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Atlus brings The Dark Spire to light
Atlus has confirmed the theory that their upcoming The Dark Spire is a localized version of Success' Genmu no Tou to Tsurugi no Okite -- either that or they dropped whatever game they had planned under that name after they saw that everyone thought it would be Genmu. Probably not, but it's a fun idea.The Dark Spire is a first-person dungeon RPG playable in two distinct graphical styles: a vintage "wireframe" look straight out of Wizardry, or a striking, high-contrast "modern" look. Players control a band of adventurers who attempt to survive the tower stronghold of Archmage Tyrhung in order to gain possession of a magical jewel. According to one baffling screenshot, characters will be able to learn skills including dance, knitting, and "arts and crafts" along the way.One element we were not aware of in the Japanese version is the running narration on the bottom screen, which makes The Dark Spire feel much more like a text adventure. The narration, combining atmospheric storytelling with Atlus humor, is just one of the reasons this game is going to make us attempt to play a hardcore dungeon RPG.%Gallery-21932%[Via press release]
Ciel II satellite successfully reaches orbit, gears up for DISH service
If there were any doubts about the purpose of the Ciel II satellite, it's safe to say those questions have been answered. According to a glowing release on International Launch Services' website, the latest bird to leave its hands has successfully reached space, and now it waits to "ultimately be moved to 129 degrees West longitude where it will deliver digital television services to Canada and the contiguous United States." Brian Neill, chairman of the Ciel Satellite Group, was quoted as saying that "now that the spacecraft has delivered an initial signal, Ciel, our founders, investors, and our customer, DISH Network, can look forward to Ciel II's operation early next year." No word on what exactly DISH will use this for "early next year," but it doesn't sound like we'll be waiting long to find out.[Thanks, Joe]
Atlus grabs Steal Princess, mystery RPG
Atlus is no longer content with just producing the games we want. With recent releases like Ontamarama and Draglade and new announcements like Ys I & II, Trackmania DS, and the perplexing My World, My Way, the company has turned their attention toward localizing other companies' games we want. We appreciate the personal service. According to the ESRB, the company has picked up at least one more of our fascinations: Marvelous' Steal Princess, a nice-looking ARPG with a map editor. They're also planning to release some kind of dungeon RPG called The Dark Spire, whose origin is currently unknown. Based on Atlus's longstanding Success connection, a Siliconera reader has posited (as we did when we saw the description) that this might be Success's Genmu no To to Tsurugi no Okite, the first-person dungeon RPG which allows players to switch between a gorgeous retro line-art mode and a gorgeous black-light-poster-esque mode. At least, we hope that's what it is!Maybe you can identify Dark Spire based on the ESRB's description, which we've reproduced after the break.%Gallery-34394%%Gallery-21932%
Ask WoW Insider: Minimum raiding requirements
Every Monday, we put a question back to you readers, and see what you have to say about a current issue in the World of Warcraft. This week's question actually comes from our Guildwatch column -- Lugbruz is an officer in Reforged on Runetotem (they just downed M'uru -- grats!), and he has a question about how much you need to raid to be successful:Are there other guilds who have a 3 night/week raid schedule (or less) who have enjoyed success in high-end raiding? We killed Mu'ru before the nerf and don't know of any other crew has gone so far with so little time. Our primary competition of the server was at equal progression with us pre-nerf and they're a 5 night/week crew.We assume that 3 nights (4 hours per raid) is the minimum, but can endgame be done with less?Lugbruz
Factors that could make or break WAR's longterm success
Syp over at the Waaagh! Warhammer Online blog looks at the title's 750,000 registered players figure and observes that merely buying the box (or the download) shouldn't necessarily imply that monthly subscription dollars will follow. There are a number of factors involved that will determine how well Warhammer Online does in the long run. There's no doubt that WAR is enjoying its time in the limelight -- even lukewarm reviews of the title still give it decent ratings, not to mention the hardcore contingent of players who are either fans of the IP or simply love that it's not World of Warcraft. But are many of these registered players only in WAR for the time being?Syp writes about this in his "Future Tense" post, and breaks down the factors that could make or break the title's success in the long run, not limited to the upcoming expansions from other titles, word of mouth, and the longshot of breaking the pop culture barrier, as WoW has. Did you enjoy this? Make sure to check out our Warhammer guides: Massively's Character Creation Guide and our WoW Player's Guide to Warhammer. Plus, don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!
