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Koei's Nobunaga's Ambition Online driven toward PS3

by Alexander Sliwinski { Nov 30th 2009 at 2:15PM }

Koei is apparently set to release Nobunaga's Ambition Online for PS3 next year. AndriaSang has translated a 4Gamer's report, which claims that the publisher announced an unspecified 2010 launch during a recent press conference.

We've contacted Koei to find out if the ultra-hardcore strategy title will release in the US. Nobunaga's Ambition Online's fourth expansion is set for release on PS2 and Windows (PC) in March of next year.

[Thanks, Peter]

Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce brings the crowds online in February

by JC Fletcher { Nov 19th 2009 at 5:10PM }

Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce, the upgraded PS3 and Xbox 360 port of the PSP's hit Dynasty Warriors game, will launch in North America this February, according to an announcement from Koei. We understand that keeping all the upcoming Warriors games straight may be confusing to people not keeping a close eye on the series, so we'll break it down.

This isn't the Fist of the North Star one, and it's not the Wii one game that Shigeru Miyamoto is peripherally involved in. This is the Dynasty Warriors with the crazy Dragon Ball Z-style transformations. This is the one that features Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 characters on PS3 and Warriors Orochi 2 characters on Xbox 360. Most importantly, this is the Dynasty Warriors with online multiplayer for teams of up to four players!

Gallery: Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce (PS3/360)

See North Star Musou's gory details in video teaser

by JC Fletcher { Oct 16th 2009 at 3:30PM }

Tecmo Koei opened a teaser site for the new North Star Musou, featuring a brief clip of in-game action. If you're familiar with either Fist of the North Star or the Dynasty Warriors games, you know exactly what to expect: a little post-apocalyptic Mad Max-esque wasteland, and one giant guy exploding a horde of identical thugs with his bare fists and feet. The combination of these two licenses is doing a pretty good job of renewing our interest in both!

See the footage after the break. If you squint, it kind of looks like a high-definition God Hand sequel.

Gallery: Fist of the North Star

[Via Andriasang]

Continued →

Koei drops assets, plot details for Fist of the North Star Musou

by Griffin McElroy { Oct 14th 2009 at 12:43PM }

Hokuto no Ken, it means no worries for the rest of your days ...

Koei recently sent over a handful of screenshots from its recently announced video game adaptation of the Fist of the North Star anime series, Hokuto Musou, which is due out in Japan in 2010. Thankfully for those of us who aren't manga aficionados, these screens were accompanied by a brief primer on the series' plot. We won't bore you with the entire premise, but instead offer you this highlight from Koei's description:

"Channeling their energy into a single deadly blow, players can strike their victims and cause them to violently explode on screen. Gamers can also let loose with Kenshiro's signature move- a ruthless flurry of ferocious punches, triggering the instantaneous breakdown of internal organs, and death."

Yes, please.

Gallery: Fist of the North Star

Koei Tecmo teases new game with dead flowers

by Griffin McElroy { Oct 10th 2009 at 2:30PM }

Man, Koei Tecmo, you really know how to confuse the hell out of us. You've proven your capacity to perplex with your billion-dudes-on-screen action franchises -- now, you're diversifying your riddlecraft with a teaser site for a heretofore unannounced game. Based on context clues, we're guessing it's the long overdue revival of everyone's favorite classic franchise: Pretty Flower, Dead Flower, Falling Girl.

We're kidding, of course. Judging by the Big Dipper which slyly appears at the end of the teaser's video loop, and the fact that the entire Musou (or Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors) team will be in attendance when the game is revealed on October 14, we're guessing it's actually Fist of the North Star Musou. Shame, really -- we were so excited about a current-gen reimagination of PFDFFG.

