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Rising Star's Q1 lineup for Europe includes Fragile, Way of the Samurai 3
Rising Star Games has announced a European release for Fragile (as Fragile Dreams), Namco Bandai's action-adventure game about exploring a haunted, post-disaster Japan, in March 2010. That's around the same time XSEED plans to bring the Namco Bandai title to North America. Also in March, the publisher will release Rune Factory Frontier on Wii, and Avalon Code and My World My Way on DS. Before that, in February, Rising Star will release Half-Minute Hero on PSP, and, through "affiliate label" Gamebridge, the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of Way of the Samurai 3. We've got Rising Star's full lineup listed after the break.
This Week on the Nintendo Channel: Punch-Out!!!
Yes, okay, there are three demos for DS games up on the Nintendo Channel, including one for the Monsters vs. Aliens game and the return of TrackMania. Great. Whatever. All of that is just filler for this week's main update: this Punch-Out!! video. The pink sweatsuit is back. The full list of new things that aren't this Punch-Out!! video (and one that is) can be found after the break.
This Week on the Nintendo Channel: Jazz
This week, the Nintendo Channel has plenty of videos and, much to our surprise, some new DS demos as well. Avalon Code is back, and it brought its friend Trackmania DS along for the ride. Then there's the lovely Nintendo fluff for Wii Music that you can see in the video above. Want the full list? Click past the break and you can have it for the low, low price of free.%Gallery-27713%
This Week on the Nintendo Channel: Repeat Performance
If you run to the Wii today to check for new demos on the Nintendo Channel, you will face disappointment for two reasons: first, none of the available demos are new, and second, one of them is Imagine Ice Champions again. The good news: if you missed the Avalon Code demo last week, it's back! For the rest of you, it's DS charging time, we suppose.The new videos this week feature footage of the upcoming New Play Control ports of Mario Power Tennis and Pikmin, along with a new Sonic and the Black Knight video and stuff like Henry Hatsworth for DS.%Gallery-22487%
Mark it in your datebook: Avalon Code coming March 10
The Marvelous/XSEED publishing superteam has announced a release date for Matrix Software's action RPG Avalon Code. Should you RPG fans finish Blue Dragon Plus and Legacy of Ys this week, you'll still have Avalon Code to look forward to on March 10.Avalon Code tasks players with filling a magical "Book of Prophecy" with monsters, people, and everything else found throughout the world. Once profiled, the pages from this book can then be used to alter the game world and "influence a myriad of parameters from monster attributes to weapon strength." The book is also useful for identifying stats and elemental weaknesses about monsters you encounter. %Gallery-22487%
This Week on the Nintendo Channel: Avalon Code
Hey, is that -- could it be -- a demo available for a regular game? Somehow, a demo for Avalon Code, Matrix Software's action RPG designed neither for babies nor grandmas, has slipped past Nintendo's attention and onto the Nintendo Channel. Grab it before Nintendo notices and replaces it with My Fun Facts Coach! Also available is a demo for MLB Fantasy All-Stars 2K9, the sequel to last year's bizarre, cartoony baseball game. Head past the break for the list of available videos! A note about formatting: we've decided not to list the demos that are available every week. You guys know you can get the Flash Focus demo whenever you want, without us telling you.%Gallery-22487%
DS Daily: Holiday rush, continued
Elebits. Moon. Big Bang Mini. Retro Game Challenge. Personal Trainer: Math (like it or not, it's a first-party release, and thus high-profile-ish!). The Chase: Felix Meets Felicity. Legacy of Ys. My World, My Way. Magician's Quest. Fire Emblem. Dragon Quest V. Puzzle Quest: Galactrix. Avalon Code. Blue Dragon Plus. We just went through Gamestop.com and culled genuinely interesting games coming out in January or February in North America. The list above represents a hasty gathering of quality games coming out in just these two months. Isn't the schedule supposed to slow down after the holidays? We kind of don't have a real direction for today's discussion topic, only general marveling about the next two months on DS. Even if some of this stuff gets delayed, the DS still has a lineup in January or February to rival or beat most fall/holiday lineups. Who plans to buy more in these two months than they did in late 2008? Who else is really, really overwhelmed?
