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Xbox 360 Beats the PlayStation 3

The Xbox 360 is closer and closer to selling more than the PlayStation 3 for a full month, while also abandoning the pretense of challenging the domination of the Nintendo Wii amongst the big gaming consoles out there.The Nintendo DS managed to be the best seller overall again, with over 57,000 units sold, which mean...

6 October 2008
12:11 GMT

Nintendo Will Launch the Dsi

A short while ago, there were rumors going around that Nintendo would release a new version of their popular handheld console, the DS. Not any ordinary fresh version like the DS Lite, but one that would contain several distinct new features never present on Nintendo’s products. Features such as music playback c...

2 October 2008
03:56 GMT

The Xbox 360 Surges in Europe

Microsoft says that the sales of the Xbox 360 have risen by 214% in the two weeks since prices went down. According to the company, it means that the console is now posting numbers which double those of the PlayStation 3. The numbers are provided by Microsoft and have not been independently confirmed.Chris Lewis, who...

2 October 2008
03:26 GMT

Xbox 360 Sales Drop Significantly in Japan

In a not too surprising move, the interest in the Xbox 360 in Japan, just two weeks after Microsoft decided to cut the price of its gaming console, is beginning to return to normal levels while Nintendo regains its choke hold on the hardware sales chart.The Nintendo DS, which is again rumored to get a significant mak...

29 September 2008
04:29 GMT

BlackBerry Bold in Japan, Starting 2009

For all the Japanese mobile users wondering when RIM is going to release the BlackBerry Bold in their country, NTT DoCoMo has the answer today: the high-end smartphone will be commercially available in the Asian land of teddy bear phones starting the first months of 2009. Of course, the beginning of next year is not ...

29 September 2008
02:48 GMT

Sony Thinks that Japanese Game Developers Are Not Doing So Well

Japanese developers aren't what they used to be, at least that's what Sony Computer Entertainment executive Shuhei Yoshida thinks. In a recent interview with VideoGaming 247 he had the following to say regarding the current state of Japanese game development. "What’s happened since the days of PS...

25 September 2008
03:56 GMT

Xbox Japan Hopes to Continue Ascending Trend

If there's one thing that Microsoft wants to have, it's supremacy in Japan. The native country of Sony and Nintendo has always eluded the Redmond giant, mainly because the Japanese people didn't really like its games, which were oriented towards the American public in general. Stuff like violent shoote...

23 September 2008
02:51 GMT

"Missing Link" Mantis Fossil Discovered

The recently uncovered 87-million-year-old specimen of praying mantis is believed to be the "missing link" between the giant Cretaceous mantises and today's similar insects.  While this is acknowledged to be truly a rare find, the importance of this discovery is yet to be evaluated. The fossil insect is 1.4...

22 September 2008
08:16 GMT

Survey Shows Mario Is Japan's Favorite Videogame Character

Japan is really wasting a lot of money on irrelevant stuff, the latest example being this survey made by Oricon Monitor Research which asked 1,000 Japanese men and women to name their favorite videogame character. Although it was a bit of a no-brainer, the survey showed only Japanese characters making the top 10, pro...

22 September 2008
05:46 GMT

Firmware 2.43 Released for PlayStation 3

Sony is announcing that a new firmware update is available for its PlayStation 3 gaming console. The catch is that the update is not really necessary for most users and that you probably can safely ignore it.Firmware update 2.43 is specifically created to address issues with the consoles that Sony sold in Japan. It s...

17 September 2008
08:24 GMT

Nintendo DS Driven Forward by Rhythm Tengoku Gold

For the fifth week in a row, the Nintendo DS manages to hold off the PlayStation Portable to be Japan's best sold gaming hardware. But the overall sales of gaming consoles have continued to slow as the interest in videogames launched during this period plummets.The Nintendo DS sold exactly 51,412 units, which me...

15 September 2008
04:18 GMT

Big Fish Games Goes Global

Big Fish Games, one of the most important casual game developers and creator of the Mystery Case Files series, announces that it has attracted $83.3 million dollars in expansion funds from Balderton Capital, General Catalyst Partners and Salmon River Capital. Reuters reports that this is the biggest line of credit ob...

15 September 2008
03:16 GMT

HTC Touch Pro Announced for Japan

HTC, the Taiwanese manufacturer of Windows Mobile smartphones and Pocket PCs, announced that it has signed an agreement with KDDI in order to bring HTC handsets to customers from across Japan. The first device to be released by KDDI, via its au brand, will be E30HT. Under this not so attractive name hides none o...

