8.9 Magnitude Earthquake and Tsunamis Slam Japan, Updates on Sony and Other Developers

If you live in North America, odds are you were asleep when the chaos went down. During the mid-afternoon hours in Japan, a massive 8.9 magnitude earthquake hit off Japan’s northeastern coast, followed by several significant aftershocks, and a massive tsunami, which devastated the country’s coastlines several times over, especially along Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture.

[NJShadow]

Praying for all the folks affected by this tragedy. It's incredible how the industry is coming together throughout this whole ordeal.

[doctorstrange]

Absolutely terrible news, I really hope that the areas hit were not too densely populated

[imoutofthecontest]

They were. Sendai is fijucking huge.

My family and I are hunkered down waiting to see how big or small the waves are when they get to West Japan. Here goes.

[doctorstrange]

Good luck, my thoughts are with you

[Agent VX]

Wow, this is terrible. My best to all in the area.

Found a video of the tsunami on how bad it was, frightening to watch...

http://www.liveleak.com/vie...

[captain-obvious]

god help them
and best of all luck

[Agent VX]

50 countries are under a tsunamis warning in the pacific region.

US and Canada are under the warning, though I doubt it will be very big by the time it gets here in a few hours.

Update: Midway Island just got an amplitude 1.5 meter tsunamis reading, which is a bit disturbing. That is quite powerful being so far from the earthquake. Still, shouldn't do much damage hopefully.

[stevenhiggster]

Holy Moly thats bad. Just watched that vid Agent VX, thats pretty scary.
My thoughts are with all those affected, very sad news.

[HolyOrangeCows]

Prayers, and hopefully I can find a nice charity that will help the needy.

[sikbeta]

I only hope things don't go any worst than that, I couldn't believe it when I heard about what was happening, lets hope for the Best...

[DaTruth]

Obama: "America offers our Japanese friends whatever help they need"

Japan: "Please ask your journalists to put a 3 month moratorium on slandering our goods and our videogames industry!"

On a serious note though; I was watching some video on the news from a chopper and some cars were on a road as the tsunami threatened to overtake them and me and my wife were rooting for the car till he had to drive off the road to try and escape. Then when it over took a tractor trailer you could see some big fire burning in the wave and the truck actually got engulfed! Freaky $hit! There was no hope; when the camera panned out you could see that the water had already surrounded the area around and there was no way out.

Missed my bus because of it and had to take the car to work!

[AAACE5]

Tragic to see something like this happen again. I hope the losses weren't too bad and they can recover.

I hate to be the weird guy, but it seems like the closer we get to 2012, those predictions of our doom are coming true! The earthquakes, floods, terrible economies, climate shift, etc.

Makes matters worse, I was driving to work one day and this guy was making predictions. Apparantly he predicted the fall of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and several other things. The website is Endofamerica33.com. Kinda freaky if true!

[beardpapa]

what's horrifying about the video that agent linked is that you can see some people in their vehicles trying to get away from it.

[Silly Mammo]

The most important thing is - How will Pat Robertson spin this tragedy? Was it because of the unwed mothers or the homosexuals that brought this on Japan? /sarcasm

[JohnnyBadfinger]

the worst thing you can give someone in this world is pitty... so for this reason im not gunna give out false hopes to anyone affected by the mother natures latest out bursts.

No matter how good your detection and warning systems are it aint gunna save everyone. And its no good for people stuck in traffic or walking in the streets.

Expect the death toll to be in the 10s of thousands.

[shikamaroooo]

why the hell do you have disagrees... and i pray for people in japan

[bumnut]

Probably because most people these days only care abouth themselves, which is sad.

[Ocelot525]

because prayers won't help the victims. It wasn't me who hit the disagree button tough

if NJShadow would have stated 'Praying to Allah for all the folks" then you guys would also have disagreed.

if you want zero disagrees than just say "my thoughts go to..."

if you throw religious BS in your sentence than prepare to have disagrees it's that simple. so just keep religion off n4g

[Shadow Flare]

He's just trying to be nice. Geez. Thoughts are with you japan

[nskrishna2]

You can text REDCROSS to 90999 to help the people in Japan..the least you can do

[Dee_91]

@Ocelot525 not really
nobody should be caring about that type of shit right now
just praying to who EVER that they are safe
and if you dont believe in god go sit at starbucks and laugh at all the religion people
no need to be here disagreeing with people because you dont believe in religion

[Kingmitch23]

When people say "my prayers are with them" then it means "my thoughts are with them"

Its different from thinking "my prayers will help Japan because a divine being will intervene"

I'm atheist but I can say that most of your disagrees are from people who think that your prayers are meaningless.

