Misc gaming news Part 2

 – The “Zapper” light gun add-on for the Wii-mote is announced, and it will be sold at US$20 with a light gun game included. It will be compatible with the upcoming RE: Umbrella Chronicles.

Oh boy, does this add-on looks weird. Somebody better change the design fast…

 – Mario Kart Wii is announced, and slated for a 2008 release. There’s going to be a steering-wheel add on for the Wii-mote which will comes along with the game.

From what I read, the wheel was seriously made fun of. I don’t see any problem with it, I mean, how innovative can you get with it? The Zapper had a bigger problem. I’m only interested in the price of the peripheral, since you will definitely need more than one.

– Super Smash Bro Brawl is slated for a December 2007 release. WOO-HOO!!

– Trauma Center: New Blood, a sequel to the surgeon simulation game for Wii is announced. It will be released simultaneously in the US and Japan, probably in time for the holiday season.

Gotta play the 1st one before this.

– Fire Emblem for Wii is going to have a US version coming out. Since this is the sequel to Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance (Gamecube), I better go find that game 1st.

– According to the guys at Siliconera, who were at E3 to talk to the staff at Atlus, mentioned in their gaming blog:

“For Super Robot Taisen: Original Generations on the PS2 I was told there is a slim possibility it might come out. A slim chance is still a chance. ”

At least I can take joy in knowing that they have the intent to do it. Now the next question is whether they will be able to do it.

– There might be a Advance Wars 2 coming out soon this year for NDS. Wo-ho!

 – Apparantly, Nintendo is getting all the new stuff from the “Tales of” series. Tales of Innocence is going to NDS, while a sequel to Tales of Symphonia is heading to Wii. Whereas for Sony, Tales of Destiny: Director’s Cut, where there’s a mode you can play from the perspective of Leon, is heading to PS2, while a remake of Tales of Rebirth is heading to PSP. 

– After SRW OGS was released a while back, Banpresto had announced a (tentatively named) SRW OG Gaiden, to be released this winter.

YES! More SRW goodness!

– Three Dragon Quest games are going to be remade for NDS, namely DQIV, DQV and DQVI. DQV had previously been remade on PS2 in 3D, while DQIV was notably remade for PSOne (though I have no idea of it).

Possibility of all three being localised for the 1st time? That will depends on whether DQIX will be localised and how much it will sell. DQVIII did sell like hot cakes, so the possibililty is there.

Shigeru Miyamoto on Times magazine

Shigeru Miyamoto, legendary game designer, managing director and general manager of the Entertainment Analysis and Development division of Nintendo Co. Ltd.

My favourite question:

Are video games something we should grow out of? Are you still a kid at heart? —Christopher Solis, SAN FRANCISCO
I think that inside every adult is the heart of a child. We just gradually convince ourselves that we have to act more like adults. Nintendo wants to make it easier for people to never grow out of video games.

Read the rest of the questions here.

Misc gaming news

– SRW OGS sold 346,000 copies in the 1st week, even more than the 1st week sales of TheLegend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (Japan), Holy shocking, considering this is a remake. Guess it’s the long awaited anticipation that drives up the sales 😀

– There’s a US release date finally for Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. It’s 27th August 2007. Probably this also mean it will be fully playable at E3 2007.

– The US version of The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass will be released on 1st October 2007. Hey hey, I can’t wait! 

Actual footage from SRW OGS (again)

Damn, more videos found as I was lurking around the SRW thread at HF. You know the procedure: WATCH AT YOUR OWN RISK!!

All attacks (except Phantom Phoenix) of Angelg, piloted by Lamia:

Phantom Phoenix:

All attacks of Alteisen Nacht, piloted by Kyosuke [Nacht is supposedly what Kyosuke (otherwise known as Beowulf in that world) will pilot in the other alternate world where the Shadow Mirror resides, meaning this machine is the “Gespenst Mk-III” that Axel was talking about]:

OGS ATX route scenario 5 Boss attacks and Keitou Shungokuken:

All attacks of Excellence Striker Frame (Raul and Fiona) (I think…):

I’m forcing myself not to succumb to temptation to watch these videos, which is why i choose instead to post on my blog, so as to spoil anybody who walk into this deadly trap *evil grin*.

