News

Tecmo, the Japanese publisher of video games such as Ninja Gaiden, Tecmo Bowl, and Fatal Frame, has not had a very good year. After releasing XBox 360 action title Ninja Gaiden 2, game designer Tomonobu Itakagi and several other employees sued the company for unpaid overtime work relating to Ninja Gaiden 2. Other headaches included disappointing sales for Fatal Frame IV and the resignation of several top company officials.

But here comes Square-Enix to the rescue! According to Kotaku, Square-Enix is planning a friendly takeover of Tecmo in a similar manner to which happened to Taito in 2005. If the takeover is successful, Tecmo would become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Square-Enix, and if the wage issue is resolved, Tecmo's successful Team Ninja studio (Ninja Gaiden, Dead or Alive) would be making games for the big S-E.

Source: Kotaku

Also: wtf? Kingdom Hearts Gaiden?

Trademarked some time ago, Konami recently announced a new title in the cult-favorite Suikoden series of RPGs. The game is about 50% complete, and "Tierkreis" is a German word meaning "Zodiac," - a few sparse details about the game have been released (it stars a young main named Jail and uses a four-member party of sorts) but for the most part very little is known to the public and fan forums are blazing with rumor and anticipation. There is also no word on the game being published outside of Japan.

Source: RPGFan

So we know that it's been discussed a bit already, but this is news big enough that it simply must be brought onto our front page: Chrono Trigger is coming to the Nintendo DS.

Of course, the new version is going to be somewhat different, very likely in terms of a new dungeon, since that tends to be the stock addition to all of the Square-Enix remakes coming out these days. However, I'd also expect it to contain all of the additional data tables found in the PSX version, and of course the animated cut scenes. Finally, since this is coming out for the DS, there's no reason not to expect a great deal of interactivity between top and bottom screens. Heck, they even say that in the press release.

The final big news for today is that we now have an English-titles trailer; it's nothing amazing, but it does show that the gameplay and in-game graphics won't be changing, and it does give a launch window of Winter 2008, surely meant to imply that it will be launching just before Christmas. We will have, of course, links for you to preorder the game as we get them.

Source: Square-Enix North America

Nintendo has announced a new title this week, Kurikin Nano Island Story for the Nintendo DS. This game will be another step in the creature capture genre Nintendo has created, only this time you won't be capturing lovable monsters, you'll be scooping up bacteria.

You play the game as a young inhabitant of Nano Island home to one hundred different types of bacteria. As the game progresses you'll be exploring the island, and be able to both capture and train new types of bacteria. The game's story mode is mission based, and will be 24 chapters long. Of course, to succeed in your missions you're going to have to engage in some germ warfare. That's right, you'll be fighting other teams of bacteria.

In battles players will control an army of germs that first appear as a single pixel on the DS's touch screen. You'll be able to instruct your troops by circling part of the group and then drawing a line, instructing them to go there. You'll also be able to disperse the group you've circled by blowing into the DS microphone. When your germs engage the enemy in combat the top screen will show a zoomed in view, allowing you a nice view of the germ combat. Bacteria of course, will divide and multiply the entire time, keeping your troops with a steady stream of combatants.

Each battle will feature a different requirement from winning, going from things like simply wiping out the enemy, to having the most remaining bacteria.

Kurikin Nano Island Story will release May 24 in Japan, a US launch date has not yet been announced, and it is unknown whether the game will make it here.

Source: RPGamer

According to Famitsu, the main character from Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (the DS sequel to FF Tactics Advance) is going to make an appeareance in the PSP remake of Tactics, Final Fantasy Tactics: Shisho Sensou. This new character, Russo (or possibly Luso or something similar, depending on how it's localized in English), encounters and takes on Ramza while he's on the way to rescuing Alma; it isn't clear exactly where in the game this takes place.

This marks the second character from a recent FF game announced to have a supporting role in the FF Tactics remake, after Balthier from FF XII was announced as playable a few months ago. Is Square-Enix taking this cross-promotion a bit too far, or do we want even more? Depends on the person, I guess.

Source:
RPGFan

Earlier today Nintendo announced that the Wii Virtual Console would support Neo-Geo and MSX games in future releases. There is no such announcement for the release of MSX or Neo-Geo games in Virtual Consoles of any other regions, but it may only be a matter of time at this point.

SNK's Neo-Geo is a very expensive cult-favorite system, with specs almost identical to SNK arcade machines; the Neo-Geo was probably most notable for featuring iterations of SNK's chief franchises such as King of Fighters, Metal Slug, and Samurai Spirits. The MSX was a personalized home computer borne from Microsoft's Japanese branch that had four different versions between 1983 and 1992; the MSX had a great deal of early successes but soon fell behind Nintendo and Sega's early systems in the 1980s. However, its legacy is significant, as several storied series such as Metal Gear, Dragon Quest, and Bomberman all had their debuts on MSX technology.

In related news, earlier today the European Virtual Console received the iconic N64 game The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. It's probable that Ocarina of Time will become part of the North American Virtual Console when it undergoes its scheduled update on Monday.

Source: Japan's Virtual Console website