The DS remakes of the best Pokémon games in the series, Gold and Silver, were released in Japan today. The games are, unsurprisingly, selling well. In fact, some stores are sold out already.

The games come with a pedometer that gives you in-game rewards for walking, named the “Pokéwalker”. Obviously gamers don’t like to walk anywhere, so they’ve started cheating the system by shaking the pedometer however they can. As you can see above, people are apparently getting quite creative with it. I guess that’s the most you could ask for. To be honest with you, I was planning on doing the same thing when I get my copy.

Via Destructoid

I’m sure there are still a few of you that haven’t forgotten that Tekken 6 actually exists, especially if you’ve been lucky enough to have played the game already on a Japanese arcade machine. I’d just like to point out that they got the game a year and a half ago, and we have to wait until October 27th to actually see the game, but today Namco-Bandai put out some new art for Tekken 6 that makes that 6 months seem so much longer.

The art features the characters of Tekken 6 in all sorts of crazy poses, with the characters we know and love from past Tekken games, as well as some new ones that we haven’t seen before, such as Bob, Leo, Zafina, and a couple more. Hit the jump for the full gallery.

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Any Dragon Quest fan knows exactly what I am talking about when I say the word slime.  The blob from the famous game series has been released as a plush toy many times over, now it’s getting a tech upgrade.
Famitsu reports that these new stereo speakers will go on sale on March 28th and retail for around 48 USD.  The speaker is rather large and also includes a stand to hold your DS while you play.  It seems a bit big though and might just get in the way more than anything.

I assume this is for the really die hard Dragon Quest fans, which I know plenty of.  I’ll stick with headphones myself, but if you are so inclined to have a speaker that doubles as a stand for your DS, try and find yourself one of these.

Source:  Famitsu

Some companies release special edition DS’s when their software hits the market.  Square-Enix decided that with Dragon Quest IX, a case will do just fine — and I agree.

The case, which is coming out on March 28th (same day as the slime speaker), will retail for about $12 and really is quite nice to look at.

I have seen other cases on DSs that seem gaudy or are just eye sores, but this one displays a picture of a couple of slime without overbearing colors.  This should be relatively easy to get outside of Japan and I may even try to get this case even though I have never played a Dragon Quest game (don’t kill me!).

Source:  Famitsu

Take part God of War, part Shinobi, and part Ninja Gaiden and you get the soon to be released game in Japan Ninja Blade.

The 360 title is being released on Janurary 29th and looks to please many a ninja fan.  The main character Ken is doing what ninjas do best — fighting bad guys around Japan.  The Famitsu news explains a lot of the story, but honestly that part is rather hum drum.  You are the good guy ninja fighting the bad guy ninjas.  You know, same ole thing.  The best part is the action involved in the game.  From screenshots alone, there is high-flying fighting, ninja magic, and yeah — missile riding, because all ninja learn how to do that in mystic ninja school.

If you are familiar with OTOGI, this is the same team.  I can’t say I have ever played the game myself so I am not really sure what to expect out of this new ninja title, but it’s nice to have some martial arts action on the 360.  These guys seemed to go all out with getting city styles from Japan in game along with making the main character look very deadly — maybe not too powerful, but he does indeed seem to be quite the fighter.

One thing that makes me really want to get this game is the sheer amount of different weapons he seems to carry and be able to use.  The standard ninja style katana is there, but you can also dual wield smaller swords, carry a giant sword for whatever reason you may see fit, and even a whip weapon of sorts.  You are going to get a lot of different playstyle abilities with all the different weapons.

Did I mention you can upgrade them?  The game includes a system to, of course, make those awesome weapons even more awesome to eliminate the bad guys faster and faster as the game progresses.  You aren’t just limited to melee weapons, though — there are of course ninja stars or “kunai” for those of you up on your Japanese, and let’s not forget the ninja magic.  The descriptions of the magic seem fairly light, though, so I think they are really wanting you to focus on weapon play over all other styles of combat.  The outfit our ninja friend Ken wears can also be changed giving better stats to help get past the trials at hand.

This game has something for everyone, and some people tire of constant battle so for those of you there are small mini game style parts where you may have to press button combos to do specific attacks to bosses, or just mash a button to keep hanging on.

All in all I think for a straight action title, it looks to be a solid game with some decent replayability.  You will also notice that in the picture I chose to show off this title to you all he is riding a sword. That’s right, a sword.

Source:  Famitsu

One of the greatest arcade games of all time (at least in my mind) is being ported to the PSP.  For some reason, I don’t think it’s going to be quite the same game.

That’s right, the arcade Gundam game that costs about five dollars a play but really gives a great immersion factor is being made portable for the PSP in Japan on March 26th.  With really no way to redo the cockpit design or control scheme for a portable device, the game takes a big hit. Halving team play from 8v8 to 4v4 probably won’t be a deal breaker for probably anyone, though.

Last time I checked, you can’t sit inside a PSP.

I used to play this game a bit too much.  Every Friday I would spend about 20 or 30 bucks just hopping in the cockpit for around 10 to 15 minutes a go and really just getting my tail handed to me by much, much better pilots.  The crazy part is that I wasn’t alone.  There was a line at my arcade to even play it — it was a real classy setup of put your card down behind everyone else and wait for their cards to disappear.  The reason I really got into this game probably has something to do with my love of MMORPG’s.  Your pilot grows the more you play the game and is allowed access to better gundam’s and parts, your stats are also stored so you can compare with people all over Japan.  That in itself kept me coming back.

The friend I played with on those Friday nights when I should have been out socializing loved the feeling of really flying a gundam.  There are two foot pedals and two joysticks that you have to use to pilot the gundam.  The seat isn’t made for an adult really but those are the only people I ever saw playing.  It didn’t matter how tight the fit is, having that giant screen display like I’m inside the Gundam is an experience in itself.  Sitting in a room with a PSP is nowhere near the same thing.

