namco
Latest
Thanksgiving app sales: Com2Us titles, Puzzle Quest 2, Infinity Blade on sale already
We've already seen a few app sales already this month, but companies are now starting the windup to the big Black Friday holiday, and things are going to get chaotic. Starting this weekend, and rolling on through the Christmas holiday (and even up to New Year's), new iPhones and iPads are going to be making their way as gifts into lots of consumers' hands, and that means that app developers everywhere are going to be fighting tooth and claw to get their apps installed on those new units. That makes it much more important to get into lists like the Top 50 paid and free apps. When Apple "freezes" the store for developers over the holiday, what's on those lists stays there, so there's even more incentive to sell. We're aiming to track app sales as much as possible -- stay tuned this week and all holiday season long to our holiday gift guide to see what's dropping and on sale now. In the meantime, here's what's already on sale this week: Hand-drawn adventure game The Train has dropped all of its episodes down to 99 cents. Developer Com2Us has put lots of its iOS titles on sale for a buck, including Homerun Battle 3D, Inotia 3, and Tower Defense: Lost Earth. Gameloft is also underway with a sale, including Eternal Legacy, the Gameloft Action Pack, and lots more for a buck as well. Infinity Blade is down to $2.99, both for Black Friday and because its sequel will be out on Thursday of this week. Konami's charming Gesundheit is down to just 99 cents, as is Pro Evolution Soccer 2011. The really fascinating action RPG title Fara is also just a buck. Namco Bandai is planning some big sales for later this week, but Puzzle Quest 2 is already discounted to $2.99. Breaking Art's Morning Motivation is down to $1.99 from $5.99, which will help with those post-Thanksgiving crises of gym dedication. The Comixology app has all 12 of the old Marvel Secret Wars comics on sale for just 99 cents each. Perfect time to catch up on some classic comics. Mortal Skies 2 is completely free today as well -- it's a pretty well-done shmup for iOS. The Wave Ride-esque Riptide GP is still on sale for a buck from last weekend. Stay tuned -- we'll probably end up doing a post a day this week about all of the various sales starting up on the App Store, so come back every day to see what a dollar can get you for great software on your iOS device.
Tales Studio being fully absorbed by Namco Bandai
Tales of Absorption? Tales of Dissolution? Namco Bandai announced this morning that it plans to absorb the Namco Tales Studio, producers of the company's successful Tales series, on January 1, 2012. No reason was given for the move. The Tales Studio is a wholly owned subsidiary of Namco Bandai formed in 1986 as Wolf Team, changing its name in 2003 when Namco became the majority shareholder. It has since been the lead studio of the publisher's flagship RPG series. It's not like Namco Bandai is planning to get out of the Tales business, since the publisher just raised its financial forecast based on the success of Tales of Xillia.
Seth Killian clarifies Street Fighter x Tekken's controversial Gem System
It may sound like a dull hum from all the way over there in Outworld, but the Street Fighter community has been a noisy, combative warzone lately, and not in a good way. See, ever since Capcom outlined Street Fighter X Tekken's Gem System, Street Fighter devotees (and competitive fighters in general) have been conducting heated debates over the system's merits, drawbacks and implications for serious tournament play, as well as the impact it will have on the casual fighting community. Seth Killian, Capcom Community Manager and face of all things Street Fighter in North America, chatted with Gamasutra to expound upon some of the Gem System's intricacies and the design philosophy behind it. First and foremost, Killian stressed that the system has been part of SFxT's design philosophy for years, and that it represents the proverbial "nerd feather" that intrigues analytical theorycraft-style gamers.
Watch Seth Killian demonstrate Street Fighter X Tekken's 'Gem System'
At this evening's Street Fighter X Tekken presentation at New York Comic Con, Capcom's Seth Killian took to an arcade stick to demonstrate the upcoming game's brand new "Gem System." Then game director Yoshinori Ono called it a mix of Street Fighter with Magic the Gathering. Seriously!
