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Prepare for takeoff with this Sky Crawlers trailer
Do you like airplanes? Do you like anime stereotypes? Then The Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces is what you've been waiting for! XSEED released the above trailer, featuring lots of awesome planes, and lots of inexplicably young people flying them. Well, not inexplicably -- though the details may constitute a spoiler, there is a really weird explanation for everyone's age. Beyond "it's anime." The Sky Crawlers will be one of the first Wii releases of 2010 -- it's due out on January 5.
Marvelous lost money on most of its Wii releases
Pretty much everyone can guess why No More Heroes is being released again -- Marvelous needs money. During a Q&A presentation (PDF link, Japanese) about its fiscal Q2 2010 earnings, Marvelous boldly revealed that three out of its four 2009 Wii releases lost money, though it didn't say which was the winner. Muramasa sold 47,000 units in Japan, the company said, not specifying American sales. Arc Rise Fantasia, which will be published Stateside by Ignition, sold 45,000 copies. Little King's Story sold 26,000 copies in Japan, 37,000 copies in North America, and 67,000 in Europe. Valhalla Knights: Eldar Saga, which came out in September in North America, sold just 16,000 copies (Japanese sales, which started in October, are not mentioned). Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility on Wii somehow sold 57,000 units in 2009 despite being a 2007 release in Japan, a 2008 release in America, and not out until October in Europe and Australia. Because of lower development costs, Marvelous said, PSP software was more successful, with four out of five releases making money on similar sales numbers. Half-Minute Hero was Marvelous's overall best-performing title, at 70,000 copies sold. [Via Siliconera]
One-day sale on Half-Minute Hero
XSEED's Half-Minute Hero is all about compressing game genres, including RPG, RTS, and shmups, down into 30-second increments. So it's only appropriate that a price drop on the game is also under a strict time limit, as it is with this Amazon Deal of the Day. For today only (or until Amazon runs out), the game is marked down to $18.98. Sure, it would be even more appropriate if the sale only lasted half a minute, but then we wouldn't have time to write this post about it and tell you. Our post would look more like this: "hey guys haflmintue hero on sale cheap amazonlike 19 bucks" %Gallery-68352%
Rising Star's Q1 lineup for Europe includes Fragile, Way of the Samurai 3
Rising Star Games has announced a European release for Fragile (as Fragile Dreams), Namco Bandai's action-adventure game about exploring a haunted, post-disaster Japan, in March 2010. That's around the same time XSEED plans to bring the Namco Bandai title to North America. Also in March, the publisher will release Rune Factory Frontier on Wii, and Avalon Code and My World My Way on DS. Before that, in February, Rising Star will release Half-Minute Hero on PSP, and, through "affiliate label" Gamebridge, the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of Way of the Samurai 3. We've got Rising Star's full lineup listed after the break.
Half-Minute Hero can't rescue Quebec
If you're looking for a UMD version of Half-Minute Hero in Quebec, stop trying. A Destructoid reader looking for the game was surprised it had skipped a release altogether in the Canadian province -- and it's all thanks to the law. "Canadian distribution is always tricky because of the bilingual law that Quebec enforces, so for titles with limited distribution we do not create a second bilingual version specifically for Canada because it's too expensive. Unfortunately, that's what happened to Half-Minute Hero," an XSEED representative stated. Thankfully, digital distribution offers a workaround. PlayStation Network appears to be exempt from Quebec's bilingual laws, so a simple visit to the PlayStation Store is all it takes to bypass the French language police.
Ignition now publishing Arc Rise Fantasia
Ignition Entertainment has somehow done it again: snagged a Marvelous game out of XSEED's announced lineup. Arc Rise Fantasia, which XSEED announced plans to localize in late 2008, and which was still in XSEED's slate as of E3, has been picked up by Ignition Entertainment for release in summer 2010. The turn-based RPG is developed by Sands of Destruction's imageepoch. New screens (in our gallery) accompany the announcement.When Ignition picked up another previously-announced XSEED Wii title, Muramasa: The Demon Blade, XSEED told Joystiq that Marvelous was taking proposals from publishers and made the final decision to go with Ignition well after XSEED began promoting the title. At the time, we thought that was an anomaly. %Gallery-76288%
XSEED bringing Korg DS-10 Plus to North America
AQ Interactive's Korg DS-10 Plus will make its way to North America, XSEED announced today. The update to the original DS cart (which was already super complicated) adds even more stuff for the wannabe mixer on the go -- specifically, twice as many analog synthesizers (now up to four) and drum synthesizers (now up to eight), the ability to use twelve tracks and real-time editing including "per-track MUTE/SOLO built into the SONG mode and EDIT/PLAY enabled for all modes within the SONG mode." DSi owners will also get the added perk of an extra two effects layers.The improved synthesizer suite will also have wireless functionality, allowing up to eight systems to play together or share samples and Daft Punk songs with each other.%Gallery-75987%
Spend a few minutes with this Half-Minute Hero trailer
Okay, Half-Minute Hero is finally seeing release. In addition to launching an official site for the game, XSEED has released one last trailer for the game that gives you a good overview of all the wackiness you can expect from the game. Does it look familiar? Yeah, but now this one's in English, a language commonly used by Joystiq writers and readers. Half-Minute Hero hits UMD next week, and PSN a week thereafter.
