author

 
Menu
Search
 
July 16, 2024
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

Meta

Steven L. Kent
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Apr 11, 2002
Heroes for the hardcore
America's comic book industry, a shrinking business to be sure, may be taking cues from Japan's popular manga.
LIFE / Digital
Apr 4, 2002
Self-absorbed little Dreadly better love his Moop
Taking your children to see movies would not be bad if all cartoons were the quality of "Totoro" and "Princess Mononoke."
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Apr 4, 2002
Better to skip this 'adventure' and just go to Osaka
You've probably already been inundated with news that Universal Studios opened a theme park last year in Osaka. If you have any interest in seeing that park, do not try to preview it with "Universal Studios Theme Park Adventure" (UA), a relatively new game for the Nintendo GameCube published by a company...
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Mar 21, 2002
Xbox ball: 'Inside Drive'
Strip away the marketing hype. If you want to know what kinds of people video game console makers are targeting, take a look at the kinds of games they play.
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Mar 14, 2002
Junior hoops nearly scores
"Backyard Basketball," a new PC/Macintosh game from Infogrames, is not what you would call a full-fledged simulation. You play most of the game using one button on your mouse, and it only has two professional basketball stars on its roster.
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Mar 7, 2002
Xbox grapples for Japan footing
Imagine a Sumo tournament with a young Konishiki battling Akebono, the winner of which must then challenge Godzilla. Such a battle is going on right now in the video game arena.
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Feb 28, 2002
Make, don't play the green
If you are looking for a great game of virtual golf, try "Links Championship Edition," a PC game from Microsoft. "Links" is as close as you can get to real golf without picking up a club.
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Feb 21, 2002
Xbox gets a bit 'Wreckless'
Xbox is coming to Japan on Friday, and by all accounts, Japanese game players are pretty excited. Microsoft's new video game console is clearly the most advanced and most powerful video game console on the market. It is more powerful than Nintendo's GameCube. Sony's PlayStation2 is not even in Xbox's...
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Feb 14, 2002
Utah host to more than Olympics
With the 2002 Winter Olympics happening in Salt Lake City, the world will recognize that Utah is America's greatest mecca for skiing. But Utah is also an exporter of video games.
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Feb 7, 2002
Monkeys rate second look
Not many people jumped at "Super Monkey Ball" when it hit the market.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Jan 31, 2002
Nautical 'kombat' game is a wash
Role-playing games, probably the most popular genre in Japan, have a moderate following in the United States. Americans prefer action-packed, top-down view style RPGs like "Baldur's Gate" and "Diablo" to traditional "Final Fantasy" RPGs.
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Jan 24, 2002
E.T. has left the building
The year was 1982. Steven Spielberg shattered all box-office records that summer with a movie called "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial" about an ugly but good-natured space alien named E.T. who gets stranded on Earth.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Jan 17, 2002
Nintendo's Arakawa surprises with retirement announcement
Nobody really cared who the president of Nintendo of America was when Minoru Arakawa founded the company in 1980. With games like "Radarscope" and "Sheriff," it was just another Taito wannabe trying to break into the U.S. arcade market.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Jan 17, 2002
Magic elfin adventures of Jak & Daxter land in Japan
Back in August, The Japan Times ran a feature about a company called Naughty Dog that specializes in 3-D adventure games.
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Jan 10, 2002
Can you take the Payne?
"Max Payne" falls somewhere between "Pulp Fiction" and "The Matrix." Well, OK, "Max Payne" is a video and computer game, so maybe it only falls virtually between those two Hollywood blockbusters.
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Jan 3, 2002
Sometimes the gaming is too rough
When it comes to video games, Japan generally gets the good stuff first. Nintendo, Sony, and NEC hardware generally comes out in Japan before the United States. "Devil May Cry," "Final Fantasy X," and "Luigi's Mansion" all came out in Japan before they made it to the United States.
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Dec 27, 2001
Get ready for Xbox
The last time an American company successfully launched a game console in Japan, Jesse Takamayama was the famous Hawaiian Sumo wrestler and Chad Rowan (aka Akebono) was still in high school. The last time an American company successfully launched a video game console in Japan, a famous hanafuda card...
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Dec 20, 2001
Surviving the 'Pikmin' pickle
Captain Olimar, the main character in "Pikmin," isn't really a character, he's a cursor. He doesn't do anything other than tell the Pikmin what to do.
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Dec 13, 2001
License not always key to success
In 1982, Atari released a game based on the Steven Spielberg movie "E.T."
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Dec 6, 2001
'Shrek,' 'Final Fantasy' raise bar for DVDs
When ogres and space monsters battled last summer, the ogres won handsomely. At least they did in box offices across the United States.
Who needs AI when you have Hatsune Miku?
Over the first six months of 2024, a handful of songs using Vocaloid singer Hatsune Miku’s voice have enjoyed widespread attention, underlining a global interest in the character and the technology she represents.
Bloodied Trump survives assassination attempt at political rally
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is surrounded and evacuated by Secret Service agents at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday. Trump was rushed off stage at the rally after shots rang out.
Shooter came within inches of killing Trump, but left few clues as to why
An aerial view shows the stage where Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump had been standing during an assassination attempt the day before, and the roof of a nearby building where a gunman was shot dead by law enforcement, in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Sunday.
Yen’s woes seem too big for even a BOJ hike this month to solve
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo
How to beat Japan’s summer heat in ways better for the planet
Tenugui towels hang up to dry at a dyeing company in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, on May 8. The durable and versatile tenugui, which many people have in their homes, can be used in many ways to cool one’s body.
The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'
Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.
How to beat Japan’s summer heat in ways better for the planet
Tenugui towels hang up to dry at a dyeing company in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, on May 8. The durable and versatile tenugui, which many people have in their homes, can be used in many ways to cool one’s body.
After Trump shooting, U.S. presidential race might take a violent turn
United States Secret Service Counter Snipers stand guard on a rooftop during a campaign rally for U.S. President Donald Trump in Avoca, Pennsylvania, in 2020.
No AC this summer? No problem (for me).
Think air conditioning is a requirement for a Tokyo summer? Think again.
She’s paying ¥1 million to help behind the scenes at the Paris Olympics
Mai Tarumi, who previously volunteered at the postponed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, has a travel budget of ¥1 million for her trip to volunteer at the Paris Games.

Podcast

You can often see generations of families enjoying performances together at Fuji Rock Festival.
Japan’s summer music festivals are feeling the heat in more ways than one

Longform

Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.
The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'
By Tomoko Otake

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Omron helping firms achieve carbon neutrality
Omron helping firms achieve carbon neutrality

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER