This past Thursday, NIS America - the local arm of Japanese developer/publisher Nippon Ichi Software - got me drunk and showed me games. Well, not just me - this was their annual press event to show off their upcoming titles, make announcements and generally get the press excited and/or sloshed. But, really, does anyone give a shit about what Gamespot thinks any more? No? Good. On with the show!
You might've heard of these folks before. They're the twisted brains behind several modern classics in the JRPG world - most notably Disgaea, but also Atelier Iris and Makai Kingdom. Our esteemed friend, Schild, is a giant fan of theirs, but as he was unable to trek a thousand miles across the arid wastelands of the American Southwest, it fell to me to drink on their dime.
The event was held downtown in San Francisco, right on Union Square - the joint was a ritzy basement club, lighting low and tables decorated with plush pink Big Sis Prinny dolls. A pair of game demonstration stations were positioned on the open floor, softly illuminating the somber Japanese faces of our hosts as they chatted with the few press yet present.
I was early, their big announcement wasn't due for another half-hour or so. Scotch in hand, I dutifully approached the vacant station for something that looked like an anime storybook adventure. Turns out I was locking horns with Grim Grimoire, NISA's upcoming two-dimensional RTS title for the PS2. After pleasantly realizing I could skip the cutscenes, the game dropped me into a tutorial level.
My mission, which I was duty-bound to accept, was to... summon 10 elves. These would be the "worker" units of the RTS - they weave a wreath of flowers around a crystal, then pop into it and retrieve a little ball of mana. This, the currency of the game, is then ferried to your "rune" - your base and construction yard, essentially. Given the appearance of the little bastards, I spent most of the level chortling "Ah! Me Lucky Charms!" to anyone who would listen as my leprechaunesque minions pranced to and fro, tirelessly mining delicious mana balls.
After skipping some more cutscenes featuring an old wise man and an excessively young girl, I arrived at Level Two - wherein I summon floating nymphlike Fairies to shoot things with bows. This level began to show some cracks in the control scheme - the game is inconsistent in which buttons it insists you press, switching between Square and Circle for selection with little apparent rhyme or reason. Similarly schizophrenic are the choices of when to use the directional pad as opposed to the analog sticks. That concern aside, I summoned a vast army of pedolicious flying Fairies and murdered what appeared to be demonic ambulatory hotdogs. Or, possibly ... nevermind.
Seeing as how I had monopolized the station for a good 10 minutes, I left my young sorceror's apprentice girl behind and turned around - only to be greeted with the screen behind me showing off some fully-animated anime cutscene with an bubbly, scantily-clad heroine skipping through town, with the associated anatomical behavior that such an act entails "properly" represented.
Hello, Atelier Iris 3.
I stood back while another gent played a bit through the game itself. The dialogue, as immediately apparent, was an obviously over-the-top send-up of traditional JRPG banter and stereotypes - the male spoke barely more than a sentence while the female was submissive and ditzy. Fans of the series will not be disappointed with the character of the game. A battle ensued, and I noted that an Order List had been introduced, resulting in less guesswork during the flow of combat. As the man ran around, quest and mission indicators were visible, and he occasionally popped open an on-screen map, with your current position highlighted - ostensibly also new features to the series. A Quest Guild, which I believe to be a centralized location for the disbursement of side quests, has been added, and tutorials made skippable.
Not quite my cup of tea, though - but now it was time for the grand announcement, or so said the loudspeaker system. We press, now forming a nice knot on the floor, gathered in front of a large projection screen for the --
NISA will not be attending E3 this year.
-- big news. Four new titles for 2007! I'd seen two already, but I'd had a few by now and my penmanship - poor to start - degenerated further as libations and rapid-fire Japanese-accented speech pummeled my mind with merciless combo attacks.
Leading off, we were presented with a video of Dragoneer's Aria. Judging from the depth of his voice, the voiceover artist must carry his balls around in a wheelbarrow. This is to be a classic-style JRPG, replete with gigantic dragons of various colors forming the spine of the story. A collaboration between NISA, N1 and Hit Maker, it comes to the PSP in North America first, they emphasized this point, during Summer of this year.
Next, the well-titled Soul Nomad and the World Eaters, with an even more h4rd-c0re bent to the voiceover than before, if you can imagine such a thing. We were informed that we could "ANNIHILATE EVERYTHING" and that "THIS GAME WILL DESTROY YOUR LIFE" with all the earthshaking force that a subwoofer can impart to a phrase.
It's a strategy RPG, somewhere along the lines of Disgaea mixed with Valkyrie Profile - the twist here is that you're Evil and can do various villainous things, such as rob shops and passers-by blind, or use some kind of edict system to change the game - the example given? Gain 1,000 levels instantly. The pursesnatching begins August 2007.
