On the DS they'll be showcasing the recently announced Mistwalker RPG AWAY Shuffle Dungeon, featuring the combined talents of famed RPG creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, character designer Naoto Oshima and composer Nobuo Uematsu. Trying desperately to outshine that title on the DS will be Wonder World Amusement Park, Babysitting Mania, and physics-based puzzler Marker Man Adventures.

Between Major Minor and AWAY, this is shaping up to be the most exciting Majesco line up in years. Hit the jump for more info.

MAJESCO ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCES LINEUP FOR 2008 ELECTRONIC ENTERTAINMENT EXPO

EDISON, N.J., July 9, 2008 - Majesco Entertainment Company (NASDAQ: COOL), today revealed its product lineup for the 2008 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles from July 15th - 17th at booths #421 and 423. Featuring Wii and Nintendo DS games that offer fun for the entire family, the lineup reinforces Majesco's position as an innovative provider of video games for the mass market.

"Majesco's 2008 E3 lineup is filled with fun games that capitalize on the broad appeal and reach of casual games platforms like Wii and DS," said Gui Karyo, Executive Vice President of Operations, Majesco "We are showcasing the sequel to our best-selling original cooking franchise, Cooking Mama World Kitchen, as well as featuring strong new IP including Our House and Major Minor's Majestic March from the creative team behind PaRappa the Rapper. In short, we have something for the entire family."

Below is additional information on Majesco's E3 2008 lineup:

Major Minor's Majestic March

Release date: Holiday 2008

Platform: Wii

Designed exclusively for Wii, Major Minor's Majestic March marks the return of the creative team behind the renowned PaRappa the Rapper franchise-legendary game designer and multimedia musician Masaya Matsuura and famed New York artist Rodney Alan Greenblat. This innovative rhythm-based music game turns the Wii RemoteÔ into a "magic" baton that bandleader Major Minor uses to keep tempo, recruit new band members and pick up valuable items. Players can add up to 15 different instruments to their dynamic procession-including brass, woodwinds, and percussion-to alter its composition and resulting performance.

Cooking Mama World Kitchen

Release Date: Holiday 2008

Platform: Wii

The best-selling, award-winning cooking franchise returns! In Cooking Mama World Kitchen, Mama brings a lot more to the table, including all new 3D graphics, all new recipes from parfait to shrimp au gratin, comedic kitchen mini-games, new gameplay modes and much more. Cook with Mama and her friends by using the Wii Remote as your universal cooking utensil in this fun, family-friendly sequel to last year's Cooking Mama Cook Off.

Our House

Release Date: Q1 2009

Platform: Wii

Our House is the only game that lets players build and remodel their homes into their own unique customized creations. Players use their Wii Remote to hammer, saw, paint, tile and much more as they assemble and decorate their family dwelling. Compete with friends in the four-player "build-off" mode or share creations with others via a WiiConnect24 community-building feature. If you dream it, you can build it!

Zoo Hospital

Release Date: September 2008

Platform: Wii

Zoo Hospital is the first game of its kind on Wii that lets players experience a veterinarian's job. Players use the Wii Remote in surgical procedures to eliminate parasitic pests, perform dentistry, and remove foreign bodies like gallstones to restore the health of 48 ailing zoo mammals, reptiles and birds. Soothing and feeding each animal while following up on post surgical patients in their enclosures is as important as precise operations, since happy, healthy animals increase the Zoo Rating which in turn affects the number of visitors patronizing the zoo.

AWAY Shuffle Dungeon

Release Date: Fall 2008

Platform: Nintendo DS

Featuring creative contributions from RPG creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, character designer Naoto Oshima and composer Nobuo Uematsu, AWAY Shuffle Dungeon for Nintendo DS is a groundbreaking role playing saga co-developed by Mistwalker and AQ Interactive. Players take control of the young hero "Sword," the sole resident left of the once booming Webb Village, who must rescue as many kidnapped townsfolk as possible from a mysterious unknown that has trapped them within underground dungeons. Saved villagers will lend assistance to Sword's quest, as will the magical ‘Fupongs' and dungeon treasure he finds that lets him shop in the village specialty stores for armor, weapons, health, medical aid and more.

Wonder World Amusement Park

Release Date: Holiday 2008

Platform: Nintendo DS

In Wonder World Amusement Park, players experience the thrill of a day at the park anytime and anywhere! Using the Touch Screen, players will toss, drive, shoot, whack, fish and spin in 30 different mini-games scattered throughout six themed zones: Carnival, Spookyville, Prehistoric, Pirate, Fairy Tale and Space. Players can also unlock six interactive rides through gameplay or challenge a friend via local Wi-Fi multiplayer.

Babysitting Mania

Release Date: September 2008

Platform: DS

Based on the hit online simulation, Babysitting Mania lets players progress through more than 100 levels of fast-paced, overlapping challenges as they feed, entertain and clean up after unruly kids in 20 chaotic houses. Players use the Touch Screen to manage every aspect of the household with speed and precision, from strategically employing "timeouts" to overseeing bonus birthday party levels that add neighborhood party guests to the mania.

Marker Man Adventures

Release Date: November 2008

Platform: DS

Guide loveable stick figure, Marker Man, through hundreds of physics-based puzzles using the stylus as a creative tool to draw simple machines that help him safely bring Doodle Dog home. Players will collect power-ups, discover hidden areas and use logic to progress through a scrolling world of various themes

Majesco knows its stuff, commenting that working with Sakaguchi, Sonic character designer Naoto Oshima and Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu will make the game "well-positioned for success when it hits retail this fall."

Full announcement follows the jump.

