Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher is selling well in Japan with physical copies being hard to come by
Bandai Namco Entertainment has acknowledged that physical copies of Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher are difficult to find at some retailers in Japan and apologized for the situation via the game’s official Japanese Twitter account.
Artist uses Unity to create a realistic Japanese town in VR
A video showing a modern Japanese town created in Unity has been gathering a lot of attention. The town in the video is a VR demo that is currently being developed by 3D artist Sherman Waffle.
RPG Developer Bakin users are making action games even though it’s sold as an RPG creation tool
SmileBoom released their game creation tool RPG Developer Bakin to Steam Early Access. RPG Developer Bakin boasts that anyone can use it to make an RPG without programming knowledge, but according to SmileBoom, users have been using it to pump out action games.
Is Raoh too raunchy for Twitter? Fitness Boxing Fist of the North Star account suspended for unknown reason
Imagineer has announced that Raoh will be joining Fitness Boxing Fist of the North Star as a boss and instructor character. To commemorate the news, a giveaway campaign was launched on the game’s official Twitter account, but shortly after, the account was mysteriously suspended.
The Callisto Protocol gets cancelled in Japan after failing to receive a rating
Publisher Krafton has announced that The Callisto Protocol has been cancelled in Japan. The official Twitter account explains that the game was unable to pass through its rating review from CERO. As an aside, Dead Space has also been removed from the PlayStation Store in Japan.
Arc System Works announces Two Jong Cell!! a bishoujo mahjong game with rule-altering abilities
Arc System Works has announced mahjong game Two Jong Cell!! for Japan. Two Jong Cell!! is a mahjong game where you use rule-altering abilities. You take on the role of a new transfer student at a school where mahjong is incredibly popular and encounter the six heroines of the game.
Kirby’s Dream Buffet is somehow getting turned into a light novel
Kirby’s Dream Buffet has been announced as the next title in the Japanese-exclusive light novel series starring Kirby. The series features original stories and novelizations of classic games in the Kirby series.
The Dark Souls Camera app sees a resurgence in Japan
Despite six years having passed since Bandai Namco Entertainment and FromSoftware released the Dark Souls Camera mobile app in 2016, it has seen a recent surge in popularity here in Japan. Dark Souls Camera is an app for iOS and Android that lets users create Dark Souls themed photos.
Is there a homogenization of character sizes in Japanese games? Developers weigh in
A tweet posted by an illustrator points out differences between character designs in older Japanese games compared to more recent ones. A number of experienced game developers and character designers chimed in on the subject.
Harvestella dev interview: What they decided to change after getting feedback on the demo
Harvestella, a life simulation RPG from Square Enix, is set to release on November 4. For the occasion, we sat down with the game’s developers to learn more about the improvements and additions that have been made since the release of the demo.
A Plague Tale: Requiem removes Japanese language support as it goes on sale, drawing mistrust from players in Japan [UPDATE]
Focus Entertainment released A Plague Tale: Requiem from Asobo Studio on October 18. While it was officially announced that the game would include Japanese language support, it turns out that isn’t the case. As of now, the game’s publisher has yet to give an explanation, drawing dissatisfaction from players in Japan.
Japanese ice cream brand Pino releases an official otome dating sim
Pino are bite-sized pieces of vanilla ice cream covered in a chocolate coating. In Pino Koi, there’s a character with a giant Pino for a head that looks to be a male high school student. Players talk to the Pino guy to raise their affection levels with the goal of falling in love.
MapleStory Twitter account apologizes for tweet that some interpreted as endorsing the use of macros
The official Japanese Twitter account for MMORPG MapleStory has apologized for a tweet that was phrased in a way that led to a misunderstanding among some users. "Aren’t there any items that will let me hunt while I sleep?" said the official account.
New video game in Japan helps players prepare for earthquakes
Japan’s Tokushima prefecture has released an RPG called e-防災ゲーム (e-Bousai Game), which translates to e-Disaster Preparedness, and teaches players about preparing for natural disasters while they play.
A classic PS1 game masked loading times by having the protagonist trip and fall
A Twitter user introduced how Doki Doki Poyatchio, a Japan-exclusive PlayStation 1 RPG released in 1998, handled loading data. The character in the game would fall down and the game would load while they were getting up.
Starfield’s enormous amount of dialogue had a Cyberpunk 2077 localizer liken it to Frieza showing up in DBZ
Cyberpunk 2077' localizer reacted to Todd Howard's remark about Starfield having over 250,000 dialogue lines. “This is like Frieza showing up after you just got done taking on Raditz and Nappa.”
Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak update brings back gesture spamming to some extent
Capcom has released Ver.12.0.1 of Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak, an update that includes a change to gestures and pose sets. Despite recently being reduced to one gesture input per second a few days earlier, the game now accepts up to 4 inputs per second while maintaining the stability of its Lobbies.
Why did Sega change Yakuza to Like a Dragon? We asked the devs and learned that the title “Like a Dragon 8” isn’t finalized yet
In September, Sega announced three new titles in its Yakuza series: Like a Dragon 8, Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, and Like a Dragon: Ishin!, although Like a Dragon 8 isn’t a finalized title yet. We spoke with Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio representative to find out why they changed the English title for the series from Yakuza to Like a Dragon.
Relayer Advanced is coming to Steam on October 27
Dragami Games has announced Relayer Advanced for PC via Steam and GOG.com. The Steam version is set to release on October 27 (JST) with the GOG.com version following on November 10 (JST) for $49.99.
SD Gundam Battle Alliance ver. 1.30 addresses many issues that players had with the game
Bandai Namco Entertainment has released update data ver. 1.30 for SD Gundam Battle Alliance. What is particularly notable about this new update is the fact that it addresses a multitude of issues that players had with the game.
Street Fighter 6’s audio accessibility options praised by CBT players
Capcom recently held a closed beta test for their upcoming fighting game Street Fighter 6, and players were also able to try out the game’s accessibility options which have been gaining a lot of attention from parts of the fanbase. Street Fighter 6 is scheduled to launch in 2023.
The Yuki Yuna is a Hero mobile game is coming to consoles despite service ending for the original version
Entergram has announced a console version of the mobile game Yuki Yuna is a Hero: Hanayui no Kirameki, just as things were drawing to a close for the original version. The console version of the game is expected to include additional story content as well as an illustration gallery.