I’m sure we’ve all seen those Internet ads with characters that follow your mouse pointer with their head, or eyes. Kinda creepy no? Well, this one , which I’ve dubbed ‘Zombie Girl’, just takes the cake as the creepiest one of them all. I’m not sure if its the bloodshot eyes, or the robotic facial expressions, but I’m strangely disturbed by this.

Apparently the technology is called "Motion Portrait", and its being used throughout Japan in various forms including television shows, commercials, schools, and even the recently released Bandai Namco PSP Game "Lian Palace promise HARUHI".

Perhaps they can one day be used to keep old people company while they sit in their nursing homes…maybe even custom made Motion Portraits of family members, or their favorite movie stars? I think I’ll keep Zombie Girl running on my 2nd monitor to creep some people out.

Technorati Tags: Creepy, Internet Zombie, Motion Photography, Motion Portrait

The pirating of games has been an on-going issue since before I care to remember. My early PC gaming days involved copying, and sharing games between my friends and I. Eventually, downloading became my primary means of acquiring new PC games in my early years. Why did I do it you ask? For many reasons, but primarily the lack of income!

Kids these days dont quite have the money to buy fifty or sixty dollar games as often as he/she would like to. Hell, I know full grown adults that can’t afford to buy new games but maybe once every couple of months. That was fine and dandy a few years ago where one game could last a person months at a time. I remember being perfectly content playing Perfect Dark on N64 for almost half a year before I even thought about buying another game. Alas, those times are gone now, and many games have become short five or six hour experiences relying on multiplayer to fill the void. If you think about it, you’re paying almost ten dollars an hour to play that short game…minimum wage is barely $5.75. A person earning minimum wage would have to work 10 1/2 hours, just to earn enough money to buy your five hour game!

At this point, it shouldn’t be a big secret that the US economy is currently suffering from high gas prices, lower valued dollar, and raising cost of goods and services. The government is bending over backwards to forgive debt and losses of big corporations by offering tax cuts, and lowered interest rates. This in turn leads to a lower valued dollar, since countries with lower interest rates attract less investors. This lower valued dollar leads to a price increase of goods and services which leads to increased interest rates on consumer credit cards, since credit companies still need to maintain growing profits, and as a result…decreased consumer spending. The consumer is left dealing with the weight of a struggling economy on their shoulders.

As our economy worsens, piracy goes up. Consumers just don’t have the same purchasing power they had only a few years ago, but they are already accustomed to getting a “new game fix” ever so often. People won’t change their rate of consumption due to limited funding, they’ll simply turn to other sources. Digital forms of entertainment such as music, movies, and video games are easily distributed over the “series of tubes” called the internet. This is why, now more than ever, a growing number of companies and developers are speaking out about the rampant piracy going on these days. The numbers are vastly rising due to our slowing economy!

Its a widely known fact that Asia is one of the highest pirating areas of the world. Think back for a moment about everything you just read above. Asian countries, such as Japan, are incredibly expensive to live in and maintain a standard of living similar to ours in the US. Tokyo,Japan has been named as the most expensive city to live in the world! The power of the Yen is horribly low, and goods in Japan cost three to five times what they do in the US. This, I fear, could be the eventual fate of the US if something isn’t done about our economy now!

So where am I getting at with all this? I just wanted to state that piracy is directly linked to the state of a countries economy. No more, no less.

Technorati Tags: Game Pirating, Pirates, US Economy

You are The Mighty Patapon, a deity worshiped by all members of the Patapon tribe. Your loyal subjects obey your every command, but the catch…you can only command them via various drum beats created by rhythmically pressing the various face buttons on your PSP. Who would have thought a side-scrolling 2D real-time strategy rhythm game featuring eyeball looking heroes would ever be so addicting?!

After listening to a certain IGN editor rant and rave about Patapon on several podcasts and even going as far as claiming its the best game ever, I decided to download the demo available on the PSN. A few minutes into the demo, and I was hooked! Pon Pon Pata Pon! Pata Pata Pata Pon! These are just a few of the drum beats used to command your army of Patapons across a beautifully drawn 2D side scrolling stage while fighting to reclaim their land. I was glued to my PSP for over 5 hours this past Sunday.

I must admit, I failed several levels multiple times since it seems that I have little to no rhythm at times. Practice makes perfect, and once I discovered the beat of a particular stage, just try and stop me! I found it much easier to play the game using headphones, as this drowns out any background noise and helps me focus on the beat.

Patapon is definately a “Must Buy” PSP game, and at $20 its surprising affordable! If your reading this still trying to figure out if your should buy it, go out and get it! At the very least go download the demo!

Technorati Tags: Patapon, PSP, Rythmn Game, Sony Japan