Kotaku: success

New Operation Darkness Screens, Now With More WWII Zombies And Werewolves

Leigh Alexander — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 14:20:00 MDT

Atlus' Operation Darkness, developed by Success, is due out in the U.S. on June 24th, but all of you desperately curious about the werewolf and zombie-infested World War II strategy RPG can tide yourselves over on these new screens in the meantime.

The art they've got on the official website is rather beautiful, if scary - like, weren't Nazis scary enough? Why zombie nazis?

That's right. Because it makes it seem awesome.

Hellgate: London Korea's Most Successful Launch

Mike Fahey — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 09:20:00 MDT

From worst to first! Just last month, Flagship's Hellgate: London made 1UP's list of the top five botched PC game launches of all time, with regular server crashes and people being billed multiple times for premium subscriptions. The Southeast Asian launch went even worse, with Infocomm Asia Holdings nearly wiping all player progress within the first 30 days of launch. It's amazing what a few months can do, because now Hellgate: London is being touted as Korea's most successful online game launch in 3 years. There are over a million active accounts, and the game is the 9th most-played game in the country. Sheesh. "To become the most successful launch in Korea for over three years is an incredible achievement," said Bill Roper, CEO of Flagship Studios.

"This milestone wouldn't have been possible for us to achieve without the incredible support of our publishing partner, Hanbitsoft, and our dedicated community in Korea."

Wow, that Hanbitsoft must have the most magical marketing team ever! Hit the jump for the press release, which actually contains the words 'Hellgate", 'Successful', and 'Launch', all in the same spot.

Flagship Studios' HellgateTM: London Celebrates The Most Successful Online Korean Launch In Three Years
San Francisco, CA (April 11th, 2008) - Flagship Studios today announced that its action role-playing game Hellgate: London has become the most successful online video game launch in Korea of the past three years with over 1 million accounts registered within the first two weeks of its open beta test. Hellgate: London is the first online game in over three years to use a monthly subscription business model.

After launching the open beta on January 15th, Hellgate: London quickly rose to the ninth most played online game, fifth most popular RPG and most popular online beta game in PC Cafes*, with over 1 million accounts. Hellgate: London was released commercially on February 22nd, and achieved record sales in its first week of presales.

"To become the most successful launch in Korea for over three years is an incredible achievement," said Bill Roper, CEO of Flagship Studios. "This milestone wouldn't have been possible for us to achieve without the incredible support of our publishing partner, Hanbitsoft, and our dedicated community in Korea. We look forward to expanding the Hellgate universe and building upon this success in the future."

"Flagship Studios are well aware of how the Asian market operates very differently to the Western territories" said Alex Kim, CEO of HanbitSoft, "By listening to players' feedback and through constant updates to the game, Hellgate: London will continue to be an incredible success throughout Asia."

Hellgate: London combines the depth of role-playing games and the action of first-person shooter titles, while offering infinite playability with dynamically generated levels, items, enemies, and events. Whether online or off, a player creates a heroic character, completes quests, and battles through innumerable hordes of demons to advance through experience levels and branching skill paths. A robust, flexible skill and spell system, highly customizable appearances, and a massive variety of randomly generated equipment allow players to create their own unique hero.

For more information please visit the official Hellgate: London site at www.hellgatelondon.com
*According to Gametrics and Game Report

Cooking Mama Huge Success For Taito

Mike Fahey — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 13:40:39 MST

Just how important is the quirky little DS and Wii game Cooking Mama to Japanese developer Taito? Speaking to Gamasutra, Taito's U.S. representative Keiji Fujita revealed that only one game in the company's stable has managed to surpass the success of the little cooking sim that could, that game being the Japanese-only title Densha De Go (Let's Go By Train). In an interview posted on the website today, Fujita discusses the wild success of the franchise, which has now sold over 2 million copies around the world, as well as the future of Mama and her friends - including the possibility of an arcade version of the game somewhere down the line.

"Taito has the skill and the quality of arcade machines, so they could develop an arcade version of Cooking Mama. A virtual knife and cooking board or something..."

Check out the full interview below for more on Cooking Mama, Exit for the DS, and the 30th anniversary of Taito's classic, Space Invaders.

