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Persona 3 Portable coming to North America on July 6
Atlus is bringing an English-language version of Persona 3 Portable to the US. The PSP version of Persona 3 isn't a direct port of the original PS2 RPG. Instead, it streamlines the experience for handheld play and adds a new playable female character, with her own "Social Links, special events, and unique romantic opportunities." In addition, P3P adds a few cameos from Persona 4, and introduces five difficulty settings, ranging from "beginner" to "maniac." The battle system has also drastically changed, with players able to directly control teammates. The UMD version will be available at retail on July 6th, with a PSN version expected soon after. Check out the box art after the break.%Gallery-83530%
Andrew Yoon01.20.2010
Sega offers up a mess of new Resonance of Fate screens
We'll be frank -- there are quite a few JRPGs heading to consoles in the next few months. From Last Rebellion to White Knight Chronicles to Final Fantasy XIII, it's kinda hard to get excited for yet another in Resonance of Fate. That being said, the game's screens and video have thus far been unbelievably impressive (with the new gallery below serving to further that point), and our last hands-on with game was fairly positive. We'll do our best to remember all of that when the game releases on the same day as FFXIII. Seriously. %Gallery-83379%
Ben Gilbert01.18.2010
Last Rebellion heading to Europe March 12, US 'in February'
You can imagine our surprise when we discovered Nippon Ichi's Last Rebellion had gotten itself a release date -- it's been nearly nine months since we last heard anything on the title (and that was its announcement!). The game's set to hit PlayStation 3 consoles on March 12 in Europe and 'February' for North America, just in time for those of you who love JRPGs yet are stridently against the purchase of Final Fantasy XIII. In fact, between the release of FFXIII on March 9, Resonance of Fate launching the same day, and now this, we're inclined to rename the whole month with a JRPG theme. How about "Manarch?" Maybe "Marchic?" Perhaps "Marchlotsofbeltsandzippers?" Alright, alright -- we've clearly gone too far. %Gallery-63008%
Ben Gilbert01.17.2010
Final Fantasy XIII 'International' trailer introduces English theme song
Download in HD from BigDownload Two months from now, Final Fantasy fans in America and Europe will be able to play the franchise's first numbered release since Final Fantasy XII -- roughly four years ago. To promote the game, Square Enix has released yet another five-minute trailer, thankfully devoid of Square Enix PR dudes trapped within humongous calendar mazes. New to this trailer is the English theme song for the RPG, "My Hands" by Leona Lewis. "When Square Enix approached Leona about including her song 'My Hands' in Final Fantasy XIII, she was honored to be partnered with such an iconic and groundbreaking video game series," RCA Music Group's Tom Corson said in a press release. "Leona is a natural fit with the game's powerful themes and strong female protagonist." Y'know, themes like being able summon a giant ice motorcycle-robot-thing while falling from an exploding dragon airship-thing. %Gallery-80266%
Andrew Yoon01.13.2010
Square Enix introduces 'Ultimate Hits' line for DS in Japan
It's a formula gamers are all too familiar with. First step: Release a game (and hope it sells a bunch). Second step: As time goes on and the sales pile up, gain interest in your product again through a discounted re-release. Rinse and repeat. Enter: Dragon Quest IX, Final Fantasy IV, Dragon Quest IV and Dragon Quest V, a line-up of games to be branded under Square Enix's 'Ultimate Hits' (partial machine translation) line of DS games. Square Enix is gearing up to re-release these games this March, at a discounted ¥2,940 (around $32). That's cheap, considering most DS games release there for around $50. [Via Kotaku]
David Hinkle01.12.2010
Atlus uses the Hexyz Force on PSP
Atlus sure does love the PSP, announcing two games for Sony's handheld in just as many days. Hexyz Force is a new RPG from Sting, creator of Riviera: The Promised Land and Yggdra Union. This classically-styled JRPG features two different adventures, each about (what else?) the end of the world. Atlus promises each adventure will take about 25 hours, totaling 50 hours of dungeon crawling and grinding for RPG fans. PSP owners are all too familiar with the lengthy load times for many of the system's RPGs. Thankfully, Atlus is promising "virtually no load times" for Hexyz Force. Like a console JRPG, the game will also feature twenty minutes of anime cutscenes. The UMD version is scheduled for release on May 25th, while a PSN version should follow shortly thereafter. Check out a video preview after the break.
