Atlus Does a SMT: Persona Double Launch With A Twist...

Once again, Atlus is giving RPG fans the love with a super-cool premium item AND a nice way to kick off the launch of Sony's upcoming PSP GO! handheld. The remake of the classic PSOne RPG, Shin Megami Tensei Persona will get a simultaneous release in UMD format on the PSP as well as a download version for the PSP GO! on September 22, 2009.

Atlus isn't letting PSP GO! owners get the really cool stuff, however (although Persona IS a truly deep and mind-bending RPG any discerning genre fan should play). Gamers who pre-order the retail release of SMT:P through retailers such as Amazon or GameStop will get a nice bonus: a 2-disc soundtrack composed by Shoji Meguro. They'll also get the cool Collector's Edition box it all comes in, as Atlus doesn't want gamers walking home holding those CD's over your head if it happens to rain on launch day.

Anyway, how 'bout some quoty press release action:

"Over a decade after the game was originally released for PlayStation®, we're proud to be able to deliver a remade, remastered SMT: Persona through the ever-growing PlayStation®Store in addition to traditional retail channels," said Tim Pivnicny, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Atlus. "When the PSP®go System launches in October, customers will immediately be able to load up a digital copy of what promises to be one of the platform's strongest RPG releases of the year. To show our devotion to our fans and retail partners, the UMD release of SMT: Persona will include the game's complete 2-disc soundtrack. This tremendous value is exclusive to the retail version of the game, and only available for a limited time at launch."

About SMT: Persona

The rumor going around St. Hermelin High School holds that if you play the "Persona" game, you can see what the future holds for you. When a group of students-some eager, some skeptical-tries the game out, they experience something quite different. Before long, the city is turned upside-down and demons are roaming the streets, and only the students' newfound power of Persona can set things right again.

Whether you pursue Takahisa Kandori and his abuses of the power he wields as SEBEC's president, or whether you delve into the curse of the Snow Queen that has plagued St. Hermelin for decades, a deep, modern, psychological tale awaits. Remember your true self, and free the tortured psyches of others...

Key Features

• More than the same old JRPG -- Dark, philosophical, and complex, Persona sets you up in a modern day Japan that has gone into chaos. Demons run free, and you and your team must navigate corruption, mental frailty, and an alternate version of your world to bring your reality back into order.
• A second chance on PSP -- Offering a second opportunity to experience the beginnings of the acclaimed Persona series, this remake boasts a fully relocalized script, revamped user interface, faster battles, expanded soundtrack, and new in-game movies with voice work added just for the North American release.
• Unique tactical opportunities -- The inner selves known Personas are your key to progressing through the adventure, adding skills and incredible depth to your battle tactics. Expand and improve your collection through the Demon Negotiation system that offers spell cards that you can later fuse into new Personas.

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona hits retail and the PlayStation Network on September 22, 2009 for $39.99. As a longtime fan of the franchise (yup, I've played the PSOne game multiple times and own quite a few import SMT titles), I can say that this deal is a MUST buy if you're at all interested in one of the best modern console RPG series ever.

Infinite Space Teaser Anime Clip 1

Sega's upcoming Nintendo DS deep space Strategy/RPG Infinite Space won't arrive until next year, but here's a great anime teaser set in the game universe that does a splendid job at luring you into the game's galactic setting while introducing some of the principal characters - enjoy!

ZEN Studios Has a Secret...

A mysterious email arrived this morning from ZEN Studios' PR firm. It has the rather interesting logo art shown to the left. The email says the official announcement of this mystery game isn't coming until Thursday on the official PlayStation Blog. I'm asked to guess what this mystery announcement will be, or assassins will strike. I really hate it when that happens.

Hmmmm... from memory, I know that ZEN is known for its pinball games. A LOT of pinball games... good ones, at that. And that character does look familiar, no?

Anyone have a guess as to what this big mystery announcement is? I don't think it's Art of Fighting Pinball, that's for sure...