[Via IGN]

Stoic silence on the battlefield unless you install Dynasty Warriors 6 PSP data

by JC Fletcher { Oct 7th 2009 at 2:15PM }

Okay, a little background: Dynasty Warriors 6 is being ported to the PSP. The same Dynasty Warriors 6 that was the basis for Strikeforce, which came out on the PSP first and is now being ported to the Xbox 360 and PS3. This PSP version of DW6 includes elements of Dynasty Warriors 6 Empires. This isn't totally relevant to the news at hand, but it's really complicated and we're kind of proud of ourselves for (presumably) untangling it.

This latest Dynasty Warriors 6, Dynasty Warriors 6 Special, won't require users to install data to the Memory Stick, but will have benefits for those who do. If you install the 260MB data, the speech in the game will be voiced. If you don't, your allies and enemies on the battlefield will communicate via text windows.

Actually, now that we think about it, not having a thousand dudes yelling at you all the time seems a lot better. Thanks for the option, Koei!

Hands-on: Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce (360/PS3), Samurai Warriors 3 (Wii)

by JC Fletcher { Oct 5th 2009 at 9:30PM }

I played two games in Koei's prolific Warriors series at TGS: the Wii-exclusive Samurai Warriors 3, and the PS3/360 port of the PSP's Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce. The two games were as different from one another as two Warriors games could be, though, of course, both games stuck to the Warriors foundation of controlling a historical war hero as he or she beats several thousand enemy soldiers on a crowded battlefield. Both seem like high-quality entries, each offering compelling reasons for lapsed combatants to return to the fight.

Gallery: Samurai Warriors 3 (Wii)

Gallery: Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce (PS3/360)

Continued →

TGS 2009: Koei announces Dynasty Warriors Online for PS3

by Griffin McElroy { Sep 25th 2009 at 10:57AM }

Even from our poorly lit offices, some 6,500 miles away from the Tokyo Game Show floor, we heard shouts of jubilation coming from the Koei stage. The reason for the uproar was due to the announcement made just moments before: Dynasty Warriors Online, an MMO-Samurai-Warfare-Sim for PC, will be making its way to PS3 next year in Japan. Wait. We hear those cheers again! Man, our windows are closed! What's going on?

Details about the title are few, though the official DWO teaser site confirms that while the title will get a retail release, players won't have to shell out for any irksome subscription fees. Instead, Koei will be supported by the community's purchase of Musou Coins, which can be spent on special items and furniture. Furniture? Does this mean we'll finally be able to play as ... the Ottoman Empire?

Ninja Gaiden characters to appear in Dynasty Warriors, vice versa

by Griffin McElroy { Sep 23rd 2009 at 4:57PM }

Merged game companies rarely fuse their franchises together, but when the two partnered entities' action-genre focus overlaps as much as Koei and Tecmo's do, inter-brand cameos come naturally. That's why we weren't shocked to hear that Ninja Gaiden's Ryu Hayabusa and Warriors Orochi's Nu Wa would make appearances in the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions, respectively, of Dynasty Warriors Multi Raid. In addition, Multi Raiid's Sun Shang Xiang and Zhao Yun will appear as costumes in Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2.

At this rate, we expect the many, many ninjas from Koei and Tecmo's respective properties will soon be thrown into a "ninja pool," which players of any their titles will be able to choose from. For the record, we're strong advocates for this ninja unionization. Fairer wages for our shiruken-slinging brethren!

Only 8% of Koei's sales come from outside of Japan

by Andrew Yoon { Sep 19th 2009 at 11:30AM }

How does a company like Koei, which seemingly releases a new Dynasty Warriors game every few months, stay afloat? Well, it's not with the help of American audiences, that's for sure. Sony Japan Studios' senior VP, Yasuhide Kobayashi, shared some information with DICE Asia attendees. He revealed that many Japanese companies are struggling to have their games appeal beyond the Japanese market. The worst offender? Koei, with 91.8% of its sales coming from the Japanese market.

