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Another Week in Japan: Hardware and software numbers 6/9-6/15
Last week in Japan was all about Sony dominance, as Metal Gear Solid 4 rocketed the PS3 into first. The Wii still did pretty well for itself, though, nabbing the third spot in hardware and nine of the top thirty in software:Shiren the Wanderer 3 managed to remain in the top ten despite the Metal Gear bullying, but everything else was as we expected. Just click past the break if you want to check out the software rankings and sales numbers.
Shiren 3 packed with online features
Chunsoft is adding a suite of online features to the newest entry of its revered roguelike series, further distinguishing Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer 3 as more than just "a 3D remake of the original SNES game." Topping the list of online additions is a new versus mode in which you can take a break from having monsters, traps, and other common dungeon hazards kill you -- instead, you can die at the hands of other wandering Shirens.Like the rescue feature introduced in Shiren the Wanderer DS, you can resurrect your friends who've died during their dungeon travels (they can resurrect you, too!) in Shiren 3. Also, online leaderboards and a pot-trading system will be implemented in the Wii version, putting that Nintendo WiFi connection to good use. All that's left to ask for is a US release from Sega!
Shiren's mysterious tote bag
Sega is selling a "DX Pack" of Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer 3 from their SegaDirect online store, like they are for NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams (and also Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity). While the included swag doesn't approach the elfin cuteness of the NiGHTS figurine or the spinniness of the keychain, it's much more, uh, spacious.Along with a telephone card (whose design has yet to be shown) the DX Pack of Shiren 3 will include this handsome tote bag. Buying video games just wasn't enough like donating to PBS. DX Packs will either come with the telephone card (8,680 yen, or $79) or without (8,000 yen, or $73). This isn't the first time Sega has handed these things out -- the same bag was packed in with copies of Shiren the Wanderer DS.[Via Famitsu]
A supernatural advantage in Shiren the Wanderer 3
You're likely to need all the help you can get in Mysterious Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer 3, whether it comes from enchanted weapons, scrolls, or -- for the first time -- talismans called o-fuda. While o-fuda are used in Shinto tradition to ward off harm from a home or family, their effects are a little more direct within the Mystery Dungeon. Shiren uses o-fuda to afflict status ailments on monsters.Another advantage new to this entry: other characters. It's rare in a roguelike to have someone around who not only isn't a monster, but will in fact help you kill monsters. Not that any of this matters. Only the most dedicated, and luckiest, players will do anything in the game besides die. We have to keep telling ourselves that before we get sucked in to basically the hardest RPG on the Wii.
Plenty of Sega screens to go around
Sega is releasing a lot of potentially awesome stuff in the near future (in Japan), including NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams, Ghost Squad, and Mysterious Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer 3. They showed these products (and some stuff for other systems or whatever) to some lucky Japanese gamers at a consumer conference, and sent some new screens out to the rest of us poor folks.We're happy just to stare at some screens, however, as they are all filled with excellence! Except for this one from NiGHTS. The screens from Shiren the Wanderer are old, but still nice-looking. NiGHTS is actually looking good, and Ghost Squad's got ninjas and bikini girls in it. The only thing that could have made this bounty of screens any more exciting would have been new Mibri & Tebri content. Next time, maybe.
Chocobos Wark onto Wii
Why don't scientists show a little more imagination? Genetically engineered Chocobos would solve most of the world's problems in a stroke. Traffic jams would be a thing of the past and all those cute yellow beasties running around would keep everyone way too happy for war or, y'know, other bad stuff.It may be some time before this vision becomes a reality, leaving us with Chocobo's Dungeon: Labyrinth of Forgetting, which is heading to Wii in the not-too-distant future. The Chocobo's Dungeon games feature randomly generated levels, making them a little different every time you play. Details on the new title are pretty thin on the ground at the moment; expect more news at the end of the month.
