Level-5 on the creation of Youkai Watch, anime, international expansion “in consideration in a big way”
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 4 Comments
In the latest issue of Famitsu, Level-5 CEO Akihiro Hino commented on a wide array of topics pertaining to the Youkai Watch franchise. This includes the creation of the actual IP, the anime, Youkai Watch 2, and more.
Head past the break for Hino’s comments.
“We’ve created a lot of different IPs, and I figured it was about time that we made something like Doraemon, that could be loved by many people over a long period of time. That was the start of it. I researched what would give something appeal and longevity, and pondered what would be relatable to people and developed the open world RPG that children could play, Yokai Watch. I think title’s popularity is the fruits of trial and error.”
“Anime is content that is offered for free, and I strongly promote its use. The [Yokai Watch] anime focuses on problems that modern children face and is made so that the audience can laugh off such problems and be entertained as well.”
“Keita isn’t a child who always does the right thing, but has his own flaws as well, like trying to watch naughty TV shows late at night or making fun of people. Keita’s actions are depicting what is ‘normal’ for modern children. He’s not a good boy, but someone who says what he thinks. I believe that character setting made him very relatable to people.”
“I’m working on bringing out a third yokai that is different from those 2. It’s like with a variety show – you don’t continue with the same members all the time, but switch them out every now and then to change the atmosphere. That’s what makes a show last longer. I believe that Yokai Watch needs such a device.”
“When planning the first Yokai Watch, I already thought to release the sequel as 2 different versions. Children like having things that other people don’t have, so from a marketing perspective, having 2 versions is a good idea. Also, a lot of people play Yokai Watch with their parents. Where people would have some hesitation about getting 2 copies of the same game, if you have different versions, it’s a lot easier for them to buy both.”
“The key for a long-lasting hit piece of entertainment is whether the business side like merchandise, games, and movies is successful. That’s why you develop commercial goods necessary for cutting edge entertainment and include the latest features in your games.”
On another important note, international expansion for Youkai Watch is “in consideration in a big way.”
More: Akihiro Hino, Famitsu, interview, Level-5, top, Youkai Watch
New Hyrule Warriors details
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 10 Comments
Update: A few more tidbits:
– No indication as to whether or not Ghirahim is playable yet; the description in Famitsu could be be about his boss moves or character outline as general
– If Link uses Power gloves and drops off ball & chain, he can lift pillars, jars or even enemies
– With the legendary baton from Wind waker, Zelda can command winds and fight by playing songs
– You can blow enemies away with wind or the sound can turn into lightning bolts
– You can also summon tornados to snatch enemies away
– After you select a character for a stage you select the weapon
– You can’t change weapons in battle
– Weapons differ a lot from each other and it is part of the fun to test which one suits you
Nintendo Everything reader gigamario has gone to the trouble of translating the latest information about Hyrule Warriors from this week’s Famitsu. You can find a new set of details below.
– Can shop between battles
– Shopping area includes at least training room, potion shop, badge shop and junk shop
– Junk shop will be introduced in a later magazine
– In training shop you can pay rupees to level up your character
– Characters also level up through normal gameplay
– Potions are one time use only and cause special effect during a battle
– It seems that one potion makes easier to obtain weapons (not entirely clear)
– Badge shop uses rupees and raw materials to buy permanent badges
– Raw materials are obtained from killing monsters and monsters have unique loot as well as some rare drops. Enemies also drop rupees
– One badge makes weak spot gauge to fill up faster
– Badge shop interface seems like a tree of sorts so I guess you have to make badges in a certain order, no word about it though
– You can see from stage select menu if a stage has heart containers or pieces to collect but you may need to use a certain character to get them
– Heart container/pieces work pretty much like in any Zelda game
– You may also obtain a power up bow from a chest
– The bow makes weak spot gauge to last longer and can attack multiple enemies from afar
– Fi moves by floating midair, can transform into a sword to slash enemies
– Link meets Fi in the Skyloft’s Goddess’ temple
– Ghirahim fights with magical swords, can summon enemies and change place in an instant, likes to toy with his enemies
– The imprisoned is tall as a mountain and emits damaging waves when it steps
– Cia twists space-time to summon forth areas from Skyward sword, e.g. Skyloft and Sealed grounds as pictured
– Pumpkin island is crashed with Skyloft as pictured
More: details roundup, Famitsu, Hyrule Warriors, Koei Tecmo, Omega Force, Team Ninja, top
Japanese sales for the first half of 2014 – hardware, top 10 software
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News, Wii U | 3 Comments
Famitsu has published a bunch of information about the Japanese games market for the first half of 2014.
Hardware sales are up 6.4 percent year-over-year, though software sales dipped by 3.8 percent. Overall, the market is up only 0.1 percent.
