Appliya’s Evangelion vol.5 is out now for $1.99 from the iTunes app store. Follow the link to check out the screenshots and details.
NINJA GAIDEN Σ2 will be released this autumn on PS3, it’s been announced. To enter the site, click はい(one on left). It may take some time to load (I gave up after entering – 5mins is a long time!).
DSi sales have surpassed the 2million mark within Japan, as of 22nd March (5months since launch). There are a wide range of games available over there, and not all are meant for children and non-gamers, like in this country…which probably help to keep Nintendo’s popularity afloat, even amongst hard-core gamers.
空気読み｡DS will be released this spring for 500DSi points. It was so popular as a mobile game that it’s going to be ported to the DS. 空気を読む literally translates to ‘Read the air’ – as in understanding the undercurrents of a situation and act accordingly. In the screenshots, you’re the red guy. Answer 100questions to see how well you can act in social situations. Of course, this is based on Japanese cultural and social situations, but it’s an interesting experiment of sorts, I think. It’s based on a concept that’s very Japanese, and probably would not work elsewhere.
For those of you who are Japanophiles, check out BBCFour on Monday night to get to grips with what Japanese life is about. Mind, the journalist following the ‘Japanese obsession with fish’ (aired a few nights ago) had preconceptions which he did not get rid of. I found him a very condescending sceptic of my culture – very offensive. If only Bruce Parry or Ray Mears can go around Japan – that would make better watching.
Appliya has announced it’s upgraded its features for their sound camera series. Now those constantly moving pets might just be photoed without blurs. Perfect for these.
In other news, Ys Online ～The Call of Solum～ is to be released as a MMORPG sometime this spring, due to its popularity on other platforms.
The most colours sold on the DS series has been confirmed as Crystal White(DSL), with Ice Blue(DSL) and Platinum Silver (DS) following. My Ice Blue, through much use has become quite worn and when ’shut’ can sometimes switch itself off… time to upgrade soon I think.
Reishi Matsumoto is known for classics such as Galaxy Express 999 and his collaboration with Daft Punk. His latest series, Out of Galaxy: Koshika will be available on WiiWare as of 14th next month, for 500points (200points for other instalments). And surprisingly, they’ve done some ‘localization’ apparently for English speakers, so will be available in two languages.
The Professor Layton series came to an end last November, or so it seemed. The series is to get another lease of life in another trilogy, starting autumn this year. A bit like Star Wars, this set of three is to be a prequel, so the story begins with the meeting of Layton and Luke. Here’s some screenshots, courtesy of famitsu. And some screenshots from Oboro Muramasa too (out 9th April in Japan).
DS (original through to the new DSi) worldwide numbers are now past the 100million mark – it took 4years and 3months, apparently. Even the GB series took 11years 2months to reach that (currently at 180million worldwide), of which GBA is 81million.
For the Gundam geek, this news has got to be pretty cool: 18m high Gundam (RX-78-2) to be built (by Bandai Namco) at Odaiba in Tokyo, to be seen for 2months from early July. This year’s the popular series’ 30th anniversary, so other events are being planned. Now let’s hope for their sake that it’s going to be fairly secure and that there are no big earthquakes – Odaiba is built on reclaimed land.
Just to round up, check these out. From 16th this month, Uniqlo will be selling T-shirts that embody Japanese classics (games, of course). Over 20 titles are to be released between April and June. Wonder if Uniqlo branches here will be selling them too.
Check out the screenshots for FF VII Advent Children Complete. Coming out 16th April for varying prices. One set has “Cloud Black”HDD 160GB PS3 and FF XIII Trial version too… of course costing approx. £365, as opposed to £36 normally. Kingdom Hearts 358/2Days will be out 30th May on the DS, and scroll to the bottom of this page, you’ll see a lovely limited edition DSi (£182).
Space Invader piggy bank. Fully playable, apparently, weighing in at 330g (including 3 AA batteries). Approx. £42, out 26th March. A nice idea and all, but think about the strain on your eyes!
Just got this through from the kind folks at Appliya: Evangelion vol.1. For only $1.99 you can frame photos of you and your friends into scenes from the movie.
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)
Super Obama World is actually quite good. Arrow keys and space bar to jump – fairly simple – except I’d gotten used to using the WASD keys for movement, so my Obama suffered unnecessarily (2 knocks and it’s game over).
For the DS (on 28th May), 逆転検事(Gyakuten Kenji) is another mystery/logic puzzle type game that’s become very popular within the last couple of years in Japan. Maybe it’s a reflection on the ineffectuality of Japanese police forces or we’re genetically addicted to crime solving (through repeats of 金さんand水戸黄門, crime busting heroes in period setting). Not many of the genre has made it abroad, but we can always hope, right?
NobiNobi Boy is not coming out after all until 19th Feb. instead of 29th this month. Still priced at 800yen (121.574yen per £1 apparently, so do the maths). BandaiNamco says it’s to do with quality control. I realise that in some quarters, the game title has been translated to ‘NobyNoby’ but ‘NobiNobi’ actually makes a lot more sense if you read Japanese in romaji. ‘Nobiru’ is ‘to extend’, so ‘nobinobi’ denotes something that stretches a lot. Fairly simple, huh?
Picked this up here, and the guy who reviewed it enthuses about the tenacity of the creator. I’m just plain impressed – he must’ve had a lot of time – it’s a labour of love… of sorts.