Late Night Consoling

Microsoft launched its Xbox 360 console in Japan this weekend, and various sites have coverage of the proceedings. The concensus seems to be that the launch party went off quite well, but the followup sales throughout the country were not particularly explosive. There are photographs of store shelves filled with unsold units, a sharp contrast to the complete unavailability of the console in many North American and European locations since the machine launched a few weeks ago.

However, it must be said that the Japanese launch lineup ended up rather uninspiring with six titles, especially after key games such as Team NINJA's Dead or Alive 4 and From's [eM] -eNCHANT arM- were postponed. Microsoft has repeatedly stated that the company plans to stick it out in Japan for the long haul, frequently comparing the situation to a marathon rather than a sprint. The company has been working overtime in attracting Japanese development talent, but it is still coming from a market share of significantly less than one percent in the previous generation, and Japan is a country where robust online experiences--possibly Microsoft's greatest strength in the console world--are not as highly prized as they are in the West.

At a press release in Japan, Capcom revealed that it is developing an Xbox 360 sci-fi action game in the form of a title called Lost Planet: Extreme Condition. It is set in a desolate glacial world where human inhabitants wear mech-like environment suits to travel through the harsh conditions. They are pitted against an insect-like race which seems better equipped for survival on the planet. The player controls Wayne, a man who suffers from amnesia at the game's outset but who still recalls that his father was killed by the monsters. The game seems to be controlled from the third person whether on foot or in the mecha suits.

Top billing is given to executive producer Keiji Inafune, who created Onimusha and Mega Man. Resident Evil 5 producer Jun Takeuchi will be doing production work on Lost Planet as well. Shin Kurosawa of Mega Man Battle Network and Kenji Ohguro of Onimuhsa will codirect.

Lost Planet is set for a Japanese release in 2006. The official site is entirely in Japanese but, surprisingly, features a trailer in English with Japanese subtitles.

Namco has officially announced Tales of the Tempest, a Nintendo DS RPG in the company's long-running Tales series. The game follows the story of Caius Qualls, whose village is attacked early on. Caius soon leaves on a journey to find his true parents after it is revealed that his foster father is of a different race. Character design in the game will be handled by Mutsumi Inomata, known for his work on Tales of Destiny, Eternia, and Rebirth.

The game will see Japanese release in 2006, with North American and European versions not yet announced.

Namco has announced that Smart Bomb Interactive, the studio behind the upcoming Pac-Man World Rally (PS2, Xbox, GCN, PSP, PC), is developing a game based on Peanuts' well-known Snoopy character. Entitled Snoopy vs. the Red Baron, the game puts players in the role of Charles Schultz' cartoon dog in his identity as the imaginary World War I flying ace. In the comics, Snoopy was portrayed as dogfighting with his nemesis the Red Baron while perched motionless upon his signature red doghouse. In this game that seems to slightly miss the point of the comic's portrayal of Snoopy's imagination in which he was perennially portrayed as never quite managing to best his foe, the player actually takes to the sky in an upgradable aircraft featuring Peanuts pun-themed weapons such as the Woodstock missile.

The game is set for release in Fall 2006 for PS2, Xbox, PSP, and PC.

Everyone knows Pokemon is big money, but I for one was not aware of the full profitability of Game Freaks' popular franchise. To date, the series and its associated merchandise and licensing deals have brought in $30 billion. Egads.

GameSpot has a Q&A with Pseudo Interactive producer Cord Smith on the status of Full Auto (PS3, X360).

While on a visit to Microsoft's Xbox HQ, Joystiq snapped some photographs of J Allard's almost embarassingly extreme Xbox 360, complete with an array of skateboard company stickers.

Official PlayStation Magazine takes a look at the character design process behind Namco's Soul Calibur III (PS2).