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A new billboard in Holland advertising the white PlayStation Portable has sent a US civil rights group, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), into an uproar. The ad itself boasts a white woman with white hair and matching clothes grasping a black woman's jaw; the text reads, "PlayStation Portable White is Coming."

The San Jose branch of the NAACP issued a statement claiming Rick Callender, chapter president, had referred to what was a recent assertion of racism toward the seemingly innocent PSP game LocoRoco, stating: "The days of blacks being portrayed in minstrel shows ["blackface" music and comedy skits] are long gone, and with good reason. The minstrel show was an awful chapter in history and this ad smacks of that age and time."

Despite currently being exclusive to the Netherlands, Callender refocused his ire on the billboard. "The latest Sony ad conjures up bad memories of when stereotypical and offensive images of people of color were accepted means of selling a product. Sony should immediately apologize and discontinue these archaic advertising tactics." Leland Yee, California's Assembly Speaker, agreed with the comments made by Callender, adding: "I am deeply disappointed in Sony's senseless decision to publish this racially-charged advertisement. I can't begin to determine Sony's motivation but I believe this marketing strategy is unnecessary and is clearly offensive to many in our community."

In response to the NAACP, a Sony spokesperson has insisted that the images are not intended to be racially offensive nor are they meant to be taken as such.

"The marketing campaign for the launch of the White PSP in the Benelux focuses on the contrast between the Black PSP model and the new Ceramic White PSP model. All of the 100 or so images created for the campaign have been designed to show this contrast in colors of the PSPs, and have no other message or purpose."

One must wonder how different the arguement would have turned out had the same ad been for the black PSP instead...

Sources: EuroGamer
GAF - Billboard Images

For all those who have complained about our Final Fantasy V data in the past, don't worry, we just finished upgrading a ton of it! And for those of you (roughly 93%) who have never been into that section, well, now you have a reason to go.

We've done a fresh dump of enemy data from the game and input it into our data tables, which freed us up to do a lot of new stuff. For one, we have doubled the details we will give you for each enemy, including various strengths, weaknesses, abilities, and win/steal data. That allowed us to upgrade some other sections too - the magic page now will show you where to buy, win, or steal or learn certain spells, and weapons, armor, and items all crossreference the shop and enemy data tables to pull the same data.

As always, we won't guarantee that some little irritants didn't slip through, but we did a ton of QA work here that should have caught the bulk of it. This project took us several months of starts and stops, and I had a ton of help. Thanks a lot to all of the following:

• Silverlance for generating the data dumps;


• Caesar and Djibriel for analysing, proofreading, and translating the dumps as needed, and checking the input to our tables;


• MogMaster and Karasuman for the help in additional manual data entry after the first batch upload;


• And, finally, Del S for doing more data entry, testing, fact checking, and general raw effort than you can throw a Fire Skill at.

Japan's Tokyo Game Show, scheduled to be held at the Chiba prefecture's Makuhari Messe from September 22nd through the 24th, should be packed with an alleged record number of participating companies this year. According to a recently updated list, the annual show's organizers are anticipating their largest ever group of 134 exhibitors presenting about 1,702 game related products. Additionally, over 160,000 in attendance are surmised for the 10th anniversary event - a total slightly below last year's.

The three-day show's theme this year, as disclosed by the Tokyo Game Show website, is "new stimulus, new feeling, new era." In the words of the Japanese game industry trade body Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association (CESA), "[the theme] is meant to reflect the changing and converging landscape, one in which consumer consoles, online games, mobile games and next-gen are all supported."

As a final note, Nintendo, formerly holding its Space World event each year as a means in which to publicly showcase its upcoming games and systems exclusively, will once again forgo making an appearance at the TGS.

For more information on the Tokyo Game Show, check out the event's official website (in English).

Source: Gamasutra

It's been a rather sluggish period for RPG news as of late, but fortunately enough plenty of the latest, juicy media regarding three highly anticipated Final Fantasy titles has been unveiled for the eye candy-craving populace:

First up is a generous portion of cinematic and gameplay shots featuring the blade-and-bullet-wielding heroine of Final Fantasy XIII, mainly engaged in a battle similar to - if not directly from - the trailer. Following close behind are several screens á la Tetsuya Nomura's RPG, bound for the PlayStation 3 like its counterpart, of which few details are currently known - Final Fantasy Versus XIII. The prominent figure in each screen is a black-clad, dark haired man of questionable significance.

Finally, a copious batch of Final Fantasy III DS media has revealed the ever approaching remake - gearing up for its North American launch this September - in its nigh full glory. Among these recent shots are additional battle screens, in-game scenes, and job artwork including that of the Viking, Ranger, Monk, and Geomancer classes.

In an announcement promised last week, Bandai Namco has revealed four "new" Tales games presently in the making:

The first is a remake of the series' first installment, Tales of Phantasia. Despite having already been remade for Japanese PlayStations in 1998, and graphically upgraded for a Game Boy Advance release in North America earlier this year, Bandai Namco has opted to carry the title on over to the PlayStation Portable. This time, notably, the game will feature complete voiceovers.

Another is Tales of Destiny, slated to be remade for the PlayStation 2 while featuring 3D environments and highly detailed, 2-dimensional sprites. Brand new scenes and voices are to be added as well.

The final remake is a PSP version of Tales of Destiny 2. Originally a PS2 title available only in Japan, very little is likely to be altered in the way of graphics and sound.

Lastly, a new game entitled Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology also has its sights set upon the PSP. Soon to be the fourth in the previously GBA-exclusive Tales of the World sub-series in Japan, and the first to appear in 3D, Radiant Mythology will play much differently than the standard Tales games. Among the title's unique qualities is the player's ability to create his or her own main character by choosing from assorted facial features. Furthermore, a band of familiar characters from Tales games past - a Tales of the World trademark - shall serve as party members.

Tales of Phantasia is scheduled to launch in Japan on September 7th, while Tales of Destiny and Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology are due out sometime this winter. Tales of Destiny 2, on the other hand, won't be available until next year.

There has yet to be any confirmation on possible North American or European releases.

Sources: GAF
RPGFan

In a somewhat embarrassing and very costly twist of fate for Nintendo, a shipping container carrying a multitude of DS Lite systems as well as a large assortment of games worth a combined total of over $2.3 million (US) - rumored to have gone missing last week during its delivery to the UK - was publicly confirmed earlier today by GamesIndustry, on behalf of Nintendo, as stolen.

Having begun its trip from China, the metal crate turned up missing in Hong Kong after a brief journey rather shy of its European destination. As such, Hong Kong's police unit is willing to provide a several thousand dollar reward to anyone with helpful information regarding the retrieval of the handhelds.

Nintendo, meanwhile, has worked hastily to replace the stolen game units prior to their release date in Europe on June 23rd: "Nintendo is making every effort to ensure that there [are] enough product[s] available in the UK to meet market demand at launch." And heavy that demand may surely be; after all, the remodeled DS has thus far garnered enormous support all over Japan and throughout the US, where 135,000 systems flew off the shelves within just the first two days.