MAJESCO ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCES ‘AWAY SHUFFLE DUNGEON’

FOR NINTENDO DS™

Renowned Creative Talent Contributes to Groundbreaking New RPG

EDISON, N.J., July 7, 2008 – Majesco Entertainment Company (NASDAQ: COOL), an innovative provider of video games for the mass market, in partnership with leading developers Mistwalker and AQ Interactive, today announced premier RPG AWAY Shuffle Dungeon for Nintendo DS™. Players take control of the young hero “Sword,” the sole resident left of the once booming Webb Village, who must rescue as many kidnapped townsfolk as possible from a mysterious unknown that has been slowly “spiriting them away.” AWAY Shuffle Dungeon includes creative contributions from renowned industry visionaries: RPG creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, character designer Naoto Oshima and composer Nobuo Uematsu.

“We are very excited to be working with the collective creative talent of Hironobu Sakaguchi, Naoto Oshima and Nobuo Uematsu,” said Jesse Sutton, Chief Executive Officer, Majesco. “Their experience creating high quality, best-selling games means that AWAY will be well-positioned for success when it hits retail this fall.”

In AWAY Shuffle Dungeon, an unknown force has stripped Webb Village of its residents, and now the sole heroic survivor, Sword, must rescue the stolen villagers from the ominous dungeons as he strives to expose and defeat the mysterious thief. Sword must first collect and use various objects including musical instruments to reveal the secret dungeons where prisoners are being held. But successfully saving them is another challenge altogether given a unique timed “shuffle” mechanic that reconfigures the dungeon prisons and hurts Sword and any survivors still caught within when the time runs out. Saved villagers will lend assistance to Sword’s quest, as will the magical ‘Fupongs’ and dungeon treasure he finds that lets him shop in the village specialty stores for armor, weapons, health, medical aid and more.

-more-

MAJESCO / AWAY SHUFFLE DUNGEON / 2

AWAY Shuffle Dungeon allows players to navigate in both the 2D Shuffle Dungeons and the 3D Webb Village, and features voice-over cinematics that breathe life into the characters in this extraordinary mystery.

AWAY Shuffle Dungeon for Nintendo DS™ is expected to release this fall. For additional information about Majesco’s exciting line of products, please visit www.majescoentertainment.com.

About Majesco Entertainment Company

Majesco Entertainment Company is a provider of video games for the mass market. Building on 20 years of operating history, the company is focused on developing and publishing a wide range of casual and family oriented video games on leading console and portable systems. Product highlights include Nancy Drew™, Cooking Mama™ and Cake Mania® 2 for Nintendo DS™ and Cooking Mama: Cook Off for the Wii™ system. The company's shares are traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol: COOL. Majesco is headquartered in Edison, NJ and has an international office in Bristol, UK. More information about Majesco can be found online at www.majescoentertainment.com.

The Bling Gnome is a pet of sort that runs around in the game as you play picking up all of the gold dropped from the baddies you kill while playing the free-to-play massive game. The gnome can also be told to pick up dropped items that aren't rare and eat them. He then poops out gold as a reward... seriously.

I love this idea, it saves all of the hassle of having to go back to town and sell off the crap you horde while out in the wilds adventuring.

Hit up the jump for the full explainer as well as some more pics of the gnome in action.

Dungeon Runners Bling Gnome: Excreting gold for fun and profit

Exactly what is the Bling Gnome you might ask? Similar to its cousin, the Garden Gnome, the Bling Gnome is a tricked-up helper gnome with a bit of attitude that will follow your character around and pick up all the gold dropped on the ground (that was intended for you to pick up) auto-magically. This way you don’t have to go running around and pick it up all the gold yourself, the little gangster will do it for you.

The Bling Gnome also has the ability to pick up dropped items, at the Rare level of availability and below (anything that’s not purple- or rainbow-colored), and eat them, converting them into gold. Another time saver! Instead of filling up your inventory with a clutter of items you just want to sell when you get back to Townston, the Bling Gnome will convert them into gold right then and there. That’s not all… though honestly, what would Dungeon Runners be without some scatological humor somewhere? Every once in awhile during this “swords-into-goldshares” conversion process, the Bling Gnome can produce amazing items from its rear end in rather spectacular fashion. In other words, it can poop out an ultra-powerful item (along with the gold). The more items you pick up at once, the higher the chance it can happen. How handy is that?

Players won’t have to look under a blarney stone to get their own Bling Gnome. By the end of June, players can go to just about any game retailer in North America and purchase a Dungeon Runners game pack that includes the soon-to-be-legendary Bling Gnome as well as six months of premium membership level game time for the price of four.

For more information on Dungeon Runners and the Bling Gnome, go to www.Dungeonrunners.com.

"There will be some things that are very much like Dungeon Siege 1 and 2, but some things will be simplified. I am done with multi-character parties; I really think that it's all going to be about a single hero. It's too much to manage," he says.

While it might be a bit jarring to fans of the first two games, it would certainly give Diablo enthusiasts something to think about.

Dungeon Siege 3 ohne Party [Eurogamer.De via ActionTrip]

Beyond the painfully cute aesthetic, Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon promises mini-games and online card battles that we're sure Wii fans won't tire of for a least another six months. Further details on the story and gameplay systems are after this.

Uncover Lost Memories with FINAL FANTASY FABLES: Chocobo's Dungeon

The Iconic FINAL FANTASY Mascot makes its Wii(TM) Debut on July 8, 2008

LOS ANGELES, March 31 /PRNewswire/ — Square Enix, Inc., the publisher of Square Enix(TM) interactive entertainment products in North America, announced today that it will launch FINAL FANTASY(R) FABLES: Chocobo's Dungeon(R) for the North American market on July 8, 2008. Coming exclusively to Wii, the game brings a loveable cast featuring Chocobo and his friends to the next-generation platform for the first time.

Veteran character designer Toshiyuki Itahana delivers a uniquely compelling visual world in which a cast of beloved FINAL FANTASY characters leads players through an immersive storyline. With a carefully crafted narrative and a grand mystery to unravel, FINAL FANTASY FABLES: Chocobo's Dungeon will captivate gamers looking for a multifaceted RPG experience.

