New Disgaea, Ar Tonelico, More Titles Announced, New Strategy For NIS
Stranger times are ahead, as a new ideology is being adopted. You'll love it!
Published: July 16, 2010
Nippon Ichi Software is probably best known for its quirky, highly-regarded strategy RPG series Disgaea, and of course the countless content the games have spawned. To a lesser extent, they are known (generally) for having a library of hardcore Japanese games that may or may not involve a prinny. While there have been a few questionable titles in their library, they seem to be cognizant of this and are looking to make some changes starting right now.
NIS America released the following statement today from Mr. Niikawa (most notably, the Producer of the Disgaea series) in regards to the company's future:
"My name is Souhei Niikawa, and I am the producer of Nippon Ichi Software.
Thank you very much for coming to NIS America’s press event tonight.
From this year on, Nippon Ichi Software will limit the number of titles we release in a year.
We are doing this to improve the game quality, and also to increase the customer satisfaction.
The games that have been showcased here tonight were strictly selected and developed with this new policy. The first title is Z.H.P. This is our latest dungeon RPG that has been created by the same staff members of Disgaea 3. The project began soon after the release of [i]Disgaea 3 and for 2 years it has been under intense development to formulate the game system. We’re proud to say that Z.H.P. was made to surpass the Disgaea series and, also it is a title with all of our know how’s and ideas we build upon combined in to. To describe how confident we are about this title...
Let's just say we’re as excited as the time when we first developed Disgaea.
This is a title that we would like to nurture into the level of Disgaea, so please help us.
The 2nd title is Cladun. This is a hack & slash type action RPG.
This title also has some of the same staff members as Disgaea and it is highly addictive.
As our wish it would be great if you can help these 2 titles grow.
Oh and one last thing. This year the latest Disagea will be released in Japan and it will be for the PS3. Plans to make Disagea evolve to a new level and also plans to surprise everybody is in progress. By the time Tokyo Game Show comes around we will be able to release more information, so please look forward to it. Thank you very much."[/i]
Did you miss it? Here is the lowdown, for you TLDR surfers. Claudun, a retro-style dungeon crawler RPG, will be released exclusively on the PlayStation Network Store for the PSP. It will feature a character creator to assemble a party from scratch so you can search randomly generated dungeons alone or with your friends (via ad hoc mode). It is slated to release during Fall 2010.
Next up is another PSP game called Zettai Hero Keikaku (or Z.H.P. for us non-Japanese gamers). Developed by the team behind the Disgaea series, Z.H.P. is set to be a similar but more deep Disgaea game. The very idea of that blows my mind, as it should yours. The depth comes from creating your own Super Hero from its body to its stats. If you want to have race car for a head, you are more than welcome to do so. Set for a Winter 2010 release, players will build heroes and fight villains until they realize the game is probably too hardcore for them, at which point they cry themselves to sleep. Sorry, I'm projecting again.
Finally, AR TONELICO QOGA ~Knell of Ar Ciel~ is going to come exclusively to the PlayStation 3, and all of you nerds will finally have have some closure in the series. Unlike the prior installments, this final chapter was made for the PS3 in mind, and is said to take advantage of the horsepower the console has to offer. AR TONELICO QOGA ~Knell of Ar Ciel~ is set in a world where humans are enslaved but have started a revolution to free themselves. Using a brand new action based combat system, rhythm-based song magic, and a character combination system called "Cosmoshphere", players will battle their way through a multipathed RPG that is fitting for NIS.
But nothing less should ever be expected of NIS, as they have a strong habit of bringing us some of the most content-filled games around. Like many other publishers, NIS America has been bringing over a lot of other, not-so-memorable titles recently. Some of them may have even hurt the development of other games. This is likely why NIS announced that it will be cutting back on the onslaught of titles, in order to help new IPs some room to breath and grow, while also forging outstanding IPs and making them even better.
