The first One Piece: Pirate Warriors was a fairly enjoyable game, but certain story arcs from the manga were conspicuously absent. Some of those characters and areas were included in the sequel, but that game had an original story. So now we have One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3 for PS3, PS4, and Vita, which adds in a lot of those missing elements, most notably Thriller Bark and the fight against Gekko Moriah. I’m interested in playing a more complete version, and I know there are other improvements, going by this trailer. But seeing as so much of this stuff was in the first game, it’s hard to get as enthusiastic about its release. If I find more interest in it, the game is coming out in Japan in March, in the US sometime this summer, and in Europe before the end of 2015. Read more…
The last weird Pokémon crossover we saw was Pokémon Conquest, which mixed the ever-popular critter collector with Nobunaga’s Ambition, a strategy RPG set in feudal Japan. It’s about time for another unexpected mash-up, and this time it’s Pokkén Tournament, a fighting game made by Namco Bandai and overseen by Tekken producer Katsuhiro Harada and Soulcalibur producer Masaaki Hoshino. The debut trailer showed Machamp and Lucario (both fighting-type pokémon) fighting each other, with Lucario evolving into Mega Lucario at the end. The announcement confirms hints and leaks from last year’s Tokyo Game Show. Read more…
Bandai Namco is co-developing Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U, so many were wondering whether or not any Namco characters would appear in the game. With Mario, Sonic, and Mega Man all in the game, it only made sense for Pac-Man to enter the fray, and luckily he was just confirmed. While he mostly retains his modern 3D look, it seems that for some attacks he’ll transform back into a 2D form to munch things up. He also can attack with ghosts, pellets, Galaga, Dig Dug, and other old school summons. The video also confirms the return of Mr. Game & Watch, as it is humorously pointed out that both characters originated in 1980, while Mario and Donkey Kong debuted in 1981’s Donkey Kong. Read more…
Dark Souls II is going to be hard. Even if it’s a bit easier than the first Dark Souls, that’s still really, really tough. Past trailers for the series have played this up (with slogans like “Prepare to Die”), highlighting the insurmountable odds and oppressive atmosphere that saps the hope from players eager to progress. But this latest trailer is a reprieve, trying to restore some hope that you might finish the game, that your deaths along the way won’t be in vein. It’s a nice idea, but any Souls players know the truth: this is but a trap, meant to lure in fresh blood to be spilled either by the game or by other players invading the newbie’s game. God help them. Read more…
Dark Souls II is out on March 11, 2014, so it’s time for those trailers to start rolling in and hyping up all the ways you can die. As expected, you play a cursed character of some sort, and you’ll be dying over and over again against brutal defenses in order to progress through the game. Look at some of those bosses! Though it’s not the most impressive enemy, the guy in shackles creeps me out; maybe I’m thinking of the deformed (and unkillable) Lisa Trevor in the Resident Evil remake on Gamecube? Regardless, everything here looks deadly. It should be fun! Read more…
Next-gen consoles like PS4 and Xbox One may be considered “current-gen” now that they’ve released, but as with the PS2, it will be a while before developers fully abandon the PS3 and Xbox 360. Case in point: Namco Bandai has announced that Tales of Zestria, a game marking the 20th anniversary of the Tales series, will be released on PS3, presumably sometime in 2014. The announcement was a worldwide announcement, confirming the game’s release in North and South America, in addition to the usual Japanese release. Other statements seem to imply a European release as well. Read more…
Dark Souls II is still polishing its ability to smash your will into the ground. The sequel to the notoriously difficult 2011 game is due out on March 14. But before then, Namco Bandai will be holding a closed beta to test the online features, which will improve upon the spotty connectivity of the first game. The beta starts on October 5, but here’s what you need to know before getting too excited. Read more…
Tales of Symphonia, originally released on the GameCube (and later the PS2 in Japan), was one of the high points in Namco Bandai’s long-running Tales JRPG series. It now seems that it may be getting an HD rerelease on PS3, according to series producer Hideo Baba. He teased the rerelease, calling it “a representation of the dreams and hopes of the fans, who have long been wanting it.” Namco Bandai has yet to officially confirm anything, but it also seems that the Wii-exclusive sequel, Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, will also be included. Considering how that title shares many assets with the first game, I wouldn’t be surprised, since it would cut down on work. It will be interesting to see how the updated games look once there’s a formal announcement! Read more…
