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A pair of Bleach: Soul Resureccion trailers before launch
We suspect this clip of Bleach: Soul Resurrección will be a lot more meaningful to hardcore Bleach fans than to the rest of us, but there's still value here to the non-fan. Specifically, look at how huge that guy is! He's like the biggest guy. After the break, find another clip of an exciting aerial battle with a much more manageably sized opponent. Soul Resurrección will be out on PS3 August 2.%Gallery-129424%
Bleach: Soul Resurreccion comes with free episodes of Bleach anime
We can't explain why NIS America's new Bleach game is called Soul Resurrección without getting into some impenetrable lore, but we can tell you about the stuff you'll get when you buy it. The first printing of the PS3 game (out August 2) will include vouchers for downloads of episodes 190-192 of the Bleach anime. The offer is available in both the US and Canada. In addition, for discerning Bleach fans, NIS America has announced that the North American release of the game will include both Japanese and English audio tracks. Both, judging by the title, will include a little Spanish.
Disgaea 4 pre-orders available in three flavors
The Disgaea 4 Premium Editions we outlined last April are now available for pre-order, so get ready to have the penguin and/or bomb-shaped voids filled in your strategically battling little hearts. Pre-order packages come in your choice of Original Recipe, Extra Crispy (the "Premium Edition"), and Buffalo-style, (the "Premium Figure Set"), with art books and adorable figurines awaiting those who are willing to drop a little extra coin. All three options come with the game's soundtrack, however, so you won't be entirely left out of the freebie fun if a 4-inch-tall anime penguin girl isn't worth 20 extra smackers. [Image credit: Penny Arcade]
Cave Story 3D delayed until November
What's the opposite of "Huzzah"? Cave Story 3D, Nicalis's radical reinterpretation of the indie classic, won't make its appointed August 9 release date. Publisher NIS America confirmed to Joystiq today that the 3DS remake has been pushed back to November, putting its official release date in line with the date on GameStop's website. An NIS rep told us that the company would offer more detail about the delay in a press release, expected today. In the meantime, we suggest ameliorating the wait for Cave Story with ... the other version of Cave Story, on DSiWare or WiiWare. You know, to get you ready for Cave Story (3D).%Gallery-127295% Update: the press release is after the break, specifying a November 8 release. Producer Jack Niida says that the changes being made to Cave Story 3D are " in the small details, but in order to satisfy both the fans and the new players we need to make sure the game is done right."
Cave Story 3D preview: Pixel goes polygonal
I'll admit it: my excitement about a new version of Cave Story to play on the 3DS was tempered a bit by fears that it wouldn't turn out right. To put it more directly, my excitement was tempered by the first screenshots of Cave Story 3D. But upon playing the remake, it was immediately evident that developer Nicalis had been paying attention to the reaction to those first images, and is working to make something that reinterprets the environments of the retro-style original in a more palatable -- and more parsable -- way. It is not ruined by the 3D graphics.%Gallery-126407%
Cave Story 3D to feature dimension-defying 2D sprite mode
Torn between your love of the original Cave Story's beautifully pixel-drawn sprites and your excitement for Cave Story 3D's complete reinvention of the game's hovering island-world? You can now have your cave and eat it too: NIS America recently announced the game's 2D sprite mode, which takes the original, flat characters and enemies and places them in remodeled 3D environments, Paper Mario-style. Destructoid managed to get its hands on a pair of images of this double-dimensioned mode, one of which is posted above. Personally, we think it looks pretty gosh darn neat, though now we're going to have to worry about poor little Quote slipping through crevices in the cave floor. Guess it still beats getting squished by the wizard-king of Hell, but ... um, not by much.
Cave Story 3D dated once again, coming August 9
We saw one Cave Story 3D release date before, on Nintendo's quarterly release schedule, but that turns out to have been inaccurate -- or the game has been delayed since then. In any case, scratch out the "Cave Story day!!!" note you put on your calendar's June 19 box and rewrite it under August 9. NIS will release the game in Europe sometime in September. Along with announcing the date, NIS America released the box art image above, featuring protagonists Quote and Curly Brace checking out the 3DS logo on the side. The publisher also released a set of screenshots, each with a note that the game is "under development."%Gallery-122526%
Disgaea 4 Premium Edition is loaded with toys
NIS America is going to save you Disgaea superfans a little time, by allowing you to buy Disgaea 4 and a tie-in toy at the same time. The publisher announced a Premium Edition, which will be available at "GameStop and other retailers" at the September launch, and contains an artbook and an exclusive Nendoroid figurine of Fuka (above, snapped for the Japanese Disgaea blog). If you really want a big box of Disgaea stuff, though, you'll want to pre-order from NIS's own store. It'll begin taking pre-orders in July for two different bundles: the same Premium Edition sold elsewhere (with the addition of a bonus soundtrack), and a Super Premium Edition that comes with nine more exclusive toys. Oh, also, all of these packages include the actual game.
