Pokemon Developer's New 3DS Game: Harmo Knight

Harmo Knight is the new Nintendo 3DS title from Game Freak, the team behind the Pokémon series.

The game was announced by Satoru Iwata during today's Nintendo Direct livestream. From the footage released, it looks like a hybrid of a traditional side-scrolling platformer, replete with a Mario Bros-style world hub, and a rhythm action game. The game's hero charges through levels, from verdant hilly landscapes to city rooftops, collecting musical notes and swinging a quaver like a battle axe/golf club. Presumably, you have to execute your attacks in time with the game's music.

Official logo

The game is scheduled for release in Japan on September 5, 2012, priced at ¥1,800. No word on a Western release date.

Daniel is IGN's UK Staff Writer. You can be part of the world's worst cult by following him on IGN and Twitter.

Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com

I Am Alive Coming to PC in September

Ubisoft's post-apocalyptic survival game I Am Alive will release on PC on September 13.

The title, which launched on XBLA and PSN earlier this year, will feature improved graphics along with two new modes.

The "easy" mode allows an infinite number of retries and gives players a smoother introduction to the game, while the "Replay" mode allows gamers to revisit previous missions to try and discover more secrets and treasures.

The game takes place in an America that has been decimated by an unspecified "Event". You play as a male survivor searching for his wife and daughter in his hometown of Haventon, whilst trying to survive the toxic ash and attacks from fellow survivors.

I Am Alive will be available for £11.99/$19.99/€14.99 on Ubishop, Steam and other digital retailers worldwide on September 13.

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Editorial Assistant. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter.

Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com

The Winner of the IGN People's Choice Award is...

Guild Wars 2 has won the IGN People's Choice Award 2012 with over a quarter of votes cast being awarded to the hotly-anticipated MMO.

The PC exclusive title beat out 49 competitors in a list of games assembled by IGN editors from across the globe out of titles that were on display on the show floor in Cologne.

The winner of last year's inaugural award was DOTA 2, which is similarly only in development for PC. Despite Guild Wars 2 walking away with the top prize, a number of other titles did well enough to be commended.

FIFA 13, World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria, World of Warplanes and Assassin’s Creed III all won the silver award for the huge amount of support they received, while Injustice: Gods Among Us, Borderlands 2, Resident Evil 6, Planetside 2 and Tomb Raider picked up bronze.

Guild Wars 2 was originally announced almost five and a half years ago and Gamescom 2012 marks the second year that the title has appeared at the show. It's due to be released worldwide next week on August 28.

Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com

The Last Guardian Still in Development for PS3

Work on The Last Guardian remains ongoing, with the title still scheduled to release on PS3.

That's according to Sony Worldwide Studios chief Shuhei Yoshida, who told Eurogamer today that the reason the game hasn't been seen recently is due to myriad technical issues.

“

It turned out the technical issues are much harder to solve. So the engineering team had to go back and re-do some of the work they had done.

"The team is still working on it very hard, there are certain technical issues they've been working on," he explained. "That's the period of time when the game, looking from the outside, doesn't seem to be making much progress. But internally there is a lot of work going into creating the title."

Despite being officially announced in 2009, information about the highly anticipated title has been thin on the ground after it missed TGS 2011 and then was absent from E3 2012. Yoshida made similar remarks last month regarding technical problems, though his words today suggest the scale of the problems are much larger than was originally imagined, with the team having to re-do past work.

He said, "We had the game playable. At one point we felt that it would be produced for a certain time period. That was the time we prematurely talked about the launch window. But it turned out the technical issues are much harder to solve. So the engineering team had to go back and re-do some of the work they had done."

There's still no word on when we'll get our hands on the game, or even see it in action, but Yoshida reiterated that "The game is developed on PS3", so hopefully we'll see it before the next wave of consoles hit.

Just last week the trademark for The Last Guardian was apparently "abandoned", leading many to fear that the game was destined to become vaporware. Thankfully, today's comments suggest this isn't the case and we will see the title on PS3...eventually.

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Editorial Assistant. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter.

Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com

EA Makes Command & Conquer: Generals 2 Free

Electronic Arts is transforming Command & Conquer: Generals 2, first announced last year, into a free-to-play title simply called Command & Conquer. That doesn’t mean Generals 2 is going away, it’s just not called Generals 2 anymore. It’s part of a Command & Conquer platform that, for EA, appears to be a big initial step toward reinventing its venerable real-time strategy franchise.

