Hot Japanese Imports: The allure of Love Plus

Love Plus has turned into quite the profitable venture for Konami. The DS and 3DS dating simulation has fans worldwide, even with the language barrier. Which is probably quite confounding to people who have never played a dating simulation or have only heard the most sensational news stories about the games. I’m sure the series success is made even more surprising since it seems like every entry of Love Plus is exactly the same as the three same girls are always the only dating options. Hopefully, this brief overview will help you understand why people get so excited about Konami’s girlfriend simulator.

The Love Plus Saga

Love Plus is easy to heap into the category of dating sim. Mainly because yes, it does fit all the criteria and is technically one. It’s real category is much more accurate – girlfriend simulator. It also explains why so many people are willing to keep buying in to what seems like the same game. I mean, Love Plus, Love Plus + and New Love Plus? Those unfamiliar with the series would assume people double or triple dipping are getting ripped off.

It’s understandable. Each entry has the same three dateable girls – Manaka Takane, Rinko Kobayakawa and Nene Anegasaki. The player and all three of them attend Towano High School, with Manaka being in the same grade as the player, Rinko a year below and Nene a year above. Players get 100 days to get one of the girls as a girlfriend. After getting a girlfriend, the player can then play forever and continue to date her. The game can even be set up so each day in the real world corresponds to each day in the game, allowing players to date in real-time.

The girlfriend mode starts after players manage to get one of the girls to like them enough to confess their love. This is actually kind of challenging, since the game does have life sim elements and requires players to build up their avatars’ stats to the girls liking and trigger certain events. Even after entering girlfriend mode, a player must continue to go through a life sim during the days to keep stats up to impress the girl he’s chosen and go on dates.

So why do people like it? Well, Love Plus really is like having a virtual girfriend and some people like the idea of that. I suppose its comforting to know that every day an activity can be planned. There’s no threat of rejection and even though the player knows it isn’t real, the Love Plus games still provide an identifiable character with which to bond. The fact that the software has some minor voice recognition, allowing the virtual characters to recognize and respond to some phrases, helps.

In addition, a Love Plus player also gets to basically create his dream girl. While Manaka, Rinko and Nene have base personalities and appearances, Konami’s website and marketing also points out that their physical appearance can change based on input from the player, changing their hair color or style and clothing. Konami also gives players the option to shape the girls’ personalities by telling them what kind of girls they like.

Since players have already formed a bond with characters and transfer save data over to newer games, it’s more like Love Plus + and New Love Plus are expansion packs. Hopefully, that makes it easier to understand why players keep coming back. Newer games have more events, clothing options and date locations. Of course, the 3DS version also has DLC, a boyfriend lock feature that makes the girls only recognize one player and AR viewing. Unfortunately, foreign Love Plus players will encounter problems when upgrading from Love Plus or Love Plus+ to New Love Plus, as it is a paid data transfer and requires an additional machine.

Finding your own Love Plus love.

If you’re really curious about Love Plus, the next step would be to play it. The first two entries, Love Plus and Love Plus +, are region-free and can be played on any DS or DS lite unit. Love Plus + does have some minor region-locking though, so it will not work on DSi or DSi XL units from North America or Europe. Both games are very language heavy, requiring not only basic knowledge of Japanese, but also the ability to read kanji and even speak some Japanese lines for certain segments. People familiar with dating simulations, particularly Konami’s Tokimeki Memorial series, might be able to stumble their way through the game. Still, you’ll miss out if you can’t understand what’s going on. It is possible to do if you really want to try it or find a cheap copy of the game, especially if you consult a fan-made Love Plus guide.

Interestingly enough, a fan translation project was completed in 2011 for the original Love Plus. A group of people who enjoyed the game worked together to translate it into English and release a free patch online. It doesn’t translate the part where players have to say a certain phrase aloud to their girlfriend in a dream, but aside from that the entire game is fully playable. Considering the size of the game, it’s quite a substantial feat. Now, we all know piracy is wrong and a very bad thing, but it is pretty cool to know something like this is out there.

