03.08.07
Miyamoto: I’m a vampiric entity…
I suppose I should blame myself. We talked about getting it, thought about pre-ordering it, and never got round to it. Actually, that’s like our wedding problem too – we talk about it, but we haven’t even set the date. Sorry, I originally started talking about the Wii. In all the shops (online too), Wii is sold out. They don’t know when new ones are being shipped. For god’s sakes, it’s March! It’s been three months! The only consolation is that everyone everywhere who hasn’t got one is having trouble getting hold of even a rumour of one. (Of course, if you want to pay extortionate amounts of your hard-earned cash for a set of not-so-great-games and Wii, that’s up to you.) So, feel lucky and appreciate your Wii if you have one. Cuddle it to sleep, kiss it goodnight…
I personally don’t see what’s brilliant about Gears of War, but I hate that whole genre anyway, so I’m no judge. Apart from that game, there were a few other awards at the Game Developers’ Conference. Quite obviously, Miyamoto got one – namely, Lifetime Achievement Award. He said of this:
「この仕事を長いことしてきましたが、本当によかったと思っています。なかにはいろいろと恥ずかしいこともしてきましたが（笑）。こういう賞をもらうと、 “引退した”と思われてしまうかもしれませんが、僕は、若い人たちのエキスを吸って生きていく吸血鬼のような存在なので（笑）、これからも皆さんに気に入ってもらえるものを提供していきたいと思っています。僕たちを評価してくれるアメリカのチャレンジ精神に負けないように、これからも新しいものに挑戦し続けていきたいです」.
No doubt you’d need a translation of that:
“I’ve been doing this for a while now, but I really feel glad to have kept on, although there has been some embarrassing episodes. Having been given this kind of award, people might think I’ve retired, but I’m one of those vampiric people who drinks in young people’s essences and live on (laugh). I hope to produce more games that people like, and we’d not want to disappoint America’s challenging spirit by not trying new things.”
Also at the Conference, Sony introduced their new PS3 network service “Home”. The screenshots from the link will take you through: Central Lounge (communication via keyboard/Bluetooth), Character Customization (loads of possible combinations for clothing and facial expressions), Game Space (play a few free games with other players), Hall of Fame (trophies from the games you’ve played are displayed here, and other people can see it too), Private Room (your very own virtual home to be customized according to your tastes; friends can be invited also), Sports Lobby (sport-related games and news), Theatre Lobby (HD trailers of upcoming films and games; can also be used to show friends’ own movies), and Virtual PSP (a ‘remote’ that’ll let you go places).
Fire Emblem for the Wii looks fairly good. It’s the usual turn-based strategy game, and you can use three different controllers depending on your needs/tastes (GC controller, Wii remote, or the classic controller). On their official site, you can take a look at 2 sets of TV ads and 1 introduction movie (the latter telling you that if one of your characters die, there’s no way you can have him back). Out now in Japan, so how long do you think it’ll take for it to get abroad, eh?