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Contact creator's next game: 'Sakura Note'
Marvelous Entertainment revealed Contact director Akira Ueda's next project, Sakura Note, with a teaser web site. According to 1UP's summary of a Famitsu preview of the game, the game involves two mysterious sakura trees in two towns. One is blooming late in the year, and the other is dying. This is somehow connected to a new arrival in your neighborhood, and subsequent attacks against her by ghosts. In order to solve these two mysteries, you explore the nostalgic scenery of two neighboring towns, "talking to people and unlocking new story episodes as you go along." The game is being created by an all-star team. As on Level-5's Fantasy Life, Nobuo Uematsu and Hideo Minaba are contributing music and character design, respectively. Kingdom Hearts' Kazushige Nojima is writing the story, and Half-Minute Hero producer Kenichiro Takagi is producing. Sakura Note will be out in Japan November 5.
Muramasa: The Demon Bosses
Ignition has released two new trailers for the always lovely Muramasa: The Demon Blade. The first features the game's bosses, a collection of mythical monsters who can withstand thousands of rapid-fire slashes from Kisuke and Momohime. We've seen many of them, but we weren't familiar with that giant centipede thing. If you enjoy that particular boss as much as we do, be sure to watch the other trailer after the break, originally posted at UGO. Not only does it feature more of that boss, acting both as opponent and surface, it features a one thousand hit combo on that boss.
Little Burger King's promotion for Little King's Story
Marvelous is taking an extra step in Japan to market the upcoming release of Little King's Story, and it's one that makes a lot of sense: the company is partnering with Burger King to promote the strategy game. Burger King restaurants in Japan are displaying the poster depicted to the right, and will also have LKS placemats. According to Andriasang, Burger King's mail magazine will also include Little King's Story information. In addition, a small army of Burger King employees, led by a real little king, will lead an assault on a nearby McDonalds in an attempt to take down Ronald. We may have made that up. It's pretty amazing that Little King's Story is a big enough game to get this kind of promotion, which is reserved in the US for huge franchises. Either that, or Burger King is a small enough operation.
Video: The pretty, violent locations of Muramasa
Ignition has released a new video of Muramasa: The Demon Blade. The video highlights the game's locations, all set in beautiful feudal Japanese backdrops. Of course, the problem with beautiful feudal Japanese backdrops is they're always being ransacked by ninjas, demons and evil snow witches. You're just walking along, admiring the cherry blossoms, and then it's like, bam: Snow witch. Happens every time. Watch the trailer and see for yourself. Muramasa hits shelves next month.
New trailer looks at Muramasa's Momohime, release set for Sept. 8
Some new Muramasa: The Demon Blade media has been released. This time around, it focuses on Momohime, one of the game's main characters. She's "a princess possessed by a dark spirit and on a quest to recover the cursed demon swords," and each blade she collects gives her different abilities. But none of that matters, really. What does matter is that she can slice and dice baddies with the best of them and, as we've come to expect from Muramasa, she looks great doing it. Watch the new trailer above and then soak up some new screens and artwork below.One more thing, we can finally pin a date on Muramasa. Expect it to hit North American shelves September 8.%Gallery-70004%
Ignition opens sharp Muramasa: The Demon Blade site
Ignition opened the official North American Muramasa: The Demon Blade website today, confrming two important facts for us: Ignition is still planning to release the game this year (we need constant reassurance that not every game is being pushed to 2010) The art is still bangin'. In fact, the website allows you to take some of that art for your very own in the form of desktop wallpapers. You can also check out screenshots, video, and character profiles while you're there, and offer Ignition your own Muramasa art in a fan art contest.
Discipline shocks again with unusual art style
Direct screenshots of Marvelous's Discipline have finally appeared, and you probably won't be surprised to see that they're as strikingly weird as the concept, though not nearly as uncomfortable to talk about.The character art all seems to be still pencil sketches, black and white with subtle blue shading. These are presented in 3D prison environments which are in full (but bleak, because it's a prison) color. When your character prepares to use the You-Con and the game goes into its first-person mode, the device appears in 3D at the bottom of the screen, like the weapon in a first-person shooter.We're pretty impressed with the unique art style -- not just the look itself, but the boldness of using such a style. In fact, the whole game seems to be living proof of Marvelous founder Yasuhiro Wada's insistence on creating original games.
