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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]
PSN Tuesday: Test drive Split/Second, ModNation Racers
PSN Tuesday's big draw this week is kickin' the tires on Split/Second, developed by the same folks that brought us the equally gorgeous Pure. For those interested in DLC, there's new stuff for BioShock 2, Batman: Arkham Asylum and, naturally, LittleBigPlanet. PSP owners can pick up Harvest Moon: Hero Of Leaf Valley and Worms: Battle Islands. Split/Second isn't the only racing game with a demo -- ModNation Racers is also available for a test drive. Check out the full update after the break. Choose your platform to view the corresponding release list: (Note: Continue past the break to view both release lists.)
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.
Harvest Moon: Hero of Leaf Valley coming to PSP this April
Natsume continues milking the Harvest Moon franchise, with a new game coming to the PSP later this year. Hero of Leaf Valley promises to be "the biggest PSP Harvest Moon adventure yet." This time around, players must farm their hearts out in order to save Leaf Valley from the evil Funland Corporation. Multiple endings are promised -- we hope one of them involves your vegetables combining to form a mech that destroys Funland Corp. (That might be unlikely, though.) Harvest Moon: Hero of Leaf Valley will be available in April for $29.99. %Gallery-84159%
Report: Rising Star regains rights to Marvelous games after stock sale
Even though Marvelous Entertainment just sold off its controlling stake in European publisher Rising Star Games, Rising Star will continue to bring Europeans Harvest Moon, No More Heroes and other Marvelous games. Due to low sales in the West, Marvelous sold its stake in Rising Star to Japanese publisher Intergrow. When this deal was announced late last week, it led to speculation that Rising Star and other publishers would then have to license Marvelous games on a case-by-case basis to publish them in Europe. However, Rising Star managing director Martin Defries told MCV that Rising Star has reacquired the publishing rights in Europe. "I am delighted to have secured further additional backing from an important Japanese company, whilst continuing our content relationship with Marvelous Entertainment," Defries said. Sales would suggest that an unfortunately small number of people are affected either way, but it should be comforting to some of you to have a reliable pipeline for Marvelous products.
BlizzCon 2009 Insider Trader: Cataclysmic professions part two
A week has passed since BlizzCon 2009 and we're still digging up more news, getting clarification from the blues, and analyzing all of the panels. Last week, Insider Trader discussed some of the major professions-related features coming up in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, the next expansion pack. Pass through the break to learn all about: Profession racial abilities and how they will be changing. The new direction for Alchemy. A totally revamped Fishing system! Archaeology details and speculation about the leveling process. The evolution of Inscription. Then, continue on to part three of this discussion to learn more about: Reforging and (not) repairing our own gear. Woodworking. Profession specializations and the new direction for differentiation.
Natsume announces new cheery, squishy games
Natsume's E3 lineup features mostly what you would expect from Natsume (Harvest Moon and lots of it, plus the previously announced Afrika on PS3), but the company revealed a few unannounced games, some of which are even surprising.The WiiWare Harvest Moon game, Harvest Moon Ranch Store, is being localized as Harvest Moon: My Little Shop, which is pretty adorable. The company has also announced a new cheerleading game called Cheer We Go for the DS, as well as Squishy Tank, a puzzle game about little animate tanks. If it looks familiar to you, you were probably a really attentive DS Fanboy reader: it's a localized version of Yawaraka Sensha, a licensed puzzle game released last year in Japan by Success.%Gallery-64359%
VC/WiiWare Tuesday: WarioWiiWare
