How ironic! Since demand has suddenly raced beyond supply, Microsoft Japan has been forced to put out an official statement:

お客様各位

平素より Xbox 360® をご愛顧いただきまして、誠にありがとうございます。

現在、Xbox 360 本体の品切れにより、多くのお取扱店で Xbox 360 本体をご購入いただけない状況が発生しております。これは、弊社の販売予測を超えた多くのお客様に Xbox 360 本体をお買い求めいただいた結果発生したもので、ご購入を検討いただいておりますお客様ならびに販売店の皆様、パートナーの皆様には多大なご迷惑をおかけしておりますことを深くお詫び申し上げます。

只今マイクロソフトでは、 Xbox 360 本体の生産を鋭意行っており、スタンダードモデルにつきましては次回 9 月の出荷を予定しております。なお、エリートおよびアーケードモデルにつきましては順次出荷を行ってまいります。商品の入荷まで、今しばらくお待ちいただきますようお願い申し上げます。
今後とも Xbox 360 製品およびサービスをご愛顧いただけますようよろしくお願い申し上げます。

マイクロソフト株式会社
ホーム&エンターテイメント事業本部

You heard it straight from the horse’s mouth, people: Microsoft rove you rong time, one dorrar.

Seriously, though. Apparently Bandai Namco’s Tales of Vesperia is to the 360 as Monster Hunter Freedom 2 is to the PSP. I have to admit, I did not see this one coming. What the statement really says is that MS Japan apologizes for not meeting demand and that they’ll be shipping out more as soon as they can.

Note to self: use above image as often as possible.

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Dear Japan,

I just don’t understand your lack of interest in the Xbox 360. No, really, I don’t see how you can deny a console that offers exactly the kinds of games that have classically piqued the interest of Japanese gamers. Just off the top of my head I can think of Eternal Sonata, Blue Dragon, and Lost Odyssey, not to mention Tales of Vesperia, which is coming to the 360 in a few months, too. That’s four solid JRPG titles that are currently exclusive to Microsoft’s system. Of course, Square Enix is releasing Final Fantasy XIII everywhere except the glorious nation of Nippon, but that’s only because you guys hate is so much.
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So, imagine if you were given the opportunity to have 11 million dollars. Just try to imagine it. Personally, I can’t even imagine what I’d do with just one million dollars. Well, apparently neither can Dr. Ryuta Kawashima, reports Miwa Suzuki over at Yahoo! News. Here’s the deal: Kawashima was one of the big researchers behind Brain Age which, in case you’ve been living under a rock for the last year and a half, has done astoundingly well. Heck, even this reporter has a habit of hunkering down for some Brain Age when it comes to finals time–I’m convinced it helps me study (though there’s probably a factor of procrastination in there, too). Anyway, with this kind of success also comes big honkin’ royalty checks, which Kawashima apparently just forwards along to his university, preferring to live off of his “meager” $100,000 salary instead.

Of course, this guy isn’t all sunshine and daisies. Apparently this guy’s family is kind of irritated at him for not sharing the wealth, but he just told them that, “if they want money, go out and earn it.” As if this didn’t seem loving enough, he also destroyed a game disk when his kids broke the rules. Shouldn’t that be considered some sort of sin?

Regardless, this is one truly selfless individual. Now if one of MY professors would just develop a hit game and start donating to the university, maybe they could fix the radiator in my English classroom…

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O…M…G…would this game quit teasing me and come out already? I don’t know about you guys, but this just got me even more excited for this game to come out! Praise be to GameTrailers!!!

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In the life of the Wii, no game has been more hyped than Super Smash Bros. Brawl, follow up to the cult hit Super Smash Bros Melee. With so much anticipation, it’s no wonder how upset fans were both times it was delayed, the first time from Dec 3, 2007 to Feb 10, 2008, and again back to March 9, 2008. Most of the time, when a development team is forced to delay a product, they come up with some asinine excuses, which is why Satoru Iwata, President of Nintendo, is a bigger man for straight up apologizing for Brawl’s delay. The apology comes at the beginning of his interview with Masahiro Sakurai, creator of Brawl, on the official Wii website.

“…I would like to offer an apology. With the completion of the game falling behind schedule, we were unable to keep our promised release date, despite our greatest efforts in attempting to release this game on time. I would like to extend my most sincere apology to all of our customers that are anticipating the title’s release, and also to our retailers.”

This is how Nintendo continues to be the good guy of gaming. Humbleness, sincerity, and gratitude will get you a long way in an industry that is all about the bottom line. Then again, I would be the nicest guy in the world if I had two systems that printed money. (But seriously Iwata, Brawl on March 9 or else it’s mutiny time.)

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In the latest issue of Japanese magazine Famitsu, the highly anticipated Super Mario Galaxy has been reviewed. It’s score was a 38/40.

“The game takes place in a 3D space where you could be walking on the ground or upside down. Normally that would look like it is difficult to control, but you can play this instinctively. The balance is just perfect and it is a game anyone can really play.

Gimmicks and actions using the game’s unique gravity, and fun boss fights definitely delivers on the Mario name. It is even just fun to watch if you are not playing.

The game’s pacing is very good, you get hooked more and more. I am glad that the game is not too easy or too difficult. Collecting the star piece by pointing the Wiimote is already fun in itself.

The excitement of Mario 64 is back! Lots of features that are perfect for the Wii, and you get addicted wanting to know what kind of obstacles await you in the next stage. Difficulty gradually increases and the map layout is great. Every game fan should play this game.”

It looks like the Japanese love the game already, but how will the US (excluding the Nintendo fanboys who are probably already saying this game is going to be amazing) see it? Super Mario Galaxy arrives in North America on November 12, while Japan gets it 10 days earlier.

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The software sales for last week are in - and Halo 3 has come out on top. While the Xbox 360 usually sells horribly in Japan (and obviously the games for it too) and western games don’t do great either, Halo 3, which has both of those going against it, has managed to sell the most from September 24th to September 30th (the game was released on September 27th). While it may only be 59,000, it’s surprising nonetheless. Here is the full list, so you can see what games Halo beat out for the top spot:

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