Traditionally revolving around a historical Asian story, such as Dynasty Warriors’ Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the Warriors franchise now branches out to The Iliad with Warriors: Legends of Troy. Instead of Omega Force, Legends of Troy was developed by Koei Canada and, while it still bears the signature name and some gameplay similarities, provides a new experience for fans of the Warriors series to enjoy.
Bringing back some nostalgia for the 90’s gamer, SNK Playmore has released NEOGEO Station on the Playstation Network, which can be accessed from the PS3. This is largely a celebration of SNK’s 20th anniversary in 2010. Included in this package are 10 titles, many of which will bring back fond memories for older gamers, but may also destroy some childhood memories.
Mojang AB's secret project, known as "not yet announced game" until now, have kept Minecraft fans and other gamers wondering for months. In an interview with The-O Network Online, Jakob Porser, the lead developer of the project, unveiled its elusive identity: Scrolls.
Arc System Works is usually known for its BlazBlue series and beautifully animated sprites. This time, they’ve been commissioned by Konami to work on Hard Corps: Uprising, a prequel to the classic Contra series. Like most of Arc System Works’ games, Hard Corps features beautifully drawn 2D sprites and mixes it with old school gameplay to both satisfy seasoned gamers and attract younger players, even those who may have never touched a Contra game before.
Tecmo Koei is usually known for their hack and slashers, such as the recent Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage. Trinity: Souls of Zill O'll is a slight departure from this, adding in RPG elements to Tecmo Koei's usual style. So the question is: is there an RPG in my hack-and-slasher or a hack-and-slasher in my RPG?
On Febuary 10, 2011 at the NIS America press event in San Francisco, tears were shed as NIS announced that the retro cult hit indie game, Cave Story will be receiving a complete makeover for the Nintendo 3DS. In the introduction speech by NIS America Vice President Johanna Hirota, she interestingly mentioned that there was a new title they wanted to announce, but decided last minute to withhold it. The only information revealed is that this new title will be released on Sony's upcoming new handheld device, the Playstation Next Generation Portable (NGP).
While attempting to learn about this new NGP game, we apparently unearthed a second unannounced title. Nao Zook, Public Relations Manager described the game as something that "will be really big" and something they haven't done before. Unlike the other hardcore titles NIS America typically releases, the new game will merge different groups of players together and should be accessible to casual gamers. The last piece of information we got was that the game is not being developed by their parent company, Nippon Ichi Software, and will be released for consoles, not handhelds.
In discussing other future titles, NIS America stated that they do not currently have plans for releasing any games from Imageepoch, who are working on a video game from the highly popular Black Rock Shooter franchise in Japan. NIS America had announced late last year they had secured the rights to publish future series by Imageepoch. For fans of Altier Rorona, NIS America stated they hope to be able to release its sequel, Altier Totori, in English. From our experience upon general trends and the company's track record, it's not a question of if the game will be released; it's when.
Though only one new title was officially announced, NIS America reassures their fans that they definitely have more exciting titles releasing this year. Stay tuned!
Live Coverage of NIS America's 2011 Press Event
Written by Theodore Mak
NIS America will be announcing an exciting new game title later this week. But there are some speculations that the game will be a collaboration between the Prinny from Disgaea series and the popular indie game, Cave Story. There's not much information about it at the moment, but we'll be at the press event to keep you updated, stay tuned on our Twitter!
Lord of Arcana is Square Enix’s latest take on the creature hunting genre. Rather than the traditional formula of killing monsters and RPG gaining experience points, Lord of Arcana throws in material collection into the mix. With powerhouses like Capcom’s Monster Hunter series out already, Square Enix has their work cut out for them. Combining the action RPG formula and creature hunting genre together is definitely an interesting mix.
Disgaea fans, be warned: this game is not worth your time unless you enjoy playing a side scrolling game that is remarkably well at making your thumbs ache while you constantly mash upon the buttons.
NIS America will be throwing another fun filled press party this year on February 10, 2011. We definitely expect Ar Tonelico Qoga to be playable at the event. Little is known this time; however, a special guest from Japan and an "exciting new title" will be announced. As usual, we will be present to provide you with the latest information, stay tuned!
You can also check out our coverage of last year's event here.