Players of all skill levels will appreciate everything this game has to offer, from the intuitive Wii controls and adorable characters, to the intricate story and versatile job system. Chocobo, a FINAL FANTASY fan
favorite, takes on trademark job classes from the franchise such as black mage, knight, and scholar. Players can unlock more jobs as they progress through the game. The ever-changing dungeons and unexpected twists and turns offer hours of engrossing gameplay as players explore the newest adventure in one of the world's most popular RPG franchises.

STORY
Chocobo and Cid, FINAL FANTASY mainstays-turned-treasure hunters, are magically transported to a mysterious town whose people's memories are lost with each bell toll of the clocktower. One day, a strange boy named Raffaello arrives and creates dungeons of memories to help the townspeople remember who they are. Now it's up to Chocobo to journey through the dungeons and retrieve everyone's memories!

FEATURES
* A charming, vibrant game world coupled with an engaging storyline and challenging turn-based battles to create a fun and entertaining RPG environment
* A compelling gaming experience utilizing a variety of classic FINAL FANTASY job classes such as the knight, black mage and white mage to aid Chocobo in his fight against evil
* Character designer Toshiyuki Itahana, from the FINAL FANTASY CRYSTAL CHRONICLES(R) series and FINAL FANTASY FABLES: Chocobo Tales(R), lends his trademark art style
* Duel against friends via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection in addictive card battles featuring popular FINAL FANTASY creatures in a unique 3D pop-up book style
* Collect hidden letters throughout the adventure and form special phrases to unlock secret dungeons and job classes
* The signature Mog House offers arcade-style mini-games that can be played with intuitive Wii Remote controls

FINAL FANTASY FABLES: Chocobo's Dungeon has not yet been rated. Please visit the Entertainment Software Rating Board website at http://www.esrb.org for more information about ratings. FINAL FANTASY FABLES: Chocobo's Dungeon will be available in North American retailers for the suggested retail price of $39.99 (USD). The official website can be found at http://na.square-enix.com/fffcd

In The Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (R1) in April [DVD Times]

"I think that Dungeon Runners players will find these new features, especially the snowmen as being pretty cool...literally," said Stephen Nichols, Dungeon Runners' producer.

NCsoft heaves out Dungeon Runners content update

NCsoft's Dungeon Runners team is keeping things cool for its players by launching a new content update that provides some frosty surprises including snowmen, a new dungeon, new items and improvements to the waypoint system.

The content update, which is considered more of a "Heave" than a full-blown expansion "Chunk," introduces a new dungeon called Balzack's Burrow for player levels 55 and up. Balzack's Burrow is loaded with loot, monsters and a final boss-battle that will require more than just mind-numbing violence in order to claim victory.

Chill Bill, a formidable snowman and the first NPC that players can summon in Dungeon Runners, is available at level 30 and can help players fight enemies. He has several specialized moves, such as the head butt, where Bill removes his head and bashes an opponent. Chill Bill is a low maintenance snowman that can be healed by hitting him with ice projectile spells.

Chill Bill also comes with several cool skills including "On the Rocks" which freezes Bill in a solid bock of ice, slowing down nearby enemies; "Snow Globe" which stuffs Chill Bill into a globe where he receives a major maximum health increase, and "Nippy Twigs" a skill buff which dramatically increases Bill's attack damage and slows enemies.

Closing out wintertime for Dungeon Runners is a visit by Shivery the Incorrigible Snowman who is quickly melting in Townston, so his stay in the game will be short yet filled with bitterness. Shivery, who is a victim of dungeon warming, will provide players with a loot-filled quest, but not without delivering a few pleasantries such as "...your parents didn't love you," and "...you are adopted."

Additionally, the Heave includes 51 new quests, two new fighter armor sets, new mythic items, a two-handed rifle for rangers and improvements to the user interface and the waypoints system.

"I think that Dungeon Runners players will find these new features, especially the snowmen as being pretty cool...literally," said Stephen Nichols, Dungeon Runners' producer. "We are always looking to create more ways for players to have fun while keeping the challenge compelling. Sometimes features can be a bit silly, but that is what makes Dungeon Runners so special."

For more information, or to download and play the game for free, go to www.dungeonrunners.com.

Professor Layton and the Curious Village (DS)

Lost Odyssey (X360)

Conflict: Denied Ops (PC, X360, PS3)

Penumbra: Black Plague (PC)

Jumper (X360, WII, PS2)

Dungeon Explorer: Warrior of the Ancient Arts (PSP, DS)

Dark Messiah of Might and Magic: Elements (X360)

Spaceforce: Captains (PC)

Sam & Max Episode 203: Night of the Raving Dead (PC)

Carrier Strike Force (PC)

XIII Century: Death or Glory (PC)

Wipeout Pulse (PSP)

Innocent Life: A Futuristic Harvest Moon (Special Edition) (PS2)

RPG Maker VX (PC)

"In the future, I will focus on small films such as (the video game adaptation) 'Postal' or (the Vietnam war drama) 'Tunnel Rats,' " he said. "These are films that represent my true passion, and they can be done with small budgets."

Boll ejected from big-budget ring [The Hollywood Reporter]

7:15 p.m. Flick finally starts. Appear to be in a medieval castle. The bedroom. Naked Ray Liotta spoons naked Leelee Sobieski. Close-up of Ray. Looks like he just jetted first-class into Middle Ages. Straight from Goodfellas. That's some Witness Protection Program.

Boll may not win any awards for his Hollywood translation of the PC game, but Jason Statham deserves some sort of official recognition for his ability to deliver the line "Tomorrow, we gouge evil from its shell!" with a straight face.

In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale

NCsoft Launches Chunk 2, Adding Advertising, New Content to Dungeon Runners Game

AUSTIN, Texas—(BUSINESS WIRE)—NCsoft® today announced the release of Chunk 2, the second content update for its successful free-to-download and play game, Dungeon Runners™. This update includes in-game advertising in non-member worlds, more bank space for members, item trading, increased access to prime loot, and overall Player versus Environment (PvE) and Player versus Player (PvP) balance refinements.