Half-Minute Hero rushes to UMD on October 13, PSN one week later
Okay, so it's pretty clear all of us are going to buy Half-Minute Hero. The only questions left are: when? And how? XSEED's bringing the clever micro-RPG game to retail stores on October 13, with a digital PSN release to follow one week later on October 22. "Timing is just off for whatever reason," we were told by a PR representative. Half-Minute Hero's bite-sized gameplay makes it an ideal game to throw on your Memory Stick. But, will gamers have the patience to wait an entire week for the PSN version? By our calculations, you could play Half-Minute Hero over 25,000 times on UMD before the PSN version comes out! %Gallery-68352%
TGS 2009: Interview: Little King's Story's Yoshiro Kimura
Yoshiro Kimura is the creator of Little King's Story, likely the only game in history to be the inspiration for a giveaway of one hundred hamburgers, one hundred bananas, and one hundred coupons for a visit to a spa -- all simultaneously. We spoke to Kimura during Tokyo Game Show about the secrets of the Wii game, about that rather strange contest, and about a can't-miss concept for a game about an old man drinking on a bench.
XSEED employee rewarded with adorable Little King's Story bento
Click to see full bento box. Warning: may cause incredible jealousy and/or hunger. Making a video game is no easy task. XSEED's Christine Nakashima had been working long hours on the Wii game, Little King's Story. Thankfully, someone noticed her effort! Her sister stayed up late one evening, making a Japanese-style "bento" box for Christine, featuring various characters from the game. Perhaps we have a bias for looking at adorable things ... and then eating them, because this looks far more appetizing than Little King Story's other food promotion.
JU-ON to settle its Grudge on Oct. 13
Hopefully the decision to ship JU-ON: The Grudge on Rocktober October 13 -- as revealed by Nintendo -- won't prove an unlucky one for publisher XSEED. Yes, the game will be met at retail by the likes of Brütal Legend and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, but the "haunted house simulator" possesses something those games don't (we think): The ability to kill you one week after you play it. Oh, wait -- that was the tape from The Ring, wasn't it? Still, JU-ON will probably manage to scare up some sales.
There's no date like September 29 for The Wizard of Oz: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road
XSEED announced the release date for the localized version of RIZ-ZOAWD, now more sensibly (but less intriguingly) titled The Wizard of Oz: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road. Players will be rolling Dorothy and co. around the land of Oz with a virtual trackball starting September 29. Perhaps the most noteworthy thing about that date is that it isn't Spring 2010.Beyond the Yellow Brick Road combines the Oz setting and characters with a JRPG design, resulting in something that is, well, really weird.%Gallery-68346%
First Half-Minute Hero demo coming tomorrow
If you read the headline carefully enough, you'll notice that there is more than one demo coming out for the upcoming PSP Half-Minute Hero. However, the first demo will be available on the PlayStation Store tomorrow. It's quite possibly the zaniest game to hit the platform in a long time, forcing players to vanquish evil in 30 second bursts (seriously!). Hero mode is just one of four different modes hidden in the full game. It's hard to effectively describe the frantic gameplay through words. Thankfully, you can completely ignore our opinions and just give the demo a spin. %Gallery-68352%
What's in a Name: XSEED JKS
While they may not be the most recognizable brand to you just yet, XSEED has been bringing some really interesting titles stateside. Here's the story behind the company's name: "Our president had seen a Japanese show about entrepreneurs where they talked about planting the seed, the foundation for a new business. So the original idea was to go with the name 'Seed,' but there were a lot of businesses that already had that name. "We then started looking for variations to this name when someone came up with adding 'ex' before it to give it the additional meaning of "to exceed." We messed around with the letters for a while until we got to 'XSEED,' but were told by our lawyer that it was too general a name to trademark and that we had to make it more specific somehow. After a lot of thought, we finally decided to add our initials to the end, 'JKS' (luckily 4 of the initial 6 founders had a name that started with 'K') to become XSEED JKS, Inc., similar to how Dreamworks SKG stood for Spielberg, Katzenberg, and Geffen." – Ken Berry, XSEED JKS spokesman Liked this story? Be sure to check out the What's In A Name archives.
