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Acronyms and in-jokes: The origins of your favourite Japanese video game companies’ names

Philip Kendall
Oct 24, 2013
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As much as we like to think of ourselves as free thinkers and immune to corporate advertising, there’s no denying that brand names have found their way into pretty much every facet of our daily lives. Many North Americans routinely use “Kleenex” in place of the word tissue; in the UK it’s not unusual to hear people say that they’re about to “hoover up” when referring to running a vacuum cleaner; and in its heyday pretty much any portable gaming device was casually referred to as a Gameboy.

The likes of Nintendo and Sony have been household names for years, but did you ever wonder where these names come from and what they might mean in their native language? Author of Japanmanship and game developer James Kay sheds some light on the origins of the names Japan’s biggest video game companies use, from Capcom to SNK, and has generously shared a few snippets of info with RocketNews24 for our enjoyment and nerdy enlightenment.

Find out where those world-famous names really come from after the jump.

Japan
(Capcom • James Kay • nintendo • origins • Sega • SNK • video games)

Monster Hunter players finish their quest and earn the ultimate loot: a spouse

Casey Baseel
Oct 22, 2013

I think I speak for all men, and a good number of women as well, when I say we’d appreciate more direct communication in our romantic relationships. For most of us, there comes a point, usually sometime around when we finish school, where our tolerance for doubletalk and subterfuge from the person we’re dating drops off dramatically.

No one really enjoys playing mind games in their quest for love. Especially, as some people in Japan are showing, action video games like Capcom’s Monster Hunter can be a much better way of finding your soul mate.

Japan
(dating • marriage • Monster Hunter • romance • video games)

Kid putting off college to play video games all day? Just give up on him, Gundam creator says

Mike
Oct 16, 2013

There’s never been an easier point in history to waste time than now. Especially with the advent of video games and their gradual evolution into slot machine-like addiction engines, more and more kids are electing to forgo homework, jobs and even college to sink more time into their favorite title.

And parents should let them go ahead and keep doing it, according to Yoshiyuki Tomino, creator of the epic space opera anime franchise Gundam.

Japan
(anime • entertainment • video games)

Puzzle & Dragons + Attack on Titan = ??? China’s creative copycats strike again【Photos】

Joan Coello
Oct 14, 2013

What’s better than a ripoff of a top-selling game? A ripoff of a top-selling game featuring characters ripped off a top-selling anime!

If you own a smartphone and occasionally (or heavily) dabble in mobile games, you should have come across Puzzle & Dragons, one of the top grossing puzzle games available on both iOS and Android platforms. The Japanese developed mobile game’s tremendous success worldwide has led to many envious game developers producing “inspired” games of a similar genre.

Now, it is almost common knowledge that the Chinese are geniuses at creating imitations of anything and everything, so everyone would have expected them to make a pirated version of the monster-battling puzzle game eventually, but they have yet again managed to exceed expectations, incorporating characters and themed events based on one of the year’s hottest anime, Shingeki no Kyojin: Attack on Titan.

China
(anime • Attack on Titan • mobile games • pirate • plagiarism • video games)

Take a peek inside the world’s top video game companies

Michelle Lynn Dinh
Oct 10, 2013

While you’re trying to sneak your way past Clickers or making it rain at a Los Santos strip club, do you ever stop to think about those men and women who have slaved away for countless hours, trying to bring you the best game possible? And with every good group of game developers, you have to have a place to house them while they work, so here’s a look inside the walls of some of the biggest video game companies in the world.

Global, Japan, USA
(Atari • nintendo • Sega • video games)

How nerdy are you? Use this handy formula to calculate your “otaku coefficient”

Casey Baseel
Oct 9, 2013

Originally a particularly polite way of saying “you,” the Japanese word otaku evolved into a label for anyone with an obsessive, passionate devotion to their hobby. While most commonly associated with anime fans, the term is also applied to hardcore video gamers, technology buffs, and even auto enthusiasts.

Much like “geek,” otaku was initially a derogatory term, but has lost a lot of its sting and become largely co-opted in recent years. Still, it’s important to not let yourself get too wrapped up in your hobbies. Conveniently, there’s now a mathematical formula to determine if your otaku-ness has become too much for your own good.

