Category Archives: Japan

Wed, Jun 19, 2013 | 12:42 BST

Ecco the Dolphin 3D hits 3DS in Japan next week, Galaxy Force 2 inbound

Ecco

Ecco the Dolphin will be splashing his cheeky little flippers on the Japanese 3DS eShop from June 26, Sega has confirmed.

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Wed, Jun 19, 2013 | 12:03 BST

Suda 51 on Xbox brand: only a matter of time before it explodes in Japan

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Killer is Dead creator Suda 51 has shared his view on the Xbox brand and the way it is perceived in Japan. While the nation’s relationship with Microsoft’s console has hardly been warming in the past, the developer reckons it’s all about to blow up for the better.

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Tue, Jun 18, 2013 | 22:03 BST

Metal Max 4: Moonlight Diva announced for 3DS

metal max 4

Metal Max 4: Moonlight Diva has been announced for 3DS. The RPG, vehicle combat titles takes place in a post apocalyptic world with an open ended gameplay and combat dogs.The game was announced via Famitsu and will be released in Japan this fall. Kadokawa Games will publish the title, and its DLC. Thanks, Siliconera.

Wed, Jun 12, 2013 | 18:41 BST

Atlus’ parent company Index being investigated for doctoring the books

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Atlus’ parent company, Index, is being investigated by Japanese authorities for shady bookkeeping practices, according to a NHK report.

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Wed, Jun 12, 2013 | 15:07 BST

Tomodachi Collection: New Life still on top in Japan

minecraft 360

Tomodachi Collection: New Life continued its reign on the Media Create charts in Japan for the June 3-9 period, bringing it’s life-to-date sales to the 1,090,875 mark since its April 18 release. The only new title to grace the top 20 was Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition, and it debuted at 11. Hardware sale continued to decline. Charts are below.

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Tue, Jun 11, 2013 | 12:45 BST

Xbox One releasing in Asia 2014, no mention of Japan yet

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Xbox One will launch across various Asian territories in 2014, but there’s no word of Japan yet, possibly because Xbox 360 has performed poorly there over the years.

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Wed, Jun 05, 2013 | 14:30 BST

Tomodachi Collection: New Life back on top of Media Create charts

Tomodachi Collection New Life 050113

After being knocked off the top of the Media Create charts for two weeks straight, Tomodachi Collection: New Life is back on top with 59,104 units sold. Life-to-date, the 3DS title has moved 1,044,088 units since its April 18 release. All hardware was down for the period, with 3DS LL showing the largest drop – 28,807units over last week’s 40,651 units. The smallest drop came from 3DS which was only down 3DS two units over the prior week.

Full hardware and software charts are below.

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Wed, Jun 05, 2013 | 10:46 BST

Japanese console market expanded by 1.2% in 2012, publishers down but not out

wii u japan launch banner

Famitsu has collated all of the financial reports of Japan’s biggest games industry players to give an overview of the past financial year. The report found that the Japanese games market grew by 1.2%, and that Nintendo is facing a tough time with Wii U and a lack of big hits overseas.

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Mon, Jun 03, 2013 | 16:42 BST

Capcom launches 30th anniversary countdown site

Capcom 30th banner

Capcom has published a countdown site to commemorate the company’s 30th anniversary.

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Sat, Jun 01, 2013 | 19:48 BST

Flipnote Studio releasing in Japan July 3, US in early August

flipnote studio logo

Flipnote Studio will land in Japan on July 3. The app will be free, and will feature improvements over the DSi version. It will also contain short animations with more colors, and users can export their creations in GIF or AVI format. Announced back in March, the app will also be released in the west with Nintendo of American having it down for early August.

Fri, May 31, 2013 | 08:24 BST

99 Spirits: Japanese indie dev launches medieval RPG puzzler today

99 Spirits

99 Spirits is the medieval RPG puzzler from Japanese indie dev TORaIKI. It launches in the West today on PC, and we’ve got a batch of launch screens to go with it.

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Fri, May 31, 2013 | 08:12 BST

El Shaddai IP acquired by director’s new studio, more games may happen

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El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron director Takeyasu Sawaki has successfully acquired the IP rights to the brand from former holder Ignition Entertainment.

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Thu, May 30, 2013 | 12:00 BST

Luigi 30th anniversary 3DS XL console confirmed for Japan

Luigi 3DS XL

Luigi is 30 years old this year, and as part of the celebrations he’s getting his own Nintendo 3DS XL design in Japan. In a total shocker, the West seems to have been overlooked for now.

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Thu, May 30, 2013 | 06:33 BST

Wii U: white Premium bundle headed to Japan, and more

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Nintendo Japan has made a bunch of Wii U announcements today, starting with a new white Premium bundle, a larger battery for the Game Pad, a new Nintendo Land and Remote Plus bundle, and an new official charger.

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Wed, May 29, 2013 | 15:29 BST

Shin Megami Tensei 4 debut helps 3DS sales surge at Japanese retail

Shin Megami Tensei

Shin Megami Tensei 4 was released in Japan on May 23, and the Atlus title landed at number one of the software chart, moving 188,562 in three days. The RPG helped lagging 3DS sales surge over the prior week as well, with the system moving 40,651 units compared to 24,123 units last week.

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Wed, May 29, 2013 | 12:15 BST

World of Tanks dev opens Tokyo office

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World of Tanks developer Wargaming has opened a new publishing office in Tokyo, Japan in recognition of the country’s important in the games industry.

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Wed, May 29, 2013 | 11:12 BST

Devil’s Third still in development, Itagaki promises

Devil's Third

Devil’s Third was announced back in June 2010 under defunct publisher THQ. Valhalla Studios head and Dead or Alive creator Tomonobu Itagaki has broken radio silence to say that the violent third-person game is still in development.

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Tue, May 28, 2013 | 05:53 BST

Nintendo Direct: JP presentation on Monster Hunter, Ace Attorney this week

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Nintendo Japan has announced a Monster Hunter and Ace Attorney-focused Nintendo Direct presentation for this Friday.

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Wed, May 22, 2013 | 15:22 BST

Summon Night 5 tops Media Create charts, hardware still down in Japan

summon night 5

Summon Night 5 debuted on the Media Create charts at number one in Japan, knocking Tomodachi Collection: New Life off it’s cushy spot for the time being. The Namco title moved 105,511 units on PSP. Hardware was down again this week. You can get both charts below.

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Tue, May 21, 2013 | 12:13 BST

BlazBlue anime series ‘Alter Memory’ announced, starts Autumn

BlazBlue Alter Memory

BlazBlue is being transformed into an anime series called ‘BlazBlue: Alter Memory’. It’ll begin in Autumn, although it’s not yet clear which networks will support it, or if it’ll purely be an online endeavour.

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