Actual footage from SRW OGS

Yes, some people already have their copy, and they were busy posting videos on Youtube.

SPOILER ALERT: These videos are for those who are not playing the game, and yet want to see how beautiful the battle scenes are. If you are going to enjoy the game, you are hereby warned.

Opening credits (and it’s boring…) + Game Demo Part 1:

Game Demo Part 2:

A sneak preview of the biggest move of Sanger’s Grungast Type Zero, Zankantou Shippu Ryoutou:

A sneak preview of Cosmo Nova, by you-know-who 😉 (which I’m not watching as I don’t want to spoil the fun of playing the game :P):

Of Raul and Fiona, and of their machine(s) Excellence, which btw is in Striker frame:

Grrrrrrrrr……… I want to have my copy soon. Hearing those voices in the game just feel so different from playing the handheld versions. Probably I will get the game next week, since I’ve pre-ordered mine through a local game shop. Let’s just hope i will be able to get the artbook. Wish me luck.

SRW OGS 4th Promotional Video and new Famitsu scans

Scans courtesy of Duo Maxwell over at HF:

Quote from Duo Maxwell:

“ – Stage 1 on OG2 will be the first appearance of the 2 Excellence units

– Stage 6 has the first appearance of Lamia

– To use the Twin Battle System, the pilots need to be minimum at 110 Will.

– Some Seishin commands will affect both units during implementation of the Twin Battle System – such as Luck and Acceleration. (And likely similar seishin that was sed in a squad in Alpha 3)

– 2 Twin Seishin Commands are explained.

1) Douchou (Align/Syncro) – which adjusts unit performance to the unit with the higher parameters.
2) Tamashi (Spirit/Soul) which gives the effect of 2.5x damage.

– Twin Battle System isn’t required to finish the game.

– Weapon Selection systems are pretty much the same as before. What’s added though are ammo that can be combined to creat new affects. Depending on what ammo you have, weapons will give different affects. (Probably effects like status ailments, I bet)

– Requirements to obtain the AP (Battle Mastery) are easier in general.

– Obtaining Battle Mastery will effect the amount of enemy units, Twin Battle System usage by the enemy, AI difficulty.

– The OG2 secret last stage that was in the GBA will have no requirements to get in OGs. (I’m guessing the same goes for the fight against Septuagint)

– Some Secret Units from the GBA remain and some will be new.

– New mechs will appear in both OG1 part and OG2.

– New Scenerios are added only on OG2.

– After playing OG2, OG2.5 (newly added scenerios) will be playable.

– If played from OG1, only money will be transfered to OG2 part. (Not sure if this directly contradicts what Terada said before about OG1 units carrying over, but it’s likely there will be previously only OG1 units that will be available.)

– There won’t be any requirements such as “to get so and so in OG2, you need to play from OG1”. So no need to worry about that. ”

Nothing much new here, with some ambiguous confirmations made by Terada, since this PV serves to pump our blood as the game is to be released on next Thursday. The most interesting part is probably the fact that there are not one, but TWO Excellence machines, and you will get to see both of the SRW Reversal main characters together right at the first stage of OG2. Fiona… wow, another babe to add to the list, lol. There’s a new battle scene where Hagane fires off its main cannons in a Double Attack fashion. Oh, and the theme song is confirmed to be “Rocks”. Not that I need any confirmation anyway, since the news was leaked long ago. But in this video, you can hear the partial song clearly.

Duo Maxwell: PS> I’ve tried to zoom in the image in the last scan, and someone please tell me that I’m not color blind. That AltEisen is Blue O_o.

orisa: Yeah, that’s Nacht, presumably the Gesphenst Mk.III in Shadow Mirror’s world. There are speculations that it’s a secret unit this time around (remember how some people hacked OG2 and saw a blue Alt that didn’t even appear in the game?).

… … *gasps in shock*

A few misc gaming news…

– Contra is going back to its original 2D roots, where the official sequel to Contra 3: The Alien Wars (SNES) will be developed as Contra 4 for NDS. Let’s just hope this will retain the glory of those good old Contra days.

– Manhunt 2 is temporarily suspended as it was slapped with an “Adult-Only” rating according to ESRB standards, and Nintendo and Sony have announced that games with an AO rating will not be released on their platforms, meaning it will not be allowed on the Wii and PS3. Microsoft have also issued a similar announcement, it seems. Great… I was so looking forward to this game. On another note, this game is banned in UK, Ireland is following suit, and possibly Australia too. And as you can guess, Jack Thompson is very happy with how things turn to be.

