kingdom hearts ii
Almost all Kingdom Hearts games on sale at Amazon
Amazon’s video game deals of the day today are likely inspired by the recent release of Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep. Almost every Kingdom Hearts game released in North America is on sale at the site for one day only (October 11, 2010), while they’re in stock. The only game excluded is the GBA incarnation of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, but the inclusion of the PS2 port makes up for that…
Important Importables: Hikaru Utada
Everyone in Japan gets involved in video games. It almost seems like it is an honor to have a song included in an upcoming title. When these games are localized for North American releases, it’s a toss-up as to what happens to the original music. Many companies are including the original tracks with games, while some will substitute them with songs in English.
Hikaru Utada is one of the biggest pop singers in Japan. This means that her music has appeared in games, animes and Japanese dramas. She’s also has worked as a voice actress – one of her roles was Pinoko in the anime Black Jack.
Before we get into her relationship to video games and a few of her songs I’d recommend, here’s a brief backstory. Utada was born in New York, New York. She’s fluent in English and Japanese. Her mother’s the Enka singer Fuji Keiko. Her first album was released as Cubic U in both the US and Japan. After that, she focused on a Japanese-only career. She’s sold over 40 million records, and has released eight CDs. She released her English R&B CD, Exodus, in the US in 2004, and is currently working on a second US CD that might be released this year.
Disney plans to massively expand its game budget
Disney has announced plans to increase its game development spending to $350 million per year in the next five years, according to Reuters. Last year, Disney spent $100 million on game development and has spent $130 million this year.
Disney Interactive Studios has already released a number of games on all modern platforms this year, including Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End and Meet the Robinsons. It have also released a few original games: Spectrobes, a Pokemon-esque RPG, and Meteos: Disney Magic, both for…
