Taito’s limited edition Space Invaders accessory

(Thanks to Aaron Auzins for the tip & press release)

Taito’s efforts to build their brand continues with their iconic Space Invaders characters and now they are releasing a limited edition silverware accessory produced by French silverware maker Christofle. It may not be an enchanted pendant which wields special powers but if you’re into accessories like this then it can make for a cool addition to your collection.

Speaking of Space Invaders I played Space Invaders Extreme on the Nintendo DS yesterday. While I hadn’t cared much for any SI game in a long time, that is one game that I would pick up in a heartbeat if I owned a DS. Of course I feel that the game would be even more awesome in an arcade form with a vertical screen (what gives Taito? You guys are still producing new arcade games but you’re strangely ignoring SI except for branding new arcade locations. Give us a Space Invaders Extreme arcade game 😉 )

Anyways, back to the pendant. If you’re curious to know more about it, there is a press release attached to the post after the break.

Taito's limited edition Space Invaders accessory

(Thanks to Aaron Auzins for the tip & press release)

Taito’s efforts to build their brand continues with their iconic Space Invaders characters and now they are releasing a limited edition silverware accessory produced by French silverware maker Christofle. It may not be an enchanted pendant which wields special powers but if you’re into accessories like this then it can make for a cool addition to your collection.

Speaking of Space Invaders I played Space Invaders Extreme on the Nintendo DS yesterday. While I hadn’t cared much for any SI game in a long time, that is one game that I would pick up in a heartbeat if I owned a DS. Of course I feel that the game would be even more awesome in an arcade form with a vertical screen (what gives Taito? You guys are still producing new arcade games but you’re strangely ignoring SI except for branding new arcade locations. Give us a Space Invaders Extreme arcade game 😉 )

Anyways, back to the pendant. If you’re curious to know more about it, there is a press release attached to the post after the break.

Space Invaders might get a movie too

A short time ago we heard that Atari was looking at bringing some of it’s classics to the silver screen and now word has it that Warner Bros. is looking to bring a big Taito classic to movie theaters – Space Invaders. There aren’t any details on it yet as it is just in the negotiating round at the moment but it is another indicator that Hollywood isn’t looking to let up on the video game to-movie translations any time soon. I am guessing that one reason why they are looking at doing classic games into movies is due to the success of classic titles in recent times via downloadable means and the general nostalgia that drives collectors to keep the fun alive behind these games. Whether this, Missile Command, Asteroids or the Joust movies we heard of ages ago will make for riveting box office numbers, is something we will have to wait and see about. With Space Invaders it can prove a challenge simply because aliens invading from space is far from new but at least they have a template to follow.

[Via Aint It Cool News]

Soap Invaders

In the long line of Space Invaders spin-offs are now these cute little soap invaders for you to scrub away with. If invaders are you’re cup of tea, then give the old tetris blocks a soaking! Pick up this retro soap here for Space Invaders and here for the Tetris variety

[via Arcade Lounge]    [Discuss on the Fourm]

Space Invaders creator Tomohiro Nishikado talks SI, arcades and more

Space Invaders has finally gotten around to getting an Xbox Live remake and with it USA Today has done an interview with the original SI creator Tomohiro Nishikado where he discusses how he came up with the idea for the game, the state of video games in general and the arcade experience. I never had known that a prototype of SI had the player shooting people but Taito wasn’t happy with that and had him change it. He heard about Star Wars coming along, figured that space themed stuff was going to become a fad and it went from there. While it’s not terribly long, it’s a good interview so check it out by clikcing on the link below.

[Tomohiro Nishikado Interview] [Discuss on the Forum]

Taito’s Space Invaders 30th Anniversary Celebration to end with a bang

I received this a couple of days ago but as it was all in Japanese in a form that the online translator could not do anything with it (I have noticed many Japanese sites like to do that, where all the text is done in the forms of JPEGs or something similar), I had to resort to other means to figure out what on earth this Taito promotion site was talking about. Thankfully, Aaron Auzins of bemanistyle.com was able to translate what it was that was going on and so here is his rundown on what Taito is doing this Thursday in Japan.

“Even though it’s 2009, Taito is still looking to party like it’s 2008 with one, final event in recognition of its flagship Space Invaders’ 30th anniversary. For an event on Thursday, Taito will be rolling out special versions dubbed Space Invaders CX to six different Taito Happy Station locations in Japan, putting up exclusive goods and a chance to attend a special event later that evening.