Andrew Yoon01.07.2010
Japanese games market shrank in 2009
2009 looked fairly dire for the Japanese games industry. Now that we're on the other side of the year, we can assess the damage. Andriasang reports Enterbrain numbers claiming that, overall, the market shrank ¥543 billion, a reduction of 6.9% from 2008. Since we're in a Seinfeld-quoting mood today, we might posit that the Japanese game industry had been in the pool. Hardware sales dropped 13.9%, with the DS unsurprisingly leading among consoles with 4,025,313 million units and the Xbox 360 even less surprisingly at the bottom, with 331,706 consoles sold. In software, the big winner (or smallest loser, we suppose, given the overall tone of the news) was Dragon Quest IX, which sold a whopping 4,100,968 copies -- slightly more than the total number of DS consoles sold in 2009! Final Fantasy XIII managed to make it onto the tail end of the top five with 1,698,256 copies. But if you weren't Square Enix or Nintendo (who had the other three spots on the top five software charts), 2009 was one to forget.
JC Fletcher01.05.2010
ASCII Media Works tracks Japan's top selling games of 2009 (so far)
[GAME Watch] Yes, the year technically isn't over yet -- but let's be honest: Nobody's going to be buying any new games over the next four days. As such, Dengeki publisher ASCII Media Works thought it appropriate to track the 30 best-selling games in Japan for 2009. Or, rather, 99 percent of 2009. There aren't too many big surprises; Dragon Quest IX took top honors with 4,089,136 units sold, and Pokémon Heart Gold and Soul Silver came in second with 3,301,873 in sales. Despite having only been out for a little over a week, Final Fantasy XIII actually managed a sixth place finish with 1,455,505 units sold. Check out the full list of top-selling games after the jump. [Via Kotaku]
Griffin McElroy12.28.2009
Ubisoft aiming for Japanese market, considering traditional RPG
French publisher Ubisoft is looking to expand in Japan. In an interview with Famitsu (translation by 1UP), Ubi Executive Director Alain Corre discussed the strategy of dealing with the region, stating that the company would like to produce "games on the same level as Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest." The problem is, according to Corre, that Ubisoft has "never made any RPGs." We're guessing he means internally, otherwise Enchanted Arms is probably off crying in a corner somewhere. Corre believes that if Ubisoft can get quality RPG-oriented developers on board, he'd "love to release one." He feels that if the company can work with Japanese developers, he's "sure [Ubisoft] can make a game that appeals to the Japanese audience." Ubisoft expects to announce what its Japanese development studios are working on in about a year. We're all for a JRPG starring the Rabbids.
Alexander Sliwinski12.22.2009
Dragon Quest IX breaks shipment record in Japan
According to Square Enix, Dragon Quest IX has broken a shipment record in Japan, but we can't help but be underwhelmed by the figure (and not just because Square was hoping for 5 million). Unfortunately, Google Translate initially told us that the game had moved 415 million copies, rather than the 4.15 million it actually shipped. Sure, we guess 4.15 million is okay, but with 415 million, the jokes would have written themselves. "There are only 127,704,000 people in your country! What, are you building forts out of the things?" See? There's a lot going on there. But let's not cry over spilled lulz -- 4.15 million is a great number and this is a time for celebration. That said, if everybody over there wouldn't mind buying just 3.22 more copies of Dragon Quest IX, we'd be eternally grateful.
