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DS releases for the week of November 17th
From big name releases like Guitar Hero: On Tour Decades to kids' games, at this point, the releases just aren't going to slow down. Everyone wants a piece of the holiday pie, even -- or perhaps especially -- in a flagging economy, but that just means a few agonizing decisions over what to buy. What will win for you this week? Bolt Cradle of Rome Guitar Hero: On Tour Decades Hello Kitty: Big City Dreams Imagine: Ballet Star Imagine: Movie Star Iron Chef America: Supreme Cuisine Luminous Arc 2 Metal Slug 7 Need for Speed Undercover Petz Catz Clan Petz Monkeyz House Petz Rescue: Endangered Paradise Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party Robocalypse Rune Factory 2 Skate It Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff Tomb Raider Underworld Tony Hawk's Motion/Hue Pixel Painter Ultimate Band Winter Sports 2: The Next Challenge
Rune Factory 2 manufactures U.S. release date
Marvelous has confirmed it will release Rune Factory 2 into the crowded, choppy waters of the Christmas games market, announcing a November 18th release date for the fantasy-themed farm-me-do.As that's still four weeks away, we advise passing time by reading up on our hands-on experience with the title, planning crop strategies, and preordering at either Gamestop or Amazon for your very own plush squirrel. Oh yes, and saving money. We're not kidding. Have you seen the DS line-up for November 18th? Yowza.%Gallery-25983%[Via press release]
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%
Rune Factory 2 preorder bonus is nuts
Well, nut. Acorn, really. Plush acorn ... in the grip of a plush squirrel. Never mind. Chances are, if you're a fan of, uh, fantasy-themed farming simulations, you've already got a copy of Rune Factory 2 preordered -- if only because there are no games in that narrow subgenre that aren't called Rune Factory.But hey, even if you don't care about growing whatever or tending whatever or fighting whatever, Natsume will give you this plush squirrel if you preorder their game from Amazon. They keep trying to use cute plushes to sell us games ... and it continues to have a shockingly powerful effect on our resolve. Marvelous is at least as talented at designing adorable, plush-ready mascot characters as they are at designing repetitive, addictive games.
E308: DS Fanboy explores the lands of Rune Factory 2
When hitting up Natsume's meeting room at E3, I kept catching myself wishing I wasn't alone. In fact, I wished that one specific person was with me, because all of these games that the company had on display were based on franchises I, frankly, didn't have the most experience with. That's not to say I went in biased, just that I prefer to be as well-informed as possible going in.Imagine my surprise when I played Rune Factory 2 and it was like Harvest Moon had a baby with Secret of Mana.%Gallery-25983%
E308: A smattering of Natsume simulation screens
Natsume released the slightest trickle of media for Rune Factory 2 and Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness in honor of E3, and because we love them, we'll accept it. Grudgingly. In much the same way, E3 itself has been as skimpy; like these updates -- particularly the Rune Factory 2 art -- every release has packed a punch, but it feels like it's only a taste of something greater. Must we state the obvious? %Gallery-15230% %Gallery-25983%
E308: We fit into Natsume's niche
Natsume will be sharing some DS love at this week's E3 convention, showing off Princess Debut and Rune Factory 2 for the first time. Island of Happiness and Hamtaro will also be on the company's E3 agenda, balancing out the lineup nicely. Harvest Moon fans (like ourselves) will probably be the most excited by this schedule, as we'll get more media and details on Island of Happiness and Rune Factory 2, which come out this summer and fall respectively. At the same time, we can't help but be intrigued by Princess Debut. Depending on how the "adventure" parts work, it might be the closest thing to an otome (girl's dating game) that we've seen for the DS outside of Japan. We're also not going to complain about the rhythm-based dancing segments, as we're rhythm game fiends. Granted, all these titles are rather niche, but we wouldn't take Natsume any other way. %Gallery-25983% %Gallery-27282%
North America harvests Rune Factory 2 this fall
