Author Archives: Steven

About Steven

Editor-In-Chief of The Wired Fish since 2010. Suggestions, praise, and hate mail can be sent to steven@thewiredfishnetwork.com

Project X Zone Site Updated, Has Music, Hints At Resonance of Fate and Viewtiful Joe

1 Reply

Last week Capcom, Namco, and Sega revealed Project X Zone, the sequel to Namco X Capcom that now adds Sega into the mix. I briefly mentioned in the reveal article that the site was still barren, only showing just the logo. Well, the site got a rather significant update. The first thing you’ll notice is the music. I will say it sounds pretty cool. Doesn’t sound tied to any one company; could be the theme song for the game, like for the intro. Then you’ll see a panorama behind the logo. Almost immediately you’ll notice Les Chattes Noires, which was a location in Sega’s Resonance of Fate. Looking in the background, that large tower looks suspiciously like the Tower of Basel from Resonance of Fate as well. If you look below it Les Chattes Noire, you’ll see a place called MovieLand, which was the world Joe would go to become Viewtiful Joe in Capcom’s… err, Viewtiful Jow. There are a few more things that might suggest something, particularly that ornate area to the far left, or the three movie posters above MovieLand

Looking at how these locales are arranged, maybe this is how the player will interact with the different game worlds, like Kingdom Hearts and the Disney Worlds, or like Smash Bros Brawl and those world orbs Tabuu seizes. Or maybe their worlds have clashed and are being melded into one. And so, the plot thickens…

Project X Zone Offiicial Website

Dragon’s Crown Now Belongs To Atlus

3 Replies

Finally some good news for this ambitious title from Vanillaware. After concerns popped up as to whether or not Dragon’s Crown was alive, and if Ignition was capable of publishing the game after parent company UTV’s acquisition by Disney, Atlus has come in to save the day. Late this evening, Atlus has announced that they will be taking over publishing rights to Dragon’s Crown. Not only that, they’ll also be sending over some of their own to help out with the production of the game. Dragon’s Crown was slated to release this Spring, but Atlus has stated that it’ll be pushed back to 2013. They also stated that the game can’t retail for $30. Not sure if they’re referring to price of the PS3 version or the Vita version. But hey, Joystiq is right. Since Atlus is doing this, we’re probably gonna get some kind of extra goodies when getting the game. Speaking of which, this is the first time Atlus has published a Vanillaware title since Odin Sphere.

But man, you gotta feel for Ignition. Just when it looked like things were going good for them, Disney comes in and makes things a bit iffy.

Atlus picks up Dragon’s Crown publishing, also assisting with development [Joystiq]

[Rumor] Nintendo To Use Square Enix Characters For A New Project

Leave a reply

Oh? Well then. There’s seems to be a rumor going around stating that Square Enix has licensed off their older characters to Nintendo for them to use. Nintendo has not stated what this project is (nor if any of this is true for the matter). Since these are the older characters, and not necessarily from Final Fantasy, this opens up large opportunities for other characters to be used. Could it be Crono? The boy from Secret of Mana? Fan favorite Geno from Super Mario RPG? The god from ActRaiser? Slime from Dragon Quest? Last time we saw collaboration between the two countries, besides Fortune Street, a basketball game was released. Well, if nothing comes out of Nintendo now about this rumor, then it’ll probably come out at E3. We’ll update you on this if anything arises.

RUMOR – Square-Enix licenses characters to Nintendo for undisclosed project? [GoNintendo]

What Could Super Mario 4 Possibly Be?

1 Reply

Before I begin the speculation, let me bring everyone up to speed. Not too long ago, gamers discovered that Nintendo had registered supermario4.com. When you go there, it redirects you to Nintendo’s country selector. Now normally when you enter some bonkers domain name, either you’ll go to a “domain not found” page, or a page from a domain squatter. But here, you can see that Super Mario 4 is most certainly Nintendo’s. Then in an interview with Korean site Betanews, Miyamoto confirmed that his team was in fact making Super Mario 4 for the Wii U. However, he didn’t specify what exactly this new Mario game would be: a 3D or 2D platformer. Here’s where we start guessing what this could be.

