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Sting to Hexyz Force a new JRPG onto PSP
While its big brother's catalog of Japanese RPGs remains woefully slim, PSP continues to expand its library from developers, both big and small. Sting, the team behind the excellent Yggdra Union, is releasing yet another RPG on Sony's handheld. In classic old-school JRPG style, the game features multiple characters, multiple stories and multiple endings, meaning Japanese players will be able to get a lot of mileage out of Hexyz Force when it releases there this November.To see the character intro anime FMVs, check out PSPHyper.
Those fragile Venomhide Ravasaurs
Here's a great tip from WoW LJ on the Ravasaur quest. Like me, many of you probably headed for the new Ravasaur mount on the Horde side the first chance you had in patch 3.2. But there's a hiccup in the quest: while you have to get poisoned by the raptors, the Ravasaurs die pretty easily. You need to attack them for them to poison you, but if you kill them before they sting you, you're out of luck.Still, those crafty folks over on LJ already have a solution. You can use things that work as weapons, but are still weak enough to keep the raptors alive, even in your uber-powerful level 80 hands. Lances from the Argent Tournament, low-level fishing poles, Blacksmith hammers and mining picks all work, along with anything else that can be wielded but has low damage. You can also level up any weapon specialties you don't have maxed out yet, but be careful there, too: anything that goes too high will kill the level 51 raptors off as well.Good luck -- to the raptors for staying alive, as all you'll want is the poison. And good luck to you with the rest of the quest. By the time you're all done, the poison task might actually have revealed itself as the easiest part. WoW's Patch 3.2 ushers in the Crusaders' Coliseum, the Isle of Conquest, flying mounts at 60, and much more. WoW.com has all the patch information your Worgen obsessed mind can handle in WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.2!
Atlus porting Yggdra Union spinoff to DS
Most handheld strategy fans probably know about three "Dept. Heaven" games from Sting: Yggdra Union, Riviera, and the recent Knights in the Nightmare. However, there was another game in the series, called Yggdra Unison: Beat Out Our Obstacle, that was only released on phones in Japan. Now, Atlus has announced that it is releasing Yggdra Unison on the DS in Japan this December.According to 1UP, the spinoff title is a real-time strategy game with a "mixture of Western-style unit deployment and Japan-style RPG tactics," in which eleven armies fight to claim territory. It features the same card system found in Yggdra Union. Since the thing was just announced just now there's no word on localization, but Atlus has released all the other the Yggdra games here so far.
Sting, Sarah McLachlan are hiding in your Garage(band)
Apple has added new "Learn to Play" lessons to the latest version of GarageBand, including two lessons by Sting and the first one by Sarah McLachlan. Gordon Sumner (a.k.a. Sting, so named by his friends when he wore a shirt with black and yellow stripes) will teach you how to play "Message in a Bottle" and "Fragile" (in my humble opinion, one of the lesser-known but more amazing Sting songs), and Sarah McLachlan, who really likes ice cream, will teach you how to play her "Angel." I miss Sarah McLachlan -- it's hard to believe we had someone that was even more bland than Norah Jones.But excuse my musical snobbery -- all three lessons are now available in the GarageBand Lesson Store for the low low price of $4.99. And lest you think I am anti-McLachlan in any way, think again: I too owned a copy of Surfacing. If you wanted to hang out with girls in my high school, you pretty much had to have a copy around at any given time. That, and Crash. Ah, how young we were.
Rock Band Wiikly: Megadeth, Jane's Addiction, Oasis, Sting
We knew all about Jane's Addiction hitting Rock Band 2 on the Wii this week, but we had no idea the content would show up with so many friends! Joining Jane are Brit rockers Oasis, the very famous Sting, and Dave Mustaine with his crew of metal rockers, Megadeth. If you're looking for new Rock Band tracks, then this is your week!