Space Invaders has been showcased in arcades since 1978 and a special event in Akihabara’s UDX Gallery will be home to a special “retro free play” event from 14:00-18:00 on March 26. The game’s page shows a
number of cabinets with release dates ranging from 1986 onward, so, hopefully this represents titles that will be present at the event. From top to bottom, the page includes photos of Ninja Warriors (1987),
Darius (1986), Night Striker (1989), as well as two recent Taito games shown at AOU, Hopping Road and Senyoru Nippon.

However, attending the event is more than a matter of showing up at the door. Starting at 10:00, prospective attendees must attend events set up at six different Taito Station arcades.

In a cross promotion with GameCenter CX (GCCX), a popular television series in Japan now in its 11th season where comedian Shinya Arino plays video games under a time limit and goal, the event is being
billed as Space Invaders X (pronounced “cross”) GCCX and places Space Invaders CX machines at the locations. The show was popular enough to be made into a Nintendo DS video game entitled GameCenter CX: Arino’s
Challenge in 2007 – a title that was recently brought to the United States (sans references to the televisions show that would be unfamiliar to the region’s audience) under the title Retro Game Challenge – so Game Master Arino is no stranger to being featured in a video game. The CX version of the arcade machine seems nearly
identical to the original game, however, a caricature of Arino replaces the mystery point UFO.

The Station locations featuring the machine include Shinjuku, Shibuya, Akihabara, Ikebukuro, BIGBOX Takadanobaba (Tokyo) and Ueno, with each location hosting two sets of machines. When the event launches,
players can pick up a stamp card. Players get one chance per location to shoot down the flying Arino and if they are successful, they receive a stamp on their card.

It seems if you receive two or more stamps from the various locations, you can be admitted to the UDX Gallery event, where, if I’m translating this correctly, you can receive a business card from Mr. Arino himself. While this might sound silly to those outside of Japan, business card trading is very serious in the country and I
would be led to believe the business card would be from the GameCenter CX Company, the fictitious company Arino works for in the television series, making it a gaming collectible. Also, each of the six stamp
locations has a unique stuffed mascot character available, being based on Arino and some of the characters from the GCCX video game RPG, and original GCCX merchandise will also be available for purchase during
the event.

This sounds like a fantastic promotion and it also seems the stamp card craze is still running strong in Japan’s arcades. Konami is also running stamp card promotions in which AOU attendees and members of other events could receive stamps toward Bemani tumblers (coffee mugs). Hopefully the Space Invaders’ 30th anniversary finale goes out with a bang, leaving us wondering what could top such a grand event for the series’ 40th or even 50th anniversary.”

[Discuss on the Forum]

Taito's Space Invaders 30th Anniversary Celebration to end with a bang

I received this a couple of days ago but as it was all in Japanese in a form that the online translator could not do anything with it (I have noticed many Japanese sites like to do that, where all the text is done in the forms of JPEGs or something similar), I had to resort to other means to figure out what on earth this Taito promotion site was talking about. Thankfully, Aaron Auzins of bemanistyle.com was able to translate what it was that was going on and so here is his rundown on what Taito is doing this Thursday in Japan.

“Even though it’s 2009, Taito is still looking to party like it’s 2008 with one, final event in recognition of its flagship Space Invaders’ 30th anniversary. For an event on Thursday, Taito will be rolling out special versions dubbed Space Invaders CX to six different Taito Happy Station locations in Japan, putting up exclusive goods and a chance to attend a special event later that evening.

Space Invaders has been showcased in arcades since 1978 and a special event in Akihabara’s UDX Gallery will be home to a special “retro free play” event from 14:00-18:00 on March 26. The game’s page shows a
number of cabinets with release dates ranging from 1986 onward, so, hopefully this represents titles that will be present at the event. From top to bottom, the page includes photos of Ninja Warriors (1987),
Darius (1986), Night Striker (1989), as well as two recent Taito games shown at AOU, Hopping Road and Senyoru Nippon.

However, attending the event is more than a matter of showing up at the door. Starting at 10:00, prospective attendees must attend events set up at six different Taito Station arcades.

In a cross promotion with GameCenter CX (GCCX), a popular television series in Japan now in its 11th season where comedian Shinya Arino plays video games under a time limit and goal, the event is being
billed as Space Invaders X (pronounced “cross”) GCCX and places Space Invaders CX machines at the locations. The show was popular enough to be made into a Nintendo DS video game entitled GameCenter CX: Arino’s
Challenge in 2007 – a title that was recently brought to the United States (sans references to the televisions show that would be unfamiliar to the region’s audience) under the title Retro Game Challenge – so Game Master Arino is no stranger to being featured in a video game. The CX version of the arcade machine seems nearly
identical to the original game, however, a caricature of Arino replaces the mystery point UFO.

