Famitsu.com reports that the Japanese version of the Major League Eating video game for the Nintendo Wii will be released on March 24 and the price will be 900 yen. Nobuyuki “the Giant” Shirota and Hatsuyo “the Witch” Sugawara are the new characters, apparently replacing Rich LeFevre and Juliet Lee. The game was first announced in August and the original release date was October 14, 2008.

Hacking Netflix reports that a movie called Gluttonous will be available tomorrow. The Netflix website has the following description for the movie:

Based on a popular Japanese manga, this pair of sidesplitting live action comedies follows the screwball exploits of a host of unconventional participants in the ferociously intense world of competitive eating. While most people try to temper their food intake, these competitors pride themselves on swallowing as much food as they can in the shortest possible time — and keeping it down long enough to win!

Gluttonous is known in Japan as Gourmet Fighter Both Natsuko “Gal” Sone and Nobuyuki “the Giant” Shirota appeared as competitive eaters in Gourmet Fighter. Volume 1 and Volume 2 are included in the Netflix rental.

update TokyoMango has an English blog entry about the release

NEISANZU 2008 world championships

Play! ！ !

I said you left the tournament career makeover?

Where to play sports or another kind of feeling.

So I thought at the goal and still HAKKIRI MITSUKARANAKU I have no choice.

First of all, I aimed to win it from the start,

Thank you cheer! ！ !

If Kobayashi does compete, he will most likely receive a bye since it does not appear a Japan Nathan’s qualifier will be held in 2008 even though the qualifier registration form listed the date of the Tokyo qualifier as June 24. Some commenters have speculated that Kobayashi will compete in the San Francisco qualifier on Saturday. The last time Kobayashi was not the defending champion for an IFOCE event which had qualifiers, the 2004 Krystal Square Off finals, he entered the Jacksonville qualifier the week before.

Kobayashi has a blog entry about dining at Nobuyuki Shirota’s restaurant and doing a noodle eating challenge there. Shirota also has a post about the meal on his blog.

update Sponichi.co.jp has an article about Kobayashi which makes it pretty clear he intends to compete

The Indepedent of London has an article about the oyster eating challenge at Wintzell’s Oyster House in Mobile Alabama:

The genuine smile is harder to find in the US than anywhere else on earth. On the East and West coasts, people smile because they’re feeling smug. But in Alabama, people smile because they want you to be happy. It’s evident in the 1920s canteen-style interior of Wintzell’s, where the walls are covered with ancient, handwritten signs of folksy, homespun wisdom (“Unfortunately, there is a widespread view that the proper lubricant for a political machine is palm oil rather than elbow grease” is one example).

An Indepedent reporter took a tour with Famous Fat Dave in New York City.

Videos of an eating contest between Nobuyuki “the Giant” Shirota and wrestlers held during a pro wrestling card on Christmas 2007 can be viewed on youtube: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Shirota has a blog entry and Yahoo of Japan has an article about the restaurant

The next segment of Food Battle Club (The Speed), called “Triangle Records”, has been posted to youtube at http://youtube.com/watch?v=wdQmtAMOf0k. Kobayashi and Nobuyuki Shirota both participate in this segment, which involves eating 40 small food items.