On a sad note, a new Disgaea game is mentioned... but not elaborated on further. We will be watching the news from the Tokyo Game Show closely this year. My need to blow up prinnies is too great!
So, has your NIS fix been fulfilled? No? Well, check back later today for Sam Bishop's preview of the games he saw over at the NIS America party to find out how these titles are shaping up.
NIS America released the following statement today from Mr. Niikawa (most notably, the Producer of the Disgaea series) in regards to the company's future:
"My name is Souhei Niikawa, and I am the producer of Nippon Ichi Software.
Thank you very much for coming to NIS America’s press event tonight.
From this year on, Nippon Ichi Software will limit the number of titles we release in a year.
We are doing this to improve the game quality, and also to increase the customer satisfaction.
The games that have been showcased here tonight were strictly selected and developed with this new policy. The first title is Z.H.P. This is our latest dungeon RPG that has been created by the same staff members of Disgaea 3. The project began soon after the release of [i]Disgaea 3 and for 2 years it has been under intense development to formulate the game system. We’re proud to say that Z.H.P. was made to surpass the Disgaea series and, also it is a title with all of our know how’s and ideas we build upon combined in to. To describe how confident we are about this title...
Let's just say we’re as excited as the time when we first developed Disgaea.
This is a title that we would like to nurture into the level of Disgaea, so please help us.
The 2nd title is Cladun. This is a hack & slash type action RPG.
This title also has some of the same staff members as Disgaea and it is highly addictive.
As our wish it would be great if you can help these 2 titles grow.
Oh and one last thing. This year the latest Disagea will be released in Japan and it will be for the PS3. Plans to make Disagea evolve to a new level and also plans to surprise everybody is in progress. By the time Tokyo Game Show comes around we will be able to release more information, so please look forward to it. Thank you very much."[/i]
Did you miss it? Here is the lowdown, for you TLDR surfers. Claudun, a retro-style dungeon crawler RPG, will be released exclusively on the PlayStation Network Store for the PSP. It will feature a character creator to assemble a party from scratch so you can search randomly generated dungeons alone or with your friends (via ad hoc mode). It is slated to release during Fall 2010.
Next up is another PSP game called Zettai Hero Keikaku (or Z.H.P. for us non-Japanese gamers). Developed by the team behind the Disgaea series, Z.H.P. is set to be a similar but more deep Disgaea game. The very idea of that blows my mind, as it should yours. The depth comes from creating your own Super Hero from its body to its stats. If you want to have race car for a head, you are more than welcome to do so. Set for a Winter 2010 release, players will build heroes and fight villains until they realize the game is probably too hardcore for them, at which point they cry themselves to sleep. Sorry, I'm projecting again.
Finally, AR TONELICO QOGA ~Knell of Ar Ciel~ is going to come exclusively to the PlayStation 3, and all of you nerds will finally have have some closure in the series. Unlike the prior installments, this final chapter was made for the PS3 in mind, and is said to take advantage of the horsepower the console has to offer. AR TONELICO QOGA ~Knell of Ar Ciel~ is set in a world where humans are enslaved but have started a revolution to free themselves. Using a brand new action based combat system, rhythm-based song magic, and a character combination system called "Cosmoshphere", players will battle their way through a multipathed RPG that is fitting for NIS.
But nothing less should ever be expected of NIS, as they have a strong habit of bringing us some of the most content-filled games around. Like many other publishers, NIS America has been bringing over a lot of other, not-so-memorable titles recently. Some of them may have even hurt the development of other games. This is likely why NIS announced that it will be cutting back on the onslaught of titles, in order to help new IPs some room to breath and grow, while also forging outstanding IPs and making them even better.
On a sad note, a new Disgaea game is mentioned... but not elaborated on further. We will be watching the news from the Tokyo Game Show closely this year. My need to blow up prinnies is too great!
So, has your NIS fix been fulfilled? No? Well, check back later today for Sam Bishop's preview of the games he saw over at the NIS America party to find out how these titles are shaping up.
