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Culture Shock |
May 31, 2005 |
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Haylo kiddies, your regulary-scheduled Jordan will not be here tonight. Seeing as how he knew in advance that he would be away this week, he asked me to take the task of bringing all of you your weekly fix of information on games you probably won't be able to play; that is, unless you have a modded PS2, a decent knowledge of the language, and a fist full of dollars to plunk down for an import.
In any event, we've got some good stuff this week. A good deal of new information has been released concerning not only one, but two Gundam RPGs, a Japanese developer has announced plans to release an "Animetic RPG" based on a popular anime series, and Nintendo has revealed plans to release yet another Pokémon-themed handheld. Mix that in with new media from the likes of Zill O'll Infinite, Namco X Capcom, and Generation of Chaos V, and you've got yourself one heck of a Japandemonium.
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While it's not in the top spot like it was last week, Romancing SaGa is still high on the charts. All other RPGs seemed to have slipped down by a wide margin, however. Last week the gap between the top two RPGs on the chart was only 5, and this week it has gaped to 19.
Even though it did get a mediocre score from Famitsu, I'm predicting that Namco X Capcom will be fairly high on the charts next week.
Anyways, lets see those sexy numbers!
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The Japanese sure do have quite the fascination with giant space robots. This seems evident with the successes of a plethora of robot-themed anime in mind. Of course, The next logical step (these days, it seems) after an anime becomes popular is to create some sort of video game based off of it. However, games inspired by the insanely popular Gundam franchise were being conceived long before the "polymorphic content" concept was ever planted in the psyches of gamers. Curiously though, none of these titles have been full-fledged RPGs...well, until Gundam: True Odyssey was announced by Bandai in April. Following this trend, Bandai announced yet another Gundam-flavored RPG while the gaming industry was focusing all its resources on the various going-ons happening in Los Angeles at E3.
The new Gundam RPG, titled Kidou Senshi Gundam Seed Destiny: Generation of CE, takes place in the Seed Destiny universe, and is being developed by Japanese development studio Tom Create, which is no stranger to creating Gundam games. The game will be a simulation-RPG, with battle taking place on a hex-based map and attacks appearing in full 3D. Cel-shading will be used to add flair to the attack scenes.
The game employs selectable missions. You start by selecting a mission from the deck of the Minerva. The missions follow the storyline of the anime, but you're free to skip around the missions to build up your units if you wish. Following mission selection, you go through a briefing, which entails the mission's battle conditions and learning what type of changes you should make to your Gundams before the fight. Right before the battle begins you go through a setting phase, where you can select units and make modifications.
The announcement of this game comes pretty close to the game's set release date. The game will be released in Japan on August 11.
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In other Gundam related news, a few small blurbs of information regarding new characters in Bandai's other upcoming Gundam-themed RPG, Gundam: True Odyssey, were recently released on the game's official site. Joining previously announced characters Tras and Fritz are the new characters Tremi and Nial.
Tremi is an 18-year-old female pilot who has joined Tras's quest because of her desire to find her long lost brother. Tremi is both highly emotional and selfish, though she can be very bright and cheerful when she's in a pleasant mood.
Nial on the other hand possesses high intelligence as well as remarkable strategical prowess. Very militaristic in mood and bearing, Nial hates ambiguity and can't tolerate not being able to separate things into concrete categories. His troops have great respect for him, and with good reason, as he is a very competent leader. Nial meets up with Tras during a battle with the mysterious Dark Mobile.
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If games based on the Gundam anime franchise don't float your boat, how does one based off of the Tsubasa Chronicle anime sound? With the help of Cavia's publishing skills, Japanese publisher Arika has announced that it plans to release such a game. Dubbed an "Animetic RPG," Tsubasa Chronicle will follow the exploits of Sakura and Shaoran as they travel the world in search of "Tsubasa" memory fragments. The DS' top screen is used for conversation scenes during adventure sequences, with the bottom screen and stylus being used to select new locations. A turn based battle system making use of cards has been announced for the game. The game will also make use of the DS' wireless capabilities with its competitive wireless play option.
Tsubasa Chronicle is looking to hit Japanese retailers this fall.
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Every time a new Pokémon-themed handheld is released, Nintendo secretly sends me one dollar. This little "trust fund" of mine has grown quite large over the years, and is pretty close to becoming large enough for me to build that evil fortress I've had my heart set on. Thus, imagine my elation when I heard that yet another Pokémon-themed handheld was in the works for Japan. There have been a whole lot of Pokémon GBA SPs to come out recently, but this time, the focus is on Nintendo's newest handheld, the DS.
The system is inspired by the Mew Pokémon, and will go for 15,000 yen, and will only be available from the Pokémon Centers and on the Pokémon Center website. The system won't be launched until July 8, but it will be up for pre-order starting on June 23. Check out the pic below for an eye-full.
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With Atlus' recent announcement of its plans to localize a Generation of Chaos title for the PSP, I figured you folks would be interested in hearing a bit about a game you're less likely to see in North America, Generation of Chaos V.
Throughout the series, the world has been the same place; an illusionary world called Neverland. Generation of Chaos V will not take place in this world, however, but will instead take place in the triple-world of Eidis. The entirety of Eidis contains an Underworld, an Overworld, and a Sky World, but the populace of each world are ignorant of the existence of the other worlds. At the present, it looks as if each world will have its own separate story and main character. How or if everything links up at the end is as of yet unknown.
The Overworld's main character is a wandering swordsman named Harald, who is in search of his birthplace. He has just gotten a ride to a port from a Robin Hood-esque "steal from the rich, give to the poor" pirate band led by a man named Gondora when royal troops show up and arrest Gondora. Harald and a pirate named Duo head off in pursuit.
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Want to see new Zill O'll Infinite screens? Sure ya do.
A brand-spankin' new Namco X Capcom trailer can be viewed by visiting this page.
Or alternatively, you can check out a Generation of Chaos V movie by clicking here.
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Since the only things I know about Japan are that they make good video games and that the girls all wear really short skirts, I'm sort of relieved that nobody emailed me any questions. J, on the other hand, is more than capable of answering all of your queries, so be sure to shoot him a question or three, and it'll be answered in next week's column.
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