Who knows — the game may still sell like hot cakes because it’s Gundam, but it just won’t be the same in my eyes.

Source:  Famitsu

Famitsu has some pictures of the special PS3 pack you can purchase with the latest in the Yakuza game series.  I think it’s rather stylish — I wonder what real Yakuza think.

The white 80GB model has a classic eastern dragon design on it.   It is rather fancy, but unless you turn your PS3 sideways to show it off, nobody will really see it.   The set will release on February 26th and retail for around 450 bucks.

I doubt they make it stateside though, but it would be a nice model to have.

Source: Famitsu

I’ve been a fan of boxing ever since I saw the “Rocky” movies.  There is something about watching two guys try to beat each other to a pulp for the chance to get a belt around their waist.  I think maybe I’m just drawn to organized violence.  I’m also a fan of anime and had heard of boxing anime and manga before but never thought they would really be interesting until my friend showed me Hajime No Ippo:  The Fighting.  There is a great story here and some wonderful characters that are easy to connect with on some level.  The anime was cancelled early in it’s run but the manga is still going strong, and the anime will be making a comeback in January.  I assume to help promote the upcoming release of the new show this been game has been released on the DS to help tell the story of our main character Ippo. 

I think the DS is a good choice for a boxing game on portable systems because you get that wonderful stylus to tap the screen and somewhat simulate boxing.  There is a PSP version of Ippo which is also very good, but this new DS game makes you feel somewhat more in control I think.  There are two main game modes in the Ippo game, fighting matches of course, and minigames to help boost your abilities somewhat similar to the Fight Night games.

The boxing matches follow many of the main story arcs from the manga and allow you to control all your favorites like Ippo, and Takamura, and so on to try to win the big fights from the manga.  I don’t want to ruin any of the story in case you are interested in seeing the anime or read the manga, but you can change the outcome of how events unfold which is somewhat nice.

The matches are done from a behind the fighter perspective and the touch screen is split into two sections.  The top section allows for you to control the punches the fighter can do such as jabs, straights, hooks, uppercuts, etc. and the bottom half is for guarding and dodging punches that come from the opponent.  Something I really like about this system is depending on which side of the fighters head you tap that side’s punch gets thrown.  I really wasn’t expecting to have this much control over the boxer but it is a really nice touch.  Special punches are done by doing special motions with the stylus when you’ve got enough “special” power saved up.  These don’t really make or break a fight but do come in handy.

The A.I. in the boxing matches on normal starts out rather sluggish and stupid in the first few matches, but then jumps up in a steep learning curve.  This could be a turn off to some gamers because there really isn’t any way you know its going to happen other than going into a fight and getting creamed in the first round as opposed to the last fight you were in where you hardly had to throw punches to knock the guy out.  The last fight in the game is also the hardest, which is understandable, but everything is stacked against you from the get go and you almost have to go the whole match without getting touched which I think is a bit much, but if you do win you feel like you earned it.

The one thing I didn’t like so much about the fighting portion is that I was constantly afraid I was going to break the touch screen because I got so into the matches that I was slamming that stylus rather hard from time to time to try and knock out the computer.  You can change to just using the buttons if you don’t feel comfortable using the stylus which is also a really nice touch for those of us with heavy tapping.

The mini game mode brings a lot of neat exercises you see Ippo do as he is training for fights in the manga.  There is leaf catching, chopping wood, dodging tennis balls, and lots of other mini games to choose from to keep you interested in them for a while.  The difficulty of the mini games at first ranges from hard to impossible, but once you ge the hang of them they become no problem.

Lastly they were nice enough to include a vs. mode so you can fight your friends that have the game and maybe have some match up’s you thought should have happened or could never happen.  I haven’t gotten to try this mode yet so I can’t say if it is laggy or well done or anything to that amount, but it does seem like it would be rather fun to go head to head with friends tapping a screen.

All in all, this is a great game that I really didn’t expect so much detail to be put into.  Ippo right now isn’t really a popular manga with titles like Naruto and Bleach taking in the majority of fans these days, but hopefully the comeback of the show will really bring some fans back to a very good long running series.  If you get a chance check out the old anime and force yourself to watch at least the first 10 or 15 episodes before you make a judgement about it.  If the DS game comes stateside it will probably be one of, if not the only boxing game to buy for DS.

Shacknews reports that Capcom are releasing a demo of Resident Evil 5, the next in their line of acclaimed horror games (more recently: zombie shooters) on December 5. The demo is unfortunately restricted to those with a Xbox Live Gold Account- no signing up for a Silver account for a sneaky go at the demo for you, you cheeky rascal. The demo is reported to feature two stages, playable offline or online with a friend. There’s no word on a US or European release, or even a PS3 version. Still, it’s nice to see a demo this early; the full game doesn’t release until March 5 (JP) and March 13 (US). Those of you who just can’t wait to find out what the game is like, you’ll just have to read our preview.

We reported a few months ago that Sony’s African safari game Afrika had been renamed “Hakuna Matata” in Asia, and now it seems that the Western release will be renamed to “National Geographic: Afrika”. GameZine reports that “National Geographic announced today that they were launching a new games division that would partner with other developers and publishers; including Namco Bandai and more importantly, Sony Computer Entertainment.”

The list of titles set to be included in National Geographic’s lineup included a certain “National Geographic: Afrika”- later confirmed by Sony to be the same Afrika that was released in Japan. After the Western release was called into question earlier this year, it looks like we’ll be taking photos of rhinos on our PlayStations after all.

National Geographic Games Release Schedule

November 2008
National Geographic – “Herod’s Lost Tomb”
Namco Bandai – “National Geographic: Panda”
Sony – “National Geographic: Africa”

December 2008
National Geographic – “Sudoku Traveler: China”

2009
National Geographic – “Rain Forests”
National Geographic – “Greencity”
National Geographic – “From the Bottom Up”

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On December 17th, Monster Hunter Frontier will be releasing what’s known as season 4.0.  This update includes some famous monsters from 2nd G and a new map to fight on. 