Praise the sun! IGN has a 12-minute gameplay demo of Dark Souls II, the first footage released! Watch as director Yui Tanimura and producer Tak Miyazoe take us through various parts of the game, showing off devious traps and monsters that often attack when you’re behind them. Of course, there is lots and lots of dying. At one point, this guy? Cheers near a cliff and then gets knocked off by boars. That’s Dark Souls for you! Read more…
One Piece: Pirate Warriors may have just been a Dynasty Warriors game, but it was still pretty fun despite the dumb gameplay. A large part of that were the energetic and wacky attacks. Lo and behold, there is a trailer for One Piece: Pirate Warriors 2 focusing on the entire Straw Hat crew and the new moves they’ve attained during the two-year time jump that occurs in the manga’s plot. Read more…
The Naruto videogames keep coming, and while not every game leaves Japan, we tend to get most of the better ones. The latest in CyberConnect2’s Ultimate Ninja series is Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3, and the graphics still look as beautiful as ever. While the gameplay of previous Ultimate Ninja Storm games has never been that special, the cel-shading is always well done. And of course, there are over 80 characters, giving it the biggest roster yet. Read more…
It was a long shot, but Namco Bandai is actually bringing Project X Zone to America. The 3DS game is a crossover between tons of game franchises from Namco Bandai, Capcom, and Sega. Tekken, Street Fighter, .hack, Valkyria Chronicles, Mega Man X, Tales, Resident Evil, and more are represented in the strategy RPG. With that many licenses, even from only three companies, it seemed unlikely that the game would reach our shores. But hey, it’s happening! Read more…
Like most console launches, the Wii U is getting a lot of ports to fill out its launch window. A lot of these are pretty much what you’d expect, but Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Wii U Edition is getting some nice exclusive content to differentiate this version. Besides being able to draw on your characters with the GamePad to customize them, there are further customization options to make the Tekken characters look like Nintendo characters. That’s almost weird enough, but the extra content doesn’t end there. Read more…
I’ve been playing One Piece: Pirate Warriors, the anime-inspired spin-off of Koei and Omega Force’s long-running Dynasty Warriors series of beat ’em up games. It has its flaws, but for a One Piece fan since Viz started running it in Shonen Jump in 2003, it’s probably the best representation of the franchise in video game form. There are bits that feel like they’re begging for downloadable content — notably an option on the main menu that brings up an empty list of additional content — and since Namco Bandai is publishing it, they of course have some add-ons to sell you. Read more…
Project X Zone (pronounced Project “Cross” Zone) is a massive crossover game being made by Namco Bandai for 3DS. While Namco has previously worked with Capcom on the crossover games Namco x Capcom, Street Fighter X Tekken, and the upcoming Tekken X Street Fighter, this is the first time that Sega is being brought into the mix. The game features characters from a long list of various game franchises, which is usually a good indication that the game would remain in Japan; for example, Namco x Capcom was never localized. However, that has the potential to change. Read more…
Namco Bandai has dissolved their Namco Tales Studio as a separate studio, but that doesn’t mean those same people aren’t working on a new Tales game! Tales of Xillia 2 is a direct sequel to the game that the rest of the world is still waiting for a translation of sometime in 2013. Xillia 2 takes place one year after the original and is being released only a year and a few months after the original game in Japan on November 1, 2012. That’s soon, and so Namco Bandai is already advertising the game. Read more…
Ever sit down to play Katamari Damacy and wonder what led the King of All Cosmos to sport those ridiculously tight pants, or chiseled abs? Why he has so many attachment issues and forces his son, the Prince, to gather everything up like a hoarder? This little montage puts it all together for us, but be forewarned, it’s collection of cut-scenes from the game We Love Katamari, and if you’re planning on playing through it someday, you might not want to spoil it for yourself. If, on the other hand, you want to laugh and cry — this one’s for you!