Continue reading →

While We Enjoyed Xenoblade, Europe Got This…

Leave a reply

I want to cry. So… so much. While Nintendo of Europe has shown how awesome they are by being the bigger man by localizing the three games and giving them awesome collectors editions, they went one step further and created this. Exclusive to HMV, the box came with an artbook depicting concept art for all three games and left extra room to store your three games, Xenoblade, The Last Story, and Pandora’s Tower. Note that the box does not come with the actual games themselves, nor is this the Limited Edition box for Pandora’s Tower (it has its own LE).

You got this if you pre-ordered any version of Pandora’s Tower. Prota tipped me on this during a Spring Break hangout at the ol’ campus. I couldn’t believe it. Then he showed me it on Facebook. My jaw dropped into the pits of Tartarus. For a while, both links lead to missing pages on HMV. But the Limited Edition on has since returned (though whether or not you get the box with the game is still a mystery). While I thought that image you see up there was fake, this video proves that it does exists and that NoE are the kings of trolling the hell out of us American gamers. But hey, if you got the disposable income to get the box somehow, you can still put your NTSC games in there. I probably would.

Again, thanks to Prota for the tip.

The Legend of Dragoon Now On PSN, Almost Had A Sequel

Leave a reply

Good news for any Legend of Dragoon fans out there. The classic Sony RPG is now available on PSN. Well, it’s actually been available for a while. I’m a bit late to the party (playing Xenoblade and all). I do remember my time with The Legend of Dragoon. I got quite hooked on the game and almost beat it. What happened? Well, first my gaming ADD acted up (I got a new game). Then my PS1 stopped working. Then my PS2 had trouble reading PS1 games. And I was on the fourth disc. Damn. But hey, I got a PS3, and it does read PS1 games (as ALL PS3s DO.) So maybe I’ll return to this someday. But hey, if you want a bug-free romp through this game and/or you want to finally play this game, it’s up on PSN as a PSOne classic.

And now for some crotch kicking news. The Legend of Dragoon almost had a sequel. Yep, and it was in production, most likely for the PS2. However, no one knew about this until Shu Yoshida talked about it recently. He states that when he left SCEJ, the game was still in production. Why it was cancelled is a mystery. But it could’ve been lack of interest at the time. I mean, yeah, there were fans of the game and yeah the game did well with critics, sales, and gamers. But when you have Final Fantasy X looming around the corner and everyone talking about how awesome the game was going to be, you know your morale’s gonna take a major blow. Yoshida didn’t state how long the game was in production, nor when exactly it was cancelled. But hey, at least this cancellation wasn’t as bad as another one we know.

Sony Reveals That A Sequel to The Legend of Dragoon Almost Happened [Shogun Gamer]

Project X Zone Characters and Screenshots.

1 Reply

Not too long after the reveal, Famitsu released character art and screenshots for Capcom/Namco/Sega collaboration Project X Zone. The game is a strategy RPG much like its predecessor, Namco X Capcom. That character roster might seem paltry now, but of Namco X Capcom is anything to go by, this is is going to grow by a huge margin. So far not exact date is set, but the trio’s aiming for a late 2012 release. Characters and art after the jump.

Continue reading →

Capcom + Namco + Sega Collab Revealed As Project X Zone

1 Reply

I’m normally the center of my Capcom hate on this site. March was not a good month for Capcom at all, and boy howdy was it a PR nightmare for the company. But today, I’ll hold back my hatred for reasons you’ll see in a moment. Remember that teaser image that popped up last week that showed color bars depicted the colors of the characters (that Japanese gamers sorta solved)? Well, Capcom, Namco and Sega have revealed the game and it will be known as Project X Zone. Instead of a fighting game, it’s a strategy RPG. If your memory called back to Namco X Capcom right there, then you’ll be pleased to hear that this is the sequel. Not much else is known, but the trio did reveal which character would be in the game so far. And there’s one character I’m sure many Mega Man fans will be pleased to see in the roster. Check it out after the break.