– The new Katamari title, Beautiful Katamari Damacy, might just be X Box exclusive… Damn… I want a Katamari title for Wii!!

– According to Reuters, here’s the top 3 companies in consumer electronics. 1) Sony 2) Nintendo 3) Matsushita (Panasonic)

Yes, it’s kinda unbelievable, since Nintendo, other than their consoles and games, do not sell any TVs, cameras, DVD players, etc etc etc. No, it’s not that Sony is not doing well, their shares rised 72% over the last two years. It’s just that Nintendo shares doubled tripled quadrupled in the same time frame, thanks to NDS and Wii. Man, I should have bought some Nintendo shares lol.

– Miyamoto Shigeru, creator of Mario and Senior Managing Director of Nintendo, was on another important persons’ list. This time it’s on “The 50 Who Matter Now” by Business 2.0, and he’s ranked 20. Only two Japanese were on the list, the other one being Watanabe Katsuaki , President of Toyota.

“The Wii’s motion-sensitive controller has injected a physical dimension into the videogame business, but the real genius of the Wii may be that it appeals to people outside Nintendo’s traditional middle-school demographic. By marketing the Wii aggressively to 25-to 49-year-olds, Miyamoto is breathing new life into a $30 billion industry that was starting to stagnate. ”

– There’s going to be a Comedy-Adventure game for PSP based on the infamous “The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi“.

– Famitsu scores:

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (NDS): 10, 10, 9, 10 – (39/40)

SRW OG: Original Generations (PS2): 9, 8, 8, 8 – (33/40)

Heheh, looks promising. Seems that SRW OGS will no longer be delayed, since the preview score is out. Zelda power sure is scary…

Megaman T-shirt

From Siliconera:

I WANT THIS!! Haha. Great for any Megaman fan, young or old. After all, this is based off Megaman Powered Up (PSP), the 2D/3D remake of the original Megaman. Cute SD characters are the way to go!!

Sonic the Hedgehog RPG?

Out of the numerous incarnations of this blue spiky dude, surprisingly there isn’t a RPG for it. And now, the folks at Bioware decides to give one of their favourite mascots a go in the RPG genre. And if you all forgot, Bioware is famous for making all those “excellent” RPGs (Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Star Wars: KOTOR,  Jade Empire, to name a few).

And guess what, it’s made for the NDS.

For some reason, this whole combination just sounds so wrong… whether to anybody who love Bioware or Sonic or NDS.

This is a weird world.

Press release here (from Kotaku):

SEGA And BioWare Collaborate On New Sonic Role Playing Game For The Nintendo DS

LONDON & SAN FRANCISCO (Thurs 21st June 2007) – SEGA® Europe, Ltd., SEGA® of America, Inc. and Canada-based developer studio BioWare® Corp. today announced a partnership to create a new video game based on the classic SEGA flagship icon, Sonic The Hedgehog. The exact name of the game is undetermined, but this new title developed exclusively for the Nintendo DS will ship in 2008.

“BioWare is one of the hottest names in RPG development in the world,” said Simon Jeffery, President and COO, SEGA of America, Inc. “Everyone at SEGA has huge confidence that Sonic is in the safest of hands, and that BioWare can create the ultimate handheld RPG experience for gamers of all ages.”

BioWare is the award-winning independent developer that has created some of the world’s best-selling titles including the Baldur’s Gate™ and Neverwinter Nights™ series, the 2003 Game of the Year, Star Wars®: Knights of the Old Republic™ and the 2005 RPG of the Year, Jade Empire.™ BioWare is currently developing one of the most anticipated next-generation titles of 2007, Mass Effect.™

“We’re thrilled to be working with SEGA on Sonic, one of the industry’s most enduring and compelling icons,” said Greg Zeschuk, president of BioWare. “As huge fans of Sonic ourselves, we’re committed to delivering a truly amazing story-driven experience within the Sonic universe, focusing on capturing the character’s broad appeal and placing him in a completely original adventure,” added Ray Muzyka, chief executive officer of BioWare.