New Love Plus, the first 3DS entry, is region-locked. You can only play it if you own a Japanese 3DS. However, a 3DS regardless of region can play the first Love Plus without any problems so you can always fall back on that.

COMING NEXT WEEK: Hot Japanese Imports suggests some online shopping services to use to buy awesome stuff from Japan.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Last week Hot Japanese Imports reviewed Mother 3

Follow Jenni on Twitter for more import game updates and general fangirl enthusiasm!

Popularity: 7% [?]

Japan Import: Dragon Quest Monsters 3D 3DS is slime-y

There’s something about the Dragon Quest slime. Maybe it’s his big, beaming eyes or his optimistic smile, but the mascot manages to be both slightly weird and utterly adorable at the same time. Admittedly, it probably has more fans in Japan. Those Japanese fans are going to be really excited soon, as a new 3DS is going to be covered in them.

Square Enix is remaking Dragon Quest Monsters: Terry’s Wonderland 3D, a Game Boy Color Dragon Quest spin-off. To celebrate its May 31, 2012 release, it will be available alone or packed with a custom slime 3DS. The 3DS in question is completely white, with a multitude of blue slimes and three metal slimes on the lid. It reminds people that Dragon Quest has been around since 1986.

As always, the 3DS is a region-locked system. If you want this Dragon Quest Monsters 3D 3DS, you’re going to pay a premium price of ¥24,980 (~$310) and only be able to use the system for Japanese games. While there is a slight chance Dragon Quest Monsters: Terry’s Wonderland 3D could get a worldwide release, as Eidos brought the original to North America and Europe, this 3DS will never be released outside Japan.

I think this is one of my favorite Japan-exclusive 3DS units so far. I really like how the slimes are arranged on the cover and that a few metal slimes were tossed in to make it more diverse.

Read [4Gamer.net (Japanese)]

Popularity: 5% [?]

Review: Hyperdimension Neptunia MK2 for PS3

Title: Hyperdimension Neptunia MK2 (a.k.a. Neptunia 2)
Price: $49.99 ($64.99 special edition)
System: PS3
Release Date: February 28, 2012
Publisher (Developers): NIS America (Gust Co.,LTD., Nippon Ichi Software, Inc., 5pb., KI/comcept Inc., Idea Factory, Compile Heart)
ESRB Rating: “Mature 17+” for fantasy violence, language and sexual themes.
Pros: Great graphics, lots of lovely ladies, plenty of over-the-top graphics and particle effects, able to skip the story and some combat. A lot of game play and you will be able to import character outfits. Voice acting is not the usual high-pitched squeal fest.
Cons: A lot to learn, slow progression and hard-to-read tutorial screens.
Overall Score: One thumb Up, one thumb Sideways; 80/100; B-; * * * out of five.

If you like Japanese style role-playing games, pretty girls and crazy over-the-top particle effects wrapped in a wacky story that both parodies and pokes fun at the game industry, then Hyperdimension Neptunia MK2 is right up your alley.

This sequel is more of a stand-alone game than derivative of is predecessor with a revamped system that takes away random opponents and incorporate much more fantastic 3D attacks.

Oh, Noz! Gameindustri in Troubles

Neptunia MK2 is a story-based role-playing game (although you can speed-skip through most of the story) set in the year 20XX. You controlling a group of computer-based warriors – called CPUs – who travel though the Gamindustri Graveyard trying to defeat ASIC (Arfoire Syndicate of International Crime) and recapture key creatures.

Many of these characters are cute yet deadly homages to classic game characters (primarily based on old Atari games and Nintendo artifacts) including ghosts, pipes and even Space Invaders. You’ll also see the usual living plants, mashup creatures and ginormous bosses.

Neptunia MK2's Chirper area involves a lot of "social chats" with NPCs.

As you wander through the game’s various areas, you can dash around opponents, run in and tack them on or even take a swipe for an early attack. Combat is turn-based and included both physical and magical attacks as well as items.

In the map you can also so to a social network of sorts to get tips and also information that will supposedly (though not often) help you defeat opponents. really, you just need to scan through the quickie conversations to open the next major game event.

Did I just Fight a Friggin’ Pipe?

