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After a million downloads of the E3′05 and multi-player demos, who picked up Lost Planet on Friday?

I know I did. Along with over 1 million other people worldwide.

So it’s pretty clear that Capcom’s second Xbox 360 title is going to follow Dead Rising as a success, despite various gripes from critics like 1Up and Gamespot. It even sold some 20,000 copies at launch in Japan and that’s with only an install base of just over 290,000 consoles. Impressive (the sales, not the install base).

Anyhow, seeing as there are potentially some 20,000 and growing players from Japan, Brian Dunn at Capcom’s Lost Planet Community blog decided to post a Japanese language lesson so you can properly communicate with (and insult) anyone who speaks Japanese. I could see how this lesson could come in handy for Ridge Racer 6, Dead or Alive 4 and Chromehounds multi-player, among other games I’m sure.

Kakatte koi!

Image courtesy of Brian Dunn/Lost Planet Community

I downloaded the demo of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06 off of Xbox Live Marketplace last night just to try it out. I haven’t played a “realistic” golf game since Links 386 in the mid 1990s. I’ve had a lot of fun playing Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee on the PSP, but the obvious appeal is the arcade feel and format.

I thought the game was pretty good, I mean, some ten years later, you would hope the golf games would improve! The water looks absolutely amazing and I should know, as on the TPC at Sawgrass hole, I exceeded my shot limit with every single ball going straight into the drink.

Next I tried the Pebble Beach Golf Links hole. It took a round to get used to how to aim, swing and most importantly, putt, as my double bogey would tell you. On the next round my drive took me to about 190 yards from the pin. I remember the guy saying the ball will roll towards the water on the green, so I aimed a little more right and took my swing… and I totally felt like I messed it up because I starting swinging forward before the backswing hit it’s apex. Then I watched the ball soar, hit the ground before the green, roll onto the green, curve towards the hole… DOUBLE EAGLE. (!!!)

Here I am, not into golf games and I’ve got my arms raised in the air in excitement over this one round in a demo. I couldn’t top that last night, so that was the last thing I did.

While I can’t make the same boast as Apollo Creed, I’ve downed my share of boxers since I’ve picked up Fight Night Round 3 a couple of weeks ago. My lifetime record isn’t helped by the fact that I haven’t played a boxing game since I got a demo version of 4-D Boxing on PC, which was my upgrade from Mike Tyson’s Punch Out!! on the NES. Yes, it’s been that long.

I downloaded the demo of FNR3 from Marketplace purely based on videos and images posted on the Internet. I won my first fight against Roy Jones Jr. and I was starting to like getting back into the boxing genre. That was to be the only fight I won in the demo and I had to shelve it out of total frustration since I kept losing. That didn’t stop me from picking up the game though, I figured I would learn how to fight and get better with the full version of the game. A couple of test fights in, I figured out the controls so I could start winning. I think got it now — my career sits at 18-2-0 (18 KO) with only my impatience working against me on those 2 losses.

And, yes, I got sucked into a boxing game even though I’m not a fan of the sport at all. Enough that I found myself the other night looking up old fights and famous boxers. Although I knew he was one of the greatest, I never realized what a total machine George Foreman was! If only my thumbs were machines, I must be doing something wrong, but I can hardly last a round without having to take a break because my thumbs hurt from the dodging, blocking and punching. I’m definitely not stopping now though, FNR3 has my attention. I have to go back to improving my record now.