Surprise! Atlus including free stuff with Knights in the Nightmare
Atlus has gotten into the habit of releasing bonus stuff of some kind with all of its games. Legacy of Ys, The Dark Spire, and Super Robot Taisen Etc. all come with free soundtracks, and Hammerin' Hero on the PSP includes irresistible figurines for preorders. Knights in the Nightmare is no exception. The company just announced that, like its other recent DS offerings, all copies of Knights will come in an oversized box with a bundled CD soundtrack disc. In addition, preorders from "participating retailers" will include an art book! In its press release about the bundle, Atlus blamed Charlie the Chimpanzee, the ape in charge of the Spoils program, for recent excesses. "In hindsight, hiring a non-human for this position may have been a mistake," said Atlus PR manager Aram Jabbari.New screenshots are available in our gallery, and we've got a second gallery after the break featuring preview images from the art book.%Gallery-21499%
Knights in the Nightmare in North America in June
Atlus has officially announced the North American version of Knights in the Nightmare, the last DS game to come out of that Amazon.ca "leak". Knights is the third game in Sting's "Dept. Heaven" series: Yggdra Union was the first, followed by Riviera. Confusingly, this is "Episode IV" of the series, while Riviera is "Episode I" and Yggdra is "Episode II." A bundle of Knights and Yggdra Union was available in Japan -- wouldn't that be a lovely "Atlus Spoils" bonus?Knights of the Nightmare incorporates "strategy RPG, real-time strategy, and shooter elements" into a game about a wisp who can occupy and control soldiers on a battlefield. Players use the stylus to position soldiers and then fire projectiles at enemies from multiple angles.Knights will be available June 2nd for $34.99. Check our gallery for new English screens, and come back next week when Atlus inevitably announces an included soundtrack!%Gallery-21499%
Atlus announces Dokapon Journey, delays
Last year, developer Sting announced two new games in their Dokapon board game/RPG series: Dokapon Kingdom for Wii and PS2 and Dokapon Journey! for DS. Atlus picked up Kingdom and released it in October, seemingly leaving the DS game behind. Apparently, Wii and PS2 owners bought a sufficient number of copies of Dokapon Kingdom, because Atlus has announced that they're localizing Dokapon Journey, for release on April 14 -- just as Amazon.ca "predicted"!In another press release, Atlus announced delays for some of their upcoming handheld games. The mindblowingly awesome-looking Tokyo Beat Down is now coming out March 31st, The Dark Spire is scheduled for April 14th, and Steal Princess is out April 21st. We don't mind having all the Atlus releases spaced out a bit, really.%Gallery-20125%
Dokapon Dealdom
Amazon has had a bunch of Atlus games on sale for the last week or so, but they've temporarily dropped the prices of a few of the company's Nintendo system releases (and a few from Majesco as well) as part of the "15 Days, 15 Deals" promotion. The sole Atlus Wii game on the list happens to be Dokapon Kingdom, which just came out in October, but is now available for just $15. The party board game RPG is all about accruing cash, so it's appropriate that you can buy the game today and still hang on to your pile of money. It's also about being a jerk to your friends, but you should definitely keep that in the game.The other Wii games included in the sale are Goosebumps: Horrorland and Ultimate I Spy. Dokapon is really the star of the show here, along with some lovely DS deals.%Gallery-20121%%Gallery-27715%
Go Baroque without spending a lot
Sales on Atlus games have become more common in this hardware generation, but it still feels special and a little bit transgressive to buy an Atlus-published game for less than it cost at release. Of course, novelty is hardly sufficient reason to buy Sting's Baroque, but there's also the fact that it's a pretty good game -- and some people may be starved for a Wii RPG experience by now.Amazon is featuring both the Wii and PS2 versions of the sorta-roguelike as their Deal of the Day, for a scant $16.98. At that price, you could buy both versions for comparison purposes and still pay less than regular price. Or you could save money!%Gallery-11716%
Abnormous new Dokapon Kingdom info
Atlus sent out a series of descriptions of some of the random events that occur in the "blank" yellow spaces on Dokapon Kingdom's game board. One of the advantages of a video game over a real board game is that rather than just, say, a "Chance" card, the random events in Dokapon Kingdom can be pretty complex, and otfen involve paying off various lowlifes and robo-lowlifes to mess with other players. Robo-agent, for example, will accept contracts to assassinate other players, in the guise of Robo-Sassin. Other players can make counteroffers, sending him right back. Random global events can occur at the start of each week of gameplay,which, as the name implies, affect everyone. Examples given include "Wabbit Explosion," in which the board is overrun with the "Wabbit" enemy, "Epidemic," which forces players to pay health care costs for the towns they own, and "Abnormous Disaster."In addition to having a really unusual name, the Abnormous Disaster affects every town on a continent, wiping away tax revenues. It's helpfully labeled "bad news" in the game, as if "abnormous" and "disaster" didn't convey the message.%Gallery-20121%
Sting gets MoCapped in Guitar Hero: World Tour preview
Have you been curious about what Sting would look like all wire-framey and covered in ping-pong balls ever since you heard the news that the former Police frontman would make an appearance in Guitar Hero: World Tour? Good news, our little Desert Roses -- you need not look further than a recent promo for the title which we've conveniently posted after the break. We know that you usually rest your clickin' finger during the weekend, but we assure you, making the jump is worth it -- not only do you get to see Mr. Sumner's digital manifestation in action, you also get to hear about his lack of prowess when it comes to jamming on fake plastic instruments (though we hear his tantric usage of Star Power is a breathtaking sight to behold).
Sting, Tool join Guitar Hero World Tour's lineup
Joining Hendrix, Ozzy and others, Sting will be walking around the virtual concert halls of Guitar Hero World Tour. According to the press release, you can play as Sting during the vocal career "or play alongside him" in the Police track, "Demolition Man." Additionally, three songs from Tool (who are not bringing their likenesses to the game) have been confirmed: Parabola, Schism, Vicarious. We now know about 65 tracks of the reported "over 85" tracks. With about seven weeks to go before its October 26 North American launch, when do we get to learn the rest of the tracklist? More importantly, where's our virtual likeness of Lars Ulrich?
