Kyoto
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Apple Maps' Street View-like feature expands to cities in Japan
So far, Apple Maps’ Street View-like Look Around feature has only been available in select cities in the US. However, it has now expanded internationally for the first time, coming to four cities in Japan: Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Kyoto.
HoloLens adds mixed reality to a Japanese national treasure
One of the best ways to give centuries-old artifacts a modern touch is mixed reality. The technology allows you to add interesting elements to any object without actually touching or altering it in any way. Microsoft, for instance, has helped Tokyo-based mixed reality lab hakuhodo-VRAR turn a Japanese national artwork from the 1600s into an interactive experience for HoloLens. They're applying mixed reality to the The Folding Screen of Fujin and Raijin (Wind and Thunder God), explaining the motivations of its Edo-period artist, Tawaraya Sōtatsu, in an immersive experience.
BitSummit 4 takes over Kyoto with more indie games and devs
BitSummit is back. The annual Japanese indie game festival recently announced its lineup of musicians and speakers including Koji Igarashi of Bloodstained and Castlevania fame, Rez creator Tetsuya Mizguchi, Tom Happ (the man behind Axiom Verge) and Goichi "Suda51" Suda. Oh, and Sony Interactive Entertainment's president of worldwide studios, Shuhei Yoshida.
AMD's Opteron X-series targets Intel Atom for the microserver CPU market
AMD might not be able to keep up (down?) with Intel in the CPU power consumption race, so it's taking another tack with the new Opteron X-series: horsepower. It just announced the Opteron X1150 and X2150 64-bit processors for microservers, part of the Jaguar-codenamed family of CPUs arriving in the next-gen Xbox One and Sony PS4 consoles. Thanks to its ultra-low power 6-watt Atom S1200 chips, Intel excels in the low-power server market, and at 9W and 11W respectively (minimum), AMD's CPUs consume considerably more juice. But AMD is pitching them as a better solution overall, thanks to those four cores (compared to two in the Atom), integrated AMD Radeon HD 8000 graphics on the X2150 model, support for 32GB of RAM and integrated SATA ports. AMD's chips are pricier, though, at $64 (X1150) or $99 (X2150) compared to $54 for Intel's Atom S1200 (all in quantities of 1,000). To top it off, Intel has new 64-bit Atom SoCs coming soon promising even lower power consumption -- possibly leaving AMD to play catch-up again.
Wii Homebrew channel sneaks onto Wii U, sticks with what it knows
Back in 2010, Ninteno's waggle-riffic wonder would occasionally pulsate with a charming blue glow: update me, it said, I have hackers to fight. Although its efforts were quickly circumvented by Hackmii's LetterBomb installer, the Wii's 4.3 update was Nintendo's last stand against the homebrew community -- it hasn't offered an update since. That isn't to say Kyoto's game giant gave up, though; Wii U owners can find a tweaked version of the system menu hidden away in the system's backwards compatibility mode, featuring just enough updated code to block existing exploits. It didn't take the community long to catch up, though -- the homebrew channel was working its way onto select systems using tried and true methods since launch day. Now, the HackMii team has compiled an official installer, letting the average joe bypass the menu's IOS files with ease. Like the PlayStation Vita's PSP-based homebrew loader, this exploit is trapped in the sandbox of its original hardware, effectively blocking it from making the most of the Wii U's fancy internals. It's a modest start (and perhaps a little too easy), but its encouraging to see both Nintendo and the modding community sticking to their guns. Check out HackMii's fancywork at the source below, and give us a buzz if you manage to find your way outside of Nintendo's last-gen sandbox.
Nintendo to pull the plug on 3D TV service in Japan
If you were still holding out for those 3D-erific videos of cute dogs and sumo wrestlers for your American 3DS via Nintendo's "Itsu no Ma ni Terebi" service, bad news just got badder. In short, it's not coming. Ever. In fact, worse than that, the service will take its last look at the rising sun on the 20th of June, as Nintendo has announced that it's shuttering the service one day short of a year since it launched. There is mention of occasional content coming to both 2D and 3D devices via the Nintendo Video service, but if we didn't know better, we'd suggest this is Kyoto's way of saying "I'll call you".
Permoveh personal vehicle prototype can travel sideways, diagonally (video)
We've seen all sorts of great ideas to assist with personal mobility, and we think this prototype is up there with the rest of them. The Permoveh (from Personal Mobile Vehicle) was developed by Komori Masaharu, an associate professor from Kyoto University. Using a clever wheel-in-wheel system, the buggy can travel diagonally and laterally, with no need for turning space. The idea allows wheelchair users access to places that otherwise might have been too difficult with existing vehicles. Sadly we don't know whether we'll see this in production any time soon, but if you head on over the break, you'll see its creator showing off its moves.
Nintendo introduces paid DLC, lets you complete the games you completed
Did you get a Nintendo shaped bundle of joy for Christmas? Completed the games already? Fear not, as from March Kyoto's gaming veterans will be launching paid downloadable game content for its 3D handheld. The first title to get the goodies will be Fire Emblem, and as yet, there's no clues about what treats you'll get for the reported "several hundred yen" you'll be asked to stump up. Nintendo, however, is understandably keen to stimulate interest in its 3D titles, and more importantly, claw back some of that mobile gaming market-share. With hints of downloadable add-ons coming to the Wii-U also, and Mr. Iwata's previous commitment to deliver the goods, it clearly thinks this is the way to go -- let's just hope all the kinks have been ironed out come release day.
