Video Game News Monthly Digest #5

Last month, we learned more news about a golden One Piece PS3 system, Vita's PSN account policy, upcoming video game movies/anime, and more.



Creators Gen Urobuchi (Puella Magi Madoka Magica), Kinoko Nasu (Fate/stay night), Izuki Kōgyoku (Garden Lost), Simadoriru, and Ryohgo Narita (Durarara!!) are collaborating together to create a JRPG titled Red Dragon, which will be a collaborative "role-playing fiction" story. Each of them will create a character who will participate in a tabletop role-playing game session, which is being created by Makoto Sanda (Rental Magica).

Sanda also designed Red Dragon world with Kiyomune Miwa (Rental Magica) and the author Ukyō Kodachi (Macross Frontier novels). Final Fantasy XII composer Hitoshi Sakimoto is in charge of the music while Katsushi Ota is the game producer.

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Namco Bandai is going to make a second Toriko game for the PSP. d Toriko Gourmet Survival 2 is a beast bashing game, which will include over 100 missions for Toriko to complete and more boss monsters. However, he will not be alone - the other members of the Four Heavenly Kings will join him as well.

The game will be out in Japan next summer.

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Namco Bandai Games and Sony Computer Entertainment will sell a specially designed PlayStation 3 console and the game One Piece Kaizoku Musou in a package on March 1, 2011.

The PlayStation 3 One Piece Kaizoku Musou Gold Edition features a special gold color with Luffy drawn in white, except for his chest scar in red. The first release of the game will feature product codes to download nine custom themes inspired by the Straw Hat Gang, but this set will also include an additional custom theme for 10 all together.

The set will cost 38,170 yen (about US $489).



So far Luffy, Sanji, and Zoro are the only confirmed playable characters in the game. Luffy will have his Gear Second technique, which will boost blood flow to his limbs so he can perform stronger and faster attacks. Three locales are also revealed: Baratie, Impel Down, and Marineford. The game will have two stages: Adventure which will have action elements and Musou which will have gameplay similar to Dynasty Warriors. It will also have boss battles.

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Namco Bandai announced that the PS3 game will have a Collector's Edition. The Special Version will contain an extra Blu-ray disc and a novel. The Blu-ray, "Gundam UC Collector's Disc", has a digest of the first three episodes, staff & cast's interviews, and a digest of the live premiere of the 4th episode, "Film & Live". The novel, Gundam UC: Sengo no Sensou (War After War), focused on the events that happened before and after the episode, "War After War", which will be released for the game as a download content. The story is written by Harutoshi Fukui (Gundam UC author) and the cover is illustrated by Hajime Katoki.

The game will have two types of control: Normal and Assist. In Normal mode, you can select sub weapons manually while in Assist mode, the game will automatically choose the weapons for you depending on the enemy distance. You can also customize your mecha and pilot. For the pilot, you can improve on his aiming, basic control, step control, dash control and fuel control. You can update your mecha's armor, defense, lock, fuel and efficiency.

Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn's release date is March 8th.

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Namco Bandai has announced that the Ao no Exorcist game will be out on April 26th in Japan. The first print copies of the PSP game, which is described to be a visual novel with RPG concepts, will have a special card inside.

The limited edition, Blue Flame Box, will also include an original drama DVD, Kuro papercraft, special clear plate, and a booklet.

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Manga-ka Hiro Mashima will draw original characters for the PSP game, Fairy Tail: Zeref Awakens. Happy and Charla, the two Exceeds, will also join the cast. Customization will be available in the game so players can change the characters' costumes.

The game will be out next year.

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Heroes Phantasia has a battle system called "Direct Action Shift system" which allows you to change your party members in the middle of a battle. During battle, each button will control a different character. A character's attack draw energy from a common pull of action points and he or she will be in a Overcharge state, which powers the character up, if you press specific buttons at certain time. To perform a special attack, you need to press the L button.

The game will also include the rivals from the ten anime series, which include November 11 (Darker than Black), First Lieutenant Garuru (Sergeant Keroro), and the Tokonatsu sisters (s-Cry-ed).

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Nintendo's senior managing director, Shigeru Miyamoto, is clarifying his statement after rumor of his retirement spread throughout the internet. What he meant was that he is planning to reduce his involvement in game development so he can focus on training young developers at the company. He will still oversee major titles as well though it will probably be more like a supervisory role.

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According to its instructional booklet, the 3DS's add-on, which runs on a single AA battery, will supposedly last for 480 hours. The Circle Pad Pro, which will work for games such as Resident Evil: Revelations and Metal Gear Solid 3D: Snaker Eater, is already out in Japan and will be sold exclusively at Gamestop when it comes out in North America.

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Club Nintendo members can now use Nintendo Coins, which is obtained by registering Nintendo products and answering surveys, to buy their Virtual Console games. The games will cost around 100-150 coins. The Wii games that have been released so far are Super Mario Kart (100 coins), Fluidity (150 coins); 3DS games are3D Classics: Xevious (100 coins) and Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again! (150 coins). These games will be available through Jan. 10th and future downloadable games will be based on fans' feedback.

