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Tales of Graces bundle is underwhelming

by JC Fletcher { Nov 23rd 2009 at 12:30PM }

Game Watch has posted an image of the full contents of the Japanese Tales of Graces bundle, revealing ... that it's pretty much the least remarkable Wii bundle yet. The included Wii hardware is the plain white model, and the Classic Controller Pro (also white) doesn't have any fancy design on it. It's just a Wii, and a Classic Controller Pro, and the game. In a box. The box looks pretty cool, we suppose. And it's not like we have the Classic Controller Pro here at all.

New screens show off the rather silly swimsuit costumes that can be equipped in-game, including a delightful Speedo and life vest outfit for Malik. More dignified: a costume based on a stage outfit worn by singer BoA, available as a bonus with a "Tales of Graces Edition" release of BoA's single "Mamoritai ~ White Wishes ~."

Noby Noby Girl has stretched her way to Jupiter

by Griffin McElroy { Nov 21st 2009 at 9:00PM }

They said it couldn't be done -- and for good reason, considering how difficult it must be for a creature to stretch its own body to a length of 576,682,810 miles. However, thanks to a little help from Namco Bandai, Noby Noby Boy's community-driven "Girl" has managed to extend her torso from Earth to Jupiter, unlocking a new playable planet for all of the game's inhabitants.

Make sure you check out the video after the jump to get a sense of what eating your own butt whilst aimlessly traversing a gas giant feels like. We can't believe we just had a reason to write that sentence. Thank you so, so much, Noby Noby Boy.

Continued →

Sky Crawlers landing in Europe this February

by JC Fletcher { Nov 19th 2009 at 2:50PM }

Namco Bandai declined to publish The Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces in North America, licensing the game out to XSEED instead. However, the company is handling the game itself for the European release, due in February. The game is a flight action game developed by Ace Combat dev Project Aces, and based on both the novel and the Mamoru Ishii-directed anime film of the same name.

In addition to the game, the movie is planned for a DVD and Blu-Ray release in PAL territories at an unspecified future date ("coming soon"). That seems like a good idea -- licensed games probably work better when people know what the source material is.

Gallery: Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces

Joyswag: Super Saiyan prize pack

by David Hinkle { Nov 18th 2009 at 10:30AM }

Namco's just unleashed its first two Dragon Ball games after wrestling the license back away from Atari and we're looking to gift one of you Super Saiyan wannabes with the above prize pack. The gotta-have-it item is obviously the Instant Anime Character Costume, which features an orange t-shirt, blue wristbands, hair gel and completely ridiculous Namco employee pose cover art. Oh, if only our legal department would let us keep it!

Leave a comment telling us who your favorite character from the Dragon Ball series is (full list here)
You must be 18 years or older and a resident of the US or Canada (excluding Quebec)
Limit 1 entry per person per day
This entry period ends at 11:59AM ET on Tuesday, November 24
At that time, we'll randomly select one winner to receive Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo for Wii ($50 ARV), Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans for DS ($30 ARV) and an Instant Anime Character Costume ($20 ARV)
For a list of complete rules, click here

'Ridge Racer Accelerated' trademark filed

by Alexander Sliwinski { Nov 17th 2009 at 7:45PM }

You weren't there, man! You don't know what it was like. Pity is not an emotion one should ever feel for a man whose salary dwarfs the combined income of your entire staff, but there we were, dying inside for Kaz Hirai presenting Ridge Racer at E3 2006. The mere memory of that still causes those who were in the audience to sympathize for the executive, the way one would for a dog unable to use its hind legs and instead relying on a wheelie contraption.

With all that said, Siliconera has found a Namco Bandai trademark application for Ridge Racer Accelerated. We don't know if enough time has gone by for us not to desperately exclaim "Riiiiidge Racer!" every time we hear the title, but perhaps enough time has gone by for the corporations to think we won't.

Tales of Vesperia voice actor says game is coming to Wii [update: Oops! He meant Tales of Graces!]

by Griffin McElroy { Nov 7th 2009 at 5:30PM }

[Update: Abyssal Chronicles has updated their story, reporting that Mr. Koyama has updated his original blog post with the following clarification: "When I mentioned being on sale for the Wii, I meant Tales of Graces, and not Tales of Vesperia! I truly apologize to everyone for the misunderstanding!!!!" Well, we can see how that would be confusing. You'll find our original post below.]