SpaceX's Falcon 1 makes orbit after four attempts
It's been a long road plagued with disappointments and major mishaps, but SpaceX (and founder Elon Musk) has finally made history -- on Sunday the company's Falcon 1 rocket reached orbit. After three attempts to bring the dream to life, the space exploration company succeeded in putting the first privately-developed rocket into space. The liftoff was seen live during a webcast, and the company's site was continuously updated with news, including a message written at 16:26PDT reading:T+0:08:21 Falcon 1 reached orbital velocity, 5200 m/sNominal Second stage cut off (SECO) - Falcon 1 has made history as the first privately developed liquid fueled launch vehicle to achieve earth orbit!!!!!!Needless to say, after the trials and tribulations SpaceX has gone through (including the loss of Star Trek star James Doohan's ashes), this must be welcome relief... as well as the birth of a potentially lucrative new enterprise. Er, no pun intended.[Via Slashdot; Thanks, Kenneth]
GC 2008: 'Tornado' ads both suck and blow
Behold: Tornado. What's the game about? Does it really matter? From what we can stomach gather, this ludicrous video – complete with a crappy rip-off of Danny Elfman's Pee-Wee's Big Adventure score – shows a game that looks like a Katamari Damacy clone, is played by swirling the stylus on the DS screen, and stars the love child of Shadow the Hedgehog and Aero the Acro-Bat.Oh, and what is up with that poor raccoon? Or the little girl with the dead eyes and creepy smirk? The whole thing looks like footage David Lynch could have shot after going off his drugs. There's a second spot after the break, but you might want to take a moment to compose yourself before clicking through, since it's just as hysterically awful. You have been warned.
Tornado to blow through Europe
Ignition won't be forgetting about Europe when it comes to localizing Tornado, Success's Katamari Damacy-esque action game about a bunch of heroic cats who employ tornadoes to tidy up the mess left by a devious galactic Prince who wants to claim all possessions on Earth. Hey, it could happen! The game is currently slated for a fall release in Europe, but Ignition might want to hurry up -- the game still lacks a release date in its native Japan. While we wait for something more concrete, let the wind guide you gently towards our gallery and a dozen new images.%Gallery-25101%[Via press release]
Atlus lovers, head to Amazon
We've already established that having the Atlus name on the front of a box is usually A Very Good Thing, and look! Somebody at Amazon must clearly have been listening to us, as the uber-retailer has the following Atlus-published titles up for sale: Rondo of Swords -- $19.99 Draglade -- $13.39 Ontamarama -- $10.04 Contact -- $23.44 Touch Detective 2 1/2 -- $9.99 That's not all -- while we were scrounging though Amazon's bargain basement section, we found a couple of other potentially worthy additions to your DS library: Children of Mana -- $20.09 Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble -- $10.04 You can also get Ping Pals for $4.29. But like that deserves a functioning link. %Gallery-14108%
Create Lulz of the Unemployed Ninja, win stuff
Do you enjoy the Izuna character portrait comics on the official website? If not, you probably haven't read them, because they're delightful. Atlus is now offering a chance for the fans to share their own Izuna comics, and get a shot at some free stuff for doing so! All you have to do is pick one of four templates (each one featuring interactions between different Izuna characters), add text to a form, and submit your hilarity to Atlus for judging. The winner gets a copy of Izuna 2 and all the posters -- even the one that they didn't pick for Amazon copies!%Gallery-15250%