Justin McElroy12.22.2009
Lunar: Silver Star Harmony gets 'definitive' Limited Edition
Has any game been remade and repackaged into "Limited Edition" bundles more often than Lunar: Silver Star? With the announcement of this special edition PSP package from XSEED, we think the answer is "no." The Limited Edition will include a UMD version of the game, soundtrack CD and a set of 13 "bromide" collector cards "highlighting the girls of Lunar." Oh, game publishing companies, you know what fans want. The press release calls this the "definitive version of Lunar: The Silver Star." That is, until the next time they decide to remake this game. The Limited Edition will cost $40, $10 more than the standard edition, and will release on PSP in Q1 2010.%Gallery-80575%
Andrew Yoon12.18.2009
Persona teams reunite for new project in 2010
After the completion of Persona 4, the team responsible for the game at Atlus split in two, with one half tasked with creating Persona 3 Portable, while the other half got to work on "an original new game." According to a translation by Andriasang of the P3 Portable creator's blog, that first game is "nearing completion," and the two teams will re-form [insert Voltron reference here] in 2010. Persona 4 producer Katsura Hashino says that the re-unified team will work on "an even bigger title" in the coming year, though no details have been formally announced. We'll just have to giddily think about the impending release of 3D Dot Game Heroes in North America, while we wait for Hashino to dish. [Via Andriasang]
Ben Gilbert12.18.2009
Record of Agarest War is largest PSN game ever
If you managed to get into the MAG beta and thought that was a lot of downloading, Aksys' Record of Agarest War is going to blow your mind. The PSN title will weigh in "somewhere around 8 - 10 gigs," an Aksys employee posted on the game's forums. Obviously, eight to ten gigabytes isn't going to be much space for your PS3's big and burly hard drive and it's definitely understandable considering the game was originally a disc-based release in Europe; however, the time it'll take to download all of those gigglebytes is another story. We suggest starting the download before you go to bed or -- considering the "100 hour" adventure isn't actually out yet -- taking the Delorean up to 88MPH. [Via Siliconera] %Gallery-71232%
David Hinkle12.04.2009
White Knight Chronicles 'International Edition' goes to the US on February 2
Click to see the full box art. The American version of White Knight Chronicles has just earned a release date and a subtitle. SCEA is calling it the "International Edition," thanks to the addition of 50 new quests, voice chat, Georama and Live Talk. However, we think "The Incredibly Tardy Edition" is probably a more apt title, considering the 14-month wait fans have had to endure. White Knight Chronicles' February 2nd release date places it before other big 2010 games on PS3, such as BioShock 2, Dante's Inferno, Star Ocean, Heavy Rain, and most importantly -- our lord and savior Final Fantasy XIII. We wonder if Level-5's Yoshiaki Kusada will be happy with the distance between these two PS3 RPG juggernauts. %Gallery-51356%
Andrew Yoon12.04.2009Trademark suggests upcoming European release for Dragon Quest IX
While we wait for the real, official announcement we so desperately need to hear from Square Enix, another hint has been dropped about a Western release for Dragon Quest IX. Square Enix has filed a series of trademarks for the phrase "Sentinels of the Starry Skies" in English, French, Spanish, Italian, and German (search for trademark #008724528 on the EU trademark database to see the English application for yourself). The phrase corresponds closely to the Japanese subtitle of Dragon Quest IX, Hoshizora no Mamorubito ("Defenders of the Starry Sky"). The publisher could be waiting to get its other big RPG out the door before saying anything. It previously noted that if it does localize the DS game (which it will!) it'll be in the next fiscal year, which starts in April.
JC Fletcher12.03.2009
Santa's Dragon Quest IX cameo now available in Japan
He might know if you've been bad or good, but that won't stop St. Nick from sending you on a horse-related fetch quest in new DLC for Dragon Quest IX in Japan. Released on November 27, the Mr. Claus' Horse downloadable content brings the mythical gift giver to the insanely popular Nintendo DS title. Sadly, we can only hope Square Enix plans to include this and previous Dragon Quest IX DLC when the game eventually lands in North American stores. You'd think a guy with a sleigh and a few flying reindeer could help speed-up the process, but apparently Santa's busy horse-sitting.
