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Level-5's Hino wants to adapt Studio Ghibli's Castle in the Sky
Ni No Kuni is the first collaboration between Level-5 and Japan's famous Studio Ghibli, and Level 5 CEO Akihiro Hino hopes it won't be the last. Speaking during a group interview session at a pre-TGS event at Namco's headquarters in Tokyo, Hino noted that he'd like to work with Studio Ghibli again. "If there is a potential opportunity to work with them again," he said, through an interpreter, "yes, we'd like to work on some joint projects with them in the future – if there is, of course, a possibility."Concerning exactly what sort of project he'd like to pursue, we asked if Level 5 has had any discussions about adapting existing Studio Ghibli properties into video games. Hino said that he would love to but, naturally, Ghibli would have to approve any such projects. Corporate approvals aren't a very entertaining topic of conversation though, so we just went ahead and asked which Studio Ghibli film he would like to adapt. Given the opportunity, he said, he would adapt Castle in the Sky.That strange rustling you just heard was the sound of millions of fingers being crossed.
15 minutes of Ni no Kuni footage straight from Gamescom (bonus: British hosts!)
The Gamescom demo of Ni no Kuni was hands-on and, as expected, full of adorable moments. GameSpot UK's editor supreme Guy Cocker narrates the proceedings alongside Namco's Hollie Bennett, which can be seen above.
Good morning! Here's a bunch of gorgeous Ni no Kuni screens
It's still pretty early, and perhaps you've yet to drink that first cup of life-bringing java – believe us, we understand. Why not treat your eyes to these beautiful, vibrant screens of Level 5's Studio Ghibli RPG, Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch.
Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch launches Winter 2012
You know how back in September Level-5 said Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch would launch in early 2012? Yeah, throw that out the window -- the developer must have meant to say it'll launch in the other winter of 2012.Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, a collaboration between Level-5 and legendary animation outfit Studio Ghibli, will launch later this year in the unspecified Winter 2012 time frame. It'll be released exclusively on the PS3 with both English and Japanese voiceovers.
Ni no Kuni commercials offer a more realistic look at another world
Ever thought "Ni no Kuni looks nice, but I wonder what it would look like without all that Studio Ghibli art?" Neither have we, but you should watch these Japanese live-action ads for Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch anyway. In the brief clip above, and one more after the break, voice actress Mana Ashida explores realistic CG interpretations of locations from the game. She's almost certainly looking at green screens, but she looks suitably impressed! We're also impressed, but we have the benefit of actually seeing the impressive vistas.
Have brunch with a bunch of Ni No Kuni cutscenes
Red capes, regal cats and illuminating rhinoplasty. Good luck with that Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch localization, Namco Bandai. (Seriously, don't screw this up!)
Ni no Kuni's 'Magic Master' goes digital on PlayStation 3
Level-5 must have come under the impression that some people might not want an enormous book to accompany the upcoming PlayStation 3 version of Ni no Kuni. A new trailer reveals that the game's "Magic Master" will go digital on Sony's home console. You'll likely recall that when Ni no Kuni: The Jet Black Sorcerer launched for the Nintendo DS in Japan, it came packed with the 358-page behemoth to accompany your journey. Instead, the "Magic Master" will be reproduced digitally for Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, giving players access to its data at the touch of a button. Oh, you'd rather have two ridiculously cute characters from the upcoming game explain all of this to you? That option is also available to you, albeit in Japanese, just above.
PS3's Ni no Kuni coming to North America early next year
During a Sony Computer Entertainment Asia press conference adjacent to TGS, Level-5 CEO Akihiro Hino announced some very welcome news: the beautiful Studio Ghibli and Level-5 crossover for PS3, Ni no Kuni, will be released in North America. And now we know what Level-5 International America has been up to. The game is due in early 2012, so that studio must have been busy translating the adventures of Oliver and the lantern-nosed Shizuku in the magical, probably imaginary world of Ni no Kuni.
Tour the 'Another World' of Ni no Kuni in a new trailer
Not to be outdone by another series it previously worked on, Level-5 released a new trailer for the PS3 Ni no Kuni game, showing off a variety of locations in the Studio Ghibli-designed world. There's an old-world castle town, a dark graveyard, a ... volcano, an open sea, and some kind of sea creature village in a forest. Even if most of the locations sound like RPG standards, the trailer is worth watching. It's our best look at the game since it was announced, and the Ghibli-ized takes on those common locales are predictably lovely. Ni no Kuni comes out November 17 in Japan, and still hasn't been announced for release elsewhere.
Here's the 'Magical Gold' Ni no Kuni PS3
We expected the Japan-exclusive Ni no Kuni PS3 to be white with some gold art on it. But it turns out that it is gold with gold art, featuring the lamp-nosed sidekick character Shizuku. If that fits your idea of "magical", you'll be able to import the 160GB system starting November 17.
Ni no Kuni bundled with 'magical' PS3 in Japan
Level-5/Studio Ghibli tie-up RPG Ni no Kuni ("The Another World") comes with a deluxe spellbook on DS. Its PS3 counterpart one-ups the DS version when it hits Japan on November 17, by optionally bundling a whole PS3. The Ni no Kuni "Magical Edition" bundle will include the game and a special white and gold PS3, according to leaks from this week's Famitsu. It'll sell for ¥33,780 ($440). PS3 games are region free, so if you decide to import this from The Another World of Japan, you'll at least be able to play your local PS3 games on it. There's still no word on a localization for either Ni no Kuni game. [Image: Andriasang]
Ni No Kuni PS3 finally dated in Japan, still not announced anywhere else
Ni no Kuni, the RPG made through a collaboration between Level-5 and Studio Ghibli, came out on DS in Japan late last year. The PS3 version was shown at TGS, but still has yet to be released. Andriasang reports that the latest issue of Famitsu features a date for the Japanese PS3 release: November 17. Even if you've imported the DS game and its giant book, this one will be of interest. In addition to fancy HD graphics, the PS3 game has a new story about young boy Oliver in the magical "Another World," and a completely different battle system that is closer to real-time than turn-based. If you're just waiting on details of a western release ... well, there's still no word from Level-5.