Japan
(anime • culture • economics • otaku • video games)

Goodnight, sweet prince: Polish artist’s chainsaw sculpture depicts the death of Super Mario

Philip Kendall
Oct 9, 2013

Even the greatest of heroes meet their end eventually, whether they be staff-wielding wizards or portly plumbers. With this incredible sculpture, Polish artist Kordian Lewandowski presents the demise of none other than our favourite 8-bit champion, Super Mario. And as sad as it is, it’s really quite breathtaking.

Global
(art • Mario • nintendo • sculpture • video games)

Ninja life skills: The most hardcore way to get infinite 1-Ups in Super Mario Bros. 【Video】

Philip Kendall
Oct 8, 2013

You can’t keep a good plumber down, and Super Mario Bros. is still going strong decades after it first launched. Veteran players will no doubt already know the locations of every hidden block, the route to every warp zone, and how to score easy extra lives by bouncing Koopa Trooper shells off staircases, but this last trick for unlimited 1-Ups isn’t so easy. Yup, it turns out that sometimes if you want infinite lives you actually have to work for them.

Global, Internet
(1-up • Super Mario Bros. • tricks • video • video games)

“Would you rather breathe or play DS?” Mother on trial for suffocating five-year-old son

Philip Kendall
Oct 3, 2013

On September 25 at Tokyo District Court, 42-year-old mother of four Shizu Shigeta took the stand in a packed courtroom, accused of killing her five-year-old son.

Teary-eyed and clinging to a handkerchief as she spoke, the defendant admitted that she had caused the death of her son, Koushi, after sealing him inside two plastic garbage bags and then falling asleep beside him while under the influence of sedatives and alcohol.

Japan
(crime • DS • manslaughter • video games)

Sony’s new PlayStation Vita Slim ad is awesome, features gaming penguins 【Video】

Philip Kendall
Oct 3, 2013

We fell in love with Sony’s new PlayStation Vita Slim the very first moment we got our sweaty little hands on a demo unit at this year’s Tokyo Game Show, but this new commercial, which features rocking gaming penguins of every colour the new device is available in, made us even more eager to buy one.

Japan
(commercial • PlayStation Vita Slim • tech • TV • video • video games)

Super Mario 3D World’s new Goomba Cat will cute your face off

Philip Kendall
Oct 2, 2013

A tweet from Nintendo writer Chad Concelmo earlier today revealed that the Japanese video game giant will be adding a new bad guy character to its forthcoming Wii U title, Super Mario 3D World, and it is ridiculously cute.

We’ve been squishing walking mushroom Goomba characters for decades now, but this furry little guy is bound to make some gamers pause for thought before hitting the jump button and ending its pudgy little life. Say hello to the Cat Goomba!

Global
(cute • Goomba Cat • Super Mario 3D World • video games • Wii U)

Expert mode “Rainbow Road” bridge found in Japan

Master Blaster
Sep 30, 2013

Boredom on the road can lead to serious accidents as drivers become less alert or more reckless driving down straight and well lit roads. So perhaps there is some merit in the idea that more dangerous road conditions can lead to safer and more attentive driving.

Take this bridge which connects Japan’s Highway 194 with Highway 299 over the Niyodo River in Kochi Prefecture. Lacking any barriers or guard rails drivers must keep a steady wheel when crossing the Nagoya Low Water Bridge (no relation to the prefecture).

Japan
(bridge • Mario Kart • video games • wtf)

How awesome is the sight of 974 Marios running through the same level at once? (Answer: Very)

Philip Kendall
Sep 27, 2013

It might be nearly 30 years old, but the original Super Mario Bros. remains one of the most beloved and played old-school platformers in the world. There’s something about goomba stomping, block smashing and Bowser boiling that people just can’t seem to get enough of, and modders continue to tinker with the basic gameplay and build original levels to this day.

The following video, apparently taken at Gamescom last month, shows the efforts of 974 players as they sprint through a custom-made level against the clock. Combining their runs into a single video results in what can only be described as an 8-bit river of Marios, cascading over pipes and mushrooms, hell-bent on reaching the princess, and it makes fantastic viewing.

Global
(cool • nintendo • Super Mario Bros. • time trial • video • video games)

Western games may have won the Tokyo Game Show this year

Mike
Sep 25, 2013

The old saying in Japanese gamer circles used to go “Bei game wa Kuso game” (“Western games are sh&%ty games”), but the tables may have turned in a big way if this year’s Tokyo Game Show turnout is any indication.

