Atlus sure knows how to make a trailer exciting -- you can forget needing that cup of coffee after watching this.
While our interest was only mildly piqued before by the adorable-looking boardgame-meets-RPG known as Dokapon Kingdom, this video really managed to put the title on our radar, nearing the "Do Want" list. As for destroying friendships? That's fine by us. We never really liked those people we called "friends" anyway. Atlus also promises an enriching single-person experience, too, in case you've already burned those briges long ago without developer Sting's help.
Dokapon Kingdom should be hitting American shores on October 14th, retailing at $40.
Dokapon Kingdom is all about acquiring as much money as possible before the end of the game. Sting is cleverly extending Dokapon's pecuniary theme into the game's promotion by offering buyers money. Specifically, gold coins.
The Dokatto Kinka! Present Campaign (Thudding Gold Coin Present Campaign) offers gold coins to people who respond to a survey on Sting's mobile phone site. Three Doka-fans who answer the survey between July 31 and September 30, will be awarded 100,000 yen ($953) worth of gold. We don't expect Atlus to hand out gold coins with the American version of Dokapon Kingdom, but maybe we can get a poster of some gold coins!
We've been following Wario Land: The Shake Dimension for quite some time now. After the numerous scans and screens, we're about ready to hear something on a release date for the game. Well, as ready as we are in North America, it looks like Europe is the only region with a cemented release for the game.Wario Land: The Shake Dimension will release in Europe on September 26th.
Aside from that game, Nintendo of Europe also dished out release dates for plenty of other Wii games, including Baroque (July 18) and Manhunt 2(August). To check out the full list, head on past the break.
Posted Jun 11th 2008 9:00PM by Phil Larsen Filed under: News
The Wii-eager Australian customers were all happily discussing which games they would purchase when Nintendo's hot new console hit the shelves on December 7th, 2006. Plenty of gamers were looking forward to Trauma Center: Second Opinion, which was shaping up to be a quality title.
After a miniscule eighteen months, TC:SO has now been rated by the OFLC for release! Yes, it apparently takes that long to bring a completed game to the shores of ridiculous retail prices. Aussies are used to delays for other big name games likeSuper Paper Mario and Super Smash Bros. Brawl (which still isn't out), but this one really takes the cake. It's worth noting that there still isn't an actual release date -- it's merely been rated. So, is there potential for a two year Australian delay for a US launch title? You bet!
GameStop's Game Days sale doesn't really hold too much of interest to Wii owners, other than maybe $20 copies of The House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return, and Frontman guitars for $40. However, concurrent with the temporary markdowns done for this sale, GameStop has marked down Compile Heart's cephalopod puzzle game Octomania five bucks, to $14.99. Amazon has also marked the puzzler down to $15.
Octomania involves rotating 2x2 grids of octopi one space at a time to shuffle them onto a grill, in order to make takoyaki. If that's not enough to make the thing irresistible, it's got a wacky story mode and, most importantly, online play. Of course, that means you'll have to convince other people to buy and play it.
Last week, Atlus sent out a cryptic, humorous "apology" letter from "Player 4," asking forgiveness in advance for humiliating other players in some unannounced game. As it turns out, the teaser was for a localized version of Sting's Dokapon Kingdom, announced today for Wii and PS2. Dokapon Kingdom is a four-player board game/RPG that emphasizes shifting alliances and betrayals between its players, being dubbed a "friendship-destroying party game."
The Dokapon Kingdom website features wallpaper, a description of the game's story (in which monsters attack and heroes vie to save the kingdom and earn money from the king), and introductions to three of Dokapon's venal characters.
Dokapon is scheduled for an October 14th release, for $40. After the post break, we've got a trailer and a larger version of the image used in the boxart.
I'll be frank -- when I first started Baroque, I hated it. Being thrown into such a strange and ugly world with the barest of backstories was completely disorienting. I had no idea where to go or what to do, and didn't have the luxury of taking my time to explore because my vitality meter was plummeting from the get-go. One character (known as the Coffin Man) kept yelling "goddamnit!" at me, and when I finally got to the place where I was supposed to be, it wasn't long before I died.