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Jun 14, 2012 in Videogames
I’ve always had a soft spot for Tekken. I know it’s not everyone’s fighting game of choice, but the series has remained successful throughout the years due in large part to its dedicated fan-base, of which I consider myself a member. While I love the gameplay, and even some of the zany story elements, I’ll be the first to admit that that the plot can be incredibly confusing. Thankfully the upcoming Tekken Tag Tournament 2 won’t be adding to that. Instead, the game is considered non-cannon, allowing gamers to simply have fun with the Tekken universe. One of the modes to be included in the upcoming console release is the “Fight Lab Mode” — what’s that, you ask? Find out after the jump.
IGN recently released an exclusive teaser for Digital Extreme’s upcoming PS3/360 title Star Trek. Set in the Abramsverse, this co-operative 3rd person shooter lets you take control of Kirk and Spock and will reportedly serve as a tie-in for the upcoming sequel currently being filmed. I have to say, in comparison to most Star Trek titles out there, this one doesn’t look half-bad. Of course, that isn’t saying much. Namco Bandai will be co-publishing the title, due out early next year. Read more…
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Oct 18, 2011 in Videogames
For those of you who’re still upset at Nintendo’s decision not to publish Xenoblade domestically, but happen to also own a PS3, here’s some welcome news. Namco Bandai has announced plans to publish the upcoming PS3 release of Level-5 ‘s Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch in both North America and Europe next year. As you can probably guess just by looking at it, the game is a collaboration between Level-5 and much-renown Studio Ghibli, responsible for such films as Kiki’s Delivery Service, Howl’s Moving Castle, Spirited Away, and more. While the project never included any contributions by director Hayao Miyazaki, the art itself is very reminiscent of the style found through-out the various films Ghibi has worked on, his included. That said, it’s quite striking visually and I’m sure Ghibli’s involvement will help bolster sales.
While we’ve seen many new trailers debut at this week’s Gamescom trade conference, the one I’m most excited for happens to be the latest trailer for From Software’s Dark Souls. The game serves as the spiritual successor to the critically acclaimed and notoriously difficult PS3 exclusive, Demon’s Souls. This time around however, Dark Souls will launch cross-platform for both Xbox 360 and PS3 thanks to its new publisher Namco Bandai. While the spirit of the game remains the same, the game’s difficulty has been scaled back slightly. Though I imagine you’ll still find yourself dying all the time, the penalty for doing so won’t be as severe. For example, dying in Demon’s Souls after having been properly revived would actually increase the difficulty of a given stage. Doing so in rapid succession could also cost you your in-game currency. Issues like these might not be as prevalent in Dark Souls, but the developer promises the game will remain “pretty hard,” and that’s good enough for me. The trailer looks fantastic. Dark Soulsshould hit stores on October 4th.
The other day, we mentioned the upcoming Saint Seiya PS3 title being developed by Namco Bandai. This evening they officially gave us our first look at the game. The short teaser only contains a bit of actual gameplay, but it seems as though I was spot on when I predicted the game would resemble Koei Tecmo’s Dynasty Warriors. Personally, I love those games even if other people can’t really them — Dynasty Warriors, and series like it, often receive less than stellar reviews in the West — so this little teaser has me really excited to see where they take the title from here. On top of that, I think they a fantastic job capturing the feel of the series with the character designs. Let’s just hope someone decides to license the title after it hits Japanese shelves later this fall.
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Jun 21, 2011 in Videogames
I’m not sure how many of you are familiar with this classic series — it was pretty huge in Mexico — but Saint Seiya fans might be pleased to hear that the series will be receiving its very own PS3 title. The game’s being developed by Namco Bandai, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll publish it overseas. Thankfully, if you’re a big enough fan of the series living in North America, you should still be able to import yourself a copy of the game seeing as we share Japan’s Blu-ray region code. According to V-Jump magazine, Saint Seiya Senki, as they’re calling it, will feature “cinematic melee action,” and should feature each of the saints squaring off against numerous opponents. I imagine that probably means something like Dynasty Warriors Gundam, but I could be wrong. We’re expecting to see a trailer for the game hit the official site later this week. The game should release this fall.
It’s hard to believe that it’s been nearly three years since Namco Bandai’s Soul CaliburIV hit the market. Better known for its quick, combo-driven gameplay, and scantly clad femme-fatals, the latest entry in the series shocked us all when Namco Bandai teamed up with LucasArts to include several guest characters from the Star Wars universe. Some details have finally emerged regarding its long-awaited sequel.