Dungeon Runners is a free to download and play online multiplayer role playing game in a satirical, fast-paced sword-and-shield setting, where defeating monsters and evil enemies results in piles of loot, treasure, and non-stop fun.

The hallmark of Chunk 2 is in-game advertising which will help fund future development of the massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) and keep it free for players. The in-game advertising will be visible to non-members in loading screens and in a banner that sits on top of the game window during play. Dungeon Runners members, who can subscribe to the game for only $4.99 per month, will not see any of the advertising.

Advertising in Dungeon Runners will open up new content and functionality for all players. Non-member players will gain access to new content previously unavailable to them, including dungeons and valuable items. Also, non-members will now have access to one page of bank slots, enabling them to store more items. Members will increase their bank storage space from one to three pages.

Also, by popular demand, a secure trade system has been added to Dungeon Runners. This new feature allows everyone to easily trade items (with the exception of gold) with other players through a simple interface.

"Chunk 2 unlocks an enormous amount of playable content for non-members that they didn't have access to before thanks to the addition of in-game advertising," said Stephen Nichols, NCsoft's producer and lead programmer for Dungeon Runners. "Our non-member players are very happy they can now use what was previously members-only loot, and our members are really excited about receiving additional bank slots to hold their items. These changes, plus our new secure trade system, make this update a win-win for everyone!"

Further enhancements include increased rare item drops and stackable potions for members and non-members alike, which lead to more success in this hack-and-slash game.

Dungeon Runners can be downloaded for free at http://www.dungeonrunners.com/join.html. Players can play for free or subscribe to the members version at any point for $4.99 a month. Members have access to such benefits as log-in queue priority, members-only servers, and the most powerful items, weapons and armor. Membership status also includes three bank pages for hundreds of loot items and the ability to stack potions in one inventory slot to save room for even more loot.

To find out more please visit the Dungeon Runners web site at: www.dungeonrunners.com.

The game is rated Teen by the Entertainment Software Rating Board.

It's strictly for Windows users at this point and will likely remain that way for a long time. Virtual World will go into a public alpha testing next week, incorporate existing Square-Enix Member avatars and feature prominent ads for Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon for the Wii.

Virtual World [Square-Enix via NeoGAF]

JoWooD Productions Announces Dungeon Lords 2

Stand-alone expansion pack due in Q3 2008 with full sequel to follow in Q3 2009

November 20, 2007 (Liezen, AUSTRIA) - JoWood Productions announced today that it will release Dungeon Lords: Expansion (working title) for Windows in Q3, 2008. At the same time, the company announced the development of Dungeon Lords 2 (working title) for a next-gen console platform and the Windows platform for home personal computers.

Not requiring the base game, the Expansion Pack is a complete stand-alone game and will contain an all new story which acts as a link between the original game and the Sequel. The Sequel will deliver an all new graphics and physics engine, a new epic quest and all new art.

Dreamcatcher will oversee the production process.

Released in May, 2005 for Windows, Dungeon Lords has been well-received commercially, selling in excess of 1 million copies worldwide in a variety of formats.

Well, I'm afraid that was my doing, and as Chairman of the Independent Games Festival, I get to see a whole heck of a lot of interesting indie games. So I'm picking one per day that deserves a wider audience on Kotaku and 'a little respect', as Erasure and Rodney Dangerfield both noted.

Firstly, let's focus on Caravel's turn-based PC dungeon crawler, the Deadly Rooms Of Death series. It's like almost nothing else out there - we profiled it on GameSetWatch earlier this year, calling it "the most inventive pure puzzle-solving computer game ever written". The latest iteration, The City Beneath, came out earlier this year. If you like thinking and computer games (see: Portal), you will like D.R.O.D. - go check it.

D.R.O.D. homepage [Caravel Games]

Embark on an Epic Journey With Dungeon Explorer Warriors of Ancient Arts Hudson Entertainment Brings Classic Action RPG Franchise to PSP® (PlayStation® Portable) and Nintendo DS Next Year

REDWOOD SHORES, Calif., November 15, 2007 - Hudson Entertainment, the North American publishing arm for Hudson Soft, announced today that it is bringing Dungeon Explorer Warriors of Ancient Arts to North America in early 2008 for the PSP® (PlayStation® Portable) and Nintendo DS. Each version of the game will feature a unique story with epic battles, an all new assortment of weapons and many unique fighting styles. Like the classic game, the new versions will feature deep and customizable multiplayer adventuring.

Dungeon Explorer: Warriors of Ancient Arts will be available February 2008.

In the game for the PSP system, players are trained in weaponry and mystical forces as Warriors of Ancient Arts. On a quest and ready to uncover the fate of a legendary kingdom, gamers will prepare to battle demonic forces and monstrous creatures. DE: WAA features hundreds of variations of weapons, armor and equipment that can be chosen and upgraded throughout the adventure to defeat enemies. Unique for the PSP system, players have the ability to choose their warfare style with more than 150 different kinds of fighting arts, including Big Bang Arts, allowing three players to team up to triple their destructive power in Ad-Hoc Multiplayer mode.

In the DS version, gamers find themselves in a land plagued by a legion of undead, monstrous soldiers. Commanded by the Demon God, the Evil Menace is determined on bringing Westoria Kingdom to its final days. The story takes place centuries after the events of the PSP version, as a legend foretells of a hero who will rise to face the threat.

Gamers must rediscover the lost Ancient Fighting Arts of Westoria in order to restore peace to a once sprawling and vibrant kingdom. With more than 60 different fighting arts across 8 lost Ancient Fighting Art schools, players can become a skilled warrior to successfully wage battle against dangerous enemies such as the Demon God's undead soldiers, mutated monsters, and an army of ancient automatons. To assist in battle, the game offers hundreds of weapons, armor and equipment; all can be upgraded along the way. Players can also choose from three hero races and three character classes to form a unique warrior for battle. For a group effort, 3 players can join forces to battle the Demon god's minions via Nintendo's Wireless Connection.