The monsters known as Espinas, Tiger-X, and Rajan in Japan will be joining the already large variety of beasts capable of being hunted, my least favorite being Tiger-X (he’s a pain) which is listed as a variant of the regular one which I assume is in the game.  I haven’t gotten too far on my Frontier character so I can’t say for sure what all is already in there.

The new map that will be released takes place in high peaks.  According to the article on Famitsu, the map will feature winds that will effect the hunters but can also be used to their advantage if they work right.

If this game is released in the States, there will be a ton of content to start hunters off with.  I think it would go over real well if people are willing to get over a small learning curve.

As a side note, it was revealed a couple of weeks ago that there will be a new version of the software released in stores for season 4.0.  This box will include special codes for some in-game items, a free sixty-day hunter pass, and an up-to-date version of the software.  I may pick this up just for the extra sixty days play time and the items.

Source:  Famitsu

So I’ve discussed the game and the cards. Today I want to focus on PvP and my final thoughts on the game. I haven’t put near the amount of time some people have put into this game, so my theories may have some flaw to them, and I am far from a master at this game. This is really just a listing of what I’ve learned to do by being beat by the people I have played and using some of those tactics to beat other people.

Crystal Strategy

The first and simplest idea to winning is to just take out the other team’s arcane crystals. There are three of them on a PvP map and they are always in the same place. It seems simple enough but if their team enters the area of the crystal you are attacking, then you stop attacking it to focus on fighting them. This can, of course, slow you down, but if you have a stronger team it isn’t anything to worry about.

When I first started playing PvP, this is the only thought that came to my mind. My cards weren’t strong enough to be effective in battle, so I ran from crystal to crystal trying to lower their life bar before the enemy could take out my whole team. Now PvP match-ups are usually about four levels apart max, so at times I was playing people I had no chance of beating. This is how you can start to annoy the high level people.

As I stated last time, there are some monster cards that lower the power of arcane crystals much faster than any other cards. These are great to have on a team, and also terrible to have. They make your team slower than you could possibly imagine or want. Once you do get to a crystal, though, you’re set. There is a side strategy to using these cards and that is to take out the opponents search eye or shield generator which will give you some speed boosts, letting those slow but dangerous monsters get to the crystals much faster.

Opponent Destruction Strategy

This is the next simple-but-not-as-easy way to win the battle: if you fight and take out the other team completely, their life bar will go down a decent amount. You have to defeat the whole team, though, or this doesn’t do as much good. This really works well for people who have leveled up their cards a bit and have a team that is strong against that particular opponent. I have tried using this strat a few times but always seem to lose out in the end. There is something about this I’m doing wrong and I need to spend a bit more time figuring out how to perfect it.

What really gets me about this method of winning is the monster card’s strength and weakness to certain attacks. If, say, you do dark damage, you are usually weak to light damage. So obviously, if you’re team is solely dark damage monsters and the other is light, it could be a draw, but if they aren’t light then you’re damage won’t be as effective and theirs will work better. There are also cards that can either change your strength, damage, or your weakness thus causing you serious headaches.

“Lock Out” Strategy

This is something new I’m working on. It has not been used on me to its fullest yet in a match, but I used it on someone to achieve a sneaky victory. In the PvP field, there are three gates your team can come through if you lose all teammates or need a quick health recharge. If one is broken by the other team, it can’t be used until you spend time standing in front of it to fix it.

The idea is if you break all three gates down, and then proceed to either attack the other team or work on crystals, they will have no choice than to hurry and fix their gates, or try and take you out to get some time to repair their gates. The gates do repair themselves but very, very slowly. I have taken out all three gates on someone before and then went to the furthest crystal from them and cleaned house. This strat doesn’t work well if their team moves faster than yours, though, so it’s a bit tricky.

Conclusion

Well, that is about all there is to Lord of Vermilion so far. It’s a fun card game with some great card art. You don’t have to get every card in the whole game to have fun, and you don’t have to have many cards to start. If you are in Japan for a length of time and feel like trying it out, go for it — you really don’t need too high a Japanese language skill to play it, and even if you have trouble, the person sitting next to you may give you some simple tips for playing. I recently upgraded from the weak plastic card holders to stronger stuff because some of the more serious players rock their cards pretty hard while combating, and I think I’m almost at their level. We’ll see, though.

Flipping through Famitsu just a few minutes ago and this was at the top page.  I had been looking foward to Ragnarok Online for the DS just to see how much like or dislike the PC version it would be.  Apparently if you are really into the PC game and like to do quests, you can get some special items for the DS version.

Raganarok Online comes out in Japan for the DS on December 18th.  According to the article at Famitsu there are some quests that you can do to unlock three special items in the DS game.  The items a  broken sword, ancient text of the shaman, and wings of visofuniru (sometimes katakana names don’t come to me quick enough).  Are unlockable as you progress through both games.

I don’t want to give away to much but Famitsu says it all starts with a Midguard Guidebook of some sort.  To be honest I couldn’t stand playing the game because of how time consuming it is, but the characters are really cute.

If you are interested in Ragnarok Online and the DS incarnation stay tuned.  I’ll probably pick it up the day it goes on sale and give a brief rundown of what I think.  I doubt I’ll be working for those special items though.

Source: Famitsu

Welcome to the second part of my write up on the currently Japan only Lord of Vermilion. In the last piece I discussed the basic overview of how the game worked and what’s involved. Today I plan on going a bit more in depth with the cards that are the focus of the game. Just like any other card game there are factions, interesting artwork, rarity, and a few surprises. So sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.

