RandomNPC – Video Game RPG Reviews, Editorials, and Features

Nippon Ichi announced today that three games currently in development are being canceled, citing a low likelihood of ensuring quality and turning a profit on the titles.  The news comes in the wake of the company’s first quarter earnings report, revealing a 40% sales drop over last year; the titles are being stopped as part of a restructuring effort to counteract this.  While the company still edged out a narrow 32 million yen profit in the first quarter, time spent on the three games effectively results in a 21 million loss.

The names of the canceled titles were not released, though presumably the next Disgaea, on track to debut at the Tokyo Game Show in September, is not among them.

Source: IGN

At a recent NIS America press event, Souhei Niikawa – best known as the producer of the Disgaea series – announced that the company will from now on limit the number of releases per year.  Niikawa stated the move is intended to allow developers to focus on game quality and customer satisfaction, though the exact limit was not specified.  Three upcoming titles were announced as part of this new policy:

• Cladun: This is an RPG, according to the press release, is an action-adventure built around a retro dungeon crawl.  Bound for the PSP via PlayStation Network, Cladun will feature character creation, randomly generated dungeons, and multiplayer through the PSP’s ad-hoc feature.  The current release timeframe is fall of this year.
• Zettai Hero Keikaku, a strategy RPG centered around creating your own superhero, was simply referred to as Z.H.P. in its own press release.  The Disgaea team will be developing  Z.H.P., which is currently set for a winter launch on the PSP.
• Ar Tonelico 3 got a formal title: Ar Tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel.  Billed as the final installment in the Ar Tonelico series, the PS3 title will have more action-oriented gameplay.  The release window for North America and Europe is spring of 2011.

Niikawa also made mention of the next Disgaea title, bound for the PS3 in Japan.  Few details were given, but he affirmed that more information would available “by the time
Tokyo Game Show comes around.”

The beatings will continue until morale improves. Continue reading ‘Late Night Mass Media 12/15/09’ »

Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days continues the recent trend of PSP rereleases, retooling Disgaea 2 and dropping it onto Sony’s handheld with some new features. Although it adds some interesting new content, including an epilogue starring Axel, Dark Hero Days lacks some of the wit and energy that made Disgaea so much fun, at least in the plot department. It doesn’t make too many changes to the Disgaea combat system, and most, if not all, of the really new content introduced for this port is available only after completing the mainline quest, meaning this port will probably be a little dull for gamers who have already sucked the marrow out of the game’s PS2 iteration. Continue reading ‘Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days – Staff Review’ »

SlayerGhaleon tapes piece of paper over his sleeping pills
SlayerGhaleon writes “Vicodin, Prescribed to: Gregory House” on it
Roku-lab: heh

Halloween is a fun time of year. Continue reading ‘Mass Media 10/30/09’ »

Alethea: ….bahahahaha
Alethea: 5 billion disgaea screenshots
Alethea: wolf hates you
Alethea: seriously, that’s SlayerGhaleon’s personal hell right there Continue reading ‘Mass Media 10/02/09’ »

Two hundred and fifty-five; deux cents cinquante-cinq; nihyaku goju go; 255. This number will be familiar to most gamers. It seems to crop up quite a lot. In the original Zelda, it’s the maximum number of Rupees you could carry; it’s the max number for many of your stats in most Final Fantasy games; it’s the highest number of Effort Points in Pokemon. There’s a technical reason for this. You’ve heard of bytes, right? A byte is made up of eight smaller units called bits. The result is that the maximum number of values it can represent with these eight-digit units is 256 (255 numbers plus zero, I assume). Let me quote Wikipedia for a moment: 225 is “the maximum value representable by an eight-digit binary number, and therefore the maximum representable by an unsigned 8-bit byte.” Continue reading ‘Game Changers: Volume 26 – Disgaea: Hour of Darkness’ »

A new entry to the Disgaea series, under the title of Disgaea Infinite, is coming soon to a Playstation Network near you. Sony lists it as a PS3 title, while the latest Famitsu refers to it as a PSP game. There has been no clarification as to which is the case, however it will debut at the upcoming Tokyo Game Show.

