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Joystiq interview: Atlus goes for Baroque, talks future plans
'The road less traveled' seems the mantra for Irvine, California-based Atlus USA. With an impressive catalog of obscure titles to its credit, Atlus is looked to by many North American gamers as a beacon of originality, having localized such titles and franchises as Odin Sphere, Persona, and Growlanser, among many others. But why does this company remain dedicated to games of such niche appeal? Unable to come up with a consensus, we marched upon Atlus USA itself, and spoke with some of the employees who didn't duck out of sight when they saw us coming, including editor Clayton S. Chan, PR and sales assistant manager Aram Jabbari, production director Bill Alexander, and QA lead Victor Gonzalez.What did they have to say? Read the complete interview, including in-depth insight into the company's upcoming PS2 and Wii 'hardcore' dungeon crawler Baroque, after the jump.%Gallery-14477%
Trauma Center Kit: an actual product that somebody is selling
We could try to riff off of this Trauma Center-related Wiimote accessory kit, but it would be a waste of time. The truth is that there is nothing we could say that is funnier than the actual facts about this device. For example, it comes with a dedicated attachment that is designed to realistically mimic the feeling of having an opaque crosshair on the end of a short stick. The other attachment is sort of a Swiss Army surgery kit, with a syringe, a scalpel, a drain, and some other plastic items meant to represent Trauma Center surgical tools. On the end of your game controller. If you're having a hard time conceptualizing the link between your Wiimote movements and the onscreen events in Trauma Center, this Trauma Center Kit is available for $16.62 at DealExtreme. Please get this instead of something that is actually sharp.[Via GayGamer]
Joys be thine: Three discounted games
Here comes Santa Claus, here comes Santa Claus, right down Santa Claus Lane, breakin' you off something proper. The old saint has brought in a trio of video game deals from Amazon, and not crap games, either. Hang your stockings and take out your credit cards because these bargains can be pulled at any moment. Ghost Squad - $19.99 Puzzle Quest - $14.99 Trauma Center: New Blood - $39.99 Speaking of Santa, have you kids heard that new Ludacris song, "Ludacrismas," from the Fred Claus soundtrack? It is all the way live. Fill your hearts with Christmas cheer and join us past the break for a listen.[Update: Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles - $34.99 -- grab it while it lasts!]
Being shot is good for your health, apparently
While experimenting with the Wii Zapper, Spencer Yip made an interesting discovery: the fancy handle is, according to him, well-suited for Trauma Center. For some reason, he decided to try New Blood with his Wiimote and Nunchuk ensconced in the gun shell, and found the experience pleasant. Hilariously, he compares performing surgery in Trauma Center with the Wiimote to "spraying W.O.L.F. soldiers in Time Crisis 4 with a machine gun." "The main advantage of using the Zapper is it makes aiming easier. Since you're holding the shell with two hands, it's easier to inject tiny tumors with an anti-inflammatory drug and make smooth scalpel cuts." Using forceps was the only major issue, as that move requires the A button and thus a momentary change in grip. There are two things we find notable about this story. First, it's hilarious to perform surgery by shooting at people's insides. It's fun to subvert intended control schemes, which is why we play every game with the Cooking Mama frying pan attachment. Second, Spencer has inadvertently found an identifiable advantage to using the Wii Zapper, in that it seems to actually steady his aim in a difficult game.
Pick up Trauma Center: New Blood, stat!
It's rare to see a quality game receive such a drastic discount only three weeks after its release, so we advise you to take advantage of this particular bargain now -- Trauma Center: New Blood for $29.99 at Amazon (free shipping). This deal expires at the end of the day, but the online shop's stock probably won't last that long. If you are at all interested in this sequel to Atlus' surgery sim or just want a fun co-op experience, snatch it now, as we don't expect the game to deviate much from its usual $49.99 price again for months. [Via CAG]
Trauma Center's Japanese boxart includes art
When we saw the official American Trauma Center: New Blood box, a great meh rose up into the heavens. We cried aloud: "It's not very goooooooood!" Our casual disinterest could not be overstated.The Japanese boxart is roughly ten million times better, because it shows something and/or someone. Even if it's just the same character art we've seen before, arrayed together to look like a group shot, it still manages to generate more interest than the pink plus sign. We don't think this is a compliment to the Japanese box, so much as it is reaffirmation that that American box is really boring.