Factions

There are currently seven factions found in Lord of Vermilion. These aren’t direct translations but basically they are: The Beasts, The Demons, The Angels, The Devils, The Undead, The Underwater, and Mechanical. Each of course have their own upsides and downsides, creating balance in the game. You are also allowed to use any combination of each faction you like, you don’t have to stick to a certain one unless you want to. Your character can also wear gear and choose an affiliation with a certain faction to boost it’s power but that is always up to you, and a choice you get to make for each match.

The Beasts

The cards in this category are pretty simple to understand they are animals, or people like animals, or animal like people. If they made joke cards I think this is where you would find Man-Bear-Pig. Japan likes to use the names of mystic characters from other lore and the first one I’ll mention is in this set. Grendel is a rather powerful monster card in here and more than likely one of the bosses in game (though I haven’t gotten that far). Though his art work doesn’t seem to make him to be anything near the same as in the story of Beowulf. He is listed as a super rare so I doubt I’ll be running across him anytime soon when I play.

The Demons

Dark magic includes well witches, orcs, trolls, and goblins. The name that really sticks out to me is Mephisto. Sometimes this guy is known as the lord of the underworld or what not. These cards are designed after monsters that cause problems for people, but so far it’s all really just in the name. Yes I know I’ve listed Demons and Devils as two seperate groups, which they are but you could probably merge these two groups of cards together and no one would really notice.

The Angels

The holy cards. All creatures in this set are based of mystic holy people or assumed “good guys.” I say assumed here because Zeus is listed in this set and while he was the god of the gods, he wasn’t really a good guy like most of the angels that are thrown in here. Odin also makes an appearance for good measure.

The Devils

We talked about demons, now time for devils. These guys are a step up from their demon couterparts causing a bit more damage as far as I can remember. Ifrit is in this group as well as Beelzebub. Now if you are some what up on your reading you know that Beelz is literately translated as lord of the things that fly, or lord of the flies. But if hes/she/it is in this group we’re calling it a devil.

The Undead

Zombies, skulls, dead monsters, Oh my! Anything thats dead or undead is in this group. Nothing of noteable popularity is named, there is a generic vampire lady as a rare card. One that seems awkward for me and perhaps I should research some more is a card called Rich or Ricchi in romaji. The art on the card is clearly the grim reaper and there is a very well known Japanese word for grim reaper, but I guess they just didn’t want to go in that direction. Other cards in this set are pretty generic with specters, ghosts, and sprits.

The Underwater

There really isn’t much to say about these cards. They are all creatures from the water, big fish, mermaids, mermen, and the Kraken! I haven’t seen many of these cards myself so maybe they aren’t making it to my arcade. I also haven’t seen many people use this area’s cards in PvP. This creates the assumption they aren’t popular, but I’ll ask around.

Using the Cards

So now that we know the factions what types of cards are there, we need to know how to use them on our team to achieve ultimate victory! The first thing to know is that each card has score. Your team can spend 90 points in cards for each match. For best results you want to of course get to the 90 point mark without going over, but you also can’t stockpile 10 point cards, well you can, but you can only have a team of four out at one time anyway so that is sort of a crazy idea. Cards range from 10 points up to 30 points in increments of five and ten. This allows you to balance your playstyle and card type you want. Cards also come with special abilities, some come with two other cheaper point cards come with one.

The ability that all cards come with is a battle ability, something they can use during the fight to help either boost your time, weaken the other team, or hurt the other team. This ability has a range and can only be used when they are “charged up”. For instance one of my favorite cards has a really nice damage ability attack. When she is charged up she shoots magic at any enemy in her range which is shaped like a T, now the damage will go through other monsters into any in range as opposed to one target, and if there is a target at the top of the T they get an extra hit on them. Pretty useful, but somewhat slow.

Higher point cards come with another ability listed as Gate, Search, or Arcana. These are all abilities that affect the strategy side of the game. The Gate ability allows them to destory enemy gates and repair your gates at accelerated speed. The Search ability (from what I understand) allows you to see stats of your enemy better, and allows you to take out their search eye and repair your own at a quicker pace. Finally and my favorite, the Arcana ability allows you to destory the enemy stone sheilds really fast. The downside to this ability usually is that the monsters are slow, which slows down the rest of your team so if you want to go this route be prepared to get attacked easily by the other team.

Lastly all monsters can fight, they have an attack power, a defense power, and hit points. As you use the cards over and over they level up and these stats get stronger you see before pvp matches what level the opponents cards are and this usually is a pretty good sign of how the battle is going to go. After every battle win or lose your cards gain XP which allows them to do a little bit better in the next match. In another part I will get more into fighting with your cards.

Attaining the Cards

So now you know about all these awesome cards and you wanna go buy some? Sorry. You can’t go out and buy booster packs of the cards like other trading card games, you have to earn them. Every time you play the game win or lose you get a card. I am both for and against this system. I like it in that it doesn’t allow people to spend a ton of money before they even learn the game and let them stockpile every card in the game. The con is that this makes the cards somewhat more expensive. The game costs around three dollars US to play that will net you your first card, then you can contiune for two dollars more. To be smart you always want to play to get two cards, if you don’t you’re spending three bucks for one card. After each game or set of games is over a single card is dispensed in its packaging and you get the thrill of seeing if you got a super rare or another Mandrake…..

Popularity

Some big name artists were brought in on this project to really make it shine. The one that stuck out to me at first was Todd McFarlane. The spawn creator himself drew one of the monster cards for the game. Another name you might know is 天野 喜孝 or Yoshitaka Amano. For those of you who don’t know he’s the guy that does all that interesting art for the final fantasy games. It makes sense for Squre Enix to get him to do artwork since he has done such great artwork before. The link to a listing of many of the cards is here there is English so it’s somewhat easy to follow, you might notice an artist I didn’t, let me know in your comments who is worth mentioning and why.

Check back soon for part 3!

Square Enix has posted on their career board the chance of a lifetime for many a video game fan.  They want a writer to live in Tokyo and help turn those wonderful games that come out into an English speaking experience as opposed to a Japanese one. 