Izuna 2 QA causes a lot of pink hair pulling
Izuna 2: The Unemployed Ninja Returns is about more than mini-posters and sexy ninjas -- a lot of work goes into getting a game like this localized. Not only does a good localization team have to focus on the translation, but they also need to fix any bugs or problems that gamers found in the Japanese release. Apparently, fixing bugs for a roguelike is especially hard and frustrating, as you might have guessed.Here's the Quality Assurance stat breakdown, according to Atlus: Number of testers on Izuna 2: 6 Number of DS systems almost thrown against the wall: 6 Number of system-type bugs our testers reported: 104 Number of text bugs our testers reported: 259 Number of times the testers nearly gave the project lead a heart attack with a fake system bug: 3 Number of bugs our testers reported to which we responded: "That's not a bug, that's the way this game works:" 17 Number of monkeys we could have hired to do their job: 0 The production diary is actually a really interesting read that not only Izuna fans, but also people interested in the localization process should give a look. Besides, we always appreciate more insight on how the other side of the gaming industry works. Gallery: Izuna 2
Age of Conan surpasses 700k registered users
We've been quite taken aback by the responses many players direct at Funcom's Age of Conan. We're not sure if the accusations of the game being a "beta version" or just a "total POS" are the product of unrealistic expectations or are just general animosity towards a game that, at launch, lacks the polish of its biggest competitor. If you've got your ear to the ground, all this rabble-rousing would give the impression that Funcom's early success would be short-lived.The indication from Funcom however, is that this grumbling hasn't affected sales. They put out a press release today revealing that Age of Conan is sitting at over 700,000 registered subscribers worldwide. Game director Gaute Godager made sure to reaffirm the company's focus on shoring up the existing weaknesses in the game, acknowledging that retention is as important as aggressive growth in the MMO game. Did you enjoy this? Make sure to check out our Age of Conan destination page, including all of our interviews, hands-ons, galleries and original features!
Izuna poster overload!
The Izuna 2 poster situation has officially become ridiculous. Atlus has revealed that the cover of every copy will not feature the same mini-poster on the reverse; rather, each copy will have one of two pieces of arttwork. In addition, they've released the winning design from the Amazon poll. With the Gamestop-exclusive poster, there are now four different Izuna 2 posters. Each copy ordered from Amazon or GameStop will include two, one of which can be chosen. Crazy people can try to collect them all by ordering one copy from each retailer and just hoping for two different posters on the boxes.
Gamestop furthers Izuna's new modeling career
Not only is Atlus including a fold-out poster on the back of the Izuna 2: The Unemployed Ninja Returns boxart, they're bundling one of two provocative posters with Amazon orders of the game as well. But even that isn't enough coverage for Ninja Studio's roguelike heroine: GameStop orders of Izuna 2 will ship with yet another mini-poster featuring a more dressed, but no more demure, Izuna than the others. You could probably get away with having someone see this one on your wall. We predict a minor swell of unopened Izuna 2 copies on eBay shortly after release, sold by people who just couldn't choose a poster.