Xav de Matos11.28.2009
Square Enix summons Earnings Report; Final Fantasy XIII Sales Projections evade attacks
Square Enix recently chose to attack with its annual earnings report, and among the 12-page PDF file's barrage of numbers, things look pretty good for the company. Net sales for the six months ending September 30, 2009 were up 33 percent over the same period last year to 91 billion yen ($1 billion), while operating income was also up by 39 percent to 13 billion yen ($144.5 million) over the same period last year. It's not all roses and Dragon Quest IX sales, however -- net income was down almost 58 percent to 2.7 billion yen ($30 million). The statement also talks about the acquisition and assimilation of Eidos in direct proportion to Square Enix's games group division -- which includes video games across all platforms and online games for personal computers. Through the aid of titles like Batman: Arkham Asylum, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days and the aforementioned Dragon Quest IX, the games division rose its net sales and operating income by 117 percent and 63 percent to 4.8 billion yen ($53 million) and 1.0 billion yen ($11 million), respectively. As for the company's upcoming darling, Final Fantasy XIII, Square Enix prez Yoichi Wada spoke about concern regarding the title's projected domestic sales. Basically, he's not concerned at all! "PS3 sales continue to increase. We're bundling PS3 and FFXIII, and can expect even further sales increases. Orders for FFXIII are definitely not bad," he said. While he didn't reiterate anything as bold as six million, Wada did claim that the game is expected to sell in the millions. Source - Square Enix earnings (PDF) [Via andriasang] Source - Wada comments on FFXIII sales
David Hinkle11.06.2009Dragon Quest IX is Q3's top-selling game
Despite the handicap of not being for sale in most of the world, Dragon Quest IX for the DS sold more copies than any other game in the world between July and September of this year, according to a Top Global Markets report. With 3,925,000 copies sold in Japan, it outsold the number two best-selling game for that period, Wii Sports Resort, by almost 1,000,000 copies -- and that game was available worldwide. Following Wii Sports Resort in the top five: Madden NFL 2010 at 2,612,000, Pokemon HeartGold And SoulSilver at 2,068,000, and Halo 3: ODST, which was only out for a week in Q3, at 1,847,000 copies. All these games have plenty more sales ahead of them as the holidays approach!
JC Fletcher11.05.2009
Nintendo still planning to co-market Dragon Quest IX
Though Square Enix has yet to say anything concrete about releasing Dragon Quest IX outside of Japan, Nintendo has discussed its own plans to market the title. Last year, Satoru Iwata mentioned his intention to promote the game in the West, and during this week's financial results Q&A session, senior managing director Shinji Hatano reiterated that intention. "Hatano said that helping to sell Dragon Quest IX outside Japan is part of a larger effort on the part of Nintendo to partner with software makers to sell their games for Nintendo hardware," GameLife summarized. Maybe eventually, Square Enix will announce this game. Also on the subject of Dragon Quest IX, at the same event, Shigeru Miyamoto praised DQIX's communication mode, which allows players to collect and interact with others' characters passively. "Dragon Quest IX's passerby communication has caused the number of people walking around outside using their DS systems to increase greatly, and I'm thinking that I could probably make something unique like that," he said. And then he said "Also, recently, we got a cat." Hint, hint. [Via GameLife]
JC Fletcher11.03.2009Ar Tonelico III trailer overwhelms with epicness
The first two Ar Tonelico games on PlayStation 2 barely took advantage of the power offered by the platform. However, Gust is making the jump to 3D for its upcoming Ar Tonelico III for PS3. This new full-length trailer is surprisingly ambitious, showcasing some stunning Gankutsuou-esque anime cutscenes and some epic 3D landscapes. Sure, these graphics are nowhere near the level of Final Fantasy XIII, but it's a dramatic departure for a series that has looked like high-res GBA games thus far.Ar Tonelico III is rushing towards an early 2010 release in Japan, but no US release has been announced yet. We're pretty certain this will be picked up, though -- adding to PS3's JRPG wealth for the upcoming year. To see how far the franchise has come, see a trailer for the first game after the break.
Andrew Yoon10.26.2009