News for all the gamers out there

by Chris MaGee

I have to admit that I'm not a gamer, a) because my hand eye coordination sucks, and b) because I already have an addictive personality so I'd rather not tempt fate and get sucked any further into the virtual world beyond the old J-Film Pow-Wow blog here. Here are a couple little news items for all of you gamers out there who also, I'm assuming if you're reading this, are Japanese film fans.

First up - Back in September of last year news started popping up here and there about a new video game designed by the folks at Studio Ghibli in conjunction with game company Level-5. Called "Ni no Kuni: The Another World" it was described vaguely as being about a young boy who enters a alternate fantasy world in hopes of preventing the death of his mother. (Geez! Talk about high stakes!) Now Ghibli World has got a few more details about the game that were revealed recently on former Studio Ghibli head Toshio Suzuki's radio show "Ghibli Asemamire". The biggest news? The game has a full soundtrack by longtime Miyzaki collaborator Jo Hisaishi! Nice! Read the full intertview here.

Second on the agenda - Early in April it was announced that Takashi Shimizu was involved in adapting his successful J-Horror film series "The Grudge" into a game for Nintendo's Wii. originally the name of the game proved to be as mysterious as those white meowing ghosts in the "Grudge" films. First it was reported that it would simply be called "Feel", then it was supposed to be "Kyôfu Taikan: Ju-on (Horror Experience: The Grudge)”, but now according to Nippon Cinema the game, being released in Japan on July 30th and in North America in October, will be called just "Ju-on: The Grudge". Described as a “Haunted House Simulator” the game will allow players to explore the interior of house possessed by those scary Japanese yurei ghosts using a handheld Wii flashlight.