Between Virtual Console and WiiWare this week, Japan has seven new games to download. Well, six if you don't count Konami's WiiWare edutainment screensaver thing (which also acts as kids' introduction to offensive DLC) as a game. And 79 if you do, and also count each available minigame in Asobu! Made in Ore. It's a big week, is what we're saying.WiiWare is especially sparkling this week, with the aforementioned Asobu, which lets players upload and play games made in the DS Made in Ore (also out this week), as well as the Japanese debut of Bit. Trip: Beat and the Harvest Moon WiiWare spinoff. As for Virtual Console, we're hoping to see Banamco's arcade sci-fi track and field game Numan Athletics make the long, long, long jump out of Japan!Virtual Console Kirby's Dreamland 3 (Super Famicom, 1 player, 800 Wii Points) Numan Athletics (Arcade, 1-4 players, 800 Wii Points) Youkai Douchuuki (Arcade, 1 player, 800 Wii Points) WiiWare Asobu! Made in Ore (1-4 players, 800 Wii Points) Bit.Trip: Beat (1-4 players, 500 Wii Points) Kodomo Kyouiku Terebi - Aiue-O-chan (1-2 players, 700 Wii Points) Harvest Moon: Ranch Store (1 player, 1,500 Wii Points)
Marvelous Entertainment asks 17% of staff to retire, downgrades to 'Okay Entertainment'
Marvelous Entertainment, whose game division develops and publishes the Harvest Moon series, in addition to publishing games like No More Heroes, Muramasa, and Hero for 30Sec, is seeking "voluntary retirement" from around 20 staff members as a cost-cutting measure.Employees are incentivized to take the company up on its "offer" between now and April 3 with a special severance package. The retirements will take effect April 30 -- right around when Muramasa comes out in Japan. That's kind of unfortunate, because it'll make playing this awesome-looking game in a bit more bittersweet for all those former employees.[Via Edge]
Set up shop in the first Harvest Moon for WiiWare
Marvelous Interactive's first WiiWare Harvest Moon game is unconventional in more ways than its delivery method. Harvest Moon Series: Makiba no Omise (Ranch Store) allows players to open and operate their own store in the Harvest Moon universe.Players can choose the type of business to run, design the look, and then man the store, making and selling the products. In the magazine scans, we can see a soft-serve ice cream shop, in which fresh milk is used to create ice cream, which is then dispensed and sold; an Easter egg shop (yeah, that's a little weird), in which the player decorates and sells eggs, and a juice shop in which you can turn the farm's fruits and veggies into juice, which you presumably sell back to the farmers.Ranch Store goes on sale in Japan April 28 for 1,500 Wii Points. We feel pretty confident Natsume will bring it over here.
New Harvest Moon title coming March 2009 in Japan
According to Weekly Famitsu, a brand new Harvest Moon title will be making its way onto on the PSP this upcoming March in Japan. In Harvest Moon: Sugar Village, the third PSP title of the farm simulator franchise, you are responsible for the fate of a ... you guessed it, village. Gameplay elements include the ability to make home improvements to your house and to woo girls -- honestly, this sounds just like every other Harvest Moon game. No word yet on whether this game will see a release in the Western market.[Via PSPHyper]
DS releases for the week of December 8th
Looks like everywhere is skinny on games this week. On the one hand, that's probably good; these release-heavy weeks can be hard on the ol' pocketbook, and this is supposed to be a season of giving, not a season of going out and buying all the games you want. On the other hand, if you're in Europe, you're looking at just one game this week. At least it's Harvest Moon and not Teddy Bears Go Shopping or something.So who's up for C.O.R.E.? Build-a-lot Cate West The Vanishing Files C.O.R.E. Driver's Ed Portable Left Brain Right Brain 2 Slingo Quest Gallery: C.O.R.E.
Harvest Moon: Welcome to the debut trailer
Can you keep up with all these Harvest Moon games? It's getting pretty difficult, but the recently-announced Harvest Moon: Welcome to the Wind Bazaar should be memorable, thanks to the multiplayer elements ... but it's still Harvest Moon, and that means farming.As with Animal Crossing, you can invite friends to visit your farm, but in Welcome to the Wind Bazaar, you can put them to work! You know someone's a good friend when they start taking care of your business.