Ni no Kuni (DS) preview: Turn the page
Ni no Kuni: The Jet-Black Mage on DS hasn't changed much since I saw it at last year's TGS, but a new demo allowed me a chance to (attempt to) use the game's spellbook accessory. It also offered me a shot at my first boss battle, which subsequently forced me to learn a bit more about the battle system. Read on for my impressions. %Gallery-102412%
Ni no Kuni (PS3) preview: Another Another World
My personal goal at TGS this year was to play Ni no Kuni on PS3, no matter how ridiculous a line I'd have to face at Level-5 to do so. As it turned out, the line wasn't ridiculous at all (yet), and I got an opportunity to discover if Level-5 has managed to transfer the look and feel of the legendary Studio Ghibli animation company into a PS3 game. Two demos were available, and I played a bit of both within my 15-minute window. One demo is town-based, and has Oliver and his weird lantern-nosed pal Shizuku talking to people in town (in Japanese, of course) to find their way into the "Colonel's" castle. After being rebuffed at the door, I realized that I wasn't going to figure out what I needed to do, and I'd spend my whole demo period trying to figure out enough Japanese to perform the task, so ... on to the next demo. %Gallery-96205%
Ni no Kuni: take a look, it's in a book
When we went into Level-5's TGS booth to play the DS version of Ni no Kuni, we were greeted with an ornate surprise: the spellbook accessory that comes with the Studio Ghibli/Level-5 role-playing game. We took a moment out of our strict 15-minute demo session to snap some quick pictures of the book, so you can see the kind of information inside. Not only does it include information about the items and creatures found in The Another World, it interacts with the game in puzzles -- our demo tasked us with finding a certain hinted word in the text on a certain page. %Gallery-102412%
Ni no Kuni for PS3 revealed, beautiful
As promised, Level-5 announced a PS3 Ni no Kuni game during a press conference today. Rather than being simply a PS3 version of the DS game, Ni no Kuni for PS3 bears a new subtitle: "Queen of the Holy White Ash," as Siliconera translates it. And it looks, well, like a Studio Ghibli movie in polygons. A comparison image on the game's website places a scene done in the game's engine alongside a scene from the animation, and they look shockingly similar! See the trailer after the break. Queen of the Holy White Ash won't be out until 2011, but the DS game will precede it. Level-5 also announced a Japanese release date for Ni no Kuni on DS: December 9, 2010. That version still comes with a hardcover book full of magic spells and information about the various creatures inhabiting the world. %Gallery-96205%
Level-5 and Studio Ghibli's Ni no Kuni delayed again
Those of us looking to recreate the Studio Ghibli movie experience of a young child being drawn into a magical hidden world will just have to be patient. Ni no Kuni, the DS RPG co-created by Level-5 and the legendary animation studio, has been delayed until this fall. (It had previously been delayed from last year to this spring.) Not much of an announcement of the delay was made -- just quiet indication from various Japanese gaming news sources that Ni no Kuni's scheduled release window had been changed to the fall. Perhaps as some consolation some new screenshots were released, depicting Oliver and a friend working on a car (seen above). If you'd like to know if this is a game worth waiting for (even if a localized version has not been announced), please direct your attention to our impressions of the TGS demo. [Via Andriasang]
TGS 2009: Hands-on: Ni no Kuni
Level-5's Ni no Kuni: The Another World is, in general, a pretty standard JRPG. However, it's a pretty standard RPG that takes place in a Studio Ghibli (Spirited Away, Ponyo, Princess Mononoke) world, and is thus magical. It really feels like you're inhabiting a Ghibli movie, from the appearance of swarms of cute little spherical characters to the lush forest environments. The frequent animated cutscenes and the persistent voice acting (every line of text in the demo, whether in a cutscene or spoken in a pop-up text window) is fully voiced, which helps the cinematic feel.
LittleBigPlanet team wants to work with Studio Ghibli
Perhaps you've heard of Studio Ghibli, the studio behind some of Japan's most revered animations? (My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, etc.) Media Molecule's Siobhan Reddy spoke to Develop about the company's success of collaborating with Japanese developers to produce content in LittleBigPlanet, such as the Metal Gear Solid level pack, and the Final Fantasy VII costumes. "They have been amazing. In fact, when we were in the US late last year we were introduced to Kojima and he told one of the level designers that he loved the design of the Metal Gear Solid pack."So what's next for the LBP team? Well, there's water -- but beyond that, the possibilities are endless. Reddy admitted that she would "definitely" like to work with "Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli." Imagine: a Princess Mononoke level pack, or a Totoro costume for Sackboy! While we're not sure if the LBP team will be able to get the attention of Miyazaki and company, we'd certainly like to see them try.
Level-5 and Studio Ghibli's Another World delayed until another year
Ni no Kuni (The Another World), the Level-5/Studio Ghibli RPG for DS that includes the huge spellbook, will no longer be considered Level-5's 10th anniversary game -- because it won't be out in 2009. The game has been bumped to spring 2010. A playable demo was available at the LEVEL-5 VISION conference, and the same demo will be playable at Tokyo Game Show, where it will also be handed out to lucky attendees as part of the Level-5 Platinum demo cartridge, which also houses Professor Layton and the Devil's Box and Inazuma Eleven 2 demos. Check out Andriasang for predictably lush new screens and artwork.