Source: Destructoid

I miss everything that is good and pure in life while flying. Things like a good night’s sleep and Talk Like a Pirate Day. Ah well. Today’s media: Disgaea Infinite, WiZman’s World, Inazuma Eleven 2, and Zettai Hero Kaizou Keikaku, whatever the heck that means. Observe! Continue reading ‘Mass Media 09/20/09’ »

I’ll be 26 tomorrow. Somehow I feel a lot older than that. Continue reading ‘Mass Media 09/02/09’ »

Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days, the upcoming rerelease of Disgaea 2 for the PSP, will feature both Japanese and English voice tracks. In addition, downloadable content will be available, and appears to consist largely of additional characters. Some are known in the Japanese version – Plenair, Almaz, Sapphire, Gig, Dark Eclair, Marona, and Ash – though it’s not yet known if the American DLC will be identical to the Japanese.

Dark Hero Days is scheduled for release in North American markets on September 8.

Source: Siliconera

Y’know, I’m not much of a Japanophile. Not really. I’d like to visit the place, trying to learn to speak the language, maybe watch an anime or two – they keep breaking my heart, but I keep giving them chances, it’s like some sick relationship that just won’t die. But I can say with a straight face that Vocaloid is one of the best things they’ve ever made.

Seriously, Miku can de-angst the most hardened man in time. Oh, you might balk at it initially, but she finds a way in. She finds a way.

But enough about me, let’s talk media. In today’s update: Disgaea 3 DLC, Summon Night: Tear’s Crown, Ys Seven, Princess Antiphona’s Hymn: Angel’s Score Op.A, and Blood of Bahamut. Observe: Continue reading ‘Mass Media 08/02/09’ »

Is the main character of Vesperia male or female? I seriously cannot tell. Continue reading ‘Mass Media 07/25/09’ »

Apart from the standard $29.99 copy of Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days, NIS America is also releasing a version bundled with a Prinny Laharl plush doll for $39.99, courtesy of Rosenqueen. Exactly 1,000 such copies are being shipped, so the item is limited in availability. The two versions are identical apart from the plush, and both are due for release on September 8.

Think that you will lose your saved data once you download the new patch Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice? Think again.

Even though previously NIS America released a statement saying that “your saved data will not be usable with this Trophy patch.” It turns out that everything seems to work fine after all.

So game on my fellow comrades!

Source: Siliconera

This is not the greatest media update in the world. No, this is just a tribute. Continue reading ‘Mass Media 07/09/09’ »

Obsessive-compulsives who are also fond of strategy RPGs, unite: Disgaea 3 will be receiving an update that adds over fifty new trophy tasks. The requirements for each trophy are not yet known. Unlike patches for western RPGs, this doesn’t seem to fix bugs or prevent crashes to desktop, what with that not being applicable to Disgaea 3. Like patches for western RPGs, however, this will render previous Disgaea 3 saves unusable, meaning you may want to wait for a fresh playthrough before applying the patch.

The download will be available starting July 16.

Source: Siliconera

NIS America has announced three new titles for North America: Mana Khemia 2 and Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love, both for the PlayStation 2, and Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days for the PSP. All three will be released in the fall.

Continue reading ‘Lots o’ News from NISA’ »

Brand new media for you all, hot off the presses and straight from the Game Developer’s Conference, get it all here folks! Gather ’round for some Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, Phantasy Star Zero Mini, Harvest Moon: Makiba no Omise, and My World, My Way PSP. At no extra charge we’re throwing in Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner 2, Little King’s Story, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a Darklord, Disgaea 2 PSP, and – in a move sure to put fanfic authors out of business (or back to work) – Final Fantasy IV: The After Years. Oh, who am I kidding? I… I mean, they are still busy with VII. Anyway… Continue reading ‘Mass Screenshots, Artwork – 03/26/09’ »

Got a big hearty media update for you all. Part of this balanced breakfast and a good source of calcium (with milk). This time around: Blood of Bahamut, Alpha Protocol, Crimson Gem Saga, Disgaea 2 PSP, Dokapon Journey, Dragon Quest IX, Lord of Vermillion, A Witch’s Tale, and Ys Online: Call of Solum. Continue reading ‘Mass Screenshots, Artwork, Boxart’ »