Rune Factory 2 manufactures U.S. release date
Marvelous has confirmed it will release Rune Factory 2 into the crowded, choppy waters of the Christmas games market, announcing a November 18th release date for the fantasy-themed farm-me-do.As that's still four weeks away, we advise passing time by reading up on our hands-on experience with the title, planning crop strategies, and preordering at either Gamestop or Amazon for your very own plush squirrel. Oh yes, and saving money. We're not kidding. Have you seen the DS line-up for November 18th? Yowza.%Gallery-25983%[Via press release]
TGS08: Rising Star reveals four for Europe
Rising Star Games just unfurled an official list of Marvelous games that it plans to localize for Europe, including Luminous Arc 2, Avalon Code, Rune Factory 2, and a fourth game that is yet to be announced for North America: Steal Princess. We expected most (if not all) of these to reach us at some point, mainly because Rising Star Games is totally awesome and we love them.Previous evidence has suggested that Steal Princess and Luminous Arc 2 won't be appearing before the end of March 2009, but we can't be mad at Marvelous. The company has had an action-packed Tokyo Game Show, and this is the cherry on top of a whole pile of other excellent announcements for Nintendo fans. Make the jump for screens, screens, and more screens! %Gallery-34394%
Rune Factory 2 preorder bonus is nuts
Well, nut. Acorn, really. Plush acorn ... in the grip of a plush squirrel. Never mind. Chances are, if you're a fan of, uh, fantasy-themed farming simulations, you've already got a copy of Rune Factory 2 preordered -- if only because there are no games in that narrow subgenre that aren't called Rune Factory.But hey, even if you don't care about growing whatever or tending whatever or fighting whatever, Natsume will give you this plush squirrel if you preorder their game from Amazon. They keep trying to use cute plushes to sell us games ... and it continues to have a shockingly powerful effect on our resolve. Marvelous is at least as talented at designing adorable, plush-ready mascot characters as they are at designing repetitive, addictive games.
Nintendo conference screen mega-roundup!
Click for full-sized image Nintendo announced a lot of games last night at their Japanese conference. Many of them, like Punch-Out!! here, were brand new. Some, like Supan Smasher and Cosmic Walker, we still don't know anything about. But we've got screenshots. So many screenshots. After the break, you'll find galleries of all the new games, along with new screens of some upcoming games we've known about for a while. Of special interest to us: the previously-announced Oboro Muramasa Youtouden, coming to the US as Muramasa: The Demon Blade, because it looks super hot, Karaoke Joysound Wii, which appears to have art by Parappa creator Rodney Alan Greenblat, and Takuto of Magic (Wand of Magic), which appears to be a followup to Taito's LostMagic on the DS. %Gallery-33381%
Harvest Moon: Waku Waku Animal Puppets
Our Japanese is not quite good enough to ascertain the nuances of this dramatic scene, but what we could understand was self-evident anyway. In this ad for Harvest Moon: Waku Waku Animal March, the frog wants the cow to give him a ride like the animals in the game do. The cow (spoilers!) relents, and the frog gleefully hops on, only to find the ride slow. The cow complains about being out of energy, and the frog cheers him on, telling him to summon his "cow power." Then the frog takes off on a date with Keromi-chan. In the second part, after the break, the frog and cow decide to make use of Waku Waku Animal March's photo features. Wackiness ensues, culminating with the frog asking the cow to take some "sexy" shots. And that's why you should buy Harvest Moon: Waku Waku Animal March.
Draw Harvest Moon art to win a bumper crop from Natsume
Do you like drawing Harvest Moon cows over, and over, and over again? We're not going to go investigating (for the same reason we try not to investigate any fanart on the intertron), but we suspect that there is a thriving Harvest Moon fanart community -- and they're going to love this.To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the farming series, Natsume is giving away a pile of stuff, including a DS Lite Kit, a plush cow and chicken, strategy guides for both Island of Happiness on the DS and Tree of Tranquility on the Wii, and unspecified "additional goodies!"All you have to do is draw a picture (like, on paper) featuring any character and any animal from a Harvest Moon game, and mail it in. Twenty winners will get stuff! Official rules can be found at the link.
DS releases for the week of August 25th
You want a game? We got your game right here, from titles that were already supposed to be out, to those featuring teeny, tiny ninja dudes. And ... what's this? It seems we barely heard a whisper of From the Abyss, both for its Japanese release and subsequent localization, and now here it is. That can't bode well for the ARPG, but we'll be keeping a few fingers crossed, just in case. Commando: Steel Disaster Digimon World Championship Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli From the Abyss Garfield's Fun Fest Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness My Chinese Coach MLB Power Pros 2008 N+ PictoImage The Sims 2: Apartment Pets Head past the break for the other major market releases for the week.