The news perhaps isn’t as shocking as it once might have been. Free-to-play games are common these days, including online shooters, MMOs and DotA-style games amongst many others. For EA VP and general manager Jon Van Caneghem, this move was the next natural step.

“We’ve seen what online has been able to do for RPGs, for FPS games, for puzzle games, and the like—what I’ve been interested in is what can online do for strategy games?  To that end, we’ve been developing a platform for Command and Conquer games with Generals 2 as the lead product on that platform, focusing on having a single identity across the franchise to bolster social ties and also providing us a way to add and update the games constantly over time.”

“The platform itself also offers several other advantages to players and developers. With a lower barrier to entry, more people can experience our game and gain access to the cutting-edge visuals, sound and destruction of a full, AAA strategy game – for free. This live service approach also makes developing games more exciting as we are constantly responding and reacting to community feedback to deliver content that they care about.”

As of yet, no specific payment structure has been determined. “We are still building out the game and the exact scope of the advanced experience has not been announced yet. In our development, we are guided by the commitment to create a gameplay experience that offers the cerebral, strategic fun and fast-paced action that fans have come to expect from our franchise with no barrier or resistance.”

The Generals portion of this new Command & Conquer will still be built with Frostbite 2, though it appears to be too early to get a sense of the exact amount of content that will be included at launch. “The content that we have already created for Generals 2 will be part of this new free-to-play experience. We aren’t ready to discuss specifics about factions and units, but we are building an experience that you’d expect from a traditional Command & Conquer game, with the advantage of continuously building new content based on player and community feedback.”

Unfortunately, there doesn’t appear to be a single-player portion anymore, a feature that seemed to be a prominent part of the game the last time we had a chance to ask about Generals 2. This new Command & Conquer will also require you to be connected online at all times. “At launch, the focus will be on multiplayer as we are currently focused on building a fun, high quality RTS experience that we want to get in your hands on as soon as possible.  From there, we will continuously evaluate additional content based on a variety of player feedback.” So perhaps there could be single-player content some time later?

It’s certainly an interesting approach for the franchise, and one that’s perhaps better suited for the rapidly changing world of PC gaming. For now, EA has no plans for retail distribution of the game and has “nothing related to consoles to announce at this time.”

Hopefully EA will be able to share more details soon about gameplay and pricing structures with this reinvention of its RTS distribution model. “Command & Conquer  is a destination for players to go to experience the Command & Conquer universe and that has the potential to extend beyond  Generals.  Though it starts with Generals next year, Red Alert, Tiberium and beyond will serve as additional content offerings for the game.”

Interested? Then sign up for the beta. If the link doesn't work, the site should be live soon. Also, here's the initial reveal trailer in case you missed it when Generals 2 was first announced:

Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com

Witcher Dev: DLC Should be a Free Service

CD Projekt RED’s Konrad Tomaszkiewicz believes that DLC should be given to gamers for free as thanks for legitimately purchasing a title.

In an interview with VG247, the Witcher developer shared his view that downloadable content should be viewed as a post sale service for consumers.

“

Back when retail games were dominant, we had expansion packs. These were really large chunks of content, which were worth their price.

"We’ve always believed in free DLCs. The thing is that we consider DLCs as a normal post sale service, which shouldn’t be priced," he said.

"Back when retail games were dominant, we had expansion packs. These were really large chunks of content, which were worth their price.

"If today’s DLCs offered the same amount of content, they would be worth paying for, but in most cases players think they are overcharged for what they receive. That’s why we offer expansions to our game for free. This is also a way of saying “thank you” to the people who decided to buy our game instead of copying it from an unauthorised source."

It's the latest in a series of comments from within the industry that suggests big companies are starting to reassess the role of downloadable content in games. In May, Capcom revealed it was re-evaluating its attitudesto on-disc DLC following fan backlash. Team Ninja boss Yosuke Hayashi also recently labelled DLC characters in fighting games as "unfair", and announced none would be present in Dead or Alive 5.

There's still no concrete word on whether CD Projekt RED is planning to make a third instalment in the Witcher franchise, though a recent batch of job postings suggests it could be on the cards.