Prepare to be uncomfortable: details about Marvelous' Discipline
If you don't remember the WiiWare title Discipline, which was announced at TGS last year, we'll sum up the prison-escape for you in a way that's certain to jog your memory: alien worm Wiimote shell. According to IGN's summary of some details from Famitsu, the gross-looking green controller shell (which now doesn't seem likely to actually be released) is the least weird thing about the title.In Discipline, you help fellow inmates in a high-security prison solve their problems, with the use of -- and there's no way not to make this sound awful -- "You Fluid" from your "You-Con" (the controller). You hold up the Wiimote to gather You Fluid while the guard's attention is elsewhere, and then interact with the world by, uh, squirting You Fluid at stuff. One example: you draw a prisoner's attention to a poster on the wall by shooting You Fluid at it.If you help a prisoner enough, you'll break down his "Heart Walls" and learn more about the character's backstory, receiving a special item in the process. The funny thing is that this would all be pretty innocuous -- using the Wiimote to interact in a first-person world, helping solve people's issues, adventure-game style, if not for the "You Fluid" business. We'll find out more about just how embarrassed this game will make us as the August 25 Japanese release approaches.
New Muramasa: The Demon Blade trailer is all about the blading
The latest trailer for Muramasa: The Demon Blade is designed to show off the high-flying, combo-ridden swordplay found in Vanillaware's action game. Your sword is in motion at almost all times during this game, as you float around, juggling enemy after enemy. It is a little bit overwhelming at first, in a Marvel vs. Capcom sort of way.But then, when you get the hang of it, grimacing wheels, single-file lines of monks, gigantic samurai, and even transparent horses won't be able to stop you. At least, we think. We didn't really graduate past the "panicked button-mashing" technique at E3.%Gallery-33431%
Marvelous planning a 'Super Little King's Story'
Little King's Story creator Yoshiro Kimura had previously said that he's interested in making a sequel to his strategy title. Now, speaking to Siliconera, Kimura explained that he is in the early stages of working on just such a thing. "We are planning to make a sequel to Little King's Story, like Super Little King's Story," Kimura said, "but we're still in the process idea phase." At the moment, Marvelous is looking for funding for the sequel, as well as "partners" to help make it. The first game was developed by Cing and Town Factory, along with some high-profile freelancers. While we don't want anyone involved with the first game excluded from this potential sequel, we can understand the appeal of having a single team make a game, if that's Kimura's intent. %Gallery-24964%
Marvelous' Wada: Game industry needs originality, Marvelous needs more recognition
Last month, Marvelous president Yasuhiro Wada posted a note on the publisher's site, in which he said he had "teary eyes" over disappointing sales of Marvelous' Wii products, including No More Heroes, Rune Factory Frontier, and Muramasa. He discussed his sentiment in an interview with Edge Online, saying that he is frustrated with the lack of originality in games and hopes to counter this with the Marvelous catalog. "I think this is why gamers are leaving video games," Wada told Edge of the reliance on existing IP. "I believe that variety is the only way to bring more people into gaming." Wada also said that the Xbox 360, despite Microsoft's "great job in bringing that many JRPGs on its console," is a lost cause in Japan, though there is hope for the next generation. As for why Marvelous games aren't selling, Wada puts some of the blame on lack of company recognition. "Marvelous has just reached the point its games are getting noticed and getting good reviews," he said. "But we are not a major name yet. The Marvelous brand is still associated to some not so good titles we made in the past." He compared the publisher to others like Nintendo, Capcom, and Square Enix. "Even if you don't fully understand what a title is about, because it's branded Nintendo, Capcom or Square Enix, you feel like ok to buy and try it." He said that the company needs to try to reach the roughly million-strong "gamer market" on Wii. A market that might enjoy, say, Little King's Story.
Review: Little King's Story (Wii)
When I started Cing/Town Factory's Little King's Story, I expected to find a cute, very charming little strategy game whose flaws prevented it from greatness, like most games this heavy on the quirkiness factor. I was blindsided by how much fun I continued to have through hours of play. It's rare for a game to be this cute and odd, but also this good. I found this game utterly magical, and I hate strategy games. %Gallery-24964%
Little King's Story sequel could have multiplayer
Yoshio Kimura, producer on Little King's Story, originally planned to include multiplayer in the strategy title, according to an interview with 411mania. "This game used to have a 2-player mode," he explained, "but we couldn't make the QA and debug in time, so we had to take it out. And this is one of the things that I really wanted to have." If setting competing armies of townspeople against one another, or collaborating to expand your shared kingdom, sounds great to you (like it does to us), you know how you can make your voice heard. "But if Little King's Story does well and a lot of people get to play it and if I have a chance to make a sequel, that's definitely something I want to implement." Aside from gameplay-focused matters, Kimura had a lot to say in this interview. Check it out for discussion of the character designs and how, uh, a talking squirrel inspired him to create the game. %Gallery-24969% [Via GoNintendo]
Marvelous looking into HD ports of Wii games
"Wii has no hardcore games" is about as old, lame and untrue as "the PS3 has no games," and "Xbox 360 has only shooters." Real gamers know that each of the platforms has its gems -- but not everyone can afford all three gaming consoles.Marvelous may be expanding its portfolio to include more non-Nintendo systems. Already, the publisher is working on a PS3 and Xbox 360 game, Rainy Woods; however, according to a report by Siliconera, the publisher may look into porting some of its diverse Wii lineup onto the HD systems. Games like No More Heroes and the upcoming Muramasa would certainly appeal to the hardcore PlayStation and Xbox crowds. In fact, Suda 51's most recent comments suggest an HD future for his franchise. With just a little bit of polish, those two could easily transform from good-looking Wii games into gorgeous PS3 and 360 titles.[Thanks, tmacairjordan87!]