Continue reading →

I Stand On My Soapbox – Gamefly

4 Replies

I Stand On My Soapbox is a series of editorials that cover more specific topics in the games industry and community. These articles are a little more extreme than normal editorials published here, and could just degenerate to outright ranting. Have fun and enjoy the show!

After two months into having Gamefly in the house (thanks sis!), I’ve been able to play games that, in my currently broke-ass situation, wouldn’t have been able to play. So far I’ve played Sonic Generations, Solatorobo, Digital Devil Saga, and Kirby’s Return to Dreamland. So all the games that some within my circle have talked about I’ve finally played and understand where they’re coming from. Now don’t get me wrong. Gamefly is a good service, especially in a place like the South Bronx. However, there are some things that Gamefly seriously needs to fix, especially if they’re serving a place like New York City (meaning all of the boroughs).

Continue reading →

Persona 3: FES Coming To PSN… NOW!

Leave a reply

Before Xenoblade showed the world that JRPGs weren’t dead, Persona 3 showed the world that JRPGs weren’t dead… on the PS2. Being a combination RPG/Social Sim, it was a refreshing take on both the gameplay and storytelling of the genre. And it made Turned-Based Battles in the game far more engaging with the use of Personas and exploiting weaknesses for extra turns. I played the game on the PSP back in 2010, loved the hell out of it, and actually beat the game (within about 111 hours). The only downside was that P3P didn’t have The Answer, which was an epilogue chapter explaining what exactly happened upon the main game’s conclusion. The Answer was introduced in Persona 3: FES, an expansion that fixed a few things in the original game. And now it’s available for purchase on the PSN store as a PS2 classic. While I would say to get the PSP version since you can control your allies (the originals had the AI controlling them), it doesn’t have the cutscenes and the fully rendered world that you would see in the original PS2 version. Plus, FES the cheaper version on PSN. But hey, it’s up to you. You win an awesome JRPG regardless of your purchase!

A Quick Warning About Xenoblade And Your Wii

2 Replies

If you have a Wii and are planning to get Xenoblade, I would just like to warn you that Xenoblade is printed on a Dual-Layered Disc. If you remember, Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Metroid Other M were also dual-layered discs as well (indicated by their gold-colored reading surface), and we all remember the news about people who had trouble with their Wii reading Smash Bros. Brawl. Well, it seems to be happening again with the much anticipated Xenoblade Chronicles. I looked around to see if anyone was having this problem and it seems like this issue is popping up in some places as well, including Gamespot and IGN. At first it may seem like a problem with the disc. It you get an error, check the disc and clean off any scuff that might be on it and put it back in. If the Wii still can’t read it, than it’s the Wii’s lens that is the problem.

When this happened last time with Smash Bros, Nintendo said that it was a problem with the Wii’s lens being dirty and that they would take in the Wii to be repaired (i.e. cleaned). About a year later Nintendo released a cleaning solution to the public to buy. Amazon has the kit for $30, but you can get it from ShopNintendo for $10. Youtuber Kermit1986 shows how this cleaning kit works since he had trouble getting his Wii to read Smash Bros. Brawl. Personally, what I did was I turned my (launch) Wii off and blew on the disc slot (like Kermit did) and put Xenoblade in. I got an error message. So took the game out, turned off the Wii and readied two other games: Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Mario Galaxy 2, a Dual-Layered and Single-Layered Disc respectively. So I inserted Smash Bros. first and it loaded fine. Then I inserted Galaxy 2 and it loaded fine as well. Then the moment of truth. I inserted Xenoblade and it too loaded fine. But just to be sure I started the game up to see if it would go through all the way (since all it did last time upon loading was kick me back to the Wii Menu). But, it loaded fine and I resumed playing. I’ll update if this happens to me again.