12 September 2008
09:29 GMT

Dead Space Banned in Germany, Japan and China

The idiocy of videogame banning is still alive and well. Just a short while after having reported that Fallout 3 could be banned from sales in Australia because of its drug references, it seems that another long awaited title, Dead Space, could be banned in China, Japan and, most surprising of all, Germany.Andrew Gre...

8 September 2008
06:18 GMT

Toshiba 824T, a Phone for Japanese Dreamers

Toshiba, the giant Japanese manufacturer of electronic devices and consumer products, has recently unveiled a new mobile phone that will surely make the delight of dreamers from across Japan. Named Toshiba 824T, the  handset is a clamshell that comes in two hues of pink (Pastel Pink, Vivid Pink), Pastel Blu...

6 September 2008
04:14 GMT

PlayStation Portable Gets Access to PlayStation Store

Sony Computer Entertainment Japan is aiming to boost the popularity of the PlayStation Portable by creating a free service that is set to link the PSP to the PlayStation Store, a part of the PlayStation Network, so that users can download any type of content, from games to movies, without taking the extra step of con...

4 September 2008
04:05 GMT

Microsoft Cuts Xbox 360 Prices

Microsoft is announcing that the Xbox 360 gaming console is set to receive a significant price cut on the Japanese market. Prices will be lowered by as much as 30%, which means that the Xbox 360 Arcade package will end up costing less than the Nintendo Wii. If you're looking for concrete prices, Reuters is ...

3 September 2008
05:08 GMT

Teddy Bear Phone – from Japan with Love

Teddy bears can hardly be associated with high-end technology, but Japan – the country where almost anything has to do with the T-word – thinks otherwise. The proof is a teddy bear phone concept that was presented during the 2008 Good Design Expo. Dubbed Kuma Phone, the "teddy bear device" is made by...

2 September 2008
08:53 GMT

iPhone Increased Japanese Internet Audience

comScore has made public the results of its latest study regarding the online preferences of Japanese users for the month of June. As it turns out, an important role was played by the launch of Apple’s iPhone 3G in the country, which caused users here to pay more attention than usual to technology-related news ...

1 September 2008
10:10 GMT

PlayStation Portable Sells More than 10 Million in Japan

Videogame consoles seem to be intent on breaking records left and right as fast as they can. The Nintendo Wii has recently broken the 1 million units sold barrier in Canada and any minute now Nintendo is going to put out a press release saying that its flagship console has gone over the 30 million mark on a global le...

28 August 2008
03:27 GMT

Bare Knuckle 2 Achievements (Xbox 360)

Bare Knuckle 2 is a really nice side-scrolling beat 'em up game developed by Ancient and published by Sega in 1992 (North America) and 1993 (Japan). Of course, the Xbox 360 version of the game we're talking about here was developed in 2007 and released in August as a re-creation specifically for the console...

18 August 2008
14:06 GMT

The U.S. - 15th Place in the Internet Speed Global Chart

A survey performed by Speedmatters shows that Americans are not global leaders when it comes to Internet speed, as expected. The company determines the average Internet speed in different countries through tests that show how fast people can download files from its website.Moreover, the U.S. is only the 15th in the t...

14 August 2008
08:54 GMT

Panasonic P706ie, New Japanese Mobile Beauty

Panasonic, one of the leading handset manufacturers in Japan, has recently unveiled a new mobile phone for its domestic market: Panasonic P706ie. Coming shortly after other nice devices (like the Viera 921P or the Mirror II), the new Panasonic is a clamshell that looks very elegant and targets consumers in search of ...

13 August 2008
07:14 GMT

Facebook Seems 213% More Interesting to the Japanese

Social network websites enjoy, worldwide, a well-defined and engaged audience. Japan makes no exception to the rule, as over 56 million users were reported to have accessed their personal social network webpage at least once in June. While Mixi, a Japan-based network, recorded the largest audience, of almost 13 milli...

8 August 2008
06:18 GMT

Gameloft to Launch Nine Mobile Games in Japan

EMOBILE, the newest Japanese mobile carrier, will soon offer its customers a wide range of games developed by Gameloft, the well-known mobile entertainment company headquarted in France. For the beginning, Gameloft will provide nine of its latest successful installments. These include: - Tokyo City Nights, the new t...

