- Famitsu awards veterans of the gaming industry
 At this year's Famitsu Awards, Hironobu Sakaguchi was distinguished as the Most Valuable Person, Nintendo won big with Pocket Monster, Mario netted the honor of character of the year, and Square's long-time RPG mainstay Akitoshi Kawazu accepted the award for best game. All in all, last year's big winner (in Famitsu's judgment, anyway) is old school gaming. Images, details
- Taito's next stage
 Taito, the developer of such fixtures of the classic gaming canon as Bubble Bobble and Space Invaders, is now part of Square Enix, and currently one of Japan's leading developers of arcade machines. In the past few years Taito has been developing their new arcade hardware named Type X based on PC architecture, in an effort to shorten development time and facilitate the creation of console games. Square Haven spoke with Takashi (Tak) Naito, senior general manager of Taito about the recent strategies of the company's arcade division. Details
- Hitoshi Sakimoto provides exclusive music to the A Night in Fantasia website
 Eminence have unveiled a small yet fresh composition from composer Hitoshi Sakimoto on their website for their upcoming concert A Night in Fantasia. While not epic in nature, it does resemble the feel of Final Fantasy XII and does the job of providing background music well. Check it out
- Eminent Square musicians headed to Australia
 Eminence, as previously advised is holding its next two concerts in the Night in Fantasia series in Sydney and Melbourne. Joining the already superb list of guests consisting of Hitoshi Sakimoto, Yoko Shimomura, Yasunori Mitsuda (Sydney only), Junichi Nakatsuru and Masaru Shiina will be Kow Otani (Shadow of the Colossus, Haibane Renmei) and Shiro Hamaguchi (orchestrator of many modern FF pieces including One-Winged Angel. (Both of the additional guests will be in Sydney only.) Will the Mitsuda be revising his performance of signature Celtic music on the bouzouki? Be in Sydney on the weekend of April 20 or Melbourne on April 27 to find out. Read on
- Can games be taken seriously?
 Now that influential game developers like Square Enix intend to develop "serious games," the genre appears to be poised for a major breakthrough. The Serious Games Summit track of this year's Game Developers Conference featured a series of lectures focused on the goal of developing interactive products for training and instructional purposes. But is the interest of Square Enix, Columbia University, and even DARPA enough to get games taken seriously? Serious games
- Eiji Aonuma reflects upon the history of Zelda
 Eiji Aonuma, Producer of Software Development for Nintendo, has been the creative director of the Zelda series since The Ocarina of Time. In his Game Developers Conference lecture "Twilight Reflections in the Hourglass," Aonuma described the evolution of the series and his current project for the NDS: Phantom Hourglass.
. GDC 2007
- Koji Kondo paints interactive musical landscape
 Koji Kondo's lecture delivered at the Game Developers Conference described the evolution over the years of the interactive component of his game music. Isolating examples from the original Super Mario Bros. to Zelda: Twilight Princess, the composer described ways interactive media provide an entirely different approach to communicating with the listener than what is possible with film or television. GDC 2007
- Iga: 2D games will never die!
 Koji Igarashi, the producer of the Castlevania series, stated in a lecture delivered at the Game Developers Conference that he will continue to work on 2D action titles. Not unlike the fame of his hallmark series, or the caped vampires who inhabit them, the game designer proclaimed, "2D games will never die!" GDC 2007
- The Playstation 3 finds its Home
 Phil Harrison's keynote speech at the Game Developers Conference centered on a new downloadable service available for the Playstation 3 console. Called Playstation Home, the service will offer players a virtual space to decorate with furniture, wallpapers, and trophies acquired by completing special objectives in Playstation 3 titles. Following the announcement, Harrison turned over the stage to the designers of a network-friendly collaborative game called LittleBigPlanet. GDC 2007
- Miyamoto Wife-o-Meter rating at all-time high
 In his keynote speech at the Game Developers Conference today, game designer Shigeru Miyamoto addressed Nintendo's goal of winning a more expansive audience. "It is not enough to just please those of us who already love videogames," said Miyamoto. "We must reach out to those who aren’t really interested in games." His wife, who has shown little concern for videogames, has been converted by Brain Age and Wii Sports. Miyamoto claims the victory earns Nintendo a high "Wife-o-Meter rating." GDC 2007
- Square Haven to cover Game Developers Conference