Part of Netunia MK2‘s allure is that it takes a laughable approach to paying homage to classic gaming by calling the world Gamindustri (which is even pronounced “game industry” within the game) and peppering the game with classic handheld game elements as opponents. And, of course, the anime style ladies in skimpy outfits throwing down some mighty particle-filled attacks.

Neptunia MK2's opponents include a Super Mario Bros. stytle pipe and a ghost from Pac-Man. Check out the names.

Neptunia MK2 has a menu system that requires a lot of tutorial time, making it complex almost to a determent especially with its tiny text. Crafting items and even buying new gear take a lot of navigation that will frustrate anyone who wants to get back to playing with scantily clad anime girls.

Combat, however, is relatively easy, allowing a mix of physical, magical and items that you can use in various combinations. When an extra powerful combination is avaialble, it even lets you know so you can perform the optimal moves. It’s just enough help to keep it useful while not making things overly easy.

The game certainly offers a lot to do and you can even go a bit off path to level up a bit more or test out the pairing system. There you pair two girls – and, yes, all the characters are female – who then fight together, allowing them to become closer, resulting in more powerful attacks. These pairings are not very helpful in the short term and really only useful to anyone who plans to put in 20+ hours. Plan on extra grinding, however, to buddy up.

Several character also develop more powerful version with fancier (and skimpier) costumes and mightier attacks. These are visually stunning and ultimately prove worthwhile as you progress.

Online or Die in Archive?

The Japanese style of drenching a game in a good-versus-evil story truly comes through in Neptunia MK2 with plenty of developing characters and a lot of (pleasantly voiced) dialog. It sometimes dips into bishoujo territory with outfits and random girl-on-girl smooches but it’s still a surprisingly complex game.

It does lose a bit of its pace – and points from me – when it comes to the limited terrains (although they have some visually fun elements), overly complicated gear system and silly attempt at a social network.

At $50 Neptunia MK2 is a bit of a hard sell for someone not already into NIS’s games but it will certainly offer a satisfying hour per dollar spent in terms of game play for those who are. It’s certainly a step up for what you might expect for an NIS release and a bit of a surprise in terms of depth for a game with an all anime ladies cast and pantie shots aplenty.

SITE [Hyperdimension Neptunia MK2] Read [Gamertell]

Popularity: 6% [?]

Hot Japanese Imports Review: Mother 3 for GBA

Title: Mother 3
Price: A copy will probably cost you at least $35
System(s): GBA
Release Date: April 20, 2006
Publisher (Developer): Nintendo (Brownie Brown, HAL Laboratory and Nintendo)
ESRB Rating: N/A, Cero A for All Ages.
Pros: Same kitchy graphical appearance as previous entries, interesting story with lots of humorous bits, social commentary and drama, it’s fairly challenging, players get to see different characters’ sides of the story as they progress and a fantastic fan translation is available. The soundtrack is also amazing.
Cons: Ties to other entries in the series aren’t immediately evident. It’s a bit darker than Mother and Earthbound/Mother 2, which may surprise some fans.
Overall Score: 10/10

Earthbound, aka Mother 2, is an undisputed SNES classic. People around the world love it for its whimsicle story and appearance, as well as its surprising amount of depth and overall optimistic message. It’s a mandatory requirement that anyone who ever owned an SNES has to have played that game.

Which makes it all the sadder that Mother 3, a game that surpasses both of its predecessors’ excellence, remains trapped in Japan. Nintendo never took a chance on its localization. As a result, the best entry in the series is a Japan-exclusive. Fortunately, the Game Boy Advance was region-free and fans took up the monumental task of translating this exceptional RPG.

Revenge, salvation and the Pigmask Army.

The Nowhere Islands have been invaded by a mysterious force known as the Pigmask Army. They’re fearsome bullies dressed as pigs who are disrupting nature in favor of completely overrunning everything with the latest, polluting technology and creating a police state.

This is most evident in Tazmily Village, where Mother 3‘s story begins. Lucas, his twin brother Claus, his mother Hinawa and his father Flint are there visiting Hinawa’s father. The trip to the peaceful village, where people even barter rather than use money, goes horribly wrong. The Pigmask Army has corrupted the gentle wildlife, making them murderous with cybernetic experiments. The family is torn apart.