Little Burger King's promotion for Little King's Story
Marvelous is taking an extra step in Japan to market the upcoming release of Little King's Story, and it's one that makes a lot of sense: the company is partnering with Burger King to promote the strategy game. Burger King restaurants in Japan are displaying the poster depicted to the right, and will also have LKS placemats. According to Andriasang, Burger King's mail magazine will also include Little King's Story information. In addition, a small army of Burger King employees, led by a real little king, will lead an assault on a nearby McDonalds in an attempt to take down Ronald. We may have made that up. It's pretty amazing that Little King's Story is a big enough game to get this kind of promotion, which is reserved in the US for huge franchises. Either that, or Burger King is a small enough operation.
Marvelous planning a 'Super Little King's Story'
Little King's Story creator Yoshiro Kimura had previously said that he's interested in making a sequel to his strategy title. Now, speaking to Siliconera, Kimura explained that he is in the early stages of working on just such a thing. "We are planning to make a sequel to Little King's Story, like Super Little King's Story," Kimura said, "but we're still in the process idea phase." At the moment, Marvelous is looking for funding for the sequel, as well as "partners" to help make it. The first game was developed by Cing and Town Factory, along with some high-profile freelancers. While we don't want anyone involved with the first game excluded from this potential sequel, we can understand the appeal of having a single team make a game, if that's Kimura's intent. %Gallery-24964%
Marvelous' Wada: Game industry needs originality, Marvelous needs more recognition
Last month, Marvelous president Yasuhiro Wada posted a note on the publisher's site, in which he said he had "teary eyes" over disappointing sales of Marvelous' Wii products, including No More Heroes, Rune Factory Frontier, and Muramasa. He discussed his sentiment in an interview with Edge Online, saying that he is frustrated with the lack of originality in games and hopes to counter this with the Marvelous catalog. "I think this is why gamers are leaving video games," Wada told Edge of the reliance on existing IP. "I believe that variety is the only way to bring more people into gaming." Wada also said that the Xbox 360, despite Microsoft's "great job in bringing that many JRPGs on its console," is a lost cause in Japan, though there is hope for the next generation. As for why Marvelous games aren't selling, Wada puts some of the blame on lack of company recognition. "Marvelous has just reached the point its games are getting noticed and getting good reviews," he said. "But we are not a major name yet. The Marvelous brand is still associated to some not so good titles we made in the past." He compared the publisher to others like Nintendo, Capcom, and Square Enix. "Even if you don't fully understand what a title is about, because it's branded Nintendo, Capcom or Square Enix, you feel like ok to buy and try it." He said that the company needs to try to reach the roughly million-strong "gamer market" on Wii. A market that might enjoy, say, Little King's Story.
Review: Little King's Story (Wii)
When I started Cing/Town Factory's Little King's Story, I expected to find a cute, very charming little strategy game whose flaws prevented it from greatness, like most games this heavy on the quirkiness factor. I was blindsided by how much fun I continued to have through hours of play. It's rare for a game to be this cute and odd, but also this good. I found this game utterly magical, and I hate strategy games. %Gallery-24964%
Little King's Story sequel could have multiplayer
Yoshio Kimura, producer on Little King's Story, originally planned to include multiplayer in the strategy title, according to an interview with 411mania. "This game used to have a 2-player mode," he explained, "but we couldn't make the QA and debug in time, so we had to take it out. And this is one of the things that I really wanted to have." If setting competing armies of townspeople against one another, or collaborating to expand your shared kingdom, sounds great to you (like it does to us), you know how you can make your voice heard. "But if Little King's Story does well and a lot of people get to play it and if I have a chance to make a sequel, that's definitely something I want to implement." Aside from gameplay-focused matters, Kimura had a lot to say in this interview. Check it out for discussion of the character designs and how, uh, a talking squirrel inspired him to create the game. %Gallery-24969% [Via GoNintendo]