"Bringing a classic franchise like Dungeon Explorer to the handheld gaming systems of today continues Hudson's pledge to deliver engaging new content to gamers, while tapping into the nostalgia of the popular series," said John Greiner, President and CEO of Hudson Entertainment. "Dungeon Explorer updates the much loved series with an all-new engaging story and introduces new RPG gameplay elements never before seen in a handheld game."

For more information on Hudson Entertainment or Dungeon Explorer Warriors of Ancient Arts, please visit www.hudsonentertainment.com.

NCsoft Vouches for In-Game Ads [Next Gen]

Further to NCSoft's recently announced plans to release free to play content on the Sony network, Dallas talked about his company's goal of becoming "device agnostic" in order to break down the segregation of gamers between platforms. NCsoft plans to build their own cross-platform community service, with friends lists, inter-game messaging, and other features similar to Xbox Live. NCsoft also intends to release desktop, facebook and mobile widgets to extend gamers' experience.

Snell has some other interesting thoughts - retail may become extinct in the next decade? - and it's an interesting short-ish interview well worth a read through.

Dallas Snell Talks Dungeon Runners, Free to Play and NCsoft 2.0 [Free to Play]

Outside of japan, and hardcore game importers, the name Koichi Nakamura probably doesn't ring a bell.

The unassuming Nakamura hit the limelight in the early 80s when as a high schooler he won Enix's national programming contest with Door Door. In 1984 he founded Chunsoft. While probably best known for the Fushigi no Dungeon series and their work on the first five installments of the Dragon Quest series, the company also worked on Pokemon games.

Now for the first time since the creation of the Fushigi no Dungeon series, one of the titles is coming to North America, published by Sega.

I had a chance to sit down with Nakamura recently to talk about it. He told me that if Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer does well in the U.S. when it hits next year, they will start looking into making a Wii version of the game. They may also start digging through their 13-year-old library of Mysterious Dungeon games looking for other titles worth updating and bringing over.

I asked Nakamura if it concerned him that he was brining a hardcore role-playing game to a platform that has famously attracted a more casual gamer. He said he wasn't.

"Personally, I think RPG games are for people who play games more often, but there is quite a bit of difference between the U.S. and Japan in the gaming market. We don't have a lot of PS3 and 360 owners here so a lot of hardcore gamers play on the Wii and DS consoles."

"One of the reasons Wii games are considered so different is because of the Wii controller, but you don't have to include (motion controls) in Wii games or (stylus controls) in DS games."

He said that in Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer there are DS touchscreen controls, but that you don't need to use them to play.

Nakamura said he isn't too worried about how the game, which randomly generates dungeons and takes about 20 hours to play straight through to beat, will do in the U.S. when it hits here.

"If players like ninjas or samurai then they will like the game."

Free-to-play dungeon crawler Dungeon Runner is expected to get its next big update this week. I chatted briefly with lead designer Mark Tucker earlier today about what we can expect to see from the update, labeled Chunk Number One.

In a nutshell, the update will add player versus player worlds, multiple character support per an account, in-chat item linking and a new high level dungeon.

With the update players will be able to three characters per an account, they will also be able to link to item descriptions (for better bragging rights in chats) and the team has done a bit more tweaking on latency issues.

"We've gotten a lot of criticism about the responsiveness of the controls," Tucker said. "We've done some major edits so your avatar will respond more quickly."

The player versus player worlds will work a lot like the instanced PvP battles of Guild Wars. Players will have to log into a PVP server and then go up to a non-player character to launch a team battle in a randomly generated dungeon. Initially, this dungeons will be relatively straight forward, but the development team hopes to eventually include special items for use in battle.

"Right now there's not a lot of variety in the maps, but we're hoping to change that in the future," Tucker said. "Players might stumble across a buff shrine, or something that can change areas of the map, or find items or power-ups like what you would find in a first person shooter."

Currently the points earned in PvP battles won't be good for anything but bragging rights, but that could also change.

While PvP is a relatively big addition to the game, the biggest add-on coming from Chunk Number One will be the inclusion of a new level designed for characters level 75 to 100.

The new area is called Ratsputin's Gulag, named after the boss of the area, and will include lots of new quests and monster types. Keeping with the theme of the game, there will be plenty of inside jokes, like a quest that pits you against Gold Farmers.

While NCSoft is still hesitant to talk about the profitability of the mostly free game, you can pay for access to a small set of exclusive features and a new members only server, they do say they are quite happy with how the game is shaping up.

'We are tracking well compared to other NC Soft titles," Tucker said. "The development team has a goal in terms of number of subscribers. There is a point when we become profitable and it's not a very big number. At that point we can grow the development team."

NC Soft spokeswoman Opal Lertutai said they have 120,000 active accounts and that they have about 75 percent of the $5 a month paid accounts needed for the game to break even.

In the coming months, Dungeon Runners will also be getting loading screen advertising for the non-paid accounts through Double Fusion Advertising, something that will surely help the game survive.

Dungeon Runners almost didn't make it out the door. Originally shelved, NCSoft brought on a team of developers—the fourth to work on the title—to massage the existing assets into a game that would support the payment model NCSoft had decided was worth giving a try: give the game away for free, but charge a modest five-dollar fee for additional functionality like stackable items and the most powerful weapons.

It might not work so well if Dungeon Runners took itself seriously, but a quick glance over the item names and descriptions makes it clear the ten-person team was more interested in parodying standard fantasy MMO tropes—especially those from World of Warcraft—than they were in creating their own mythos. It totally works, because Runners is a game designed around instant action. "We're going for 15 minute experiences," says the lead developer.

We were shown a few new features that will be released over the coming
months: PVP; new weapon and armor sets; new dungeons. A new class of axes may look familiar: they're all inverted guitars, with names that reference Jimi Hendrix and the Beatles.

Space Siege takes place in the confines of the Armstrong, one of the few remaining colonization ships carrying the last bastions of human civilization after a devastating attack on Earth from an unknown alien race. Players will take the role of Seth Walker, a cybernetics engineer suddenly thrust into a struggle to save humanity from extermination. As the adventure progresses Seth is offered opportunities to sacrifice pieces of his humanity for cybernetic upgrades that will assist him in his mission to preserve the human race. But what price will he pay to save his own humanity? Only the player can decide Seth's ultimate fate.

Incorporating innovative cybernetic augmentations into its storyline, Space Siege explores the dilemmas faced while keeping one's humanity in the face of adversity. Cybernetic augmentations can be performed on every part of Seth's body. On the extreme end, players will be able to outfit Seth with cybernetic upgrades that will leave little or none of his original humanity intact. But this choice comes with the risk of alienating Seth from the people he's trying to save. Players can also insist on preserving Seth's humanity by not using upgrades, instead forging ahead clearing the Armstrong of its alien invaders with natural human ingenuity and strength. Such a decision will increase the difficulty of completing his mission of uncovering and eliminating the alien menace that's bent on destroying the human race.

That's right the game will let you make cybernetic modifications to your character. It will also include co-op multiplayer for up to four players. Color me sold. Hit the jump for the full press release.

SAN FRANCISCO & LONDON (July 6, 2007) - SEGA® of America, Inc. and SEGA® Europe Ltd. today announced the development of Space Siege™ for the PC. Developed by Gas Powered Games, SEGA has tapped Chris Taylor's creative prowess to create this engaging action-RPG title. Space Siege features a deep and compelling storyline, intense combat and a dynamic character development system. Space Siege is scheduled to ship for the PC in North America and Europe in Q1 of 2008.

Space Siege takes place in the confines of the Armstrong, one of the few remaining colonization ships carrying the last bastions of human civilization after a devastating attack on Earth from an unknown alien race. Players will take the role of Seth Walker, a cybernetics engineer suddenly thrust into a struggle to save humanity from extermination. As the adventure progresses Seth is offered opportunities to sacrifice pieces of his humanity for cybernetic upgrades that will assist him in his mission to preserve the human race. But what price will he pay to save his own humanity? Only the player can decide Seth's ultimate fate.

"Chris Taylor and his talented team at Gas Powered Games are recognized as leading innovators in the industry," said Scott A. Steinberg, Vice President of Marketing, SEGA of America, Inc. "Space Siege promises to be a compelling and innovative successor to the very popular Dungeon Siege franchise."

Incorporating innovative cybernetic augmentations into its storyline, Space Siege explores the dilemmas faced while keeping one's humanity in the face of adversity. Cybernetic augmentations can be performed on every part of Seth's body. On the extreme end, players will be able to outfit Seth with cybernetic upgrades that will leave little or none of his original humanity intact. But this choice comes with the risk of alienating Seth from the people he's trying to save. Players can also insist on preserving Seth's humanity by not using upgrades, instead forging ahead clearing the Armstrong of its alien invaders with natural human ingenuity and strength. Such a decision will increase the difficulty of completing his mission of uncovering and eliminating the alien menace that's bent on destroying the human race.

Space Siege features a dynamic storyline based upon the decisions the player makes throughout the course of the game. Based upon the cybernetic modifications the player chooses to make on Seth's body, NPC's will react and interact with the player differently and, ultimately, different story resolutions will be reached. Space Siege will feature a separate immersive co-op multiplayer mode allowing up to four players to create and experience a completely unique mission structure.

AUSTIN, Texas, July 3, 2007— NCsoft® today revealed its line up for the E3 Media & Business Summit July 11-13 in Santa Monica where the company will provide a preview of several of the most anticipated online games coming out in 2007 and 2008, including Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa™, Aion™, Guild Wars: Eye of the North™ and Dungeon Runners™.
NCsoft North America CEO Robert Garriott said, "NCsoft strives to deliver the highest quality online entertainment possible, and these products represent the next generation of online games. This E3 meeting will provide a window for the public to see the breadth of the variety of game genres and business models NCsoft provides, as well as show off how advanced and exciting our products are."
NCsoft products to be featured at E3 are:

RICHARD GARRIOTT'S TABULA RASA
Tabula Rasa has been in closed beta testing since May and is set for launch this fall. Tabula Rasa is poised to evolve the massively multiplayer online genre with a host of fresh features such as a character cloning system, dynamic battlefields with contested control points, deep storylines with ethical parables and fully integrated voice chat. Tabula Rasa also offers players an original alien language named Logos that unlocks special powers, and fast paced combat that combines real time action with role-playing game style character development. These kinds of features are the types of touches that players have come to expect over the years from a Richard Garriott game.

AION
From NCsoft's Seoul studios, Aion, is one of the most visually stunning MMOGs in development. Cutting-edge graphics redefine players' expectations of online role-playing and reveal a true fantasy world where divine beings wage a war that will determine the future of the world. This highly anticipated title is set for release in 2008.

GUILD WARS: EYE OF THE NORTH
Guild Wars: Eye of the North is the first true expansion to the Guild Wars® franchise, one of the most popular online role-playing game franchises on the market today. Guild Wars: Eye of the North delves into the dungeons and caverns of the lands of Tyria that players first explored in the original Guild Wars game. Guild Wars: Eye of the North continues Guild Wars' no subscription fee model and will provide new content accessible to players who own both the expansion and any one of the three previously released Guild Wars campaigns. Guild Wars: Eye of the North is set for release on August 31 at an anticipated price of $39.99.

DUNGEON RUNNERS
Dungeon Runners is a free to download and play online multiplayer role playing game set in a sword-and-shield world where players get piles of loot and treasure by defeating hordes of evil monsters enemies. It's a different game model that fits right in to NCsoft's diversified online game lineup. Dungeon Runners has recently opened up play to the general public and will have large chunks of new content implemented through the summer.