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Kid Icarus: Uprising will have two different multiplayer modes: battle royale and Descent of the Angels. In battle royale, players will compete against each other in an all-out brawl while in the latter, team of three light angels will battle against a team of three dark angels. You can use items on the battlefield and equip a variety of weapons.

The game will be out in North America on March 23rd.

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Nintendo admitted that its game, Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, has a bug, which occurred after a specific sequence of events and halted players' progress in the game. The company has offered a guide for players to avoid this bug on its website. For those who encountered the bug, Nintendo has two options for you. For those who do not have an internet connection, you can mail in your SD card or Wii system to them. Otherwise, you can download the channel, "Zelda Data Restoration Channel", from the Wii section in Wii Shopping Channel. After you get the channel, access it, and follow its instruction.

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On Dec. 5th, Sony held its annual PlayStation Awards ceremony, which honored top-selling games from the prior year (November 1, 2010 and October 31, 2011). Games that sold 500,00-999,999 copies received the "Gold Prize" while those that sold 1,000,000-1,999,999 copies got the "Platinum Prize". Lastly any games that sold 2,000,00 and more will be honored with the "Double Platinum Prize". Here are the winners for this year's ceremony:

• Monster Hunter Portable 3rd (Capcom, PSP): Quadruple Platinum Prize
  
• Final Fantasy Type-0 (Square Enix, PSP): Gold Prize
  
• Winning Eleven 2011 (Konami, PS3): Gold Prize
  
• Gran Turismo 5 (Sony, PS3): Gold Prize
  
• Dynasty Warriors 7 (Tecmo Koei, PS3): Gold Prize
  
• Monster Hunter Portable 3rd HD Version (Capcom, PS3): Gold Prize
  
• Tales of Xillia (Namco Bandai, PS3): Gold Prize

There are also monetary awards for the winners' development staff as well. The Gold Prize winners will get 500,000 yens while the Monster Hunter team will receive four million yen. The Users Choice Award was given to the top ten games voted by the public at the Sony's Playstation Award website and the winners were

• Monster Hunter Portable 3rd (Capcom, PSP)
  
• Legend of Heroes: Ao no Kiseki (Falcom, PSP)
  
• Call of Duty Black Ops (Square Enix, PS3)
  
• Gran Turismo 5 (Sony, PS3)
  
• Catherine (Index, PS3)
  
• Dynasty Warriors 6 (Tecmo Koei, PS3)
  
• Atelier Meruru (Gust, PS3)
  
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Square Enix, PS3)
  
• Tales of Xillia (Namco Bandai, PS3)
  
• Dark Souls (From Sofwtare, PS3)

These downloaded games from the Playstation Store were honored with the PlayStation Store Special Award:

• Dissidia Duodecim Prologus Final Fantasy (Square Enix, PSP)
  
• Crazy Taxi (Sega, PS3)
  
• Elemental Monster Online Card Game (PS3)
  
• Hatsune Miku Project Diva Dreamy Theater 2nd (Sega, PS3)
  
• Street Fighter III 3rd Strike Online Edition: Fight for the Future (Capcom, PS3)

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At a Vita hands-on event, Sony revealed that its upcoming handheld will only allow one PSN account per memory card. If you wish to have multiple accounts in one memory card, you will need to do a factory reset. If you run out of memory, you can spread your PSN account across multiple memory cards.

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Sony Entertainment of America has released information on the prices of Vita games. The games will cost around $9.99 to $49.99. Besides retail games, Super Stardust Delta, Hustle Kings, and Escape Plan will be PSN launch title for the handheld.

The prices and release dates of Vita's accessories were posted as well. These items will be released on Feb. 15th:

• 4 GB Memory Card - $19.99
  
• 8 GB Memory Card - $29.99
  
• 16 GB Memory Card - $59.99
  
• 32 GB Memory Card - $99.99
  
• Starter Kit with Memory Card - $39.99
  
• In-Ear Headset - $19.99
  
• Carrying Case - $19.99
  
• Travel Pouch - $19.99
  
• Protective Film (2 pack) - $9.99
  
• Card Case - $5.99
  
• Cradle - $19.99
  
• AC Adaptor - $14.99
  
• USB Cable -$14.99

The portable charger ($49.99) and car adapter ($14.99) will be available some time in spring.

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Sony Computer Entertainment Japan has set up a music program, Playstation Game Music Service, which allows users of select mobile streaming services access to play music or other audio files from any Playstation games. A previous version of this program only had first-party game music, but this newest one will include third-party games as well.

No word on whether this music service will be available outside of Japan.

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Namco Bandai is planning to release the game in North America on March 13th. Unlike previous Tales games, they will use the English version ("White Wishes") of BoA's song, "Mamoritai ~White wishes~".

The game will out in Europe in the summer.

