hudson-entertainment
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Hudson's final years detailed by insider
In about a month, Hudson will likely be nothing more than a brand name, having been fully absorbed by Konami. In a post on The Kartel, John "Master" Lee, who wore a couple of hats at US-based Hudson Entertainment -- including former VP of sales and marketing, and general manager of games publishing -- explains in his own words the "downfall" of the company. Lee, who was employed at Hudson Entertainment from 2006 until 2009, and continued working with the company after he left, gives a detailed account of Hudson's US division's rise and fall. He explains how the disaster of Bomberman: Act Zero came to be, why the US division started making good money for the company and how that attention eventually led Konami to make its final takeover. It's a good human account of the big business of gaming and cross-Pacific relations.
Report: Hudson Entertainment shut down
A blog post by Hudson Entertainment brand manager Morgan Haro reveals that Hudson Entertainment, the California-based American arm of Japan's Hudson Soft, is closing down. "It was revealed today," Haro said in the post, "that all of Hudson's previously planned projects have been canceled and that our office will be closing it's doors at the end of February." Hudson Entertainment has been active since 2003; prior to that, "Hudson Soft USA" published games from 1988 through 1995. The closing is a result of Konami's full acquisition of Hudson Soft, after which Haro speculates "there apparently won't be any need for the talents within the San Mateo offices of Hudson Entertainment." Haro also speculated that the difficulty of finding an audience for Japanese games in the west, and the proliferation of both giant publishers and indies, as recent problems for Hudson. "You're either a hit, or an indie developer looking to be a hit." Hudson's most recent American release was Lost in Shadow on Wii.
Lost in Shadow preview: Seeing the light
I've played Lost in Shadow twice so far at preview events, and both times I was moved to ask, "Could this game end up on other platforms -- XBLA and PSN perhaps?" Both times the game's representatives said no. Lost in Shadow is headed to Wii this January as a retail release, and that could be a real shame -- though the game is "aimed at kids, but enjoyable for adults as well," according to a pitchman, history suggests that this unique, beautiful, third-party platformer from Hudson is unlikely to be a sales hit. But for Lost in Shadow's sake, let's hope Wii owners discover this possible gem -- they might just find a very pretty, endearing game with an interesting platforming twist. %Gallery-105078%
ESRB rates Castlevania: Rondo of Blood for Wii
[Castlevania Dungeon] According to a recent "T for Teen" classification by the ESRB, Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (better known as Dracula X: Rondo of Blood) appears to be heading to the Wii. An OFLC rating of the game back in December already hinted at the possibility of the game arriving on the Wii's Virtual Console (the Japanese version was released in April 2008), but the ESRB rating's description seems to clinch it, citing the "early-90s rendering" of "reddish blood-like bursts." Previously, unless you were a resident of Japan who owned a PC Engine CD in the early '90s (or, more likely, a PSP owner anywhere in the world within the past two years ago), there wasn't an easy way for you to get your hands on "Akumajō Dracula X Chi no Rondo" (Rondo of Blood's Japanese title). But now, it seems that Wii owners outside of Japan will get the chance to check out the game.
Tower of Shadow renamed: Lost in Shadow
The short-lived title of Hudson's platformer Tower of Shadow has been reborn as Lost in Shadow. Everything else about the game, which seems to have its puzzles based in the perception and angle of shadows, appears to remain the same, with a release date shining upon mid-2010. Some new images have been cast upon the gallery below. Be sure to check out the trailer (in Germanese) released during GamesCom to get a better idea of what to expect from the game. There's something about living shadows that is still unbelievably creepy. %Gallery-71427%
Hit the slopes with new Snowboard Riot screens
Click image to head down the mountain of screens Hudson has just sent over some new screens for its upcoming snowboarding game, Snowboard Riot. While we've yet to see any folks vandalizing storefronts or yanking truck drivers out of their vehicles, we will say there is plenty of snowboarding going on. So, at least Hudson got that half of the game's name right. Check out the new screens in our gallery below.%Gallery-36618%
Hudson US president resigns post
There's been a changing of the guard at Hudson Entertainment, the North American flavor of Konami-owned Hudson Soft, as president and CEO John Greiner will take his leave of the company on May 15. Hudson notes that it currently has no plans to look for new blood to bring in to replace Greiner, instead stating that the U.S. division's senior exec and chairman Seiichi Ishigaki will step in to fill his shoes. Citing the reason for his departure, the 20-year exec noted plans to "spend time with his family and pursue personal interests," which knowing Hudson as we do probably means hemming them into a corner with a bomb before admiring the carnage from a safe distance. Once the smoke clears, we wish Greiner the very best.