A lot of handheld titles coming out this week with one of the only real console releases being RE 4 for the Wii. Even though I've already played it through on the other consoles, I'm still looking forward to the point and shoot ease of the Wii remote. It also looks like the Transformers game invasion has begun on the PSP and the DS. Will you be getting any of these handheld versions or just wait until the console versions come out. Or will you just be skipping the whole Transformers mishigos altogether? Flynn De Marco

• Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition (WII) Slaughter zombies with your Wii remote
• Brothers In Arms DS (DS)
  The World War II shooting game redesigned for the DS
• Transformers: The Game (PSP)
  The first round of the myriad Transformers games yet to come
• Transformers: Autobots (DS)
  Play on the side of the good guys in this new Transformers games.
• Transformers: Decepticons (DS)
  Play on the side of the bad guys in this new Transformers games.
• Dungeon Maker: Hunting Ground (PSP)
  Create your own dungeons to become the top DM.
• SimCity DS (DS)
  After long last everyones favorite city building game comes to the DS.
• Call for Heroes: Pompolic Wars (PC)
  A new fantasy third person action title for the PC. Throw in some RPG bits and you've got a game.
• PQ2: Practical Intelligence Quotient (PSP)
  Enlarge your brain by solving problems based on real life situations.
• Attack on Pearl Harbor (PC)
  Relive the famous incident that brought the US into World War II
• Hot Brain (PSP)
  Solve puzzles to heat up your brain and lubricate your mind. I always heard heating up your brain caused massive brain damage, but what do I know.

Between now and next month's E3 Expo Dungeon Runner, NCSoft's free-to-play online dungeon crawler, is getting some major updates.

The game will still look the same, but once the upgrades hits Dungeon Runners will feature voice chat, a new play control system, more quests and, the best part, some player versus player action. One thing though won't change, the game will continue to run on a split free and pay-to-play model.

"This is an experiment for NCSoft," said company spokesman Mike Crouch. "This has gone exceptionally well for our company."

In Dungeon Runners gamers can either play for free, getting access to the full game minus a few features or choose to pay $5 a month to unlock some extras. Currently paying gamers get access to special stackable potions which are more powerful than the sort the free gamers can use. Paying gamers also get an in-game bank to store items and more high quality level items (think WoW's epic items).

Game designer Stephen Nichols said NCSoft plans to release new builds of the game every month, with every other month's build including a major new feature.

The first new build for the game will hit in a couple of weeks, he said, and include some major tweaks and bug fixes to the game as well as a lot more content.

"We've cleaned up the niggling control issues that people have complained about," Nichols said. "The (June) build has the ability to move around while you chat."

The June build will include 60 more quests for characters who are level 40 to 50, four new armor sets and a handful of new items including some mythic ones, such as a mythic guitar that features two necks and bares a striking resemblance to an electric guitar.

The July build will fix up some of the client server lag associated with movement, but more importantly it will launch both voice chatting and player versus player gaming.

The player-versus-player will two teams of five people to take each other on in a randomly generated dungeon instance. Gamers will be paired up with an automatic matchmaking system and then dropped into a PVP map with base camps on either end of the map.

Initially player-versus-player gaming won't come with many incentives, besides the fun of ganking your fellow gamers. After the issues have been worked out of PVP and the mode balanced, NCSoft plans to add the ability to level up your character in PVP and perhaps the ability to win special items in PVP matches, but that upgrade probably won't hit until September, Nichols said.

The voice chat hitting in July will use a proprietary similar to the one used in Auto Assault to allow up to three players to talk to one another. Non-paying gamers will only be able to listen and not talk, Nichols said.

Nichols said he's been pretty happy with the number of gamers who have checked out the game and decided to stick around, but that want to try and get more people to give it a try. While he declined to discuss the ratio of free to paying gamers for Dungeon Runners, he said it was a "healthy ratio."

I haven't really had a chance to check the game out. I played around with it for a few minutes a couple of weeks back and from what I saw it looked pretty impressive. I particularly liked the sense of humor the game seemed to have.

I'll be checking it out more later this month. If you play feel free to drop me some tips. Brian Crecente

닌텐도 Wii 게임 정보 게시판 [Ruliweb]

Boll's other adaptation, Dungeon Siege, will see a bigger unsuspecting audience when it hits at the beginning of 2008 on over two thousand screens. Finally, the filmmaker also apparently can write, not just direct, and will release an original horror project titled Seed at no-one-cares-when.

With a $60 million production budget for In The Name Of The King: A Dungeon Siege Tale and a $20 million ad budget, I can't help but think someone is encouraging him. Will you stop please? Michael McWhertor

Boll rolls out 3 films with Freestyle [The Hollywood Reporter, via 1UP]

Yeah, the phrase 'authentic dungeon crawler' gave me pause too. Apparently what they are saying is that this won't be your standard wandering through endless stone corridors and fighting monsters on specified places. Despite the overly generic name, this game promises something altogether different. This dungeon is alive.

Dungeon Hero provides players with a fresh take on the classic dungeon based game. The in-game world is a totally functional, living, breathing community in every way. Eat, sleep, chat, socialize, trade and travel as you would in any civilized place - after all dungeon creatures are people too!

Gamecock Media Group And Firefly Studios Bringing "Dungeon Hero" To PC And Xbox 360TM

World's First Authentic Dungeon Crawler Set For Early 2009

Cockpit, Austin, Texas - June 7, 2007 - Today Gamecock Media Group announced Firefly Studios' Dungeon Hero will be releasing on the PC and Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft. The first dungeon-based game to realistically depict underground life, Dungeon Hero promises all the danger, intrigue and daily routine of an actual subterranean community. Combining HD graphics with incredibly detailed environments completely immerses players in their newfound surroundings, complete with goblin cheese merchants, jailed troll miners and helpful imps just looking for peace.