(I don't believe in the supernatural but I think that its humane and positive and consequently meaningful)

If people do want to help, please donate

[Tru_Blu]

@OC, You bring that everything came from a singularity, Where did that one singularity come from? I'm not overly religious but that big bang theory has a major flaw. Where did the material for a big bang come from in the first place? Also please don't get me wrong, my heart goes out to those people.

[fr0sty]

I think this is one article where we can gladly set fanboyism aside. My heart and prayers go out to all affected by this continually unfolding tragedy. Nuclear power plants at risk of meltdown, new 6.2 quakes in Nagano... it's still going down folks.

God be with you Japan.

[Tainted Gene]

well said

tweets from Japan in the article:
“I just got confirmation that SCEJ and SCEI are fine. WHEW!” – Cade Peterson of Sony Computer Entertainment.

“All our colleagues in Aoyama and Shinagawa are ok. I hope the same is true for everyone else affected” – Warren Keyes of Sony Computer Entertainment.

“Kyoto’s fine.” – Dylan Cuthbert of Q-Games

“I’m alright.” – Hideo Kojima of Kojima Productions and Konami

“All of our staff evacuated safely. We want to send our support to all effected in this tragedy.” – Suda 51.

“We are safe here at our Osaka and Tokyo offices, but more importantly, our hearts go out to everyone effected by the earthquake in Japan.” – Platinum Games.

“Relieved. Plunged at home here somehow.” (Rough translation) – Fumito Ueda of Team Ico.

“Thanks for you guys who emailed,tweeted,chat to me. Epicenter is far so I’m okay.” – Musician Baiyon of Q-Games and Media Molecule

Glad to see Hideo-san is okay

[LiL T]

This sucks and I hope help is sent. My thoughts are with Japan.
COME ON PEOPLE..who the fuck cares about console wars this is alot bigger and relevant than your petty arguments that dont belong in a artcle like this.
I don't wish this kind of disaster on anybody and people that do need some serious help.

[NewZealander]

wh have still got search and rescue people from japan helping us here in new zealand, they have done an amazing job helping in the recovery process of the christchurch earthquake.

im glad to see that even while trying to recover from our own tragedy we are still sending our own specialists to japan, our thoughts are with all the people who have been affected by this event.

[Yes_2]

To add to the list, Shikura Chiyomaru and everyone at 5pb. are safe. He also saved a girl's life: http://n4g.com/news/718928/...

[squallheart]

www. ustream.tv/channel/3652476
http:// yokosonews.com/live/ he will answer live questions had to put spaces spam filter...

btw im in california and this just makes you wonder we havent had a major earthquake here since northridge makes you think the pressure is building up and our infrastructure is not on par with that of japan.

[nix]

it looks badly hit. let's hope for the best.

[the_kutaragi_baka]

the people of japan NOT deserve this.

[Baka-akaB]

no one usually does

[DoomeDx]

Lets throw all bad people on an island which has alot of earthquakes. Including Bin laden.

Children rapers, terrorists etc deserve this!

To bad it always happens to the good people..

[KaBaW]

Bad shit typically happens to the good people..

But, the_kutaragi_baka, not just Japan has been hit. None of em do.

[SuicideShaun]

Wesley it isn't up to us to determine who is or isn't bad. You could be bad, I could be bad. So you can't really say who is or isn't.

[Space_cancer]

Some people in N4G does.

/jk

[B1663r]

too soon...

[Undeadwolfy]

too soon...

[MrAwesome]

too soon...

[4pocalyps3]

too soon...

[Jazz4108]

For the one who says xbutts are rejoicing....you sir are and idiot. How dare you turn a disaster where human lives are at stake and homes have been uprooted into a console war. You really need to grow up and realize there is a lot more to life then console wars and stupid fanboy comments that have no place in this article. My thoughts and prayers are with all the people who were affected by this terrible event and also my prayers are with that the people on here that think of no ne but themselves and say things like xbots are rejoyicing. If I can help in anyway I will annd japan hang in there.

