Japan Gaming Guide

We’ve had a good start for the year. Japan Gaming Guide has been nominated for a Golden Retrevo Award!

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Whether we win or not, here’s to a great 2010!

A Merry Christmas and happy new year to all our readers. I hope your 2009 was awesome, and your 2010 will be even better!

Cheers.

Three Headed Monkey

The PS3 lightning edition has just launched, to the great excitement of Final Fantasy fans. Based on the 250GB PS3 slim, the lightning edition comes with a copy of Final Fantasy XIII and features the main character, Lightning, on the console itself.

Japan is Doomed got their hands on one and published pictures of the console for all of us to admire.

The lightning edition goes for a cool 41600 yen, and won’t be available for long so don’t wait too long if you want one.

Tri-Ace’s new RPG, End of Eternity (Resonance of Fate outside Japan) is getting a demo, which will give players a taste of the battle system, according to Famitsu. The tri attack battle system takes place in semi-realtime, with characters directly controlled for limited time periods. The battles are said to be tough, though the game offers an instant retry mode to stop things getting too frustrating.

The demo launches December 22nd, with the full game to follow on January 28th for PS3 and XBOX 360.

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Here’s the Japanese trailer for Winning Eleven 2010:

[Read, via GoNintendo]

He’s back. New Super Mario Bros Wii takes the updated 2D platforming formula that was such as success when it debuted on the DS and puts it back on the living room TV. There’s a new four player mode, with everyone playing on the one console. This is a riot and really feels like it belongs in the game rather than a tacked on gimmick - in fact Shigeru Miyamoto claimed he wanted to add the feature back in the sixteen-bit days but was held back by the limits of the technology.

By all accounts Mario has toughened up a little since his previous outings; The game is tougher than the DS version, something that will surely please Mario’s more dedicated fans. For the less committed gamer though Nintendo have included a new autoplay feature that allows the game to play itself after failing a level eight times. Though purists will balk at this, it is optional and means younger or occasional players can see the whole game without getting frustrated.

The Japanese are getting the game a couple of weeks late on December 3rd, Europeans get it on November 20th and the rest of you should have it already. If not, what are you waiting for?

Although the game has been a bit hit in Japan since last April, the rest of the world wasn’t privy to the release of MagnaCarta II until a week ago. Earlier this October, the Softmax-developed and Banpresto-published masterwork finally made its way to North America to be released exclusively on Xbox 360.

This is tremendous news for Banpresto and fans of the MagnaCarta role-playing franchise. The game got its start with Magna Carta: The Phantom of Avalanche, released only on Windows. Then the small waves started to create a big splash once Magna Carta: Crimson Stigmata was released on PS2. And now, the game has made its first appearance on a seventh generation console, and it has been very well received.

Banpresto did an incredible job with this game. The Japanese gaming conglomerate, in business since 1977, is best known for their contribution to Sega: Pengo. However, in recent years, Banpresto has been moving toward seventh generating gaming, and the publishing of MagnaCarta II has proven to be a wise move.

MagnaCarta II is a story set on the embattled Lanzheim Continent, following the main male character Juto. Juto cannot remember his past, struck by amnesia, and after the war starts, his days of a simple farmer are over as he sets out to reclaim his identity and protect the people he cares for. Some of the best bonuses of this game have to do with the other characters, however. You’ll find wind and lightning wizards and other warriors and plenty of creatures with spellbinding powers along the journey.

All in all, it’s easy to see why this game has been creating such a buzz. The recent North American release will only help to solidify MagnaCarta and strengthen the line. Be on the lookout for MagnaCarta III in the near future.

Mr Met and Phillie Phanatic are all very well, but did you ever see them perform death defying leaps accross vast chasms, all for the sake of collecting a few rings? No, and that’s why Sega bought Sonic and chums allong to the Toshi Taiko baseball tournament. Ai Ai and Amy Rose joined the blue spiky one in leading the cheerleaders. Go, Sonic go!

Bayonetta hype is starting to build as the game nears its autumn release. Designer Hideki Kamiya has a history that includes Okami and Devil May Cry, so our hopes are very high for this.

Kamiya-san has promised to “blow the doors off the action genre”. The eponymous heroine is a shape shifting witch who backs up her magic attacks with a cornucopia of firearms and heavy weapons. As with Devil May Cry skilled players will be able to rack up the damage with spectacular combos and special moves. Fallen enemies drop halos that can be exchanged for bigger and better weapons.

Bayonetta launches in Japan on October 29th for Playstation 3 and Xbox 360, price Y7980. North American and European release is expected to follow in January.

[Read]

Here’s an interesting new free to download indie game. Exelinya Burst is a wild score oriented game with tons of enemies and chaotic graphics. A bit like a Llamasoft game, but a lot harder to die. It’s now been translated into English.

[via EngRish Games]