If any of you caught the Japanese Sony press conference on Monday, there was a moment when they were showing a medley of upcoming PS Vita games where the screen went black and some random archer-ish character popped up for a moment.
That character was Akagi, one of the anthropomorphized battleships (an aircraft carrier, to be specific) from the online browser game Kantai Collection (艦隊これくしょん), otherwise known as Kan Colle. The game is relatively unknown outside of Japan, most likely because non-Japanese IP addresses are blocked from accessing the game. In Japan, however, the game is a massive hit, currently with over 650,000 users, and has become something of a phenomenon. Simply the smallest hint that the game might have something to do with the PS Vita naturally sent Japanese internet users into something of a frenzy.
"Hold on a moment and explain this to me. What is this about Kan Colle on the Vita?"
"Are they saying there's going to be a Vita version Kan Colle?"
"If I can synch my account and play Kan Colle outside, I'd buy a Vita just for that."
"It's probably just a client app, but simply the fact that it might allow you to play outside is huge."
The developers at Kadokawa Games are currently tight-lipped about details of the teaser, but seeing as the game's popularity shows no sign of dwindling, there's no doubt that players of the game (including myself) will leap at whatever it is they eventually release.
【艦これ】VITAで艦これだと・・・ [艦これまとめ速報～かん速～]
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