Tag: Japan - Page 57
News Nintendo To Focus On Struggling Markets In The Short-Term
Performance in U.S. and Europe is "less than satisfactory"
During the Nintendo investor Q & A, Satoru Iwata took many questions about Nintendo's various struggles with the Wii U launch and also shared some insight about Streetpass DLC and the disappearance of the Vitality Sensor. But a question
News Cooking Mama 5 Development Heats Up for 3DS Sequel
Keep on cooking
The Cooking Mama franchise never seems to be out of the development oven, with titles regularly gracing Nintendo systems over recent years. The character has also dabbled with gardening and crafting, of course, but when we're not simulating chopping carrots with a stylus, it doesn't necessarily feel like the real deal. The good news...
News New Loveplus+ Heading To 3DS in Japan
Now with extra plus
Loveplus is one of Konami's more niche franchises. Essentially, the game is a dating sim that has you choose a virtual girlfriend to carry about on your handheld. It was released on the Nintendo DS way back in 2009 and it became a cult hit among the Japanese. A sequel was made in the form of New Loveplus for the 3DS and now an...
News New Etrian Odyssey Title Makes Japanese Chart Debut in Third Place
Praying it's not too late...
It's Japanese chart time. Hooray! Though this week doesn't reflect complete Nintendo dominance. Boo! But still, this week's results bring us a few interesting points; Atlus title Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millennium Girl makes its debut in third place — it's a re-telling of the first entry in the series, of sorts —...
Nintendo Direct Denpa Men 3 And Chibi-Robo AR App Confirmed In Japanese Broadcast
That was a surprise
Nintendo has unleashed a totally unexpected Chotto Nintendo Direct broadcast which showcases The Denpa Men 3 — the next in the series of popular 3DS eShop RPGs — and Chibi-Robo Live Action!, an Augmented Reality app which tasks players with snapping real-world items to match outlines within the game. The Denpa Men 3 includes...
Video Yakuza Wii U Commercial Highlights Ability To Smooch Privately With Virtual Hostesses
Just make sure no one peeks over your shoulder
Yakuza 1 & 2 HD may be a serious game featuring serious burly men who throw serious punches in the serious underbelly of the Japanese criminal world, but that doesn't mean the TV commercial has to be quite so...serious. As you can see from the Japanese advert below, the game is being promoted on...
News Nintendo Preparing A New Chapter For eBooks On 3DS This Fall
300 titles expected at Japanese launch
According to a report by Japanese business publication Nikkei, Nintendo is getting ready to launch an eBook service on its 3DS console. The service will be limited to Japan initially, and is expected to cover around 300 titles — mainly aimed at children. There's no word on whether or not a similar approach...
News Investor Approval Rating For Satoru Iwata Drops To 77.26 Precent
Down from 90.60 percent last year
Nintendo has just released this year's investor approval ratings for its top staff, and Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has seen his score drop from 90.60 percent last year to 77.26 percent. In contrast, the rest of the company's executives all scored over 90 percent. Recently, Iwata clarified comments he made some...
News Atlus' Parent Company in the Midst of Financial Difficulties in Japan
Index enters "civil rehabilitation proceedings"
Atlus will be a name familiar to fans of franchises such as Shin Megami Tensei and Etrian Odyssey, with the company's regional office in North America being particularly active on Nintendo systems. It's also a developer with which Nintendo is currently in partnership, with January's Wii U Direct...
News Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D Knocked Off The Top Spot in Japanese Sales Charts
The 3DS continues to dominate both software and hardware charts
Last week saw Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D swing into pole position in the Japanese sales charts in its first week of release. The title was one of five 3DS games placed in the top five but that dominance is now over as the PlayStation 3 title The Last of Us fought through the hoards...
News Watch the Japanese Pikmin 3 Nintendo Direct - Live!
Look at the pretty graphics, if you don't speak Japanese
It's that time again — the first occasion since that bombast and noise-making of E3 — for a new Nintendo Direct. This may not be a landmark presentation to enrapture us all — it's focused exclusively on Pikmin 3 and will be in Japanese — but will allow us to see more of the upcoming...
News Pikmin 3 Featuring In The Latest Japanese Nintendo Direct Broadcast
Miyamoto will play the game in front of your hungry eyes
It's been exactly two weeks since the last Nintendo Direct broadcast for this years E3, and now the company has announced that a new presentation will take place tomorrow, the 26th June, focusing primarily on the upcoming Wii U release, Pikmin 3. The stream will take place on Nintendo's...
News Namco Bandai Releasing Mushibugyo RPG For 3DS In Japan
Popular manga series gets its own game
The Japanese manga Mushibugyo, which is written and illustrated by Hiroshi Fukuda, is getting its own game in Japan, Namco Bandai has announced. It's on its way to the 3DS, which is doing quite well in Nintendo's homeland, and will be available on 19th September as both a physical and download release. So far...
News Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D Swings In At Number One In Japanese Sales Charts
Nintendo celebrating an all 3DS top five
Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D has only just made it over to Japan and the 3DS title has swung right into number one position in the sales charts after shifting 104,569 units. It takes the place of Tomodachi Collection: New Life, which has been a consistent seller for Nintendo in the Land of the Rising Sun...
News Epic Mickey 2's Eventual Arrival in Japan to be Nintendo Exclusive
An interesting choice
We doubt that Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two will go down in the gaming history books as a release to remember, as it fell short of its predecessor's success (despite being released on more platforms), received various poor reviews and saw to the closure of the Warren Spector-led development studio Junction Point. It was a...
News 3D Ecco The Dolphin Splashing Onto 3DS eShop, Galaxy Force II Coming Soon
They're doing this on porpoise
Sega has confirmed that the next entry in its 3D range will be Ecco The Dolphin. A port of the Mega Drive / Genesis original, the game will feature a 3D effect, save states, international editions of the game and some custom screen filters. Ecco will splash into the Japanese 3DS eShop on June 26th, with a retail price...
News StreetPass Mii Plaza Update Brings New Paid Downloadable Games
Immerse yourself in four new quests, Europeans
Along with the new System Update for the 3DS, which Nintendo delightfully sprung upon us without an announcement, European and Japanese firmware updates were treated to a new and improved StreetPass Mii Plaza. The new plaza still includes Puzzle Swap and StreetPass Quest 1 & 2, which we've grown to...
News Capitalism Wins In Sega's New 3DS RPG, Hero Bank
Coming to Japan this December
Sega has revealed that it is working on a 3DS RPG by the name of Hero Bank, where the ultimate goal isn't to save mankind, but to earn as much moolah as possible by taking part in a cyber sport known as "Hero Battle". Apparently, players can download "hero data" based on real-life individuals and use it in the game. It...
News Crimson Dragon Studio Working On Unannounced Project For Nintendo
Platform to be confirmed
Grounding Inc is best known for its much-delayed Xbox title Crimson Dragon, which was originally intended for the 360 but has now been shifted to the Xbox One. A spiritual successor to Sega's Panzer Dragoon, Crimson Dragon is certainly a title worth making a fuss about — but Grounding Inc's Yukio Futatsugi has revealed...
News Cooking Mama Returns For A Spot Of Gardening In Japan
Mama and the Forest Friends heading to the 3DS
The Cooking Mama series has a plethora of games within it now and its developer hasn't restricted Mama to the kitchen over the years. She's also partaken in babysitting duties and also showed off her green fingers in the DS title Gardening Mama. She really is a woman of many talents. Well Mama will get...
News Call Off The Search, Katsuhiro Harada Was At Home Playing Games And Drinking Tequila
Tekken producer was suffering from a cold
Yesterday we reported on the strange announcement from the Tekken project support team, which commandeered the Twitter account of Katsuhiro Harada, the series producer, to state he hadn't been turning up for work and that they were now out looking for him. This naturally prompted some concern from all...
News Tomodachi Collection: New Life Reinstated At Number One In Japanese Sales Charts
3DS continues to shine
Tomodachi Collection: New Life has been reinstated at the top of the sales charts in Japan after taking a week off to accommodate for several new releases. The Mii-based life-sim has been doing good business for Nintendo in Japan and shot up from 4th position to number one, knocking last week's new entry Shin Megami Tensei IV...
News Shin Megami Tensei IV Team Want To Change The Mindset That Social Games "Are Good Enough”
As hardcore as they come
Shin Megami Tensei IV has just been released in Japan and has stormed to the top of the charts with almost 190,000 copies sold in its first week. Speaking to NicoNico News, game director Kazuyuki Yamai revealed that one of the main motivations behind creating the title was to prove that games could be mature and not...
News Alarm Raised After Tekken Producer Goes AWOL, Doesn't Turn Up For Work
Something to worry about, or publicity stunt?
Tekken producer Katsuhiro Harada has been working on the franchise for almost two decades, and is one of the most recognisable faces within the walls of Namco Bandai. However, it has been reported by his co-workers that Harada-san hasn't been turning up at work lately — prompting a rather worrying...
News Monster Hunter Details Revealed During Capcom Event
A monstrous amount of content
Monster Hunter 4 finally has a firm release date for Japan, which now prompts franchise fans in the West to start counting the days to a localisation reveal. Japan is truly the series' homeland, however, with handheld entries in particular being a major boon to Nintendo; Monster Hunter 3 G played a notable role in the...
