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Shin Sangoku Musou: Fighter's Deal
Looking for a cheap new DS game? Does it have to be good? If not, we'd like to direct you to Play-Asia's latest weekly special, the Japanese version of Dynasty Warriors DS: Fighter's Battle. The importer has marked the game down to $9.90, with five days left as of this post.The concept of the game is what makes it both somewhat of a failure in general and bizarrely compelling enough to make us curious: it starts with the extremely action-oriented Dynasty Warriors series, and adds an extra layer of, uh, card collecting to the button-mashing combat. The 3D graphics weren't terribly impressive, but who knows? If you love Dynasty Warriors, this may be a diamond in the (very) rough.
GDC08: Warriors Orochi announced for US release
Koei has just announced the PSP version of Warriors Orochi will be heading stateside. According to the press release, "Warriors Orochi for PSP boasts the massive seamless battlefields of the console versions ... The handheld release includes all 79 playable characters, and features 2-player co-op play via wireless (ad-hoc)."The hack and slash is about the Serpent King Orochi who somehow manages to use his powers to alter time and space, thereby fusing the worlds of Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors. Warriors from Ancient China and Feudal Japan will have to team up together to fight this supernatural menace.Check out the very first English language screenshots in our new gallery below.%Gallery-16619%
Imports: Dynasty Warriors 6 trading figurines in Japan
Excited about Dynasty Warriors 6 coming out next week? Perhaps the Japanese are excited for you too, because a new line of DW6 trading figurines will be hitting their hobby shops on February 16. That's just three days before the game's North American release, giving western importers another reason to splurge on DW collectibles. The figurines are 140mm-160mm tall (that's 5.5 to 6.2 inches) and are priced at 840 yen (US$7.80) each. Each figurine comes with detachable weapons, a picture card, and card stand. If you do plan on importing these figurines in celebration of the new Dynasty Warriors game (or perhaps Chinese New Year!), keep in mind that these figurines are part of a trading series. That means you won't know what's inside the box until you open it. Finding people to trade figurines with might be difficult to find in the west, so try looking for an importer that'll sell the entire collection.
Dynasty Warriors 6 goes gold, plus new screens
With the North American release of Dynasty Warriors 6 just one week away, Koei confirms that the game has gone gold. Dynasty Warriors 6 is expected to ship out to North American retailers by February 19. It'll still be a good seven days before we actually get back to our exciting (read: familiar) adventures in ancient China ... so in the meantime, have a gander at these new screenshots: %Gallery-5413%
Samurai Warriors: Katana cuts into Wii in January
Koei, the name behind such diverse titles as Dynasty Warriors, Warriors Orochi, and Dynasty Warriors: Gundam, has confirmed plans to bring Samurai Warriors: Katana, a first-person Samurai Warriors spin-off title for the Wii, to North America on January 15, 2008. While we have to admit the name carries more appeal than the previous title, Samurai Slash, the announcement of yet another arcade-style title set in Feudal Japan does little to stir our interest, and given the frantic nature of these games our arms are tired just thinking of having to flail madly at never ending waves of on-screen bad guys. Call us lazy, but sometimes, just sometimes, we'd rather just press a button. Even so, with "nearly" 30 hours of gameplay promised on top of an included two player versus mode, Wii owners looking to tap into their inner samurai finally have something to look forward to playing. If you need us, we'll be taking a nap.
Dynasty Warriors 6 announced for the PS3
According to Gamers Creed, Koei just announced the release of Dynasty Warriors 6 for the PlayStation 3 at the PlayStation Premiere event in Tokyo that happened earlier today. Not a whole lot of additional information was announced, but we did hear TGS will be the big unveiling of the game. Also, according to other sites Dynasty Warriors 6 is planned for release this year in Japan, so it sounds like it should be hitting the shelves shortly after it's unveiling.Koei has never been ashamed to milk that franchise for all its worth, so it's not a huge surprise we're getting a new Dynasty Warriors but it's still exciting. Hopefully they will be able to address some of the issues that plagued the last-gen versions (i.e., incredible fogging, low rez textures, repetitive graphics and shallow gameplay). Dynasty Warriors: Gundam is a decent attempt at a next-gen DW, but isn't quite what a lot of people were hoping for. Will DW 6 be able to satisfy our next-gen hack-and-slash needs?