Disgaea 4 coming in September, dood
This fall, you can look forward to massive level numbers and dead souls turned into explosive penguins. That's right, Disgaea's coming back. NIS America announced that it's strategically launching Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten on PS3 this September. It's coming to Europe, too, with a less clearly-defined "fall" release window. In addition to localizing the netherworld strategy game itself, NIS is also importing the naming contest used to market the Japanese release of the game. The "Come up with Dis-name-a" contest seeks new names for a sword, a skill and "a scantily-clad NPC." To see the objects in need of names, and hopefully to find inspiration, check them out here.
So, uh, what's an 'Ar Tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel' anyway?
As you know, our primary goal here at Joystiq is to provide you with a thorough, clear, and contextualized picture of video game news. It's with that in mind that we asked NIS America to explain the ... somewhat bizarre name of its forthcoming RPG, Ar Tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel. We've been ribbing the game's title internally for some time now. And hey, can you blame us? It's nigh indecipherable! A NIS representative described the title as a "jumble of seemingly random letters," so we're not exactly alone in this. Anyway, NIS America reps kindly provided us with the breakdown of name that you see below, presented unedited: "Break down for Ar Tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel: 'Qoga' means "finale" or 'termination.' 'Knell' is like a chime that signals the passing of someone or something. 'Ar Ciel' is a name of a world. 'Ar Tonelico' is an artificial world tree (Yggdrasill). We wanted to use 'Knell' to indicate that this is the finale of the series because 'chime the signals the passing of something' is [the] perfect way of expressing the finale of [the] Ar Tonelico series." Still confused? We were too. Thankfully, NIS reps escalated their efforts several steps further, offering a detailed explanation -- as well as a bit of sympathy to confused readers -- directly from script writer Steven Carlton. "Many people may look at the title Ar Tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel and wonder what that jumble of seemingly random letters means," Carlton told us. "There are a few key terms from the game in the title, mainly Ar Tonelico and Ar Ciel."%Gallery-114535%
Cave Story's Balrog shot in the butt -- in 3D
Okay, so it's not really stereoscopic 3D yet, but this teaser video is a really detailed look at the polygonal character models from Nicalis and NIS America's new Cave Story 3D -- some of whom are shot in the butt during the course of the video.
Ar Tonelico Qoga trailer is full of angsty teenagers
If Ar Tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel's suggestive moaning and nudity stuff hasn't weirded you out enough, know that it offers the power of song, love and lots of teenagers being all sad and stuff, too.
Cave Story 3D is a 'fully reconstructed' port for 3DS [update: coming this summer]
NIS America has announced it'll publish Cave Story 3D, a "fully reconstructed in 3D" version of Studio Pixel's shooter, on the Nintendo 3DS -- Nicalis will be handling development duties. This means that there will be polygons and, utilizing the tech of the 3DS, certain environments will have a kind of curvature introduced. "This curvature can be accomplished by defining a 3D spline that directly and uniquely maps to the 2D grid that the game is actually aware of," says a preliminary fact sheet for the game. So, in layman's terms, it's still 2D, but projectiles and characters will move around these curvature points as if it were a 3D space. Everything else about the game is still pretty much the same: you explore; you shoot guys; you get experience and upgrade stuff. We weren't given a launch date for this latest port (Cave Story is currently available on the PC, WiiWare and DSiWare), but we've got a gallery of concept art you're free to peruse. Update: NIS America announced a summer 2011 release date for this 3DS remake.%Gallery-116273%
Hyperdimension Neptunia 'Premium Edition' includes extra pictures of console girls
Are you in love with the idea of game consoles as anime girls, fighting against the evil "Arfoire"? Go on, admit it to yourself, and to GameStop. NIS America announced the Premium Edition of its PS3-exclusive strategy RPG Hyperdimension Neptunia, which will be available from GameStop "and other retailers." It comes with a hardcover art book, packaged along with the game inside a "premium"-sized box. One of those "other retailers" is NIS itself; pre-orders of Neptunia's "Premium Edition" from NIS America's online store (for $59.99) will include an exclusive deck of Neptunia playing cards, which you're pretty much guaranteed to be too paralyzed by shame to break out during the weekly bridge game.
