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PS2 In Shinjuku PS2 - Launch Imminent In fact, by the time you read this, the PS2 will be out in Japan, launching, as it is, on March 4th. The most interesting story of late has probably been the amount of launch software titles slipping.
Although the slips have been a matter of weeks, this means that perhaps the cavalcade of amazement that some might expect from PS2 won't come immediately. Expect some commentators to get downright disappointed about it all. But try to harken back to the Playstation launch - although it impressed with titles such as Ridge Racer, the really classic games didn't start coming for a few months.. or even a couple of years. The most interesting March 4th launch titles now appear to be Street Fighter EX 3 (which includes 4-player battle mode, and some limited character editing/customisation), Kessen (though don't forget all those impressive Japanese battle sequences aren't the actual game, just the battle sequences of a wargame that takes place in a much more zoomed-out map mode), Eternal Ring (first RPG, should be intriguing, to say the least..), and, of course Ridge Racer V (which, according to online reports, has just got a near-perfect 36/40 in Famitsu.) Things that have slipped and are continuing to slip include EA Canada/Square's SSX snowboarding title, back from the end of March to April 27th. Dead Or Alive 2 is rumored to be slipping further but Tecmo are now claiming a March 30th date, same as Tekken Tag Tournament. Other minor billiards and pinball titles are also slipping, symptomatic of the kinda of last-minute bug/feature-adding issues you're likely to find on a brand new console with an 'early' release date in terms of content building. Another
amusing PS2 tidbit that's recently appeared on a number of rumor mills
- apparently, according to Nikkei Online, you need consent from the Japanese
Department of Trade and Re-Publishing Japanese Games In The West One thing that seems to be of increasing interest nowadays is which publishers pick up Japanese games for release in the US or Europe. Because the act of marketing and releasing a game is so expensive, many publishers will only publish a more 'niche' title in one market, and are happy to hand over publishing in a non-Japanese market to another publisher who has more expertise or time to devote on the title. Whilst most of the titles left unpublished in the US/Europe are doubtless niche, it's worth singling out Activision as a company who are particularly good at licensing quality Japanese product at the moment. Though sometimes their 'otaku' Jap-fan sensibilities may get the better of them (Guardian's Crusade is probably a bit too quirky for the US market as an RPG), the licensing of Tenchu (originally Sony-published in Japan) was a great move, and Alundra 2 is also a great game that deserves to sell well in the West. There are also now rumours that Chase The Express from Sugar and Rockets, a 2CD game with a great action-movie styled plot involving NATO, trains, and nuclear missiles, is going to be released by them this summer.
[A little kudos also for Activision grabbing the probably not-so-stellar selling Power Move Wrestling, which, although licenseless, used the Yukes wrestling-game engine now being utilised by THQ for the about-to-be-massive WWF Smackdown on Playstation. This is a good example of how a good game is a good game wherever, but will only sell if correctly culturally adjusted/licensed for the suitable region.] Also worth mentioning are UbiSoft, who have been picking up some neat RPGs, including the slightly under-rated "Evolution" and the European release of "Grandia" on PS, and Eidos, who tend to go for the obvious, but nonetheless grab some neat titles (Berserk on DC is a bit airhead but spectacular beyond belief, and of course the deal with Capcom for Resident Evil-related releases and Power Stone is a great move.) These are just those who come to mind, and naturally is totally subjective (I work for none of the above companies, incidentally!), but it's clear there's still good titles to be republished in the West that many publishers are not picking up on. It's definitely more complicated than it seems, though (for example, Lunar as a RPG series - pretty big in America, largely unknown and unpublished in Europe.) Other News
Many of you have probably heard that the Playstation 2 is not totally Playstation-compatible, as previously rumored. The list of non-working PS software in Japan was relatively small (presuming it was final), and the only real 'major' title is Tecmo's Monster Rancher. Sony claims that non-compatible titles are that way because they've failed to conform to Sony regulations, but since they've made it through Sony submission, and the problems don't all seem concentrated in one area, I'm not sure this is totally 'true' - it's a grey area, to say the least. But as long as no major US titles come up incompatible, we'll all be happy enough, right? After the insane-ness that is Dreamcast Chu Chu Rocket, Sonic Team's weirdo arcade music title Samba De Amigo, not really seen in arcades outside Japan, has been announced for a Japanese Dreamcast release April 27th. Presumably coming with it will be, yes, custom maracas controllers for the DC. Woohoo! [Talking
of custom controllers, the recent AOU arcade show showcased a new Sega
Naomi fishing title, Marine Fishing, which is pretty likely to
get a Dreamcast conversion, so if you Finally, a brief tour round the other AOU arcade titles of interest. From Konami, Punchmania is a Fist Of The North Star license with different punching pads to hit rhythmically (!), and there's a GTI Club sequel which goes even more Italian Job, since it's set in Italy this time. Capcom showcased the insane Marvel Vs. Capcom 2, their first made-for-Naomi 2D fighter, complete with spiffing 3D backgrounds, and Sega's Star Wars Episode 1: Racer is completely different to the Lucasarts version but just as good (nice racing over water, too!)
This time
round, Sega's alleged Gran Turismo beater slinks to the top of
the charts, but with only 90,000 sales or so in its first week. Not actually
that impressive, ultimately, especially Into second
place slides Gallop Racer 2000, and unless a massive Playstation
market suddenly materialises in the Middle East, this type of horse racing
title will just never be popular Ditto, I'm afraid, with the third-placed Gundam title (Giren's Ambition) from Bandai. Those who've followed the charts over a period of time may have noted that, much like Iron Maiden singles in the UK in the early 90s, most Gundam releases are snapped up by hardcore fans as soon as they come out, resulting in big first-week sales, after which most Gundam titles slip off the charts, never to return. The fact that other robot titles make it to the US but the Gundam ones never do indicated that, whilst competitive, they aren't _that_ amazing. However, this conversion from the Saturn of a strategy sim title is rather well executed, as well as being long-awaited, so is racking up impressive sales (50,000 this week, and almost 300,000 sold in total). Further down, the irrepressible Pocket Monsters have already coasted over the 6 million mark between the both of them, and Square's Vagrant Story seems to be doing decently, 200,000 sales after only a couple of weeks. Again, it's nice to see some non-Japanese games in the charts, and Rare's DK64 is approaching a million sales in Japan. Most impressive. Donkey Kong on the Gameboy also sneaks in there, although I'm not entirely sure which version this is - possibly an old Donkey Kong Country-related American release rejigged for Japan? Simon Carless is a game designer/project director at a UK games developer. His game credits include design on PC and Playstation titles for (amongst others) Eidos and GT Interactive. He can be contacted at h0l@mono211.com. Simon would like to thank Magic Box, Re:Tokyo, Gamespot, FGNOnline, Core Magazine, and his other Japanese sources for the information that helps to write this column. |
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