VERACITY IN GAMING
VERACITY IN GAMING
Rapid-fire legend Takahashi Meijin supervises Star Gagnant, a retro-style shmup for the Switch
Regista has announced vertical scrolling shoot ‘em up Star Gagnant for the Nintendo Switch. The game is being developed under the supervision of Japanese gaming legend Takahashi Meijin, and a crowdfunding campaign for the project will begin on September 5.
Gothic action RPG Black Witchcraft finally launches in September, eight years after being announced [UPDATE]
Black Witchcraft is a gothic action RPG about a witch who fights against demons. Black Witchcraft has been in development since it was first announced in 2014.
The Steam Top Releases of July features several Japanese games like Klonoa and Rune Factory 5
Valve has revealed the top 20 releases on Steam for July of 2022. A quarter of July's top releases were produced by studios in Japan: Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series, Rune Factory 5, The Legend of Heroes: Kuro no Kiseki, Nobunaga’s Ambition: Shinsei and Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate Definitive Edition.
FromSoftware issues shares to SIE and a subsidiary of Tencent, aiming to make more IPs and self-publish their games globally
Elden Ring developer FromSoftware issues shares to SIE and a subsidiary of Tencent, aiming to make more IPs and self-publish their games globally. The shareholding ratio following the issuance will be Kadokawa with 69.66%, SIE with 14.09% and Sixjoy with 16.25%.
Zombie of the Dot is a new zombie RPG from 428: Shibuya Scramble’s Jiro Ishii
Kemco has announced Zombie of the Dot, a new RPG being planned and supervised by game creator Jiro Ishii and developed by Hit-Point. Zombie of the Dot looks to focus more on the dramatic aspect of zombie-related works like the human drama between survivors.
Japan’s local ordinance that limits gaming time for children ruled not unconstitutional
Japan: Kagawa Prefecture’s limit on gaming time for children ruled to not be in violation of human rights. In 2020, Kagawa Prefecture enacted an ordinance that restricted the time that games could be played by those under the age of 18, although there are no penalties for those who break the rules.
Wild Arms and Shadow Hearts creators launch their Kickstarter campaign after receiving no backing from publishers
A Kickstarter campaign for both Armed Fantasia, a new title from the creator of Wild Arms, and Penny Blood, a new title from the director behind Shadow Hearts, has begun. The campaign is already off to a strong start.
Is slightly modified PS5 hardware releasing soon? One retailer suggests a new PS5 model number is on the way
One retailer in Japan posted a notice giving a release date for a slightly modified version of the PlayStation 5. While details about what’s different are unknown, the model number of this updated PS5 will be “CFI-1200,” and it’s scheduled to be available starting September 15 in Japan.
Service for the Karakuri Circus mobile game is coming to an end, but onlookers wonder how it survived as long as it did
The Karakuri Circus mobile game Karakuri Circus ~Larmes d’un Clown~ has been operating for three and a half years and with a specific character (Fatima) getting an oddly large number of gacha cards added to the game, rumors spread that Karakuri Circus LC had landed a whale supporting that character.
Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak’s latest update fixes a rerolling glitch in Qurious Crafting
The latest update for Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak (patch Ver.11.0.2) fixes an issue in relation to rerolling in Qurious Crafting. Prior to the update, some players found that it was possible to manipulate the outcome pool.
Arc System Works warns of fake images, likely in response to Bridget related tweets that talk about the Guilty Gear character’s gender identity
Likely in response to Bridget related tweets that talk about the Guilty Gear character's gender identity, Arc System Works has released a notice on its official Twitter account warning users about the spread of fabricated images that attempt to imitate an official response from its customer support team.
Gothic horror RPG Penny Blood announced by Shadow Hearts creator
Penny Blood is a gothic horror RPG set in the 1920s in a world twisted by cosmic horror, malice, and mayhem. Penny Blood is being developed with the involvement of many key staff members from the Shadow Hearts series, including the series creator Matsuzo Machida.
Westernpunk RPG Armed Fantasia announced by Wild Arms creator
Armed Fantasia is a Westernpunk RPG that combines the aesthetic of the American West with magic, monsters called Anomalies, and long-lost cultures. Development for Armed Fantasia is being led by Wild Arms game designer and scenario writer Akifumi Kaneko.
SD Gundam Battle Alliance’s Steam player count is off to a great start, but reviews have been mixed
SD Gundam Battle Alliance launched on August 25 (JST) for PC (Steam), PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch. This latest Gundam game appears to be enjoying a successful start on Steam in terms of both sales and player count. When looking at the reviews themselves, however, currently 58% are positive.
A Soul Hackers 2 tagline about the game being a successor to Persona and SMT doesn’t sit right with Japanese fans
An advertising tagline for Soul Hackers 2 in Japan has given rise to some complicated feelings among fans of the series. When promoting the game via TV commercials, Twitter, and other media, Atlus has used the tagline: “The new Atlus RPG that succeeds Shin Megami Tensei and Persona.”
Masahiro Sakurai launches a YouTube channel with the goal of making games more fun
Game creator Masahiro Sakurai has launched a new YouTube channel called Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games. Sakurai gave his reason for creating the channel by saying, “I want to try and help make games around the world a little more fun,” and explained that it will consist of videos that provide easy-to-understand explanations about various game design elements and methods.
ByMie Aoki
FFXIV producer/director Naoki Yoshida criticizes a Japanese internet service provider over connection issues
ISP in Japan called NURO Hikari warns of connection trouble on the day of FFXIV patch 6.2 due to “online game updates” FFXIV producer/director Naoki Yoshida previously criticized a Japanese internet service provider over connection issues.
Bloodborne Kart adds Father Gascoigne to its roster
Game developer Lilith Walther has provided a status update on her Bloodborne fangame, Bloodborne Kart. In addition to new gameplay videos, it was also revealed that Father Gascoigne will be a playable character.
Sakurai’s daily Super Smash Bros. Ultimate screenshots come to an end after nearly 3 years of updates
Game creator Masahiro Sakurai has concluded his daily upload of screenshots from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Sakurai began posting one screenshot each day starting in December of 2019, and after continuing for roughly 2 years and 8 months, announced on August 23 (JST) that the project has come to an end.
Japan gets a new gaming credit card with the Saison Gaming Card Digital
Credit Saison has announced that the Saison Gaming Card Digital, a credit card aimed at gamers, will soon be available in Japan. Credit Saison had previously offered the Saison Gaming Card which launched in December 2020. The card was based on the concept of a credit card made for gamers.
Ninja Slayer game sees a massive sales boost after a speedrunning event and a name change
The official Twitter account for the cyberpunk ninja novel Ninja Slayer has reported that the tie-in game NINJASLAYER: AREA 4643 received a massive boost in sales over the past week. According to their tweet, the recent name change, and increased recognition are being reflected in the sales.
Spatial audio voice chat tool CRI TeleXus has been officially released
CRI Middleware has begun offering the official version of its communication middleware CRI TeleXus. This new version includes a voice chat function that supports spatial audio. Future additions are expected to include an AI interpreting function that will enable conversations between speakers of different languages.
