EYE ON JAPAN # 3

EYE ON JAPAN # 3

As many gamers know Japan has had a few financial problems due to many earthquakes, a large tsunami, and a nuclear reactor that has been on the peak of melt down for the past month. This however has not stopped the gaming industry from soldiering on. Many new games ,of which I am excited for, are in planning and on the horizon for release. I’ll mention a few of them here.

No More Heroes Red Zone Edition

Those of you who have played No More Heroes are more than familiar with its risqué events, many innuendos, Pulp Fiction style attitude and a much blood as perverted jokes. These first two games pushed the boundary of what many thought Nintendo would allow to be published on the wii (of course there was Madworld to further push this envelope).

The Red Zone Edition introduces even more content as it will be rated CERO Z in Japan which is possibly in many cases near what would be an AO rating by the ESRB. This is mainly due to the addition of the Forbidden View mode which at this time I do not have a lot of information about, but judging by the screen shots it most likely will consists of a adult oriented photo shoot mini game much like that of Rumble Roses XX. This game will be coming out for PS3 and will have updated graphics, more bosses and will support PS3 move controls (for those who are interested).

Phantasy Star Online 2

Many people complain about World of Warcraft, EverQuest and other MMOs and how they take are addictive and have ruined some people’s lives. When it comes to MMOs, my friends and I were all either playing one of two games. One game was Final Fantasy XI and the other was Phantasy Star Online. Phantasy Star online was an action MMO for the Dreamcast and Gamecube systems and was based off a series of single player RPGs on sega consoles in the late eighties and early ninties for Sega consoles and created by Sonic Team. Phantasy Star online has experienced a long life with free servers still up today. After PSO (Phantasy Star Online) Sega had created a few spin off games for handheld consoles and expansions to PSO. One game (Phantasy Star Universe) came out a few years ago on the PS2 and 360 and was intended to be a Sqeuel but wasn’t well received . Fans of this series have been screaming for a true and decent Sequel to this game for years and it seems that their prayers are finally going to be answered. Sega has just announced Phantasy Star Online 2 and I will admit I am excited! This time Sega is making the right choice first and creating the game for PC in order to take advantage of the strong MMO community on the PC, the ability for better server support, and the best way to insure that gamers can play wether they own a PS3 or 360 (not that it wont also be released on those to as PSU was). The game looks to be rather decent (at least in the graphics department). No release date has been announced yet.

Trailer doesn't look that bad if I say so myself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxqukE7UfLk

Tri-Ace Tech Demo

Tri-Ace (the company responsible for the Star Ocean and Valkyrie Profile series, as well as a few others, has released a technical demo for graphics rendering using the PS3 and 360 to the best of their and the companies abilities. This tech demo has resulted in a feast for the eyes which has thrown fans into a frenzy, as though it a franchise name hasn’t been associated yet with the demo there are more than a few hints (Elven girl, Space aged world, ect) that point to the possibility of this being Star Ocean 5. I’ll keep you posted as I learn more but until then enjoy the video yourself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cuXgRVMvZ0&feature=player_embedded

Final Fantasy Type-0 (Reishiki)

Finally along with new screen shots Square-Enix has announced a release date for the amazing looking PSP game Final Fantasy Type-0. That release date is summer 2011! I know that I, being the Final Fantasy Addict that I am, will be at the game store day one to purchase.

And lastly....

ChouJigen Game Neptune Mk-II [Hyper Dimension Neptunia MK-II]

I have no idea why they are making a sequel to this game but apparently the first one has sold enough copies to warrant a more risque sequel which has been promised to have better graphics and possibly a decent battle system this time.