“Marry” Yourself to a Copy Today! (Zing?)
November 20, 2008
Luminous Arc 2 is now available in stores across North America! This epic strategy RPG is loaded to the brim with content, including a wealth of new characters (and the return of a few favorites), beautiful hand drawn graphics, a stunning score from famed composer Yasunori Mitsuda‘s Procyon Studio, local and online multiplayer support, multiple endings, a redesigned user interface, and tons of other new features. More engaging, more challenging, more attractive, and more satisfying, Luminous Arc 2 is the definitive strategy RPG for Nintendo DS owners this holiday season.New to Luminous Arc 2 is the innovative Engagement System, one of the most jarring changes series veterans will see in the game. (It’s hard not to notice pictures of the Witches in their wedding outfits when Roland chooses to Engage with them.) The system is unique in that it offers Roland a variety of strategic possibilities so long as he keeps the Witches alive. Since the player will gain access to all the skills that a Witch has as well as stat boosts that vary per Witch for three turns, there are a lot of strategies one can build just focusing on Roland’s Engagement.
WiiWare
– Yummy Yummy Coking Jam (1000 Wii points)
– Strongbad Episode 3 (1000 Wii points)
– CueSports Snooker vs Billiards (800 Wii points)
– Art Style: Cubello (600 Wii points)
“I can’t tell you yet but I will say we are already working on a couple new [Dragon Ball] games for fans…At this time there are no plans in the works to bring Dragon Ball Z: Infinite World to the Wii…That is definitely a possibility as there is plenty more story to tell! [Dragon Ball: Origins sequel]”
Now, a sequel to Dragon Ball: Origins is something that I’d like to see. The one available in stores now really hits close to home for those who watched the TV show.
Ocarina of Time is considered to be a fantastic title for quite a number of reasons. One of the most important elements implemented in the game is Z-targeting. You may be wondering though, why did the developers decide to create such a lock-on system? Well, in the latest issue of Nintendo Power, Eiji Aonuma, who has been overseeing the last few Zelda titles, explains all.
“Everyone has probably experienced how hard it can be to go where you want to go when moving your character around in 3-D space. When an opponent is approaching, in order to attack with your sword, you’ve got to position yourself in such a way as to hit it, and that can be quite difficult.
Another problem in games with a third-person perspective is that the camera must follow around the player character. Opponents with a large range of movement soon fall outside the frame. Losing track of your opponent’s location happens much too often.
That was one obvious problem with Super Mario 64, so when it came to Zelda, which features a lot of swordfights, we introduced ‘Z-targeting,’ by which the player could lock on to an opponent. The opponent would stay in front of the player, all the player’s attacks would converge on the opponent, and the camera would always capture both the opponent and the player onscreen.
This lock-on system was developed by Miyamoto and Yoshiaki Koizumi, our 3-D system director. Together with the programmers, they worked directly on adjusting game operability, camera-rotation speed, and even sound effects.”
Shigeru Miyamoto has explained in the latest issue of the Official Nintendo Magazine that those who plays titles such as Brain Age will eventually move on to more hardcore titles. Miyamoto uses his wife as an example, noting that she was initially interested in Brain Age, but has now moved on to Dr. Mario.
“I think it’s a natural transition. Everyone starts off as a light user but at some point many of them become hardcore gamers. My wife bought Brain Training about three years ago. In More Brain Training, you know how there is the Dr. Mario game? She became absolutely hooked and today she is much better than I am!”
Miyamoto also commented on the ongoing discussions between the distinctions of hardcore and casual gamers/games.
“When I hear that kind of discussion, I wonder if there really is such a distinction. There are many hardcore gamers playing with casual games and I believe casual gamers do get into hardcore Nintendo games too. I think one of Nintendo’s missions is to destroy the barrier between the two and I believe Wii Music contributes that.”
Thanks to Joclo for the news tip!
