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Tales of Phantasia coming to iOS, Jupiter developing Tales of Bibliotheca
Namco Bandai's classic RPG Tales of Phantasia is coming to iOS platforms in Japan this fall, Siliconera reports. Tales of Phantasia has seen several ports since its debut for the 16-bit Super Famicom in 1995. The upcoming mobile port is based on 2006's PSP version Tales of Phantasia: Full Voice Edition and features a new touch-based control scheme, along with microtransactions that give players access to health-boosting items. Namco Bandai additionally revealed that The World Ends with You developer Jupiter is developing Tales of Bibliotheca, an upcoming anthology release for iOS. Bibliotheca condenses the storylines of previous Tales games as a series of interactive narrative sequences and boss battles. The first chapter of Bibliotheca, which focuses on Tales of Vesperia, will be available later this month as a free download in the iTunes App Store in Japan. Eleven additional chapters will be released as paid DLC in the months after the app's initial launch.
Taiko Drum Master Wii U Edition bangs a gong Nov. 21 in Japan
The latest issue of Famitsu (via Gematsu) has revealed a new Taiko Drum Master game for Wii U, fittingly titled Taiko Drum Master Wii U Edition. The Wii U installment in the popular rhythm series is due on November 21 in Japan and supports up to four players. The Wii U version is compatible with the drum peripherals of the Wii game, Taiko Drum Master Wii: Everyone Party. Taiko Drum Master Wii U Edition can be played solo either directly on the WiiPad or using it in conjunction with the TV. New features include a Baton Pass Performance mode where multiple players work together on the same song, some Mario and Luigi masks and an exclusive "Wild Pokemon Battle Medley" tune. The Taiko Drum Master series made its debut in Japanese arcades before receiving its first home console port on PS2 in 2004. The series has since been a fixture for Namco, which has released ports on mobile, DS, 3DS, Wii, PS2 and PSP.
Soulcalibur Lost Swords is a free-to-play PSN exclusive
Namco Bandai Europe announced Soulcalibur Lost Swords this morning, the publisher's latest in its growing line of free-to-play PS3 games. Like Tekken Revolution, Ridge Racer: Driftopia, and Ace Combat: Infinity before it, the first F2P Soulcalibur will be released over PSN, and will be exclusive to the platform. Namco Europe's announcement comes after Lost Swords scans were unearthed from Weekly Famitsu (via Game Jouhou and Gematsu). According to the Namco announcement sent to Joystiq, Lost Swords is a "free-to-play single-player experience and will feature numerous famous fighters including Siegfried and Mitsurugi." We've reached out to Namco to confirm the game features no multiplayer. Also, while the announcement is strictly for Europe, it seems likely Lost Swords will come to North America too, given a regional trademark unearthed for it a few months ago. While details are sparse, Namco promises more info at next week's Tokyo Game Show, where we'll also get to see more of the upcoming Soul Calibur 2: HD Online.
Ridge Racer Driftopia enters Steam Early Access
Drifters and powersliders alike may now partake in Namco Bandai's free-to-play PC racing game, Ridge Racer Driftopia, which launched today as part of Steam's Early Access program. Developed by Ridge Racer Unbounded creator Bugbear Entertainment, Driftopia focuses on asynchronous online competition, challenging players to beat their friends' best times on 10 included racetracks. Players can also equip bonuses and stat boosts before each race, evening the odds in the global leaderboards. A public beta for the PlayStation 3 version of Driftopia recently kicked off in Europe, and a release is slated for later this year.
'Tales of Zestiria' trademark filed in Europe
Namco Bandai has made discovering what the next Tales game will be a bit of a puzzle, but a European trademark for "Tales of Zestiria," which comes darn close to the "Tales of Zestoria" spotted last month, might shed some light on the situation. Or spur speculation. Either one, really. You can check out the trademark yourself by visiting the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market's website and searching "Tales of Zestiria." Siliconera spotted the filing, which is attributed to Namco Bandai, and is currently listed as "under examination." While many trademarks never amount to anything and there are plenty of "Tales of" trademarks, the fact that Namco has filed for a trademark in the European market that nearly matches one filed in Japan is reason to pause, and continue to tell these tales of trademarks.
Report: Next Dynasty Warriors: Gundam announced for PS3, Vita
Shin Gundam Musou, the fourth entry in Namco Bandai's Dynasty Warriors: Gundam series, will make its Japanese debut on December 19, Polygon reports from an issue of Famitsu. While Shin Gundam Musou will retain the series' trademark gameplay involving mobile suits from the Gundam anime mowing down hordes of enemies en masse, the game is said to feature a more realistic aesthetic than Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 3. This allows the development team to add features such as spot damage, which may seem minor, but should increase the game's ambiance and help players differentiate its 100-plus playable mobile suits. Shin Gundam Musou will feature both an Official Mode that borrows storylines from several Gundam anime episodes, as well as an Ultimate Mode, which offers an original plot, the site says. Past entries in the Dynasty Warriors: Gundam series have been multiplatform, but this latest game is slated for release exclusively on the PlayStation 3 and Vita. So far there's been no word on an American release of Shin Gundam Musou, but if franchise history (and public affection for Gundam) is any indicator we can expect Namco Bandai to reveal an English-language iteration of the game in due time.