This position is written up really open ended.  The required skills basically grind down to a person that has been to college or taken AP English, studied a little Japanese, and has two to three years experience working in an industry.  Mind you it doesn’t say video game industry so I think they are really asking for trouble.

You have to mail everything to Shinjuku for consideration and a long with that resume they want a creative writing sample.  The sample is to be 800 to 1000 words about a character from a Sqaure game that gets stuck in Japan and “using the language of the position” write a story.  Let the fan fiction jokes begin.

I of course, will be applying as well because of course its a dream job.  Im sure my application will be among hundreds of thousands of fan fictions to grace the desks of some poor human resources department people to review and then stamp not accepted and be mailed back.   Yes, that’s right, Square is going to mail back your submission after they have decided if they want you or not.

So get out there, good luck and write something worth reading.

Source: Square Enix via Kotaku

I’m checking out Famitsu this morning and what do I see but an interesting slightly non gaming news article about EXILE and Takaratomi toy company of Japan releasing a collaboration Optimus Prime as they call it.

EXILE X Transformers speakers for iPod are just what they claim to be.   A set of speakers built into Optimus Prime’s trailer that work as a small dock for your iPod.  As you can see by the photo Optimus has taken on a new color scheme for this promotion, but he does transform as always.

It’s on sale now for the low low price of 20,000 yen, or around 200 US dollars (depending on how the exchange rate is going that day).   For the price it looks slightly expensive you get a transforming Optimus, and two two channel speakers with their own power button and volume.

They don’t say what brand the speakers are just that they are in the convey container so don’t expect Bose, I may get one myself.  Then again, I’m one of those people that buys things like this and then never opens them.  I tell myself I’m saving it for its value later in years, which really ends up usually being a waste for me.

Source: Famitsu

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I love the arcades in Japan.  They are always changing the games, and are always full of people, much different from my arcade back home that probably still has that Mortal Kombat II machine sitting in the corner.  After visiting the arcade on a regular basis I started to really get interested in the card battle style games that were popping up.

The first one I ever saw was based on the three kingdoms history of china and that was less than appealing.  Then Square Enix released Yu-sha or Eternal Wheel.  I picked this up and tried it out.  It was a fairly decent game, but a bit too simple and you didn’t feel like you had that much control over what happened in the game.  You directed units and they attacked the bad guys.  Simple, to the point, but not quite what I was looking for.

Then, a few months ago, Lord of Vermilion dropped from Square.  A game with dark overtones even the good guys look to be rather evil.  You have a character you control plus a team you run into the battle area.  In this multi-part article I’ll be discussing the ins and outs for you guys, in case you can’t take a jet plane over and try it out for yourself.

Starting Out.

I guess the best place to start is from the beginning.  LoV (it’s shorter) all starts with buying a starter deck, just like you would for any other card battle game.  They sell them right at the machine where you play and it comes with all you need, your first monster cards, your character card, and your NES System card that records all your data.  You can also buy card sleeves and more NES Sys cards (you get 100 plays per card).  The price of the starter deck is about five dollars American so it doesn’t break the bank, but it might make you decide if you really want to commit.

So you sit down at what looks like a giant table top, but its a touch screen/play screen/card reader type device.  It reads your cards, and tells you what’s going on on the ground.  You also have another HD tv in front of you to see another view of the action.  The first thing you have to do as a new player is of course create your character, you can choose male or female, name them whatever you want, and begin configuring your team.

There are three modes of play for LoV, one being the standard story mode with two difficulties accessible from the beginning easy and normal.  The story is basically a tutorial to play and slowly takes you through all the steps to getting in place, the different ways to win, and other things you need to worry about.  The actual story itself is a bit dry and really doesn’t need an explanation.

The second mode of play is all Japan PvP.  All the arcades that are worth going to in Japan have the Internet, and that means all the arcade machines are linked into their own networks.  LoV is no different, and their PvP lets you challenge any one else that maybe playing at the same time.  This is the main mode I play and I have never had to wait for a match so there are plenty of people playing this game.

The final mode is of course fighting the cabinet across from you.  This is a good mode for friends that also like to play the game and want a chance to take you on.  I’ve never seen anyone challenge someone they don’t know, but I’m sure it might happen.

Basic Play.

So you’re ready to play you have a team, a character, and a pocket full of dollar coins (the game is 3 dollars to play 2 to continue).  There are from what I understand three basic points to winning the game.

The first is to just destroy the other teams “Arcane Crystals” as they are described.  You do this by having your team stand in the circle near the crystal and watch a timer go off.  Not that exciting but depending on your cards (for another part), can take no time at all to win your match and get you some serious experience points.

Another way is to go into the fray with the other player using the attacks of your team to wipe his team out repeatedly thus draining his life bar and winning the match.

The last way is to destroy the gates from which the teams come from, there are three of them and if you do this then kill off his team it’s a very very easy win.  The most common strategy I have seen from other players is a combination of all three that way you don’t get your self in situations where you can do nothing against the other team.

In the next part of the article I will discuss the different types of cards.  Show a few off, and explain the deeper strategy of the game.  See you then!

Sega reps won’t be showing the extreme gore-fest MadWorld at this year’s Tokyo Game Show, mostly due to the fact that it may be too extremely gore-festy for Japanese audiences.  The game is being developed with a western audience in mind and will only be evaluated for a release elsewhere if it becomes a hit.

Japan-based Platinum Games, developer of MadWorld, is said to be be working closely with the ESRB.  They want to make the ESRB feel like “part of the process” and they “don’t want to surprise them”.  Basically, they want the game to be as violent as possible and are pushing to see where the ESRB draws the line.

This level of violence obviously doesn’t go over well with those pussy censors in places like Australia and Germany, so those countries are not currently in the running to receive a localized retail release.  Oddly, even Japan is not being targeted for some MadWorld action.