Tecmo follows at 89.6 percent, while Square Enix receives a startling 86.6 percent of its sales from the motherland. With Kobayashi saying "the Japanese market is really shrinking," these companies must "develop [a] global title." in order to survive. Expect to hear even more about the dwindling importance of the Japanese market, and publishers' efforts to make more "global" titles, at Tokyo Game Show next week.

Koei's Warship Gunners 2 sailing to PSP

by Griffin McElroy { Aug 27th 2009 at 4:15PM }

It seems like nearly half of the games released nowadays are Japanese nautical combat simulators for the PSP -- regardless, Koei is set to heap yet another of these ever-popular titles on the pile. This time around, it's a port of the PS2 title Naval Ops: Warship Gunner 2 -- though its PSP iteration has been given a more appropriate moniker: Warship Gunner 2 Portable. Release date details will likely drop when the game's official site goes live on September 4.

The title places players behind the wheel (rudder?) of a massive warship, forcing them to fight through waves of enemy vessels and proceed through the story and unlock new customizable parts for their own boat. Basically, it's a more complex version of Battleship, only without all the choking hazards. Unless you consider a UMD a choking hazard, but, man,vyou'd really have to try pretty hard to manage that.

Koei reveals first screens of Samurai Warriors 3

by JC Fletcher { Aug 6th 2009 at 11:30AM }

Having had our attention turned sharply toward Samurai Warriors 3 by Shigeru Miyamoto, we were eager to learn more about the game itself. And ... well, it looks like any other Warriors/Musou game. But it does look pretty nice!

There are a couple of incremental gameplay changes in this one, including "Shadow Techniques," special combos which expend energy from a blue gauge at the bottom of the screen. Triggering one of these with a full gauge will unleash an even bigger attack -- like, in new character Kuroda Kanbei's case, a giant blue fist from the sky. By the way, this game will have over 35 characters, including characters from previous Samurai Warrior games, as well as new ones like Kuroda.

Check out more screens at GAME Watch.

Koei 'nams new studio location

by Griffin McElroy { Aug 5th 2009 at 11:30PM }

Koei Tecmo has discovered a clever way to combat rising game development costs -- Japanese gaming blog AndriaSang recently turned our attention to a Japanese newspaper article that explained the company will be opening a studio in Hanoi, Vietnam in mid-September. The lower labor costs in that area should reduce the overall price of game development for the company. As ninjas are extremely expensive to render accurately, we're sure it's a much appreciated discount.

Though the new studio (which will initially be staffed by 20 to 30 locals) will be named "Koei Tecmo Vietnam," the original newspaper report states it will be a subsidiary of Koei rather than the recently merged Koei Tecmo Holdings. In other words -- Koei's gettin' some action on the side. Scan-duh-lous!

Revamped Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce headed to 360, PS3

by Richard Mitchell { Aug 3rd 2009 at 5:45PM }

GAME Watch (translation) has revealed that Koei plans to bring a new version of Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce (subtitled Multi Raid in Japan) to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Previously released on the PSP, Strikeforce introduced some new features to the series, including RPG elements and the ability for characters to transform into super-powered alter-egos. The console versions will feature upgraded graphics as well as online play for up to four players with both text chat and voice chat.

The game is expected to hit Japan on October 1, and we imagine it will travel west before too long.

[Via Siliconera]

Video: See Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 co-op in action

by Richard Mitchell { Jul 27th 2009 at 6:30PM }

Tecmo has dropped some new screens and video highlighting the new co-op feature in Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2. With Ryu Hayabusa's recent outings having been exclusively solo affairs, the opportunity to play co-op is definitely a welcome one, even if it is reserved only for special challenge stages. The two videos show off both the online and offline co-op. Co-op offers some neat new gameplay twists, like the ability to resurrect a dead partner -- which we're guessing will happen a lot -- and co-op Ninpo magic maneuvers.

It certainly looks like a good deal of fun, though we can't help but notice that player two seems to spend an awful lot of time off screen during the offline co-op video (find it after the break). Looks like online is the best way to go.