ESRB reveals Ar Tonelico Qoga's 'suggestive moans and comments'
The third (and supposedly final) Ar Tonelico game, Ar Tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel, will arrive on PS3 in March. The ESRB's content description for Gust's RPG gives us a bit of a preview of what to expect: shame, mostly. "Some power moves cause female characters' clothes to vanish in layers," the ratings board says. "The characters are often depicted holding (covering) their breasts, wearing only underwear, or standing behind strips of light that obscure their genitals." Other described scenes feature "male characters [encouraging] a woman to strip" and a scene in which a male character removes a magical crystal from a female, accompanied by what the ESRB calls "suggestive moans and comments." How suggestive? "Aoto's putting his hand inside Soma," for example, and "Fumble around every inch inside of her . . . you will find what you're looking for . . . !" Though you might have already guessed, Ar Tonelico Qoga is rated M for eMbarrassing Mature.%Gallery-114535%
Hyperdimension Neptunia trailer features surprise Sega character cameos
Just in case NIS America's Hyperdimension Neptunia wasn't weird enough, this newly released trailer highlights some of the classic Sega characters that inexplicably make an appearance. Also, don't ogle too much over the scantily-clad anime girls; you do know that they're video game consoles, right?
NIS America publishing Imageepoch games in North America and Europe
Fans of niche JRPGs nobody else has heard of will have something to look forward to when NIS America brings Imageepoch's games to North America and Europe. NIS America made a name for itself with the Disgaea franchise, and Imageepoch CEO Ryoei Mikage explained during a press conference (via Dengeki) announcing three new games that it's the reason he chose to go with them -- specifically, the company's ability to move 150,000 to 200,000 units per installment in the beloved tactical series. Mikage's plan is to first appeal to diehard JPRG fans overseas (that's you!) then go from there. Sadly, Mikage didn't reveal which would be the first game localized for The West, but considering the event revealed three new games, it's a good chance any of these could be considered: Black Rock Shooter: The Game, Tales of the Last Promise and Chevalier Saga Tactics. Yatta!
Phantom Brave takes PSP to The Hermuda Triangle in March
In case you missed out on the PS2 release of Phantom Brave, or the updated Wii port, NIS America has announced a more upgraded-er port, for PSP! Phantom Brave: The Hermuda Triangle, out this March on UMD and PSN in North America, and on PSN in Europe. This version of the isometric tactical RPG features all the new content, including characters and the "Another Marona" campaign, added to the Wii release, Phantom Brave: We Meet Again. NIS has also added additional new characters from other NIS games, including Hero Prinny and the Unlosing Ranger (according to Siliconera). It's because those five characters make this a slightly different game that the box art can claim it as "Only on PlayStation." Apparently.
Prinny 2: Dawn of panties design contest, dood!
NIS America is not shying away from Prinny 2's panties-based story, at all. In this latest trailer, the Prinny narrator tells us that the 1,000 Prinnies in the PSP action title are searching for Etna's stolen panties. Concurrent with the release of the trailer, NIS announced a panty design contest. You have until November 12 to download the template and come up with a single-color design that you think would be nice printed on a Demon Lord's unmentionables. The winning design, of course, will be printed on actual underwear, given to the top three designers and fifty random entries. It's pretty likely winning this contest will be easier than completing the game -- except in Baby Mode.
Prinny 2 mercifully offers 'Baby' difficulty setting
In a press release, NIS America revealed the box art for the UMD release of Prinny 2 -- confirming that, yes, the publisher is bravely going ahead with the name "Dawn of Operation Panties, Dood!" Had it been us, we'd have changed all the panties to sandwiches. See the box art after the break. More importantly, NIS also revealed that Prinny 2 will feature a new, easier difficulty called "Baby," for people who thought the first Prinny game was too hard. In other words, people. How many other games give you 1,000 lives right from the start, knowing that won't help?