 The 2007 Game Developers Conference starts tomorrow with a keynote speech by Square Enix chief strategist Ichiro Otobe. Also scheduled to present at the conference is Final Fantasy series programmer Taku Murata, giving a postmortem of Final Fantasy XII, along with localization director Richard Mark Honeywood, talking on the videogame translation process. Square Haven will be in San Francisco wearing flowers in our hair to bring you the latest news from the event. Details
- Tara Strong to voice Kluke in Blue Dragon
 Tara Strong, who performed the role of Rikku in Final Fantasy X-2, is currently at work voicing the character of Kluke in Blue Dragon. "I love playing 'Kluke,'" the veteran voice actor says. "She's cute and strong and different." The game is produced by Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi and features Chrono Trigger character designer Akira Toriyama, as well as music by Nobuo Uematsu. Q&A
- Not-quite photo-realistic game images really creeping people out
 Roboticist Masahiro Mori coined the term "Uncanny Valley" in 1970 to refer to the anxiety produced by looking at human marionettes that are entirely lifelike... only not quite. Now the term is being used to describe near photo-realistic videogames like French developer Quantic Dream's Playstation 3 thriller Heavy Rain, whose kinda almost lifelike visuals are reportedly really creeping the shit out of people. The term "uncanny" comes from Sigmund Freud's concept of the Unheimlichkeit, the sensation of seeing a dreamlike image in reality. Be sure to weigh QD's Uncanny Valley effect against Square Enix's equally Freudian Sexy Lightning effect when deciding your game purchases. BBC
- Police enforce Mario Sunshine
 Deviant college students were found painting offensive pixel art today on the brick walkways of University of North Carolina's Halton Arena. The mural of reptilian Mario arch-nemesis Bowser rendered in pastel chalk was discovered by the police with the help of several upright student informants on the scene. Details
- NOA considers Japan-only titles for Virtual Console
 Wired correspondent Chris Kohler reports that Nintendo of America senior vice president George Harrison is considering bringing certain titles previously available only in Japan to the Wii virtual console. "We are aware that there are some very successful Japanese franchises that have a small following in the US," said the VP. "And that they could never be reached by putting these products out at retail. We're open to games released in Japan if we can get them translated properly." What do you think? Would you pay ten bucks for Mother or Seiken Densetsu 3 on Wii? Wired
- Voices and Choices: A Conversation with Shawn Lee
 Shawn Lee is blessed with an abundance of musical gifts. During 2006 he was burning the midnight oil in recording studios all over London to furnish listeners with a dazzling array of sounds. Shawn Lee’s Ping Pong Orchestra released Strings and Things in February on Ubiquity Records. His eagerly awaited album Soul Visa, previously available only in Japan, emerged in April, featuring the Witchita-born composer's very own vocal talents. Today he is here to talk about Bully Original Soundtrack, his videogame music debut. Square Haven Interview
- Pope ostracizes videogames
 In his most courageous stance since condemning birth control and same-sex marriage, Pope Benedict XVI has taken a bold stand against videogames. "Any trend to produce programs and products—including animated films and video games," said the Pope, "which in the name of entertainment exalt violence and portray anti-social behavior or the trivialization of human sexuality is a perversion." The papal leader suggested children enjoy fine art, classical music, and sumptuous meats and wines instead. "How could one explain this 'entertainment' to the countless innocent young people who actually suffer violence, exploitation and abuse?" remarked the religious leader. "The Catholic Church cannot advocate any custom or convention that involves the exploitation and abuse of children." Dogma
- バルフレアという役の舞台作り：Gideon Emeryとのインタビュー
 バークシャー州ウィンザー生まれのギデオン・エメリーはヨハネスブルグのウィットウォーター大学で演劇を専攻、舞台、テレビ、ラジオと南アフリカで大活躍。演劇『Heel Against the Head』での演技でナショナル・ヴィタ・アワード・フォー・コメディー賞を受賞。今回は『ファイナルファンタジーXII インターナショナルゾディアックジョブシステム』の中で、空賊バルフレア・ブナンサの声を演じた彼にインタビューした。 インタビュー
- Entertainment for All Expo flung to the masses
 IDG, the company responsible for GamePro Magazine, will be hosting an E3 event for the common man. At least, so long as the common man is willing to foot the $100 entrance fee. The Entertainment for All Expo will take place at the Los Angeles Convention Center, the locus of the old Electronic Entertainment Expo, thereby capturing all the hype and mania of the famed convention, without the strategic announcements and free tote bags. The first-ever not-quite-free-for-all E for All will take place October 18-20, 2007. The rundown
- Hitoshi Sakimoto back in business
 The composer behind Final Fantasy XII and Final Fantasy Tactics is back to score two more games for Square Enix, as well as two other titles. He is also underway on his first anime project. Read on
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23 Apr 2007 by 
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