These confirmed news are mine! No mine!
This week we got games of the past getting some face lifts and some out right getting a full body procedure, some indie games and a couple of news for more new titles.
For all you The Secret World players out there, know that the creators have a lot of content heading your way. In a recent blog post by Ragnar Tornquist, the producer and director of The Secret World has revealed that the game will be giving free new content on a regular monthly basis to it’s subscribers and the first update will be coming on Tuesday, July 31st. He also goes into a big explanation of the new content that they can’t wait to give to their players.
The game will be giving players a mission pack on a monthly basis for all existing adventure zones so that there will be more to do in each area. They are also introducing raids into the game and a tool that will ease the experience of finding a team for any adventure or newly raid. There is also going to be an introduction of 2 new adventure zones, there is no details of these zones other than the fact two new zones are heading your way. Finally one of biggest news and can be the most impactful is that they are going to make tweaks to the combat and polish it up a bit to make it more dynamic. Best part is there are so much more stuff coming, you can read more about what’s coming in Ragnar’s Blog.
So are there any fans out there or players and how excited are you guys?
They are the Gods among men
According to Variety, it is rumored Rocksteady Studios has decided instead of making a sequel to the critically acclaimed and fan praised game Batman: Arkham City, they will make a prequel game inspired by the Silver Age Batman comics. Variety then reports that it seems likely Warner Bros. are going to use the characters Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Flash and Wonder Woman in the new game.
The new game will be set during the time when Batman and the Joker first met. So by being inspired by the Silver Age comics Batman, it allows Rocksteady to bring in the Justice League because it was around this time Batman partnered up with other heroes and helped form the Justice League. There is no news if Kevin Conroy or Mark Hamill are going to come back to play their roles as Batman and the Joker respectively.
As a big DC fan this is incredible news and just makes me do a jitter dance all over. We all know that Warner Bros. wants to make a Justice League movie to compete with the success of The Avengers movie that released earlier this year, but Warner Bros. is taking a step further. They are hard at work making up concepts and scripts for individual movies for members of the Justice League but it seems that is not enough for Warner Bros. They are going into games, t.v shows, and of coarse comics to promote the Justice League. It seems this train is starting to pick up steam and I am jumping on this locomotion.
Those wanting to try out the aptly named The Last Story will be pleased to hear that XSEED has announced August 14 as the game’s official release date. Before, the game was suspected to release on June 19th according to retails like Gamestop and Amazon. Then retailers announced that the game would release on a later date. While many called this a delay, XSEED didn’t see it as one since they themselves never announced a release date and that the June 19th date was speculation from retailers. But here the legit, 100%, straight from the horse’s mouth date. Tuesday, August 14th, is the day to get The Last Story.
XSEED has also announced that those who preorder get a special soundtrack CD. Though they don’t say it on the Tweet, you also get an artbook if you buy it in the first print run (regardless if you pre-order or not). They haven’t clarified if you’ll get the bonuses regardless of store.
So now that you know the date, have you finished Xenoblade yet?
XSEED Tweet [via Kotaku]
Using the Michael Bay method is not the way to go Shinji
In a recent interview with director Shinji Mikami, the man behind Resident Evil, God Hand, and Vanquish stated that “Japan needs to make games like Hollywood makes movies.” The director’s not the only person to say something about Japan’s influence on the gaming industry. Keiji Inafune, then-co-designer of the Mega Man franchise, has also mentioned that he felt that Japanese game designers have fallen behind. And Phil Fish, creator of Fez, recently said “Your games just suck.”
Shinji continues with stating, “Japan used to have the lead in the game industry, but now it’s quite clearly America. To be told that Japanese games suck is a bit harsh. But personally, 80% of the games I play at the moment are not Japanese. Skyrim, Batman…games like that are more interesting to me right now. Japan needs to make more good games if it wants people to think otherwise.” When Shinji is asked about any games that are of the exception he states, “Yes, there are amazing games, just not enough of them… So many are based on anime or fantasy – games that only appeal to Japanese people. Most gamers overseas aren’t interested in anime.” Shinji then moves to comment on a game that’s closer to home, “We made Okami at Clover. It was such a breathtaking game, yet it didn’t sell. If that’s the case, westerners obviously don’t like that sort of game. Maybe they prefer something a little more straightforward.”