The rest of the game follows Lucas, Boney the dog, Kumatora the princess, Duster the thief, Salsa the monkey and Flint as they develop PSI abilities and attempt to topple the Pigmask Army’s regime.

Something old and something new mashed-up into a perfect, turn-based RPG

Mother 3 is full of surprises. When the adventure first begins, the only similarities to the previous Mother games are the music, graphics and battle system. All three games possessed wonderful soundtrack with unique tracks that perfectly fit every situation, cartoonish graphics that portrayed real-world animals, people and generic locations and a turn-based battle system were enemy sprites are static and the backgrounds are brightly colored and moving. Eventually, other ties to Mother and Mother 2 show up, but for the most part the game stands on its own as a full, fantastic entry which can be enjoyed with no other knowledge of the series.

The biggest shocks come from the story’s content and presentation. The adventure is organized into chapters and even though Lucas is our hero, other heroes and heroines have their own chapters to provide a better understanding of the Pigmask Army and the challenges each character faces. This is a good thing, even though it may seem like it could stifle the player and prevent him or her from going anywhere at any time. It gives each character a chance to shine and also helps the player focus on what’s going on with the story. There are side-quests, but the overall story is so strong that this chapter system helps keep you organized and involved in the character’s struggles.

Mother 3 is also much darker than the original two games. I don’t want to spoil it for anyone, but people do die in the game. People you normally would never expect to die. It will happen suddenly and will provide motivation for characters throughout the entire game. It’s very unexpected, as are some other choices like the chimera creatures made up of multiple, genetically engineered animals that act as enemies. I believe that it helps show how the series has matured as grown, as it is able to address and include these kinds of serious issues while still maintaining the humorous tone and script the Mother series is known for. So things will be dramatic and serious, offering suggestions as to what experimentation, consumerism and unchecked government could destroy a peaceful society, you also find funny little insights about cows, ghosts and fight enemies like giant, spineless lobsters.

Nintendo’s biggest mistake wasn’t the Virtual Boy, it was not releasing Mother 3 worldwide.

Mother 3 is just amazing. It perfectly caps off the series by offering a slightly more mature story, which is appropriate since fans of the original Mother and Mother 2 are now grown. It also offers multiple morals in such a way that players are able to absorb and understand them without feeling they they are being preached to. The graphics are also a perfect callback to Mother 2 and the overall experience is simple, yet complex. It’s the perfect GBA RPG and the gaming world is worse-off for it never having received an official English release.

Now, while I don’t condone piracy, the Starmen.net team has put together a perfect Mother 3 fan translation patch that can be applied to Japanese Mother 3 roms. It maintains the feel of the series while also making it perfectly accessible to newcomers. It’s nice to know it’s there as it shows just how much love there is for this cult classic. Just know that downloading the game without owning it is 100% wrong.

COMING NEXT WEEK: Hot Japanese Imports talks about the Love Plus series.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Last week Hot Japanese Imports looked at the Ace Attorney series

Follow Jenni on Twitter for more import game updates and general fangirl enthusiasm!

Popularity: 2% [?]

Hot Japanese Imports: Marvelous Entertainment

Every once in a while, it’s nice to look back at a developer or publisher to learn more about them and acknowledge the good they’ve done in bringing people worthwhile games to play. A major player in Japan is Marvelous Entertainment. Surprisingly, people may not realize that Marvelous may have even had a hand in getting games released in North America and Europe as well. So let’s take some time to relax and look briefly at Marvelous and some Marvelous games you should be playing.

Well, that’s just Marvelous!

The first thing you have to know about Marvelous has one of the best company names ever. I mean, it’s Marvelous Entertainment! You can’t beat that.

Next, you have to know that it’s involved in more than just the video game industry. It produces TV shows, movies, plays and also owns the Artland animation studio and Delfi Sound studio. So while we’re focusing on its gaming presence today, it’s good to know that the company creates lots of good things.

