famitsu posts(Subscribe to this feed)

Rumor: Car punching returns in Super Street Fighter IV

by Justin McElroy { Nov 4th 2009 at 9:45AM }

While Street Fighter may be the perfect symbol of man's inhumanity to man, we always considered SFII's bonus stage (which used the punching of a car as a John Henry-esque metaphor for the struggle to maintain humanity in the face of an industrial age) as the more poignant symbolism. Capcom appears to agree, as some new Famitsu scans seem to indicate that the car-punching bonus stage will return in Super Street Fighter IV.

Also depicted is the barrel smashing mini-game, though that doesn't represent anything ... except that it's fun to smash barrels.

Nintendo of Japan: Nikkei reveal of new DSi is 'speculation'

by JC Fletcher { Oct 27th 2009 at 2:30PM }

As expected, Nintendo didn't openly announce the new, larger-screened DSi in response to a Nikkei article mentioning it. In a statement to Famitsu (as translated by Siliconera), Nintendo said, "Our company is not doing any interviews. We believe this article is speculation." Of course, that is merely a comment on how Nikkei arrived at that information, and not a denial of the information.

It's familiar, as well. Nintendo of America said almost exactly the same thing about Nikkei's early reveal of the DSi, so we wouldn't dismiss the possibility of a DSi upgrade yet. We're checking in with Nintendo of America to find out more.

[Via Siliconera]

Kojima and Desilets trade praise over Assassin's Creed 2 and Peace Walker

by Ben Gilbert { Oct 22nd 2009 at 7:55PM }

Assassin's Creed 2 head Patrice Désilets and MGS: Peace Walker head Hideo Kojima had a war of compliments in the most recent issue of Famitsu. It seems that the two gentlemen have a bit of a game industry bromance going on, lauding the other's current project in a back and forth translated by 1UP. "I think there are three games that stand out above the rest of the pack in the remainder of this year. One is Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, one is Uncharted 2, and the third is Assassin's Creed II," said Kojima.

"If I had to give my impression of Peace Walker, I'd have to say that I want to play more," Désilets responded. "It was great fun; I can't wait for the retail version." Kojima expanded a bit on his appreciation for Désilets' "focus on game design" over style, and said that he's currently considering the possibility of them "maybe, kinda" going steady. Okay, we made up that last part.

Japanese game devs give their verdicts on TGS

by Xav de Matos { Oct 22nd 2009 at 5:00PM }

While plenty of games press and hardcore fans flocked to 2009's Tokyo Game Show, attendance was down versus last year, and developers noticed. "The total attendance is down from last year, but myself, it felt less like a crush of people and more like a fun festival atmosphere like we used to have," Hideo Kojima told Famitsu in an upcoming feature.

But not every developer looked favorably on the late-September show. Bayonetta director Hideki Kamiya pointed out that only three titles out of the 12 awarded 'Future' prizes at the Japan Game Awards were non-sequels. "That seems to go crossways with the term 'future' in my mind and it's frankly kind of sad," he said.

Resident Evil 5 producer Jun Takeuchi revealed he was "a little disappointed" that there were very few Japanese-made titles positioned for the worldwide market. However, he does note the titles meant for Japanese consumption puts the industry (in the East) on a stable base. While Fumito Ueda -- currently working on The Last Guardian -- noted that he is extremely excited about offerings from the West, specifically Modern Warfare 2. "I feel a serious sublime beauty in all of Infinity Ward's FPSes," he told Famitsu, despite qualms that Western companies came to Japan to push their wares rather than discussing innovation.

According to Akihiro Hino, head of Level-5 -- one of the busier booths at TGS 2009 -- the show felt "kind of plain." However, he does agree that the show offered a lot of games he personally wanted to play. "So in that respect," he noted, "TGS was great." If you consider waiting in line for 180 minutes to play one title great, we agree.

[Via 1UP]

Bayonetta is first Xbox 360 game awarded perfect score by Famitsu

by Richard Mitchell { Oct 20th 2009 at 6:00PM }

We bet you didn't know Bayonetta was a (numerically) flawless game. As it turns out, it is ... at least according to Famitsu, which just gave the game a perfect 40/40 review -- the first perfect score given to a game available on Xbox, incidentally. It's no secret that the Japanese mag has been handing out perfect scores at an accelerated rate these days. Of the twelve games to receive a perfect score -- Bayonetta included -- six were awarded in the last two years. There are only so many reasons we can imagine that Bayonetta would receive such high scores.