Lock the doors and board up the windows, folks. Considering the seismic backlash to the announcement that the (formerly) 360-exclusive Tales of Vesperia would be coming to the PS3, we fear for what might happen when this story gets out. Japanese voice actor Rikiya Koyama, who provided the voice for Vesperia's pseudo-antagonist Duke, recently mentioned on his blog that, "Tales of Vesperia is coming out on one thing after another: Xbox 360, then PS3, and now upcoming, goes on sale even on the Wii."

While this may deeply excite RPG-loving Wii owners, keep in mind that it's entirely possible Koyama meant to say Tales of Graces, the franchise's next installment which is, in fact, coming to the Wii. Just think about that before you start snapping the pieces of your already-snapped 360 Vesperia disc in protest. Those edges can get pretty sharp.

[Via Kotaku]

Namco Bandai posts $66.7 million loss for first half of year

by Alexander Sliwinski { Nov 6th 2009 at 12:40PM }

Namco Bandai has reported a net loss of ¥6.04 billion ($66.7 million) for the first half of its fiscal year, which began in April. During the same period last year, the company posted a net income of ¥1.28 billion ($14.14 million). Despite this year's first-half hiccup, the publisher still expects to earn ¥8.5 billion ($93.6 million) in net income by the end of its fiscal year (ending March 31, 2010). After all, there are those 2.5 million copies of Tekken 6 waiting to be sold.

Namco Bandai's software sales for the period were led by the Ben 10 franchise, as Alien Force and Protector of the Earth combined to sell approximately 810,000 units (not exactly Guitar Hero numbers, eh?). Even with Tekken 6 in its second-half roster, Namco must be pulling for a miracle. But then, the holidays are a magical time.

Source – Financial Highlights [PDF]
Source – Consolidated Financial Report [PDF]

Fragile Dreams: Hello to a new title and screens

by JC Fletcher { Nov 5th 2009 at 5:15PM }

click for moon-sizeToday, XSEED announced a slight title change for the North American release of Fragile: Farewell Ruins of the Moon. The company has chosen to go the same route as Rising Star Games and add the word Dreams to the title. Along with the announcement, the company sent out the new logo. It's based on the Japanese logo, but -- to be extremely nitpicky -- loses something with the extra line and the subtitle font.

However, the game, as seen in new screenshots below, still looks lovely. And that's the part that matters, regardless of our petty complaints. The new title does have the bonus of making us think of Johnny Hates Jazz's "Shattered Dreams." Totally great song.

Gallery: Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon (Wii)

Japan getting God Eater sampling platter November 26

by Griffin McElroy { Nov 5th 2009 at 2:44PM }

We like to consider ourselves open-minded when it comes to new culinary experiences, but we confess that we've never had the occasion to dine upon a god. We've heard that it's a delicious (and sizable!) meal -- in fact, on the latest episode of No Reservations, Anthony Bourdain described god-meat as being "light and airy, like aged pork, but with divine properties." Japanese gamers (or PSP owners with a loose comprehension of the Japanese language) will be able to find out for themselves when a demo for God Eater launches on November 26.

The demo for the Namco Bandai-developed action-RPG will be fairly substantial, offering 10 missions, character customization and a small sliver of the game's opening story sequence. It will also support four player co-op in the demo's non-tutorial missions. The demo will be added to the Japanese PSN on Thanksgiving and will also be available on the game's official site. Between those two options, we're sure you'll find some way to snack on a few celestial entities later this month.

Tekken 6 online patch in the works, says Namco

by Ben Gilbert { Nov 4th 2009 at 6:20PM }

Those of you taking your King of the Iron Fist Tournament fighters to the internet have been experiencing some major issues, notably: when trying to compete online in any sort of meaningful way, you're met with acute, game-ending connectivity issues. Namco recognized that today and issued a response, stating, "To improve the online game experience for players ... Namco Bandai games is developing a downloadable update which will be available as soon as it has passed rigorous testing procedures."

Unfortunately, no date for the patch has been given, though the publisher does add, "This is separate from the online co-op Scenario Campaign mode update." We've pestered Namco for more details on exactly what the patch will aim to fix and when we might hear more about it but, until that time, know this: something is being fixed at some point.