6 August 2008
08:48 GMT

Google Street View Goes to Japan and Australia

Paris was the first European location chosen by Google to be part of the Street View project and Tour de France was a great opportunity for a July launch of the new online service coming from the search giant. However, now Street View is going to Australia and Japan, despite the fact that nothing happening there at t...

5 August 2008
05:30 GMT

Panasonic Viera 921P Released Tomorrow in Japan

Panasonic has recently announced the imminent Japanese release of 921P, a new mobile phone from its Viera line-up. The 921P comes in a clamshell form factor and doesn't look too different from the previous Viera handsets (NTT DoCoMo's P905i, for example). Like all of Panasonic's latest phones announce...

1 August 2008
07:37 GMT

Panasonic Mirror II, a Mobile Phone to Admire

Panasonic, the famous Japanese electronics manufacturer, has recently unveiled a new mobile phone which will surely appeal to all the fashion-conscious users across Japan. Named Panasonic Mirror II, the new handset is a clamshell coming with a glamorous external case that changes its color depending on the viewing an...

29 July 2008
07:02 GMT

Cut & Paste Gets Friendly with the iPhone 3G

Although you might have wished so, Cut & Paste is not a new feature embedded by Apple in the iPhone 3G. It's a Japanese company that makes cases for various devices, and its latest products are two series of iPhone 3G cases. Weirdly named "Phone Bubble 3G" and "Phone Cube 3G", the new set of cases are made of si...

25 July 2008
12:10 GMT

Spectral Force 3: Innocent Rage Achievements Part II (Xbox 360)

Spectral Force 3: Innocent Rage is a tactical role playing game developed by Idea Factory and published by Atlus on the 11th of August 2006 in Japan, exclusively for the Xbox 360. The game is expected to be released in North America, too, on the 29th of July 2008. However, since it was not very successful in Japan, n...

25 July 2008
11:46 GMT

E Ink Technology Embraced by Japanese Handsets

E Ink, a leading company in electronic paper display technologies, announced that the Casio Hitachi Mobile Communications joint venture has chosen the E Ink Vizplex Imaging Film based displays to be integrated into its new handsets. The very-first mobile phone to use an E Ink Vizplex display is already on the market...

24 July 2008
06:06 GMT

LG KF300 Announced for Japan and Europe

LG Electronics has announced the release of its KF300 clamshell in both Europe and Japan. Part of the Wine series, the new handset was first seen on the Web several months ago. Now the phone is finally official and should be available across Japan and on most of the European markets in the next few days or weeks. Th...

23 July 2008
02:16 GMT

Sony Sells Ten Million PSPs in Japan

We all know that Sony's handheld has been criticized by some during the past few months for various reasons and, as a result, the PlayStation Portable had its ups and downs on the Western market. However, in Japan, things are completely different: ever since the beginning of 2008, Sony's console has been co...

15 July 2008
17:06 GMT

Patapon 2 Introduces Multiplayer, Heroes

Did you like the wacky artistic direction and innovative gameplay of Patapon, which was released for the PlayStation Portable in February? Either way, get ready for the sequel which is already in development and for the addition of a new multiplayer component to the title.Game designer Hiroyuki Kotani recently talked...

14 July 2008
16:06 GMT

iPhone 3G Crisis in Japan

In Japan, where iPhone 3G is the only officially released iPhone (the first-generation handset didn't reach the Japanese market), iPhone fans are confronted with what seems to be an iPhone 3G crisis. More exactly, there are far less units on sale than there should have been and, according to Akihabara News, lots...

14 July 2008
13:14 GMT

Yakuza 3 Officially In Development

SEGA has officially announced that Yakuza 3 will be released next year and that it is going to take the concepts of the first two games in the series to the next level. SEGA representative Toshihiro Nagoshi stated that "In other words, 3 depicts the story of what happened after 2. All the characters who were living a...

11 July 2008
16:06 GMT

Japan Starts Selling iPhone 3G

Today at 7:00 AM, the new iPhone 3G made its debut in Japan. The lucky carrier to distribute and offer plans for Apple's iPhone is Softbank, situated at the heart of the Harajuku district. This morning, the company opened its doors to customers eager to get their hands on the new device.More than 1,000 people qu...

11 July 2008
08:42 GMT

iPhone 3G Compared to a Panda in Japan

New York is not the only city where iPhone enthusiasts started waiting in front of the stores for the iPhone 3G. A queue is now formed in Tokyo too, in front of SoftBank's store from the Harajuku district, where the first Japanese iPhone 3G handsets will be sold. Of course, Japan will only get the new iPhone at ...

