Japan Gaming Guide

Fans of 3DS RPG series Denpa Ningen might like to fire up the game this month as the developer is running a series of special events. During the event period you can win special items including ‘special sushi equipment’. Who wouldn’t want that?

Fans of psychic high school student Saiki Kusuo will get the chance to step into their hero’s shoes very soon. A 3DS game based on the manga/anime character is due on November 11th. You’ll get to hang out at the local school and participate in activities ranging from garbage collection tournaments to school trips. You’ll be able to call on a range of powers including telepathy, telekinesis and psychic vision. Who wouldn’t want that? You’ll also be able to explore Okinawa and hurl cars around.

The game looks like a cross between Bully and Skool Daze but with the added bonus of psychic powers. Might well be worth checking out.

Published by Bandai-Namco, Saiki Kusuo no Sainan Shijou Saidai no Saina will retail for Y5700.

Get this game on play-asia.com

The 3DS bandwagon just got a little easier to climb onto as Nintendo have announced the ‘Happy Price Selection’, a range of cut price titles for the handheld. The collection launches on March 17 and each title will sell for a little under Y3000 yen.

Titles include Animal Crossing:New Leaf, Tomodachi Collection, Luigi’s Mansion 2, Nintendogs and several others. Check here for the full selection.

We’ve been playing around with Pokemon Picross for a few days and are rather enjoying it. It’s a free game with a few restrictions but we enjoyed it nonetheless.

For those unfamiliar with Picross, you are presented with a series of grids with numbers above and to the left indicating which squares are filled. For example ‘2,3’ would indicate two filled squares, with a gap of at least one square, then three filled squares. Sometimes these numbers give you enough information to fill in a row/column immediately, sometimes you’ll be able to mark a few squares, sometimes you’ll need to get some help by working out the contents of other rows/columns. It’s a really good core game and has quite a lot of depth to it, as well as being straightforward to pick up.

This being a Pokemon game, there’s a bit more to it than that. The twist here is that every level you’ll free a Pokemon who is added to your roster. You can take a team of Pokemon into each level, where they give you special abilities, such as filling in a couple of rows, highlighting mistakes, or giving you clues on what to fill in next.

Though the freemium nature of the game is a little annoying it doesn’t spoil things too much. You will need to take breaks every now and then as you can only make a limited number of moves within a certain time, although so far we’ve been able to do several levels consecutively without this kicking in. Similarly the Pokemon time outs can be a bit restrictive, but all the levels so far have been do-able without these abilities, and the difficulty spikes have been a welcome change from the gentle overall pace. Puzzle-heads may relish these challenges, but more casual players might not be so keen.

Overall we’d thoroughly recommend taking a look at this. It’s a lot of fun and the fremium stuff isn’t too annoying. There seems to be plenty to get your teeth into, and fans of puzzles and/or Pokemon will find a lot to enjoy.

Have a look at the trailer here:

There’s good news for 3DS gamers wanting to play games from other regions. An exploit has been discovered that alllows you to do just that:

link: regionFour
source: Eurogamer

Legend of Legacy is a promising looking new RPG for the 3DS. Developed by former Square Enix and Level-5 staff members, the game promises to be a more open affair than the standard Japanese RPG, offering players the chance to explore freely and figure out goals on their own.

The game is out on January 15th but in the meantime there are some nice wallpapers available on the official site.

Nintendo’s loathed insistence on region-locking is a huge source of frustration for many gamers.
Fortunately some 3DS owners have found a way to circumvent it, and run games made in any region.

Link: GBATemp.net (currently down)
Source: Eurogamer

Nintendo have just announced a flurry of games for the 3DS, including a sequel to Link to the Past and a new Yoshi’s Island game.

The Zelda game is set in the Link to the Past world and seems very close in gameplay terms, though it will feature new abilities including use of the system’s 3D capabilities.

Yoshi’s island will be a return to the classic series and will again update the original gameplay with 3D features.

Other announced titles include Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D, Mario and Luigi: Dream Team Bros, Mario Golf: World Tour and Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move.

There will also be a new hardware bundle featuring Animal Crossing: New Leaf.

You can view the whole presentation below:

Want to know what toys Japanese kinds are going to be playing with this year? Then the World Hobby Fair is your place to go. Put on by toy and game businesses, the show gives kids the chance to play with all the newest stuff and gives the companies lots of feedback about what’s hot or not.

This year was dominated by Pokemon, Gundam, and Inazuma Eleven, with all three licenses being spread over a wide variety of merchandise and crossovers. Nintendo and Sony both had a substantial presence, setting up large booths and lots of demos and tournaments. Battling toys were getting a lot of attention, it seems kids want anything that lets them pit one toy against another in a brawl. Professional Yo-yo…ers?..ists? were drawing crowds teaching tricks and hosting shows. Girl-focused games like Pretty Rhythm, Tamagotchi, and Cooking Mama were bringing in lots of players too.

Our picks for the best of the show? The Taiko no Tatsujin game being demoed inside a giant snow globe, the very unusual pairing of feudal Japanese warlord Oda Nobunaga with Pokemon, and the Sony shrine featuring Playstation characters and selling good-luck charms.

Here are the pictures, scroll over for a description.

Let’s take a look at some of the add-ons available for the Nintendo 3DS.

First up is the Rakuoki, a simple stand to allow for easy writing. It’s not too expensive at ¥940.

Next, we have the Handle, a steering wheel for racers. It might not be the best with the 3D on though, since moving the console tends to distort the 3D effect. At ¥1150, it too is also rather inexpensive.

Finally, the one that’s making big news, the Slidepad. This add-on was released in conjunction with Monster Hunter Tri-G and adds a second analog slider pad, 2 shoulder buttons, and ergonomic grips. It’s also an official Nintendo product, hinting that a possible 3DS redesign and upgrade is coming. It’s the most expensive of the add-ons available at ¥1500, but still not too much considering it may soon become a necessity. Here are some more pictures of the device: