Atlus has announced plans to publish Kenka Bancho 3, Spike's PSP brawler about Japanese high school gangs. Since this will be the first Western release for the over-the-top fighting series, it doesn't have an English name yet. And "Kenka Bancho" is slightly difficult to translate in a snappy manner: it basically means "tough guy who leads a rumble."

Kenka Bancho 3 stars a Japanese high school student who leads his gang into a bunch of fights on a school trip, and features open-world and RPG elements, a character creator, and two-player cooperative play.

Along with the announcement of the new game, Atlus sent out a survey to its "Atlus Faithful" asking for help picking a new title. The names include stuff like Badass Rumble, Fist of the Bancho, and other possibilities that make us think that it should just be called Kenka Bancho. It's better in our opinions to have an incomprehensible Japanese title than to know that the game is called Turf Wars.

It was surprising to see Demon's Souls announced for US release. The hardcore dungeon-crawling RPG is guaranteed not to sell much, thanks to its emphasis on old-school gameplay. Regardless, it has its niche, and we're certain there are many that want to play it.

Unfortunately, Demon's Souls is without a publisher in Europe. Sony Computer Entertainment publishes it as a first-party title in Japan and Asia, but opted to not pursue a worldwide release. The American rights were picked up by Atlus, a company that has no official presence in Europe. Sony told Eurogamer it had "no plans to publish [Demon's Souls] in Europe at present". Koei and Ubisoft, publishing partners of Atlus and From Software, also commented that there are "no plans," or are unaware of any plans, to bring the game to the European audience.

While a publisher may be announced in the future, it seems as though Europeans may have to rely on PS3's region free capabilities and import Demon's Souls when it releases in America later this year.

[Thanks, Jake!]

Atlus has announced that From Software's PlayStation 3 action-RPG, Demon's Souls, will be released in North America on October 6. Of course, Atlus is throwing extra stuff into the package, in this case an art book, for pre-ordering.

But it is also going beyond its usual Atlus Spoils content and offering a "deluxe edition," with a 150-page strategy guide and a fancy slipcover for $69.99. According to Atlus, pre-orders for both versions will begin on July 8. Giving away extra stuff seems like a smart way to entice a repeat purchase out of the many Demon's Souls players who already imported the English-language Asian edition of the game.

While we were ready to believe that online co-op in the Xbox Live Arcade release of Trine was "speculation," we'll admit, we were pretty taken aback to hear the developer refer to the XBLA release itself as "speculation" as well. While Trine's would-be XBLA publisher at Atlus issued a terse "no comment," we got a hold of the developers at Frozenbyte, whose Lauri Hyvärinen had this to say:

An XBLA version of Trine is a possibility but nothing more at present time. We would love to have Trine on XBLA and we've partnered with Atlus to make it happen, but it needs Microsoft's approval and there are other factors as well. So it may happen or it may not, that's really the current situation. Everything else ranging from release date to features is just speculation and isn't based on any facts.

As soon as we know more we will also inform everyone else :)

So, there you have it. Microsoft needs to approve the game and Frozenbyte has to address "other factors" (we don't think online co-op is required – Bionic Commando Rearmed lacks online support for its co-op mode). But don't keep your feelings bottled up inside (you can get sick that way, y'know?). Share them with us in our handy poll, which is awaiting your input just after the break.

Anatomy of confusion:

1. At E3 earlier this month, Atlus announces that they'll be publishing Frozenbyte's very impressive co-op platformer Trine on Xbox Live Arcade.
2. Primotech is purportedly told by an Atlus representative at E3 that the Xbox Live Arcade release will feature online co-op as well as offline. Neither the PC nor PSN versions, both of which are being released much sooner than the XBLA version, will feature online co-op.
3. Shacknews links Primotech's assertion, and Joystiq in turn links that.
4. Developer Frozenbyte takes to the forums to clear the confusion, stating that "The XBLA version and its features is just speculation at this point."

Wait, what? "The XBLA version ... is just speculation at this point"?

Developer fb_joel writes, "... as developers, we would love as many people as possible to be able to play our games and therefore I hope Trine will eventually find its way to XBLA too." So, not only is Frozenbyte stating that online co-op in the Xbox Live Arcade version is "speculation" but that the XBLA release itself is speculation as well! We bet Atlus wishes someone told them that at E3!

The developer later said, "On the actual topic I will not comment as no-one knows anything about XBLA at this point, and I really hope when some people do know, I would be one of them." Yeah, we're right there with you. GamerBytes reported from E3 that Trine "hasn't been given the official nod from Microsoft for concept approval, and therefore Atlus are unable to send out press releases or other information about the game." That may explain why, when contacted for this story, Atlus responded with a very terse "no comment." We've reached out to Frozenbyte as well, and will update this story accordingly.

[Update: We've heard from Frozenbyte's Lauri Hyvärinen and here's what they say: "An XBLA version of Trine is a possibility but nothing more at present time. We would love to have Trine on XBLA and we've partnered with Atlus to make it happen, but it needs Microsoft's approval and there are other factors as well. So it may happen or it may not, that's really the current situation. Everything else ranging from release date to features is just speculation and isn't based on any facts. As soon as we know more we will also inform everyone else :)

So, there you have it. Trine on XBLA is not a sure thing. There, there ... it'll be okay.]


[Via Shacknews]

It's a twofer on XBLA this week, with a new puzzle game and an old fighting game. The puzzle game would be Droplitz, which has players twiddling dials and collecting small, "dinky little balls of indeterminate stuff." We can't help but be reminded a bit of Pipe Mania. Keep in mind that Droplitz is a single-player game only, with the full game running 800.

The second game is Garou: Mark of the Wolves, also known as Fatal Fury: Mark of the Wolves, which was announced for XBLA by SNK late last week. The game is a port of the original arcade title -- also remembered as one of the last good Dreamcast games -- and features online play for two players. It can be yours for 800.

Atlus continues to package some of the coolest goodies with its games. The upcoming PSP version of Persona, Atlus' flagship RPG series, will include a two-disc soundtrack set ... with every copy of the game. No, this isn't some elusive pre-order bonus that you can only get from Retailer X (which, by the way, would be an awesome store to go to).

In addition to the soundtrack CDs, the US release of Persona will be coming with a nifty extra that didn't make the original Japanese cut. "We are able to confirm to series fans that in addition to the all-new localization, the 'Snow Queen' quest, game content never before available in North America, will be included in this new release," an Atlus PR e-mail told us.

Expect Persona on September 22nd.

We read Atlus's late night press release announcing plans to localize Sega's Shiren the Wanderer 3 with utter shock. We had long since resigned ourselves to never seeing the console 3D version of Chunsoft's roguelike, and we were afraid that we had merely dreamed that Atlus had picked it up with plans to release it in 2010. But, sure enough, the game was available for play in Atlus's booth, and we were pleased to have the opportunity to check it out. Full disclosure: we didn't die in our play session, which should give fans of Shiren on the DS a rough idea of how long we were able to play.

Trine, the cooperative platformer from Frozenbyte, has until now been thought to be a PSN/PC exclusive (which is a fancy way of saying it's not on Xbox Live Arcade). We were surprised upon entering Atlus's booth to find Trine running on ... well, a PC, but it's supposed to represent an XBLA version, just because the actual XBLA game isn't ready to show. Despite the game not being a super-niche RPG, Atlus has seen fit to secure the publishing rights.

The XBLA version of Trine should be out "later this year," according to Atlus, at some unspecified time that happens to fall after the "later this year" release for the PSN and PC versions.

Our E3 badges came with a little surprise from Atlus: an insert advertising a contest for Trauma Team. One winner will be in the game! According to the entry form, "Winner will have his or her likeness created for the video game. Video game likeness will be based solely on the digital likeness submitted by the winner."

Why, of all the games that we could be in, would it have to be the game in which every character who isn't a doctor is suffering from some, well, trauma. We don't know how we'd feel about being immortalized as "the guy from the appendectomy." So glamorous.

Just days before the real life trauma of E3 takes hold, Atlus announced that it will localize the recently revealed Trauma Center successor, Hospital, as Trauma Team for the Wii in North America. As previously noted, the game will feature gameplay across six different medical fields, as players play as a general surgeon, diagnostician, E.M.T., orthopedic surgeon, endoscope technician, and medical examiner.

Atlus hasn't yet sewn up all of the details, However, the game is expected to be among the publisher's titles on display during next week's show and we look forward to finding out more before Trauma Team scrubs in next Spring.

In this week's Famitsu, Atlus has revealed a "spiritual successor" to the Trauma Center series that expands the game's scope beyond surgery. Hospital, created by the same development team as the hit surgery games, stars six different medical practitioners, each with a different specialization. Only one of the six is a Trauma Center-style surgeon -- Prisoner CR-SO1, a convict whose sentence was reduced in exchange for his surgical expertise.

The rest of the group include a diagnostician, a paramedic, a cosmetic surgeon (who performs non-life-or-death procedures like hip replacements), an endoscopic surgeon, and a forensic examiner. Each character features a different style of play.

According to 1up's translation of the article, producer Daisuke Kanada told Famitsu that the game "completes one of the goals for a medical series that we've been striving for before, and it's also a wholly new title, not a sequel to Trauma Center. It's not just a surgery game, but an entire hospital in game form.

This game pretty much snuck up on us. Crimson Gem Saga is ready to release on PSP, and Atlus has prepared a fresh trailer to accompany it. This Korean RPG is very by-the-numbers, but for those feeling the RPG itch, it might be worth checking out.

It may be a first-party title in Japan, but Demon's Souls is coming to America courtesy of Atlus. This "spiritual successor" to King's Field got a mixed response from Japanese critics: some loved the nostalgic gameplay, while others found the brutal difficulty a bit too oppressive.

One of Demon's Souls greatest features is its online connectivity. Players will be able to leave hints for each other, "replay death scenes", cooperatively revive dead players, or invade other player's games to "wreak havoc." Hope your friends aren't jerks.

Atlus plans on providing "updates" at E3 later this year, so stay tuned for more. Check out the Japanese trailer after the break.

[Thanks, David B.!]