MGS4 is also making a move into iPhone app territory.
Gametech has made PSP metal covers, as seen here. Perhaps not to be outdone, Nintendo has announced 3 new colour additions to their DSi range (as of 20th March), as seen here. On that press release, it also says DSi will be available first in Oceania (2nd April), Europe (3rd April) and North America (4th April). Available colours will be Black and Blue for the latter, Black and White for former. Actually it’s about time – my poor DS is on its last legs, turning off randomly when closing the lid.
Star Ocean 4 has done well in its first week of sale (166,000+) making it one of the most popular Xbox Japan titles (the highest number sold is still Blue Dragon but that has been out sometime).
Hello Kitty fans rejoice. There’s a PSP game titled ハローキティのハッピーアクセサリー (Hello Kitty’s Happy Accesory), out 28th May. ‘Clear mini-games to colour your PSP Hello Kitty style’, apparently. Scary?
Talking of scary, check this out. It’s one of a range of ’spy gadgets’ – a watch that records videos (comes with 4GB memory). Apparently one of the items that detectives and lawyers sometimes use. Why scary? Think weirdos on trains and under bridges having more gadgets at their disposal for their amusement, on top of what’s already out on the market!
It’s not all bad though. Sanmon (need FlashPlayer 9) has made a mobile game based on that infamous snoring politician (the one that slept at the G7 meeting the other week, who has since resigned). See the screenshots here.
Just got the press release from the guys behing the Evangelion iPhone app. In the email itself there’s a synopsis (for those not familiar with it):
“After a catastrophic event called the Second Impact, the Earthâ�™s
population was halved. All that remains of Japan is Tokyo-3, a city that is
constantly attacked by giant creatures that seek to eradicate the human race,
called Angels. Fourteen-year-old Shinji Ikari is summoned by his estranged
father to urgently come to the headquarters of NERV, a military organization
that deals with the destruction of the Angels through the use of giant cyborgs
called Evas. Shinji’s objective is to pilot the Eva Unit 01, while teaming up
with the Eva Unit 00 pilot, Rei Ayanami, and Eva Unit 02 pilot Asuka Langley
Soryu. Together, these three teenagers will battle the Angels, and decide the
fate of the world.”
The guys behind it, “Appliya specializes in the production and publishing of iPhone and iPod Touch
applications. The company has recently partnered with Japanese mobile industry
giant Softbank Mobile Corp. to bring the unique elements of Japanese culture to
an international audience through mobile applications. Their efforts include
exclusive licensing deals with major anime and manga producers. Appliya will
also have collaborations with Japanese artists and photographers, Haraju-ku
fashion related applications, Akihabara otaku related apps, and other
applications focused on more traditional aspects of Japanese culture.”
They have released 2 products so far (on the iTunes Store): no.2 – Clock, no.3 – picture stamp. (No no.1 in evidence.) Check out their Evangelion page for more info.
You’ve got to admit that’s pretty impressive. Work of a Megaman fan apparently, who hypothetically built a possible Megaman 10 scenario.
FF CC Echoes of Time has an original soundtrack out as of today for £21. And Square Enix has announced they’re currently plagued by a fake email that tells their customers to pay up for services rendered online. If you get said email, they say, contact the police (obviously the Japanese one) and do not phone the number on the email. Well, duh!
Evangelion is set to be made into an iPhone/iPodtouch application. Broccoli and Appliya are collaborating. You can follow Applita on Twitter.
Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day. Most people know what that is, but not the Japanese. They have a skewered version instead.
The Japanese believe the day is solely for girls to give ‘gifts of adoration’ (to use a WoW term) to boys, usually chocolates. It’s a one-way deal, you think. Not so! Exactly a month later on 14th March, we Japs have what we call White Day (don’t ask me why) where boys are required to give back gifts of equal value to girls, whether any mutual feelings exist or not. By no means are boys allowed to give gifts to the ones they like on Valentine’s, god forbid, though going on dates aren’t covered by this rather ridiculous rule. (Even businessmen aren’t immune to this forceful gift-giving operation. My dad works in an office full of girls… and every year, he brings home a load of chocolates around Valentine’s. Every year, my mum packs whatever they can’t manage and sends to me. Then about a month later, my poor dad has to fork out a few blings to give little gifts at his office.)
So, in the grand tradition of Japanese Valentine’s, some of the online games over there are having special events on. This article even has the headline: 女の戦いが始まる – A woman’s battle begins.
Sad news for DQ fans in Japan: DQ IX release date has been pushed back by nearly 3.5months. Originally supposed to be out 28th March, now it’s new date has been confirmed as 11th July. The ‘why’ has been explained in this article. The debugging process is expected to take some time. Mind, Europe release for these titles has been as usual, slow, so we won’t mind waiting a wee bit longer, do we?
Kojima, the celebrated guy behind the MGS series, is giving a talk at the GDC this year. Nintendo’s Iwata is also making an appearance. Hope the translators are good, or everything that gets reported is going to sound garbled.
More trailers available now for Street Fighter IV. Just to keep European gamers drooling probably. We won’t get this game for another while yet.
Apparently PSP sales have gone up to over 50million worldwide. So here goes the PSP-related news:
1) A PSP game titled 勇者30 (Heroes30) is due out 28th May. An RPG taking place over 500years of battles between humans and evil, from 4 different perspectives. The aim, apparently, is to win the battle in 30secs.
2) Another PSP game titled 遠隔操作 (Enkaku Sousa: Remote Control) caught my eye. Already out in Japan, it’s the detective-type story. Except you’re framed and in jail for a murder you didn’t commit, and you have 23days in which to solve the crime and thus get out of jail. So, gathering evidence via the only contact you’re allowed to have with the outside world (your lawyer), you ‘remote control’. Wonder if this will come over here? In Japan, they have a few titles from the Phoenix Wright series out, as opposed to just one here, so maybe not.
A Wii game that actually looks good? I know, I think I may have been fooled by a fox… in this case, famitsu. But look at Oboro Muramasa and tell me it doesn’t look even a little bit interesting (compared to all the dregs that’s been released for the Wii and DS lately, at least in Europe). It’s about a magic sword (妖刀) and you fight ‘youkai’ (妖怪… think monsters and creatures from fairy tales) like oni and dragons to tengu and bouzu. Maybe it’s my interest in things fortean, but hey, this looks good, and will gladly wait for reviews to come out! (game itself out on 9th April)