Thursday, March 17, 2011

The Passing

I am posting this video in remembrance of all of the victims and survivors. 







Tuesday, March 15, 2011


My heart goes out to all of the victims and families affected by this horrible disaster. I really hope the situation starts to improve as soon as possible and I wish there was something I could do. I hope Japan and all of its people are in your prayers. They will be in mine.

I just wanted to comment on how integral games are to Japan, and the gaming community.

Get out there and make a donation! 

Sega announced 23 of its arcade centers in Japan will be closed to conserve electricity until further notices, including the ones in Tokyo, Chiba, Ibaraki, Fukushima, Tochigi, Saitama, Miyagi, and Iwate-ken. The lights on the exterior walls will be turned on for only 6 hours between 6PM to midnight.
 Take Two Interactive announced two upcoming game titles have been delayed in Japan:
  • Top Spin 4 (PS3/360/PSP, Take Two) - before change: Apr 07, new date: TBD
  • MLB 2K11 (PS3/360, Take Two) - before change: Apr 14, new date: TBD
 Capcom announced it's upcoming Monster Hunter 11 Festival Tournaments will all be cancelled, with the first one at Fukuoka has already been cancelled on March 13, the remaining 5 tournaments in Nagoya, Tokyo, Sendai, Sapporo and Osaka, and the final tournament in Tokyo have also been cancelled. The reason is concerns to participants safety.
 Nintendo of Japan announced its 3DS title Steel Diver will be postponed from March 17 to an undetermined date due to various factors.
 Capcom has cancelled the Super Street Fighter IV Tournament on March 27 at Chiba Plaza Capcom Naganuma due to the earthquake, but Capcom is looking to reschedule the tournament sometimes in future.
 Capcom's Street Fighter IV producer Yoshinori Ono mentioned in Twitter that he could not go to work in his Tokyo R&D office due to knock out power and transportation problems. He and his team will not go back for a while.
 Konami's producer Hideo Kojima said he will be leaving work to save power, in the meantime he will work on his manuscript, and he praises the solar phone charger Sony gave out during the NGP Press Conference, it is now very handy.
 Sega's Ryuga Gotoku: Of The End producer Toshihiro Nagoshi mentioned in his blog that the reason for the game's delay was made after considering the earthquake state, he said "I believe the day will come when I will be able to delivery this product to the world". It makes you wonder if the delay is actually longer than just a few days/weeks.


 Following Sony's donation, additional game publishers have announced donation campaigns to support disaster relief:
  • Nintendo - 300 million yen
  • Koei Tecmo - 10 million yen to Red Cross Japan
  • Sega Sammy - 200 million yen
  • Bandai Namco - 100 million yen
  • 5pb - all sales from its iOS game Memories Off 6 T-Wave from now until March 31 will be donated, the price has been dropped from 2000 yen to 350 yen
 Irem announced its disaster survival game Zettei Zetsumei Toshi 4: Summer Memories [Disaster Report 4] has been canceled. Although a reason was not released, it is most likely related to the earthquake on March 11.
 Sega announced the release date of Ryuga Gotoku: Of The End [Yakuza: Of The End] has been delayed due to various factors. Originally scheduled for a March 17 release, a new release date has not yet been set.
 Sony announced that PlayStation related repair work will be suspended due to the Taiheiyou Northeast earthquake and damages to its Sendai factories.
 Due to partial meltdown of the Fukushima nuclear plant and rolling power outages in various cities, most of the online games in Japan will be shutdown temporary until further notice, here is a list:
  • Koei Tecmo - Nobunaga's Ambition Online, Uncharted Waters Online, Shin Sangoku Musou Online will be suspended for 1 week
  • Square Enix - Final Fantasy XI, Final Fantasy XIV and the PlayOnline service will be shutdown for 1 week
  • Capcom - Monster Hunter Frontier Online - mobile phone support has been discontinued until further notice
  • Sega - Phantasy Star Universe - service interruption may occur during rolling blackouts
  • Atlus - Shin Megami Tensei Imagine - service interruption may occur during rolling blackouts
  • Konami - Metal Gear Online will be suspended until further notice
 Microsoft announced its Kinect Trailer tour Kinect Experience Caravan Car Event has been canceled due to the earthquake.
 Microsoft announced three Xbox 360 products have been delayed due to distribution issues after the earthquake.
  • Dragon Age Origins Awakening - release date has been delayed
  • Xbox Live 12 Month Gold Starter Kit
  • Xbox Live 3 Month Gold Membership
 Capcom announced that the Marvel vs Capcom 3 Jill Valentine and Shuma Gorath DLC has been delayed due to the earthquake, the DLC was originally scheduled to release on March 15.


 After the Japan earthquake, in Amazon Japan the preorder ranking chart, Irem's Zettei Zetsumei Toshi 4: Summer Memories [Disaster Report 4] has jumped up 76 positions from No.86 all the way to No.10. The game is about survival after devastating earthquake.

 Sony announced they will donate 300 million yen to reconstruction and relief of victims of the earthquake. Sony will also donate 30,000 units of radio products to victims in the area.
 Sumiyoshi-kai, Japan's second largest Yakuza group, announced through Twitter that they are providing emergency relief to all earthquake victims in Japan, they will provide food and their district offices will be opened as temporary shelter.
 After the Japan earthquake, many game producers, voice actor/actresses have reported their safety in various websites, including:
  • Cade Peterson from SCEJ and SCEI
  • Warren Keyes from SCE
  • Dylan Cuthbert from Q-Games
  • Hideo Kojima from Konami
  • Producers from Suda 51
  • Producers from Platinum Games
  • Fumito Ueda from SCEJ
  • Musician Baiyon from Q-Games/Media Molecule
  • Various voice actors/actresses
 Sony announced the release date of Motorstorm: Apocalypse has been postponed in Japan, due to certain stages are in a devastated city by devastating earthquake.
 Sony has shut down six factories in Fukushima and Miyazaki in Japan due to the earthquake. The affected factories were responsible for producing Blu-ray disc and other products, all staffs have been evacuated. Sony is still assessing the damage.
 Preliminary reports stated that the tsunami has swept away 12,000 PlayStation 3 and 5,600 Xbox 360 consoles; in addition, a number of anime TV and manga series will temporary cease production due to damages to the studios.
 nVidia announced its Tegra 2 processor will support Sony's PlayStation Suite, in future any smartphones and tablets that uses Tegra 2 will be able to run games for PlayStation Suite, including PSone games and new titles designed for the suite. Inside news also reported that PlayStation 2 games will also be coming to PlayStation Suite in future.
 After the massive earthquake, all game events in Japan have been cancelled for the weekend, including:
  • Mar 12/13: Ryuga Gotoku: Of The End Signing in Hiroshima and Osaka
  • Mar 12/13: Dragon Ball Zenkai Battle Royal Location Test
  • Mar 12/13: eb! Festa 2011 10 Year Anniversary Event
  • Mar 12: Blazblue: Continuum Shift II PSP Osaka Demo Event
  • Mar 13: Gundam The 3D Battle Demo Event
  • Mar 13: Dead or Alive Dimensions Demo Event
  • Mar 13: Monster Hunter Festa 2011 Fukuoka Event
  • Mar 13: Valkyria Chronicles 3 May'n Nameless SP Live
  • Mar 13: Blazblue: Continuum Shift II PSP/3DS Demo Event