Also, Marvelous Entertainment is primarily a publisher. While it’s true that it has been involved in the development of some games, mainly entries in the Harvest Moon series, it mainly acts as a publisher for other developers’ games. It has worked quite frequently with Imageepoch, Neverland, Hudson Soft, ArtePiazza, Vanillaware and Grasshopper Manufacture. So while you may not see Marvelous’ name on the box of the game you’re playing, there’s still a good chance it had something to do with its creation.

Marvelous Entertainment also does a lot of work outside of Japan. It established Rising Star Games, its European branch, back in 2004 with Bergsala AB. That way, it could have an easier game of getting its games into Europe. It sold its part of Rising Star Games in 2010, though it still works with the company on occasion. Then, in 2005, Marvelous acquired AQ Interactive and turned it into Marvelous Entertainment USA. In addition, it has a co-publishing partnership with the U.S. based XSEED games that started back in 2008. The company also allows other companies, like Natsume and Atlus, to publish its games so a larger audience can enjoy them.

These are Marvelous games.

If there’s one series that is practically synonymous with Marvelous, it’s Harvest Moon. It’s the company’s hallmark series, including the Rune Factory spin-off, and is part of the reason why the company has become as successful as it is. It happened with good reason too. Despite the occasional small bug or glitch, the Harvest Moon and Rune Factory games are mostly solid, well made and entertaining adventures for people who want to play a farming-life sim or take part in an action RPG that occasionally asks you to farm or make friends.

Those aren’t the only games the company is responsible for, as it’s had a number of incredible games released throughout the years. Here are a few in particular that are available in English and deserve some love.

• Avalon Code (DS): The world is ending, and players must catalog everything in a massive book so it can be remade after the apocolypse and everything restored. It is an action RPG and was released in North America in 2008.
• Contact (DS): The player is using the DS to “control” a boy named Terry and make him help a mysterious Professor collect power cells while avoiding CosmoNOT terrorists. It is an action RPG and was released in North America in 2006.
• Fate/Extra (PSP): A young man or woman finds him or herself caught up in the Holy Grail War. Only with the help of a Servant can the new magus survive and perhaps have one wish granted. It is a turn-based RPG and was released in North America in 2011.
• Half-Minute Hero (PSP): Players control a hero, evil lord, princess or knight and get each of them through 30 second adventures to save the world. It has RPG, strategy, action and shooter modes and was released in North America in 2009. It was updated and ported to the Xbox 360 as an XBLA title in 2011.
• Little King’s Story (Wii): Corobo is the newly crowned king of Alpoko and it is up to him to get his followers to build up the kingdom to make it a wonderful place to live. It is a combination life sim and real time strategic RPG and was released in North America in 2009.
• Luminous Arc (DS): People in the Cardinal Kingdom and throughout the world are taught witches are bad, but a young knight named Leon and his friends learn there’s more to the story and the world is in danger. It is a strategic RPG with visual novel elements and was released in North America in 2007.
• Muramasa: The Demon Blade (Wii): Players travel across Japan either as the fugitive, amnesiac ninja Kisuke who’s trying to prove his innocence or as the possessed princess Momohime trying to flee to safety while completing the spirit of the man possessing her. It is an action RPG and was released in North America in 2009.
• No More Heroes (Wii): Travis Touchdown takes an assassination job to pay for a beam katana he bought online, ends up becoming the 11th ranked assassin by the United Assassins Association and has to keep killing and trying to be number 1 or all other wannabe assassins will hunt him down. It is an action RPG and was released in North America in 2008. An updated port was released on the PS3 in 2011.

If you are only going to try a few, then definitely go for Avalon Code, No More Heroes and Contact!

COMING NEXT WEEK: Hot Japanese Imports looks into the nD.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Last week Hot Japanese Imports talked about the GP2X, Wiz and Caanoo.

Follow Jenni on Twitter for more import game updates and general fangirl enthusiasm!

Popularity: 3% [?]