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Editorial Assistant and has never bought DLC in his life. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter.

Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com

Space Punisher #2 Review

You have to love a series whose title so elegantly sums up everything about it. Space Punisher is all about Frank Castle heading into the cosmos to deal out his particular brand of justice. Squid monsters and four-armed Hulks replace the usual drug dealers and mob bosses, but the basics remain the same. It's as if Lobo chewed up a bunch of Fear Agent and Cosmic Marvel comics and barfed the mixture onto a drawing board. Only prettier.

Frank Tieri dials up the zaniness a few notches in issue #2 as Frank battles Sabretooth, Deadpool, and The Leader. It isn't long before Hulk is thrown into the mix as well. Half the fun of this series is in seeing the entire Marvel Universe reflected though Tieri's goofy sci-fi mirror. It isn't just familiar Punisher players who are given the space treatment, but all corners of the Marvel U. In truth, the sci-fi re-imagining of Barracuda is the weakest one in the series so far, as there's really nothing whatsoever to tie this character to the traditional version.

There's not a great deal of subtlety in Tieri's handling of Frank. It's a very old school take on the character and his quest for vengeance. But nothing about this series is or should be subtle. Tieri embraces the zaniness of the concept and runs with it. I only wish we could see more of Frank's enemies in the Six-Fingered Hand. His clashes with them in this issue are fairly well glossed over.

Mark Texeira strikes the perfect visual tone with his painted artwork. His characters look like they crawled out of a sci-fi B-movie poster with their massive physiques, dramatic faces, and generally larger than-life presence. The painted approach provides a much-needed smooth, almost sterile look that Texeira's scratchier penciled style wouldn't have allowed for.

This is the sort of book that Marvel supposedly doesn't publish anymore -- off-the-wall, out of continuity, and delightfully bizarre. The least Punisher fans can do is give it a chance.

Jesse is a writer for IGN Comics and various other IGN channels. Follow Jesse on Twitter, or find him on IGN.

Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com

Orc: Vengeance Review

What is it?

Orc: Vengeance is the latest high-end title published by indie champion Chillingo -- a dungeon crawler and nod to the Diablo-esque family of gameplay. The game puts you in control of Rok, a wayward warchief separated from his orcish clan. The backstory has orcs running the show on a world that has been thoroughly mucked up by man. Our ego and pride freed the dark lord that was previously imprisoned for ages. Typical humans!

Expect the familiar dungeon crawler tropes, including RPG skill and stat boosting, tap-frenzy monster battling and the requisite amount of barrel bashing and loot hoarding. Everything’s included in Orc: Vengeance, from the soft storyline to suitably difficult boss battles.

Did we like it?

Developer Big Cave Games definitely knows how to work up a nice spit-and-shine on a title. The visuals are brilliant with small animations like bat swarms fluttering about and columns crumbling around you to make the levels seem interactive and dense. The character progression is solid as well, with the leveling and mapping of both weapons and skills adding some gameplay variety.

Level design, sadly, is overly straightforward. The visuals, while impressive for mobile, are also far too similar throughout. You’ll fight through the somber gray stage to lovingly be welcomed by… the somber green-gray stage. Some greater variance here would have been welcome. The same could be said for the in-stage design, where Orc seems to take a nod from old action games instead of dungeon crawlers. Expect to be frequently facing this traditional series of events: Enter a room. Get locked in. Fight swarm. Exit room.

Regardless, the negatives don’t outweigh the polished beast-slaying fun. Orc might seem uninspired compared with the latest from Blizzard and it might be lacking the visual splendor of Torchlight but it still stands as an addictive and fun touch-controlled dungeon crawler.

Should you buy it?

If you’re Diablo-ed out but still hankering for that dungeon crawler experience, particularly on the go, Orc: Vengeance will definitely whet your genre appetite. At $2.99 it’s an absurdly reasonably priced. But buy knowing that while you might be getting the best dungeon crawler on iPhone or iPad, there’s still a bit here that is derivative

Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com

A Virus Named Tom Review

With a title like A Virus Named Tom, you’d be right to wonder just what kind of game you’re getting yourself into here – but don’t fret. Apart from being perfectly safe to install, A Virus Named Tom presents plenty of entertaining and silly backstory to keep things interesting. Moreover, its clever take on puzzle gameplay is likely something you’ve never encountered; a bizarre, yet compelling hybrid of Pac-Man and a sort of rotational connect-the-dots exercise.

