Looking super sharp and like a ton of fun in these videos, Namco Bandai’s not quite reboot but re-versioning of its classic arcade racing game should be in stores (and hopefully, in your hot little hands) as you read this. Will Bugbear’s expertise at racing games where stuff wrecks up quite well be accepted by the masses, or will even the awesome-looking City Editor fail to capture the attention of the jaded RR maniacs who ONLY want ONE type of game in their libraries? Suspense!
(But I’m guessing the former will win out amongst those with half a head full of common sense)…
Team Ninja set itself up with quite a paradox-shaped pickle when they set about designing Ninja Gaiden 3. The particular problem plaguing them? How to make a game for new casual players (and those who hated the supreme challenge of the older Ninja Gaiden games) and while pleasing the more hardcore fans of the franchise (some from the arcade and NES days) who wanted something brutally difficult that took a great deal of effort to master. Now, some of those more loyal hardcore Ryu Hayabusa fans would simply say “screw the noobs!” or something far less print-friendly. However, these days it’s getting much harder to sell some “core” games so far within a niche and make a decent profit. Yes, that’s pretty awful if you think about it, but broadening the base has worked well for certain other franchises and genres, right?
NISA is rolling out some really fun-looking RPGs of a few varieties in 2012 and 2013 (that I wish were allarriving on discs, but what can you do these days but hope?). The company announced three new titles for the PS3 and/or PSN that include:
Legasista (Summer 2012), which SOUNDS like a 70’s Legosploitation flick (har har), but is actually a lovely rogue-like tactical RPG coming from developer System Prism exclusively to the PS3 via PSN:
…which sounds like some import tuner muffler company sticker you’d see plastered on some goofy looking tricked out street whip (oh, I’m on a roll, aren’t I?), but it’s actually a very cool looking PS3 Strategy/RPG from Compile Heart (the folks behind the Hyperdimension Neptunia games) and GCREST.
And finally…
The Witch and the Hundred Knights, an Action/RPG set for a 2013 release on the PS3, has some lovely stylized visuals and while early, has “BUY ME” written all over those screenshots on the teaser site…
Add in a few more intriguing games such as Clan of Champions (Spring 2012), Disgaea 3: Absence of Detention for the PS Vita (Spring 2012), Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland (sooner than you think!) and a few other surprises and that’s actually even MORE of a galore! OK, my work here is done – now go pre-order something or get that wishlist updated already!
"DESTROY ALL FANBOYS!" 