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Aksys localizing '999: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors' adventure game [Update: it's official!]

999

Those of you with a penchant for reading a lot of text in your DS games (or, to put it another way, those of you into adventure games) have something new to look forward to: Chunsoft's Extreme Escape: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors, a graphical text adventure released in Japan last December, appears to be receiving an English localization. Siliconera first spotted a listing for the game on Gamefly and has now posted English screenshots of the interactive novel/room escape game. It appears that publisher Aksys plans to call the game 999: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors.

999 is a graphical text adventure with a sort of Saw-like premise. Nine people are trapped on a cruise ship and somehow wired to explode. A sadistic mastermind requires them to work together (but only in groups of up to five people) in order to open the nine doors that correspond to the nine passengers and escape from the rooms in which they're held.

We're contacting Aksys to find out more details about when the game will escape to retail.

Update: There's now a big 999 image at the top of Aksys's site. In case you didn't believe before, the localization is now confirmed! We've also put the press release after the break.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE



Time is ticking, the water is rising, the doors won't budge...


Torrance, CA (July 1, 2010) - Aksys Games, a publisher of interactive entertainment
products, announces the
horror visual novel, Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors, for the Nintendo
DS®.

Junpei, a fairly normal college student finds himself involved in a deadly conspiracy
that he couldn't have possibly imagined.

He awakes aboard an old passenger ferry, dazed and confused he stumbles around
the room trying to reclaim his memories.
First thing he noticed was a number roughly drawn on the cabin's door... A bright
red number 5.

Junpei's memory then returned and he remembered what happened right before becoming
unconscious! A mysterious person with
a gas mask crossed his mind.He remembered the haunting words he spoke, "I'm
gonna make you play the game... the 'Nonary Game'
... the game of life or death".

"We've decided to call 999 an 'Adventure' game," say Ben Bateman, Localization
Editor, Aksys Games, "but I don't really feel that's entirely accurate.
999 is a game that simulates life, or at least it would if your life was about
being trapped on a sinking ship and forced to complete a series of
incomprehensible puzzles before your practically inevitable death. It is about
relationships, and how they will ultimately kill you. There is also
some blood, and an ax, so if you've always wanted some blood and an ax in your
life, there you go. But what really brings 999 to life are the
people who inhabit it. You will learn to care for them; to feel as though you
are there and they are your friends, and then they will die because
you made the wrong choices. Just like in real life."

Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors Key Features

· Nine Hours
You only have 9 hours before Junpei and the other 8 kidnapped drown. Numerology,
music composition and logic puzzles are just a few of
the 32 + obstacles that stand in the way of their freedom. You must use everything
in your environment and personal experience to get out!

· Nine Persons
Uncover the mystery surrounding the lives of the 9 captive characters and how
their blurry pasts reveal a disturbing future.
Help all the characters escape but beware! A wrong decision or careless mistake
might put their lives in jeopardy. Experience
all 6 + endings that are determined by the way you play!

· Nine Doors
Each hostage is cursed with a digital watch that displays their special number.
These numbers are the keys to unlocking the 9 doors.
Explore your surrounding for clues to unlock the next door by picking up and
examining objects in the different environments.
Create new tools by combining like objects to get out of dangerous situations

and deadly door puzzles