Grim Grimoire - ah, one we've already seen - the 2D RTS. The word "Starcraft" is uttered at some point. They apparently hope that the game's storyline and cute graphics will help it "cater to a broader audience". The date given? June 2007.
Disgaea for the PSP is the fourth major title in this pack of promotions - to groans and sighs, NISA states that it has been delayed. To applause, that the delays are due to the addition of new modes, as they didn't believe that the North American market would appreciate just a straight port. What's added? A multiplayer mode, wherein you can pit your characters and gear against that of your friends in tactical battles! Oh, and a new story mode as well - "Etna Mode". What would've happened if Etna had killed Laharl and taken over the central spot in the story? You'll find out... at some point in the future.
What's this? A fifth announcement. With an avalanche of Powerpoint slides, they tell us of the new division of NISA, the Rosen Queen online store. Formed to Improve Customer Satisfaction, the site (www.rosenqueen.com) vends NISA titles and merchandise.
"People enjoy games because of the fiction," they state - and Rosen Queen will help people interact with the fiction through the magic of Nice Things. The slides are pretty good, primarily examples of their merchandise - "our PSP screen protector does its job invisibly, like ninjas" - and several good laughs are had by all.
As they wrap up the Rosen Queen presentation, they note that there's quite a bit of DS and Wii merchandise in the slides. Why is NISA selling Nintendo stuff while not involved with their platforms? "Oh!", they say, "Perhaps there are NISA titles coming to the Wii and DS!" Thunderous applause - well, as thunderous as eighty gamer nerds can muster.
With the Big Announcements over, I drift about, chattering and drinking and swapping business cards. While seated near a copy of Disgaea PSP, they served us delicious slices of beef and chicken impaled on skewers. The thrusting of sticks through spiced meat improves the experience considerably, or so say my notes. Jack, the esteemed NISA rep responsible for emceeing the presentations, stopped by briefly to talk - the topic turned to Disgaea PSP, and from the steel jaws of PR I snatched a few more tidbits for the glory of the Internet. The title, though delayed, is now targeted at August or September of this year, and to equalize level differences in multiplayer they've created something called the "Geo Cube" system. You and your opponent each select 10 "Geo Cubes", and the computer randomly selects five from this set, scattering them about the battle map. Obtaining and using these items, it is apparently possible to wildly swing the balance of power in the game.
The evening all too soon came to a close; Big Sis Prinny doll perched on my shoulder, I thanked the NISA staff and set out into the cool San Franciscan air. Destination? Sushi.
[discuss]
The event was held downtown in San Francisco, right on Union Square - the joint was a ritzy basement club, lighting low and tables decorated with plush pink Big Sis Prinny dolls. A pair of game demonstration stations were positioned on the open floor, softly illuminating the somber Japanese faces of our hosts as they chatted with the few press yet present.
I was early, their big announcement wasn't due for another half-hour or so. Scotch in hand, I dutifully approached the vacant station for something that looked like an anime storybook adventure. Turns out I was locking horns with Grim Grimoire, NISA's upcoming two-dimensional RTS title for the PS2. After pleasantly realizing I could skip the cutscenes, the game dropped me into a tutorial level.
My mission, which I was duty-bound to accept, was to... summon 10 elves. These would be the "worker" units of the RTS - they weave a wreath of flowers around a crystal, then pop into it and retrieve a little ball of mana. This, the currency of the game, is then ferried to your "rune" - your base and construction yard, essentially. Given the appearance of the little bastards, I spent most of the level chortling "Ah! Me Lucky Charms!" to anyone who would listen as my leprechaunesque minions pranced to and fro, tirelessly mining delicious mana balls.
After skipping some more cutscenes featuring an old wise man and an excessively young girl, I arrived at Level Two - wherein I summon floating nymphlike Fairies to shoot things with bows. This level began to show some cracks in the control scheme - the game is inconsistent in which buttons it insists you press, switching between Square and Circle for selection with little apparent rhyme or reason. Similarly schizophrenic are the choices of when to use the directional pad as opposed to the analog sticks. That concern aside, I summoned a vast army of pedolicious flying Fairies and murdered what appeared to be demonic ambulatory hotdogs. Or, possibly ... nevermind.
Seeing as how I had monopolized the station for a good 10 minutes, I left my young sorceror's apprentice girl behind and turned around - only to be greeted with the screen behind me showing off some fully-animated anime cutscene with an bubbly, scantily-clad heroine skipping through town, with the associated anatomical behavior that such an act entails "properly" represented.
