The DS remakes of the best Pokémon games in the series, Gold and Silver, were released in Japan today. The games are, unsurprisingly, selling well. In fact, some stores are sold out already.

The games come with a pedometer that gives you in-game rewards for walking, named the “Pokéwalker”. Obviously gamers don’t like to walk anywhere, so they’ve started cheating the system by shaking the pedometer however they can. As you can see above, people are apparently getting quite creative with it. I guess that’s the most you could ask for. To be honest with you, I was planning on doing the same thing when I get my copy.

Via Destructoid

I’m sure there are still a few of you that haven’t forgotten that Tekken 6 actually exists, especially if you’ve been lucky enough to have played the game already on a Japanese arcade machine. I’d just like to point out that they got the game a year and a half ago, and we have to wait until October 27th to actually see the game, but today Namco-Bandai put out some new art for Tekken 6 that makes that 6 months seem so much longer.

The art features the characters of Tekken 6 in all sorts of crazy poses, with the characters we know and love from past Tekken games, as well as some new ones that we haven’t seen before, such as Bob, Leo, Zafina, and a couple more. Hit the jump for the full gallery. Read more…

Any Dragon Quest fan knows exactly what I am talking about when I say the word slime.  The blob from the famous game series has been released as a plush toy many times over, now it’s getting a tech upgrade. Read more…

Some companies release special edition DS’s when their software hits the market.  Square-Enix decided that with Dragon Quest IX, a case will do just fine — and I agree. Read more…

Take part God of War, part Shinobi, and part Ninja Gaiden and you get the soon to be released game in Japan Ninja Blade. Read more…

One of the greatest arcade games of all time (at least in my mind) is being ported to the PSP.  For some reason, I don’t think it’s going to be quite the same game. Read more…

Famitsu has some pictures of the special PS3 pack you can purchase with the latest in the Yakuza game series.  I think it’s rather stylish — I wonder what real Yakuza think. Read more…

I’ve been a fan of boxing ever since I saw the “Rocky” movies.  There is something about watching two guys try to beat each other to a pulp for the chance to get a belt around their waist.  I think maybe I’m just drawn to organized violence.  I’m also a fan of anime and had heard of boxing anime and manga before but never thought they would really be interesting until my friend showed me Hajime No Ippo:  The Fighting.  There is a great story here and some wonderful characters that are easy to connect with on some level.  The anime was cancelled early in it’s run but the manga is still going strong, and the anime will be making a comeback in January.  I assume to help promote the upcoming release of the new show this been game has been released on the DS to help tell the story of our main character Ippo.  Read more…

Shacknews reports that Capcom are releasing a demo of Resident Evil 5, the next in their line of acclaimed horror games (more recently: zombie shooters) on December 5. The demo is unfortunately restricted to those with a Xbox Live Gold Account- no signing up for a Silver account for a sneaky go at the demo for you, you cheeky rascal. The demo is reported to feature two stages, playable offline or online with a friend. There’s no word on a US or European release, or even a PS3 version. Still, it’s nice to see a demo this early; the full game doesn’t release until March 5 (JP) and March 13 (US). Those of you who just can’t wait to find out what the game is like, you’ll just have to read our preview.

We reported a few months ago that Sony’s African safari game Afrika had been renamed “Hakuna Matata” in Asia, and now it seems that the Western release will be renamed to “National Geographic: Afrika”. GameZine reports that “National Geographic announced today that they were launching a new games division that would partner with other developers and publishers; including Namco Bandai and more importantly, Sony Computer Entertainment.”

The list of titles set to be included in National Geographic’s lineup included a certain “National Geographic: Afrika”- later confirmed by Sony to be the same Afrika that was released in Japan. After the Western release was called into question earlier this year, it looks like we’ll be taking photos of rhinos on our PlayStations after all.
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On December 17th, Monster Hunter Frontier will be releasing what’s known as season 4.0.  This update includes some famous monsters from 2nd G and a new map to fight on.  Read more…

So I’ve discussed the game and the cards. Today I want to focus on PvP and my final thoughts on the game. I haven’t put near the amount of time some people have put into this game, so my theories may have some flaw to them, and I am far from a master at this game. This is really just a listing of what I’ve learned to do by being beat by the people I have played and using some of those tactics to beat other people. Read more…

Flipping through Famitsu just a few minutes ago and this was at the top page.  I had been looking foward to Ragnarok Online for the DS just to see how much like or dislike the PC version it would be.  Apparently if you are really into the PC game and like to do quests, you can get some special items for the DS version. Read more…

Welcome to the second part of my write up on the currently Japan only Lord of Vermilion. In the last piece I discussed the basic overview of how the game worked and what’s involved. Today I plan on going a bit more in depth with the cards that are the focus of the game. Just like any other card game there are factions, interesting artwork, rarity, and a few surprises. So sit back, relax and enjoy the ride. Read more…

Square Enix has posted on their career board the chance of a lifetime for many a video game fan.  They want a writer to live in Tokyo and help turn those wonderful games that come out into an English speaking experience as opposed to a Japanese one.  Read more…

I’m checking out Famitsu this morning and what do I see but an interesting slightly non gaming news article about EXILE and Takaratomi toy company of Japan releasing a collaboration Optimus Prime as they call it. Read more…

I love the arcades in Japan.  They are always changing the games, and are always full of people, much different from my arcade back home that probably still has that Mortal Kombat II machine sitting in the corner.  After visiting the arcade on a regular basis I started to really get interested in the card battle style games that were popping up.

The first one I ever saw was based on the three kingdoms history of china and that was less than appealing.  Then Square Enix released Yu-sha or Eternal Wheel.  I picked this up and tried it out.  It was a fairly decent game, but a bit too simple and you didn’t feel like you had that much control over what happened in the game.  You directed units and they attacked the bad guys.  Simple, to the point, but not quite what I was looking for.

Then, a few months ago, Lord of Vermilion dropped from Square.  A game with dark overtones even the good guys look to be rather evil.  You have a character you control plus a team you run into the battle area.  In this multi-part article I’ll be discussing the ins and outs for you guys, in case you can’t take a jet plane over and try it out for yourself. Read more…

Sega reps won’t be showing the extreme gore-fest MadWorld at this year’s Tokyo Game Show, mostly due to the fact that it may be too extremely gore-festy for Japanese audiences.  The game is being developed with a western audience in mind and will only be evaluated for a release elsewhere if it becomes a hit. Read more…

The month is over and stats are in: The Xbox 360 has sold more units in Japan than the PlayStation 3 during the month of September. Read more…

Wii owners have been bitching and complaining over the past year on the issue of lack of memory storage for the console, which currently only offers a 512MB flash drive to store both your Virtual Console and WiiWare titles, as well as game saves.

A solution, of sorts, has been announced at Nintendo’s Fall Media Conference in Japan, which already announced the exciting news that a new DSi is on its way and that an all new Punch-Out!! game is coming to the Wii. Read more…