SoftBank
SoftBank

SoftBank

Tokyo Game Show 2007 – Video Report

Tokyo Game Show 2007 - Video ReportYet another successful event for in the massive Makuhari Messe convention center saw almost 200,000 pass through the gates for TGS 2007. Aaaah.. the chaos, the crowds, the girls games.. how could we resist! A sunny Saturday afternoon brought out the kids – for family day – and plenty of Cosplay actors were swarming between show halls to pose down for the camera’s. But the real action, coming from every major player in the gaming world, was inside. WWJ has been on-hand for this event pretty much every year since 2002, with the first-to-web video of the Sony PSP in 2004, and this time out was perhaps the most impressive yet.

The obvious evolution on display was without a doubt the next gen. motion-sensor enabled Mega Games at the DoCoMo booth. While KDDI rolled-out the heavy armor with Metal Gear Solid and BioHazzard for mobile RPG products, the display which seems to have grabbed the most attention was from SoftBank Mobile. Thanks to Darth and the Tokyo StormTroopers, who un-leashed the new Star Wars PodRacer game, we were hooked from Go!

SoftBank Looking for a Nifty WiMax Partner

Softbank Corp. is in the final stage of talks with access service provider Nifty Corp., and other firms, on a plan to set up a new joint company in order to apply for a 2.5GHz spectrum license. Other possible partners are broadband service provider eAccess Ltd. and Internet access providers So-net Entertainment Corp., NEC Biglobe Ltd and FreeBit Co., according to this report on EE Times.

Carriers Resist Handset Subsidy Regulations

Not surprisingly the battle over proposed new handset regulations is starting to heat up. According to a brief article, KDDI Corp’s President Tadashi Onodera reacted angrily to the recent government report calling for the cellular industry to terminate the practice of offsetting handset discounts with higher service charges. Onodera criticised the plan stating that Japanese mobile operators must be allowed to continue offering rebates. “Amid free competition among three carriers.. I feel odd about the government-backed decision.” We commented on this issue Here in June.

Price War for Corporate Mobile Users

SoftBank Mobile and NTT DoCoMo have both issued press releases this afternoon with new price plans specifically targeted at enterprise users. DoCoMo announced that all corporate customers committing to a two-year contract would receive an immediate 50% discount on basic monthly charges under the new “Office-wari MAX 50” plan. The maximum 50% discount was previously reserved for customers that had subscribed to DoCoMo services for at least 11 consecutive years.