What Koei Is Bringing To TGS

A bunch of games! No time to waste, let's dive in. Here is Koei's TGS booth line-up:

DYNASTY WARRIORS: Multi-Raid (PSP) (Action)
WARRIORS OROCHI 2 (PSP) (Tactical Action)
Monster Racers (NDS) (RPG)
Saihai no Yukue (NDS) (Adventure)
DYNASTY WARRIORS 6 (PS2) (Tactical Action)
G1 Jockey Wii 2008 (Wii) (Horse Racing)
Neo Angelique Special (PSP) (Adventure)
Nobunaga's Ambition Online (PC/PS2) (MMORPG)
Uncharted Water Online (PC) (MMORPG)
Romance of the Three Kingdoms Online (PC) (MMORPG)
DYNASTY WARRIORS Online (PC) (MMO Action)

Koei-Tecmo Merger About "Survival"

The game business is hard. To keep from getting bought up and shore up development costs, Temco is in talks to merge with Koei. Tecmo is best known for its Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden franchises, which should help flesh out Koei's portfolio that is largely dependent on hack-and-slash Dynasty Warriors. Kenji Matsubara, president of Koei, explains this necessity to consolidate with Tecmo:

In the 3 trillion yen ($28 billion) global games market, we have revenue of 40 billion yen, which begs the question of whether we can survive... We plan to make the most of this merger and move on to the next step.

Continuing, Matsubara assures that the recent stock market troubles will not effect the merger.

Koei Plans to Form Holding Company With Tecmo in 2009 (Update2) [Bloomberg via Edge]

Tecmo And Koei To Have Concrete Plan In Two Months

After rejecting Square Enix's "friendly" takeover, Tecmo announced on September 4th that it was in talks to merge with game company Koei. In an official announcement, it was stated the aim to integrate management was in hopes of creating a "stable and secure environment" as well as respect each other's individuality. Tecmo has announced that on September 17th, a commission was formally set up to move forward with management integration talks. According to the Tecmo release:

A committee has been formed to oversee the business of the two newly-merged companies, comprised of the presidents of both companies (acting as joint-chairmen) as well as executive representatives and non-executive representatives of both companies. This integration will allow employees to demonstrate the full extent of their abilities, so as to best serve the company in the future. This committee is expected to produce a concrete integration scheme for unifying the two companies in the next two months.

Dynasty Warriors Multi-Raids PSP

Koei hasn't given up on ya, PSP! The Japanese developer has announced Shin Sangoku Musou: Multi Raid (or rather, Dynasty Warriors: Multi Raid). Slated for this winter in Japan, it's hack-and-slash Dynasty Warriors, but with a multiplayer spin. The game will also offer weapons upgrade and character transformation to boot. Neato!

三國無雙 Multi Raid [Games Animation Forum via PSP Hyper]

Koei Talks About the Good Old (PS2) Days

Ah, yes. Those were the days. It was a simpler time. Back when developers only really had to worry about one machine — the PS2. Everyone had one, and all the devs figured out how to develop games on that platform. Things were competitive, but straight forward and streamlined, even. But now, now is hard. Everything is complex! Says Koei president Kenji Matsubara:

In the PlayStation days, the platform was only one, but the competition was so high. For PLAYSTATION 3, we have to spend huge resources. In the PlayStation 2 days, we could just focus on one platform, but these days, we have to spend resources on handhelds, popular consoles like the Wii, and high-performance consoles like the Xbox 360 and PS3. It means that we have to spend too much money and many resources. That's a challenge for us.

Hey, it's a challenge for consumers, too! Honestly, picking just one platform to own these days seems very, very hard.

Koei President Matsubara Explains Third-Party Challenges In Japan [Gamasutra]

Tecmo Answers Spurned Square Enix's Takeover Rejection Questions

Back before Square Enix rescinded its friendly Tecmo takeover bid, we first broke the news that RPG maker was baffled. Tecmo rejected its offer in favor of merging with Dynasty Warriors company Koei. Most curious. Square Enix had three questions for Tecmo:

1. Please confirm that the decision on the start of discussions with KOEI toward integration of management is the reason for rejection of the Proposal.

2. If that is the case, please clarify concretely that major terms of integration of management with KOEI (form of the integration, stock prices assumption, integration ratio and so forth) are favorable for TECMO's shareholders than the Proposal.

3. If not, please clarify that TECMO has an alternative plan, which is favorable for TECMO's shareholders than the Proposal.

Tecmo didn't answer these questions until today. We've translated that, after the jump.

Jilted, scorned. Square Enix has just announced it is withdrawing its offer to Tecmo of a "friendly takeover". That is, after Tecmo rejected the offer and then announced plans to integrate its company with Dynasty Warriors creator Koei. While Square Enix originally stated it would withdraw the offer if rejected, the company issued a series of questions to Tecmo rejecting the company's decision to turn down the offer. Square Enix never received answers to those questions. According to Square Enix's withdrawal statement:

Tecmo And Koei In Talks To Merge

On the heels of rejecting Square Enix's "friendly" takeover, Tecmo announced a merger with Japanese game maker Koei is in the works. Today, talks between both companies commenced for a tentative merger, and an "Integrated Management Committee" was created. Both companies hope to balance each other's portfolios — Tecmo is popular in the West with its fighting franchise Dead or Alive and action series Ninja Gaiden while Koei is popular in Japan (and Asia) for its historical hack-and-slash Dynasty Warriors. From the statement issued by Tecmo today:

Gundam Musou 2 was announced last week. And they're talking about it some more at the Microsoft Japan press conference. Talking about it and showing it! Here's a bevy of new screens for the game, which won't convince haters of the first game that this one will be any different, but will convince Gundam lovers that there's a whole load of Gundam, and a whole load of robots, to be found here.

Gundam Musou Is Back For More Gundam Musou

That Koei/Bandai marketing wet dream Gundam Musou (think Dynasty Warriors with Gundam) is back. Gundam Musou 2 has been announced for PS3, PS2 and Xbox 360. The game will be out December 4th in Japan and will feature new mechas, like mobile armors, on the roser — Char's Counterattack is getting added as well!


Gundam Musou 2, GvG announced [Gunota Headlines] [Pic]