Sting to shred in Guitar Hero: World Tour
Along with Jimi Hendrix and Ozzy (and other notable classic rockers), Sting will have his likeness featured in the upcoming Guitar Hero: World Tour. The original story over at USAToday.com has since been pulled (all we've got is this image to go on), so we can't find exact details as to what capacity he'll be featured (Will he be playing The Police songs? His own tracks?), but the screen above tells us the man will be rocking the bass. Any Sting fans out there? Like his old stuff, or his new stuff? Or both?%Gallery-23491%[Via Go Nintendo]
Profit from a bounty of Dokapon video
Several new Dokapon Kingdom videos have appeared on IGN, showing various aspects of gameplay, from combat to movement around the board to recruiting outside help in your quest to obtain money. The combat is standard RPG fare, with the menu items assigned to directions on the D-pad. For an RPG to be an appropriate party game, we would expect the combat to be simple and quick -- nobody wants to sit there and eat Funyuns while you're trying to calculate the number of AP needed to protect against poison and also get a hit in on the nearest flying enemy.As usual with the IGN player, you can find more videos -- of the adventurous ASS, whose player is definitely not juvenile in the least -- on the sidebar thing.
Dokapon Screendom
Atlus sent out a nice screen update of their board game-RPG hybrid Dokapon Kingdom, which can be described as "upbeat" and "cute" -- and now "beefy" as well, thanks to the screenshot above.For reasons entirely unrelated to impossible cartoon bodybuilding, we're eagerly awaiting the release of this game. Basically, Board Game Top Shop on the PlayStation is so awesome, and we see a potential successor in the wacky anime-ness and competitive money-grubbing found in Kingdom. The art used in Dokapon happens to be pretty great as well -- even in non-flexing screens. %Gallery-20121%
E308: Dokapon Kingdom trailer is a delight
Atlus sure knows how to make a trailer exciting -- you can forget needing that cup of coffee after watching this.While our interest was only mildly piqued before by the adorable-looking boardgame-meets-RPG known as Dokapon Kingdom, this video really managed to put the title on our radar, nearing the "Do Want" list. As for destroying friendships? That's fine by us. We never really liked those people we called "friends" anyway. Atlus also promises an enriching single-person experience, too, in case you've already burned those briges long ago without developer Sting's help.Dokapon Kingdom should be hitting American shores on October 14th, retailing at $40. %Gallery-20121%
Dokapon treasure hunters may find real gold
Dokapon Kingdom is all about acquiring as much money as possible before the end of the game. Sting is cleverly extending Dokapon's pecuniary theme into the game's promotion by offering buyers money. Specifically, gold coins. The Dokatto Kinka! Present Campaign (Thudding Gold Coin Present Campaign) offers gold coins to people who respond to a survey on Sting's mobile phone site. Three Doka-fans who answer the survey between July 31 and September 30, will be awarded 100,000 yen ($953) worth of gold. We don't expect Atlus to hand out gold coins with the American version of Dokapon Kingdom, but maybe we can get a poster of some gold coins!
Scattered Shots: Sting operations
Scattered Shots is for Hunters. This week, Daniel Whitcomb will be covering for David Bowers, despite the fact that his Hunter isn't currently specced for Scatter Shot. As Hunters, our primary role is and likely always will be the DPS. Even the new pet talent trees probably aren't going to change that too much. In the end, we sit back and fill the giant target full of arrows or bullets. That said, we also have quite a few tricks up our sleeves, a few stops we can pull out to get jobs done. Some of these come in the form of stings: a series of shots that put a debuff on the mob that can, when used correctly, turn the tide of a battle. Today, we'll look at each sting, what it does, and how best to utilize it in PvP and PvE. There's a few universal truths to look at before we start: First, all stings are poison. This means that they can be cleansed, and that certain mobs will be immune to them. Second, there's only one sting allowed per a hunter, and most stings don't stack. That means that you can only apply one sting at a time as an individual hunter. Still, that can turn out to be helpful in some cases, as we'll discuss later. In addition, Viper and Scorpid Sting can only be cast by one Hunter at a time, so in multiple hunter situations, be sure to decide amongst yourselves who's casting what, should they be needful. And now, on with the stings!
WWI '08 Panel: Hunters
The first WoW panel has come and gone at the Worldwide Invitational. It was focused on class abilities in WoTLK, and there was some absolutely juicy stuff, especially for Hunters. As the proud player of a 70 Hunter, I'm feeling amazingly awesome about my class right now. Two of the biggest, most universal Hunter complaints have not only been answered, but answered in a way that I think a lot of Hunter players are going to be incredibly excited about. Steady Shot ClippingFirst up, it looks like Shot Rotations as we know them will soon become a thing of the past, or at least be incredibly simplified, as Steady Shots will no longer clip Auto Shots. This is actually an issue that has gained some blue post love in the past, but it's nice to see it so directly confronted and dealt with. There may still be a shot rotation of a type for fitting in Arcane Shot and various stings, but it looks like Hunter DPS will no longer be a complicated dance of weapon speed, haste rating, macros, and server latency. That in itself is amazing news. Pet Talent Trees and Uniqueness One of the other major complaints of Hunters is the lack of pet diversity. It is generally expected that if you are min-maxing, you will go for a Cat, Ravager, or Scorpid and nothing else, because they are the only pet families that have the right combination of ability and DPS to get their jobs done. Some pet classes, like Sporebats, languished due to a complete lack of useful family skills.