PSP Fanboy Theatre: Volume 26
PSP Fanboy offers the latest and greatest movie and game trailers, formatted for the PSP in this new weekly feature. Check it out every Saturday. PSP owners can download files wirelessly via m.pspfanboy.com.Instructions: Save all movie and thumbnail files to the VIDEO folder. These high resolution 480x272 videos require firmware 3.30 or above. (Note: OE custom firmware will also play these videos.)New for PSP: Get selected videos delivered automatically to your PSP via our new RSS feed. Dynasty Warriors:Gundam [PS3, 360] Download MP4 (11.5MB) | Download JPG The following videos are featured after the break: Lair (PS3), Rise of the Argonauts (PS3, 360), Sicko, Interview
Fusing the world of Gundam and Dynasty Warriors
In a recent conference call with the press, Namco Bandai's localization producer Nobuaki Taguchi revealed numerous new details on its upcoming Gundam brawler. The game, which now has a confirmed August 28th ship date, is the first Gundam and Dynasty Warriors game that will feature both English and Japanese voices.Although there will be no downloadable content, it appears that fans will have a lot to look forward to. There are two main game modes to explore, "Official" and "Original" mode. In "Official" mode, players will go through classic Gundam storylines based on the official manga and anime series. "Original" mode weaves a new tale for the game, that somehow manages to incorporate the various Gundam universes involved. Some of the series to be incorporated into the game include Mobile Suit Gundam (the first Gundam), Gundam Seed, G Gundam, and Gundam Wing.
New screenshots and art from Dynasty Warriors: Gundam
The awkwardly (but aptly) titled Dynasty Warriors: Gundam is coming to PS3 and Xbox 360 later this summer, and Namco Bandai has released a plethora of new screens and artwork for the title. Developed by Koei's Team: Omega Force, the creators of the original Dynasty Warriors series, the game has players using fan-favorite mechas from "more than 6" TV series (we're assuming that means 7?).%Gallery-4062%
Gundam comes to America, gets a silly title
According to IGN, Namco Bandai confirmed today that Gundam Musou will be released in North America under the new moniker Dynasty Warriors: Gundam. It is scheduled to come out towards the end of summer on both the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 platforms. The game sold well in Japan, but not up to Namco Bandai's expectations. They had expected it to have an attach rate of over 50% though, which seems a tad high for this game. So maybe they were being a bit overly optimistic. Regardless though, it makes sense that they would expand the release market to increase their revenue return. Hopefully this will be better than their previous PS3 Gundam attempt. The Japanese reviews were favorable, and the Dynasty Warrior games have always been a guilty pleasure of mine, but the graphics don't look real hot and the DW formula has grown a little stale. Also that new name bugs the hell out of me. It's descriptive sure, but it makes me think of this guy.
Producer spills his guts on Dynasty Warriors DS
Yoshihiro Kishimoto, producer of Dynasty Warriors DS: Fighters Battle, conducted an interview recently with Pocket Gamer. He describes the challenges in fitting the game onto the DS, and talks about the decision to go with buttons rather than make use of the stylus. We think carving through hordes of enemies at a time with the stylus would have been pretty entertaining, but maybe that's just us.The screens and video that we've seen so far of Fighter's Battle haven't exactly inspired us to go on a crazed rampage of sword wielding destruction, but we remain ever hopeful that this will change once we get the US version into our blood-soaked hands.