The Station locations featuring the machine include Shinjuku, Shibuya, Akihabara, Ikebukuro, BIGBOX Takadanobaba (Tokyo) and Ueno, with each location hosting two sets of machines. When the event launches,
players can pick up a stamp card. Players get one chance per location to shoot down the flying Arino and if they are successful, they receive a stamp on their card.

It seems if you receive two or more stamps from the various locations, you can be admitted to the UDX Gallery event, where, if I’m translating this correctly, you can receive a business card from Mr. Arino himself. While this might sound silly to those outside of Japan, business card trading is very serious in the country and I
would be led to believe the business card would be from the GameCenter CX Company, the fictitious company Arino works for in the television series, making it a gaming collectible. Also, each of the six stamp
locations has a unique stuffed mascot character available, being based on Arino and some of the characters from the GCCX video game RPG, and original GCCX merchandise will also be available for purchase during
the event.

This sounds like a fantastic promotion and it also seems the stamp card craze is still running strong in Japan’s arcades. Konami is also running stamp card promotions in which AOU attendees and members of other events could receive stamps toward Bemani tumblers (coffee mugs). Hopefully the Space Invaders’ 30th anniversary finale goes out with a bang, leaving us wondering what could top such a grand event for the series’ 40th or even 50th anniversary.”

[Discuss on the Forum]

Space Invaders Piggy Bank

There’s a certain irony of a Space Invaders cocktail cabinet piggy bank. So much money put in to them back in the day, but now you get to save the coins this time around!

[via JeanSnow]     [Discuss on the Forum]

New Space Invaders pillow to invade your sleep

If there’s any wonder as to why Taito isn’t happy about their trademarked characters being used in unauthorized exhibits, it’s probably because they are currently in full swing with an advertising campaign that uses these characters to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the game. And now that includes pillows!

The pillows are black with white characters to contrast, just like the original game. I honestly don’t remember how much I paid for my last pillow so I don’t know if $30 is a good deal or not in the world of pillows but for something ‘official’ like this it doesn’t seem too bad – if it’s comfortable. Otherwise it might make a nice couch pillow for a game room (if you have a couch there).

[Taito’s Official Space Invaders Pillows] [Discuss on the Forum]

Taito not happy about the use of Space Invaders at the Leipzig show, considering legal action

If you follow the consumer game media at all then you probably have heard of the Leipzig Game Show that has been going on in Germany. You also might have heard of the controversial Space Invaders-related exhibit which is being touted as art. Well Taito doesn’t care what it’s called, they are thinking of taking legal action:

TAITO is seriously considering all available options–including legal actions against the infringer and, if necessary, the Games Convention exhibitor involved–in order to end this unauthorized and impermissible misuse of the Space Invaders content and to protect TAITO’s intellectual properties.

Ouch! Of course it doesn’t help that the theme also has to do with the World Trade Center Towers, September 11th, and the whole war on terrorism. I imagine that Taito doesn’t want to be linked to this sort of thing which is probably what caught their attention. Hit the jump for Taito’s full press release.

UPDATE: A response from the artist:

——statement of the artist——————
After three days of a steady downward spiral in public discussion of the
piece, I have just given my agreement to the organizers of the Leipzig
Games Convention to simply turn off the installation Invaders! While I
realize the dangerous precedent of allowing the lowest common
denominator dictate what is and is not a valid form of expression,
unfortunately the current tone has totally obfuscated the original aims
of the piece. While I take full responsibility for the uncomfortable
ambiguity of certain aspects of this work, it was never created to
merely provoke controversy for controversy’s sake, and unfortunately,
this is what the piece has now become. The American response to this
work has been, frankly, immature, and lacking the sophistication and
consideration that other parts of the world have so far shown the work.
Contrary to previous reports, I am an American, and it saddens me that
we as a people remain so profoundly unable to process this event outside
of some obscure, but tacitly understood, criteria of purely anesthetized
artistic representation. Due to these profound misunderstandings, I
simply feel that from an artistic point of view, the work has lost the
ability to have any valuable impact, poetic or otherwise. I have not
been pressured by the Leipziger Messe, nor by the Computerspiele Museum
in this decision — to the contrary, they have offered their support in
defending the right of artists to speak freely, and in whatever context
they may choose.

August, 22nd 2008 Douglas Edric Stanley

And in case you’re curious, here’s what the exhibit looked like