Dark Souls 2 beta pushed back a week, sign up starting today
The first round of the Dark Souls 2 beta begins on October 12, followed by another round a fortnight later on October 27. The PS3 closed beta was originally billed for October 5, but hey, if there's one thing Souls players ought to be good at, it's patience. At least they can while away a bit of the wait by signing up for the beta through PSN; as far as we can see sign-ups aren't available in North America yet, but they are in Europe, where brave adventures can register via one really simple click right over here. Seriously, the other thing Souls players should be good at is spotting traps. Try this link instead, and be safe in the knowledge Dark Souls 2 hits PS3, Xbox 360 and PC in March 2014.
Spawn crawls out of Hell and into Soul Calibur 2 HD Online
Soul Calibur 2 HD Online, a downloadable remix of the original PS2 fighter for Xbox Live Arcade and PSN due this fall, will include Spawn as a playable character. Soul Calibur 2 featured console-exclusive characters when it launched on PS2, Xbox and GameCube back in 2003. Heihachi was the PS2's character and confirmed for Soul Calibur 2 HD Online when the game was announced back at San Diego Comic-Con; Spawn was exclusive to the original Xbox version and the GameCube port got Link. And we already know what you're thinking: Will Link be in the game? All signs point to nope. A comparison video between the original game and the Online revamp shows much-improved character models and arenas on top of the addition of online play. Soul Calibur 2 HD Online will be available for download on PS3 and Xbox 360 sometime this fall.
Tales of Link announced for mobile
Namco Bandai has announced Tales of Link for mobile, making it the first of the company's "Tales of Trademark Bonanza" to be officially announced as a game. Gematsu reports the game is due this fall in Japan. Since Tales of Link is legit, we now have no baseline for what's real or not as a "Tales of" name anymore. Other recent Tales of trademarks registered by Namco Bandai include Tales of Memories, Tales of Favorite, Tales of Zestoria, Tales of Creales, Tales of Catastora, Tales of Jin, Tales of Ansis and, by far our personal favorite, Tales of Bibliotheca.
'Tales of' trademark registration by Namco Bandai
Namco Bandai must be having a giggle by this point, as the publisher has registered several more trademarks for "Tales of" games that make us question the very fabric of reality. Siliconera has translated a report by Hachima Kiko, which found trademarks for Tales of Memories, Tales of Favorite and... Tales of Bibliotheca (stop it!). This follows other recent Tales of Trademarks, which include (deep breath): Tales of Zestoria, Tales of Creales, Tales of Catastora, Tales of Link (good luck getting that past Nintendo's lawyers), Tales of Jin and Tales of Ansis. As Siliconera points out, not all these trademarks will turn into games, but it is fun telling these tales of Tales of Trademark Registration.
Dark Souls 2 closed beta starts October 5
Namco Bandai will launch a closed PlayStation 3 beta program for Dark Souls 2 on October 5, the publisher announced. Sign-ups for the beta will start after September 5, at which point players will see a registration announcement on the game's official Facebook page. Though the beta program is locked to PS3 owners, Dark Souls 2 will launch in March 2014 for PS3, Xbox 360 and PC. Our co-opinion of the game from our time with the E3 demo was positive, though we reluctantly admitted that we're gluttons for the game's unrelenting punishment.
Namco Bandai opens Vancouver studio to craft social games
A new Namco Bandai studio in Vancouver has opened its doors and will focus on development of social games for mobile and online. The Vancouver office, which Namco chose to open over Montreal and Toronto due to its abundance of digital artists and engineers in the area, currently employs around 30 individuals, the Vancouver Sun reports. Namco Bandai announced intentions to open the new Canadian studio, along with a new SIngapore office, back in April. The Vancouver gaming industry has taken its share of lumps over the last year or so. Ontario and Quebec continue to offer far greater tax breaks to video game companies, while layoffs at EA, Microsoft, Radical and more across 2012 didn't help matters. Still, Vancouver has a vibrant indie scene that continues to soldier on.
