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Hero 30 Second set for August 4 in Japan
After suffering a couple of delays, PSP title Hero 30 Second now has a new release date of August 4 in Japan. The news was announced on the Hero 30 Second blog, in which Producer Takagi Kenitirou apologized for the delays and thanked fans for waiting. The sequel to Half-Minute Hero tasks players with completing grand RPG quests in only thirty seconds. The original Half-Minute Hero is also expected to arrive on Xbox Live Arcade, though an official release date has yet to be announced.
Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Towns headed to DS and 3DS
Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Towns will launch simultaneously on the DS and 3DS in North America this summer. A 3DS Harvest Moon was previously revealed, but we weren't aware of the dual platform launch. The latest Harvest Moon plot revolves around two towns torn apart by a rivalry over food. As a new farmer, players will have to choose between the crop-lovin' Eastern-styled town of Konohana or the meat-meat-meat, European-styled Bluebell. In time, players will bring a truce between the towns -- likely by developing an industrial farming complex that buys out both towns and places all the local farmers into indentured servitude.
Muramasa dev Vanillaware creating 'Grand Knights History' for PSP
The latest (leaked) issue of Famitsu brings word of a new project from Vanillaware, creators of Muramasa: The Demon Blade and Odin Sphere. Vanillaware's Grand Knights History is a new RPG for PSP to be published by Marvelous -- with whom the dev worked with on Muramasa -- and planned for release this summer. Players control the leader of one of three warring factions -- "Logress, the ancient kingdom," "Union, kingdom of the knights," or "Avalon, kingdom of magic," -- and take part in turn-based battles accompanied by a group of knights. Grand Knights History is said to include some kind of innovative online play that Vanillaware has yet to explain, but it involves connecting with other players during battle -- and allows for "infinity" players. Chances are we'll hear more about the online system soon, as the game is reportedly 70 percent complete. And knowing Vanillaware's previous output, we can't wait to see the first screens.
Marvelous cancels multiplatform RPG nobody knew existed
No More Heroes and Harvest Moon publisher Marvelous Entertainment's latest financial report includes the sad news that the company has decided to cancel an "epic RPG" that was in development for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The loss of the title comes as a surprise to us, because Marvelous never told anyone about it in the first place. Marvelous hinted at an original IP for "new hardware" back in 2010. Marvelous reported ¥245 million ($2.9 million) in losses from the development of this title, which is especially impressive in proportion to the company's operating profit of ¥409 million ($4.9 million), of which the digital contents division (the part that makes games) brought in ¥89 million. That operating profit, by the way, is a great improvement over last year's ¥1,208 million ($14.6 million) loss.
Let's get unsettled with this Night of the Sacrifice trailer
Marvelous's two-player Wii horror game Ikenie no Yoru (Night of the Sacrifice) is much scarier-looking than any game starring pastel human silhouettes should be. After the break, you'll find blood-splattered walls, creepy noises, and -- who just leaves a mannequin on a couch? Why would you do that?
Hero 30 Second delayed a second time
Marvelous has reset its own countdown clock for Hero 30 Second, delaying the PSP sequel's Japanese release from February 10 to an unspecified 2011 release. This follows a delay from November into February. Marvelous cited "various reasons" and offered apologies, but no further explanation. Just before making this dramatic announcement, Marvelous released the trailer you'll find after the break. It's a super-epic boss battle in the series' super-speed style. Hero 30 Second has yet to be announced for release outside of Japan. The predecessor, Half-Minute Hero, was published in North America by Xseed.
Twitter caption contest launched for Half-Minute Hero sequel
As practice for the kind of quick thinking required to play Hero 30 Second ... and to promote Hero 30 Second (mostly that last one), Japanese publisher Marvelous has launched a Twitter caption contest. Participants are asked to come up with clever captions for a selected screenshot in 100 characters or less. Of course, given the nature of the game, participants are also limited to 30 seconds. After you've come up with your impromptu masterpiece, it'll go on the "Twitter30" website and your own Twitter feed. As 1UP notes, it's technically a Japanese contest, but there's likely someone at Marvelous who will be able to read and appreciate your frantic attempts at humor.
'Night of the Sacrifice' horror game features mysterious Balance Board function
Ikenie no Yoru, or "Night of the Sacrifice," is a newly announced Wii horror game from Marvelous Interactive, and it's just as mysterious as the possibly-haunted mansion in which it's set. This is partly because so little has been revealed: All we have to go on is a translation of a Famitsu magazine article about the game and an accompanying trailer, also from Famitsu -- but even the trailer raises more questions. The clip shows semi-realistic characters interacting with silhouetted, stylized Feel the Magic-esque characters. Additionally, the Famitsu article reveals that Night of the Sacrifice will somehow integrate the Balance Board, the creepiest of all Wii peripherals. How exactly will that work? We have a lot to learn before the game's March 24 release in Japan.