A long look at Dynasty Warriors DS
Well, this video is better than the screenshots, at least, but are we alone in seeing that seizure-inducing ripple effect? At least it mostly fades once you get off the wooden flooring and out onto the grass and dirt. But maybe Dynasty Warriors DS is right up your alley. Watch the video, judge for yourself, and let us know.
Koei's chief executive resigns... maybe this is why.
Our reasoning behind Kiyoshi Komatsu's resignation is pretty simple: he was tired of doing the same thing over and over and over and over, but the rest of Koei disagreed. They alienated him at work, egged his car, stole his milk money and whatever else people can do to be good old-fashioned jerks. So, he decided he couldn't take it anymore and said he was resigning because of "personal reasons". Sound about right?Replacing Komatsu is Kenji Matsubara, a man who joined the company in 2001. While his expertise has mainly been concentrated in online content as well as mobile phone titles, he's excited enough to take over and lead Koei on the path to ultimate glory.What I found interesting was that Koei was established in 1978. That's a long time ago! Especially to sit around and work on the same period in Chinese history. But, we'll soon see how they handle the Hundred Years War.
Gundam Musou HD promo movie now downloadable
Gundam Musou, thank Koei, looks nothing like Gundam: Crossfire. And the other differences between Musou and last year's ugliest new-gen duckling aren't merely superficial ones -- Koei's game appears to have some depth, more gameplay modes, and... did we mention that it's not butt-ugly? To help you see why this game ranks near the top of Famitsu's readers' most wanted chart, and why Sony has okayed a PS3 hardware bundle, publisher NamcoBandai has just released a promo movie on the Japanese PlayStation Store. Gundam fans and Dynasty Warriors alike should get in there (set up a fake Japanese account for access) and get downloading. "Pronto."
Romance of the Three Accessories
Happy News about Games Related to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms Day! So far, it's been a solemn event that we've observed respectfully, thinking about how ugly DS games affect us all. But we've got marginally better news for you, so don't take down your traditional NGRRTK Day decorations. Hori have released some relatively nice DS accessories in a black-and-gold color scheme to tie into the release of Sega's new card-based arcade adaptation Sangokushi Taisen DS, including a stand, a DS card case, and a stylus. Sure, they're not totally new items-- the stand looks to be the same design as the one reviewed by CheapyD, but they're black, with goooooolden eeeeemblems on them.We like the blackness of this set, but we aren't sure about advertising any affiliation with Sangokushi Taisen DS or any other arcade-fad card games. Also, we like to keep our DS systems in our gentle, loving hands while we play, not relegated to a cold, unfeeling stand. It's a DS-fan thing; we have a very positive opinion on the concept of touching.[Update 1: fairly major; this set is NOT a tie-in to Shin Sangoku Musou DS, but to a VERY SIMILAR-LOOKING Sega card-battling game Sangokushi Taisen DS that also uses the classic Three Kingdoms story as its setting.]
Dynasty Warriors DS Screens (horrifying 3D ahead)
Koei, ever the masters of careful, deliberate game design, have been judicious with their Shin Sangoku Musou (Dynasty Warriors) series, taking care not to saturate the market with incrementally-upgraded sequels and spinoffs, and sequels of spinoffs, that serve only to extract as much cash as possible from fans. Oh, wait, we were thinking of someone else. That is exactly what Koei does. Their most egregious cash-in: this new Dynasty Warriors DS. Dynasty Warriors games aren't exactly renowned for their graphics, but this... is an insult to fans of the series. If we are being a little harsh on Koei, it's because every game they release that is not a Gitaroo-Man sequel (on the DS this time, please!) is like a jaggy little polearm poking us ceaselessly.Note to developers: when you're thinking of making a DS game (and we've all been there, right?) please ask yourself if it really needs to be in 3D. If the answer is "yes," then ask yourself if it really needs to be on the DS. We love our little system (hence the title, focus and content of this site) but 3D can be a hit and miss affair. "Enjoy" some screens after the post break! Oh, did we mention that there's some kind of inscrutable card system tacked on for some reason?[Via NeoGAF]
Koei's Fatal Inertia, Bladestorm to miss Euro PS3 launch
Two of Koei's most notable PS3 games (particularly notable for not being Dynasty Warriors) have been delayed in Europe until Summer 2007. The developer has opted to miss out on the Euro PS3 launch, instead spending some more time on polishing futuristic racer, Fatal Inertia, and non-futuristic hack 'n slasher, Bladestorm: The Hundred Years' War.No indication was given whether the delay affects the Xbox 360 versions.