Revitalizing The Legacy: An Interview With Taito's Keiji Fujita [Gamasutra]

Lock Room Games Get DS Way Out

Brian Ashcraft — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 06:40:37 MDT

Toshiyuki Takagi's popular locked room flash titles are coming to Japanese DSes this December for ¥2500 (US $22) on Success's SuperLite2500 label. The DS cartridge will feature Takagi's Crimson Room, Viridian Room, Blue Chamber and White Chamber. Those who are impatient or cheap, good news! All those are still available online free of charge via his official site. Right here, actually. You can totally play them!
Crimson Room [Famitsu via Insert Credit]

Tornado to Tear Up DSes

Brian Ashcraft — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 21:00:55 MDT

This is great.At least it sounds great! Let's dive in: Japan's Success has a new game coming out called Tornado for the DS. The plot: According to game site Insert Credit, the buildings of the world have been stolen and kidnapped. Players are a cat named Toki whose duty it is to create tornados and get the buildings back. Tornados are created by drawing circles on the DS's touch screen. It's out late November, and I hope this game plays as well as it does in my mind!
Tornado [Official Page via Insert Credit]

Get Rich Playing Games

Mike Fahey — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 13:30:08 MDT

Not to be comfused with SCEA's latest employee, the other Scott Steinberg is managing director of Embassy Multimedia Consultants and author of Videogame Marketing and PR and The Videogame Style Guide and Reference Manual. His latest book is called Get Rich Playing Video Games, and it explains how to succeed in every facet of the gaming industry, from marketing and PR to development to publishing. The volume includes insights from industry legends like Miyamoto, Will Wright, Ted Price, Lord British, and even Atari founder Nolan Bushness, who provides the forward. The book should be available at major retailers now, with a $17.95 price tag, or you can download the eBook free at www.GetRichGaming.com. Pity the title sounds like a late night infomercial.

New Book Reveals the Inside Secrets to GET RICH PLAYING GAMES
Paperback Shipping Now, eBook 100% FREE from www.GetRichGaming.com and Special High Score Edition Coming January 2008

"A must-read... The first book on the videogame business that's both insightful and entertaining."
-Ed Zobrist, President, Sierra Online

Atlanta - (September 18, 2007) - In a watershed moment for PC and videogame fans of all ages, Scott Steinberg's Get Rich Playing Games ($17.95, P3: Power Play Publishing), the first book to reveal everything readers need to go from rags to riches in the star-studded interactive entertainment business, is finally here. Thirty years in the making, the critically-acclaimed volume has all the answers both casual and hardcore players alike need to make a fortune without ever leaving the couch!

Get Rich Playing Games, penned by acclaimed entrepreneur Scott Steinberg, author of Videogame Marketing and PR and The Videogame Style Guide, features nearly 200 pages of in-depth commentary and insight from the biz's biggest names including Shigeru Miyamoto, Will Wright, Sid Meier, John Romero, Trip Hawkins, Ted Price, Lorne Lanning, Lord British and more! From tutorials on building your own videogame to strategies for rocketing up the corporate ranks or turning pro and earning millions in sponsorship dollars, it's an essential read for anyone who's ever dreamed of building a fortune off making, marketing, writing about, publishing or playing computer and video games. Also includes a foreword by Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari, Chuck E. Cheese's and uWink.

Available now at all major retailers including Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble, Get Rich Playing Games covers all major topics from PC to console, casual, mobile, massively-multiplayer, online and independent games. The eBook edition is available to the general public 100% FREE from www.GetRichGaming.com, with paperback editions also ready to order right from the website or Lulu.com. This volume is a must-have for anyone seeking a career in game art, design, programming, audio, management, PR, marketing, publishing, journalism, testing or sales.

A special High Score Edition, featuring new chapters, additional interviews and other must-see updates will also be available in January 2008.

Praise for Get Rich Playing Games:

"Shows you how to make all your dreams come true - and make serious money doing it!"
- Brian Fargo, Founder, Interplay and InXile Entertainment

"A home run... touches on all the bases necessary for creating a winning strategy for success in the videogame field."
- Bill Gardner, President and CEO, Eidos

"Reveals the secrets of playing to win... and how to do it making great games!"
-"Wild Bill" Stealey, Founder, MicroProse and Interactive Magic

"There's a fine line between getting rich and losing your shirt in the videogame business, so arm yourself with the essential weapons to succeed: This book's a cruise missile!"
- Charles Bellfield, VP Marketing, Codemasters Inc.
"In every field, it always pays to love what you do - especially when that involves rescuing the princess, saving the world from nuclear annihilation or fending off hordes of rampaging zombies," said Steinberg. "Only now, thanks to Get Rich Playing Games, it also does so with compound interest. This one's for all the videogame fans worldwide... and all the soon-to-be-overjoyed parents."