Western publishers were out in spades this year. In fact, the very first thing attendees saw when entering the gates of this year’s TGS were a bunch of armed soldiers and (tastefully) military-garbed booth girls promoting the newest entry in the Battlefield series of online multiplayer military shooter games.

Europe, Japan, USA
(cool • Tokyo Game Show • video games)

Play games on your touch screen the way they’re meant to be played with Buttons Anywhere

Master Blaster
Sep 23, 2013

Smartphones and tablet devices have proven themselves to be viable gaming platforms… as long as the game suits it. While games like Angry Birds work perfectly, old school gamers (which is probably all of us in this instance) can’t help but struggle with the virtual D-pad and buttons we’ve grown accustomed to in other genres like action games.

So along comes Buttons Anywhere to bring us back that loving feeling of 3D plastic buttons to games like Street Fighter and GTA on the touch screens of newer devices.

Japan
(iPhone • touch screen • video games)

The ultimate in lazy gaming: Ingenious tablet cushion demoed at Tokyo Game Show 2013

Philip Kendall
Sep 20, 2013

We’ve all been there: you’ve got your shiny new laptop, smartphone or tablet computer and you’re lounging around on the floor at home, watching videos on YouTube, tapping away at Plants Vs. Zombies… when suddenly your pampered, first-world body throws a hissy hit. “I’m tired! Why do I always have to hold all the expensive electronic devices!?” it moans as you start to lose the feeling in your arm or your left leg goes to sleep. You wriggle around and find a new position, but before long your body’s complaining again and you just can’t get comfy.

Oh, wouldn’t it be great if there were something – a piece of furniture perhaps – that would hold your tablet or computer for you while you did massively unimportant web browsing and lay on the floor!?

Enter the Goron tablet cushion, which not only supports your head and neck while you laze around, but comes complete with an adjustable holder for tablets, laptops and even small monitors! Yep, gamers just got that little bit lazier!

Japan
(cool • ipad • lazy • leisure • tech • video games)

Former Nintendo head and video gaming legend Hiroshi Yamauchi passes away

Casey Baseel
Sep 20, 2013

Hiroshi Yamauchi, the former head of video game giant Nintendo who helmed the company during its period of skyrocketing growth in the 1980s and 90s, has passed away at the age of 85. The entertainment visionary succumbed to pneumonia on September 19.

Japan
(technology • video games)

Belarusian video game and Japanese anime with German title brought together by shared love of tanks

Casey Baseel
Sep 18, 2013

As an admittedly old-school gamer, I sometimes have a hard time grasping the appeal of modern video games designed with light users in mind. Lining up sparkly jewels in Bejeweled? Growing tomatoes in Farmville? Where’s the excitement in that?

Likewise, the trends of modern anime can be difficult to understand, with a glut of shows lacking any discernible concept beyond “cute girls hang out together, and occasionally participate in school club activities.”

If you ask me, both of these entertainment fields could do with a lot more stuff blowing up. Thankfully, that’s just what we can expect from the new collaboration between online game World of Tanks and anime franchise Girls und Panzer.

Japan
(anime • Girls und Panzer • manga • video games)

Download punk rock classics played in 8-bit – for free!!

Rachel Tackett
Sep 18, 2013

Who here is a fan of ‘90s punk rock? How about old school gaming from the NES and Sega Genesis eras? If you have an interest in one or both, there’s a new album up on Bandcamp, music community and selling outlet for self-releasing musical artists, called Punk Goes 8-Bit: Level 1. Tracks include popular punk hits from well-known artists, such as Blink 182, Less Than Jake, and The Offspring as you’ve never heard them before. Better yet, they’re absolutely free!

Internet
(8-bit • chiptune • fun • music • Punk rock • video games)

Canadian artist’s “what happened next” Street Fighter character designs are dark and awesome

Philip Kendall
Sep 17, 2013

Montreal-based artist and owner of personal blog Novamesh Arman Akopian (perhaps better known by his DeviantArt tag of GUYJIN) is causing quite the stir here in Japan today with a series of illustrations depicting the cast of Capcom’s genre-defining fighting game series Street Fighter years after the events of the game’s martial arts tournament.

Tremendously dark but expertly drawn and with detailed character descriptions alongside each illustration, we learn that things are not looking good for the majority of the Street Fighter crew, with Blanka struggling with alcoholism, Guile’s “sonic boom” attack eventually causing him to go deaf, and Chun-Li… well, Chun-Li is still looking as flexible and muscular as ever.