Giant Robot Store and GR2 News

Nintendo posts it’s first loss ever. It’s not just a little, it’s near 1 billion dollars for the first 6 months of the fiscal year. It also forecasted a lost of 264 million for the fiscal year that’s to end in March 2012. Is it because of the 3DS lack of excitement? Yes, plenty have it, but not to the tune of their past hits. Maybe it’s the strong yen raising prices or the fact that there’s plenty of other games like Angry Birds that are nearly free. (msnbc – Nintendo)
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The outside perception of North Korea is understandably pretty grim. Backward, agrarian, repressive, war-like, hard-line communist, these are all terms which can legitimately be used to describe North Korea, at least if the political refugees who have escaped and the foreign journalists allowed to enter the country are to be believed. Yet there is, apparently, another side to North Korea, a technological side, which does have some interaction with the outside world through the internet. And it is a technological side which has actually done business with countries in the Middle East and other nations in Asia. North Korean technology companies have even, reportedly, developed video games for Japanese gaming giants Nintendo and Sony. At the link, you’ll be able to read a piece which gives further details on the state of computer, gaming and online technology in North Korea. Because while it is easy to disdain and vilify Kim Jong Il and the dictatorial nightmare he has perpetuated for his countrymen, it is also easy to feel pain and sorrow for the innocent, everyday people who are trying to make a living and provide for their families under harsh government oppression. But as this story suggests, there may be qualified hope for some freedom for North Koreans through the development, implementation and use of online computer technologies. (Asian Correspondent – North Korean Tech Evolution)
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  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Game Night at Giant Robot 2 Game Night 5 – Skullgirls, Skulls of the Shogun, Nintendo 3DS StreetPass Saturday, June 25 2011, 7:00 – 10:00 p.m. GR22062 Sawtelle Blvd.Los Angeles, CA 90025gr2.net(310) 445-9276 In conjunction with the Attract Mode videogame culture shop, Meat Bun apparel, and Angry Bananas, Giant Robot is proud to host Game Night, an event that takes place at GR2 every two months. Each evening will feature a different developer and its games in a relaxed, community-building setting. For the fifth Game Night, we present two games, Skullgirls and Skulls of the Shogun, both by separate developers. Skullgirls is a fast-paced 2D fighting game that puts players in control of fierce female warriors in an extraordinary Dark Deco world. From Autumn Games and Reverge Labs, Skullgirls uses advanced graphical technology to feature the unique art of Alex Ahad, whose work has appeared in Lava Punch,UDON’s Tribute books, and Scott Pilgrim; in collaboration with renowned tournament champion Mike “Mike Z” Zaimont. Calling to mind old-school arcade fighters – with a high-definition twist – it’s a one-of-a-kind, action-packed competition complete with awesome combos and an intriguing backstory. Skulls of the Shogun is an invigorating cocktail of 1960′s flavored sorcery and strategy – in development for major gaming platforms. Washing up on the shores of the afterlife, players meet and join forces with vibrant ghost-samurai warriors, magical animal-monks, and mustachioed samurai generals on the way to capture Skulls of the Shogun.  With its roots in classic turn-based strategy gaming, Skulls of the Shogun retains depth and adds a smooth, simple interface that makes it accessible and enjoyable even to players new to the genre.  Players immerse themselves in battle with fun and unique game play features amidst lush, eerie environments.  Also featuring 4-player local and networked multi-player and an original score inspired by old samurai films and dub, Skulls of the Shogun offers simple-yet-deep, refined and offbeat game-play. Nintendo 3DS StreetPass: Meetup Everywhere is a simple-to-use online platform that enables an organization’s fans or followers to coordinate local, real-life meetups based on shared interests. Nintendo 3DS users who are interested in sharing content with others via StreetPass are invited to visit http://www.meetup.com/nintendo3ds to find events in their area or to plan their own StreetPass meetups. Users are also encouraged to use the “#streetpass” hashtag within social media to promote Nintendo 3DS StreetPass events throughout the year and attract even more participants. While gathered together in the same location, anyone can use the Nintendo 3DS system’s built-in StreetPass feature to share content such as Mii™ characters, game stats and custom characters. Users can control which kinds of information they exchange, and they can trade data from multiple games such as nintendogs™ + cats or Super Street Fighter® IV 3D Edition at the same time. Giant Robot was born as a Los Angeles-based publication about Asian, Asian-American, and new hybrid culture in 1994, but has evolved into a full-service pop culture provider with shops and galleries in...
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The Straight Graphical Dope on Nintendo “If you’ve never read about Nintendo’s history, it’s a fascinating story. In Japanese, the word Nintendo means ‘leave luck to heaven’.” And if there is a heaven, it seems to have been smiling on Nintendo for a very long time. Certainly since the company began producing video games in 1978. Many of us go through our daily lives using the products we like without giving much thought about the company behind the conception and manufacture of these products. Seriously, think about it: when you got your first NES or Gameboy you didn’t really consider where it came from, you just wanted to play with it and have fun, right? Right. Well, at the link there is an infographic which will give you a quick and interesting summary of Nintendo’s origins and historic sales and market share figures. At the very least, if Nintendo comes up at the next cocktail party you attend, you’ll be able to whip some heavy gaming facts on the less-enlightened martini-and-olive crowd. (Bit Rebels—Nintendo History) Prince Philip Unapologetic for ‘Slitty-eyed’ Remark “I’d forgotten about it. But for one particular reporter who overheard it, it wouldn’t have come out.” One day in 1986, on a visit to Xian, China, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (a.k.a. husband of Queen Elizabeth II) famously commented to a group of British exchange students “If you stay here much longer you’ll be all slitty-eyed.” Many of you are likely too young to remember this and other disparaging public comments the duke has made over the last 60 years. And you’re probably better off. Of the comment above, the duke recently said “The Chinese weren’t worried about it, so why should anyone else?” So much for enlightened attitudes and cultural sensitivity within the British Royal Family. (The Daily Telegraph UK – Prince Philip.) (For your further amusement and disbelief, an extensive list of “Philip-isms” can be found in this piece by The UK Independent: Insensitive Prince.) Mortal Kombat Legacy Slightly Flawed, but Good “Mortal Kombat Legacy seems to have the right production values. It’s no ‘big Hollywood’, of course, but it’s got primetime television level effects.” Seven episodes into this web series, and things seem to be going well. It boasts a cast of actors familiar to fans of science fiction TV programming (Jeri Ryan, Tahmoh Penikett, Ian Anthony Dale and Ryan Robbins), and is giving Mortal Kombat fans fairly interesting stories on the origins of key Mortal Kombat characters. The story on the origin of Raiden, in particular, has been praised as the series’ finest so far. Still, it is a fledgling show, and web-based at that; so it has been criticized a little for continuity errors and some production values that seem a bit less than top-notch. However, word is Mortal Kombat fans should not only check it out; they’ll probably like it quite a bit. (TG Daily – Mortal Kombat Legacy) China, Japan Look to Rebuild Chinese Tourism “Following the Tohoku quake and tsunami,...
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