Marvelous caps 3DS game development at $1.8M per title
During a recent investor call, Marvelous Entertainment, the publisher best known for its Harvest Moon games, revealed its budget range for 3DS game development. According to the transcription of the call's Q&A session (as translated by 1UP), a Marvelous representative said that, "while costs vary based on game content," the company would spend an estimated ¥50 million to ¥150 million ($600K to $1.8M) on the development of a single 3DS game. Currently, Marvelous has two 3DS projects in the works, a Harvest Moon game and a zoo sim called Animal Resort. Not surprisingly, Marvelous' 3DS spending money is significantly higher than the ¥4.4 million to ¥43.9 million per title (roughly $50K–525K) Japanese companies spent on developing (regular) DS games last year, according to data gathered by TGS sponsor and promotional organization CESA. More interestingly, Marvelous' ¥150-million cap for a 3DS game represents a figure more than double the cost of the last year's most expensive Japanese PSP title, which, while unnamed, cost ¥59.2 million to develop by CESA's account. (The cheapest PSP game cost its maker just ¥3 million.) If Marvelous' budget is indicative of other companies' 3DS game costs -- and, certainly, some of these guys are likely to splurge -- then developing for the platform could prove more expensive than for Wii, where last year's most expensive Japanese project topped out at ¥116 million. In an era when budget gaming is dominating the handheld market, and following the disastrous combination of costly PSP game development and rampant piracy, the 3DS could be as ill-fated as the 3D technology that requires you to wear glasses. Well, that, or it'll just "print money" ... in 3D.
Marvelous profits in fiscal Q1 -- by cutting back on game releases
Marvelous Entertainment has, in the recent past, been reporting disappointing earnings. Well, not even "earnings." Losses. To combat those losses, the company reduced its slate for fiscal 2011, a strategy that appears to have worked. In its last fiscal quarter (which ended June 30), Marvelous's digital content division had ¥71 million ($829,000) in profit. The same quarter last year saw $1.5 million in losses! According to Siliconera's summary of the report, the boosted performance has more to do with reduced costs than game sales -- sales were actually down 55.4% year-over-year. Marvelous released just three games in the quarter, including No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise.
No More Heroes 2 finally coming to Japan with deluxe edition
Marvelous has finally gotten around to announcing a Japanese release date for No More Heroes: Desperate Struggle. Suda 51's revenge-themed action sequel will be released in Japan on October 21 -- nine months after the game's North American release. Marvelous is compensating for the delay somewhat by offering a lovely "HOPPER's Edition" that contains the game, a soundtrack CD, a DVD recapping the events of the first game, and a new "No More Heroes 1.5" movie written by Suda 51, detailing what happened between the two games -- which means, we guess, that Travis didn't spend the whole time watching wrestling in his motel room. We hope. Those interested in this version will have to provide some compensation of their own, to the tune of ¥8,980 ($102). A regular edition will also be released for ¥7,140 ($81). Early purchases of either version will come with an "erotica comic" featuring character artwork and a recap of the previous game.
Marvelous plans new IP, 3DS Harvest Moon for next fiscal year
The reduction of new IP coming out of Marvelous Entertainment isn't as total as we'd heard. In a recent investor Q&A summarized by air-be and translated by Siliconera, the company revealed that it will have original IP in the next fiscal year, for "new hardware." The current fiscal year ends March 31, 2011. This hardware is likely to be something other than the 3DS. The company refers to that system explicitly when discussing its plans to release a Harvest Moon game on Nintendo's extradimensional handheld. That Harvest Moon game, by the way, also won't be ready until the next fiscal year, which means that you won't be planting crops deep into the ground -- with visible depth -- at the 3DS's launch.