Platinum Games and Sega are mainly focused on making MadWorld a huge, bloody hit for the Wii when it releases in North America in March ‘09 and, depending on how successful it is, will consider releases in other countries sometime down the road.

Tough call on this one.  Most Wii owners are the proverbial “casual gamers” like my sister and her 7-year-old, and I don’t see either one of them being a likely fan of the game.  Sure, there are plenty of parent gamers out there that used their kids as a cover for buying a Wii, and maybe they would appreciate some intestine-ripping action, but people like me who think the game looks awesome, well… I don’t own a Wii.

What do you think?  Even if MadWorld were a good game, would that be enough to get the numbers given it’s violent nature?

Source: MTV Multiplayer

The month is over and stats are in: The Xbox 360 has sold more units in Japan than the PlayStation 3 during the month of September.

Attributed mostly to the price cut, Microsoft’s jolly green (but sometimes red and not all that jolly) giant sold almost twice as many consoles as Sony’s black box. Shifting 53,547 units from store shelves to Japanese homes, the Xbox 360 was the preferred “next-gen” console as the PS3 moved a mere 33,071.

Of course, both systems were greatly outsold by Nintendo, selling 109,548 Wii’s and 234,477 DS’s. Not really a surprise when you consider the fact that there are more casual douches in the world than there are hardcore gamers, and we all know that Nintendo is catering to the casuals.

To be completely honest, I still find the number of Wii’s being sold every month to be confusing. Apparently nobody does research on the thing before buying one, otherwise they’d know that most Wii owners are bored out of their minds.

Yeah, I said it.

Source: Yahoo!

Wii owners have been bitching and complaining over the past year on the issue of lack of memory storage for the console, which currently only offers a 512MB flash drive to store both your Virtual Console and WiiWare titles, as well as game saves.

A solution, of sorts, has been announced at Nintendo’s Fall Media Conference in Japan, which already announced the exciting news that a new DSi is on its way and that an all new Punch-Out!! game is coming to the Wii.

Nintendo President, Satoru Iwata, revealed that in Spring 2009 Wii owners will be able to download games directly to an inserted SD memory card. That’s there solution? What, no external hard drive? Not a surprise coming from Nintendo.

Not a great solution by any means, especially when it doesn’t look like you’ll actually be able to play the games straight from an SD card.

This hasn’t been confirmed as of yet, but it would just be horrible if you had to download a new game to an SD card, then free space on your internal memory to transfer the game and then finally play. That’s just downright frustrating.

We’ll see how the Wii storage situation unravels when the new firmware update becomes available in Spring 2009.

Source: shacknews.com

In a bid to undercut Nintendo’s Wii in Japan, Microsoft plans to slash the price of the Xbox 360 by almost 30%.

Japanese demand has been low for Microsoft’s console, but after a recent surge, thanks to Bandai-Namco’s ‘Tales of Vesperia,’ things are looking up for the American company.  To further rally Japan behind the Xbox 360, Nikkei business daily reports that Microsoft will drop the Arcade model’s price to 19,800 yen ($180).  This follows a previous 20% price cut from 34,800 yen to 27,800 yen earlier this year.

The Xbox 360 will now be the cheapest contemporary console on the market, with the Nintendo Wii in close second at 25,000 yen, and Sony’s PlayStation 3 in a distant third at 39,800 yen.

Although the hard-drive’less Arcade is the only model reported to recieve a price cut, we expect the other models to fall in line, along with announcements for world-wide price cuts.

Source: Reuters

August kicked off with news straight out of Square-Enix’s DKΣ3713 event that a 90 minute FFXIII demo would be included in the Japanese Blu-ray release of “Advent Children: Complete” sometime during March of next year.

However, recent news being reported by finalfantasy-xiii.net points to a possible stand alone demo release. The site states that one of their forum members unearthed more information from an interview with Tetsuya Nomura, director of the 2005 CGI animated film Advent Children, and current character designer/director of Final Fantasy Versus XIII and several other Square-Enix projects.

During said interview, Nomura supposedly hints at a possible separate release of the Final Fantasy XIII demo sometime after Advent Children: Complete goes to market.

Afterthought: If true, would this be something you would pay for, and how much would you be willing to fork out for access to a 90 minute demo?

Source: finalfantasy-xiii.net

It looks just like the Energy Tanks from Mega Man 2 onward, that fill up your entire health bar when consumed. In Japan and needing a 8-bit pick-me-up to get you through the day? Here’s your answer.

Source: Siliconera

On October 30, 2008, the land of the rising sun will be treated to a fictional Bosnian with a blazing gun. In other words, the localized version of Rockstar’s GTA 4 will be released in Japan just before Halloween, or as the Japanese call it, “Bad American Cosplay Day”.

Full press release after the jump.

Rockstar Games Announces Release Date for Japanese Version of Grand Theft Auto IV

New York, NY – August 15, 2008 – Rockstar Games, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), announced today an October 30, 2008 release date for the localized Japanese version of Grand Theft Auto IV for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system.

Developed by series creator Rockstar North, Grand Theft Auto IV was released in North America and Europe on April 29, 2008, selling 3.6 million units on the first day of release, and 6 million units in the first week. Critics from across the globe have showered the game in unanimous praise for its immersive storytelling; culturally eclectic soundtrack; an unparalleled level of detail in Liberty City; and sixteen player multiplayer with more than a dozen online modes for endless replayability.

One of the most popular games from E3, and one of the most anticipated titles for the PS3, Media Molecule’s LittleBigPlanet, has finally received a release date — in Japan.

According to the Sony Computer Entertainment Japan website (via MCV), the fully customizable, side-scrolling adventure is set for a release date of October 30th. For eager PS3 gamers in the West, the release date is still unknown.

LBP is just one of the few first-party titles coming to the PS3 this holiday season, which also includes Resistance 2 and Motorstorm: Pacific Rift.