Rune Factory 3 sprouts on DS
The Rune Factory series is showing that it is still, at heart, part of the Harvest Moon franchise -- mostly by having lots of sequels. The latest issue of Famitsu reveals another, Rune Factory 3 for DS. This is actually the fourth Rune Factory, counting Frontier on Wii.In addition to his duties as a farmer, new protagonist Maisu, who features a character design right out of Tetsuya Nomura's sketchbook, can transform into monsters, gaining different abilities in battle and interacting differently with other characters out of battle.According to IGN's translation, the game now features "active seeds" that grow into plants that can be used in battle! Most exciting farming game ever.
Half-Minute Hero was based off a side project Flash game
Half-Minute Hero wasn't always meant to be a commercial title; it was originally just an ordinary flash game until producer Kenichiro Takaki saw its potential. Takaki, along with the game's director Kotaro Yoshida, explained in the latest issue of Famitsu PSP+PS3 (via PSP Hyper) that Half-Minute Hero was inspired by some of Yoshida's work he had done during his spare time, specifically a Flash game that only took him a day to make. Takaki was amused with the concept and pitched the idea of making a retro game for PSP, liking the fast-paced gameplay and old-school art style most of all. From there, the rest was history. If you've yet to see Half-Minute Hero, be sure to check out our gameplay clips. We instantly fell in love with it and we think you just might, too.
Grasshopper's PS3 game may make Marvelous 'bankrupt'
Grasshopper Manufacture has been quietly working on a PS3 game whilst working on their No More Heroes games on Wii. The mysterious PS3 game will be published by Marvelous Entertainment, but the ambitious nature of the project may compromise the small company's financial stability. "If we do that [game] we might go bankrupt," Yasuhiro Wada, president of Marvelous Entertainment, joked to Siliconera. "We are making it, but if we make everything then it's a little too risky."Suda51's studio is known for creating hyper-violent and stylized games that tackle controversial and difficult subjects. In addition to No More Heroes, the studio has made killer7 (pictured) and Flower, Sun and Rain.
Impressions: Ju-on: The Grudge (Wii)
Making a horror game for a "casual" audience requires a reorganization of priorities. While something like Resident Evil is intent on scaring the player, there are a lot of gameplay elements aside from fear, like inventory management and even accuracy. These elements make for a well-rounded game, but they can actually prevent the player from experiencing all the game's scares. AQ Interactive's Ju-On: The Grudge, being released in North America this October by XSEED, takes out all the "survival" from a survival horror game to create what XSEED calls a "haunted house simulator," focused entirely on scaring the crap out of players over and over again. And from what we saw, it works.%Gallery-63975%
Desperately Struggle not to freak out at new No More Heroes 2 details
The latest Famitsu issue, in addition to some stuff about Metal Gear or whatever, also features a blowout article about the latest game from Kojima's friend and colleague Suda 51, No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle. The article shows that the UAA assassin's organization and its liaison, Sylvia Christel, have returned, along with (necessarily) new assassins like the #50-ranked Nathan Copeland. Desperate Struggle occurs three years after the events of the first game, and Travis Touchdown has been called back into action after Bishop from Beef Head Video is captured by gang members, according to IGN's translation. To take on these new assassins, Travis Touchdown has developed new techniques -- like dual wielding beam sabers, as seen in the scans. It may just be because the scans are tiny, or because we're insane for No More Heroes, but it seems the graphics have been refined for this adventure. We'll find out on the 30th when a new trailer debuts!
XSEED publishing Valhalla Knights: Eldar Saga this summer
We must admit, we were curious about the state of the Marvelous/XSEED relationship when we found out that Ignition had grabbed the publishing rights for Muramasa: The Demon Blade. The two companies seem to be doing okay, though, because XSEED just announced that it will publish Valhalla Knights: Eldar Saga for the Wii in North America this summer. Rising Star previously announced it will handle European publishing.This will be the first console entry for the formerly PSP-exclusive series, and adds two-player online coop to the series' action-RPG gameplay. Unlike the PSP games, this version lacks separate battle screens, with real-time battles taking place on the main world map. [Image via Inside-Games]
