lux-pain
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Don't forget about Lux-Pain
With all the stuff coming out in the first quarter of this year, we fully expect Ignition's US release of Lux-Pain to fly under the radar at high speed. As if an adventure game needed help being overlooked! We think it looks really interesting, so we're doing whatever we can to promote awareness of Killaware's graphical text adventure -- where "whatever we can" is defined as "post a trailer on our website".We're left to wonder, while watching this trailer: is that background supposed to be composed of hundreds of "Silent" mind-controlling worms? Because, if so, groooooss.%Gallery-36818%
DS Daily: Adventures through time
In the comments area of our recent post about the adventure game Lux-Pain, a discussion popped up about length in adventure games. Basically, they tend to be short. Some people avoid some adventures because of this (a problem that is exacerbated by the fact that most adventure games have zero replay value), and some accept it (understanding that an adventure game requires a great deal more dialogue than most other games).Where do you stand on this issue? Do you love adventure games, but wish they could be longer? Do you steer clear of them in general in an effort to get the most game time out of your money? %Gallery-36818%
Ignition brings the Lux-Pain in March
Last month, Ignition Entertainment announced that they (and not Marvelous's BFF, XSeed) would release Marvelous's adventure game Lux-Pain in North America. Today, the company sent out a press release confirming the deal and officially setting a March release date.Lux-Pain stars Atsuki, who is implanted with a power called Lux-Pain that allows hiim to see and purge an evil mind-controlling worm called "Silent" from the bodies of infected humans. Atsuki will search various locations around Kisaragi City, perform autopsies on dead Silent worms (seriously), and use the Lux-Pain power to search for Silent in living people before it reaches their hearts and kills them.We're always ready for more graphical text adventures, and Lux-Pain sounds like it has an interesting enough premise. The art is quite nice as well -- and, according to Marvelous, the music must also be.%Gallery-36818%
Marvelous/XSeed deal means more Wii, DS games
According to Marvelous director Yasuhiro Wada, the deal with XSeed to publish the company's titles in the U.S. is the result of success in Europe. Unlike most companies, Marvelous focused on Europe first (through Rising Star Games) before expanding into the U.S.The agreement with XSeed is more than a simple deal to publish Marvelous games. In fact, Marvelous plans to do their own publishing, with XSeed distributing. They intend to localize other companies' games, as well, and the current plan is to focus primarily on the development and publishing of Wii and DS games. We suspect that their announced European releases -- Lux-Pain and Flower, Sun, and Rain -- are high on the list of potential American releases under the new announcement, along with Avalon Code.
Flowers, Dungeons, and Pain confirmed for Europe
A new batch of European release dates has suddenly materialized from Nintendo, and is packed with all sorts of exciting confirmations. The most thrilling, for us at least, is the news that Flower, Sun, and Rain will be getting that rumored European release this October, followed by Lux Pain in November. If you want to know where to send your effusive "thank you" letters, Rising Star are the ones in charge of localizing both titles. Other items of interest include a specific launch date for Bakushow, and Euro versions of Pokémon Platinum (big surprise, right?) and Dungeon Maker.But here's a question: what's with DS Novel? It's been hanging around on these lists for the best part of eight months now, and we're still no nearer to learning a release date or what it even is. Check out the full list for yourselves past the break!%Gallery-12911%%Gallery-18526%
Blue Dragon, Away: Shuffle Dungeon confirmed for U.S.
As if our recent poll regarding Blue Dragon Plus and Away: Shuffle Dungeon hadn't already put you on the spot enough, now you'll have to choose one for really reals. AQ Interactive's latest financial report confirms that both will hit North America in this fiscal year, and also mentioned a localized version of the Korg DS-10 (which we already knew about).Incidentally, there's a further four third-party portable games being brought over by Xseed, and Siliconera reckons that those could include Flower, Sun and Rain, Lux Pain, and Dungeon Maker DS. As European versions of the first two have both been rumored, we'd tend to agree!
Rumor: Rising Star bringing the Pain
Adventure aficionados take note: Amazon's UK site has Lux Pain down for release in the UK on November 8th, courtesy of Rising Star. Siliconera's eagle-eyed Spencer Yip spotted the listing for the title, which has players scratching away at the bottom screen to expose mysterious icons. We always loved the idea of the scratch mechanic, though Lux Pain's apparently text-heavy nature was something of a roadblock to us importing.Internet coverage of Lux Pain has suggested that Killaware's adventure follows Konami's Time Hollow a little too closely for comfort, but now that a western release for both looks likely, we'll be able to judge for ourselves!
Another Week in Japan: Hardware and software numbers 3/24-3/30
The PSP might have dominated in Japan, selling as much hardware last week as every other system combined, but that doesn't mean the DS didn't do well for itself. In fact, Nintendo's handheld came in second place, selling around 60,000 units.The story is similar in software, as DS titles came no where near to matching the sales of Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G, yet there was still a lot of DS representation in the top thirty, as usual. New titles rleased last week that made the cut include Mobile Suit Gundam 00, which debuted in third, Vitamin X Evolution, Lux Pain, and Home Teacher Hitman Reborn!Towards the bottom of the software chart, New Super Mario Bros. reappeared while Taiko Drum Master hung stubbornly onto the thirtieth spot. To see how other games were rearranged, just check after the break for the listings.
Happy trailers to you! Japanese game trailer roundup!
Yee-haw, we're rounding up some wild game trailers today! Courtesy of an even bigger trailer rodeo over on Dengeki, we've got new videos of some of the most interesting, most anticipated, and most not-in-either-of-those-categories games coming out of Japan. You'll recognize Fist of the North Star above, one of our recent infatuations. It continues to look amazingly weird in motion, and further fuels our desires to tap on-screen indicators violently.After the break, we've got trailers for the sweetly nostalgic adventure game Afterschool Boy, the, uh, other adventure game Lux-Pain, and the other other adventure game Mushishi. Joining them are the SRPG remake Summon Night and the sweat-mopping simulator Duel Love. We kind of forgot to keep the cowboy talk thing going throughout the whole post. Uh, these trailers are rootin'-tootin'? No?
Networking in Lux-Pain
Killaware's supernatural adventure game Lux-Pain contains a very mundane real-world gameplay element: cell-phone networking. An important part of the game is collecting "QR cards", which are similar to Japanese meishi (business cards, which are also used outside of business), but transmitted via QR code. The QR card contains the character's e-mail address and a short message. These QR cards have become a fad in the game's world, and provide an interesting method of collecting information that fits into the game's storyline.Lux-Pain is a game, and thus acquiring these QR cards is not as simple as just asking for them. By responding appropriately to questions, you must ensure that the interlocutor in your conversation likes your character.
Lux-Pain is apparently a big deal
Lux-Pain is a fairly under-the-radar adventure game from new developer Killaware, in which you scratch at people with the stylus to psychically discover secret information. Or, at least, we thought it was under the radar. But publisher Marvelous is giving it a big push in Japan, bundling it with two preorder bonuses, both with cute names. Lux-Sound is, obviously, a soundtrack CD, and Lux-Paint is an artbook.So now, because of a CD of music we wouldn't know if we like, and a book of art we find kind of generic, we want this game that we'd have to import. Of course, we wouldn't even get this preorder stuff if we bought the game. We shudder to think what glowing orbs of information would be hidden inside our minds if someone were to scrape a spirit-stylus over us.