[Shane Kim]

That's true Shaun, however, that is more the case of if I for example, avenge my mother if she was mugged/raped/killed etc.

Some people are just plain evil and deserve nothing more than a bullet through their skull.

[Calm Down Sunshine]

Good luck bros.

[WhiteNoise]

*feminist alarm sounds*

'Peeps' would better encompass both the wall socket race and those with plugs.

Just sayin', they're always watching....and waiting >.>

[JAMurida]

Wait... Where's Level 5 and Tri-Ace?

[NJShadow]

Yep, in Japan. If anything is heard regarding either of them, it'll definitely be added to the update.

[JAMurida]

Nah, I knew they were in Japan, just didn't know if they were okay as well.

[NJShadow]

@JAMurida

Oh, I know. Thus the reasoning for my "Yep". I knew you knew. =)

[KaBaW]

Regarding the game studios.. If the tsunamis and earthquakes destroyed their building, and equipment, would that also destroy all their of their work? Or, would they have it saved else where or be able to retrieve it all?

But, anyway, hope all is good with them, and everyone else.

[InnovatedMind]

@KaBaW

More than likely they have everything backed up on either a cloud or ftp server ... which is all online and safe.

[xyxzor]

They got swept away in a tide of better developers :D

[earbus]

I may have made jokes on the other page but i love japan and its culture the footage is terrible my thoughts are with them .

[JAMurida]

Completely agree. Gaming, anime, manga, culture, etc... everything about me is Japan, (except me being black, lol). I'm sitting here just thinking about how so many of the things I enjoy in life come from just that country and it's just crazy. But seriously, this is horrible news. I really hope everything turns out to be fine.

Gaming news wise, this is horrible as well for the gaming industry in Japan. I'm not sure how much damage this will do to the gaming industry and all but it can't be good. Like I said, I don't know much on the extent of this or how bad it can get. It's just all the talk about JRPGs being a dying genre and all and than this happens... just fucked up honesty.

Hang in there Japan.

Edit: I forgot to add, there was an anime based on one of the earthquakes that took place in Japan:

http://myanimelist.net/anim...

Just something that came to mind after all of this.

[BaYo182]

I'm With you guys, the Japanese culture and everything about it its so amazing so rich, from its history, architecture, to what JAMurida said.. It's sad that this country gets hit with this kind of things all the time,i guess all of them must be prepared for this kind of situation, knowing its geographical fault.I just hope Life casualties are low even better none..
I live in Ecuador, and the past earthquake in this region was the one in Chile in 2010. it was devastating the earthquake magnitude was 8.8 ... WOW and checking the news right now and there was one about two hours ago in the same place this one of only 5.1.. so my prayers go to all of them.. hoping they are safe!

[Tainted Gene]

...wow

[Ultraplayerxp]

WTH is wrong with you?

[KaBaW]

If I had the means, I would put you in the middle of the Tsunami...
And, the two that agreed, as well.

[Ravage27]

honestly, some people really amazes me to no end...

[Cloudberry]

.
Could be bigger than Aceh's tsunami in Indonesia...

[diehardgamer1000]

wow this sucks,thoughts go out to the pple affected.wtf is wrong with mother nature these days,fires every where,floods in australia wat tha hell

[distorted_reality]

The Mayans say hello.

[DoomeDx]

Mayans? Ooooh the idiots who predicted the world to end in 2012? And always predicated an alien invasion 2 years ago?

rofl.

[distorted_reality]

Probably should of put a /s in there.

Oh wells.

[Calm Down Sunshine]

>Mayans
>Idiots

You're a witty one son.

[MRMagoo123]

They didnt actually predict the destruction of the world but the erasing of the world as we know it now by a way of ppl being enlightened and advancing far beyond what we are today.

[KaBaW]

Uh.. Just sayin, but it wasn't 'just' the Mayans.
Tons and tons of ancient civilizations 'predict' 2012.

[NJShadow]

I gotta say, NHK and Al-Jazeera are making CNN's coverage of the whole thing look like rookie garbage. Heck, UStream even does a better job! >=(

[limewax]

Yeah they were showing footage from NHK in the uk too. They even got the magnitude wrong, had it down as an 8.4

[denero1]

prayers go out to them i hope they make a speedy recovery

[tigertron]

My thoughts and prayers go out to the Japanese today.