Taito [J] has released the Android social game “特工大戦” (SPY WARS), for the smartphone “Tencent Wireless Open Platform for Community” through business partnership with GREE [J] and the Chinese internet portal Tencent.

“特工大戦” is the first segment of a social game in China for the “Tencent Wireless Open Platform for Community.”  It’s a Chinese language version of the popular social spy game offered in Japanese as “SPY WARS,” where players become an intelligence organization’s agent.  To save the world from a series of crises, they must join with partners to carry out various missions; to prevent conspiracies laid out by enemies, players order subordinate intelligence operatives, execute missions from their organization, and challenge foreign agents to battle in order to snatch their confidential information carried undercover.

Since Tencent and GREE’s business partnership in January of this year, they have been offering business support and localization as a collaborative development of each other’s platforms .

Translation authorized by VSMedia

Tags: News, Social game by Chiho Komoriya
No Comments »

Bandai Namco [J] has opened “Banadroid” [J] specially for the Android market.

“Banadroid” is an application marketplace with application distribution, billing and registered user information for Android apps managed by Bandai Namco Games.  Currently it’s still in beta service, so there are only 12 available titles, but from now the lineup is planned to increase.  Presently available are the major titles “Pac-Man,” “Ridge Racer,” “Katamari Damacy,” and free applications such as “Hanabi Tatsujin” (Fireworks Master) and “Panda To Nameko” (Panda and Mushroom).

Translation authorized by VSMedia

Tags: Android, News by Chiho Komoriya
No Comments »

Social Game Networking Service Gree and Microsoft Japan announced their partnership around promotion of Microsoft's cloud environment Windows Azure Platform to Gree's game developer parteners on December 19.

via CNET Japan [J]

Tags: Japan, News by Akky Akimoto
No Comments »

This week's Japanese Web/IT related news which we did not write as a dedicated article.

Referred pages are all in Japanese, unless otherwise stated.

• Yahoo! Japan Starts Nanapi-like Tips-Sharing Service Chie-Note
• Baidu buys Shimeji (Android Japanese input method). The price is several hundred million yen. - A developer Adamrocker will move back from U.S., join Baidu
• Google Japanese Input For Android Released - another Japanese Input Method for Android
• Machanical Turk-Style Female Love Confession Voice Selling Service by voice actress. detail
• Scratching many capybaras
• Hand-cream Bento (so-called chara-ben)

  

  • DNP Purchases 1/3 Of AllAbout Japan From Yahoo! Japan And Recruit
  • Milog Security Incident Research Report By Third-party Panel Issued - it is not so harsh, saying as if the only issue was not explaining the application collecting user information.
• Yahoo! Japan Starts Nanapi-like Tips-Sharing Service Chie-Note
• Yahoo! Japan WIth Panasonic Brings Yahoo! Auction App On TV
• DNP Purchases 1/3 Of AllAbout Japan From Yahoo! Japan And Recruit

If you want to know any specific news more, but unable to find them in other English blog/media, please let us know.

Tags: Japan IT Links by Akky Akimoto
No Comments »

Bank of Japan, Japan's central bank, announced [J] its immediate start of Twitter on December 16. Two Twitter account in Japanese and in English started tweeting.

These accounts provide updates on new releases on the Bank's web site. In addition, the Bank may, when necessary, as in cases of emergency, communicate its messages through these accounts.

Japanese account has tweeted 4 messages, but English one has 2 tweets so far. It seems English account only tweets only when there is an English web page matched with the message.

Japanese Yen has been being in historic high, despite national debt and two decades economical stagnation. Bank of Japan is always pressured by pro-export industries and politicians.

Especially after the Eastern Japan disaster last March 11, many government and government-related organization began Twitter after criticism for not being open, some of them are in English, including Prime Minister’s Office (English one), Tokyo Electric Power Co.(TEPCO) and Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (=army, though they are not allowed to identity themselves so).

All links on the tweets are abbreviated by twme.jp, which is provided by CGM Marketing, a subsidiary of Digital Garage who assists Twitter' localization. It shows Bank of Japan uses Tweetmanager by CGM Marketing, who also manages Twitter guiding portal TwiNavi.

Tags: Japan, News by Akky Akimoto
No Comments »