About the Author

Scott Steinberg is managing partner of technology supersite DigitalTrends.com and managing director of Embassy Multimedia Consultants, which counsels game industry publishers, developers and investors worldwide. The biz's most prolific freelance author and radio/TV host, he's covered gaming/technology for 300+ outlets from CNN to the LA/NY Times, Playboy, Rolling Stone, USA Today and TV Guide. Other ventures include software publisher Overload Entertainment and Games Press, the ultimate resource for game journalists, as well as groundbreaking books Videogame Marketing and PR and The Videogame Style Guide and Reference Manual.

Bug Wars Bus

Brian Ashcraft — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 23:00:14 MDT

Now that is a bus. And that is a ladder. To gear up for the release of strategy giant robotic bug (awesome!) game Konchuu Wars for the DS, Japan's Success Corp. has rolled out this bus in the mean streets of Tokyo. It's even been outfitted with a 50 inch plasma display to show off the giant robotic bugs FIGHTING! Until August 12th, the bus's route will take it to Odaiba from 1pm to 6:30pm and in front of Shinjuku Station 7:30pm to 8:00pm. On weekends, it will patrol Odaiba from 1pm to 8pm. Bring the kids. They love robotic insects! The DS, too!
Giant Bug Bus [Famitsu]

Practice Tracing On Your DS

Brian Ashcraft — Thu, 24 May 2007 01:00:04 MDT

All the traditional Japanese literature your DS can handle! Japan's Success is releasing Enpitsu de Oku no Hosomichi DS ("The Narrow Way to the Deep North by Pencil"), which is a kanji tracing game. It's based off Enpitsu de Oku no Hosomichi, which is a million selling tracing book published in 2006. Readers traced over classical travel account Oku no Hosomichi in pencil. The game version will feature readings by actor Tooru Nakamura, pretty pictures and thematic background noise. Start tracing this May 31st when the game drops. Did I say it was "Japan only"? Oh, well, it's Japan only. Brian Ashcraft

DS Haiku Game [Insert Credit]

Wii Japan Launch Line-Up Titles

Brian Ashcraft — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 02:43:57 MDT

Nintendo released its list of launch titles for the upcoming Wii console and the game's publishers.

Trauma Center (Atlus)
Elebits (Konami)
Machikuru Domino (Success)
Necro-Nesia (Spike)
Super Monkey Ball Uki-Uki Party Shuugoh (Sega)
Swing Golf Panya (Tecmo)
Wing Island (Hudson)
Kororinpa (Hudson)
SD Gundam REVOLUTION (Bandai Namco)
Ennichi no Tatsujin (Bandai Namco)
Tamagotchi no Pika Pika Daito-ryo-! (Bandai Namco)
Red Steel (Ubisoft)
Wii Sports (Nintendo)
Odoru Made In Wario (Nintendo)
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo)
Hajimete no Wii (Nintendo)

For those keeping score, that's sixteen titles. Brian Ashcraft

More Here [Nintendo]

Killer Toy Dogs and Japanese Girls in Army Skirts

Brian Ashcraft — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 13:25:05 MDT

If you're releasing a war RPG with bazooka wielding mutts, how do you promote it? Probably a troop of girls in camouflage mid-drifts, complete pooch plush toys would do the trick. And if that didn't, then drag out those real mutts and real bazookas and tell the girls to go home.

Game maker Success releases the DS version of its doggy war game Metal Saga June 15th. Bow-wow. Brian Ashcraft

More Here [Moeyo!]

DS Touch Mystery Maid Cafe

Brian Ashcraft — Fri, 14 Apr 2006 16:22:46 MDT

To celebrate the release of the DS mystery touch title Osawari Tantei Ozawa Rina, game maker Success wrangled the ladies at Amusement Cafe Maid in Japan for a otaku-geared promotion. Until April 16th, the staff will be parading about in Osawari uniforms. A special menu based on the game's nameko character. Phallic mushroom food and a most amazing cup of cappuccino after the jump. The game drops Stateside later this year.

Full Story Here [Famitsu]