Tales of Xillia review: Xillia-rating
As a fan of Japanese role-playing games, you kind of have to get used to overwrought stories. There's some kind of meteor, or reborn god, or a god reborn as a meteor, and the hero has amnesia/a mysterious past/a tortured soul/a tragic destiny. High drama is pretty much par for the JRPG course, which is what makes PS3 exclusive Tales of Xillia such a wonderful surprise. It has the same kinds of trappings you'd expect from the genre, with man's misuse of nature threatening a cataclysmic catastrophe, but it's presented with a charming lack of artifice or self importance. You're on an incredibly important mission, but that's no reason to be a sourpuss about it, right? You play as either Milla, the physical embodiment of the Four Spirits who benefit mankind, or Jude, a young med student who makes a horrifying discovery when he unwisely tags along after Milla one night. They're an unlikely pair, the deity and the doctor, but their chemistry is undeniable. The companions they pick up along the way are familiar RPG archetypes – the slick mercenary, the young girl who hides a great power, and so forth – but they act the way people accidentally thrust together toward a common goal probably would. They don't crest a hill to stare off into the distance and ponder their fate. They chat, they try to get to know each other, they tell jokes, they share stories. It's all so wonderfully ... normal. Inasmuch as trying to rescue the spirits of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water before they can be used to power a massive gun can be, anyway.%Gallery-185484%
Namco 'looking for the right time' to discuss Tekken X Street Fighter
Tekken series producer Katsuhiro Harada told Siliconera today that Tekken X Street Fighter is still in development, with Namco waiting for the right time to present it after it announced the game almost three years ago. "We will say first off that the game is still in development, so you don't need to worry about that. There are several reasons why we haven't released any updates. One of the reasons is, Street Fighter X Tekken was released. That still had updates until recently." Harada added that Street Fighter X Tekken managed to cultivate a new audience, one that wasn't already invested in either of the titular fighters it draws from. "That was very unexpected, but quite cool. It's something we want to take care and grow. Rather than throw out our title right away while those people are still interested in [Street Fighter X Tekken] we are looking for the right time because we are still developing [Tekken X Street Fighter]." The last update Harada provided on the game was back in March, when he announced Namco was looking at "changing and considering platform strategy."
Ace Combat Infinity is free-to-play
Namco Bandai Europe confirmed Ace Combat Infinity is the first free-to-play entry in the long-running flight sim series. The PS3 game was announced last month with little detail, and today Namco filled in a few of the gaps, revealing Infinity features both a single-player story campaign and an online mode, the latter for two teams of up to four players. According to Namco Europe's press release, Infinity wings its way to PSN later this year. When approached last month, a Namco Europe spokesperson told us the game was set to be available on September 25. Either way, expect it to loom overhead in the near future.
Dark Souls modder introduces first-person punishment
YouTuber Soul Slasher has come up with a way to make Dark Souls a more classic RPG experience in the vein of King's Field, by switching the player perspective from third-person to first-person. Soul Slasher explains in the video above that this effect was accomplished through the use of several third-party programs, including his own custom HUD mod. Unfortunately, this first-person mod isn't available to the general adventuring public. Dark Souls is an open-world action game developed at From Software categorized by its extreme difficulty and minimalist plot. Its sequel, Dark Souls 2, is slated to launch in March 2014.
F1 2013 launches in October
Codemasters' F1 2013 is dated and primed, ready to cross Europe's finish line on October 4 before taking the podium in North America on October 8. The release date is a little later than usual for the yearly motorsport series, which typically arrives in late September, but matches neatly with the weekend of the Korean grand prix, when the real-life F1 season starts to gear towards its conclusion. For fans who prefer their F1 with more Mansell-power, the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC game offers a new 'F1 Classics' mode featuring 1980s drivers and circuits, introduced of course by the retired but still legendary voice of F1, Murray "He's lost both right front tires!" Walker.
SoulCalibur 2 HD Online side-by-side comparison trailer pairs off the old and the new
We're honestly a little disappointed that the debut trailer for SoulCalibur 2 HD Online doesn't welcome us back to anything, like say, a historical stage of some sort, but we are pretty jazzed about how good these updated character models and arenas look. We're also still looking for confirmation as to whether any souls still burn. When the game launches on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 sometime this fall, its fresh online mode will be powered by "brand new netcode overseen by the Project Soul development team," according to the press release tucked away after the break. The game will also feature every mode from the original version, including the epic single-player "Weapon Master" mode and its dozens of hours of infuriatingly difficult content.%Gallery-194247%
Soul Calibur 2 HD Online coming to 360, PS3 this fall
Namco Bandai has just announced Soul Calibur 2 HD Online at San Diego Comic Con, Shoryuken reports. The fighter is headed to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 this fall, and as the name suggests is a high-definition, presumably online-enabled remake of the 2003 PlayStation 2 version of the game. As such, it will include the PS2 version's console-specific character, Heihachi of Tekken infamy. [Technically, the original Xbox version came close to HD, outputting at a maximum of 720p in a 4:3 aspect - Ed.] No word on whether Spawn (the Xbox version's exclusive character) will ever be available, though we feel safe in assuming that Link won't be repeating his cameo from the GameCube port. We're keeping an eye out for the inevitable trailer and screenshots, but for now let's re-enter the stage of history with the game's original cinematic intro sequence.
Ace Combat: Infinity announced for PS3
Namco Bandai announced the next Ace Combat entry, dubbed Infinity, for the PS3 today. The air-sim's reveal came via a teaser that whooshed by like a concorde - remember them? - before rushing away into the distance, leaving little of substance in its trail. When asked, a Namco Bandai Europe spokesperson told us Ace Combat: Infinity is set to be released via PSN on September 25 - that could indicate a North American arrival the day before, going by PSN traditions. He added there'll be more updates to follow in the coming weeks, so we'll keep our eyes on the skies for info as it comes.
