Kotaku: nis america

Disgaea Gets Another Port

Michael McWhertor — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 19:20:00 MST

Another day, another Disgaea it seems. NIS America is readying another port of its PlayStation 2 strategy RPG Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, this time on the Nintendo DS. Sure, it's a fine game, but it looks like there's some wasted potential in the DS port—or at least wasted screen real estate. What may ultimately ship as Disgaea DS is planned for Summer and may appeal to folks who've never played the PlayStation 2 or PSP versions. It's not much to look at, but if you're somehow psyched for another go and find a handful of new features appealing, read the press release for maximum information.

NIS America Reveals Disgaea: Hour of Darkness for the Nintendo DS
Santa Ana, CA - 2008 March 7 - NIS America announced today that a new edition of Disgaea: Hour of Darkness will be released for the Nintendo DS. In order to fully utilize Nintendo DS's capabilities several key improvements will be made to the user interface and game system. Disgaea for the Nintendo DS will arrive in North America in the summer of 2008.

About Disgaea DS Disgaea's game system is simple yet addictive. It has the same basic concept as other strategy RPGs, but uses many unique features and enhancements that make this game unprecedented. The following are some of the special features of Disgaea DS:

* Geo Panels - A group of stat altering elemental properties that are placed upon certain parts of the battlefield. When there are one or more colored panels on the battle grid, it means an element can affect that area. The effect can boost or reduce your unit's stats.
* Geo Cubes - A new addition to the PSP version, Geo Cubes are magic items that add more depth to multiand#8208;player battles. You can use the various Geo Cubes to enhance your abilities, summon monsters, or even attack your enemies with them.
* Demon Gadgets - Randomly generated items that appear on the battlefield. By acquiring these gadgets, you can powerand#8208;up your units. Some demon gadgets can level your unit up by 30 levels at once.
* Transmigration - A form of reincarnation that allows you to start over from level 1, but your unit will grow stronger than before.

Disgaea 3 Hits U.S. PS3s In August

Michael McWhertor — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 17:40:00 MST

NIS America has made the domestic release of the PlayStation 3 entry in the awesome turn based strategy RPG series official, making summer rich with Prinny explosions. Disgaea 3 will confuse graphics whores with its last-gen visuals when it hits North American PS3s this August. There's not much in the way of information from NIS about what English speakers can expect, nor is there any information on a European release, but we know of one Disgaea expert who may have answers for all your questions about the Japanese version inhabiting the comment section.

NIS Brings Gust's Mana Khemia Stateside

Mike Fahey — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 08:20:35 MST

NIS America continues it's tradition of taking quirky Japanese PS2 titles that traditionally stay in Japan and delivering them to the starving JRPG fans here in the states with Mana Khemia: Alchemists of Al-Revis. Developed by Gust, it's the spiritual successor to the Atelier Iris series, with alchemy and crafting elements, only this game is set in a school where the player completes class assignments in place of quests. While the Atelier Iris series in the U.S. went from completely amazing to cute but bland over the course of three titles, Gust's Ar Tonelico was probably my favorite RPG experience of 2007, so I have faith that the company can still deliver something truly amazing. Look for Mana Kemia to hit stores on March 18th, and hit up RPGLand for a slew of screenshots brimming with disembodied teddybear head goodness.

NIS America bringing Gust's Mana Khemia to North America [RPGLand]

Nippon Ichi Loves on Nintendo

Mike Fahey — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 08:27:24 MDT

Disgaea DS is looking like more of a possibility every day. Nippon Ichi Software, traditionally a developer of Sony PS2 and PSP games, has begun expanding their focus to include the Nintendo Wii and DS. A financial report out of Japan reveals that the company will be releasing their first DS-based title this fiscal year as a US exclusive, though it doesn't indicate what that title will be.

I've been curious as to what NIS would wind up doing as far as the next generation platforms were concerned, and throwing in with Nintendo seems to make perfect sense for a company with a definite focus on gameplay over flash graphics. Developing a 2D strategy RPG on the PS3 or 360 would be like swatting a fly with a Buick. Michael Fahey

NIS Announces Dirty Dozen [RPGFan via Siliconera]

A Truckload of Disgaea Merchandise Heads to Anime Expo 07

fdemarco — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 17:00:00 MDT

Disgaea fans rejoice! NIS America is bringing you a whole slew of new merchandise to be premiered at Anime Expo 2007. The variety of merchandise covers several NIS franchises but are mostly concentrated on Disgaea and Disgaea 2. Besides the hilariously awesome Prinny Helmet shown above (I dare you to wear it in public), the long list of goodies includes:

Mugs

GrimGrimoire™ Clock

NISA Buttons

Mousepads

Disgaea® Etna's Skull Earrings

Big Sis Prinny and Prinny Plushie

Disgaea® 2 Etna and Flonne figures

Izumi Sawatari ~He is my Master~ Figure

Bat Wii

Kimono Cover for DS Lite

NISA Wallpapers for PC and PSP

All the items, with photos and descriptions, are available for a look on the NIS America website. As I mentioned earlier, most of these items will show up first at the Anime Fest, but if you're not going, never fear, they will be available to the general public later this summer. Start saving your pennies now. Flynn De Marco

New Items from NIS America! [NIS America - Thanks Ninrac]

Disgaea PSP In August?

Mike Fahey — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 10:20:53 MDT

While I've certainly not heard anything official from NIS America, IGN seems to think that the hotly anticipated PSP version of Disgaea will be getting a US release this August, as indicated in a hands-on posted this morning by Jeff Haynes over at IGN PSP. While he doesn't mention where and how he got his hands on the title, I'm assumming it was at the NIS America press party last night which unvieled several new titles coming this year from the Japanese RPG publiishers.

Though I would have been happy with a straight port, NIS has gone all out, adding in a new Etna-focused story, multiplayer battles, and customizaion options out the wazoo- custom maps, custom soundtracks, etc.

Hit up the link and see if you're as jealous of Haynes as I am. Michael Fahey

Disgaea PSP Hands-on [IGN PSP via Evil Avatar]

Disgaea DVD Preorders from NIS America

Mike Fahey — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 11:40:04 MST

NIS America is now accepting preorders for the first volume of the Disgaea anime, coming out on the 9th of January with an amazing new "understandable by non-Japanese speakers" feature! Of course I like my anime like I like my women. Subtitled. Aww yeah.

In honor of the upcoming release, I present the trailer for the series, presented in crystal-clear English-o-rama sound.

Mmmm, Etna. Hot, evil, in control of a horde of undead penguin creatures - everything a guy could ask for. Flonne is adorable and all, but Etna is the one I want my girlfriend dressed up as when we roleplay "The Naughtiest Prinny".

Preorders are an excellent way of explaining why your Christmas present won't arrive on time, so hop on over to NIS America's page and order me a copy, or the disturbing mental imagery will only get worse. Michael Fahey

Preorder page for Disgaea Anime DVD [NIS America]