Avalon Code all dressed up for your viewing pleasure
Matrix Software's intriguing Avalon Code may be in limbo at the moment -- already out in Japan, and not scheduled for release in English until next year -- but that doesn't mean we're not keeping an eye on the ARPG. You may not be wielding your own special book for a while yet, but you can certainly watch someone else do it. In Japanese. And admire their elaborate costumes while you're at it. Gallery: Avalon Code
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%
E308: From mop-tops to monsters, Avalon Code looks the part
Put this in your logbook: Avalon Code looks resplendent. Matrix Software has already demonstrated its mastery of the DS hardware through its remakes of Final Fantasy III and the soon-to-be-released Final Fantasy IV; and if the latest dozen screenshots are anything to go by, Avalon Code and its mop-topped hero can stand proud next to either of those. Thank goodness it's heading this way!%Gallery-22487%[Via press release and Gamekyo]
E308: XSeed localizing Game Center CX DS game, Populous DS
XSeed's list of E3 announcements just came in, featuring super awesome surprises! First, they've somehow gotten the U.S. publishing rights to Namco Bandai's Game Center CX: Arino no Chousenjou, the DS fake-retro-game collection based on the TV show! This winter, the company will release it in North America as Retro Game Challenge, which actually fits in nicely with the Retro Game Master title used for the American debut of the show. They've also announced a localized release of Populous DS for this fall.The announcement provides official confirmation of U.S. releases for both Korg DS-10 and Avalon Code, as well. Still no Steal Princess, but we can't muster up any outrage about that right now.[Via press release]
Avalon Code heading west, Steal Princess, Luminous Arc staying put
Marvelous has some intriguing DS wares on the horizon, yet it looks like that's where most of it will stay -- on a horizon far, far away from the majority of us. Sob.Part of a recent financial report from the publisher contained forecasts for forthcoming releases, as spotted by a keen-eyed Siliconera commenter and posted on NeoGAF. The estimations for Avalon Code's were notable, as they included figures for the U.S. and Europe, which in turn tells us we'll be getting the diary-keepin' ARPG here in the west at some point before March 2009.Alas, we'd only just finished chest-bumping one another and shouting stuff like "HELL YEAH" when our excitement was tempered by the realization that Luminous Arc 2 and Steal Princess didn't have figures for the U.S. or Europe. This (probably) means that those games won't be localized this financial year (despite our hopes for the former). That's not to say they'll never make the trip across, of course, but for now it's one in, and two out.%Gallery-22487%%Gallery-15251%[Via NeoGAF]
More information for your Avalon Code logbook
Matrix Software's Avalon Code affords players a decent amount of customization in terms of weapons: as revealed in this latest update, you'll be able to equip a weapon in each hand, from a selection including swords, axes, crossbows and other implements. In addition, you can use items to add elemental attributes to those weapons, increasing their effectiveness against certain types of monsters. We're sure you'll be able to identify monsters' elemental weaknesses on sight, both from having played an RPG before or from possessing a modicum of common sense (if there are ice monsters, for example, they would obviously be weak against Cap'n Crunch fire), but just in case they aren't obvious, that information will be among the data gathered when you attack the enemy with your book.
Filling your diary in Avalon Code
This gameplay trailer for Matrix Software's Avalon Code provides a nice representation of the ARPG's gameplay, as far as we can tell: fast-paced battles against big hobgoblins in silly hats, with menu controls in the lovely book-like interface on the bottom screen. Here, we can see a player switching out characters in the middle of this hobgoblin battle.Interestingly, data about the hobgoblin doesn't appear in the book until the hero has pulled off a combo attack against the creature. It appears that the basic attacks still caused damage, but that there's some kind of prerequisite for obtaining monster information.We're pretty sure the actual game will have sound, by the way.%Gallery-22487%
Marvelous unlocks Avalon Code site, screenshots
Japanese publishers have game promotion down to a science, nowadays. The routine: announce a game in Famitsu, release a bare official site for the title several days later with artwork and a few shots, update the site sporadically for the next several months until the game's release, launch, and move on.Marvelous Interactive has kicked off the second stage of its operations, putting an Avalon Code page online just days after debuting the ARPG in this week's issue of Famitsu. You won't find any video or downloadable items there yet, but you can preview a dozen images to check on what developer Matrix Software is preparing for the game's 2008 release.The screenshots don't look bad -- they're about on par with what we've seen in Namco's Tales titles on the DS and the Final Fantasy III/IV DS remakes, the latter examples being titles Matrix had its hand in. Hit the gallery below to see if Avalon Code's 3D is for you. %Gallery-22487%[Via NeoGAF]
Final Fantasy remake developers reveal new original ARPG: Avalon Code
Matrix Software has been in the press most recently for their work on the remakes of Final Fantasies III and IV. Before that, they had their own original action RPG, Alundra, which was released in the U.S. on the PlayStation by the decadent Working Designs. Their latest project is another original work, this time for Marvelous: an action RPG called Avalon Code. From what we can see in the scan, it has impressive 3D action on the top screen, with an art style reminiscent of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles. The bottom screen appears as a book, and shows information about onscreen monsters, as well as your inventory. New details should show up for this game by the end of the week; until then, squint away in wonder!