Ridge Racer Unbounded: Crashing through expectations
You know Ridge Racer, right? It's that arcade racing stalwart that occasionally revives itself for a new platform launch or awkward update, but consistently delivers drift-heavy, if not somewhat stale, racing mechanics? Or maybe you know it like I do, as a game to occasionally obsess over, to replay over and over while its electronica soundtrack bounces along in the background. Either way, Ridge Racer Unbounded is none of those things. Sure, Unbounded's driving still leans heavily on drifting, and the soundtrack is still composed of bouncy, synthetic beats, but Unbounded is an entirely different beast from previous entries in the series. It combines elements of both Split/Second and Need for Speed to concoct a hybrid Ridge Racer experience like none before, and -- at least thus far -- creates a surprisingly refined experience as a result.%Gallery-130924%
Namco's 'Rise of Glory' is one of the first iOS 5 games, launching alongside new iPhone
When Apple holds its big iPhone presser later today, one of the titles it'll be featuring as a showcase for the next iteration of iOS will be Namco's WWI-based dogfighter, "Rise of Glory." Despite being previously given a late September launch date, the game will now arrive "whenever Apple's next iPhone launches," Namco reps told me. And not only will it arrive with some extra juice from the new tech, but it'll also have all the bells and whistles that iOS 5 adds to Apple's suite of iOS-powered devices, such as iCloud and AirPlay support -- as well as a few other new additions from iOS 5 that Namco couldn't speak about just yet. I played the game briefly this morning at a Namco preview event on an iPad 2. Reps explained that it had been developed for iPad 2, the idea being that speculation on the next iPhone has it packing the tablet's A5 chipset (or something even more powerful). As the video above can attest to, Rise of Glory is a dogfighting game with tilt controls and some pretty swanky graphics. When it does eventually arrive on the App Store, it'll be available for a variety of iOS devices, but it'll shine on the still unannounced iPhone ... something. Update: Apple's iPhone 4S has been unveiled, albeit accidentally, and is said to launch in Japan on October 14, with an expected launch in North America and Europe later that week.
Street Fighter X Tekken media assaults TGS 2011
Because that crazy cutscene with Rufus wasn't enough, Capcom let loose some more Street Fighter X Tekken media for TGS 2011. Beyond crazy Rufus, we've got some footage of Rolento, Heihachi and a slew of other fighters. Plus, more farting Kuma! %Gallery-133757%
Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi trailer is full of yelling and punching
What else would you expect from Dragon Ball Z, right? This latest trailer for Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi chronicles the Frieza and Android sagas. There's also a giant monkey that shoots lasers out of its mouth, so that's pretty neat.
Dark Souls continues the prologue in ghastly poetic verse
Continuing the series of prologue videos for Dark Souls is today's extra creepy, lyrical reading of Part 2. It seems that at least one more entry awaits, wherein all will be explained (presumably). We'll start steadying our shields now in anticipation.
Tekken Tag Tournament 2 crowns the King of Japanese Arcades on Sept. 14
Japan will receive the Tekken Tag Tournament 2 arcade cabinets on September 14, with an international launch loosely slated for late September at the earliest. Now that we've gotten the easy stuff out of the way, here's the hard part: actually finding an arcade you can play this in. If you don't live in Japan, are you willing to take one expensive vacation just to play an arcade game? Of course, Namco's thinking about you stay-at-home types. You have plenty to look forward to in Tekken Hybrid, which not only includes the CG movie and an HD remake of the first Tekken Tag Tournament, but also an early taste of the sequel.
SoulCalibur 5 trailer born under the sword
Were you born under a sword? Or on a sword? Maybe near a sword? Close enough for SoulCalibur 5.
'Rally-X Rumble' trademarked by Namco
The next game in Namco's "Generations" series of creatively updated retro games may be a Rally-X revival. Siliconera found a European trademark for "Rally-X Rumble," filed at the end of last month. In case you never explored the filler games on your Namco Museum collections, Rally-X was a top-down maze game, essentially Pac-Man with cars, released in arcades in 1980. Players collect flags around the maze, while avoiding red enemy cars and stunning them with smokescreens. No matter how weird you might think it is to bring this game back, it's still not the weirdest revival. That's Dancing Eyes. Aero-Cross follows pretty closely.
EVO 2011 Results Roundup
This year's EVO Championship Series was bonkers, you guys. Not only did MVC legend Justin Wong get perfected into third place during the Marvel vs Capcom 3 grand finals, but The Beast took a bewildering fourth place in Super Street Fighter 4: Arcade Edition, ending two consecutive years of first-place victories. This was also the first EVO ever to feature a Mortal Kombat game, which is a major victory for both NetherRealm Studios and the MK kommunity. Historically, Mortal Kombat titles have never been considered balanced or polished enough to participate in high-level tournaments, and EVO's seal of approval goes a long way in legitimizing Mortal Kombat in the eyes of the fighting community. Check out the highlights reel above for some incredible displays of skill, dedication, and heart, and be sure to peep the full list of winners and finalists after the break.
New Street Fighter X Tekken teaser trailers make the wait unbearable
As any veteran fighter knows, a large part of what makes a Tekken game feel like a Tekken game is punching and/or getting punched by a bear. To be honest, we've been worried that this subtle nuance might have been lost on Capcom, as Street Fighter X Tekken's ever-growing character roster continues to feature zero bears. Thankfully, our fears appear to have been unwarranted, as the above trailer shows quite a bit of fur. Although, it is possible that Zangief has stopped waxing. A second teaser has been tucked away beyond the viel, and while those are some pretty Adon-lookin' feet, our money is on Gou Hibiki.
