Ar tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel Official Trailer

Gust's PS3 RPG is inching closer to its release date - here's a peek at the trailer of this intriguing final entry in this fan-favorite franchise. Between this and Hyperdimension Neptunia, Nippon Ichi's going to be keeping a LOT of folks indoors for a while.

Ar tonelico Qoga Official Website/ Premium Box Set Revealed

UPDATE! Pre-ordering has been activated at the NISA Online Store and yes, 1000 lucky folks who boogie on over to order the even more limited edition will get a neat bonus Cosmosphere Calendar (in the right image) featuring the ladies from the game!

As you can see, this installment gets a Mature rating, so cute anime characters and colorful art aside, just like the previous two installments, the innuendo and such DEFINITELY aren't for the kids. Trust me. If you've never played an Ar tonelico game before, you'll be shocked (shocked, i say!) at the content. Well, probably not... but better safe than sorry, given some of the more humorous dialog and er, saucy images from the other games. Check out the Official Site and/or those store links above for more details!

Gallery: Ar tonelico Qoga - Knell of Ar Ciel

With its March 15, 2011 release approaching, let's take a look at some nice screens and character illustrations from the final installment of Gust's rather intriguing mix of RPG and romance simulation, finally making it's PS3 debut. The first two games were pure 2D bliss packed with lovely hand-drawn art, parallax scrolling and limited 3D elements that gave them a nicely old-school feel. Qoga's shift to 3D battles and an all-new combat system does allow for more dynamic angles as you'll see, but it looks as if the game also uses some interesting hand-painted art in certain non-battle sections. I liked the first two games quite a lot (although the real-time combat system in part 2 was a bit too gimmicky) - fingers crossed that Qoga doesn't disappoint in any department.

More info about the game and screens below the jump.

Hyperdimension Neptunia Premium Package Pre-order Goodies Update - It's In the Cards...

So, you want MORE Hyperdimension Neptunia (aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!) goodness? OK - NIS America has revealed an upcoming pre-order program for the PS3 exclusive that will net the first 1000 folks who sign up for a copy of the game through their online store a set of limited edition playing cards. This "Limited Edition Gamindustri Premium Pack" include the Premium Edition of Hyperdimension Neptunia and that fully customized deck of playing cards. Expect to see the game's super cute CPU Goddesses for all the face cards and with a customized Neptunia card back and perhaps a few special Jokers in the deck. This one keeps getting better and better...

Hyperdimension Neptunia Premium Package Art Revealed

And here you go: BOOM. Courtesy of NISA, one Hyperdimension Neptunia(aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!) Premium Package to go. Nice cover art AND that Premium inside the Package just so happens to be a rather cool art book packed with lots of art (dang, I'm good!). Anyway, hit your favorite retailer and go pre-order this gem.

In other Nippon Ichi news, Prinny 2: Dawn of Operation Panties, Dood! is out NOW, so I need to go buy a copy sometime this week and let you folks know how it is, right?

Hyperdimension Neptunia (aaaaaaaaaaaaa!) Official Trailer: Nippon Ichi Is At It Again...

Say it with me, folks (big voice, now): HYPERDIMENSION NEPTUNIA(AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!)

Yes, that name absolutely demands the echo chamber effect at the end. Grrrrrr... Why does Nippon Ichi continue to tempt me so? Yet another too cute for words RPG, this time on the PS3 from a whopping what, five studios? Lots of flashy battle effects, that snazzy Gust 2D artwork (I expect my usual ten layers of parallax scrolling backgrounds, thank you) mixed with 3D characters, randomly generated dungeon maps, eyeball-rolling town names (Gameindustri? ha bloody ha), ESRB T (Teen)-rated "partial nudity" and "sexual themes" should make this one a nicely niche hit. That is of course, provided the gameplay is solid and the story has the highs and lows genre fans expect plus whatever bells and whistles those random dungeons offer. Oh, and ALEX KIDD??? Holy cats, that's an instant buy just for the Janken mini-game flashback I had while typing this. The other Sega characters in the game will keep me playing just to see who else is hidden on the disc.

I'll take a dozen to go, please... with a copy of Prinny 2 on the side.

Unique Console Patron Units... Engage! sometime in Spring 2011, by the way.

Gallery: Atelier Rorona: The Alchemist of Arland

Nippon Ichi's US branch is still merrily publishing some of the most fun niche JRPGs available and their upcoming PS3 release of Gust Co.'s Atelier Rorona: the Alchemist of Arland should absolutely please fans of this style of game. As you can see from the gallery below, the game looks fantastic using an excellent mix of lovingly detailed 2D portraits with 3D characters and environments.

NISA has also announced that two slightly different Premium Box versions of the game will be available. The first version can only be purchased at GameStop where pre-ordering the game will get you a beautiful 32-page hardcover full color art book. The other Premium Box will only be available through the NISA Online shop where that particular pre-order gets you the art book along with the official game soundtrack CD.