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In an interview with 4Gamer.net, Level 5 CEO Akihiro Hino discussed the possibility of developing Studio Ghibli tie-up game, Ni no Kuni, into a series. Future developments would include expanding the current world in the games and releasing additional package game releases. However, he added to not expect to hear more information for awhile since they are still finalizing some details.

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Type-moon has announced that the PS2 game Fate/stay night Réalta Nua, an all-age version of Fate/stay night, will be coming to the PC. The game, which has more CGs, voice actors from the anime, and other features, will not have new routes but it will be different from the original PS2 game.

The "Fate" episode, which feature Shirou and Saber, already came out on Dec. 23rd. The "Unlimited Blade Works", which tells the story of Archer, will be available in January while Heaven's Feel, which focuses on Sakura and Shirou, will be out in February.

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In Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, Sora and Riku can summon their Dream Eater companions by raising up their Link Gauge. There are also three systems as well. The Free Flow Action system allows them to perform a variety of location-based actions by pressing the Y button while the Drop system is activated when the Dream gauge reaches zero. When it does, the character will fall asleep and you can switch your character and stage. In Reality Shift system, as you attack the enemies, their target icon can change. Press the X and A buttons or slide down the touch pad to use Reality Shift move. One move is called "Wonder Comic" in which a character from the Three Musketeers appears.

New Disney worlds have been included as well. The characters can explore the lands of Tron: Legacy, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Pinocchi, and Three Musketeers. In the last world, Mickey, Goofy and Donald appears as the title trio; Captain Pete and Minnie Mouse will be in the world as well. The World Ends with You's Raimu Bito will make a cameo in the game too.

The game will be out in Japan in March.

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In the latest Famitsu magazine, Atlus revealed new details on the Vita remake. First, they have included new events which include a ski trip, a visit to the beach, and a stay at an inn. For the ski event, the MC and his friends will stay at a ski lodge and it will also have animated scenes. When you enter into the TV world, the team will wear winter clothes. It will also have animated scenes. Speaking of clothes, you can now change the characters' costumes, which include a maid outfit for Yukiko. Two of the characters, Yosuke and Chie, will also have new evolved personas. The former will now have Takehaya Susano-o while the latter with Haraedo no Okami.

The game will have five difficulty settings: Safety, Easy, Normal, Hard, and Risky. One will allow players to retry a battle if they got a game over. During battle, you can order two teammates to do a simultaneous attack on an enemy. If you have difficulty defeating an enemy, Atlus has added two communication modes called "Minna no Koe" ("Everyone's Voice") and "Rescue Request". For the first feature, you can watch another player to see his or her actions on a given day. On the other hand, the latter will call other people for help.

The game will be out in Japan next spring.

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The Bushiroad Strategic Presentation 2011 event announced on Wednesday that a television anime adaptation of Sega's Shining Hearts fantasy role-playing game has been green-lit for next spring. Production I.G will animate the project.

The anime will include voice cast members from the PSP game, although three sisters will be voiced by different actresses, instead of by one actress (Kanae Itō) as in the game:

Hiroshi Kamiya as Rick
Kanae Itō as Amil
Mai Aizawa as Neris
Shiori Mikami as Airy

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The official website for the live-action Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (Gyakuten Saiban) film began streaming the film's second teaser trailer and second full trailer on Friday. Both of the new trailers feature the theme song "2012 Spark" by Porno Graffitti.

Takashi Miike's film adaptation of CAPCOM's videogame franchise takes place in a parallel Japan, where a large increase in harsh crimes has led to a new court system. Under this new system, the defense attorney and public prosecutor have three days to battle cases out in open court to determine guilt or innocence of the accused, placing priority on speed instead of thorough investigation.

Hiroki Narimiya (Gokusen's Noda, NANA's Nobu, Akihabara @ DEEP's Page) stars as Phoenix Wright (Ryuichi Naruhodo). The film also has Takumi Saitō (RoboGeisha, Princess Princess D) as prosecutor Miles Edgeworth (Reiji Mitsurugi) and Mirei Kiritani (Arakawa Under the Bridge's Nino) as Maya Fey (Mayoi Ayasato). The game characters Maiko Ayasato/Misty Fey (Kimiko Yo), Chihiro Ayasato/Mia Fey (Rei Dan), Saiban-chō/The Judge (Akira Emoto), Keisuke Itonokogiri/Dick Gumshoe (Shunsuke Daito), Gō Karuma/Manfred von Karma (Ryo Ishibashi), Masashi Yahari/Larry Butz (Akiyoshi Nakao), Natsumi Ōsawagi/Lotta Hart (Mitsuki Tanimura), and Sayuri (Polly) the "Parrot" will be in the movie as well.

The film will open in Japan on February 11.

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A new trailer for .hack//The Movie has been posted online. The movie takes place in 2024 in a world connected by networks. 14 years old Arishiro Sora was invited to play an online game called "The World". After an accident happened in the game, the real world starts to deform.

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