Hello, Atelier Iris 3.
I stood back while another gent played a bit through the game itself. The dialogue, as immediately apparent, was an obviously over-the-top send-up of traditional JRPG banter and stereotypes - the male spoke barely more than a sentence while the female was submissive and ditzy. Fans of the series will not be disappointed with the character of the game. A battle ensued, and I noted that an Order List had been introduced, resulting in less guesswork during the flow of combat. As the man ran around, quest and mission indicators were visible, and he occasionally popped open an on-screen map, with your current position highlighted - ostensibly also new features to the series. A Quest Guild, which I believe to be a centralized location for the disbursement of side quests, has been added, and tutorials made skippable.
Not quite my cup of tea, though - but now it was time for the grand announcement, or so said the loudspeaker system. We press, now forming a nice knot on the floor, gathered in front of a large projection screen for the --
NISA will not be attending E3 this year.
-- big news. Four new titles for 2007! I'd seen two already, but I'd had a few by now and my penmanship - poor to start - degenerated further as libations and rapid-fire Japanese-accented speech pummeled my mind with merciless combo attacks.
Leading off, we were presented with a video of Dragoneer's Aria. Judging from the depth of his voice, the voiceover artist must carry his balls around in a wheelbarrow. This is to be a classic-style JRPG, replete with gigantic dragons of various colors forming the spine of the story. A collaboration between NISA, N1 and Hit Maker, it comes to the PSP in North America first, they emphasized this point, during Summer of this year.
Next, the well-titled Soul Nomad and the World Eaters, with an even more h4rd-c0re bent to the voiceover than before, if you can imagine such a thing. We were informed that we could "ANNIHILATE EVERYTHING" and that "THIS GAME WILL DESTROY YOUR LIFE" with all the earthshaking force that a subwoofer can impart to a phrase.
It's a strategy RPG, somewhere along the lines of Disgaea mixed with Valkyrie Profile - the twist here is that you're Evil and can do various villainous things, such as rob shops and passers-by blind, or use some kind of edict system to change the game - the example given? Gain 1,000 levels instantly. The pursesnatching begins August 2007.
Grim Grimoire - ah, one we've already seen - the 2D RTS. The word "Starcraft" is uttered at some point. They apparently hope that the game's storyline and cute graphics will help it "cater to a broader audience". The date given? June 2007.
Disgaea for the PSP is the fourth major title in this pack of promotions - to groans and sighs, NISA states that it has been delayed. To applause, that the delays are due to the addition of new modes, as they didn't believe that the North American market would appreciate just a straight port. What's added? A multiplayer mode, wherein you can pit your characters and gear against that of your friends in tactical battles! Oh, and a new story mode as well - "Etna Mode". What would've happened if Etna had killed Laharl and taken over the central spot in the story? You'll find out... at some point in the future.
What's this? A fifth announcement. With an avalanche of Powerpoint slides, they tell us of the new division of NISA, the Rosen Queen online store. Formed to Improve Customer Satisfaction, the site (www.rosenqueen.com) vends NISA titles and merchandise.
"People enjoy games because of the fiction," they state - and Rosen Queen will help people interact with the fiction through the magic of Nice Things. The slides are pretty good, primarily examples of their merchandise - "our PSP screen protector does its job invisibly, like ninjas" - and several good laughs are had by all.
As they wrap up the Rosen Queen presentation, they note that there's quite a bit of DS and Wii merchandise in the slides. Why is NISA selling Nintendo stuff while not involved with their platforms? "Oh!", they say, "Perhaps there are NISA titles coming to the Wii and DS!" Thunderous applause - well, as thunderous as eighty gamer nerds can muster.
With the Big Announcements over, I drift about, chattering and drinking and swapping business cards. While seated near a copy of Disgaea PSP, they served us delicious slices of beef and chicken impaled on skewers. The thrusting of sticks through spiced meat improves the experience considerably, or so say my notes. Jack, the esteemed NISA rep responsible for emceeing the presentations, stopped by briefly to talk - the topic turned to Disgaea PSP, and from the steel jaws of PR I snatched a few more tidbits for the glory of the Internet. The title, though delayed, is now targeted at August or September of this year, and to equalize level differences in multiplayer they've created something called the "Geo Cube" system. You and your opponent each select 10 "Geo Cubes", and the computer randomly selects five from this set, scattering them about the battle map. Obtaining and using these items, it is apparently possible to wildly swing the balance of power in the game.
The evening all too soon came to a close; Big Sis Prinny doll perched on my shoulder, I thanked the NISA staff and set out into the cool San Franciscan air. Destination? Sushi.
[discuss]