Ace Attorney live-action movie will be released worldwide

If you haven’t been paying attention to the Ace Attorney live-action movie adaptation, you may want to start. It turns out it won’t be trapped in Japan. Takashi Miike, the director, was on hand when the movie was shown at the Netherlands International Film Festival Rotterdam and said that it will be released worldwide. Granted, it likely won’t be released in theaters worldwide, but that does mean everyone, everywhere will be able to see it.

Miike confirmed that there will be both subtitles and voice-over dubs for the Ace Attorney movie in different regions. This will include full localizations. So you don’t have to worry about hearing names like Ryuuichi Naruhodou and Reiji Mitsurugi and wonder who those people are. (Phoenix Wright and Edgeworth, in case you were wondering.) He didn’t have any kind of release schedule, but that’s to be expected since the release question came up during a question and answer segment after the film.

To help get you ready, here’s a trailer that Ash from the Ace Attorney Court Records fansite translated.

If you’ve played the first Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney game, then you know what will happen in the movie. It’s loosely based on the major cases from that entry, in particular the cases Turnabout Sisters and Rise from the Ashes.

The Ace Attorney movie will begin its Japanese theater run on February 11, 2012. The three main stars are Hiroki Narimiya as Phoenix Wright, Takumi Saitou as Miles Edgeworth and Mirei Kiritani as Maya Fey.

Read [Twitch Film] Site [Gyakuten Saiban (Japanese)]

Popularity: 1% [?]

Japan Import: A Magician’s Night: Witch on the Holy Night demo released

Good news for Type Moon fans, it’s time to test out A Magician’s Night: Witch on the Holy Night! That’s the latest Type Moon visual novel. An updated version of the demo has just been released and is waiting to be sampled

A Magician’s Night is a visual novel, but it’s a little different than ones to which people in North America have grown accustomed. It isn’t like a choose-your-own-adventure, where you get to make decisions as you play. It’s a kinetic visual novel. That means you make no choices. You just read along with the story while watching the characters interact on screen. It’s more similar to a graphic novel.

Playing may provide a sense of deja vu for some people. A Magician’s Night goes into the backstory of Aoki Aozaki, from Tsukihime. Many details about this particular VN haven’t been released yet, despite it having an April 12, 2012 release date. Aoki is a magus, and this visual novel will look at what her life was like back when she was in high school and how she became Alice Kuonji’s friend, her relationship with a normal man named Shizuki and show more about how she relates to her older sister Touko.

You can head off and download the A Magician’s Night: Witch on the Holy Night demo right now, provided you have a Windows PC. It’s in the “Special” section and is about a 600mb download. Just bare in mind that it is an unvoiced game and will be very text heavy with some advanced kanji. Don’t worry about adult content, as this is an all ages game. Even if you have trouble understanding it, I guess you could just enjoy the artwork.

Read [4Gamer.net (Japanese)] Site [Witch on the Holy Night (Japanese)]

Popularity: 4% [?]

Square Enix’ next game is Gunslinger Stratos, uses Orochi Engine

The Summer 2012 arcade release of Gunslinger Stratos is getting close, which means more details about the game’s abilities and development process are trickling out. Square Enix and Byking just revealed a pretty interesting tidbit today, in fact. It turns out this arcade shooter was made using the Orochi Engine developed by Silicon Studio. It was used to speed up development and make the game generally look better.

Gunslinger Stratos should feel familiar for people who play light gun games. You battle various things, shooting like crazy in the hopes you’re the last one standing. The twist is that here, you have two guns. You can then arrange them to use both at once, use a side-arm style gun or use a huge rocket launcher. Those are just general ideas though, as there will be tons of guns and each playable character has different armory options.

Not to mention it will have tons of multiplayer options. You can team up for cooperative play against the computer or other groups of players. You could also go for one on one versus matches. There are also single player missions, for people who prefer to play alone or who want to battle with people around the nation.

The Orochi Engine was used to make 3D Dot Game Heroes for the PS3. It is also going to be put to work on the Vita. Most notably, the engine is designed to make it easy to port arcade games to consoles. So if Square Enix is going to be using it for arcade games, then it could make it much easier to create home versions of said games.