If I hadn't been reviewing this game, I probably would have quit right there. But, since it's (clearly) considered bad form to write a review after only twenty minutes of playtime, I trekked on -- and I'm extremely glad that I did. Once I delved deeper into the world of Baroque, I realized that first impressions aren't always the best impressions.
Now that you've kindly read through my personal aside, let's move on to the actual review, shall we?
Is it us, or has Amazon been a greatplace for Nintendo shoppers lately?
In any case, today's "Deal of the Day" is Trauma Center: New Blood, the most recent (until July 1st!) Trauma Center game on the market. If Atlus decides to bring the series back to the DS for good, this may be the last time you get to operate with your Wiimote.
The deal also provides pretty decent savings, as the game is marked down by $17 (meaning it will cost you $32.99). Is anyone planning on getting this today? If so, just make sure you order it before 3am EDT.
We're impressed with Rising Star, who have been bringing a lot ofnichegames to Europe. The most recent one on the publisher's list is Baroque, which will be hitting the continent on June 27th. We're sure that Rising Star is hoping that the game will sell decently, but after seeing how it was received in Japan, the company might be a little worried. Of course, it can't do any worse than that ... can it?
In any case, we're sure that at least some of you folks in Europe will be glad to get the chance to play Sting's hardcore roguelike on your Wiis.
Many folks have had their eye on Baroque, taking note of its release this week. And if you aren't one of those people, then this isn't your week. There's, uh, Mini Copter Adventure Flight, if you're brave enough to try and tackle such a big adventure in such a smallcopter. But, other than that, nada.
So are you going to check out Atlus' RPG? We suggest you wait for a certain gaming blog to weigh in first, as they're in the process of reviewing it as you read this. Until then, might we suggest seeing if there is a Virtual Console game you want to download or checking out one of the many Wii games that recently received a price slash? If not, what are you playing?
It's Monday again, which means we check out what's on the radar for Wii. This week, a pair of new titles release, including Atlus's latest for the Wii. It may have been pushed back a few times, but RPG fans may finally rejoice.
This week's releases are:
Mini Copter Adventure Flight
Baroque
Anyone interested in either of these titles? Planning on picking up a new game this week?
We've gotten a peek at so many screens from Baroque that we're ready to hijack someone's posh color printer and start making our own little flipbook. We hear that if you turn the pages at just the right speed, you can see Creepy Bastards and Emo Mummies in full motion. Sure, we could pick up the manga, but we're shooting for creativity here. Try not to stifle the process.
In other news, we have seen a gushing floodwater of media from this title. Go ahead -- check it out in the updated gallery.
Atlus doesn't want you to forget about Baroque, and we don't, either. Clichés like amnesia and world-saving aside, the dark RPG sounds -- and looks -- really fascinating, and we can only hope it delivers. For now, however, we're delivering up some new screenshots, courtesy of Atlus, showing off some battle footage, as well as the support character, the Baroquemonger. Despite his onscreen discussion about customers, he does not ask, "What are you buying?" We're sad.
We've added a ton of character images for you to check out, too. The artistic design for Baroque is really setting a high standard -- we can't wait to see the final product!
Baroque may have experienced a few delays, but it's still on the way, as evidenced by the screens in our spiffy new gallery. Or perhaps we should say new-ish, because we've seen a couple of them before in blurry, muddied forms, and now they're crisp, clean, and much more attractive. We're happy to be reminded of this title, and happier still that it was pushed back so as not to compete with Super Smash Bros. Brawl; after all, we want more RPGs on the Wii, not fewer, and if Baroque does well, it might help developers to realize that there are more than just casual gamers among the Wii's audience.
Update: It's official. The game has been delayed. Thanks to LordGek for pointing this out to us!
It looks like Baroqueis getting pushed back yet again, as the release window of March is no more. Actually, it could still be on track for a March release, however word from gaming retail giant GameStop is that the game is releasing on the 8th of April. To add more credibility to this rumor, Gamefly is saying the game isn't releasing until the 10th of April.
While this is far from official word via Atlus or something, odds are that those of us dying to get our hands on the RPG will have to wait an extra month. And, hey, if there's one thing us Wii gamers have learned, it's how to wait for games we want.