I’m expecting a North American and European release date for LBP soon, and hopefully, it’ll be released before Christmas.

Source: mcvuk.com

Apparently it means no worries…for the rest of your days. Well Sony, we are worried!  We still don’t know if Hakuna Matata is coming to the US and Europe!

Aye, your eyes do not deceive you.  The intriguing PS3 safari game Afrika has been renamed Hakuna Matata of Lion King fame.  We find it odd too.  As far as we know the title only stands in Asia.  What it will be called in the West and whether it will actually release here, we can only speculate.

It’s a problem free, philosophy.  Hakuna Matata.

Source: Sony Asia via Siliconera.com

Hakuna Matata Image Gallery

16 Photos

 

If you had this song stuck in your head all week, I can’t really blame you. Thus, I have translated it. It’s pretty much exactly as kooky as we thought. Hit the jump for English lyrics, Japanese lyrics, and what the hell, even some romaji. I fully expect YouTube karaoke now, though…

Here’s the video again so you can follow along.

Fight! 5 Second Man! Theme

Why do people want to be able to stop it in five seconds?  [or something like that]

doo doo do-do doo, doo doo do-do doo

A person’s instinct is to want to stop it at 5 seconds.

That far, it’s not such a big deal; however

WHO AM I?

I’m the hero of justice who will protect this star.

Just 5 seconds! Stop! On the Earth!

Now, I won’t forgive evil!

Just 5 seconds! Five! Exactly!

but I’ll get used to the trance [be able to be in a trance? something like that]

Fun!

There is a miracle power in the time of 5 seconds.

Let’s explain it!

Old men and women’s backs become straight!

The relationships of young people thoroughly intensify!

Kids, uh…

Anyhow, there will be PEACE!!!

WHERE AM I?

Just 5 seconds, but a Mt. Everest of pleasant feelings.

Just 5 seconds! Stop! On the Earth!

For some reason, it’s pointlessly cool!

Just 5 seconds! Five! Exactly!

By the way, what is “evil?”

And in the first place, what am I?

A debate from the start!

戦え！５秒マン！のテーマ

Tatakae! Gobyouman! no Teema

人はなぜ、５秒でとめたくなるのか。。。

hito wa naze, go byou de tometaku naru no ka…

てーてってってて　てーてってってて

teetettettete teetettettee

人の本能は５秒で止めたがる

hito no honnou wa go byou de tometagaru

そこまで大事なことじゃないけれど

soko made daiji na koto ja nai keredo

ＷＨＯ　ＡＭ　Ｉ？

ＷＨＯ　ＡＭ　Ｉ？

この星を守る正義のヒーロー

kono hoshi wo mamoru seigi no HERO

５秒ジャスト！ストップ！on the earth!

go byou JUST! STOP! on the earth!

いま悪を許すなー

ima aku o yurusu naa

５秒ジャスト！ファイブ！ちょーど！

go byou JUST! FIVE! choudo!

ただ、夢中になれる

tada muchuu ni nareru

たのし～

tanoshii

５秒という時間にはミラクルパワーがある

go byou to iu jikan ni wa MIRACLE POWER ga aru

説明しよう！

setsumei shiyou!

じーちゃん、ばーちゃんは、腰がまっすぐになり

jiichan, baachan wa, koshi ga massugu ni nari

若者たちの仲は、とことん深まる

wakamonotachi no naka wa, tokoton fukamaru

子供たちは、えぇ。。。

kodomotachi wa, ee…

とにかく、平和になるんだＺＥＥＥＥ

tonikaku, heiwa ni naru n da zee

ＷＨＥＲＥ　AM　I?

WHERE　AM　I？

５秒だけが、快感のチョモランマ

go byou dake ga, kaikan no CHOMOLUNGMA

５秒ジャスト！ストップ！on the earth!

go byou JUST! STOP! on the earth!

なぜか、無駄にカッコいい

nazeka, muda ni kakkoii

５秒ジャスト！ファイブ！ちょーど！

go byou JUST! FIVE! choudo!

ところで、悪ってなんなの？

tokoro de, aku tte nan na no?

そもそも、オレってなんなの？

somo somo, ore tte nan na no?

そもそも論ー

somo somo ron~

It appears that the recently released (in Japan) Ryu ga Gotoku Kenzan! is a side story to the Ryu ga Gotoku series, known as Yakuza in North America. The true third part in the series is on its way— and sooner than you’d think.

Ryu ga Gotoku was a gamble. It was expensive and attempted to recreate a real-life locale authentically. It was a decent hit in Japan, but when it came to North America touting an expensive voice cast it failed to capture much attention from gamers.

In Japan the series saw a sequel on the PS2 and then another game on the PS3 called Kenzan!, just released in March of 2008. Kenzan! unexpectedly moves the action from modern day Tokyo to Japan’s Edo period, complete with sword fighting, while still largely retaining the same cast of characters.

It turns out this is a fun but temporary departure for the series, and that the real third installment is well underway and will appear on the PS3 in Japan in Spring of 2009.

While exciting for those of us who enjoyed the first game, this is kind of funny considering we’re still waiting for not only Yakuza Kenzan!, but also Yakuza 2 here in North America. Thankfully it appears Sega has not given up on releasing these titles outside Japan.

While nothing has been said about Kenzan! specifically as far as a date, 2008 doesn’t seem out of the question, and Yakuza 2 looks slated to appear on the PS2 this September—this time lacking the costly English voice cast in favor of subtitles and the authentic Japanese voice work, which is reportedly quite excellent. That is a very smart choice.

It’s been quite a delay getting Yakuza and Yakuza 2 here, but there are heavy dialog and localization issues with these titles. Hopefully PS3 owners will be seeing Kenzan! a little closer to its Japanese release than we have with the first two games, and that Yakuza 3 follows suit.

The first Yakuza was visceral, atmospheric and enjoyable. Hopefully Yakuza 2 and Kenzan! will see more success here and not give Sega any excuses to leave the series Japan-only.