The relationship with BioWare reinforces SEGA’s increased emphasis on Western content development for Western audiences. In the past few years SEGA has announced partnerships with developers Bizarre Creations, Gas Powered Games, Monolith Productions, Obsidian Entertainment, Planet Moon Studios, Pseudo Interactive and Silicon Knights. SEGA has also acquired development studios The Creative Assembly, Secret Level and Sports Interactive.

Let’s Go! Onmyouji 「レッツゴー！陰陽師」 PV

Artists: Yabeno Hikomaro (Denchu) & Kotohime (MOMOEIKA) with Bozu Dancers

矢部野彦麿 (でんちゅう) ＆琴姫 (MOMOEIKA) With 坊主ダンサーズ

Japanese lyrics:

「あらゆる困難が科学で解決するこの平成の時代
人々の閉ざされた心の闇に蔓延る魑魅魍魎が存在していた
科学の力ではどうしょうも出来ないその奇怪な輩にたちむかう
神妙不可侵にて　胡散臭い男が一人
その名は　矢部彦麿（やべのひこまろ）
そう　人は彼を　陰陽師と呼ぶ」

悪霊退散！悪霊退散！
怨霊、ものの怪、困った時は
ドーマン！ セーマン！ ドーマン！セーマン！
直ぐに呼びましょ陰陽師 レッツゴー！

「死してなほ この世に未練 残せしは 魑魅魍魎と
成り果てる その悪しき血を 清めるが 陰陽の道」

人の世に生まれし悪を　闇にへと　ほおむれや
悪霊退散！悪霊退散！
妖怪　あやかし　困った時は
ドーマン！ セーマン！ ドーマン！セーマン！
助けてもらおう　陰陽師 レッツゴー！

「生きながら恨み憎しみ　集りしは悪鬼悪霊
よびさます　その激昂を宥める 陰陽の道」

愛しさの　行き着く果てに　病む心　なぐさめや

悪霊退散！悪霊退散！
怨念　怨恨　困った時は
ドーマン！ セーマン！ ドーマン！セーマン！
鎮めてもらおう　陰陽師 レッツゴー！

「辛い時　悲しい時　人はそんな時　心の隙間に闇が出来る
その心の闇に　魔物達は容赦無く　入り込んでくるのだ
だから　苦しくても　挫けるな　落ち込むな　くよくよするな
何事にも　屈しない　強靭な心こそが　最強の武器なのだから！」

寂しさで　揺らめく　心を　狙う物　打ち砕け

悪霊退散！悪霊退散！
超常現象　困った時は
ドーマン！ セーマン！ ドーマン！セーマン！
払ってもらおう 陰陽師 レッツゴー！

悪霊退散！悪霊退散！
呪い 呪われ　困った時は
ドーマン！ セーマン！ ドーマン！セーマン！
相談しましょう 陰陽師 レッツゴー！

やっぱり頼れる 陰陽師 レッツゴー！

みんなのヒーロー　陰・陽・師！

「成仏しろよ」

Thoughts: I didn’t know about this until I realise that the vocals are invited as special guests for Animelo Summer Live 2007. Well, probably the vocals (Denchu and MOMOEIKA) are not going to show up, since they have not appeared in any public appearances (Remind me of Ou De Yang…) You can bet on it that the PV will be shown on the concert day itself.

This was originally a BGM from the cult fighting game series Power Instinct (known in Japan as Gōketsuji Ichizoku/豪血寺一族). Just recently it was turned into a vocal song and a PV was made for it. For some reason or another, it became a instant hit and the PV, originally available for download for members of the official site, turn up at almost all video-sharing sites. Citing the popularity, Atlus decides to close one eye in this outright violation of copyrights instead.

Well, it’s not that I can’t understand. This is the first time I saw the PV, and I do find it interesting to see japanese priests and a shrine maiden dancing to techno pop. Even the song itself is like a taoist scripture sung in a techno manner, which makes it fun to listen. The guy’s voice was quite irritating though, I like the girl’s voice much better.

If you know chinese or can read kanji, just looking at the lyrics without hearing the song first will led you to think that it’s a chant, until you see those katakana which blows the cover off. Which chant has “Let’s Go!” in its lyrics anyway? *faints*

Well, enjoy the cult song. The song sounds damn retarded but the dance is fun to look at.