Help will be highly appreciated!!
The first 4 Qs are from the article
Japanese Gamers Tired Of The Pummeling-- Can once-mighty Japanese video game makers end the rout by US rivals? (from Businessweek, April 25,2005)
1. Worse, Japan's game makers underestimated the importance of creating games for a
maturing audience.
--here, “maturing audience” means the players who are growing up, and maybe their taste are changing gradually, or simply means the adult players
2. While most Japanese developers continued to create
impressionistic, family-friendly fare, rivals offer plenty of blood, bullets,
guts, and
gore to satisfy the gunslinger in every game player.
--what does “impressionistic, family-friendly fare” means? Especially, the meaning that “impressionistic” carries here~
--what does “guts” particularly mean here?
--“gore” means the blood that sprinkled on the ground or wall?
3. Whereas EA, Take Two, and other US companies have set up studios around the world to better understand consumers' tastes, the Japanese have largely kept their resources at home, coming up with
offbeat products such as Sony's Mad Maestro-about an orchestra conductor-and Mr Moskeeto, where the player is a mosquito trying to suck blood without getting itself swatted.
--in the dictionary, LONGMAN DICTIONARY OF CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH (English-English & English-Chinese, the first version in January, 2002), the only meaning of “offbeat” is “unusual;’ not CONVENTIOAL”, is it what “offbeat” means here? Or does “offbeat” contains the meaning of “out of date”?
4. the meanings of FRANCHISE in the following sentences:
(1) EA has made Harry Potter, James Bond, and Lord of the Rings games into solid, bankable
franchises year after year,…
(2) The company sold 3 mn copies of Dragon Quest VIII for the PlayStation 2 in the first three days after its November release in Japan, while its Final Fantasy
franchise has sold over 35 mn copies worldwide.
(3) "Intense graphics is not the only path," says Satoru Iwata, Chairman of Nintendo. "In this industry, there are still many
franchise characters."
The following Qs are from
Sukhumvit Soi 33, Bangkok-- Yes, this Soi deserves its own page (from www.bangkokbob.net)
--I have to say that the author of this article might be a Thai, with a good command of English, but still there might be some grammar mistakes.
5. Soi 33 on Sukhumvit Road, Bangkok, has long been
an expatriates hang out. Since the early '90s it has been popular, especially in Happy Hour, but the last few years have seen an explosion of new bars and restaurants. You will find a more laid-back atmosphere, polite well-dressed girls usually with a fair command of English, altogether a more up-market area where you can either start your night, or just drift from bar to bar.
--here, due to my understanding, the author might want to say “an expatriates’ hangout”. But, does “expatriate” only mean a person living in a foreign, or it can also contain the meaning of a tourer to a foreign country?
6.
The theme here is usually that of a hostess bar, some have waiters, Christie's has doormen in bizarre uniforms! You will be ushered in and given either a hot or cold towel. The first bar here was Renoir, then followed Christie's, Napoleon, Van Gogh, Degas, Manet (now Monet due to a sign writing error!) Leo Club (now Santana), then a few more appeared. Recently, in 2004 the "painter" theme has been continued with Gauguin.
--what is a “hostess bar”? and I’m not very clear about the structure and meaning of the first sentence.
--how do the first two sentences relate to the rest part of this paragraph? What’s the main idea of this paragraph?
7. …These are mostly hostess bars, and offer a more refined and laid back ambiance. The girls are basically the same as those you find in other places, just enjoy the illusion, they play the part quite well.
Most, if not all, have danced round a chromium plated pole at some time, and may well do again in the future! If you have visited Hong Kong, Japan, or Taiwan, you will know how much it costs to frequent these types of bars, so you will really appreciate the service and especially the prices in Soi 33.
-- Does the sentence in bold means that though the girls in the bars seem no difference from the common girls, but actually they have all do the dance service? And is there any underlying meaning that they might have just done a dance and will probably do it again as long as you pay?
MANY THANKS IN ADVANCE!!
Marrisa^^