Namco announces 2.5 million shipped copies of Tekken 6

by JC Fletcher { Oct 31st 2009 at 12:00AM }

Namco Bandai sent out a press release today boasting that it has shipped over 2.5 million copies of Tekken 6 worldwide. Now, we don't want to tell Namco how to do its job, but these shipment numbers tend to be more impressive when you give the game a week or so in stores, so we can more readily infer a connection between shipped copies and sold copies.

The portion of those 2.5 million earmarked for Europe, for example, just got there today, and it's only been in stores for around two days in North America. All we know based on this is that Namco expects to sell a ton of copies, not that it is selling a ton. Although we're sure it will.

Maybe that's the idea -- to build excitement about Tekken 6 by showing how confident the publisher is. To print up 2.5 million of the things (some of which come in totally huge boxes), Namco must really believe it's on to something!

Gallery: Tekken 6 (GamesCom 2009)

Keita Takahashi 'not completely satisfied' with Noby Noby Boy, blames budget

by Andrew Yoon { Oct 29th 2009 at 10:30PM }

Was Noby Noby Boy misunderstood by the gaming masses? Creator Keita Takahashi seems to think so, as he believes the game's limited resources didn't fully realize his vision. "Ultimately, with Noby Noby Boy, I wanted to break the barriers between toy and game," Takahashi explained to Develop. "But for me personally, a bit more could have been done to the game. I'm not completely satisfied with the game, in terms of quality, due to the restrictions on budgets."

Takahashi, famous for his work on the original Katamari Damacy, has been surprisingly forthcoming on Noby's budget (or lack thereof). Had Takahashi been given additional resources he believes the game would have reached a much larger audience. "I won't go in to what I wanted to add to the game, because that's a really long list of things, but as an overall assessment, I think the game could have been much more detailed and easier for everyone to understand."

It appears Noby's shortcomings won't stop Takahashi from working on an even crazier design. Already, he's thinking of a new project, one that "is even harder to explain than Noby Noby Boy." Fans of Takahashi's works wouldn't want it any other way -- but we wonder if publisher Namco Bandai will embrace an even more experimental game.

This Tekken 6 merchandise is pants

by JC Fletcher { Oct 29th 2009 at 5:45PM }

No, really. We're not just using awkward British slang -- Namco Bandai is really offering a series of licensed Tekken 6 underwear, perfect for the man whose underwear isn't threatening enough. The three designs, created in collaboration with an underwear shop called Luscious Tokyo, retail for ¥4,200 ($46) each.

Other, somewhat more sensible Tekken 6 merch includes a line of t-shirts (¥3,150, or $34), Jin and Lass rings (¥10,500, or $115), and Devil Jin lighters (¥13,650, or $149). It's no Sega console lighter, but it'll still light your Yankee Candles for just the right ambience for a King of Iron Fist tournament.

Gallery: Tekken 6 merchandise

[Via Andriasang]

Dead to Rights: Retribution dev diary is loaded with dog fighting

by Griffin McElroy { Oct 24th 2009 at 8:30PM }

Don't let the headline throw you -- we don't mean the bad kind of dog fighting. We're talking about the kind of dog fighting where well-treated, justice-loving canines attack gun-toting criminals who pose a threat to their master, whom they love and remain eternally loyal to. When cast in that light, attack dogs aren't menacing or controversial -- they're just heartwarming companions (with enormous, razor-sharp teeth).

Check out the dev diary above to see Dead to Rights: Retribution's man-eating puppy in action. Oh, also, there's a human hero who uses guns and other traditional methods of justice-serving, but that's not really as noteworthy, now is it?

Gallery: Dead to Rights: Retribution (04-29-09)

Dragon Ball: Raging Blast demo now on Xbox Live

by Justin McElroy { Oct 22nd 2009 at 1:45PM }

You know what? We're done making fun of Dragon Ball Z on Joystiq. We always end up doing so much research just to pull a joke off that the only ones who get it are the ones whose feelings we hurt. It's a sucker's game and besides that, it's just mean.

So we're just going to tell you, without judgment, that Dragon Ball: Raging Blast has a demo that's now available on Xbox Live, and that it's a perfect way to kill time until the babysitter finishes heating up your Pizza Rolls.

... Shit.