First, it could be that Bayonetta is just a really good game. Second, it's possible the editors of Famitsu really have a thing for hair witches. Given the involvement of Hideki Kamiya -- one of the principal minds behind Devil May Cry -- it's probably the former. At least, we certainly hope it's the former.

MGS: Peace Walker to feature Vocaloid, interactive cutscenes ... and a surprise that'll make you buy a PSP?

by James Ransom-Wiley { Oct 13th 2009 at 8:30PM }

Ever the consummate hype man, Hideo Kojima is fluffing up Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker by teasing an apparent system-selling feature. "I haven't announced this yet, but there's another feature in [Peace Walker] that will surprise people, to the point where they'll want to go out and buy a PSP right now!" Kojima blabbed in the latest issue of Famitsu (as translated by 1UP). Short of some sort of in-game subliminal advertising (hey, these guys like to experiment), we're thinking The Two-Hundred-and-Forty-Nine-Ninety-Nine-Dollar Feature -- or maybe it's just "The Buck-Seventy Feature" -- could get lost in translation. After all, the two Peace Walker features that have been newly revealed seem distinctly Japanese in their appeal.

Also plucked from the pages of Famitsu, is the revelation that Peace Walker will feature Yamaha's Vocaloid software. (Yeah, we'd never heard of it either -- just wikipedia it.) If we understand it correctly, Vocaloid will allow certain weapons in the game to sing and scream. Mm-hmm, sounds incredibly annoying.

Also revealed: Those 2D-illustrated cut scenes? Yep, like this one. Well, they're interactive. "For example, if you zoom in on the scene where you first meet Paz, you can see the uniform she has on under her coat, and then what's under that," art director Yoji Shinkawa explained ... rather creepily. "It's an idea I came up with while thinking about what makes games different from movies or animation. I think it's pretty interactive." Hopefully, not too interactive.

Gran Turismo 5's Yamauchi: 'We could release it any time we want'

by Ben Gilbert { Oct 13th 2009 at 5:30PM }

Gran Turismo 5's Kazunori Yamauchi says he could give you his studio's next entry in the venerable racing-sim series right now ... but he won't. Speaking with Famitsu last week (translated by 1UP), the Polyphony Digital studio head explains that while "We could release it any time we want," he's more interested in trying to give the game "that classic GT-style." And though "daily progress is slow," the Japanese developer assures us that "it's still going forward at a steady clip."

Unlike the PSP iteration's somewhat lackluster feature set, Yamauchi intends on going "way beyond gamer expectations" with GT5, even confirming the export of cars earned in GT PSP to next March's PS3 sequel. We're hoping he goes way beyond our expectations as well and delivers the game to other territories in a more timely fashion.

Gallery: Gran Turismo 5

Koei Tecmo's new game is North Star Musou

by JC Fletcher { Oct 13th 2009 at 9:56AM }

The new game being teased by Koei Tecmo -- the one with the flowers? Um, yeah, it's actually about punching people: As predicted, the game's been revealed by Famitsu as Fist of the North Star Musou (officially, just Hokuto Musou, or North Star Musou) combining Koei's populous Dynasty Warriors series with the venerable manga series, and it's the smartest thing Koei has ever done with the Warriors series since the original idea.

The Fist of the North Star franchise follows a martial artist named Kenshiro who wanders around a post-apocalypse Earth, using his "Hokuto Shinken" style to fight gangsters that prey on hapless innocents. Why is this series so perfect for Warriors? Because it's a well-known universe in which it's perfectly believable for one guy to beat up a couple hundred enemies with his bare fists. This license will not require much adapting in the transition to a Warriors game.

Hokuto Musou, according to the magazine, will be out sometime next year on both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker characters revealed in Famitsu

by Griffin McElroy { Sep 23rd 2009 at 11:58AM }

Hideo Kojima has remained tight-lipped about the characters that will appear in Konami's upcoming PSP spy romp, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker -- so far, we only know four: Snake, Snake, Snake and Snaaaake! However, Famitsu has revealed a few other faces that will make an appearances in the game: Amanda, Huey, Chico, Coldman, Strangelove, Galvez, Cecile, Paz, and, most notably, Master Miller from Metal Gear 2. The magazine also included illustrations of these characters, who look as colorful as their names might suggest.

Famitsu also provides details about the co-op modes seen in the nine-minute trailer released last month. When two players get close to one another, "Co-op" mode activiates, merging the players' health gauges and allowing them to trade items. When they get really close, they go into "Snake-in" mode, in which one player controls both Snakes' movements so that the other can focus on murdering fools.

We wonder if all four players can merge in this manner, forming a growling, bearded train of death?