Confused? Okay, here’s how it works: you play as the titular virus set loose in the engineering database of a large corporation with the mission of infecting their devices and causing them to malfunction. You do this not because you’re evil, but because the mad scientist who invented you is seeking revenge after being recently fired for his increasingly insane inventions. Your goal is to connect a series of interlocking pieces to one or more hubs by rotating them to form an unbroken chain. At first this is ludicrously easy, and you’re essentially only battling the clock to get a higher score or finish before time runs out and you lose. But things get increasingly difficult as the corporation discovers you and implements a series of more and more stubborn challenges to impede your quest.

Eventually, these challenges will come in the form of active subroutines (that manifest themselves as spider-like creatures), which patrol a region of the map you’re playing on and kill you by touching you. As you go on, the spiders get tougher, faster, and smarter, becoming increasingly problematic. You'll also constantly encounter different defensive subroutines: encryption, for example, that makes it impossible to see the shapes of pieces until you connect them to a hub, or self-contained virus that must be destroyed using timed "glitch bombs" in order to complete a map. Indeed, the learning curve in A Virus Named Tom ramps up rather quickly, and by the final levels, casual players will be tearing their hair out in frustration. Still, you’ll come to learn that, while A Virus Named Tom does allow you to complete maps in a variety of ways, it also clearly wants you to see the gimmick or “perfect route” through a map in the minimum number of moves, like a puzzle game would. This double challenge helps add replay value to a game that would otherwise be a one-and-done affair.

If the gameplay proves to be too much of a challenge, though, A Virus Named Tom allows you to rope in up to three buddies, locally, to co-op through the story with you. The game really comes into its own here, as the challenge level feels like Goldilocks’ proverbial porridge tasted: just right. Friends can divide labor: one can distract/destroy the spiders while the other rotates and reveals pieces, for example. Or, they can divide maps into segments and handle a local area themselves – something the game will often force them to do, anyway, with force fields. Either way, communication, timing, and most of all, a solid plan will serve you well. It's disappointing, of course, that you can't find partners to play with online, but in a game that requires intricate co-operation and co-ordination, it might be better to avoid random jokers from the internet, anyway.

Regardless, co-op in A Virus Named Tom is a blast, but if you get tired of making nice, you can always play the game’s versus battle. Essentially this game mode is a combination of Bomberman and the Chinese board game Go, with the objective being to draw a border around territory, lock it down, and blow up your opponents using “glitch bombs.” The only way to unlock locked territory is to hit someone with a glitch bomb (which expands outward along grid lines when it explodes), so a lot of versus mode become about trying to force people into fairly obvious traps without much in the way of tricks up your sleeve. As a result, the versus mode, completely lacking the puzzle element of the campaign, isn’t nearly as much fun as co-op or single-player.

Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com

New Final Fantasy XIII Game "Just Entered Production"

Work on the new title in the Final Fantasy XIII series that will be announced in September has apparently only recently started.

In this week's Famitsu (via Andriasang), producer Yoshinori Kitase said that the new project only recently entered production and that we'd find out the game's title on September 1.

While it's not much, the news that the game hasn't been worked on for long lends credence to the idea that we could be about to see Final Fantasy XIII-3. When it was first revealed that new series details were incoming, many fans were hoping they may in some way relate to the long-absent Final Fantasy Versus XIII, but unless you count 2006 as "recent", it appears we can now rule this out.

The Final Fantasy 25th anniversary event in Shibuya kicks off later this month, with the new game scheduled to be revealed at 11.30 on September 1 through the "Final Fantasy XIII Lightning Saga: New Developments Presentation".

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Editorial Assistant, and would personally prefer Final Fantasy X-3. Let him know your thoughts and feelings on IGN and on Twitter.

Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com

Kairosoft: Much More than Just Game Dev Story

Japanese mobile game developer Kairosoft burst onto the U.S. scene in late 2010 with the smash-hit sim Game Dev Story. The title allows gamers to grow their own game development studio from a tiny indie making puzzle and trivia games for PCs into a massive operation capable of releasing its own game console.

