gaijinworks
Latest
Class of Heroes 2G coming to PlayStation 3 in 2014
Niche-focused publisher MonkeyPaw and indie localization team GaijinWorks have teamed up to produce an English-language version of Acquire's PlayStation 3 dungeon-crawling RPG Class of Heroes 2G in 2014. The two studios previously partnered for this year's PSP release of Class of Heroes 2, which premiered as a PlayStation Network download before UMD copies shipped out to pre-order buyers in October. Class of Heroes 2 writer and producer Victor Ireland announced that the upcoming PS3 release will feature dual-screen play, allowing players to access in-game maps and stats via a connected PlayStation Vita or PSP. No word has been issued regarding whether Class of Heroes 2G will premiere as a digital or physical release, but MonkeyPaw notes that further details will revealed "after the New Year."
Class of Heroes 2 ships to UMD buyers, Gaijinworks hints at future PSP releases
After months of delays stemming from licensing issues and last-minute bug fixes, the PSP UMD version of MonkeyPaw's Class of Heroes 2 began shipping out this week to buyers who pre-purchased the game earlier this year. Previously the subject of a failed Kickstarter campaign, Class of Heroes 2 was later released as a physical and digital combo pack via online pre-order. The Acquire-developed first-person dungeon crawler, which features a localization by Working Designs veteran Victor Ireland and his studio Gaijinworks, premiered as a downloadable PlayStation Network game in June. The UMD version of Class of Heroes 2 was delayed while Gaijinworks sorted out licensing issues relating to its opening theme song, which the studio has since replaced with an English-language track. An updated version of Class of Heroes 2, which fixes a widely reported alchemy recipe bug, among other gameplay tweaks, will hit the PlayStation Network on October 15. Gaijinworks' Ireland recently hinted at plans to "squeeze out at least 3-4 more PSP RPG titles (and offer them as physical+digital sets) before we're done with the platform," though specific titles have not been announced. The studio will gauge interest in a Class of Heroes 3 release starting in January.
Class of Heroes 2 available on PSN June 4
Class of Heroes 2, MonkeyPaw's PSP game from 2009, is finally coming to North America on June 4. PSN users can snag the fully localized JRPG dungeon crawler – which is playable on both PSP and PS Vita – for $25 from the PSN store. The effort to localize Class of Heroes 2 began in 2012 with a Kickstarter campaign seeking $500,000 in funding. Ultimately, only $96,951 was raised, though MonkeyPaw CEO John Greiner wasn't too down in a follow-up interview with Joystiq. Greiner said that even though the Kickstarter campaign failed, "we were able to educate people about the game and its features. That will help immensely when we release the digital version."
Gaijinworks gauging interest in UMD Class of Heroes 2
Gaijinworks and MonkeyPaw Games didn't make their Kickstarter goal for Class of Heroes 2, but that's not stopping them from forging ahead with plans for a UMD release of the PSP role-playing game.Now, Gaijinworks is gauging interest in a physical PSP release. "If we can pre-sell at least 2,500 copies of a Physical PSP version with a color manual, UMD with color disc label, and a digital download code," the company explains, "we can do a physical+digital combo version for $34.99, shipped to you."If that sounds appealing, you can sign up on the Gaijinworks site. It's not a pre-order yet, just a poll to determine how many people would pre-order. So if you sign up, you're somewhat on the honor system regarding your intent to purchase later, when the order links go up.Regardless of what happens with the physical version, a PSN version has been rated by the ESRB and will be released for $25. European ratings are in progress. To find out if any version of Class of Heroes 2 interests you, check out the videos of the newly localized game above and after the break. Gaijinworks warns that the last video, of a "battle event," is "spoilerish" about events in the first game.[Thanks, Merrick]
Study this Class of Heroes 2 trailer
You may want to support the continued localization and promotion of the JRPG genre in America – the overarching goal of the MonkeyPaw Games/Gaijinworks Kickstarter – but at the same time, you may not know a whole lot about the specific game being Kickstarted, Class of Heroes 2 for PSP.The publishers have sought to provide that missing information, releasing a new trailer for the school-themed dungeon crawler. You'll see plenty of gameplay footage, along with character art for all the different in-game races – all of whom are teenagers in school uniforms.