[Thanks, Ryan]

Rumor: Star Ocean: The Last Hope, Nier Replicant bound for PS3

by JC Fletcher { Sep 15th 2009 at 3:00PM }

Square Enix frequently releases "International" versions of its Final Fantasy games in Japan -- they're basically the Western versions of the games with some extra cutscenes and whatnot to encourage double-dipping among the rapt Japanese audience. According to this Famitsu scan, the publisher is going to try the same thing with Star Ocean: The Last Hope, turning the once 360-exclusive game into a multiplatform release in the process. The scan states that Star Ocean: The Last Hope International will be released on PS3 on February 4 of next year. Siliconera says that it will include both English and Japanese voice acting.

Another scan reveals that Nier Replicant, the mysterious other Nier game revealed next week, will also be a PS3 release. We're awaiting confirmation from Square Enix.

MadWorld headed to Japan, not being published by Sega

by David Hinkle { Sep 11th 2009 at 7:15PM }

Even though Sega was kinda proud of MadWorld's initial sales performance, the company has decided it won't handle publishing duties for a Japanese version of the game. Famitsu reports that the game will be available in Japan sometime this Winter courtesy of Spike, a company well-versed in violent video games. Hopefully it won't get a crash course in lackluster sales.

[Via Go Nintendo]

Gallery: MadWorld

Square Enix near to announcing another Nier game

by Ben Gilbert { Sep 10th 2009 at 12:15AM }

It might not be the game we were most excited by at E3 2009, but upcoming action game Nier is apparently already getting the franchise treatment. According to a two-page ad spotted by 1UP in the most recent Famitsu, "Nier Replicant" is set to be detailed in next week's issue of the Japanese magazine.

The spread features a scantily clad white-haired lady with a single line of text that reads, "Beyond revenge lies crazed desperation." Given the absolute dearth of information we have on the Nier franchise, we're sorry to say we can offer little more than our furrowed brow to assuage your confusion over Replicant's tagline. We do know that the name could very well change before it's formally announced on Western shores, as Nier was recently announced in the same edition of Famitsu as "Nier Gestalt" -- known as to us as just Nier. It appears as though at least some of our questions will be answered in next week's issue.

Gallery: Nier

[Image credit]

Spiritual successor to Ace Attorney: Capcom's 'Ghost Trick'

by JC Fletcher { Sep 1st 2009 at 4:50PM }

With Ace Attorney creator Shu Takumi directing and a look that evokes a futuristic Lupin the 3rd, Capcom's new Ghost Trick has immediately attracted our attention. The concept, a mystery with shades of Time Hollow and D3's The Saibanin, is equally gripping. The game stars a man named Sisal who has just been shot dead. Now a ghost with no memories, he attempts to solve his own murder and put together the details of his own life before his soul dissipates.

To carry out his investigation, Sisel can travel back and forth in time to see the events surrounding his death. He can also possess objects and use them to change history. Takumi told Famitsu (as translated by 1UP) that he came up with the idea for Ghost Trick during the production of Gyakuten Saiban 3 five years ago, in an effort to make "a new type of mystery, something different in style from Ace Attorney." The style might be different, but the involvement of dead people's spirits in murder cases is basically an Ace Attorney staple.

First screens for Game Arts' WiiWare platformer

by JC Fletcher { Sep 1st 2009 at 12:30PM }

This May at a Grandia Online presentation, Game Arts teased an upcoming WiiWare title called Kage no Shounen, Hikari no Yousei (Boy of Shadow, Fairy of Light). The latest Famitsu magazine includes the first screens of the game now called Shadow Walker: Kage no Shounen, Hikari no Yousei.

The concept is somewhere between Hudson's Shadow Tower and WayForward's LIT, as far as we can tell, featuring a character who can only walk in shadow. We're sure we'll find out more this week. The game is expected to release to Japan's Wii Shop next month, for 1,000 Wii Points.

Rumor: Famitsu scans show DS Okami sequel 'Okamiden'

by JC Fletcher { Sep 1st 2009 at 2:15AM }

Apparent Famitsu magazine scans are out, revealing what would appear to be the promised "Okamiden" game. We can't see the title in this scan, but if an Okami sequel and an unrelated game called Okamiden were revealed at the same time, it would be a pretty weird coincidence.

If this is real, it shows a DS sequel to Clover Studios' beloved PS2 action-adventure game, which captures the original's watercolor style admirably, if a bit blockily. Of course, the DS is even more of a natural for the Okami paintbrush mechanic than the Wii is!