Trauma Center Tuesday, brought to you on Wednesday (cause we're rebels like that)
Yesterday marked the last Trauma Center Tuesday before New Blood's release next week, and that means Atlus had more surgical goodies for us. The most notable treat this week was the video of the game's introduction, which we posted above for your viewing pleasure. Aren't we just the best?Normally we wouldn't go all ga-ga over a game's opening (okay, well sometimes we do), but this is one of the best we've seen. The art, the effects, the music, and everything about this introduction makes us weak in the knees. It was like watching the opening to a TV show ... er, if TV show openings were actually good and made us want to cut people open.Atlus, you sly dogs, now you have us looking deeper into our wallets during this video game glut, hoping that we can stretch them enough to pick up your game next week. Does anyone else feel our pain?On a side note, you should check out the ridiculous poem Atlus sent us that's posted after the break. Atlus, stick to making video games and not poetry, okay?
Fast, frenetic two-player action in New Blood
Ever since Trauma Center: New Blood was announced, it seems we're awash in videos from the forthcoming title, but really, who can complain? This latest shows off some of the cooperative play, and by "some of," we mean an entire operation. Looks like nothing's decreased in intensity here, but really, what is Trauma Center if not an experience in getting your ass kicked? We're in!
Trauma Center Tuesday: new faces, hopefully belonging to people with steady hands
It's Tuesday, and Trauma Center: New Blood isn't out yet, so you know what that means: another Trauma Tuesday update at the game's homepage! Atlus has released a new trailer for the game, highlighting some of the new characters to be found, including ... some surgeon! Another surgeon! And a nurse! Maybe the addition of full voice acting will make us follow the plot more closely, but we doubt it. We just want to perform surgeries on people infected with bizarro alien viruses!This week's update also brings news about preorder bonuses: if you preorder the game from Atlus's online store, you'll get one of the swanky Trauma Center syringe pens, which even people like us who can make ourselves pass out by thinking of syringes can enjoy. You'll also get (in the words of the press release) "a certificate to (virtually) operate on people!" Finally, a nice diploma to class up your wall.
Trauma Center ad is bloody brilliant
If, like us, you've been wondering where Atlus' creativity went with its terribly plain Trauma Center: New Blood boxart, you'll be happy to hear that we managed to find some of it in the latest issue of Nintendo Power. While not as hilarious or ridiculous as the Geometry Wars: Galaxies piece we featured late last week, this blood transfusion ad we spotted certainly is creative. Jump past the post break for the full page.
Another Tuesday, another Trauma Center update
Today marks another Trauma Center Tuesday, which means we get new information about Trauma Center: New Blood. The most recent update happens to be the official trailer, embedded above. This video gives us a further look into the new surgeries, locales, characters, and cooperative mode. It also shows evidence of an online ranking system for all you competitive types. Oh, and the formerly inactive tool tutorials are now watchable over at the game's official website. We're pleased with today's updates, and Trauma Center: New Blood is looking mighty fine in our second opinion. (Please forgive us for that, but it's "Lame Pun Day" over at the Nintendo Fanboy blogs.)
DS Daily: And then the DS accidentally fell right under my shoe.
With Contra 4 about to give us a heart attack, and Ninja Gaiden also on the way to make us doubt our ability to do things, we thought we'd ask you about the difficulty of currently-available DS games. There are some brutally hard games out there, and we're sure you've run into one of them. Some are difficult for not-so-great reasons, like control issues, but some are just hard.What's the most difficult game you've played on the DS? And did you enjoy it? Bonus points if the game isn't Trauma Center.
Trauma Center website transplanted
Official Atlus Trauma Center: New Blood updates, or "Trauma Tuesdays," now have a new home at the official Trauma Center homepage. In addition to the weekly updates, there's new desktop wallpaper, screenshots, information about gameplay modes (including explanations of co-op play) and even character bios for those of you who care about the characters beyond the fact that some of them are doctors and some of them are annoying nurses who know more about surgery than the doctors.Currently inactive links promise video tutorials for each tool, and a trivia game of some kind. We hope it turns out to be about Trauma Center and not ... trauma centers.
Revolutionary: This Revolution Hasn't Been Televised
Every Tuesday, Mike Sylvester brings you REVOLUTIONARY, a look at the wide world of Wii possibilities. Thought of by many as the "Disney of video gaming," Nintendo has crafted themselves an image of family-friendly entertainment. But to certain generations and classes of gamers, the term "family-friendly" is synonymous with "kiddy," and immediately sparks disinterest. But ever since publishing Rare's Killer Instinct, they've been working on broadening the public's perspective. Trying to appeal to the bloodlust of the Mortal Kombat crowd didn't give them any headway, and as generations progressed and they've garnered more "mature-themed" titles, they still haven't been able to shake the "kiddy console" stigma. Even after snagging the exclusivity to the Resident Evil series for a generation, Nintendo was largely overlooked by the Playstation-bred gamers that were brought up on the series. How much more will it take for Wii to be regarded as a platform that can satisfy the tastes of mature gamers?