MonkeyPaw and Gaijinworks Kickstart a Class of Heroes 2 localization
MonkeyPaw Games and GaijinWorks, two companies dedicated to bringing classic Japanese games to the west, are testing the utility of Kickstarter for localization of Japanese games, with the most random test subject imaginable.Class of Heroes 2 is a sequel to a PSP dungeon crawler released here by Atlus in 2009. Like the original, it's a game about first-person, turn-based dungeon battling. The two companies plan to release it digitally -- but also, for supporters, in a crazy physical limited edition that promises to outpace any of the giant boxes sold by Ireland's former company, Working Designs.Bonuses in this Deluxe Pack include a custom box, a soundtrack, and other secret items that are still being prototyped. In addition to this, Kickstarter rewards include lapel pins, posters, plushes, pocket watches, and music boxes. Higher-level backers get things like trips to LA to go to E3 and meet with the team, and in-game credits in the placement of their choice.The Kickstarter is designed not to sell the game, but to fund both the digital and physical releases. "Our Kickstarter project is designed to allow fans that plan to download it digitally to support the game now," the companies explain, "helping it reach the funding threshold and expand the scope and depth of localization for BOTH the digital and physical releases." If successful, the companies hope to localize other Class of Heroes releases as well. "So if you're along for the whole ride, you'll eventually have a line of awesome Class of Heroes games on your shelf."
Arc the Lad II and Arc Arena coming to PSN next week
GaijinWorks founder Victor Ireland recently dove headfirst into the NeoGAF forums to reveal some release details for a pair of titles (recently hinted at by ESRB listings) which his company will be localizing for the U.S. PSN: Arc the Lad II and Arc Arena. The two games, which only ever made it stateside in the Arc the Lad Collection for PSOne, will hit the PlayStation Store next Tuesday, November 23. Arc the Lad II will be available to purchase for $5.99, while Arc Arena -- an offshoot from the series where monsters you collect in Arc II can be fought in tournaments for prizes -- can be purchased in a bundle with Arc II for $8.99. For a brief moment, we debated between which of these two versions we would spring for, then reread the words "monsters," "collect," "tournament" and "prizes," and then the decision was pretty much made for us.
Rare NES game 'Ufouria' rated by OFLC, Virtual Console release possible
Sunsoft has started to revitalize its brand with the help of Gaijinworks' Victor Ireland. The strategy includes re-releases of classic games on Nintendo's Virtual Console, including Blaster Master, and the creation of original content -- also Blaster Master, actually. If a new rating by the Australian OFLC board is any indication, Sunsoft is planning a Virtual Console release of Ufouria: The Saga, a rare NES game that never made it to North America. Ufouria is a Metroidvania-style NES game starring Bop-Louie, who falls into a crater and is separated from this friends. Bop-Louie then explores the world in search of his lost companions, with his friends becoming playable once they are located. The game was released in Europe with an English translation, so if it does become a Virtual Console import, we'd even be able to read the text! [Via Aussie-Nintendo]
NintendoWare Weekly: Blaster Master Overdrive, Princess Tomato, Fieldrunners
There's a wide selection of downloads available on Wii and DSi this week -- including stuff that people might have heard of before and/or be interested in! Two days after its reveal, the new Blaster Master game is available on WiiWare, along with Hudson's Princess Tomato, a somewhat forgotten NES oddity. And DSiWare has the iPhone hit Fieldrunners and a new puzzle game by Intelligent Systems. Read about all ten (!) new games after the break. %Gallery-84941%
Sunsoft announces Blaster Master: Overdrive, coming to WiiWare next week [update]
Oh, Sunsoft, you shouldn't have. Here we were, thinking no news from this day would cause our hearts to swell in our chests, sending us into fits of nostalgic joy. Then you come along and announce that a new installment in the long-dormant Blaster Master franchise not only exists, but is coming out in two days. Yes, according to a recent Sunsoft press release, Monday's WiiWare update will see the addition of Blaster Master: Overdrive, a sequel to the NES classic, priced at 1000 Wii Points. Like the original, Overdrive features both side-scrolling and top-down action sequences. Looking at the images posted on Sunsoft's official site, it certainly seems to retain the same charm of the first game -- if it also preserves the original Blaster Master's completely awesome theme song, we might not be able to stop ourselves from purchasing the game two or three times over. Update: We've added the trailer after the break in all it's YouTube glory.