In the best DS news we'll hear all day (depending on which DS Fanboy staff member you ask), Natsume announced that they're bringing Rune Factory 2 to North America this fall. While we predicted localization would happen eventually, it was always a matter of when, so we're glad to see it being taken care of. Considering that the first game in the series took a year to find its way over here, a nine-month delay (Japan got the game last January) doesn't seem too bad at all.While we initially thought this sequel would be too similar to the original Rune Factory, the premise adds some freshness into the RPG-Harvest Moon formula. In Rune Factory 2, you not only play as the main character, Kyle, but later you take over as his child. The game therefore spans two generations, providing us with double the fun.If you share our excitement, make sure to check out the first English screens in our gallery below.%Gallery-25983%[Via press release]
Another week in Japan: Hardware and software numbers 1/14-1/20
The DS version of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games premiered last week, immediately shooting to the top of the charts. Only Wii Fit could keep the game from taking the number one spot. Aside from Mario & Sonic and the Professor Layton sequel, though, most DS games found themselves in the bottom half of the top twenty. Rune Factory 2 even threatens to slip off completely after a few promising weeks.As for the hardware numbers, it's the same old story. The DS continues to sell well, and once again takes the #1 spot with Japanese gamers.Hardware: DS: 91,000 Wii: 76,000 PSP: 65,000 PS3: 32,000 PS2: 13,000 Xbox 360: 4,400 The Japanese software numbers for the week of 1/14 are listed after the break.
Another week in Japan: Hardware and software numbers 1/7-1/13
The PSP might be inching closer to the DS in hardware sales, but the dual-screened handheld continues to dominate the software charts. Half of the games in the top twenty were DS games, while the Wii, PSP, PS2 and PS3 shared the other half.Many of the top games were old favorites, but relative newcomers like Final Fantasy IV and Rune Factory 2 did well, too. Professor Layton 2 continues to help its predecessor sell more copies, giving the original Layton a chance to reach one million sales. For the most part, though, it was a quiet and predictable week in the Land of the Rising Sun.Hardware: DS: 103,000 PSP: 84,000 Wii: 82,000 PS3: 34,000 PS2: 15,000 Xbox 360: 5,500 The software sales can be seen after the break.
Another week in Japan: Hardware and software numbers 12/31-1/6
The big news with last week's sales numbers is not that the DS managed to top 300,000 again, but that the New Super Mario Bros. broke five million in Japan. Not only that, but the game took the sixteenth spot in today's Famistu chart. Also showing legs is Mario Kart DS, which sold 68,000 copies to take the number eight spot. While it's no surprise that Mario Kart does well week after week (after week), we didn't expect it to make the top ten. We're also happy to see some new DS blood enter the ring, with Rune Factory 2 selling 56,000 in its debut. The rise in sales from the previous week was most likely due to the New Years holiday, which is a popular shopping period in Japan. These numbers are almost certainly not sustainable, though, so we should see a big difference next week. Of course, we fully expect that the DS will end up on top, as always, with a smattering of its games in the top ten. Check after the break to see the numbers, with NSMB sales tacked on for good measure.
DS releases for the week of December 31st
We hope you're so excited about Rune Factory 2 for the DS -- excited enough to import it, that is -- because that's the only DS game releasing this week across all major markets. But hey, that's okay ... we needed time to catch up on all those games we never got to this year, right?
Rune Factory 2 harvests more scans before release
Yet another scan has popped up for Rune Factory 2, as the game is coming out next week in Japan. There's still no announced plans to bring the title elsewhere, but even if there were, we probably won't see this game in English for another year. If you're oh-so-patiently (grumble) waiting for the game like we are, check after the break for one more teasing scan.
Rune Factory 2 screens give us deja vu
As we see more and more Rune Factory 2 screens, it's becoming pretty evident that the game is going to be almost exactly like its predecessor, only with slightly altered characters and possibly a kind-of-different storyline. Does the prospect of an extremely similar game excite you Rune Factory fans, or was one time around enough? Since we loved the first game so much, we're going to go with the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mantra, although it'd be nice to see a few more changes made to the sequel.You can check out some more screens that probably won't surprise you after the break.