Odds are, we’ll never see this in North America, but you never know. Gameworks and other arcades sometimes will import Japanese machines. Or, Gunslinger Stratos could be a surprise hit and Square Enix could decide to make a console port. For now, just look on in envy.

Read [Andriasang] Also Read [4Gamer.net (Japanese)]

Popularity: 3% [?]

Japan Import: Denpa Ningen RPG needs a worldwide release

Japan is getting a really awesome 3DS eShop game on February 8, 2012 and I think it’s exactly what the North American and European eShops need. It’s Denpa Ningen RPG (Radio Wave People RPG), an AR game that makes good use of the 3DS cameras and is also an RPG. Intrigued? It gets better. It’s being made by Genius Sonority, a company that developed Pokemon Colosseum, Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness and Dragon Quest Swords.

In Denpa Ningen RPG, players control a special camera (the 3DS) that allows people to see the Denpa Ningen inhabiting their world. If you see one you need, you can zoom in and recruit it. That character then becomes a member of your party in a quest to fight against a demon king and his monster minions. The demon king and his monsters have kidnapped innocent people and are engaging in the usual villainous deeds. Only the party you form can stop him.

Here’s a general trailer showing Denpa Ningen catching and dungeon crawling.

As you can see, the RPG part has a standard turn-based RPG vibe. Your party explores dungeons, finds treasures and rescues people. You can even find different buildings to unlock areas of the island that’s fallen under the demon king’s rule. Do well, and you’ll restore it to its former glory.

It’ll probably be another year or so before a 3DS Pokemon game is released and a game like Denpa Ningen RPG would do a great job of filling the void. I mean, it uses the 3DS’ unique abilities and offers a full RPG experience. The only thing better would be if there were StreetPass capabilities for swapping Denpa Ningen or SpotPass to allow for coop or versus battles.

If you have a Japanese 3DS, you can download the Ningen Denpa RPG demo on February 1, 2012. Then, a week later, you can pay ¥800 (~$10.50) for the full game.

Read [4Gamer.net (Japanese)] Also Read [Siliconera]

Popularity: 1% [?]

Hot Japanese Imports: GP2X handhelds

Gamepark Holdings had an idea. It wanted to create a handheld device that could be used for gaming and other means, but also had no restrictions. The company was made up of workers from GamePark who had originally developed a handheld device of that nature called the GP32, and GamePark Holdings wanted to continue that legacy. So, it decided to create a whole new product line, the GP2X. While I’m sure many of you may have never heard of it, it was an admirable series of open source devices that managed to survive for 10 years before finally going out of business.

Since the three models released, the GP2X, Wiz and Caanoo, all relied on user-created software and games rather than commercially developed apps, all three devices can still be quite useful and viable today. So let’s learn about the devices and see if any are something you’d be interested in acquiring.

What’s a GP2X?

Simply put, the GP2X series are the Korean take on a portable game console. Except it does a lot more than one would expect for a handheld, as it contained a Linux-based operating system, was open-source to allow homebrew apps and supported a number of different media types, including Flash. So while most GP2X units looked like a cross between a Game Boy Advance and a Neo Geo Pocket, it was far more advanced and was capable of things even the DS couldn’t do.

The first unit in the series was the GP2X, which came out in 2005. It played games, apps and media off of an SD card, had a TV output and later models even had a touch screen. It was mainly a homebrew and indie device, with very few commercial games sold for it. Instead, users were encouraged to develop their own software and share it. As you can guess, there are tons of emulators available to allow it to play other, older console and handheld games. It also could play AVI, DixX, MPG, WMA and Xvid video files, as well as MP3 and OGG audio files.

The next system was the GP2X Wiz, which was first released in 2009. It improved upon the prior hardware by adding in a OLED screen, a microphone and built-in flash memory, as well as being smaller than the original device. It lost the TV output ability in the process though. However, it also had 1gb flash memory compared to the GP2X’s 64mb, which helped make up for it. Also, it had a Flash Player 8 functionality included, as well as support for AVI, flv, DivX, mkv, mp4, MPEG4 and Xvid videos, MP3, OGG and WAV audio files and BMP, GIF, JPG and PNG images. The Wiz’s price dropped down to $100 after the next model was released.