Sunsoft acquires Telenet game catalog (think: Valis, Cosmic Fantasy)
As part of its relaunch, Japanese publisher Sunsoft announced that it has purchased the rights to the entire 100-plus game library of Nihon Telenet. Even if you're not familiar with the name, you probably remember the games (most of which were published by Renovation) and their (at the time) exotic-looking anime-style covers. Telenet was the creator of the Valis series, along with action titles like El Viento, shmups like Sol-Deace and Gaiares, and the Cosmic Fantasy RPG series. Sunsoft will begin releasing classics from the library on the Wii Virtual Console and other services -- and then it will start producing remakes and new installments. This could finally be our chance for that non-pornographic Valis sequel we've been waiting for! Gaijinworks – the new company started by Working Designs' Victor Ireland – has been working with Sunsoft on the company's relaunch and is named as instrumental in this deal. Working Designs' history with Telenet goes back to 1992, when the company agreed to publish Telenet's Cosmic Fantasy 2.
Sunsoft kicks off American return with Blaster Master on Virtual Console
Sunsoft is coming back, with the help of Victor Ireland's Gaijinworks. The publisher plans to bring its brand back to prominence initially by re-releasing classics. The first? Blaster Master on Virtual Console. Sunsoft plans to launch the NES action title this month. Through its new website, the company plans to offer prizes and "exclusive, limited edition premiums," which reminds us of Ireland's former company, the swag-heavy Working Designs. More game launches will be announced soon. "This first Wii release is a great start," Ireland said. "But there is one upcoming announcement in particular that will demonstrate just how serious (Sunsoft CEO Kiharu) Yoshida-san is about rebuilding the Sunsoft console gaming brand here." [Via NeoGAF, GameSetWatch]
Review: Miami Law (DS)
Hudson Soft's Miami Law isn't a perfect adventure game by modern or classic standards. Gamers born after the era of floppy disks may find the menu-driven presentation archaic, and adventure devotees may take issue with the game's logic, and dismiss its minigames as pointless distractions from the story.However, Miami Law succeeds in the one aspect that an adventure game really needs to: the story. While it may cover well-worn buddy cop territory, Miami Law's storyline was gripping and well-told enough to keep me playing through the trial-and-error annoyances.%Gallery-45960%
You have the right to watch this Miami Law trailer
Hudson released this brief trailer of Miami Law that offers us an even briefer look at the game in action -- and a bit of confusion. We thought the male cop's name was Law Martin! Despite the fact that they're totally different games, Miami Law looks a lot like Atlus's Tokyo Beat Down in motion, which isn't going to do much to stop us from mixing the games up. This one is part shooting, part puzzle-solving adventure. Tokyo Beat Down is part punching, part ... also punching.The new screens display some of the puzzles that take place in Sara Starling's half of the game. And they also display the fact that Martin Law has his gun drawn at all times. %Gallery-45960%
Miami Law is first project from Working Designs founder's 'Gaijinworks'
When Hudson unveiled Miami Law, we desperately started scrolling through old posts and the websites of likely Japanese developers, because we couldn't identify the Japanese game upon which it was based. It turns out there's a good reason for that -- the American press release is actually the first information released about the game at all. It is being developed in Japan, but released in North America first.This information came to us from Victor Ireland, former president of the publisher Working Designs, who started a new company back in 2006 called Gaijinworks. Miami Law's localization is actually the "first project out of the gate for Gaijinworks," as Ireland told us! Back in January, Ireland told 1UP that something related to the company would be "publically announced in a month or two" for summer release, and that it wouldn't be "one of the MAIN things." We can guess that Miami Law is that first item, then, and we can look forward to more from Gaijinworks in the near future.%Gallery-45960%