"Dungeon Hero sets itself apart from every dungeon game that has come before it," said Rick Stults, Console Chief for Gamecock Media Group. "We love the realism that the game portrays, the living breathing dungeon aspect is something unique that hasn't been done anywhere before and that's the key to the innovation we're looking to promote."

Dungeon Hero provides players with a fresh take on the classic dungeon based game. The in-game world is a totally functional, living, breathing community in every way. Eat, sleep, chat, socialize, trade and travel as you would in any civilized place - after all dungeon creatures are people too! Fierce adrenaline pumping close quarters combat against a multitude of enemies drives the player deep into their heroic role. The battle system is intense with savage encounters that will leave enemies wondering where they went wrong. Dark times call for one to stand against many, will you be the one strong enough to become the Hero of the Dungeon?

Dungeon Runners is completely free to download and play, with a slight hitch. You cannot access the best armor in the games or stack potions in your inventory without paying a $4.99 a month subscription fee. For the price you also gain bank slots for storing items and server queue priority. Having played a bit as both a free player and as a member, I can tell you the differences are night and day. If you grab the game from File Planet between now and July 4th you'll get a free week of premium play, allowing you to taste the spoils of five bucks without having to part with it. Michael Fahey

Dungeon Runners Sign-Up Page [NCSoft]

NCsoft Unveils Dungeon Runners Game With A Free-to-Download and Play Business Model

Tuesday 29th May/...NCsoft® North America announced it has opened to the public its first free-to-download and play game, Dungeon Runners™, as the company continues to expand its online entertainment offerings. Dungeon Runners is an online, multiplayer role playing game in a fast-paced sword-and-shield setting where defeating monsters and evil enemies results in piles of loot and treasure.

Dungeon Runners, currently available strictly via free digital download, has a play-for-free tier where players can access large chunks of the game's content, and a "membership level" for $4.99 per month where players are given, among other things, log-in queue priority and access to the most powerful items, weapons and armor. Membership status also includes bank storage for up to 220 loot items and the ability to stack potions in one slot to save room for even more loot.

In Dungeon Runners, there are a variety of character archetypes to choose from including fighter, mage and ranger in a classless RPG system where players are not locked into skills that are usually associated with their specific archetype.

Dungeon Runners focuses mainly on action and battles with limited death penalties and endless gold, weapons, armor and magic items available to claim after defeating hordes of monsters. The game also features a lighter side, with subtle and not-so-subtle humor sprinkled throughout the game including names of many items in the game. For example, one particularly dangerous sword is called "Shifty's Crystal Sword of the Hypersonic Monkey" and a very helpful magic item called the "Pulsating Dragon Eye Amulet of the Thorny Donkey."

"Dungeon Runners is a lot of fun and doesn't take itself too seriously. But the game will take players into an action packed-adventure, where they blaze through a maze of dungeons, face fierce monsters and formidable opponents to become a hero," said Stephen Nichols, NCsoft's producer and lead programmer for Dungeon Runners. "Regardless if a player pays to be a member or plays for free, Dungeon Runners will deliver more than 200 hours of game play and a continually growing number of missions and quests. The game is also designed to appeal to gamers who have limited time to give to a game, but it will have the content to keep players adventuring for hours at a time."

While NCsoft presents Dungeon Runners as a scaled down version of its other online games, Dungeon Runners is far superior to other "free with membership" type games due to the high standards NCsoft's development team applies to all the products it creates, regardless of business model.
"Dungeon Runners is a bold leap into a new business model for NCsoft and it is taking us into a new direction in terms of the kind of games we can provide our customers," said Robert Garriott, CEO of NCsoft North America. "There are plenty of other 'free' games available for online RPG fans, but none that packs as many features as Dungeon Runners has or comes with the NCsoft stamp of quality. We expect that players will receive this game warmly because it is fast, fun and free. It is hard to beat that deal."

Dungeon Runners is available to download and play for free at www.dungeonrunners.com/join.html.
Moreover, an exclusive Dungeon Runners promotion with bonus contents can be found on FilePlanet.com can be found at http://www.fileplanet.com/promotions/mmoclub/dungeon_runners.aspx from now until July 4th 2007.

Today in Tokyo, Square-Enix held a warm-up for its Final Fantasy Party. A slew of titles were announced, including Chocobo's Dungeon: Toki-Wasure no Meikyuu and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers for the Wii. Remake-wise, there's Star Ocean 1 and Star Ocean 2 for the PSP. A new Star Ocean game was also announced for an undecided platform. This August, the DS will see Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates. Showing that the PS2 is not quite yet dead, Final Fantasy XII: International Zodiac Job System is schedule for an August release. The biggest news of the presser? Square-Enix will be making its first simultaneous release with RPG The Last Remnant for the Xbox 360 and the PS3. That game has yet to be dated. Brian Ashcraft

Presser Starting [Gamega News via NeoGAF]

"Projects include PC titles within the Supreme Commander franchise, PC titles with original IP and something new - an original IP that is the company's first next-generation console project"

Gas Powered Games confirms console project [GamesIndustry.biz]

I somehow missed this, but a few weeks ago someone uploaded some gameplay footage from the beta of free instance-based Dungeon Runners. Looks kinda like Diablo meets World of Warcraft. Brian Crecente

Has anyone been playing Dungeon Siege Throne of Agony for the Playstation Portable? It landed at my house right in the middle of all of the Playstation 3 and Wii insanity, so I really haven't had a chance to play a ton of it, but what I've played so far has been quite fun.

From what I've seen, which is just the first few missions, the game seems to have a very Diablo feel to it. You start with one of several generic charcter classes and then personalize them over time with weapons, abilities, attacks and items.

The graphics are suitably impressive and the game's missions seem to suit both the design of the PSP and concept behind portable gaming: short and sweet.

The only potential problem I see cropping up with the game is that it might be a bit too much of a button-masher for it's own good, but I suppose you could say the same thing for Diablo now. Brian Crecente