Dan and Anna knocked out of Street Fighter X Tekken's final roster
According to series producer Yoshinori Ono, Street Fighter X Tekken's character roster has been finalized, and it looks like last year's trailer was too much for Dan Hibiki to handle. Speaking with Siliconera, Ono stated that Street Fighter's pinkest protagonist "won't be in Street Fighter X Tekken" due to the fact that "he was killed by a Tekken character at Comic-Con last year." Ono also remarked that Tekken veteran Anna Williams will be staying on the sidelines as well, albeit for less lethal reasons. "As much as I personally wanted to have a cool Nina and Anna tag battle," he said, "the director was against putting Anna because we already had Nina in." While we sincerely doubt that Dan is actually, for-reals dead, we can't help but be saddened by the news. A Yoshimitsu Super-Taunt doesn't seem like it would have the same flair, you know?
Pac-Man & Galaga Dimensions save files are permanent, unable to be reset or erased
When Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D dropped earlier this summer without the ability to reset save files, gamers were justifiably mad. And though it's been over a month since that story broke, it seems that another Japanese publisher didn't pick up on the resulting backlash. Namco's latest 3DS title, Pac-Man and Galaga Dimensions regrettably contains that exact issue. According to Wired's Game|Life blog, there is simply no way to erase a save after it's been written to the cartridge. "I've looked all over, even going so far as to ask a Namco Bandai representative, and it doesn't seem like there's a way to erase the game data," the post reads, noting that this design doesn't just affect the earned in-game awards (which can't be deleted), but also high scores. That means the most recent high score is the only one that the game records -- bizarre! As Capcom's version of the save file issue sparked reaction from both retail and consumers (and, eventually, Capcom), we've reached out to GameStop for comment about Namco's own misdeeds.
Tekken lead cannot withstand Street Fighter lead's furious flurry of shoryukens
Tekken project lead Katsuhiro Harada clearly hasn't been studying the finer points of the Street Fighter series he's currently collaborating on, as Street Fighter creative lead Yoshinori Ono surprises him with a flurry of shoryukens at multiple points in this bizarre SDCC short, promoting Street Fighter X Tekken (and vice versa, of course).
Namco Bandai leading boxed retail sales in Japan for 2011 (thus far)
Namco Bandai is leading the pack in boxed retail software revenues in Japan, according to a surprising report in Japanese gaming mag Famitsu. Topping the likes of Nintendo, Square Enix, and Sony Computer Entertainment, Namco Bandai (known as Bandai Namco in Japan, where Bandai is king) is finding success with giant robots -- namely, Super Robot Wars Z 2, a PSP strategy game that sold well in April, and Ore no Imōto, a PSP adventure game. Second and third place are occupied by Nintendo and Square Enix, respectively, with the former representing 15.5 percent of Japanese software revenues and the latter taking 8.2 percent (a massive decline for both companies compared with last year). Meanwhile, Sony Computer Entertainment and Spike make up the bottom of the list, likely due to their total lack of games about super robots and the wars that said super robots continue to fight.
Inversion preview: New perspectives on an old game
The gimmick in Saber Interactive's Inversion -- combat across multiple planes -- isn't quite enough to carry the lackluster shooting. Like Dark Void, Fracture, and Timeshift before it, Inversion relies heavily on its unique twist to set it apart from other shooters, while leaving the central mechanic unpolished. As the perspective flipped repeatedly throughout the demo, I was distracted how similar the game's set of flimsy guns felt. Sure, baddies stick to walls in completely separate gravity planes (turning firefights into more than just what's directly in front of you), but shouldn't shooting at them be more fun?%Gallery-126047%
Soulcalibur V preview: A tale of buttons mashed, eternally retold
After being ushered into a tiny dark room in the back of Namco's E3 booth with three other journos and several reps from the publisher (several from Project Soul, specifically), I watched the same initial presentation of Soulcalibur V that you watched on Joystiq back in mid-May (seen above). I once again marveled at Namco's insistence on pushing the game's ridiculous story over its gorgeous new game's engine, not to mention the improvements to Soulcalibur's core mechanics that distinguish the upcoming sequel from its predecessors by focusing on a "more elegant" combat system. In real-world terms, this means that battles in Soulcalibur V are intended to be faster, more fluid, and heavy on offense. And in my experience, it was just that -- a noticeably early build, sure, but already showing an extra layer of smoothness in motion that felt far less stilted than past titles.%Gallery-126046%
