Author Archives: Kuronoa

Sega Announces The World End Eclipse

During Tokyo Game Show Sega showcased their latest online RPG, The World End Eclipse.  It will be a free-to-play game and available for PC, Vita, iOS and Android this winter season.  Key staff include producer Shinji Motoyama (Valkyria Chronicles series, Nightshade), character design by Katsumi Enami (Baccano!, Ys Seven) and composer Hitoshi Sakamoto (Valkyria Chronicles, Final Fantasy Tactics).

According to Siliconera’s report, The World End Eclipse is described as a “Theatrical Online RPG”.  The setting takes place in a world brought to ruins due to a war amongst dragons, and civilization has built towns on their remains.  Apparently the story will not be entirely fantasy-themed, but military as well.

Further details are still sparse, but players are allowed to share save data between versions and cross platform co-op.

You can visit the official Japanese website here!

Puyo Puyo Tetris

Puyo Puyo Tetris Coming to PS4 and XBOX One in Japan

Looking for a puzzle game to play on your next-gen consoles?  SEGA will be bringing Puyo Puyo Tetris to PS4 and XBOX One in Japan on December 4th, according to GamesTalk and pointed out by a NeoGAF forum member.   This version will come with every DLC released thus far, for a ¥5,918 price tag.  Any additional features have not been mentioned yet.

There are currently no plans to localize any version of Puyo Puyo Tetris.  Ubisoft currently has Tetris Ultimate in development for these two platforms; it is unclear if this is an exclusive deal which may or may not interfere with bringing the game overseas.

Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F 2nd release date and pre-order bonus announced

SEGA has revealed that Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F 2nd will be launched on November 18th in North and Latin America, while other regions the game is planned to release in will receive the game on November 21st. As a reminder, both versions of the game will be available digitally and in retail and unlike the import version the game will also contain English lyrics as an option. Players will now be able to toggle between Japanese lyric, romaji, and English lyric display options.

Those who pre-order at select stores will receive the Americana module, themed with the United States red, white and blue motif. If you pre-order from Gamestop, you will also receive the Extra Character Pack DLC which features Akita Neru, Yowane Haku, and Kasane Teto. If you previously bought this DLC for the original Project Diva F (or Project Diva f), you will also be able to obtain these characters for free.

UDON Entertainment publishing Shining and Border Break artbooks

Earlier this year we interviewed UDON Entertainment about their experience with translating various Sega artbooks, and based on their announcements during their Comic-Con 2014 panel they are continuing to release additional books for Sega fans.  UDON is translating another Shining Artbook: Shining Blade and Ark which is a collection of both Shining games illustrated by Tony Taka.   Border Break Artworks, meanwhile, showcases mecha and background designs of the arcade game.  An Atlus book has also been picked up.  Gungnir Official Art Chronicle is based on the PSP Dept. Heaven game.

So far Border Break Artworks is the only one with a product page on their site.  You can look forward to this one sometime in December for $39.99.

Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax Coming to PS3 and Vita in Japan

Sega and French-Bread’s arcade 2d fighter Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax will be ported to PS3 and Vita this fall in Japan, as reported by Gematsu.  The game is a crossover between series published under the light novel imprint Dengeki Bunko (from publisher ASCII Media Works).  Shakugan no Shana, Sword Art Online, Durarara!!, Black Bullet and A Certain Magical Index are among the many confirmed series.  A few SEGA references are set to appear in the game, such as Akira from Virtua Fighter appearing as the game’s boss character, and SEGA franchise-themed stages like the Valkyria Chronicles-inspired stage shown above.  There are no further details about home version exclusive features just yet.

What are the chances of seeing this game overseas?  Well, anything is possible.  French-Bread’s previous crossover, AquaPazza, was localized by Atlus.  Quite a few series represented in this game have popular anime and manga adaptations worldwide too.

Sega Announces Hatsune Miku: Project MIRAI Remix for the West

Today Sega announced Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai Remix (working title) for 3DS during a Hatsune Miku chat show broadcasted on Niconico. As announced on Sega West’s blog, Project Mirai Remix will be an enhanced version of Project Mirai 2 (which was only released in Japan). The release of the game also marks the 5th anniversary of the Sega featuring Hatsune Miku Project. The game is scheduled to be released in Asia, North America and Europe in 2015. It will feature two rhythm modes (Touch and Button), StreetPass function and an Augmented Reality (AR) feature.

Following the news of the 5th Anniversary, an update on the official blog of Sega’s Hatsune Miku games revealed that 2.5 million copies of the series have been shipped in Japan alone. Since 5 years, Hatsune Miku has starred in numerous Sega published titles ranging from the original PSP titles to Mirai on Nintendo 3DS. While these numbers don’t include the localized Project Diva F, we already know Sega was pleased with the sales of the game, as evidenced by the fact that they will be releasing Project Diva F 2nd on the PS3 and PS Vita later this year.

Shining Resonance’s Irvan and His Human Form

When information about Shining Resonance was first announced, we learned that the protagonist is a dragon named Irvan who is one of the last of his kind.  In the latest issue of Famitsu, a surprise is revealed: Irvan has a human form.

As translated by Siliconera, Yuma Irvan is a man with the heart of a dragon.  He apparently transforms into a dragon form for combat.  On the second page of the Famitsu scan, a new party member is revealed named Rinna Mayfield who fights like a mage with a penguin companion named Fromage.  Also shown is a dragon who may have a hand in Irvan’s transformation.

If you missed it, more information about the game can be found on our previous article.  As of this time Sega did not announce a localization and the game is set for December 11 release in Japan.

Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne Now Available on PSN (Updated!)

Atlus had previously teased an upcoming release and this was recently revealed to be Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne as part of the PS2 classics line on Playstation Network.  The game will cost $9.99 and you can purchase the game here.  Unfortunately, Nocturne will not be available in Europe at this time (where it is subtitled Lucifer’s Call).  Ghostlight is aware of the release but unable to comment further.  They are still trying to bring Digital Devil Saga to PSN, but emulation problems previously delayed the games indefinitely.

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Tetris Company Founder Promises a “Number of New Products”

Gamesbeat recently conducted an interview with Tetris Company founder Henk Rogers about the success of Tetris, a puzzle franchise which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.  It is a fascinating read for fans of the game.  The final question, though, is especially telling for speculation about whether or not Puyo Puyo Tetris is on Sega’s radar.

“Yeah — Tetris is here to stay. Welcome to the 30th anniversary of Tetris. We’ll be looking for a number of new products. We’ll be celebrating at E3. Alexey is going to be there, too.”

This is not a guarantee of course.  Ubisoft did announce a Tetris game for PS4 and XBOX One.  Tetris Company licenses numerous merchandise as well.  However, “a number of new products” at E3 alongside a fresh Tetris title that just released this past February in Japan?  A bit of a coincidence don’t you think?  In the interview Rogers mentioned that Tetris sold 425 million in paid mobile downloads to date.  While Puyo Puyo Tetris is not available on this platform, Tetris has proven it can sell well on any platform.