XBox 360 Rally

Hi, boys and girls. It’s just me, your friendly neighborhood JW, here to remind you all that we’re currently looking for people to replace us here at Xbox 360 Rally. All you have to do is go HERE, fill out the form, and wait to hear back. It’s really not that hard.

So, get to it already — so Paco and I can get to the NEW site!

Enterbrain, a research company from Japan, has reported on this beautiful Friday morning that Halo 3, which was released in Japan yesterday, sold 45,000 copies.

When you consider that Blue Dragon, the highest selling Xbox 360 title in the land of the rising sun, sold 83,000 it’s first week, I’d say Halo 3 may become a moderate success over there.

In an effort to differentiate my two articles, here’s a little added something: I never could understand why the Japanese hate the Xbox so much. I know that our vastly differing cultures make it difficult to sell one product in the other’s home territory, but come on. Japan is the only market where the PS3 is beating the 360, and that just tells me something is wrong here… or there. Whichever.

[Xbox360Only.nl]

Microsoft, Xbox 360, Bungie, Halo 3, Japan

Ok, people, here’s the deal — Paco and I are on our way out. We’re taking over at 1PStart.com in an effort to restore it to it’s former glory. …that, and I just plain want to write about another game every once in a while, is that so wrong?!

Anyways, here is what we’re looking for: A competent, capable writer with a love for all things Xbox. Now, by competent writer, we mean someone who spells “you” correctly, and knows when to capitalize. If you can do that, you’re a shoe-in. So, CLICK THIS DAMN LINK, do the required stuff, then get paid to play video games and write about stuff.

…hell, Mike and I did the hard stuff already, and YES, the GTA4 Banner contest will continue, and I will still give you a copy of GTA IV… or something. So, hop to it.

Xbox 360 Rally, JW, Stuff, Job Openings

Ok, check out this exclusive GameTrailers intro to Beautiful Katamari, the upcoming sequel to Katamari Damacy…

…I want some of whatever the hell he’s on.

Microsoft, Xbox 360, Namco, Beautiful Katamari

The servers are melting. Paco spilled his cola on the keyboard. JW’s out back trying to wrangle the horses. In short, we’re all kinds of FUBAR, so we may not be able to update as much as we’d like today.

Sorry, peeps. We’ll be back soon.

There has been a lot of controversy regarding a recently posted rumor regarding SEGA’s possible Tokyo Game Show line-up. Now, I was originally very defensive of this piece because of who sent it in. He, a long-time go-to guy named Rob, has sent me exclusive tips for four years, and until this most recent one, they were ALL accurate.

Regardless, after the link had been posted by reader “Cedge”, I immediately contacted Rob via GoogleIM.

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Tomonobu Itagaki is one of my favorite personalities in all the gaming world. He’s the Slash of gaming, if you will. Recently the fairly cool cats over at Joystiq (although we here at X360R firmly believe that their Xbox exclusive brother is much, much cooler to drink beer with) got the opportunity to sit down with the legendary game designer to probe his mind about Ninja Gaiden 2, Code Chronus, and which console is the favorite of the man in black.

First thing first: Ninja Gaiden 2. Try as they might, Joystiq couldn’t get crap from Itagaki regarding NG2. While they blame our weak, inferior beer products, I firmly believe this is because Itagaki will only give away information to you about as-yet-unannounced projects if you play Russian Roulette with him. Well, I have news for you, Itagaki-san: Deer Hunter is one of my favorite films. Let’s dance.

We did learn about the pet project over at Team Ninja, Code Chronus. Namely, we learned that it will feature DOA characters, and… no, that’s it. Damn.

Who am I kidding? I don’t care about Code Chronus, and we know that NG2 will rule once we finally see it. This is ALL about Itagaki’s continued hatred for all things Tekken. A while back, 1UP asked Itagaki to list his favorite, and least favorite games of all time. While his favorite games were a diverse collection of modern and classic, his least favorite games went like this:

Tekken
Tekken 2
Tekken 3
Tekken 4
Tekken 5

The man hath spoken. And he says Tekken blows.