9 July 2008
10:36 GMT

Japan to Sell iPhone 3G at 7:00 AM on Friday

Japan's SoftBank, the only mobile carrier empowered by Apple to sell the new iPhone 3G in the "The Land of the Rising Sun," issued a report mentioning it would start selling the new device at 7:00 a.m. on Friday.SoftBank, situated at the heart of the Harajuku district, will be opening its doors on Friday morning...

9 July 2008
03:14 GMT

PlayStation Portable Beats Nintendo Wii and DS in Japan

Curious about what's going on in Japan? Look for the answer to that no further! We have fresh data coming from market research firm Media Create, regarding both hardware and software sales on the Far Eastern market. The numbers have not changed much since last time we talked, but there are signs that certain big...

7 July 2008
02:42 GMT

iPhone 3G Has a July 11 Competitor in Sharp SH706i

After the 923SH clamshell, which will be released tomorrow in Japan via SoftBank, Sharp has unveiled yet another new and advanced handset with an Aquos display: the SH706i. Unlike the 923SH, Sharp SH706i will not see the light of the Japanese market thanks to SoftBank, as it's scheduled for a release via NTT DoC...

4 July 2008
08:34 GMT

Sharp Aquos 923SH Makes Its Debut in Japan

Sharp, one of Japan's main manufacturers of handsets (among lots of other electronic products) has launched a new mobile TV phone on the Japanese market: Sharp Aquos 923SH. First unveiled back in June, the 923SH will be available under the name of SoftBank 923SH, starting July 5, only for the subscribers of Soft...

3 July 2008
11:58 GMT

PlayStation Portable Again Top of Japanese Sales

It's Monday, so you must be eager to hear the news coming from Japan, the only country that lets us take a weekly look at the state of videogame related sales. Courtesy of market research firm Media Crate, we can now bring you the trends for the week that ended on June 22.On the hardware front is seems that foll...

30 June 2008
03:05 GMT

Sony Ericsson SO706i Hits Japan

There's something weird about Japan, in the way that a lot of made-for-girls mobile phones get to be released there. The half-Japanese Sony Ericsson is among the latest handset manufacturers to launch such a device, called SO706i and available soon from NTT DoCoMo, the largest mobile operator in the Asian countr...

28 June 2008
05:43 GMT

Panasonic Tropical 823P, a Girly Waterproof Handset

Panasonic, one of Japan's largest electronics manufacturers, has recently unveiled a new mobile phone named Panasonic Tropical 823P. The handset will be released tomorrow, June 28, via Softbank, the third largest Japanese carrier (and the only one to bring Apple's iPhone 3G to the Asian country). The n...

27 June 2008
09:59 GMT

Japan's iPhone 3G Gets a Price

Officially announced on June 9, Apple's iPhone 3G will become available on July 11 in Japan, among other 22 global markets. The new iPhone will be offered in Japan exclusively from Softbank, the country's third largest mobile operator (after NTT DoCoMo and KDDI au). At the time the handset was announced, So...

23 June 2008
05:40 GMT

PlayStation 3 - Best Sold Console in Japan, Metal Gear Solid 4 - Best Sold Game

Media Create has put up data regarding the sales of gaming hardware and software in Japan for the week that ended on June 15. The big news is that the PlayStation 3 console from Sony has leapfrogged the Nintendo line-up to take the first spot in the hardware sales department. The first week at number one for the Play...

23 June 2008
02:37 GMT

10 Million Sharp Mobile TV Handsets Sold

Sharp, the Japanese electronics manufacturer, has recently announced that it sold more than 10 million mobile phones that feature One-Seg capabilities (meaning that they allow users to watch TV programs on them). Although Sharp commercializes some of its handsets outside Japan too, none of those have mobile TV capabi...

16 June 2008
11:33 GMT

PlayStation Portable Still on Top, Nintendo DS Steadily Running out of Steam

With the NPD numbers for May out on Friday, the videogame industry is now looking to Japan for hardware and software charts to see who is moving up and who is going down. Research firm Media Create has released the numbers for last week and it seems that in Japan the PlayStation Portable is still king, even if sales ...

16 June 2008
03:24 GMT

Huawei H11HW Brings Music and 3G at a Reasonable Price

Huawei, a leading telecommunications company from China, recently released its latest mobile phone, the H11HW. This new handset comes with some cool features (for an affordable device) as well as a pretty nice overall look. Huawei H11HW has a clamshell form factor and, when closed, it shows a small internal displ...

12 June 2008
05:38 GMT




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