Here’s a look at the total hardware sales for the year thus far:
3DS – 1,079,166 units
PS Vita – 639,730 units
PS4 – 613,785 units
PS3 – 300,386 units
Wii U – 291,605 units
PSP – 80,251 units
Xbox 360 – 6,421 units
Wii – 6,194 units
Lifetime sales for hardware platforms are posted below:
PSP – 19,688,744 units total
3DS – 15,773,177 units total
Wii – 12,744,273 units total
PS3 – 9,868,886 units total
PS Vita – 2,914,869 units total
Wii U – 1,810,032 units total
Xbox 360 – 1,613,980 units total
PS4 –613,785 units total
And lastly, below is a listing of the top 10 best-selling games in Japan:
1. Yokai Watch (3DS): 849,027 (1,135,480 units total)
2. Dragon Quest Monsters 2: Iru to Ruka no Fushigi na Fushigi na Kagi (3DS): 739,032 (739,032 units total)
3. Kirby: Triple Deluxe (3DS) 633,695 (633,695 units total)
4. Mario Kart 8 (Wii U): 512,467 (512,467 units total)
5. Pocket Monsters X/Y (3DS): 416,864 (4,393,693 units total)
6. Puzzle and Dragons (3DS): 411,992 (1,417,689 units total)
7. Mario Party: Island Tour (3DS): 404,666 (404,666 units total)
8. Knack (PS4): 398,685 (398,685 units total)
9. Mobile Suit Gundam: Extreme VS Full Boost (PS3) 367,354 (367,354 units total)
10. Dark Souls II (PS3) 335,226 (335,226 units total)
Famitsu review scores (7/8/14)
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News, Wii U | 1 Comment
This week’s Famitsu review scores are as follows:
Oreshika: Tainted Bloodlines (PSV) – 8/9/10/9
Atelier Shallie (PS3) – 7/9/9/8
Murdered: Soul Suspect (PS4/PS3) – 7/8/9/7
Wii Sports Club (Wii U) – 7/7/7/8
Gundam: Try Age SP (3DS) – 7/7/7/8
Hamatora: Look at Smoking World (3DS) – 6/7/6/8
Soukai Buccaneers (PSV) – 6/7/7/5
More: Famitsu, Famitsu scores, Japan
Skyward Sword’s Fi is a playable character in Hyrule Warriors
Posted on 10 years ago by Jarop(@gamrah) in News, Wii U | 24 Comments
A scan from the latest Famitsu has revealed that the Goddess Sword herself, Fi, will be a playable character in Hyrule Warriors. There are a few details that have come out with the scan:
- Link and Zelda will both be able to wear their Skyward Sword costumes
- The Ball and Chain from Twilight Princess will be in-game
- Ghirahim and the Imprisoned will also make an appearance in Hyrule Warriors
Little else is known outside of what’s available from the scan, but no doubt more information will be surface in the coming days.
More: Famitsu, Hyrule Warriors, Koei Tecmo, Team Ninja
Famitsu review scores (7/1/14)
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 0 comments
This week’s Famitsu review scores are as follows:
Youkai Watch 2 (3DS) – 9/9/9/9
That’s it! Only one score again this week.
More: Famitsu, Famitsu scores, Japan
Famitsu digital sales
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News, Wii U | 2 Comments
Thanks to Famitsu, we have some insight as to how games have been selling in the digital space. Check out the latest rankings below:
01. [3DS] Monster Hunter 4 #
02. [3DS] Pokemon Battle Link!
03. [3DS] Pokemon X / Y #
04. [3DS] PazuDora Z: Puzzle & Dragons Z
05. [WIU] Dragon Quest X: Nemureru Yuusha to Michibiki no Meiyuu Online
06. [PS3] Rain
07. [PSV] Terraria
08. [PS3] Final Fantasy XIV Online: A Real Reborn #
09. [3DS] The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds #
10. [3DS] Youkai Watch
11. [3DS] Attack on Titan: The Last Wings of Mankind
12. [PSV] Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster: Twin Pack #
13. [3DS] Animal Crossing: New Leaf #
14. [3DS] Kirby Triple Deluxe
16. [PSV] Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment #
17. [PS4] FIFA 14 #
18. [3DS] Bravely Default: For the Sequel
19. [PSV] 3rd Super Robot Wars Z: Jigoku-Hen
20. [PSV] Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F 2nd
Atlus on how Persona Q came to be
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 0 comments
In an interview with Famitsu, Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth chief producer Katsura Hashino explained how the 3DS game came to be.
It all started with an interest in working on a new collaboration title following Persona 4 Arena. Hashino said they were aware of fans who had hoped to see the Persona series on 3DS and “felt the need to respond to that”.
Hashino’s comments in full:
“We were able to make the series’ first fighting game with Persona 4 Arena in collaboration with the folks at Arc System Works, and we also felt the desire to work on another fun collaboration. …while we were making Etrian Odyssey games and many other Atlus games for the 3DS, [we were reminded about] all the voices from fans who’ve been wanting to see a new game from the Persona series for the 3DS, and we felt the need to respond to that, and that’s how the plans of a collaboration within Atlus came to be.”
Famitsu confirms new playable characters, Zant appearance in Hyrule Warriors
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 44 Comments
This week’s issue of Famitsu has another update on Hyrule Warriors. We have news about a pair of new playable characters in the game as well as ones that will be making return appearances from the Zelda series.
First, Famitsu reveals two new playable characters. The first, as far as I can tell, might be Agitha from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. There’s also someone called “Lana”, though it’s unclear who this might be at present. Original character? Princess Lana from the Captain N: The Game Master animated TV series? It probably wouldn’t be wise for me to speculate since the information isn’t detailed. Take this part of the update with a grain of salt for now.
Aside from playable characters, Famitsu also confirms that Argorok – who we’ve seen previously – and Zant from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess will be appearing in Hyrule Warriors.
We should have more (and clearer) information soon. Only preliminary details have leaked out of this week’s Famitsu so far.
More: Famitsu, Hyrule Warriors, Omega Force, Team Ninja, Tecmo Koei, top
Famitsu review scores (6/23/14)
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 0 comments
This week’s Famitsu review scores are as follows:
Island Days (3DS) – 6 / 6 / 5 / 5
That’s it! Only one score in this week’s Famitsu.
