BigShinyThing

The games company is second only to Toyota in terms of market capitalisation. Shares in Nintendo closed up 3.1 per cent to ¥59,200 bringing its market value to ¥8,390bn ($73.2bn), surpassing Canon’s market cap of ¥8,120bn.

The Japanese games maker’s shares have more than quadrupled over the past two years as the family-friendly Wii console has trounced Sony’s PlayStation 3 and Microsoft’s Xbox 360 to become the best-selling next-generation games machine in the world.

The surge in Ninteno’s market cap comes as Microsoft eagerly awaits the results of the much-hyped launch of Halo 3, the latest version of its blockbuster video game. Microsoft last month cut the price of its most popular Xbox 360 model by $50, following a similar move by Sony, which had cut the price of its PS3 console in the US to boost sales.

Nintendo is now back at the top of the console market, a position it last held 17 years ago with the Nintendo and Super Nintendo consoles. Observers attribute Nintendo’s success to Satoru Iwata, the company’s president, who joined the games maker in 2002. Mr Iwata is credited with forcing Nintendo to revamp its strategy by not trying to compete directly with Sony or Microsoft. Instead, the games maker has created a market in so-called ‘casual gaming’ by trying to woo adults as well as children.

Nintendo’s reclaimed supremacy was underlined in July when it leapfrogged Sony, the consumer electronics group, in terms of market capitalisation for the first time.

Sony disappointed gamers last week when it said the launch of Home, its virtual reality world, would be delayed until the spring.

The Wii costs $249 compared with $300-$400 for the Xbox 360 and $599 for the PS3. Anlaysts say prices of all three consoles are expected to drop by the crucial holiday shopping season.

Source: Financial Times

Trace Magazine features the Absolut Metropolis shoot which took place in Japan a few months ago. The vodka brand invited a bunch of club kids to incorporate the bottle shape into their various outfits and this was the result. The magazine’s rather lumbering explanation reads , “This Absolut Metropolis idea was born - and brainstormed - out of Absolut’s decision to add a new twist to their communication within fashion by infiltrating the busy streets and teaming up with original, creative thinkers in the Big City [Tokyo]. Over a seven month period, we travelled to Toyko numerous times in search of those urban creators who best supported our claim that rapid change could be brought by a few single-minded individuals who unleash their passions through self-creation. With this global initiative, which is being launched within these pages with future extensions into magazine ads, a special website and events, we gave these creators an international platform where their ideas, as channeled through homemade fashion designs, could be shared with a captive audience. ”

Looks like dodgy clubwear label Cyber Dog is still big in Japan.

A projector on a tripod shows images of raindrops hitting the ground and making ripples, in hopes that people will enter the “rainy” area and hold out their palms. A camera tracks the entrants’ movements and sends the data to computers. Then the projector shoots out a round-shaped advertisement — which can post words such as SALE — right onto their hands. The “rain” could also guide customers to specific stores.

What’s nice about this idea is how much it relies on human behaviour - people will always hold out their hands to rain. They also have a tendency to write stuff on their hands. It’s also a lot more personal. According to Yoko Ishii, a chief researcher in the human interaction project, “Advertisements are usually something that’s given to you, but it would be different if they showed up on your palms. You would feel more familiar with the message that appears in your personal area,” she said

One of the problems yet to be solved is how to make the message last longer than the rain. Researchers are also looking for ways to let people bring back the information on their palms if they so choose. It is already common for Japanese mobile telephone users to take snapshots of special tiny images on print advertisements that guide them to Internet sites offering more detailed information. Maybe they should just re-watch their Bladerunner, “In time all these moments will be lost, like tears in the rain.”

Story and photo courtesy of www. physorg.com

Dubbed ‘architectural karaoke’ by RIBA Journal, Pecha Kucha means ‘chatting’ in Japanese. At these open events presenters have to stick to a format of 20 slides at 20 seconds each - they can either talk or remain silent and let the images speak for themselves

Mark Dytham recently held a Pecha Kucha event at London’s Apple Store and 300 people turned up:

There are very few places to show your work and we encourage a bizarre bunch of people. It could be stuff you have seen on holiday, or things you collect or a construction site…

Klein Dytham are the subject of an exhibition currently showing at The Bath House, London until 18th March.