Rune Factory 2 scans packed with character art
The release of Rune Factory 2 is fast approaching, which explains the sudden media spotlight on the multi-faceted sim/RPG. Just yesterday, we got a peek at chatty new screens, and today? A lengthy spread from Nintendo Dream. The sequel promises a few improvements over the first installment, including better use of the touchscreen. No release dates have yet been mentioned for regions outside of Japan, but if the cycle of the first title is any indication, we're probably looking at a year until localization. But hey -- at least we'll always have these scans.
Rune Factory 2 manufactures some fresh screens
If checking out screens of in-game characters conversing is your idea of a good time, then put on your favorite jig-dancing shoes and prepare to get down. Dengeki put up some new screens for Rune Factory 2 and they're focused on the fun conversations one will have in the game.So, be sure to head on over and check those out, should you be so inclined.See also: Additional screenshots and the Japanese extras
The Rune Factory also manufactures videos
The website for the fantasy-farming sequel*, Rune Factory 2, has been updated with new character art and, most importantly, a new trailer. Marvelous is throwing everything they can at the audience, pulling out the full bag of Japanese trailer tricks: anime intros, soaring J-pop background music, and, on occasion, footage of the game.While the trailer smartly focuses on aspects of the game that play well in trailers, like romance and fighting, you can also see plenty of the farming action that Harvest Moon series fans care for. If you look over at the monsters page, you can check out some of the creatures that your hero Kyle can capture and tame, many of which look suspiciously similar to livestock. Or Gollum. All of these creatures can be found in the previous Rune Factory, with the exception of the "Orc Viking," who is not nearly as cute as the Woolly seen here. Also be sure to hit the system page for new screens.*That is, a farming game in a fantasy sequel. You don't actually grow fantasies.
Rune Factory 2 comes with cool extras (in Japan)
We may have to wait a long time before Rune Factory 2 gets released outside of Japan, but that doesn't mean we can't be excited. Not only is Japan getting the game in January (those lucky bastards), but certain limited editions will come with this soundtrack disc and art book. We hope these goodies come our way when the game comes out here, although we highly doubt it.Judging from the cover of the art book, the style of the game is very similar to the first Rune Factory. Pictured are the main character (whose name is Kyle) and some girl with crazy eyes. We also like the contemplative looking dragon in the background. The soundtrack, meanwhile, includes arranged versions of four songs from the game. Pretty neat bonus, we think. Anyone else as jealous as we are?
Nintendo conference screenshot roundup
We posted a lot of DS screens revealed at or to coincide with yesterday's Nintendo conference, but there's no way we could do an individual post on them all. Three screens of something we've already seen tons of screens of doesn't exactly warrant its own post. Some of the screens listed have been previously released. Some of the games, we just didn't get to. But we can link to a Japanese roundup post that's loaded with screens, and list the games shown within by title! We promise that as soon as we get more information on this stuff beyond a few screens in a roundup, we'll post it. Until then, check after the break for every game in the roundup, organized in order of appearance on the GAME Watch page.
Final Fantasy III & Rune Factory go head-to-head in Japan
On August 24, Final Fantasy III and Rune Factory: Shin Bokujou Monogatari (Harvest Moon spinoff) will be released in Japan fo DS. While FFIII certainly has the brand edge, both titles look to boost the DS's credibility as a viable RPG platform. Famitsu recently published its reviews for the two games, suggesting that FFIII is slightly superior: Final Fantasy III (Square Enix): 9/8/9/8 - 34/40* Rune Factory (Marvelous Interactive): 8/9/7/9 - 33/40 Keep in mind that, back in March, Children of Mana scored even higher than FFIII, earning a 36/40, and will be released in the US on October 30. FFIII will land stateside in November (hopefully). Rune Factory: Shin Bokujou Monogatari has not been confirmed for release outside of Japan, but Harvest Moon DS is scheduled for September 12. *C3 News notes that Famitsu's score for the original FFIII (NES) was 35/40.