The game’s not-so-subtle jabs at the real-world game industry made it an instant cult-classic with core gamers. To succeed players have to choose the right company to make consoles for – “Senga” and “Intendro” are two early-game choices. Players also must smartly match their game’s theme with the proper genre. I personally had a string of smash-hit motion-controlled romance games called “Love Touch” towards the end of my Game Dev Story career.

Game Dev Story was the company’s first U.S. title and remains its biggest success. Kairosoft’s story extends back far further, however.

Nearly 20 Years of Sims

The truth is that Kairosoft is a much older company than most people think it is. The studio was formed in 1996 and its small team of nine has been making simple simulation games, first for PC and later for mobile phones, ever since.

Kairosoft has released a steady string of sim titles onto the iOS App Store and Google Play Store since Game Dev Story became such a smash hit – 14 titles in just 22 months.  But the truth is that many of these titles, while new to English-speaking audiences, aren’t new at all.

In the late 90s and early 2000s Japanese mobile phones were significantly more powerful than the brick-like Nokia handsets that were popular in the United States and Europe. Apple’s iPhone and high-end Android handsets have since closed the gap, but Japanese consumers enjoyed full-color, game-capable phones far earlier than the Western world.

Can your team make the next big hit?

Most Kairosoft’s sims that hit the App Store are ports of these original mobile games. Anyone that owns Game Dev Story can dive into the options menu to turn “pad on.” This will activate a round virtual game pad that hints at how Kairosoft’s games are played on lower-end phones that don’t feature a touch screen.

New games or old, many English-speaking gamers can’t get enough of Kairosoft’s breezy blend of simple strategy & simulation. The company is often criticized for its titles being too similar to one another. It’s not an unfair complaint – many Kairosoft games feel very homogeneous. Still, after spending enough time away many gamers find themselves developing the well-known “Kairosoft itch” and want to come back for more.

When the mood strikes, which items in the studio's ever-growing library of titles are worth your dough? IGN has your back. We’ve broken down and ranked all of Kairosoft’s English-language iOS releases below. Now you can buy the best and skip the rest.

Kairosoft iPhone Power-Rankings

Mega Mall Story (IGN Review)  (Buy) 

Game Dev Story may be Kairosoft’s most-popular game, but it isn’t the company’s best. That honor goes to Mega Mall Story. The game features a huge volume of stores to unlock, keeping your mall varied and fresh all the way to the game’s conclusion. The endgame, traditionally the weak spot in Kairosoft games, is strengthened thanks to a few very expensive late-game investments and hard-to-achieve secret goals.

Game Dev Story (IGN Review)  (Buy) 

Kairosoft’s original hit remains one of the company’s best titles. There is less pure gameplay and decision-making in Game Dev than most Kairosoft titles – you won’t be hunting for combos or worrying about building placement. But the game makes up for these deficiencies with a much faster pace (there is always something to do) and a great sense of video game humor. It’s too much fun attending Game Dev’s version of E3 and hiring a celebrity to hang out in your booth attracting fans, or creating a hit franchise of Pirate Adventure games.

Dungeon Village (IGN Review)  (Buy)  

Like Game Dev Story, Dungeon Village is more fun than it probably should be thanks to its great theme. The game gives players the opportunity to build up their own RPG town. The more inns and shops you construct, the better equipped traveling adventurers will be. This allows them to defeat more monsters and bring back more loot to spend in town. It’s a great cycle. Plenty of RPG-style loot to collect is just the icing on the cake.

Pocket Academy (IGN Info)  (Buy) 

Pocket Academy is often overlooked due to its theme. How much fun could it be building and running a private school? Crazy-fun, it turns out. Most Kairosoft games seem complex at first glance but are actually fairly simple beneath the surface. Pocket Academy is one of the few Kairosoft games with true depth. Hiring the right teachers, giving students the right career advice and building just the right mix of facilities gives gamers more decisions to make than most of Kairosoft’s sims.

Epic Astro Story (IGN Info)  (Buy) 

Epic Astro Story is a great concept for the Kairosoft “simple sim” treatment: pioneer an untamed planet in the distant future, clean out its hostile citizens and build up thriving trade with neighboring aliens to bring in the dough. For the most part the concept works brilliantly. There’s even light RPG combat mechanics. A few balance issues are the only issue holding Epic Astro back from brilliance and top-tier placement. It’s simply too easy to achieve every goal once a gamer figures out the title's ins and outs.

