Sora
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YouTube CEO warns OpenAI that training models on its videos is against the rules
YouTube CEO Neal Mohan stated that OpenAI using its videos to train AI tool Sora would violate its terms of use.
Pokémon manga e-books are available in schools and libraries worldwide
Pokémon manga e-books are now available to public libraries and schools worldwide through OverDrive, Inc. Students and library patrons can visit overdrive.com to find a participating library. From there, you'll be able to download Pokémon magna titles published by Viz Media, either on a web browser or via the Libby or Sora apps. Borrowed titles will expire at the end of the lending period, so as an added perk, there are no late fees.
Metareview: Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS
We handed Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS four and half stars, calling it "the most feature-complete, compelling Super Smash Bros. entry to date," and setting it right alongside Fire Emblem: Awakening and The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds as a game that every 3DS owner should play. Critics around the web seem to agree that Super Smash Bros.' first outing on 3DS is worthy of high praise, though experiences with online play seem to vary across the board. Our own experience was fairly positive, depending largely on the geographical proximity of opponents. One critic notes lag issues in local multiplayer, especially in 4-player matches. Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS launches in North America on October 3.
Super Smash Bros. 3DS review: Only the strong
It may not be the undisputed industry leader these days, and Nintendo currently faces stronger competition than it ever has, but one thing you can't take away from the Japanese gaming giant is its wealth of iconic, beloved characters. From Mario to Link to Donkey Kong (and on through another few dozen familiar names), Nintendo is responsible for the majority of gaming's most famous faces. In hindsight, the idea to combine them all into one massive fighting game nostalgia bomb was sublime genius, and the Super Smash Bros. games have been among Nintendo's most popular releases on each console they've reached. It doesn't hurt that the games have all been solidly constructed from a combination of unique fighting game mechanics and spot-on controls, but let's be frank, people are buying these games because they're the best way to punch Pikachu in his cute, smug little face. That all might change with the latest entry in the series, however. Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS (that's the full title) is as much a trip down Nintendo's memory lane as any of its predecessors, but there's more meat here than in prior games. More to see, more to do, and all of it is built on the most solid fundamentals the series has yet seen. But is all of that enough to survive the franchise's first jump to a portable system? And what of the new online components, which have been a key failing of prior Super Smash Bros. games? Nintendo, along with development partners Namco and Sora, seems pretty confident, and the more time I spend with Super Smash Bros. for 3DS, the more I see why.
No cross-platform play for Smash Bros on 3DS and Wii U
The Wii U and 3DS versions of the new Super Smash Bros. will not feature cross-platform play, director of Sora Ltd. Masahiro Sakurai tells Joystiq. Since each version of the game has completely different stages, cross-platform play wouldn't work, he told us through an interpreter. Each version will interact with one another, however, as announced back in 2011. Specifically, players will be able to take characters they've customized and transfer them to the Wii U version. He wouldn't elaborate on exactly what those customizations are, saying only that they won't be costumes and they won't be something that players have to unlock through repetitive tasks. Different costumes, he said, would take away from what makes each character unique. He also wanted to avoid boring, repetitive tasks, while Sora works to produce a "stress free, easy connectivity" between the two versions. When asked if the level editor would return, Sakurai gave us a "no comment."
Relive the Kingdom Hearts 3 E3 announcement
Kingdom Hearts 3 has no official release date yet, but we do know it's coming to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. In the meantime, here's the announcement trailer.
Here's some wonderful Smash Bros. whiteboard art from Sakurai's team
We don't know how far in development Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U is, but we know for a fact that the staff at Sora Ltd. is at least thinking about the series. And by "thinking" we mean "doodling on a whiteboard."Studio head Masahiro Sakurai tweeted the above whiteboard portrait, explaining that the staff drew it, and it's "excellent." They were smart enough to make Kirby the center of attention, which is always a good move when the guy who created him is your boss. But check out flying Luigi!
Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS 'several years' away, Sakurai says
When Nintendo announced that Smash Bros. was en route to its Wii U and 3DS systems, longtime fans of the fighting series may have, in elation, momentarily forgotten how much time elapses during the announcement and launch. As creative lead Masahiro Sakurai explains in his weekly Famitsu column (translated by 1UP), the next game is "several years" away from completion. "It makes me cringe," he laments, referring to the two game projects being added to his plate. "And I'm not sure it's the smartest thing to make gamers wait for several years, but the early announcement was made chiefly in order to attract new team members." Apparently all of his studio's resources are currently being poured into Kid Icarus: Uprising for the 3DS. "We've got no plans whatsoever -- we've got two new games out there in the open when there's no extra time to work with them at all." At least with these games, Sakurai knew ahead of time. With the Wii's Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Nintendo head Satoru Iwata announced the game before Sakurai even knew it was a project he would be working on. "With previous projects I had a game design document in place before forming a team, but with this I don't have the time for that. I won't be able to look at every aspect of the game and balance out all the characters by myself this time," he writes. Before the Wii U announcement Sakurai's studio, Project Sora, "had intended to make a 3DS Smash Bros.," but doubled up after seeing the Wii U. "If we went solely for the Wii U, the HD graphics would really bump up the visual effects, but then we'd be stuck in another arms race. If we made this game another extension over the previous one, we'd have to cut out the new things we could possibly do on the 3DS hardware and compete with ourselves again over the size of the character roster and the amount of gameplay we can put in it." If your heart stops every time Iwata takes the stage at a press conference, just imagine how Mr. Sakurai reacts.
Nomura working to 'realize' Kingdom Hearts III, explains Sora's furry origins
Two noteworthy pieces of information came out of a recent Famitsu interview (as translated by Andriasang) with Square Enix's Tetsuya Nomura regarding the prolific Disney-Final Fantasy mash-up franchise, Kingdom Hearts. The first isn't all that surprising -- when questioned at the end of the interview about Kingdom Hearts III, Nomura simply replied "Regarding III, fans and partners alike are pressing us for it, so we'll work to realize it as soon as possible." Here's the more intriguing (or disturbing, depending on how you look at it) tidbit -- when asked about Sora's character design, Nomura remarked that the Disney staff made a few alterations to his outfit, explaining his stupid big shoes and pants. He went on to reveal that, in addition to wielding a chainsaw-sword instead of a giant key, Sora once possessed a tail and "beast-like ears." That can only mean one thing in our book: Furry. We'll take outrageously baggy pants over unsettling therianthropy any day of the week.
Project Sora hiring for non-Smash Bros. game
Last month, Nintendo announced the formation of Project Sora, a new studio created from the combination of Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai's Sora Ltd. and a pile of Nintendo's money. This week, the new company took out a full-page ad in Famitsu seeking new employees.The ad reiterates that Sora is working on "something that Nintendo can't create by themselves." Nintendo president Satoru Iwata also has quotes in the ad, which provide one small detail: "I am asking for something special here, something that isn't Smash Bros.," Iwata says. While it's entirely possible Sora or another studio is also working on another Smash Bros. title, the mysterious game that the developer is focusing on right now is something else. We don't even know which system it will involve!
Nintendo opens new studio helmed by Sakurai
Nintendo has announced the opening of a new Tokyo-based studio named Project Sora. The studio will be helmed by Smash Bros director Masahiro Sakurai, who seems to have been given complete creative freedom for the project. The official website is relatively bare at the moment, but includes a dialogue between Sakurai and Iwata, in which they discuss the studio's direction.Information regarding the studio's first title is sparse, though Iwata says that it is "something that can be made because Nintendo is backing you up, but is also something that Nintendo could not make." He also indicates that it doesn't fit in the Touch Generations catalog, hopefully meaning it'll be geared more towards hardcore gamers. "If one were simply considering effective use of funding, we'd have went [sic] with a plan similar to Touch Generations. But that's not I wanted."We're intrigued to find out more about Project Sora, but it's very early days. Give them a year or so and we should be hearing a lot more about what they've got cooking.[Via GI.biz]
Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days + NA release confirmed = headline
Square Enix has confirmed a North American release for Kingdom Hearts: Ludicrous Subtitle (AKA Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days), the Action-RPG franchise's first entry on the Nintendo DS. The game revolves around Roxas, star of Kingdom Hearts II's prolonged prologue and one-time member of My Chemical Romance Organization XIII. Though Square Enix has yet to provide a definitive release date for the English version, players can start looking forward to a series first: a multiplayer mode that allows "players to control their favorite Organization XIII members!" Oh, our favorite? Uh, well ... the one with the spiky hair, ominous coat and largely impractical weapon, obviously.
Classic Melee stages returning in Smash Bros. Brawl
Players intimidated by the chaotic, hazard-heavy stages of Super Smash Bros. Brawl will be delighted to hear that several classic stages will be returning from Smash Bros. Melee. Pictured above, the Temple stage is the only one officially announced, though director Masahiro Sakurai promises "a number" of stages from the Gamecube title (a few of the original N64 states couldn't hurt either, but there's no word on whether or not that's even a possibility).In other news, next Monday is December 3, otherwise known as the former release date of Super Smash Bros. Brawl. As this date has been slowly approaching, we here at Joystiq have noticed that the daily Brawl updates have lacked any startling new information. The last character announced was back in October, meaning that Brawl's blog is definitely overdue for some earth-shattering information. Perhaps Nintendo is holding off to make an announcement on the day we all expected to get our Brawl on? Maybe, maybe not. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.
Kingdom Hearts' Sora goes on a homebrew adventure
Zelda isn't the only homebrew game to make a splash today. DCEmu's forums brings news about Sora's Adventure, which has no reached "version 0.2." It's still unplayable, as it's still very much a work-in-progress, but the trailer (seen above) shows some exciting potential. From the blurry video grab, we see a Chain of Memories-inspired Sora sprite side-scrolling and fighting enemies. An interesting effort, to say the least--I certainly approve of fan-inspired projects over the stealing bootleggers.Hopefully, word of this homebrew game will inspire the over-protective Square-Enix (killers of the ambitious Chrono Trigger remake) to get working on an official version of Kingdom Hearts for the rest of us.
Game weapon lets us into our hotel room
Pictured above: a life-size statue of Sora, the protagonist from hit action-RPG franchise Kingdom Hearts (PS2). We have it on good authority that he held that rictus grin all day, despite the sweaty photogs who shoved lenses in his face. Pictured below: the key to our hotel rooms at the Century Hyatt in Tokyo. Coincidence? Yeah. That's just how some keys are made 'round here. But I'm obsessed with games, so whatever it is I think I see, becomes a tootsie roll to me.
