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Aya Hirano rocketed to fame with roles in anime The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and video games like Eternal Sonata. But in summer 2010, Hirano decided to make the leap from voice actress to TV celebrity, pissing off her rabid fan base in the process. More »
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One of the coolest things about the Official PlayStation Blog is when they let the people who worked on the games post their thoughts on the process. Take today's posting by Stephanie Fernandez, the localization producer on Namco Bandai's Eternal Sonata for the PlayStation 3, which upon release this week will be the best damn RPG on the system (yeah, yeah). In the post she goes over some of the bigger changes in the PS3 version from a localization perspective, exploring the new story elements and the challenges presented with recording battle voices for the two new playable characters, Crescendo and Serenade, before they actually had any footage of them fighting. More »
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With the ESRB and Namco Bandai Games all but confirming a PLAYSTATION 3 release for Eternal Sonata—also known as Trusty Bell in other parts of the world—it comes as little surprise today that Famitsu has confirmed the RPG for a PS3 release. Yes, holy crap, I know. Didn't see this one coming did you? The latest issue of the news breaking mag has screens of the PS3 version of the game, scheduled for a 2008 release. More »
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Tri-Crescendo, the Japanese developer behind Eternal Sonata, wanted to make the game an Xbox 360 title from the get-go. While the studio had previously worked on GameCube title Baten Kaitos, the Wii was not the platform of choice. According to game site Siliconera, the controller and the graphics made bringing Eternal Sonata to the Xbox 360 a no-brainer. What about a PS3 version? Publisher Bandai Namco told Siliconera that it was "not aware" of a PS3 version at the moment. How could it not be aware of that? It's friggin' Bandai Namco! The Japanese box for Eternal Sonata (AKA Trusty Bell) doesn't have an "ONLY ON XBOX 360" stamp on it. Thus, the game should be treated as such. More »
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Why Chopin? Why? I mean, really. Why? GameSpot gets to the bottom of that and other burning issues in a short interview with the game's director, Hiroya Hatsushiba. The game is set in composer Frederic Chopin's subconscious as he lays on his death bed. Let's go back to my initial questions. Hatsushiba answers: More »
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Lock your doors and hide under your futons, Japan. According to Japanese financial news source Nikkei, Western game publishers are coming for your yen! While Electronic Arts makes buckets of cash in America, the global leader ranks up less than 10 percent of its sales in Japan. What's worse, EA shuttered its Japan studio earlier this year. Electronic Arts still continues to throw Sim City and The Sims at Japanese Wiis and DSes, hoping that they'll stick. Elsewhere, Microsoft has teamed up with Final Fantasy creator Hironobu "The Gooch" Sakaguchi for a handful of RPGs and also bundled its console with Namco created RPG Trusty Bell. Still, Japan is a tough market to crack — just ask Sony with its PS3. Zing! More »
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This week's Media Create sales have plenty of new entries, including sales sensation The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, the best selling game of the week. Missing from the list? Last week's high-ranking Xbox 360 entry, Trusty Bell. More »
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This week's chart features a staple at number one. Nintendo DS training software in the form of DS Observation Training. No surprise there. But what's far less common are both Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3 games in the top then. At spots two and three, no less. Those games are Trusty Bell and Ninja Gaiden Sigma, two big releases that I don't expect to have much in the way of staying power. Still, good showing, new-generation. More »
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Chopin-starring RPG Eternal Sonata (AKA Trusty Bell) is released today in Japan, and already there is sequel talk. At a launch party held in Roppongi, a Bandai Namco VP Shin Unozawa floated the word "sequel," saying the company would like to assist in creating one. Nothing official was announced, of course. (Well, a VP saying that is kinda official!) More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=268639&view=rss&microfeed=true Another beautiful trailer for Eternal Sonata (formerly Trusty Bell) from Japan. These trailers continue to impress with their pretty graphic style and classical music score. If you didn't go through all the ridiculous steps to play the English language version of the Japanese demo, you'll have to be satisfied with these Japanese language trailers. If you're really nice to Ash, maybe he'll translate them for you. More »
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Namco Bandai's cutesy role-playing game Eternal Sonata—n e Trusty Bell: Chopin's Dream in Japan—is (mistakenly) largely regarded as an Xbox 360 exclusive. Today, we know for sure that the tri-Crescendo developed RPG is to be multi-platform, courtesy of the ESRB. More »
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Just like Blue Dragon before it, Microsoft Japan is enticing Japanese customers to take that leap of faith with a console/RPG game bundle. This time, it's Trusty Bell. The game features a core Xbox 360, wired controller, copy of Trusty Bell (retitled Eternal Sonata for the West) and a special DVD soundtrack. Bundle drops June 14, pricing is open, and the side of the box has Trusty Bell art on it — If you are into that. Brian Ashcraft More »
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Everyone's favorite RPG character, pianist Frederic Chopin, will be hitting Japanese Xbox 360s June 14th. Dubbed Trusty Bell, the game will be Xbox Live enabled, and its battle system will combine turn systems with real-time systems. Three or less people can participate in the battles, and each player can move freely during his or her turn. What about enemies? Monsters morph into larger, more frightening bad guys. Not all characters can morph, though. And the cut-scenes unfold in Paris, where Chopin has fallen ill and in the dream world. A quality looking RPG about a sick Frederic Chopin on the Xbox 360 for Japan? Believe. Brian Ashcraft More »
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We've been poking around Trusty Bell news the same way we sniffed after Rule of Rose stuff (review on that one is coming up, I promise). I'm pleased to announce that the composer-centric game is coming to the US under the name Eternal Sonata, possibly with some modifications: More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=202748&view=rss&microfeed=true I've been following the development of Trusty Bell: Chopin's Dream with vague but persistant interest since it was announced, but I cannot for the love of god figure out why. Maybe it's the absolutely bizarre premise (that composer Chopin goes on an adventure in a magical world in his head that's populated with other sick children who have magical powers), maybe it's the gosu rori ensemble the heroine is sporting, maybe it's sheer girlish delight that, in my wrinkled dotage, I simply cannot recognize for what it is. More »
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Adorable video game and robot blog DESTRUCTOID! has some new poop on a weird but lovely cel-shaded game, Trusty Bell: Chopin's Dream ("Chopin no Yume" for the Japanese version). And they are mighty dubious! More »
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