https://automaton-media.com/en/author/amber-vjestica/ AUTOMATON is a website that covers the Japanese gaming world. We bring you the news on video games from Osaka and Tokyo. Fri, 09 Oct 2026 09:07:50 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1.3 https://automaton-media.com/en/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/cropped-automaton-sitelogo-120x120-1-32x32.png https://automaton-media.com/en/author/amber-vjestica/ 32 32 https://automaton-media.com/en/news/developers-of-ai-powered-driving-game-take-out-loan-to-keep-steam-demo-running-after-surge-in-players-pushes-ai-costs-past-1000-a-day/ https://automaton-media.com/en/news/developers-of-ai-powered-driving-game-take-out-loan-to-keep-steam-demo-running-after-surge-in-players-pushes-ai-costs-past-1000-a-day/#comments Fri, 09 Oct 2026 09:07:49 +0000 https://automaton-media.com/en/?p=73667 Teach My Little Sister How to Drive uses external AI models (Gemini and ChatGPT) to generate real-time conversations.]]> https://automaton-media.com/en/news/developers-of-ai-powered-driving-game-take-out-loan-to-keep-steam-demo-running-after-surge-in-players-pushes-ai-costs-past-1000-a-day/feed/ 3 https://automaton-media.com/en/news/laica-is-a-space-horror-survival-game-in-which-you-spend-time-with-a-mysterious-girl-while-anomalies-erode-the-world-coming-to-steam-in-2027/ https://automaton-media.com/en/news/laica-is-a-space-horror-survival-game-in-which-you-spend-time-with-a-mysterious-girl-while-anomalies-erode-the-world-coming-to-steam-in-2027/#respond Thu, 08 Oct 2026 08:16:18 +0000 https://automaton-media.com/en/?p=73574 Laica is an upcoming game by Santa Studio, which was formed as a venture originating from the University of Tokyo’s Faculty of Engineering,]]> https://automaton-media.com/en/news/laica-is-a-space-horror-survival-game-in-which-you-spend-time-with-a-mysterious-girl-while-anomalies-erode-the-world-coming-to-steam-in-2027/feed/ 0 https://automaton-media.com/en/news/japanese-publishers-reportedly-outraged-after-domestic-company-admits-to-selling-large-volumes-of-books-to-ai-developer-anthropic/ https://automaton-media.com/en/news/japanese-publishers-reportedly-outraged-after-domestic-company-admits-to-selling-large-volumes-of-books-to-ai-developer-anthropic/#respond Wed, 07 Oct 2026 07:00:57 +0000 https://automaton-media.com/en/?p=73481 Nippan reportedly admitted to selling books, but said it had not understood the purchases to be for the purpose of AI training.]]> https://automaton-media.com/en/news/japanese-publishers-reportedly-outraged-after-domestic-company-admits-to-selling-large-volumes-of-books-to-ai-developer-anthropic/feed/ 0 https://automaton-media.com/en/news/former-capcom-developer-says-years-of-extreme-crunch-culture-are-part-of-why-japans-game-industry-has-so-few-female-directors/ https://automaton-media.com/en/news/former-capcom-developer-says-years-of-extreme-crunch-culture-are-part-of-why-japans-game-industry-has-so-few-female-directors/#comments Wed, 07 Oct 2026 04:52:57 +0000 https://automaton-media.com/en/?p=73465 Masakazu Sugimori, known for his work on Ace Attorney and Viewtiful Joe's music, recently talked about the lack of female directors in Japan's game industry.]]> https://automaton-media.com/en/news/former-capcom-developer-says-years-of-extreme-crunch-culture-are-part-of-why-japans-game-industry-has-so-few-female-directors/feed/ 7 https://automaton-media.com/en/news/japanese-developer-alleges-unpaid-outsourcing-fees-for-4-games-drove-his-company-into-financial-ruin-with-70-employees-laid-off/ https://automaton-media.com/en/news/japanese-developer-alleges-unpaid-outsourcing-fees-for-4-games-drove-his-company-into-financial-ruin-with-70-employees-laid-off/#respond Tue, 06 Oct 2026 09:03:51 +0000 https://automaton-media.com/en/?p=73450 The CEO of Tokyo-based software developer OGIX recently blew the whistle on domestic mobile game company Poppin Games over unpaid dev fees.]]> https://automaton-media.com/en/news/japanese-developer-alleges-unpaid-outsourcing-fees-for-4-games-drove-his-company-into-financial-ruin-with-70-employees-laid-off/feed/ 0 https://automaton-media.com/en/news/yuri-visual-novel-watamari-part-2-a-fake-marriage-development-resumes-after-bank-blocks-steam-revenue-developer-gives-up-adult-content-patches-for-past-games/ https://automaton-media.com/en/news/yuri-visual-novel-watamari-part-2-a-fake-marriage-development-resumes-after-bank-blocks-steam-revenue-developer-gives-up-adult-content-patches-for-past-games/#comments Tue, 06 Oct 2026 06:00:17 +0000 https://automaton-media.com/en/?p=73421 Takii Noame recently wrote about their "debanking" ordeal over yuri games.]]