Tag - video-games

 
 

VIDEO GAMES

A competition at the Esports World Cup in Riyadh on July 4.
MORE SPORTS / esports
Jul 13, 2024
Saudi Arabia to host first Esports Olympics in 2025
Riyadh is already hosting the Esports World Cup in July and August, during which 2,500 gamers are battling for $60 million in prize money.
Japan's Universal Entertainment is dropping a plan to buy PH Resorts' gaming project in the central Philippines.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 2, 2024
Japan's Universal scraps plan to buy central Philippines casino
Shares in PH Resorts slumped as much as 29% to a nine-month intraday low following the disclosure.
American sprinter Noah Lyles poses with a "Yu-Gi-Oh!" card after winning at the U.S. Olympic track-and-field finals on Sunday. The image went viral, once again showing the popularity of Japanese cultural exports like manga.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 28, 2024
Blackstone sees billions in manga. You should too.
Investment firm Blackstone's move to buy manga platform Mecha Comics, betting on the strength of Japan's soft power, looks further ahead than other players have.
While MyDearest's games are understably digital, employees also joke that sometimes they known coworkers only by their avatars used during meetings.
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Jun 21, 2024
Action drives VR, but Japan prizes anonymity and plot
A far cry from origins as a tech novelty, Japan's virtual reality industry is currently valued at $3.9 billion (about ¥615 billion).
Nintendo announced several new games that will be released on the Switch later this year, ahead of the expected launch of a new console in early 2025.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 19, 2024
Nintendo surprises fans by announcing new 'Zelda' game
Last year's Zelda game, Tears of the Kingdom, sold 10 million copies in just three days, according to Nintendo.
A person uses a tong with a camera and GPS system attached to pick up litter, part of an initiative to boost participation in collecting trash.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
Jun 16, 2024
Japan’s gamified environment apps target a greener mindset
Government funding has helped drive a boom in environmental and social app development.
Harmony Korine (center-left, in orange) DJs a set with his EDGLRD crew at a Tokyo event promoting his film, “Aggro Dr1ft,” at WWW X on June 6.
CULTURE / Film
Jun 14, 2024
Harmony Korine wants us to dream movies, and he’s working on a ‘pill’ for that
Korine and his collaborators came to Tokyo to screen his new film "Aggro Dr1ft," his first visit to Japan in 17 years.
A Neon Genesis Evangelion statue on display at small worlds miniature museum in Odaiba.
BUSINESS
Jun 8, 2024
Gainax, known for 'Evangelion' anime production, goes bankrupt
Business conditions began to deteriorate around 2012, and the firm lost its anime production capabilities following an exodus of its creative staff.
Ryoma Takeuchi (right) will star as the protagonist in an upcoming adaptation of the Like a Dragon game franchise directed by Masaharu Take (left).
LIFE / Digital
Jun 6, 2024
When will a Japan-made game have a breakout TV adaptation?
There are far too many gems in the Japanese gaming world for there not to be even one capable of translating to success as a TV series.
People wear Dragon Ball Z costumes, as they attend Comic-Con International in San Diego, California, in July 2023.
BUSINESS
Jun 5, 2024
Japan aims to quadruple overseas market for anime, games
Combining anime and game sectors with related industries such as fashion, cosmetics and inbound tourism, Japan is targeting an economic benefit of ¥50 trillion by 2033.
Yasuke, a historical Black samurai, will star in the newly announced Assassin's Creed Shadows — a choice that has riled some critics online.
LIFE / Digital
May 25, 2024
Gaming's latest culture war targets Yasuke, Japan's Black samurai
For a vocal minority of gamers, a Black protagonist of a game set in feudal Japan was a call to war.
SungWon Cho is a veteran with more than 10 years of experience portraying characters in anime, cartoons and video games.
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
May 19, 2024
Want to be a voice actor? Stay 'true to the character'
“Most people think of just the cutscenes," SungWon Cho says, "but you end up voicing everything — the sounds a character makes when fighting, like battle cries, for example."
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman welcomes Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, last July.
JAPAN / FOCUS
May 18, 2024
Saudi crown prince seeks soft power in game hub Japan
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will visit Japan soon, where he will hold talks on energy while hunting more opportunities in gaming.
Gamers play the "Minecraft" game at E3 2017, one of the biggest events in the gaming industry calendar, in Los Angeles. Since the first version of Minecraft was released to the public 15 years ago, the block-based world-building game has become a global phenomenon. Players of all ages and backgrounds have used the game for everything from educational projects and architecture to building communities and creating artworks.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 15, 2024
Sweden's small game studios punching above their weight
In 2022, the country's game developers had a combined revenue of 32.5 billion kronor ($3 billion).
A former employee of Bandai Namco Entertainment was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly embezzling ¥54 million by selling company-owned mobile phones and other items meant for game development.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 15, 2024
Ex-employee of Bandai Namco unit arrested over ¥54 million embezzlement
The man, 59, allegedly sold about 500 company-owned smartphones and other items without permission to a Tokyo-based secondhand store.
Sony Group is missing analyst expectations for sales as demand for its PlayStation 5 hardware wanes.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 15, 2024
Sony sales outlook misses estimates on waning demand for PS5s
Shares in Sony have been under pressure this month amid mounting speculation about the terms of its potential $26 billion bid for Paramount Global.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman chairs a session of the virtual Saudi-Bahraini Coordination Council in Riyadh in December 2020.
JAPAN
May 10, 2024
Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to visit Japan
The visit to Japan by Saudi Arabia's de-facto leader, known by his initials MBS, will be his first since 2019.
Nintendo tends to innovate and take unconventional product development routes, producing both great successes, like its Switch console, and spectacular failures.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 10, 2024
Nintendo needs to 'switch' its next console up
The Kyoto firm has been coy about what will come after the highly successful Switch console, but it needs to step up its game and learn from past mistakes.
Despite logging a record net profit in the year to March, helped by the weak yen, Nintendo expects net profit to drop nearly 40% in the current financial year.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 7, 2024
Nintendo says announcement on Switch successor 'this fiscal year'
Players and investors have been hungry for news about a successor to the Switch, and the company said a statement was finally forthcoming.
In fiscal 2022, the National Consumer Affairs Center of Japan fielded 4,024 inquiries concerning online game microtransactions made by students of elementary, junior high and high schools without the knowledge of their parents.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 9, 2024
Watch out for microtransactions in kids' online games, parents urged
Watchdog reports surge in complaints of children racking up unauthorized charges on smartphones using their parents' payment credentials.

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Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?