Nintendo building new R&D facility in Kyoto
According to a report from Nikkan (as translated by Andriasang), Nintendo's planning on getting its proverbial ducks in a row with the construction of a new 12-billion-yen Research and Development facility in Kyoto's Minami Ward -- the same location as its Japanese headquarters. The gargantuan building will house 1,500 employees focused on product development, and is scheduled to break ground January 2012, with a projected completion date sometime the following year. In short, if you're looking for the future birthplace of the Nintendo 4DS, you needn't look any further than this new facility. On a related note, if you're looking for the birthplace of Nintendo as a whole, you could also do that using the Nintendo 4DS' time-piercing chronoscreen. Man, we can't wait for that thing to be invented. Good thing we don't have to! Ha! Time travel. [Image credit: Flickr user Johannes]
Panasonic's Evolta robot finishes 500-kilometer trek ahead of schedule
It may just be an elaborate stunt to promote batteries, but it's hard not to get a little caught up in Evolta's 500-kilometer trek from Tokyo to Kyoto, which finally came to an end this week after two months on the road -- ahead of schedule, no less. Aided by a team of "Evolta Sisters," the pint-sized robot hauled a dozen AA Evolta batteries in a cart the whole way, and guided itself by following an infrared signal from a device pushed in front of it -- a few other ground rules also allowed it to be carried up stairs, and the bot didn't walk at night or in the rain. Even still, 500 kilometers is 500 kilometers (or 317 miles, if you prefer), and that's a long way for any robot to walk. Head on past the break for a video recounting some of the journey.
Digital Rosetta Stone memory could last a thousand years
The race for bigger and better memory continues apace, it seems. It was only a week or two ago that we caught wind of the work that scientists in Berkeley were doing with nanotubes and thousand-year-plus memory lifespans, and now it looks like a group of researchers in Japan have made some headway using an electron-beam direct-writing technique that utilizes semiconductor devices that can keep data intact for a thousand years, so long as humidity is kept at 2% or less. The prototype Digital Rosetta Stone, developed by Keio University, Kyoto University, and Sharp, has a storage capacity of 2.5TB and a max transmission speed of 150Mbps. Of course, there's no telling if or when this will become a reality, so if you want to ensure that your adolescent poetry lasts for the next thousand years, you'd better print out your MySpace blog and have it carved in granite.[Via TechShout]
Nintendo building new R&D center (not a Death Star)
It's a simple truth: Nintendo makes money. What goes up must also come down, so it's only fitting that the company would dedicate some of its vast funds to researching and developing new ways make money. That's where the company's new R&D office comes in.Situated in the Minami-ku district of Kyoto, this new plot of land secured by Nintendo is 40,000 square feet and a $138 million labor of love. With the building rights secured last year, Nintendo has not divulged any info as to when it plans to complete this new research center, nor when it'll start cloning Miyamoto there.[Via Develop]
Top 5: Gaming in Japan
Musicians have Vienna. Catholics have the Vatican. And gamers have Japan. While many significant contributions to the world of gaming have come from outside the Land of the Rising Sun, Japan is the unassailable fountainhead of modern video gaming. It's the birth and workplace of gaming giants such as Hideo Kojima, Shinji Mikami, Yuji Naka, and probably others. To say that Japan is a place that hardcore gamers need to check out is an understatement at best. Recently, I took a week to visit my brother who teaches English at a Japanese university near Nagoya. Hundreds of thousands of words could be used to describe the wonderful food, the beautiful temples, and the unique culture of the country. But being a life-long gamer, I paid special attention to the distinct connection between the country and the gaming scene we all know and love. For the Top 5, I usually come up with a topic, then list the top five items for that topic in order. For this edition, it was truly difficult to narrow it down to only five. With that in mind, here's my best attempt at listing the Top 5 gaming elements of my time in Japan. NEXT >> #ninbutton { border-style: solid; border-color: #000; border-width: 2px; background-color: #BBB; color: #000; text-decoration: none; width: 100px; text-align: center; padding: 2px 2px 2px 2px; margin: 2px 2px 2px 2px; } .buttontext { color: #000; text-decoration: none; font: bold 14pt Helvetica; } #ninbutton:hover { text-decoration: none; color: #BBB; background-color: #000; } The Top 5 is a weekly feature that provides us with a forum to share our opinions on various aspects of the video game culture, and provides you with a forum to tell us how wrong we are. To further voice your opinions, check out What Are You Playing?, submit a vote in the Wii Fanboy Poll, and take part in the daily discussions of Wii Warm Up.
Special Edition Lite, stickers, and ... global issues?
