JC Fletcher
- http://nintendo.joystiq.com
THE ERA AND TIME OF THIS STORY IS UNKNOWN. AFTER THE MOTHERSHIP "ARKANOID" WAS DESTROYED, A SPACECRAFT "JC Fletcher" SCRAMBLED AWAY FROM IT. BUT ONLY TO BE TRAPPED IN SPACE WARPED BY SOMEONE......
Tenchu: Shadow Assassins' price silently slashed
by JC Fletcher 
{ 21 hours ago } 
If you've waited all year to play a game about using ninja cats to distract sort of British-sounding targets, and you somehow missed this game, now's your chance to make that right.
Gallery: Tenchu 4
[Via GoNintendo]
Trademark suggests upcoming European release for Dragon Quest IX
by JC Fletcher { 1 day ago } 
Square Enix has filed a series of trademarks for the phrase "Sentinels of the Starry Skies" in English, French, Spanish, Italian, and German (search for trademark #008724528 on the EU trademark database to see the English application for yourself). The phrase corresponds closely to the Japanese subtitle of Dragon Quest IX, Hoshizora no Mamorubito ("Defenders of the Starry Sky").
The publisher could be waiting to get its other big RPG out the door before saying anything. It previously noted that if it does localize the DS game (which it will!) it'll be in the next fiscal year, which starts in April.
Shin Megami Tensei password system lets your demons make Strange Journeys
by JC Fletcher { 1 day ago }
Atlus revealed a password system for its upcoming Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey, through which players will be able to trade copies of their customized, leveled-up, fused demons. In addition to being able to generate your own passwords to share your awesome demons with others, Atlus will release passwords for some rare creatures.In addition, the updated box art image shows an M rating. Clearly, demon hunting is serious business, to be left to the big kids! As Siliconera notes, there are only ten DS games with M ratings, out of 1,366 total releases.
Strike a pose: Bandai Namco localizing Muscle March
by JC Fletcher { 1 day ago }
Confirmed: Bandai Namco has lost its damn mind. And we couldn't be happier! The company has officially announced a winter release for Muscle March, the WiiWare port of a limited-release arcade game about striking the right pose to lead a line of bodybuilders through holes in walls left by a bulked-up thief.
Sure, it's reportedly awful, but it has multiplayer, and it's sure to be a conversation starter, with possible topics ranging from "what is this" to "why are we playing this." And while we're not assuming the quality is similar, does anyone else get a Katamari vibe from the music and art? It's quite likely that some of the same people are involved.
Sure, it's reportedly awful, but it has multiplayer, and it's sure to be a conversation starter, with possible topics ranging from "what is this" to "why are we playing this." And while we're not assuming the quality is similar, does anyone else get a Katamari vibe from the music and art? It's quite likely that some of the same people are involved.
Gallery: Muscle March (WiiWare)
WiiWare's Phalanx remake is almost a Virtual Console game
by JC Fletcher { 2 days ago }
Essentially, developer Zoom is using WiiWare to release a Virtual Console game whose platform isn't supported on the Virtual Console -- with some new bonus content, like a new mode with new stages and manual weapon selection. We approve of this tactic. Phalanx will be released on December 22 in Japan.
The real-life treasure of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
by JC Fletcher { 2 days ago }
Along with the treasure chest, Nintendo sent a Link t-shirt. In a separate mailing, the company sent another wooden gewgaw: a train whistle, just like the one you got from any museum gift shop ever. In a truly superhuman display of discipline, we've managed to leave the whistle untooted so future Joyswag winners won't be subject to blogger cooties.
Gallery: Zelda: Spirit Tracks treasure
Square Enix edutaining Japan's children with Miffy
by JC Fletcher { 2 days ago }
Oyako de Asobo Miffy no Omochabako (Play for Kids and Parents Miffy's Toybox) is an edutainment game with 25 different minigames, all featuring the adorable, X-mouthed rabbit, designed for parents and youngsters to play together. A coloring minigame can be transferred from the Wii game to the DS.
When Final Fantasy XIII comes out in North America in March, it'll already be old hat to Japanese gamers, who will be eagerly awaiting the March 18 release of this game.
[Via Siliconera]
Japanese Nintendo downloads: King of Fighters '95, Kamenin Merchant
by JC Fletcher { 3 days ago }
Today, for those Japanese gamers who like King of Fighters games but didn't purchase the Orochi Collection disc -- or the Neo Geo Online Collection Complete Box sets, King of Fighters '95 is available on the Virtual Console. SNK Playmore's business model is so strange -- these Virtual Console releases seem to actively compete with the company's retail collections.Also available: two cute Namco arcade games, including Rompers, an obscure game about pushing walls over on enemies. DSiWare features a Tales of Graces spinoff, a calendar that lets you mark upcoming events, and a Picross variant with surprisingly nice sprite work.