Deep Silver Press Event Impressions

Deep Silver dropped into New York City for a day with playable versions of five upcoming games that included an innovative horror adventure for the Wii, an open-world RPG set on a gorgeous yet deadly island, a PSP strategy game mech fans will love and two Nintendo DS games that should appeal to brainy players of all stripes. I'll be writing up longer hands-on previews for the two home console and PSP titles over the coming days, but in the meantime, here's a super quick rundown on what was shown:


Cursed Mountain (8/25/2009) - The star of the show and one of the most innovative Mature-rated games on the Wii to date, Deep Silver Vienna's disturbing ghost story blends well-researched Buddhist elements into a survival horror setting that's simultaneously beautiful and bleak in equal measures. Players will hop into the boots of Eric Simmons as he searches a huge haunted hill for his missing brother, Frank. The game's stunning vistas, unsettling enemy design, chilling score and "prayer" based combat should absolutely make this a go-to game for genre fans or anyone else wondering "Where's the beef" in terms of core games on the console. Just about everything clicks here, from the overall atmosphere to the unique battles that take place in the Bardo, the mystical space between earthly life and Nirvana where restless spirits prowl, intent on munching your bones to powder.

Risen (10/2/2009) - Piranha Bytes (creators of the fan favorite Gothic series) is set to make waves with their upcoming PC and Xbox 360 open world action/RPG. Both versions look identically amazing and feature a lovingly detailed game world, creatively designed monsters, tons of items to collect and a much, much more. Despite the single island setting, the game never feels small thanks to loads of little details. Intuitive combat and a main character with a unique skills growth system should draw in fans of games such as Oblivion or Fallout 3 and with over 100 quests and sub-quests to complete plus different factions to join, the game should appeal to any players looking for more than just a simple chase 'n chop experience.


Mytran Wars (9/15/09) - If you're all about turn-based strategy and love mechs, this one's for you. The lengthy cool live-action/CG intro pulls you right into the game and the fun comic book cut scenes will keep you playing from mission to mission. Four campaigns with two factions spread over 30+ hours should keep you busy and the three multiplayer modes are good for getting a friend hooked. Expect a load of secrets as well, as every single player mission has a hidden objective that's often insanely tough to figure out or harder to achieve. The slick 3D engine makes for some great looking mechs and with 250 different accessories to research, you'll be whipping together quite the team of bad-ass bolt-busting brutes. fans of games such as Field Commander, Advance Wars and Front Mission should line up for this one (or at least march on down to their favorite game emporium to put in a pre-order).

The Humans (7/28/09) - I had to laugh when I saw this one at the event. Not because I'm an overly snarky S.O.B. whose eyes glaze over at anything with bright colors on the DS, but because the Sega Genesis version of the game practically ate up my life back in the day. This update features 8 stages, 80 levels and brain-melting puzzles galore as you try and get you cave dudes to make it from one stage to the next using different skills. It's sort of like Lemmings with more platforming required, so if that's your thing... go for it with gusto. Hell, I'd suggest this one to those "hardcore" gamers with beefy square chins looking for a REAL challenge. This one will break you faster than the hardest mode on any shooter, that's for damn sure...

Fritz Chess (7/13/09) - Talk about deep: a database of 2000 historical chess matches, the ability to edit your own games, four game modes, hot-seat matches... what else does a chess fan need? Simple visuals and adjustable gameplay keeps things perfect for newbies or timer-happy veterans looking for a portable version of their passion. The ease of use and intuitive controls should appeal to anyone with a DS interested in this brainy "sports game." If you don't think Chess is a sport - try watching a speed match sometime...


Overall, what was shown was very impressive for such a small lineup. Deep Silver may not be a household name in the US just yet, but with games like these coming, those gamers that pick up what's here will surely take note of what else the company has planned for in the future. More coverage on these games is coming up shortly - stay tuned...

Gallery: 101-in-1 Party Megamix (Updated!)

Atlus just really, really, really wants to take over your gaming life this year. Between the amazing amount of RPG goodness we're seeing across multiple platforms (Shin Megami Tensei: Persona and Demon's Souls ftw!), finding time to do normal stuff such as breathe, eat or take a bathroom break is becoming quite a challenge. For me, taking my DS and the ridiculously addictive 101-in-1 Explosive Megamix into the can has on occasion actually led a few folks here to think I pulled an Elvis. Hey, with my schedule, it's where I get the most quality time with the handheld, so what can I say?

(Wait... that didn't come out quite right. *Ahem*... moving on...)