[UPDATE] OpRainfall has caught wind of this and has posted a link to Nintendo’s support page regarding Xenoblade and Wiis not reading the game.

Retro Weekends – Mega Man II

Leave a reply

And here we are, the last Mega Man game for Mega March (sorta). This weekend, we go back in time to talk about the game that many Mega Man fans herald as the best of the series; the pebble that started the avalanche. Whether it was for its gameplay, its music, or its weapons, Mega Man II has found its way into many top ten lists, music remixes, and tons of fan art. And so, we end off Mega March with the last game I’ve played so far, Mega Man II. Why is it the last so far? Well, hit the jump to find out.

Continue reading →

Pages: 1 2 3

Xenoblade OK for Retail Buying, The Last Story Not So Much

Leave a reply

I wondered about this since the beginning of March if people would be able to buy Xenoblade without having to Preorder. I already preordered the game, but I’m just curious since since Nintendo’s lack of faith in the game selling made it seem like one of those preorder exclusive deals. Thankfully GoNintendo had the answer, and the official word from Nintendo is that they “…can confirm the Xenoblade Chronicles will be available exclusively for purchase through U.S. Gamestop retail locations…Nintendo never stated that it will only be available to those who preorder it.” So going by their word, you don’t necessarily need to preorder to score a copy of the game. But then again, it’s best to preorder anyways to make the numbers look good ahead of time.

Now The Last Story, that’s a different… err story. While you can probably get away with not pre-ordering Xenoblade and pick up on-the-spot, XSEED will be practicing the Niche Publisher Limited Run scheme that has been successful so far for publishers like NIS America, Atlus, and XSEED themselves. In other words, The Last Story will have a limited run in the U.S. and XSEED will print copies close to the number of pre-orders that they get. So if you want to score yourself a copy of The Last Story, you’re better off preordering. Thankfully the game will be stocked “at any retailer that wishes to stock it.” So if you hate Gamestop, you can get it at another store, like Game Champ!

No worries, Xenoblade Chronicles available for those that don’t preorder [GoNintendo]

The Last Story will probably get a limited run in NA [GameZone]

Sega Hit With Major Layoffs, Cancelling Games

3 Replies

Remember that announcement of an HD port of Jet Set Radio posted some time ago. I’m not saying it’s dead, but after reading this you might be a bit concerned. Citing financial difficulties in the last fiscal year (which ended last Saturday), Sega has layoff many workers from both its U.S. and European branches and downsizing the company to maintain “sustainable profitability.” In light of this, Sega also mentioned that for these markets, they’ll now focus more on games that are sure-fire his for them including Sonic, Total War, Aliens, and Football Manager. This puts other projects in danger of cancellation or being left to fend for themselves, which include Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown, Anarchy Reigns, Yakuza 5, and the aforementioned Jet Set Radio HD port. While Sega did mention that they have cancelled games, all of them so far are unspecified (i.e. never shown to the public). But still, this puts much concern on which projects Sega will give us now as they too are yet another victim of believing Westerners like their guns and football (save for Sonic). And the sad thing about all this: What they believe is right.

The first quarter has ended. And so far it’s a sad year to be a gamer. Maybe those crazy Mayans were right.

Sega confirms layoffs and game cancellations [The Spectrum]

Retro Weekends – Mega Man Legends 2

Leave a reply

For some odd reason, longtime fans of the Mega Man series weren’t too thrilled about Mega Man’s jump to 3D and playing it like an RPG. But there were still fans of the original Legends and, to this day, still talk about it. So Capcom saw fit to make a sequel to it, Mega Man Legends 2, and continue the story that the original left open. The Bonnes have returned to less money, Glyde’s crew is on the rise, and the secret to Mega Man Volnutt’s past is about to be revealed. We continue Mega March with Mega Man Legends 2.

Continue reading →