> https://automaton-media.com/en/news/yuri-visual-novel-watamari-part-2-a-fake-marriage-development-resumes-after-bank-blocks-steam-revenue-developer-gives-up-adult-content-patches-for-past-games/feed/ 2 https://automaton-media.com/en/news/cosmoship-yamato-2199-a-new-anime-film-directed-by-evangelion-creator-hideaki-anno-announced/ https://automaton-media.com/en/news/cosmoship-yamato-2199-a-new-anime-film-directed-by-evangelion-creator-hideaki-anno-announced/#respond Tue, 06 Oct 2026 01:22:04 +0000 https://automaton-media.com/en/?p=73400 Acclaimed mecha designer Yutaka Izubuchi serves as co-director.]]> https://automaton-media.com/en/news/cosmoship-yamato-2199-a-new-anime-film-directed-by-evangelion-creator-hideaki-anno-announced/feed/ 0 https://automaton-media.com/en/news/shadow-hearts-series-creator-gives-update-on-spiritual-successor-penny-blood-the-studio-still-hasnt-secured-a-publisher-but-has-not-given-up-on-the-project/ https://automaton-media.com/en/news/shadow-hearts-series-creator-gives-update-on-spiritual-successor-penny-blood-the-studio-still-hasnt-secured-a-publisher-but-has-not-given-up-on-the-project/#comments Mon, 05 Oct 2026 03:52:37 +0000 https://automaton-media.com/en/?p=73334 The project ran into issues after the Kickstarter campaign's organizers allegedly withheld funds from the developers.]]> https://automaton-media.com/en/news/shadow-hearts-series-creator-gives-update-on-spiritual-successor-penny-blood-the-studio-still-hasnt-secured-a-publisher-but-has-not-given-up-on-the-project/feed/ 1 https://automaton-media.com/en/news/playstation-creator-ken-kutaragi-says-modern-games-are-at-a-turning-point-urges-industry-not-to-lose-curiosity/ https://automaton-media.com/en/news/playstation-creator-ken-kutaragi-says-modern-games-are-at-a-turning-point-urges-industry-not-to-lose-curiosity/#comments Thu, 01 Oct 2026 13:00:00 +0000 https://automaton-media.com/en/?p=73215 Ken Kutaragi recently talked to industry peers and students at the opening ceremony of CEREC.]]> https://automaton-media.com/en/news/playstation-creator-ken-kutaragi-says-modern-games-are-at-a-turning-point-urges-industry-not-to-lose-curiosity/feed/ 1 https://automaton-media.com/en/news/dynasty-warriors-series-producer-tomohiko-sho-is-conflicted-about-leading-future-remasters-im-in-my-fifties-i-sometimes-wonder-how-many-games-i-can-make-before-i-retire/ https://automaton-media.com/en/news/dynasty-warriors-series-producer-tomohiko-sho-is-conflicted-about-leading-future-remasters-im-in-my-fifties-i-sometimes-wonder-how-many-games-i-can-make-before-i-retire/#comments Thu, 01 Oct 2026 08:52:06 +0000 https://automaton-media.com/en/?p=73223 Sho expressed a desire to work on new games, whether they be sequels or brand-new IPs.]]> https://automaton-media.com/en/news/dynasty-warriors-series-producer-tomohiko-sho-is-conflicted-about-leading-future-remasters-im-in-my-fifties-i-sometimes-wonder-how-many-games-i-can-make-before-i-retire/feed/ 1 https://automaton-media.com/en/news/voice-actor-kenjiro-tsudas-lawsuit-over-ai-voice-cloning-dismissed-but-ruling-sets-important-precedent-for-protecting-seiyuu-voices-in-japan/ https://automaton-media.com/en/news/voice-actor-kenjiro-tsudas-lawsuit-over-ai-voice-cloning-dismissed-but-ruling-sets-important-precedent-for-protecting-seiyuu-voices-in-japan/#respond Wed, 30 Sep 2026 06:50:15 +0000 https://automaton-media.com/en/?p=73150 The lawsuit was dismissed on account of the TikTok videos already being deleted from the platform and no longer archived on its servers.]]> https://automaton-media.com/en/news/voice-actor-kenjiro-tsudas-lawsuit-over-ai-voice-cloning-dismissed-but-ruling-sets-important-precedent-for-protecting-seiyuu-voices-in-japan/feed/ 0 https://automaton-media.com/en/news/iconology-a-crime-investigation-otome-game-penned-by-psycho-pass-screenwriter-makoto-fukami-announced-for-steam-and-switch/ https://automaton-media.com/en/news/iconology-a-crime-investigation-otome-game-penned-by-psycho-pass-screenwriter-makoto-fukami-announced-for-steam-and-switch/#comments Wed, 30 Sep 2026 02:30:00 +0000 https://automaton-media.com/en/?p=73123 The game will support English at launch.]]> https://automaton-media.com/en/news/iconology-a-crime-investigation-otome-game-penned-by-psycho-pass-screenwriter-makoto-fukami-announced-for-steam-and-switch/feed/ 1