Marvelous focuses on PSP development in fiscal 2011
It shouldn't come as much of a surprise, given the company's recent executive pay cuts and low sales figures, that Marvelous Entertainment is looking to cut costs in fiscal 2011 by reducing its lineup of games slightly. Siliconera points out a slide from the company's latest earnings report (Japanese PDF downloadable at the bottom of the window) that shows only ten releases for the period between April 1, 2010 and March 31, 2011. That's down two from the previous year. The biggest move comes from the DS lineup, which is reduced from six games to just one. Also unsurprisingly, Marvelous is putting emphasis on PSP games. PSP development was the segment of Marvelous's game business that paid off in the last year, and the publisher is putting out more games there -- four -- than anywhere else in fiscal 2011. That includes the RPG Fate/Extra and the humiliating fighter Ikki Tousen: Xross Impact, as well as two currently unannounced games. The rest of Marvelous's lineup includes the already-released No More Heroes: Heroes Paradise on PS3 and 360, Harvest Moon: Twins' Village on DS, one unknown PS3 game, and two unknown Wii games. [Via Siliconera]
No More Heroes remakes outsold the original by a little
We're not going to say that No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise is a hit, but those of us in constant fear of Marvelous running out of money can breathe a sigh of relief, as the remake has brought a little cash in (more considering that the game is a port and therefore probably less expensive to produce). In fact, both versions managed to make it into the Media Create top ten, with the PS3 version's 16,000 copies securing a #7 position and the Xbox 360 version's 15,000 copies at #8. Both of these actually outperformed the Wii original, which sold 11,700 copies in its debut week back in 2007. Now that we think about it, however, the real story might be that 15,000 people in Japan bought an Xbox 360 game in a single week. %Gallery-78530%
No More Heroes: Wii vs. Xbox 360
No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise was released in Japan last week, allowing the site PS360 to set to work comparing the new HD version (in this case the Xbox 360 release), ported by Feelplus, to the Wii original. After the break, you can see the intro to both versions, presented in split-screen. We suggest watching them in full-screen, because you can't really compare resolutions or detail inside a tiny window. You can, however, see noticeable differences in texture detail, and especially shading -- the Xbox version has crazy high-contrast shadows on everything. You can also hear the new Japanese voice acting, which sounds totally silly. The second video compares load times between the Xbox 360 version installed to the hard drive and the Wii's disc-based version. Surprisingly, in some cases, the Xbox game takes much longer to load! While that's not a huge deal-breaker, Siliconera reports that users are complaining on Amazon about freezing as well. It's hard to determine how widespread the issue is, because it's an Xbox 360 game released in Japan, and thus probably not in that many hands.
Yasuhiro Wada stepping down from Marvelous position
"Personal reasons" mark the departure of Yasuhiro Wada, the creator of the Harvest Moon franchise, from Marvelous Entertainment Inc., Kotaku reports. Wada will relinquish his current position at the end of the month, but will continue to serve the company in an advisory capacity. Wada has been critical of Marvelous as of late, voicing his concerns about the publisher's lack of brand recognition. While we'd agree that not every gamer out there knows about Marvelous, we'd also argue that producing one of the best games of 2009 is certainly a big step toward gaining consumer trust.
Japanese Nintendo downloads: Zombie in Wonderland, Karate Champ
Marvelous's World Game Parade brings a "world game" that actually has yet to release anywhere but Japan: Akaoni Studio's Zombie Panic in Wonderland, a sort of spiritual successor to the DS's Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ. Also on Wii is one of the original fighting games, Karate Champ, in its original arcade form -- though we doubt it supports the dual-joystick interface of the original. Karate Champ (Arcade, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points) Zombie in Wonderland (WiiWare, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points) Pokosuka Racing (WiiWare, 1-4 players, 500 Wii Points) Write to Memorize: English Notebook (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points) Write to Memorize: Picture Notebook (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points) G.G. Series Exciting River (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points) Ah! Nikaku Tori (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points) Shooting Down King (DSiWare, 1-4 players, 500 DSi Points) Hachi-One Diver Story (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
New trailer for No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise adds to our frustration
Other than providing a more specific April release date of the 15th (in Japan at least), the latest trailer for No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise which we've dropped after the break does little but fill us with frustration. First and foremost, we don't have any idea what it says because the whole thing's in Japanese. Second, the quick cuts don't give us enough of a chance to ogle the newly HDified graphics in the Xbox 360 and PS3 port. Third, we wanna see pure madness produced by that light ... sword (not a saber, that's for sure) if the game's gonna be in HD. We might normally say something at this point about hoping for the best when the game arrives at retail, but this one's a Japan-only release, folks. Time to bust out that extra milk money (and Japanese dictionary) for the import copy, eh? %Gallery-78530%
Marvelous licenses Western WiiWare games for Japan
Marvelous Entertainment, faced with low sales and financial trouble, is turning to a relatively low-cost source of new material to publish: Western WiiWare games. The publisher just started a new label, World Game Parade, to release localized Japanese versions of some WiiWare games originally developed and published outside of Japan. In March, World Game Parade will release Zombie in Wonderland (called Zombie Panic in Wonderland outside of Japan) and Bit Man!! (Bplus's Bit Boy!!). Katamuki Spirits (Equilibrio) and Rakugaki Hero (Max & the Magic Marker) will follow in April. WiiWare sales figures aren't normally released, so we may have to wait until Marvelous's next earnings report to determine the effectiveness of the plan. We can confirm right now that the logo is adorable. [Via Andriasang]
Harvest Moon: Hero of Leaf Valley coming stateside in April
Considering the extent to which Farmville has enraptured the hearts and minds of 95 percent of the Facebook-using populace, we're not surprised that Natsume has decided to bring yet another installment in the Harvest Moon franchise to the States. According to the publisher, American store shelves will play host to Harvest Moon: Hero of Leaf Valley for the PSP in April. The game will task you with staving off the expansion of The Funland Corporation's chain of amusement parks into your home town of Leaf Valley. You'll do so in the most logical manner imaginable: by repeatedly performing various agricultural chores. Yeah, that'll show 'em! Editor's Note: This announcement was posted earlier on Joystiq PlayStation. We apologize for the excessive publication of this news.
