Potentially Useful Information For Your Many Adventures
The DS version of Dragon Quest VI has just received a release date for Japan. The game is due for a January 28 launch, while North American and European dates have not yet been announced.
Source: Kotaku
Professional niche-fillers Atlus announced today that Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey is coming to the Nintendo DS in North America. A first-person sci-fi RPG, Strange Journey centers around unexplained phenomena at the southern pole of the Earth, and a team of specialists is sent into the heart of the mysterious, growing black void to find out what’s going on. As per usual, players will have the option of doing battle with, negotiating, or bribing various monsters along the way. Here’s hoping that demons from another plane of existence take AmEx.
Further information is available on the official website. Strange Journey is slated for a March 10, 2010 release.
Hardly a company to release a game without a special, costs-more-but-includes-various-goodies version, Bioware recently announced the upcoming Mass Effect 2 will be available in both standard retail and Collector’s Edition flavors. The CE will feature a 48-page “Art of Mass Effect 2” book, the first issue of the Mass Effect: Redemption comic book, a bonus behind-the-scenes DVD, and special in-game weapons and armor.
The Collector’s Edition is available for preorder through the Mass Effect 2 website, and the game is scheduled for a simultaneous PC/360 launch on January 26, 2010. Still waiting on that Tali romance option, Bioware. Still waiting.
Final Fantasy XIII‘s Japanese website has just been updated with artwork for two new summons. Brynhildr, a giant, firey warrior/mecha-thing, doubles as Sazh’s ride, while recurring summon Bahamut morphs into a bipedal mount for Oerba.
When asked where they procured the green acid and whether they have any to share, Square-Enix spokespeople did not reply.
A chunk of our Halloween content has been eaten by zombies. Given the nature of the zombie virus, we expect it to reanimate in a matter of hours… after which it will have to be put down again. RandomNPC’s Zombie Pacification Division apologizes for the inconvenience.
In any case, BioWare has released details of a social networking feature for the upcoming Dragon Age: Origins. This network will record and store key information about each player’s achievements, character builds, decisions in the story, and even screenshots, to be shared with other players across platforms. (more…)
Preorder swag war never changes. With Gamestop announcing that Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers will be $5 off in their stores, Amazon has countered with a similar price and a packed-in 2010 calendar. Best Buy, meanwhile, is charging the full $49.99 US, but includes a soundtrack sampler with the purchase.
Crystal Bearers is due for a late November launch in Japan, and will debut after Christmas in the US.
Source: 1up
Blue Dragon: Awakened Shadow has been confirmed for a US release in Spring of 2010 on the DS, brought to you in part by Namco-Bandai subsidiary D3Publisher. Occurring two years after the original Blue Dragon, Awakened Shadow will allow players to customize the main character, and will feature recurring characters from the 360 installment.
There is no word on whether the Awakened Shadow‘s boss fight music will be as out-of-left-field as Blue Dragon‘s was.
Source: Joystiq
To hear Square-Enix tell it, Vana’Diel is in dire peril pretty much ’round the clock. To highlight this, a compilation of every expansion for their online RPG Final Fantasy XI is coming out November 12 in Europe and other PAL territories, available exclusively through a Windows download. The Final Fantasy XI: Ultimate Collection will include all current retail expansions – Rise of the Zilart, Chains of Promathia, Treasures of Aht Urhgan, and Wings of the Goddess – as well as the recently-released add-ons A Crystalline Prophecy and A Moogle Kupo d’Etat. The upcoming A Shantotto Ascension will also be included.
A price has not yet been set for the European release of the collection, although the US version is set at $19.99 with a November 10 release.
Natsume’s upcoming Harvest Moon: Animal Parade now has a release date of November 10, retailing at $49.99 US. Players who preorder through Gamestop will receive a bonus “limited edition” plush duck.
Bioware has released a companion flash game for their upcoming Dragon Age: Origins. Entitled Dragon Age Journeys, the game tasks players with rolling up character types and completing various adventures and quests with a turn-based combat system. Certain achievements will unlock special items in Origins, accessed by logging in with your EA account through the game itself.
Dragon Age Journeys can be played here. Download access to the special items expires June 30, 2010.
In a fresh interview with Tetsuya Nomura and Motomu Toriyama, Famitsu dug up a few interesting tidbits about Final Fantasy XIII‘s development, on topics ranging from character design to load times. Some of the more noteworthy bits include: (more…)
The latest installment of the Kingdom Hearts series, Birth By Sleep for the PSP, has been given a Japanese release date of January 9, 2010. Retail price is currently set at ¥6,090, or $66-67 US.
Source: Kotaku
Mass media updates don’t take no holidays. Granted, there are no holidays this week, but the point stands. In today’s post: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers, and Princess Antiphona’s Hymn: Angle’s Score Op.A. Observe! (more…)
Sega Japan has taken Japan’s special relationship with Pizza Hut – last seen being frequented by an immortal Geass dispenser – to the next level with the upcoming Phantasy Star Portable 2. Apart from an in-game Pizza Hut, Phantasy Star now features room decorations of the chain restaurant’s Japanese mascot, Cheese-kun. Players may also arm themselves with Pizza Hut box shields and pie pans.
Those not interested in fast-food pizza appear to have other ways to garb and arm themselves. As reported by Famitsu, outfits from Evangelion, Fate/Stay Night, and – of all things – Vocaloid‘s Hatsune Miku are available via equippable armor.
Source: Kotaku
Saying that development for the PC is complicated is a lot like saying someone struck by lightning is feeling under the weather, in that it doesn’t really grasp the problem. Given the various combinations of operating systems, hardware, software that might be borrowing the hardware during play, physical condition of the computer, and simply where that internet browser has been, it’s almost impossible to build a PC game that won’t give somebody trouble. And this is on top the usual things that don’t pan out: weird voice acting, misplaced quest triggers, poor plot handling, and so on. (more…)
Time was, companies waited a few months before releasing expansion content, usually to the tune of $29.99 and with a few new monsters/maps/weapons to hold players over until the sequel rolled around. Breaking the mold they used not long ago with Mass Effect, Bioware have announced its downloadable expansions for Dragon Age: Origins will be available on release day. (more…)
In preparation for next month’s release of Dragon Age: Origins, the folks from Bioware have released the DA:O Character Creator for download. The creator will allow players to build and experiment with a variety of character setups prior to launch, and may be used when the game is released.
Additionally, Bioware have joined with EA and IDW Publishing to produce the upcoming Dragon Age comic book, to be written by “Ender’s Game” author Orson Scott Card. There has been no answer as to the question of whether the comic will segue into a second civil war in the near-future United States.
The character creator will be available for download on October 13. Further details are available through the official site.
Early adopters of the upcoming Valkyria Chronicles 2: The Gallia Royal Military Academy, in Japan at least, get some preorder swag in the form of a box set marked “The Document of Gallia 1936.” The set includes a soundtrack, a 30-minute companion DVD, and some unique in-game items.
Valkyria Chronicles 2 is due out in Japan on January 21. There is no information as to whether the preorder bonus applies to the US release, scheduled for summer of 2010.
Source: Dengeki
Translation: Adrienne Beck
The complete soundtrack to Ys Online: Call of Solum has been released for free. It’s available for download through the official website, courtesy of the online portal Key to Play.
Getting in juuuuuust after the official media update, some screens and artwork for Phantasy Star Portable 2. Have a look-see, if you like: (more…)
|
|