News Monster Hunter 4 Release Date and 3DS Systems Confirmed for Japan
The extended trailer looks awesome, too
Although initially set for a Spring release in Japan, Monster Hunter 4 has taken longer than expected to arrive on the 3DS. After a bit of a wait it's been confirmed, in the latest Japan-only Nintendo Direct, that the title will arrive in the region on 14th September, with a price tag of 5,990 yen — that's...
Video Latest Japan-Only Nintendo Direct Features Plenty of Capcom 3DS Goodness
Monster Hunter 4 and new Ace Attorney 5 on show
As you may have been aware, Satoru Iwata has today hosted a special Nintendo Direct broadcast for the Japanese market, with a specific focus on two upcoming Capcom 3DS titles — Monster Hunter 4 and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies. Naturally a lot of the detail will pass you by if you...
News GungHo's CEO Wants To Surpass Nintendo's Sales By His Retirement
"I respect Nintendo"
GungHo Online Entertainment is one of Japan's rising stars, thanks largely to the amazing success of its iOS and Android title Puzzle & Dragons, which has been downloaded more than 14 millon times and generates $3.4 million a day in revenue. When you're a growing company, it's natural to aim high — and GungHo CEO Kazuki...
News 32GB White Wii U, Rechargeable Wii Remote Battery And 2550mAh GamePad Battery Announced
I love the smell of new hardware in the morning
Nintendo has confirmed a new Premium SKU for its Wii U console. The system will be released in white with 32GB of internal memory — a configuration which was previously only available in black. It launches in Japan on July 13th for 31,500 Yen (that's about $312 / £206). New accessories have also...
News Shin Megami Tensei IV Storms to Number One in Japanese Charts
Wii U version of Resident Evil Revelations sneaks into top ten
For fans of the franchise, Shin Megami Tensei IV can't come to the West soon enough. The Atlus title will arrive in North America on 16th July with some collectible goodies, while a European release is confirmed but, as yet, doesn't have a solid date. It landed in Japan last week,...
First Impressions 3D Altered Beast
Wise fwom your gwave
Altered Beast occupies a strange place in Sega's library; when it was first released it garnered a lukewarm response, and its choice as a pack-in title for the freshly-launched Mega Drive / Genesis was a curious one — although its large, bold sprites were impressive for the time, it certainly wasn't strong enough in terms of...
News Namco Bandai Developing Devils and Realist Game For 3DS
Upcoming manga series will have its own game in Japan
Namco Bandai has announced it is developing a 3DS title based on the upcoming manga series Devils and Realist, which is due to air in Japan this Summer. The anime centres around a young fellow called William Twining who is in fact the reincarnation of King Solomon and has accidentally summoned...
News Yakuza Producer Describes The Wii U Version As An "Experiment"
Unlikely to see a Yakuza entry on the 3DS
Almost two weeks ago, we brought you the news that Japanese Wii U owners will be treated to Yakuza 1 & 2 HD, which is the Wii U version of the same package that launched on the PS3 in November last year. The title was shown during a "SEGA Direct" section of the Nintendo Direct broadcast, after a...
News Japan Getting Special Monster Hunter 4 And Ace Attorney 5 Nintendo Direct
May 31st, 8PM
Nintendo of Japan has confirmed that it will be airing a special Nintendo Direct broadcast for Monster Hunter 4 and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies on May 31st at 8PM in Japan. Both titles are key 3DS exclusives for 2013, and both will be hitting the west at some point. It has already been confirmed that Phoenix Wright:...
News Crazy Taxi Wannabe Coming to the Japanese eShop
Oh, if only it would come West
While in many respects the West is better off than Japan on the eShop platforms — due to publishing rules in Nintendo's homeland — there are some releases exclusive to the region. One of these is the @Simple DL Series from D3 Publisher, which is a sequence of budget 3DS games that have followed on from an...
News Tomodachi Collection Famitsu Article Falls Foul Of Unfortunate Timing
"Whaddaya think of this happy face my husband is making?"
Japanese star Mari Yaguchi used to be in the band Morning Musume, and is no stranger to the world of video games — she starred (virtually) in Sega's Yakuza 4. She's also a regular columnist in the popular Japanese video games magazine Famitsu. Her most recent column was based around the...
News This Custom Twin Famicom Is The Stuff Hardware Dreams Are Made Of
Remember when console designs actually mattered?
We hate to keep going on about it, but Microsoft revealed the Xbox One to the world this week. We're obviously biased, but we happen to think it looks a little underwhelming in purely physical terms — Nintendo Life Operations Director Darren Calvert said it best when he described the console as...
News Japanese 3DS Owners Can Download Double Dragon II Next Week
8-bit classic is punching its way to the 3DS eShop in Japan
Nintendo has confirmed that the popular side-scrolling fighter Double Dragon II: The Revenge will be coming to the Japanese 3DS eShop on 29th May, priced at 500 Yen. Once again, the heroes of the hour are Billy & Jimmy Lee, who must avenge the brutal murder of Marian at the hands of...