Archie Comics has revealed that they’ll be doing a 12-comic crossover between Sonic The Hedgehog and Megaman. Kaminski was approached with the concept last year just before New York Comic Con, to which he contacted the two series’ writer Ian Flynn. “His response was, ‘I have been writing that story since we began the Mega Man title,’ ” Kaminski says. “Of course, I thought he was joking, but not an hour later my inbox was flooded with Sonic/Mega Man story synopses.”
I’ve only read just a handful of Mega Man comics, and I got them at New York Comic Con for very dirt cheap. I always wondered about the Megaman series as told by Archie comics, and I came away very impressed with the art and writing. And this crossover isn’t as weird as some would think. Both universes have evil scientists, both create robots to do their bidding, and both have blue heroes that kick their asses. Oh yeah, this’ll definitely be on my radar to look for.
The Sonic/Mega Man 12-part crossover is scheduled for release in 2013.
Now if only we can get something like this going in Project X Zone…
Mega Man and Sonic Unite In Epic Archie Series Crossover [Game Overviews, via GetMeOffTheMoon]
If you get why I put this picture with the article, you get a point.
“A unified account system will be implemented later this year with the launch of the Wii U,” stated David Marshall, a Customer Service rep at Nintendo. “Eventually this same account system will be made compatible with Nintendo 3DS systems. At this time we have no additional details to offer and nothing to indicate how or if this will work outside the United States and Canada.” This was cited by Nintendo World Report from an email by Marshall. The big N’s decided to drop their old ways of having separate eShop accounts and just having one main account spanning across the 3DS and WiiU (Similar to PSN and XBL).
Interestingly, Marshall states that the it would be harder to implement a system like this in territories outside the U.S. and Canada. But why? Is there a different way that Nintendo does its eShop in other countries? Other than that, thoughts come up on what can this new system open up in the future for the big N and its consumers. Could we get multiple platform Virtual Console games? Or could this open up more connectivity between the Wii U and 3DS in terms of in game gaming like how Makahiro Sakurai is doing with his next game in the Super Smash Bros. series. Do you guys think it can open up something interesting in the future? Comment below.
Ain’t no rest for Arc System Works. After Persona 4 Arena, they’ve got a new game planned and they’re already teasing it. But what is this game. Judging by the kanji characters, it alludes to ghosts, houses, and one more thing I got. There appears to be no other hints to what this game is. Nothing in the URL, the page source… nothing. If anyone knows some Japanese out there, I’ve pulled the writing out for you to decipher.
Text 1, Text 2, Text 3, Text 4, Text 5
You can comment on what these characters allude to below or on our Tumblr page.
Tales fans rejoice! Today Namco Bandai announced that Tales of Xillia will be released both in the US and in Europe. No release dates have been given as of yet, but the European version will be arriving sometime in 2013.
Namco Bandai really hasn’t been pulling any punches the last couple of weeks. First we learn that the company will be co-developing the next Super Smash Bros., then they set up a teaser site that revealed a new JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure fighting game, and now this. We also can’t forget about Project X Zone either. I’m just happy that we’re getting another mothership Tales title in the west. It seems like sales from Tales f Graces F and Tales of the Abyss 3D were enough to remind Namco Bandai that there’s still a fanbase in regions other than Japan. We’ll keep you posted on any new information that surfaces. In the meantime, you can whet your appetite a bit by enjoying one of the game’s openings after the jump.
Those look amazing! Go get them!
In this week of confirmed news we got ninjas, dudes with spiky hair, Italian plumbers and throw in some zombies and we got one giant spicy meatball of flavor.
Sixteen years ago, on this day, NiGHTS Into Dreams was released on the Sega Saturn in Japan. It’s only fitting then that Sega waited until today to announce their HD re-release of one of the Saturn’s most memorable games. NiGHTS will be coming to PSN, XBLA, and PC this fall and will feature several additions, including trophies/achievements, leaderboards, a 16:9 aspect ratio, and (obviously) improved HD graphics. There will also be a “Saturn Mode” that will allow you to play the game with the graphics completely unaltered from the original Saturn version.