I’ll be keeping a close eye on these games as the year progresses. I urge anyone out there remotely interested to check out the first game.

Source: Neogaf via Famitsu

Out of many of the video games out there, the Shin Megami Tensei games do a wonderful job at being mature without being gratuitous. Rather than padding out the game with over the top mature content, such as jiggling boobs or excess violence, they fill their games with genuinely disturbing material. Many of the things that go on in any given SMT game can range from disturbing to flat out nauseating in concept but they are never without a point, which is more than some games could say.

This extends especially to Persona 3, the first Persona game to be labeled as a Shin Megami Tensei title. While the game itself may deviate from the quasi-consistent world established by the first two Persona games, it’s still an incredible title. When Persona 3 was released in 2007 a special edition of sorts was released shortly thereafter in Japan and the western fans of the game were immediately stricken with fear.

You see, Persona 3 didn’t truly have an ending – even the state of the main character was left up in the air. Only that special edition had the ending we so desperately yearned for and the fates have smiled upon us for Persona 3: FES has arrived on our shores.

Persona 3 tells the story of a young orphan who has returned to the part of Japan where he grew up. However, immediately upon arriving, things are clearly not as they seem. When the clock strikes midnight the sky becomes a sickly greenish and black color, electronics stop working and giant coffins can be seen where people stood.

This mysterious time, the Dark Hour, is a place only for demons and rare humans who can harness the power of their Persona. The Persona is an inner power that awakens within them and allows them, using a gun-like device called an Evoker, to summon that power from within them to fight the amorphous entities known as Shadows that rule the Dark Hour.

It bears nothing that some may find the concept of the Evoker disturbing. Seeing a group of teenagers, and one preteen, taking a gun-like device to their own bodies can be a bit… off-putting. By pointing this device at themselves and pulling the trigger they “blow” the Persona out of their bodies in a spray of blue shards. This lets the Persona out and allows them to harness its energy to battle their foes.

Actually playing Persona 3 is a peculiar beast, especially to us Western gamers. The game is broken up into two distinct, but intrinsically linked, game modes. During the day you will go through what is essentially a social phase. Going to school, completing tests, making friends, shopping for equipment and increasing your three social traits will all be done in varying degrees depending on how you choose to spend your time.

At night you will explore the Dark Hour, namely the gigantic tower, Tartarus. Playing in the Dark Hour is the biggest part of the game, and it’s similar to playing Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter. As you run around through one of the randomly generated floors, you will have to actually engage enemies by attacking them on the map.

If you strike them without being noticed, you get a free turn in the fight, but if they hit you first they will gain the free turn. Making your way through the 200+ floors is made simpler thanks to a reliable number of teleporters that allow you to teleport back to the entrance to save your game, recover health and switch your party members.

Persona 3 FES is essentially a bargain priced expansion, adding a whole new 30 hour adventure to the mix, in addition to making some changes to the original game. The main game is now called the Journey and a number of things have been added. You will find new Social Links, friendships that you make that power up your Persona, new scenes while interacting with others and some minor gameplay tweaks. Some of them are for the better but, sadly, a few of them actually for the worse. There is also a hard mode for those who enjoy a challenge that is immensely difficult.

The new game mode, aptly titled The Answer, is essentially a 30 hour dungeon crawl epilogue to the main game. Taking control of Aigis and the rest of the party from the main game you will explore level after level of a new dungeon called the Abyss of Time. While this new mode is fun in its own way there are a few major problems. First and most glaringly the mode is insanely difficult at times. Many enemies and bosses literally have no weaknesses so while they’re pummeling you into the ground with over powered spells you’re essentially trying to pick away at their health.

The other major complaint with The Answer is sadly one that can’t really be helped. Due to the nature of this mode and how it’s been set up there are no Social Links, no interaction with the outside world just lots of fighting. While it makes sense within the game it’s still disappointing as the social element is what really set Persona 3 apart from other turn based RPGs out there.

While not a graphical powerhouse, Persona 3 FES still looks really good. The whole game has a neat stylized anime look to it. It never goes over the top and is played mostly straight making for an interesting look to the game. The Persona look especially well designed and some are quite a sight when summoned.

Unlike some games that come from the Japan the voice acting in Persona 3 FES is top notch. Even Fuuka, the one character whose voice work was dubious in spots, has been given some new lines and some of her dialogue seems to have been re-dubbed. The music is a weird mix of pop, orchestral and almost opera tunes that oddly fit the game and is quite pleasant to listen to. During the course of the game some songs may get tiresome to hear but they’re genuinely fun songs.

Sure, Persona 3 FES sounds like all peaches and cream, but this great game is marred by a few things. You can die incredibly easy, especially early on, and watch literal hours of progress go right out the window. While not unique to this game, and indeed it is a part of all Shin Megami Tensei games, it does get to be a bit tiresome at times.

However if you can invest the eighty to one hundred hours to get through the main game as well as the thirty to play the epilogue there’s no reason not to own Persona 3. It’s an incredibly solid game experience that any RPG fan shouldn’t miss.

Sony wants you to buy a PlayStation 3 for Metal Gear Solid 4, so they’re trying to make it as easy as possible. Aside from the bundles already announced in Japan and North America, Sony is adding three more to tempt Japanese gamers. Come see the pretty colors!

Going for 49,800 Yen, the new PS3/MGS4 bundles include the Dualshock 3 controller, a copy of MGS4 and the 40GB PS3 hardware in one of three colors: Clear Black, Ceramic White and Satin Silver.

The package is invitingly titled “Welcome Box”.

Now, Konami, how about you let us know in North America how we’re going to get the bundles you’ve announced for us and what’s up with the special edition hardware? It’s not often we get special colors over here and all anyone will tell me is that EB doesn’t take pre-orders for hardware.

This could get messy.

Source and pics: Watch.Impress.co.jp