Anyway, it's a darn good thing my Wii won't fit in the bathroom (watch it, folks - this is a family show), as Atlus is releasing 101-in-1 Party Megamix for the system this October. Like the DS version, you're getting the value of the century here with 101 different mini-games of assorted difficulty levels, brightly colored cartoon visuals and endless replay value for the bargain price of 19.99. Nope, the game isn't a direct port of the DS version (which is still in my play stack, by the way). While a few games are gussied up versions from the the portable, most of what's here are all-new mini-games, all yours for a whopping twenty cents each!

Check out these slightly surreal screenshots and set you calendar clock-thingy for October 27, 2009 (the game's release date).

Scribblenauts Pre-order Bonus

Fun premium alert (whoop whoop, whoop whoop!):

Warner Bros. Interactive and GameStop/EB Games are offering consumers who pre-order Scribblenauts this ridiculously awesome red "rooster" cap just like the one the game's lead character, Maxwell wears during his adventures. Naturally, supplies are limited. So yup, go run like the W-I-N-D to your favorite game emporium (provided it's one of the two listed above) and snap up your cap!

Here are two more pics of the item in question (front and back views, empty POM jar stand not included in pre-order bonus):

Scribblenauts hits stores on September 15, 2009 - back with more info as it comes in. You want a side view of the hat with that pre-order? Here you go!

(Note: If you see some nut running out of the store with a box of those rooster hats that would be me, blowing all my savings on copies of the game in order to get the word out to everyone about how cool it's going to be!)

Gallery: Darkest of Days

It looks as if time traveling first-person shooters just may become the "new black" after all. With games such as Phantom EFX's soon to be released Darkest of Days for the Xbox 360 and PC, we could finally see some great use of time travel as a viable FPS plot device. Developed by 8monkey Labs, this single player shooter has you playing a soldier named Alexander Morris who gets yanked away from Custer's Last Stand by a "time agent" and sent on a sprawling time-travel adventure that involves some of the bloodiest battles throughout history. Morris' goal is to stop a bunch of ne'er do wells from the future from rewriting history with a bit of extreme prejudice of his own while saving the lives of a few folks trapped in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Your stops on this time-bending mind-blower include Pompeii (complete with an active Mount Vesuvius), The Battle of Antietam, World Wars I (The Battle of Tannenberg) and II (a P.O.W. camp) and yes, Little Big Horn. In certain battles you'll be able to use future weapons against enemy forces, but the game isn't a straight up blast-fest with key-hunting and a dash to the exit. Wide open battlefields allow you to plan different strategies and you'll also need to keep your eyes peeled for highlighted soldiers or other people that need to be rescued from that time period. Shoot them by accident (or on purpose) and you'll be in for some serious repercussions.

As a huge fan of proprietary game engines, 8monkey's Marmoset Engine is pretty impressive, keeping things flowing (and blowing up) with ease. In addition to massive battles with hundreds of onscreen allies and enemies, in the PC version, NVIDIA's PhysX system will send bodies and and other destructible elements to their doom as stylishly as possible. It's nice to see more new dev teams cook up their own custom game engines rather than license Unreal 3 or other tech and slap it around for a bit while they try and get it to do what they want. Besides, Marmosets are cute... and we do like cute.

As mentioned above, for those of us who prefer plot and more depth in our game experiences, this is a single player romp only. There are no tacked on multiplayer modes, deathmatching or other yawn-fest hop & camp stuff here that usually end up taking away from the overall impact of a solid single player campaign. Hell, 8monkey Labs is a small dev team that deserves as much respect as possible for whipping up such a cool new engine and packing their game full of what looks to be memorable gameplay moments. I say to those naysayers who look at online modes BEFORE buying any game: at least TRY this one out before you turn your nose up. That would make you a bit of an elitist, and you don't really want to be called an elitist, do you?


Anyway, lets talk screenshots. You want screenshots? You got 'em:

Interestingly enough, in addition to GameStop, Amazon and other major retailers, publisher Phantom EFX is taking pre-orders for physical copies of the game at its web store, a move that just might put the game in more hands once enough folks know about it. That September 8 release date is right around the corner, so it looks as if we'll take a closer look at this one once it ships... unless a time agent happens to warp on by sooner with a full version, of course.