I have to say, I’m really pumped for this as NiGHTS Into Dreams is hands down my favorite Saturn game. The music from the trailer alone made me extremely nostalgic. It may sound cheesy, but this is one of those games that has a certain magic to it. I can’t wait to revisit it’s world, even if only to play through that amazing final level again. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go listen to Wiseman’s theme some more…
Source: Sega of America via Joystiq
Remember that countdown Namco teased earlier this week? Well after counting 0 Days, the curtains have finally lifted on a new Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure game, entitled Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure All-Star Battle. I’m not very familiar with the series, but I do know of the mechanics of the fighting games. To those looking at Persona 4 Arena, that game’s Persona mechanics are very much inspired by the Jojo games. Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure started as a manga, but gained exposure in the west from its fighting games on the Playstation and Dreamcast, which Capcom published. After that, not many Jojo games were made, not did they come to the West. Bandai managed to release a new game in 2006, but that too never made it stateside. And now Namco Bandai’s making a new game in the series.
From the looks of it, it’ll be taking some cues from the previous game, Phantom Blood, but sticking much closer to traditional fighting mechanics. If you’re looking at the trailer on the website and thinking, “Man, that looks like Street Fighter IV,” Well, that’s because CyberConnect2 is handling development. The characters have those visible brushstroke lines on them, similar to the characters in SFIV and STxT. I’m skeptical on this game’s Western release. But hey, the series’ got a cult following, and the gamplay looks pretty wacky and just up my alley for me.
So far the game is slated to release exclusively on the PS3. No release date is set.
Something tells me he has a plan.
Nintendo’s president Satoru Iwata released some insight on the Wii U’s capabilities. When asked about the comparison between the Wii U power and the other next gen consoles from a Q & A in Japan between him and the company’s investors, Iwata has had this to say:
” We cannot promise that the Wii U will never be excluded from multiplatform software for eternity, but we can at least assure you that the Wii U will not have such a big difference as the Wii had in comparison to how, on other platforms, developers could expect very different graphic capabilities of generating HD-applicable high-resolution graphics.
In an interview with Siliconera, Executive VP of XSEED, Ken Berry, said that they were not going to consider localizing PSP vampire pantsing game Akiba’s Trip. However when questioned about Senran Kagura on the 3DS, he stated that they’ll “have to see. It’s not a flat out no…” Japan has had the bouncy 3D-beat-’em-up for a year now with, and they’ll be getting the sequel, Senran Kagura: Crimson Girls, this year. The cart will also come with the first game as well. However Berry chimed in “…but it’s a title that would be hard to bring over as a packaged title.” Not sure if he meant the first game or the second game since the second one is already a package. He did mention that the company does get requests from fans to localize the game. I’m guessing those voices might be a little louder since the 3DS is region locked.
As we learned when they cancelled localization of Grand Knights History, XSEED does not any programmers in the team. So they depend on the original developer to input their translations (rather than do it all in-house). So feasibility of script translation and input must be considered. Since this is a beat-’em-up, I’m assuming the script isn’t too extensive. Even though I’ve yet to get a 3DS, I’d like to see this game come out. How ’bout you?
Xseed Won’t Localize Akiba’s Trip, “We’ll See” For Senran Kagura [Siliconera]
Persona 4 got a lot of love from Atlus. It got an anime, a Vita remaster, and even a fighting game. But Persona 3… well, there are four characters from it in that fighting game. Not much love… until now. Atlus launched a website teasing Persona 3: The Movie. It’s shows the protagonist of Persona 3 and a countdown timer with “Coming Soon” sandwiched between the time and title. The countdown timer is weird though as it seems to count upward. Maybe it’s not a countdown, but just a visual asset. In the original Persona 3, time was a crucial element as everyday at midnight, the Dark Hour would begin. Those with the ability to summon Personas experienced the Dark Hour, and everyone else were placed in coffins and remained safe. When it was over, those in coffins came out of it and resumed their lives (or kept sleeping since it was midnight). Think of it as time freezing for everyone except hose with the gift and the occasional regular person wandering into the Dark Hour.
I wonder what this movie will cover. Like its sequel, Persona 3 is a hefty game. Not sure if a movie would be enough to tell this story. Maybe it’s planned OVAs. Or might serve to bridge the gap between P3 and P4 (since P3 characters are in the canon P4A). Only thing we can say is that, according to the info at the bottom, it’ll be done by Aniplex. Lots of questions, little answers. Stay tuned.
The Wired Fish Network 