What better way to celebrate Independence Day than by putting the faces of governmental figures on a sticker? The real story behind the above isn't quite that hilarious, actually. Late last month at the G8 foreign ministers' meeting in Kyoto, this beautifully redone DS was spotted, alongside stickers bearing the faces of the ministers. All that's missing is a sticker on the DS, though frankly, that Lite is way too pretty to muck up with stickers.We'd probably do it anyway, though, for the lulz.%Gallery-26441%
Travel to Kyoto with your guide, a cartoon monkey
DS Motte Tabi ni Deyo Kyoto (Let's Journey to Kyoto with the DS) is the latest travel-guide game on the DS. This one comes from Coo Design and, like the name suggests, contains maps and tourist information about Kyoto. It also allows you to enter a starting point and calculate travel time to destinations within Kyoto. Of course, minigames are also included.The game contains a search function that allows you to find attractions not only by location, but by season as well. Most importantly, the game is presided over by a monkey mascot who looks exactly like Data from Mega Man Legends. You can't go to Kyoto without ... a monkey who looks like another monkey.
The DS takes Kyoto, education style
Last fall, we wrote about a pilot program with the DS that was being tested in a secondary school in Japan. Eight months later, it seems that program bore fruit, because now it's being implemented in all the upper schools in the city of Yawata in Kyoto, Japan. Using Chuugaku Eitango Target 1800 DS markedly improved students' English vocabulary -- they showed increases that averaged at 40%. Now we want our language games just that much more.
Australia to phase out incandescent bulbs by 2010
While some US cities like Raleigh are already planning steps to cut back on energy wastes by converting to more efficient lighting systems, it looks like the entire continent of Australia could be following suit. Claiming to be the "world's first" national government to phase out incandescent light bulbs in favor of the more "fuel-efficient, compact fluorescent bulb," environment minister Malcolm Turnbull is hoping to "cut Australia's greenhouse gas emissions by four million metric tonnes a year by 2015." Citing the "climate changes" the world is facing as a "global challenge," Turnbell also urged other nations to follow suit in making a difference, but didn't exactly open up his personal wallet to stock our households with those uber-pricey bulbs. Interestingly, some environmentalists feel that the bulk of greenhouse gas emissions come from government and business-related activities, which should presumably take priority over swapping out a country's light bulbs. Still, we've got no complaints with hooking homes up with LED / fluorescent options to help Mother Earth, but shouldn't Australia (and America, too) ink its name on the Kyoto Protocol before getting all high and mighty about saving the planet?
Weekend heartwarmer: "Claim your DS!"
If you're depressed by recent tales of Wii-related death and injury, allow us to assuage your pain with a DS-related feel-good story from Japan (where else?). Kansai, Japan's Funky 802FM radio station yesterday interrupted its 24-hour funk regimen for DJ Mark'E (pictured) to make an important announcement: a stray Nintendo DS had been found in a park in Kyoto's Fushimi-ku ward. Some upstanding citizen had found the handheld and taken it to a nearby police box (they have "police boxes" in Japan), rightly assuming that a small child had dropped the DS. (This is a land where you can drop your wallet and expect it to be returned.)Thanks to DJ Mark'E's repeated announcements, child and DS were reunited yesterday evening, tears were mopped, and this blogger was left wondering how the scenario would have played out in his native England. (Clue: no tears would have been mopped, but the finder would have celebrated with an exclamation of "bloody hell, what a freebie!") Three cheers, then, for Japanese citizens' sense of honour and stuff.
Shipping Wii to Japan: big boats, big business
Everything is made in China -- it's the world's biggest factory nation. Even Kyoto-based Nintendo's destined-for-Japan Wii consoles are imported (by Nintendo, in a weird game of Kyoto boomerang) from China. But hey, everyone's a winner, baby. According to a report by Osaka Customs, receipt of Wii consoles pushed toy imports across six regional prefectures to ¥25.3billion (US$213million) in November, which is a record high for any single month on record. Impressively, the Wii alone accounts for roughly 40% of all toy imports from China to Japan. Considering the volume of tat on sale across Japan (Doraemon plushes!), that's pretty significant. So significant, in fact, that an Osaka Customs guy confirmed to Japan's Yomiuri Shinbun that "No other video game console has had such a big effect on imports."The question is, when will China become a proper videogame market? When will China be able to keep, and legitimately sell, a good share of the consoles it produces? And how come big boats don't sink?
Japanese release day highlights: 12.21.06
Trains are great. We ride them most days of the week. In fact, today we took a train ride in order to buy two new train-based videogames. That's the scary extent of our railway passion. To avoid those funny looks we keep getting from the station master, we also picked up copies of the games listed here. Just so that we could look at their non-train-related packaging on the way home, to pretend that we weren't really thinking about trains. Mmm ... the 16:09 Express to Kyoto ... Sorry, those games: Ys Origin (Falcom's legend returns, again; PC) Seiken Densetsu 4 (Mana, Mana, Mana; PS2) Lost Planet: Extreme Condition (ice cool Capcom; Xbox 360) Let's Go By A-Train HX ("Artdink" is the funniest developer name ever; Xbox 360) Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops (Snake crawls back to Japan; PSP) Armored Core 4 (PlayStation 3) Railfan (for the jotter and flask crowd; PS3)