Another Wii sword fighter inbound
With the confirmation that Koei's Samurai Warriors spin-off is heading to the North American Wii, we have to wonder how many sword-fighting games we'll be able to handle in the long run before seppuku becomes an attractive alternative. Sengoku Musou Wave will be redubbed Samurai Slash in the West, a title that's impressively accurate in describing the actual gameplay. If slashing things from a first-person perspective sounds familiar, it's because Red Steel attempted the very same thing. The upcoming Dragon Quest: Swords boasts a similar concept as its primary gameplay mechanic and eventually, LucasArts will get around to making that Star Wars lightsaber game. The fun parallels between swinging the Wii controller and swinging a sword essentially demand that such games be made, but just like with any other console, we could eventually face a flood of me-too titles built around the same, unchanging concept. Even on a system that encourages innovation, game developers face the danger of lapsing into a lazy genre trap. Is the "guy with two guns" game any better than the "guy with a sword" game?(And where's the "guy with two sticks" game?)
TGS 06: Which games support wireless? [Update 1]
The good folks at IGN have compiled a fantastic list of games that support ad-hoc (local) wireless and infrastructure wireless. It's been slow to start, but more and more games have been adding support for internet play and downloadable levels, and they should be commended. The games that use Infrastructure mode include: Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters Monster Hunter Portable 2 (downloadable levels only) Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Kingdom of Paradise 2 (downloadable items only) Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology (online leaderboard & downloadable levels only) Mahjong Fight Club P-Kara While this isn't a huge list of games, it's a huge improvement over the early years of the system's life. I'm happy with the support we get from heavy-hitters like Ratchet & Clank and Metal Gear Solid.[Update 1: This list is only of games present at TGS. There are tons of other games that feature wireless support that aren't on display.]
Metareview - Samurai Warriors 2
After a two-year absence from consoles, you may have thought that Korean publisher Koei had forgotten about its fledgling Samurai Warriors series. Not a chance, tomodachi! It's just too easy for developer Omega Force to feast on the considerable assets of the Dynasty Warriors, Xtreme Legends, and Empires games, and swap out ancient China for feudal Japan. Staying true to form, this entry adds only minor, Madden-like increments to the series. And Koei isn't finished for 2006. Samurai Warriors 2 Empires is due in November for PS2, while Dynasty Warriors Vol. 2 for PSP arrives next month. GameSpy (70/100) was the most generous, praising the dynamic battlefields and new modes: "The game could have benefited from one or two full-fledged alternative modes, but it does include a challenging tower mode. There's also a board game mode called Sugoroku, which is a variation on a Japanese board game that somewhat resembles Monopoly." GameSpot (60/100) is calling for a seppuku of the outdated graphics engine, but found one honorable feature: "To its credit, Samurai Warriors 2 does change up the skills and upgrades system a little bit, forcing you to purchase new skills in between levels with gold you collect. Unfortunately, the tangibility of these upgrades isn't always apparent, so it can sometimes feel as though you're plunging money into nothing." TeamXbox (55/100) was disappointed with the limited Xbox Live options: "Koei feels that rather than going up against a friend in any form of real time combat, people would enjoy fighting against a CPU-controlled general while your friend does the same in a time-based competition. Needless to say, they're mistaken. When people take their games onto Xbox Live they want to feel like they're online, not like they're playing the single player game all over again." See also: Metareview - Ninety-Nine Nights