News Japanese Hardware Sales Slow Down For the Second Consecutive Week
Tomodachi Collection: New Life knocked off top spot
This week's Japanese chart results are in, and show that the slow software release schedule in the past couple of weeks is causing a hit on hardware sales across the board. Only the PSP enjoyed a small boost, which can be attributed to the fact that this week's number one is for Sony's ageing...
News Fantasy Life Expansion Heading to 3DS in Japan
We're still hoping for localisation
Level-5's Fantasy Life, which was developed along with Nintendo subsidiary 1-Up Studios — formerly Brownie Brown — has performed well in Japan, so much so that the publisher has announced a new upgraded version of the title, called Fantasy Life Link!. As an RPG that allows you to choose a career, set off on a...
News 3D Altered Beast is Ready to Kick Some Shins on the Japanese 3DS eShop
Wise-ing Fwom Its Gwave
While, admittedly, Japanese gamers currently suffer from comparatively empty eShop platforms — particularly on Wii U — due to tough publishing rules, as always there are some extras in the region that make us jealous. Notably, there's been a SEGA range of 3D Classics, including Sonic the Hedgehog and Space Harrier. Now...
News Recent Taiko Drum Master Games Ship Over 500,000 in Japan
Rhythm games aren't fully dead just yet
While the manic clacking of plastic guitars has largely fallen quiet across the world, Japan still has a place in its rhythm gaming heart for a different instrument: the humble-yet-iconic taiko drum. According to Siliconera, Namco Bandai has announced more than 500,000 combined units shipped for two titles in...
News Yakuza 1 & 2 HD Confirmed for Wii U in Japan
A remake of the PS2 Titles
While we were enjoying largely similar Nintendo Direct broadcasts in Europe and North America, Japan had its own stream to enjoy that had an even greater emphasis on Nintendo's collaboration with SEGA; a segment was even called "SEGA Direct". There was a section dedicated to Yakuza 1 & 2 HD, a new Wii U version of the...
News Nintendo Announces Metallic Red 3DS, Cobalt Blue And Misty Pink To Be Phased Out
Nintendo giveth and Nintendo taketh away
Nintendo has announced yet another new 3DS colour for gamers in Japan: Metallic Red. Announced yesterday — though the Eevee 3DS XL stole a majority of the limelight — the new system is a more vibrant shade of red than the previous Flame Red 3DS. It'll launch on the 13th June for 15,000 yen, along with a...
News Animal Crossing Co-Director Thinks Tom Nook Is "Very Misunderstood"
"He’s not as bad as other people might think he is"
When you start a new game of Animal Crossing, the figure who seems to loom largest in those early hours is Tom Nook, a tanuki who always seems to have dollar (or should that be bells?) signs in this eyeballs. Nook has a reputation of being a rather greedy capitalist, profiting on naive newcomers...
News Eevee 3DS XL Evolves For Pokémon Center 15th Anniversary
One of the many Eeveelutions
Last month we reported that posters hinted that Eevee would be featured in some way on a new 3DS XL design, but details were scarce on its appearance. And now we know it's official - an Eevee-themed 3DS XL is indeed making its way to Japan judging by a leaflet found in Pokémon Center stores, posted by Twitter user...
News GungHo Online Entertainment's Market Cap Surpasses Nintendo's
Puzzle & Dragons owner sees a huge rise in its share price
The mobile gaming market is certainly on the rise as more and more people start to adopt devices such as tablets and smartphones. No longer do you need to have a dedicated gaming console to enjoy games as you can now find them within various app stores. Naturally, the quality may not...
News Pokémon Tretta Lab Coming to the 3DS This Summer in Japan
Includes a large Tretta Scanner
Last year, Nintendo and Marvelous AQL joined forces to develop an arcade game for Japan, Pokémon Tretta. Players collect different Tretta - small discs that you scan into a machine - call out whichever Pokémon it features and send them off to battle; if you win, you get more Tretta. It has come to light that the...
News 3D Sonic The Hedgehog Spinning Onto The Japanese 3DS eShop Next Week
Sonic's debut is getting a 3D makeover
Sega has confirmed that the next entry in its "3D" range is Sonic The Hedgehog — an auto-stereoscopic re-imagining of his first 16-bit outing. It will launch on May 15th and will cost 600 Yen. The game will boast 3D visuals which take advantage of the console's unique display, and will also come with...
Weirdness Legend of Zelda's Triforce Gets Carved Into A Japanese Tombstone
A Link to the Afterlife
It's not uncommon for people to have poignant messages carved into their headstones when they eventually shake off their mortal coil, but you've got to go a long way to beat the legendary Triforce when it comes to tributes to the dead. According to Twitter user mahosyouzyo, when a relative passed away she was asked to create...
