Japan News, Japan Features - Page 12 of 27

Take cover

Capcom's Summer Jam event has revealed a Spring 2013 release window for the much anticipated Monster Hunter 4. The 3DS-exclusive game includes brand new monsters as well as series mainstays Tigrex, Rathalos and Rathian, according to Andriasang. Capcom showed off a new trailer for the game but, as of the time of writing, it hasn't made it...

Nintendo dominates home country

Strong performances from 3DS software and hardware saw the Japanese games market grow for the first time in two years. Between 26th December and 24th June, the Japanese market was worth 193.4 billion Yen, a 0.07% increase from 191.98bn over the same period last year. 63% of that figure came from software sales, up...

Talking about video games, presumably

Masahiro Sakurai has gained a reputation as the go-to man for some of Nintendo's key franchises that don't necessarily have Mario in the title. As a young employee at Nintendo he created Kirby, and has also masterminded the three entries in the Super Smash Bros. series, while also taking on the upcoming Wii U...

Now, about that worldwide release...

Project X Zone, the RPG mash-up featuring well-known characters from Capcom, SEGA and Namco Bandai franchises, has been generating a lot of hype in Japan. Teasing details about battle mechanics, featured characters and even the in-game music have been coming thick and fast, with the most important reveal so far...

Still big in Japan

Pokémon Black & White 2 landed in Japan on Saturday 23rd June and racked up an astonishing 1,618,621 sales across the country in its first weekend. It's the fastest-selling game of the year, the first 2012 game on any platform to pass 1m sales and the third fastest-selling DS game of all time. It's a big drop-off in sales...

No blue in Nintendo's homeland

Now that the new 3DS XL has been announced, Nintendo has wasted little time in launching an official website in Japan. Interestingly, Japan has red + black and silver + black models, like Europe and North America, but doesn't have the blue + black version, opting instead for an all-white console. The all-white version...

Serene mode engaged

Angry that Animal Crossing won't reach Europe until 2013 and North America until... well, who knows when? Watch this new Japanese trailer for the game and all your stress might just melt away or, perhaps, become more strongly amplified. The video shows tonnes of new touches like solar panels to install outside, new shops and...

Go Figma

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword's interpretation of Link gets immortalised in resin later this year, when Japanese manufacturer Max Factory puts out its Master Sword Link figurine. The ¥3,800 statue — that's about £30 or $47 — comes with Link, a Master Sword and Hylian Shield (of course), as well as an effects piece for his sword...

Strong arm tactics

On a press tour of Asia earlier this year, Yoshinori Ono was admitted to hospital and stepped down from his role as Street Fighter producer following the health scare. While you might have expected Ono's hectic work schedule to slow down after the incident, a new interview with Eurogamer.net reveals that's not the case. Ono...

Terry's wonderful

3DS remake Dragon Quest Monsters: Terry's Wonderland 3D has shot to the top of the Japanese charts with an incredible 513,183 units sold in its first week. The much-anticipated release sent 3DS hardware sales over 100,000 units, shifting 101,075 in a week, a near-90% increase on the previous week's 55,212 sales. Thanks to Dragon...

Get ready for a tail spin

Last year's revelation of 3DS exclusive Monster Hunter 4 was a big moment, but since then we haven't heard much more about Capcom's inevitably monstrous hit. Well, that'll end at the end of June, when the publisher releases more details at a Japanese event. Capcom Summer Jam takes place in Tokyo from 30th June to 1st July...

Courtesy of Toyota

A lot of modern cars have satellite navigation and as many buttons as Apollo 11, but Toyota has decided that perhaps the whole experience can be a bit more easy-going in the Japanese market, if a bit of Nintendo is thrown into the mix. The car manufacturer has created the Smart Navi car navigational system that uses a DS — and...

Itsu no Ma ni Terebi no more

Since June last year 3DS owners in Japan have had access to Itsu no Ma ni Terebi, a video service that has produced regular and exclusive content via SpotPass. Like the former Wii service Wii no Ma, Nintendo has decided to take the service off the air. In the past year the channel has offered content from Fuji Television...

Cobalt from the blue

Nintendo of Japan will soon end production of the Aqua Blue 3DS console. The company's 3DS page lists the currently available colours, with Aqua Blue bearing the note "scheduled to end production shortly" (近日生産終了予定). In March, Nintendo released the Cobalt Blue 3DS for Japan, so it makes sense to stick...

Region locked

Dynasty Warriors VS won't leave Japan. Tecmo Koei community manager Chin Soon Sun made the pronouncement on Twitter: Dynasty Warriors VS (for the Nintendo 3DS) - This title is for Japan only & will not be localized and released for / in overseas. Shame — we wanted to enjoy some feudal fighting dressed as Link and Samus.

Possible, but strange

The Inazuma Eleven series is still relatively unknown outside of Japan. The first two DS titles have arrived in Europe, though only after a fair bit of waiting, while the third for the system, the series debut on 3DS and two Wii spin-offs are yet to arrive outside of Nintendo's homeland. We can safely assume, due to the volume...

3DS still having a good time

Although it's been available in PAL regions and North America since March, Mario Party 9 has only just been released in Japan. The Media Create charts, as reported by Andriasang, report that it sold 152,883 copies in its debut week, earning it second place in the charts behind the PS3 version of Resident Evil: Operation...

Wii U version still a secret

Square Enix will release its online RPG Dragon Quest X in Japan this August. The Wii game lands on 2nd August in two editions: the standard game costs ¥6,980, or you can buy it with a USB memory card for ¥8,980. If you buy the solus game, you'll need to provide your own USB memory stick with at least 16GB capacity,...

But lower than expected

Nintendo made a 43 billion Yen net loss in the past financial year. A straight currency conversion puts the loss at $529m USD or £327m GBP. The company had originally predicted a 65 billion Yen net loss, but clawed back some of the deficit with strong software, particularly in Japan. The Yen also devalued compared to the...