Yesterday saw Sony boast a 300% sales increase in America since the beginning of November. But are things really that rosy for the Japanese giant? Read more…

The latest sales are in from Japan for the week starting 12/11 and ending 18/11, and surprisingly, the PS3 is holding on in there with its new 40GB model, fighting off Nintendo’s Wii for another week. The Xbox360 saw a rise, and Super Mario Galaxy and Heavenly Sword also had respectable sales. Find out the numbers after the jump. Read more…