2 hours ago in Technology & Software - Dragon Quest IX might be out until March, but someone on the Japanese internet claims to have obtained an early copy. Thing is, it's totally fake for two reasons. They are: • The cover art illustration has already been released by Square Enix ...

tags: square enix, dragon quest, dragon quest ix, ds, japan

10 hours ago in Technology & Software - This precariously elevated bike balancing contraption that Tokyotimes found seems to be the best way of keeping your soup upright when you're swerving through the streets of Japan. [Tokyo Times via Wired] ...

tags: miso, balancer, bikes, japan, japanese miso balancing bike, motorcycle, soup, soup balancer

17 hours ago in News & Current Events - Images: Cecilia Macaulay An odd entry in a long list of Google searches piqued my curiosity. Intimate Permaculture. What can that be?, I wondered. Turns out it is a phrase coined by Cecilia Macaulay, a permaculture teacher and writer/illustrator, ...

tags: food health, agriculture, australia, biodiversity, design, designers, energy efficiency, food, japan

18 hours ago in Technology & Software - According to Famitsu's publisher Enterbrain, the Japanese game market is, like a frightened turtle, getting smaller compared to last year. But what was the biggest selling game hardware? Games? The data for 2007 reflects the period from January 1, ...

tags: japan, ds, microsoft, nintendo, only in japan, ps3, psp, sony, wii, xbox 360

19 hours ago in Technology & Software - Japanese arcade title Gundam Senjou no Kizuna is rumored to be getting a PSP version. Interesting (odd, even) as the original has pod-shaped networked arcade cabinets with panoramic screens. Nothing's been confirmed by Namco Bandai or the arcade ...

tags: rumor, arcade, gundam, japan, namco bandai, psp

20 hours ago in Technology & Software - Watch out, Japan! Western game developers are out to getcha. This concerns Resident Evil 5 producer Jun Takeuchi a bunch. But should it? Takeuchi confesses to Japanese magazine Famitsu: "I'm worried about the movements of Western developers. Japan ...

tags: capcom, japan, news, resident evil 5

20 hours ago in Technology & Software - Dragon Quest IX is coming. Japan shall quake upon its release. While we wait out these last few months before it's out, then, let's take a look at about a gazillion new screenshots! ...

tags: ds, dragon quest ix, gallery, japan, level 5, media, nintendo, square enix

22 hours ago in Technology & Software - Famitsu Editor-in-Chief Hirokazu Hamamura has looked into his crystal ball and has opinions about how Dragon Quest IX will do in 2009. And it'll do mega, he forecasts. According to Hamamura, "March [DQIX's launch month] will be bigger than the ...

tags: japan, famitsu, hirokazu hamamura, news, only in japan, square enix

22 hours ago in Technology & Software - The best of the best! The best of the worst! Here's a look at the sales tallies for the biggest sellers (and not sellers) in Japan broken down by platform. Oh, the suspense. Eds Note: This sales data appears crunched from Enterbrain and Famitsu ...

tags: rumor, japan, only in japan, ps3, wii, xbox 360

1 days ago in Technology & Software - There were concerns from some that the DSi made piracy easier. Then there were concerns from others that it made piracy harder. Everyone was in a tizzy! Now, there's reason for Nintendo to worry. Really worry, actually. While the R4 flash cart won't ...

tags: crime, ds, dsi, japan, news, only in japan, top

1 days ago in News & Current Events - ABC Foreign Correspondent Postcard (5:18) The New Years holiday is a time to visit a shinto shrine in Japan. When I went to Ise Shrine, I made a real fool of myself when I talked to a guard and compared the structure to the pyramids of Egypt. He ...

tags: design architecture, architecture, japan, recycle, reuse, sustainability

2 days ago in Technology & Software - ASUS hinted at some alternative Eee form factors in the Spring of last year, but it's a Japanese modder that's showing the company exactly how it shouldn't approach an Eee-branded tablet PC. It's a touch tough to understand exactly what's going on, ...

tags: asus, diy, eee, eee tablet, eeetablet, hack, japan, mod, tablet, tablet pc, tabletpc

3 days ago in Technology & Software - Role-playing game White Knight Chronicles has been the focus of much attention for its perception as a great white hope for the PlayStation 3 in Japan. It is from Level 5, after all. You know Level 5, developers of the best selling Professor Layton ...

tags: playstation 3, level 5, only in japan, ps3, sales, software, white knight chronicles

3 days ago in News & Current Events - (Traditional rice cake pounding, photo from GNJ) Farmers and activists in Japan are surprised and increasingly upset that Japan will host the next UN Biodiversity conference (COP 10) in Nagoya. In Aiichi prefecture, large construction projects are ...

tags: news, activism, agriculture, biodiversity, farming, japan, united nations

3 days ago in Technology & Software - As you know, Nintendo are teaming up with Japanese ad agency Dentsu to launch a video service on the Wii next year. Japanese Wii owners are intrigued. Japanese TV networks, however? They're afraid. A senior executive at Fuju Television - the biggest ...

tags: japan, business, news, nintendo, wii

4 days ago in Technology & Software - Let's take look back at something very exciting: Nintendo's year end Tokyo Stock Exchange market ranking. What number did the company come in? Oh, the suspense! Here is the 2008 year end Tokyo Stock Exchange market cap ranking: 1. Toyota Motors: ...

tags: japan, business, news, nintendo

5 days ago in Technology & Software - Street Fighter IV records player's points totals, as well as their overall win/loss ratio. Which means people can compare their skills from a distance. It also means we can compile "best of" charts! Which is exactly what this list is, courtesy of ...

tags: street fighter, capcom, japan, street fighter iv

6 days ago in News & Current Events - According to the ancient Chinese calender, that is popular all over Asia, 2009 is the year of the ox. This calm and trustworthy animal is a symbol of prosperity through fortitude and hard work. When even the Wall Street Journal follows the lead of ...

tags: news, activism, china, economics, japan

6 days ago in Technology & Software - ...dominated by Nintendo. Even though it didn't claim the best selling game in Japan this year—Capcom's Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G did—it published more than half of the games in the top thirty. Additionally, over twenty of them were ...

tags: only in japan, sales, software

6 days ago in Technology & Software - Electronic Arts (of Japan!) wants to get its mitts on that naughty, forbidden flesh-flirting gameplay previously explored in games like Doki Doki Majo Shinpan, expanding the "Touch! Generation" with some "Touch Yourself! Generation" tactics. The ...

tags: clips, ds, hachi koi, maximum risky, media, nintendo ds, nsfw, only in japan