Wii Warm Up: Well, it's medical ... ish
We love Trauma Center. It's just good, clean, surgical fun, and the forthcoming New Blood just looks awesome. It's just this box art we're not sure about. Maybe it's just us, but it seems so ... plain. So mundane. So not in-keeping with the other games. What do you think of it?Look, don't get us wrong. We're likely to sink an unhealthy number of hours into it anyway, because that's what we do in the seven minutes of spare time we have per week. It's just that sometimes, we're forced to shake our heads over boxart decisions, and this is one of those times.
Trauma Center: New Blood -- costume not included
What's more fun than waiting around for a new Trauma Center? Getting an update on the title every week like clockwork. Today, Atlus debuted Trauma Center Tuesday, and they plan to put something new -- be it video, screens, or info -- on the site every week. The first update consists of the above commercial, which shows off a little coop mode ... as well as one particular gameplay style we do not recommend. Sometimes, cosplay and gaming just don't mix.Though we must say, latex gloves probably cut down on Wiimote slippage.
BAFTA noms: battle of the biggies
A number of Wii games are going up against some of the industry's biggest contenders in this year's BAFTA awards. It should make for an interesting award session, because while the Wii is dominating console sales (along with the DS), many people see games like Gears of War as greater achievements. Despite that, Wii Sports leads the pack of nominations, having picked up the greatest number of nominations; the pack-in boasts nods in seven categories, including Gameplay and Multiplayer.It's not the only Wii title to pick up recognition, however; The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Trauma Center: Second Opinion are up for awards, along with a few other games. Check out the full list of nominations after the jump.
The Trauma Center sequel is going where?!
Okay, we were cool with our new big brother-in-arms -- after all, we had some sweet connectivity to look forward to, and it just gave us more excuses to crow about Nintendo taking over the world with devices what print crisp new bills. But today's announcement ruins everything. We hate you, Mr. Johnny-Come-Lately Wii, because you stole our Trauma Center.Listen, we think it's keen and all that Trauma Center: New Blood is going to do what the first Wii port didn't -- that is, feature actual character voices and video. Y'know, the sort of things one expects from a console game. The text adventure style of the DS game suited the DS just fine, but once the game made the jump to the Wii, we expected a lot of things we didn't get. We also think the Iron Surgeon new coop play mode is pretty keen. But why can't we have a little piece of the action on our handheld? Are we supposed to be satisfied with Lifesigns? We're certainly pleased about the localization of another medical-themed game, but we want our Trauma Center! We require gut-wrenchingly difficult gameplay and the satisfaction of touching during surgery. We know it's a bit rich to complain about Atlus, considering the flood of announcements today. But really, why have they taken away our surgery game? We're so sad. You've cut out our hearts, Atlus ... and the healing touch of other new games just isn't enough.
Atlus USA announces new games for E3
Quirky game champion, Atlus USA, today announced several new games to be shown during the E3 media summit. Featuring medical professionals, touchy-feely detectives and gyrating combatants (sadly not in the same game), the lineup focuses primarily on the Nintendo DS. Draglade (Nintendo DS)It's a beat 'em up, you see, where "it's not just about how hard you hit or fast you move, it's also how well you can groove." Released in Japan earlier this year, Draglade features clashing combatants equipped with "glades," weapons that emit distinct sounds when struck against something -- preferably your opponent's head. With the sounds of battle forming a symphony of destruction, we're half expecting a playable Pied Piper character.
Trauma Center: New Blood announced
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/nintendo_wii/Trauma_Center_sequel_revealed_for_the_Wii_PICS'; Given Atlus' sales success with Trauma Center: Second Opinion, timing the remake to release with the Wii's launch, it's no surprise that the small publisher has readied a true sequel for the surgery sim. Trauma Center: New Blood introduces two young surgeons, Markus Vaughn and Valerie Blaylock, along with several exciting features: a cooperative mode, online leaderboards, and a 16:9 widescreen mode. Throw on your scrubs and hit the gallery up for New Blood's first screenshots.%Gallery-4686%[Via NeoGAF]