- The King of Fighters '95 (Neo Geo, 1-2 players, 900 Wii Points)
- Ordyne (Arcade, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)
- Rompers (Arcade, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)
- Ponjan Wii (WiiWare, 1-4 players, 1,000 Wii Points)
- Ato Nannichi? Kazoeru Nintendo DSi Calendar (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
- Kamenin Merchant (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
- Kaiten Illust Puzzle Guruguru Logic (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
Amazon's New Super Mario Bros. Wii bundle adds Lunchable compatibility
by JC Fletcher { 3 days ago }
For $70, you get the game, a plastic lunchbox, a t-shirt (size L), and four Wiimote stickers. The t-shirt sizing suggests that this really is a nostalgia-focused gift set and not for people who are currently children. This, of course, means that these lunchboxes are destined for shelves and not cafeterias.
[Via GoNintendo]
Final Fight 3, Metal Gear headline Japanese Virtual Console lineup next month
by JC Fletcher { 4 days ago }
Metal Gear kept Japanese Wii owners waiting last month, as publisher D4 Enterprises missed the game's announced November release window. The tactical espionage action progenitor has snuck into December's lineup, along with another November refugee, Yie Ar Koutei no Gyakushuu.December will also see the arrival of Final Fight 3 for SNES, which features Guy and Haggar along with two new characters, all doing what they do best: punching people, eating garbage, and destroying lots of barrels. Of course, no Virtual Console schedule is complete without shmups, and December will see two: Ordyne, an adorable side-scroller from Namco, and Zaxxon, a classic Sega shooter with a confusing perspective. See the list after the break.
[Via Andriasang]
The key to Shiren the Wanderer's story
by JC Fletcher { 8 days ago }
Atlus also highlights Shiren's pal Koppa in the trailer, allowing us to hope that the company will choose to bundle the game with Sega's Koppa Wiimote stand.
Gallery: Shiren the Wanderer (Wii)
Lufia II remake is more action, less RPG
by JC Fletcher { 8 days ago }
The game itself looks really different. Square Enix classifies this as an action RPG, but between the combos and the grappling, this looks like an action game. We suppose it's an RPG because when you hit something, numbers come out. Lufia II (or Estpolis) is out in Japan February 25.
Amazon bears the best deal on Crystal Bearers
by JC Fletcher { 9 days ago }
With The Crystal Bearers coming out after Christmas, it seems poised to take advantage of gift money and/or returns of items gamers don't want. However, this pre-Christmas deal may require some budget-conscious gamers to spend against their presumed future cash gifts. Or, for those of you with enough disposable income, you can just buy it.
[Via GoNintendo]
Japanese Nintendo downloads: MSX games, Eco Shooter, and 16 more
by JC Fletcher { 10 days ago }
Most interesting among the multifarious offerings: a few forgotten Konami MSX games on VC, and 530 Eco Shooter on WiiWare. That's ... an Intelligent Systems-developed shooting game about shooting cans. The cans are alive and move around. It's weird. Also weird: Nintendo's Neratte Spot! for DSiWare, which is about throwing bombs into the mouths of fish.
The whole list is after the break, because it's crazy long.
Spanish judge throws out criminal case against DS flash cart seller
by JC Fletcher { 10 days ago }
Judge D. Gregorio Alvarez Alvarez of Salamanca, Spain, dismissed a complaint brought by Nintendo against Grupo Movilquick, which sells the DSTT flash cart in Spain. The judge ruled that though the device does circumvent Nintendo's DRM, and can be used for piracy, it can also be used to extend the functionality of the DS in other, legal ways -- such as, according to Google's translation of the judge's statement, "backing up original games or other various functions such as managing photos, music or performance of (free software)."
The judge notes that Nintendo might still have grounds for a civil lawsuit if it can be proven that the DSTT infringes on a Nintendo industrial design patent. But his ruling is a far cry from the usual "flash carts are piracy machines" rhetoric that (understandably) angry companies like Nintendo perpetuate.
[Via GamePolitics]
The judge notes that Nintendo might still have grounds for a civil lawsuit if it can be proven that the DSTT infringes on a Nintendo industrial design patent. But his ruling is a far cry from the usual "flash carts are piracy machines" rhetoric that (understandably) angry companies like Nintendo perpetuate.
