Oneechanbara Takes Manhattan

New Yorkers with a thirst for blood covered cowgirls may want to free up their Friday night, as the movie adaptation of Oneechanbara—trailer here—has its "international premiere" at the New York Asian Film Festival later this week. It looks to have all the narrative density of an informational pamphlet but does feature school girl outfits and biker chicks fighting the undead.

The Japanese hack and slash and tits and ass flick based on the D3 video game of the same name will be screened Friday, June 20 at 10:45pm and Wednesday, June 25 at 4:00pm at the IFC Center in New York City. Brain activity will be checked at the door.

Oneechanbara [Subway Cinema - thanks, Alan!]

Nintendo's Father's Day Smash Bros. Tournament

Sunday June 15th is Father's Day, and what better way to celebrate than playing Super Smash Bros. Brawl all day long? Alright, so some of you were planning on doing that anyway, but if you're in the New York City area that weekend you can get your father involved for a chance at fabulous prizes!

Nintendo is hosting a Super Smash Bros. Brawl Wii Father's Day Tournament at the Nintendo World store in Rockefeller Plaza on the 15th from 1 to 4 PM, with the winners of the bracket-style playoff walking away with two Wii, two copies of the game, and a trophy commemorating the event. Photographers will be on hand throughout the event to offer framed father and son pictures so at least you come away with something if the tourney only drives home the fact that you and your father have absolutely nothing in common.

It's that time, time for gamers of all types (just so long as they live in Manhattan) to go outside and play some big world meatspace games.

The third annual Come Out & Play Festival once again attempts to turn New York City into a playground. In 2006, when the festival first hit NYC, gamers were given a chance to play life-sized Pong and real world Pac-Man, among a list of other interesting games. This year's list of games features two dozen ways to play outside including Humatar, which uses Xbox 360 controllers, headphones and Nerf guns to turn people into real-world avatars.

In Humatar one set of players controls a second set with the use of the Xbox 360 controllers. They don't get into specifics on the site, but since headphones are worn by the avatars I assume that moving the thumbstick sends out audio commands to the avatars. Sounds like it could be fun.

Hit up the site to check out the full list of games and Manhattan this weekend to play them.

Come Out & Play Festival 2008

NYC Eyeballs Growing Games Industry

New York City's Center For an Urban Future released an in-depth report on the state of the city's game industry, with the aim of encouraging city government to become more involved. Given the overall health of the industry, NYC joins a number of cities around the world looking for ways to attract game development; recently, we reported on a 20 percent tax credit granted to developers who create their projects there.

The report found that the city has more incentive to focus on the game industry than it's been given credit for:

According to local industry experts, the number of game development companies in New York City could be counted on one hand as recently as five years ago. But today, the city is home to more than 30 game development companies and another 55 firms involved in some aspect of games, from sound effects to distribution. Only a handful of other cities in North America have as many gaming firms.

Liberty City is New York City. Pretty much. You already know that. Times Square, the Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge, you've no doubt seen them all in the game by now. But just how deep does the real-world-referencing rabbit hole run? You might recognise Broadway, but do you recognise Rockstar's version of the Paramount Theatre? Or their rendition of the Hearst Building? Maybe not. But they're in there. Those and a ton more have been noted, catalogued and photographed by designer Matthew Johnston, with the full gallery available at the Flickr link below.

Sightseeing in Liberty City [Matthew Johnston @ Flickr]

When Reggie said Nintendo would be spending the big bucks on promoting Wii Fit to the great unwashed, he wasn't fuckin' around. Go Nintendo reader Charles just snapped this pic while strolling nonchalantly around Times Square, and I must say, that's pretty darned eye-catching. It'd really make me want to hit the Balance Board and burn some calories, were it not for the fact it's sitting, well, right on top of a Chevy's. Sorry, Nintendo, but no way is exercise beating out tacos.

Wii Fit takes over Times Square [Go Nintendo]

The History Of NYC (In Games)

NYC Nintendo World Store Is Still Line Central

The Ride Of The Mongeese

Not Entirely True

Kotaku's Halo 3 Launch Plans