Wii Fanboy Interview: Hudson's Mike Samachisa on Deca Sports
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/nintendo/Wii_Fanboy_interviews_Hudson_console_division_head'; As you all know, we've had our eye on Deca Sports for quite some time. It really looks like a fun compilation of sports. But, to sway any doubt about the game's excellence that we may have had lingering around in our mind, Mike Samachisa, the head of Hudson Entertainment's console division, answered some of our questions regarding the game.Why wasn't Wi-Fi support added? What made them go with this collection of sports? What sports did they have to cut? Which is better: Wii Sports or Deca Sports? Head on past the break to get a better idea for what the present and future holds for Hudson's Deca Sports game.%Gallery-7109%
Hudson announces Dungeon Explorer for PSP
Hudson Entertainment a bringing a classic gaming franchise to the PSP next year in the form of Dungeon Explorer: Warriors of Ancient Arts. The game is due out in February and will feature improved graphics and features while still maintaining the same dungeon crawling gameplay of the original. Dugeon Explorer for the PSP will feature a huge selection of different weapons, armour types and equipment. There will also be more than 150 different kinds of fighting arts and the game will be playable with up to two other people in Ad-Hoc mode. There's no mention so far of an infrastructure mode, sadly.We have a great selection of screenshots of the game in the gallery below. Be sure to check them out and prepare yourself to explore some dungeons shortly after the new year comes around.%Gallery-10378%
Bomberman Live explosive interview
DAKing240 over at Xbox 360 Achievements got to sit down with Peter Dassenko, Associate Producer at Hudson Entertainment about their upcoming Xbox Live Arcade release, Bomberman Live. The interview covers a lot of interesting points, like the development process for the game, and how they came up with some of the title's more interesting Achievements. It's a good read,and Peter has some uniquely clever ways of answering some of the questions. Check out the full interview by clicking the "Read" link.
Joystiq impressions: Omega Five (XBLA)
As recently leaked, Omega Five is Hudson's next XBLA game to ship after July's Bomberman Live. At a blogger event today, Hudson briefly showed this chaotic Natsume-developed title, and I got a chance to helm a floating ninja-like character in this side-scrolling shoot-'em-up world.What?Yes. Not the first shooter to star human characters, Omega Five sure has a lot of "strange" going for it. But that could be a good thing.%Gallery-3982%
Rengoku moves from PSP to mobile phones
Ah yes, remember Rengoku: The Tower of Purgatory? Doesn't register a blip? How about its sequel, Rengoku 2: The Stairway to H.E.A.V.E.N.? If neither game registers anything resembling warm or fuzzy, the metareview scores say you are not alone. It would seem that after two lackluster efforts on the PSP system, Hudson Entertainment has decided to stake its claim on the mobile phone market with yet another of their franchise titles. This Rengoku go-round has the cybernetic hero GRAM, "searching for the truth behind his existence." John Greiner, CEO of Hudson Entertainment believes its new home on the mobile platform is "a perfect fit" since it "features a healthy dose of action and adventure that cell phone gamers are sure to relish." Good riddance to bad rubbish, we say.
Bomberman Live 100% official, local multiplayer
In a daring attempt to reveal a shocking surprise to the world, Hudson Entertainment has announced that it is bringing Bomberman Live to Xbox Live Arcade. While the announcement was rather expected, considering both the game's rating and a video have already been leaked, it's nice to hear it from the horse's mouth. Hudson did reveal a few new bits of information. The game will support 8-player multiplayer via Xbox Live. Also (thank the heavens) the game will support 4-player local multiplayer (which was not supported at all by Bomberman Act: Zero). Finally, characters in Bomberman Live will be fully customizable. That's nice and all, but we'll be sticking with black Bomberman, thank you very much. We always totally have dibs on black Bomberman.
Old school Bomberman coming to XBLA?
Again, we get a game announcement coming from a ratings board certification website. Well, not an "official" announcement, but an announcement that gets our speculative gears turning. Over on Australia's media certification website (the OFLC), they have a listing for Bomberman Live on the Xbox 360 being developed by ... Hudson Entertainment. Wait, didn't Hudson create that horrible Act Zero game that was nothing like our beloved Bomberman? Yes they did, but we're praying Hudson is simply polishing up an old school Bomberman for the XBLA. Yup, you can call us crazy, but we're thinking (hoping) Bomberman Live is an XBLA title that'll be announced within' the next month or so. Because why would they create another crappy Bomberman game like Act Zero? Really ... why would they? So, being the optimists that we are, anyone up for some old school Bomberman action on the XBLA?[Via Game Stooge]
