Japan News, Japan Features - Page 17 of 27

Get excited

Treasure's Guardian Heroes is one of the SEGA Saturn's best games, and its recent Xbox Live Arcade re-release isn't bad either. The original development team has now banded together once more to create Code of Princess, a Japanese action roleplaying game for 3DS. Set for release by Agatsuma Games in Japan early next year, the game...

Oh deer

The 3DS comes with a few augmented reality games built-in, but Arc System Works is going one better than arrows and boards: it's going hunting. Hunting King hits the eShop in Japan next week for 500 Yen (£4.00/$6.50/€4.75), and while it uses computer-generated backdrops as you try to shoot deer and secret animals, you can also engage its...

You asked for it

3DS-enhanced monster mash Monster Hunter 3 G is set to be one of the first 3DS games to offer a downloadable demo in Japan. The 169MB demo contains two quests and a choice of 12 weapons, with quests lasting around 20 minutes. Most interesting is Capcom's confirmation the demo is playable a maximum of 30 times before it becomes inert. Here's the game's opening movie to get you all..

Keep on trucking

Japan got seven Wii Virtual Console games last month while other regions got zero, but they still show no signs of stopping, as next month will offer another four. It's evenly divided between the Super Famicom and Neo Geo, with one of the games being another instalment in a certain Capcom series that ends with "X". The...

StreetPass mode explained

While every hunter this side of Japan anxiously awaits a release date for Monster Hunter 3 G, Capcom has revealed more of the game's StreetPass features including an intriguing method of clearing quests. StreetPassed players will appear in a tavern by the harbour; for a fee, you can send them out to clear any quest they've previously completed. Wait a few minutes and..

Don't soil yourself

North America has already had one Harvest Moon game on 3DS — Harvest Moon 3D: The Tale of Two Towns — but that was really a slightly different version of the DS original rather than a just-for-3DS deal. The console's first original entry in the series is Harvest Moon: First Earth, or Bokujou Monogatari: Hajimari no Daichi in Japanese, and we have a set of videos to show off..

The perfect match

While the rest of the world rejoices in the gold Wii Remote Plus included in the limited edition of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Japan is also getting a double pack of MotionPlus-packing controllers this month. The set of two controllers — one pink, one blue — launches across the country for a pretty reasonable ¥5,800, equivalent to around £48, $75 or €56. Plus, you..

Elephants all in a row

Remember Zoo Keeper? Remember how many hours you lost to it? Want to play it again in 3D? Eager fans crying out "yes!" to all three questions, rejoice: Zoo Keeper is on the way to 3DS in early 2012. Siliconera spotted a listing at the Japanese website of retailer HMV, pitching the match-three-in-3D game for a 26th January release, complete with a quest mode and..

Finally able to drink

It might seem like just yesterday, but it's 21 years ago today that Nintendo's 16-bit leviathan took its first step onto Japanese soil. The Super Famicom launched on in Japan on Wednesday 21st November for ¥25,000, selling out of its first shipment of 300,000 units within a few hours: hardly surprising considering it launched...

Always growing

The options for colourful Virtual Console games in Japan keep on growing: after The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX kicked off the chromatic revolution back in June, the Japanese service has grown to welcome three more GBC titles, while Western gamers still have just the one. Next week the gap widens further, with Blaster Master:...

Hadouken!

While the Wii Virtual Console continues to decompose in the West, Japan's still getting the goods, with a few enhancements to boot. The latest game to hit the service is the Mega Drive version of Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers, brought up to date with online play via Nintendo WiFi Connection. By comparison, in the West we...

Bigger than galaxies

By now you've read in our Super Mario 3D Land review that Mario's latest outing is very good indeed, but has it succeeded in lifting the console's sales in Japan? Yes, and how. In its first week the game shifted a staggering 343,492 copies, according to figures from Media Create (via Andriasang). That's nearly triple the amount of all 3DS software sold throughout the entirety..

Never say never

Despite rumours to the contrary, Monster Hunter 3 G is still not confirmed for release outside of Japan. Does that mean it will never leave the Land of the Rising Sun though? Capcom fielded that exact question during a recent investor Q&A call, and although the answer isn't the life-changing announcement some might hope for it's...

A cut above?

Nintendo has revealed a new piece of downloadable 3DS software for Japan — swordfighting game Samurai Hirari Sakura, or Nimble Sakura Warrior, roughly translated. The download, due for release in Japan next week for 700 Yen, puts you in the shoes of a passionate swordfighting student who must prove his skill. At first you'll take on...

Who's next?

Capcom's already put two Game Boy titles on 3DS Virtual Console in the West — Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge and Gargoyle's Quest — and next week it adds a third title over in Japan: Bionic Commando. We already know the game is heading to the West in "Quarter 4" thanks to an announcement

A whopping seven new titles

Europe is now getting frightfully close to going five entire months without a Wii Virtual Console game, and North America also hasn't had anything in a while, but that isn't stopping Japan from trucking on. Although most of their previous months only had three or four games, this month has a whopping seven, one of the...

RPG gets Japanese date

Konami just revealed a release date for gorgeous 3DS RPG Beyond the Labyrinth, and bundled in a load of new 3D screenshots too. The game — developed by experienced RPG studio tri-Ace — will reach Japan on 19th January, and follows a mysterious and anonymous white-haired girl as she chances upon an ancient sealed magic. There's been no announcement of any Western release..

The results are in

Nintendo's quarterly financial results just appeared on the company's Japanese site and, as expected, the company is still struggling in the market. Nintendo failed to meet its sales targets set in July 2011, with DS software and the 3DS still dropping short of expectations, missing its ¥240 billion income target by 10%. This in...

A game about fitting in

WiiWare's ThruSpace is in line for a 3DS eShop update, as a sequel has just hit the Japanese download service. The trailer below shows what to expect, but anyone familiar with the WiiWare original should already have a pretty good idea: you fit different shapes through holes. The translation of the Japanese genre is...