That model would be the GP2X Caanoo, which had a relatively short lifespan. It was released in 2010 and production ended in September 2011. The company folded soon after, leaving not even a trace online as its website disappeared from the internet. It’s a shame, because the $149.99 Caanoo was an impressive little device. It could handle 3D visuals, had a microphone built into it, had an OLED resistive touchscreen, has WiFi capabilities if you have the external piece, can have an addtional controller attached, had an accelerometer and vibration effects and, of course, ran a Linux OS. Like the GP2X Wiz, it could play AVI, DivX, MPEG4 and XviD media files, MP3, OGG and WAV audio files and display BMP, GIF, JPG and PNG images. In addition, it had some rudimentary eReader functions and could open TXT and PDF files. It also had AV output. It had no onboard memory for apps though, relying on SD cards to save data and isn’t out-of-the-box compatible with GP2X and GP2X Wiz apps, requiring upgrading users to find a work around or get a new version of the old app.

The GP2X Caanoo can still be found quite easily online for around $150. Play-Asia is even still selling new units. You can probably even find it for less than that, if you’re willing to do some searching. The GP2X and GP2X Wiz will be a bit harder to find. If you’re willing to take to eBay, you should be fine and should easily find a Wiz or Caanoo.

So what can you play on your GP2X handheld?

While there is an online game store called FunGP, which is still online despite the demise of the GP2X Wiz and Caanoo, the beauty of the GP2X line is that they’re open source. This means there are tons of free games available to download and enjoy. FunGP allows users access to both paid and free apps, so it’s a good place to start before searching the rest of the internet. You do have to buy FunGP G-Money cards in order to actually shop at the FunGP store. Play-Asia does sell 20,000G cards.

Here are a handful of games to initially consider:

• Deicide

• Frozen Bubble: It’s a Bust-a-Move clone where you launch colored bubbles up at matching bubbles to make them disappear. There’s no language barrier. It costs 3,000G.
• Herknights: It’s a side-scrolling action game where you choose a character and beat up enemies. It’s in Korean, but it’s also free so it wouldn’t hurt to test it out.
• Jelly Mahjong: It’s a puzzle game that requires you to match little jelly characters. It also appears to be in English. It costs 5,000G
• Jump to the Moon: It’s a Doodle Jump style game where you help an astronaut jump to the moon. There are no language barriers and it is free.
• Patissier: It’s a puzzle game where you help a young woman navigate a labyrinth, collecting ingredients for deserts, by rotating the area. While it is in Korean, it seems like you can play it without understanding the language. It costs 5,000G
• Puszion: It’s a matching puzzle game where you pair up similar figures. It’s free and in English.
• Redemption: It’s an action RPG. It’s also completely in Korean, which may cause trouble if you have to make any decisions. It costs 5,000G.
• Rhythmos: It’s a basic music game where you hit onscreen indicators to get a high score. It’s in both English and Korean, so you should have no problem playing and enjoying it. It costs 7,000G, but free demo versions are also available.

Just keep in mind that some of these games may not be in English, as these are Korean devices.

Another fantastic resource for games and apps is OpenHandhelds.org. It offers a wide assortment of games and apps for not only the GP2X, Wiz and Caanoo, but also for its competitors. All you do is click the icon for the handheld you own, and you’re taken to directory filled with free apps, games, emulators, magazines, firmware and also different programs to use your device with your computer. Screenshots are available for almost all apps and games as well, so you’ll know what you’re getting before you download it.

There’s one more thing to mention. Most people who purchase one of these particular open-source handhelds is to use it to emulate old consoles or computers. There are plenty of emulators available, covering arcade emulators, classic consoles like the NES and also more obscure emulator programs like ones for the TI-92 and Pokemon Mini. While piracy is wrong, these kinds of programs are out there.

COMING NEXT WEEK: Hot Japanese Imports talks about Marvelous Entertainment.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Last week Hot Japanese Imports reviewed Katawa Shoujo.

Follow Jenni on Twitter for more import game updates and general fangirl enthusiasm!

Popularity: 1% [?]