[Joystiq]

Microsoft, Xbox 360, Tomonobu Itagaki, Tekken, Dead or Alive

It goes without saying that the Japanese love their RPGs. Hell, they love them so much that they, to date, have made over twenty sequels to a supposed “Final” Fantasy (that counts sequels, spin-offs, etc.). For a console that is struggling as bad as the Xbox 360 is in Japan, it would be a no-brainer that RPGs such as Blue Dragon and Eternal Sonata would only help the console’s cause. Especially since we’re not getting Metal Gear Solid 4 (sorry kiddies, we’re not gettin’ it — get over it.).

So when news that The Elder Scrolls IV: Onlivion was making it’s way to Japan, suffice to say it was destined to be a hit — and a hit it was, selling over 35,000 copies in it’s first day of release in the land of the rising sun.

Considering the sheer volume of cries, pleas, online petitions and downright threats (I assume there were threats) calling for Oblivion to come to Japan, it should come as no surprise that people want to play this epic RPG. Just look at what Bethesda did with Oblivion. They redubbed the entire opening cinematic in Japanese, and went about translating (albeit into subtitles) every line of dialogue, as well as every book, scroll and poster throughout all of Cyrrodiil.

In the end, Oblivion doesn’t fix Microsoft’s woes in Japan. But, with quality, popular RPG titles like Blue Dragon and Eternal Sonata already on the market, as well as upcoming games like The Last Remnant, and Lost Odyssey, this could be a major stepping stone in making the Xbox a viable brand in Japan.

[360-gamer]

Microsoft, Xbox 360, Bethesda, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

The past couple of weeks have been pretty lacking in the w31rdness, mostly due to E3 and it’s aftermath. It happens every year. But not to fear, this week I’ve found a few items for you that I think will tickle everyone’s fancy. From kidnapping and extortion, to your weekly WoW update, to pure, raw sex appeal, this week’s entry has a bit of everything for everyone.

And with that, I present this week’s “t3h w31rd”!

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I am guessing enlarging this image is most likely NSFW, nothing really bad though. Just the 360 getting a nice advert.

Want to know more about this chick and various people commenting on the film as well as a million other comments not necessarily about the film, check the [Neo Gaf Forums]

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Looks like the Japanese community is warming up to the Xbox 360 more and more. We all knew how when Blue Dragon came out, it basically became a system seller. When playing “Lost Planet,” I always find rooms filled with those from the land of the rising sun. Now looking over to Amazon.co.jp, you can see on the Top Sellers list, it has hit the number 3 spot. Not too shabby for a game not coming out till June and with both PS3 and Wii lacking in games, at least in the near future (I stop counting all the times they give big announcements on upcoming games, only to have the dates pushed back over and over). Of course the 360 as we all know isn’t the big thing in Japan, or a little thing, but this is positive news and their user base can only continue to grow (and that of course can help branch off into more developers working on our baby).

[Note: if you are into RPG’s at all, I think its time to make a silver account and give Eternal Sonata a try yourself, then start saving your pennies for when we get a release date in the states)

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As always, thanks to the mighty Destructoid. As you know, Demo’s are sometimes released in exclusivity to certain areas of the world… well.. Nick “Brutal” Chester breaks it down. He writes a great article with information that some may or may not have known, that isn’t the point, he simplified it so we all now can enjoy a Demo of a game that they don’t normally offer us U.S. city folk.

To ensure this was all accurate information, I became a lab rat, and it has paid off, I am at 31% complete of getting and enjoying the demo of a game I have wanted for so long…. now if only they had a Blue Dragon demo (oh why can’t I be satisfied). So what you all need, the instructions, click to read below: (more…)

Take a look at that pretty, IGN-branded picture. As for the game that is bundled with the Xbox Core system over in Japan, I have never heard of it. But if it’s anywhere near as successful as the Blue Dragon bundle was, then Microsoft may be taking another baby step towards getting some respect in the land of the rising sun.

Here is the lowdown on the “Xbox 360 Core System Trusty Bell Chopan no Yume Premium Pack”…that’s it’s actual name. All it’s missing is “USA #1!” and a half-naked chick. But here’s what you get: The Xbox 360 Core System, 1 Wired Controller, the AV Cables, the game “Trusty Bell” and if you had pre-ordered the game, then you get a copy of the game’s soundtrack. Smooth.

I hate how the Japanese always get all the cool stuff!

Microsoft, Xbox 360, Xbox 360 Core, Trusty Bell” bundle, Japan