Ignition officially announces Tornado, first media blows in
Confirming Nintendo Power's statement, Ignition Entertainment sent out a press release announcing their intention to release Success's Tornado in North America. Surprisingly, the game isn't even close to being released in Japan yet: Success's barebones Tornado website still shows an "undecided" release date.As Toki, a member of the Cosmic Cleaners, Tornado players must use upgradable Tornado Machines to clean up the world and reclaim all the items, people, and buildings that a malevolent Prince has stolen from Earth. Like Katamari Damacy with a different rotational axis. The focus is on acquiring unique items, and completing levels in the Story Mode unlocks them in Arcade Mode for replay and continued collecting.The first English screens are available in our gallery. Take them for a spin, why don't you (oh man, sorry about that).%Gallery-25101%[Via press release]
Indiana Johnny and the Epic Escape Campaign
Likely capitalizing on this year's box office release for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, developer and publisher Success has announced a new adventure title that features a very familiar-looking archaeologist. Sporting a dusty brown fedora hat, Jonathan Westwood stars as an escape route specialist in Johnny's Epic Escape Campaign (Jonny no Dasshutsu Taisaku Ikusa). Though he isn't armed with a whip and he doesn't have a short Asian sidekick named Short Round, Jonathan will be escaping from four different scenarios that sound a lot like Indiana Jones movie titles: Akumu no Gamble Night (Nightmare Gambling Night) Nessa no Nuikyuu (Labyrinth of Hot Sand) Nuifu kara no Sasoi (Invitation from Hades) Wasurerareta Kaizokusen (The Forgotten Pirate Ship) Johnny's Epic Escape Campaign hits stores in Japan this August 26th, the same day Kingdom of the Crystal Skull opens in Japanese theaters. Swing into our gallery below for screenshots from the game!%Gallery-25084%[Via Game Watch, Siliconera]
Windy x Windam's new characters include another familiar face
The Windy x Windam website now reveals more of the Ninja Studio fighting game's cast. Of the new additions, you'll recognize Shino, who joins Izuna from Ninja Studio's Izuna roguelike series. The game's Vega (agile, masked, and creepy) quotient is being filled by the green-haired G, while the role of the Big Grappling Guy has gone to ... Big.The "system" area features a couple of new screenshots, including one of G transforming into some kind of monster. In addition to the life gauge and "boost" gauge, there's a circular "Windam Gauge" that seems to have something to do with power. Super attack gauge, maybe?There's a wallpaper of the boxart image in the "special" page. We're still not sure of Ninja Studio's ability to create a fighting game, but what they have so far looks neat!%Gallery-21768%[Via Insert Credit]
Tactical Guild looks like a mid-priced SRPG
Now everybody has remembered that, hey, Tactical Guild totally still exists, Famitsu has decided to post a blowout of screens from the game.In truth, it's not the prettiest game. In fact, it's visually closer to the original Final Fantasy than Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (which kind of explains why the game is ¥1000 cheaper than most DS titles), but we totally dig those chunky, shamelessly retro sprites. Famitsu also has some nice art of the game's protagonists to gaze and coo at, along with the usual ridiculous haircuts and clothes; buttons, for example, are serious business.Take a turn to run past the break for more screens.%Gallery-24373%
Age of Conan tops the million shipped mark
Since the launch of Age of Conan, Funcom has been enjoying almost constant successes in the media and in the marketplace. However meaningful you feel critical responses are to an MMO, they continue to be strikingly positive (though with a few exceptions, as always). They've knocked huge titles like Grand Theft Auto 4 off of the top of sales charts, and internal metrics have already put the existing player base above 400,000. In the latest milestone for the Norwegian developer, they've announced that they have surpassed one million units shipped worldwide in less than three weeks.While units shipped is a fuzzier number than units sold in terms of a metric for success, Funcom's VP of sales and marketing is already calling this the biggest MMO launch since World of Warcraft. While we highly doubt that Funcom is even going to approach the numbers that Blizzard has been slinging for years, what's clear is that their game is a tremendous success by most standards. What will be key for them at this point is building on this initial flood of users and doing their best to retain the subscribers they have. It doesn't take long to go from shiny new title to disappearing from your company's quarterly financial report.
Success brings out the heavily cute artillery
Another of Success's mysterious summer releases has been revealed. Yawaraka Sensha is your basic match-three-or-more puzzle game, in which touching an area of three or more contiguous same-colored items will cause them to disappear. But we totally love it simply because of the license. Yawaraka Sensha (Soft Tank) is a series of Flash animations about adorable baby tanks who are simply too cuddly and delicate for war.In addition to the main puzzle mode, which tells an original story, there are (adorable) minigames, the ability to customize a lil' tank, and even a mode in which you can mess with a Yawaraka Sensha and promote various reactions. For the first time, we now want to hug tanks.