Pocket League Story (IGN Review)  (Buy) 

Pocket League Story is similar to Game Dev, in that players manage the progress of a small group of people (this time a soccer team), instead of developing an empty space with stores and decorations like most Kairosoft titles. These stat-management titles are usually simpler and more passive, with less choices for gamers to make. Game Dev succeeds thanks to its clever nods to video game history – something that Pocket League lacks. Passively watching dozens of soccer matches unfold also grows tiresome. Still, it’s very compelling to nurture a team of scrubs into World Cup champs, and Pocket League is very well-balanced, ensuring only very careful players will reach the Gold on their first loop through.

Hot Springs Story (IGN Review)  (Buy) 

Hot Springs Story is the first Kairosoft game on this chart that’s hard to recommend wholeheartedly. Taking a tiny spa and growing it into a massive, award-winning business (complete with restaurants, message chairs and of course male and female hot springs) is fun, but it doesn’t feel as epic or clever as most Kairosoft titles. It’s also more repetitive than Kairosoft’s greats. To succeed you’ll have to place the same few decorations and stores over and over – there is less variety than a title like Mega Mall.

Venture Towns (IGN Review)  (Buy) 

Venture Towns was supposed to be a match made in heaven: take Kairosoft’s tried and true breezy sim/strategy and marry it with the most classic of sim genres: the city builder! The results aren’t bad – just disappointing. Venture Towns has some good ideas but never quite recovers from its slow pace. Players spend more time waiting around for money to accumulate than actually playing. The generic theme also works against Venture Towns in some ways. Running a hot springs or private school might feel strange, but they’re also more memorable than developing a generic town.

Grand Prix Story (IGN Review)  (Buy) 

In Grand Prix Story players must create the best racing team possible by managing staff, carefully upgrading cars and spending research points to unlock new parts. Like Pocket League Story, Grand Prix is a bit on the basic side. There are no buildings to construct or stores to arrange. But Pocket League has the advantage of a universally-loved and understood goal: reach the World Cup. Only major gear-heads will be as excited about competing in an ever-escalating set of races.

Oh! Edo Towns (IGN Review)  (Buy) 

Oh! Edo Towns tasks players with building up a town in Japan’s Edo Period (1603 – 1868). It suffers from the same pacing problems found in Venture Towns, with the added disadvantage of a significant cultural gap to overcome. Like other Kairosoft titles, the basic strategy is to construct complimentary shops next to one another. But what is the logical thing to build next to a Straw Hat Shop, or a Public Bath?

Even with these problems and its placement at the bottom of the list, Oh! Edo Towns is still a lot of fun. It’s easy to get caught up in that all-too-familiar “Just one more month”  cycle that all Kairosoft games feature so strongly. Your next building or expansion is always just around the corner, making the game very hard to put down. Oh! Edo Towns isn’t bad. It’s just the most skippable title among a library of very strong releases.

Bonus #1: Android Hits

Kairosoft often alternates iOS and Android releases, showing each platform an equal amount of love. All Kairosoft titles eventually hit both platforms but some games can remain exclusive to either Google or Apple’s platforms for many months. So iOS gamers looking for a sneak peek of what’s to come should look at what’s already available on Android:

Pocket Clothier - (Buy)

Run your own clothing shop! Coordinate fashions, position mannequins and do everything else in your power to grow from a tiny corner shop into a world-class boutique.

The Sushi Spinnery - (Buy)

Manage and grow a revolving sushi restaurant! Set the menu, pick your amenities and pick the perfect décor.

World Cruise Story - (Buy)

Captain a luxury cruise liner! Develop entertainment options including casinos and restaurants, deck-out your ship, create lavish suites and travel to all the right ports to succeed.

Cafeteria Nipponica - (Buy)

Run your own restaurant! Find ingredients, discover recipes, hire your crew and set the correct ambiance.

Bonus #2: Untranslated Games

Kairosoft’s Japanese website gives us a hint of what we can expect from the company in the coming months. Titles that have not yet been translated into English include games that allow players to run an arcade, run a video game retail store, become a manga artist, and plenty more.

Only Kairosoft knows for certain what is in store for U.S. audiences - the company is notoriously hard for the English-speaking games press to get in touch with. But it's a sure bet that the small studio has plenty more pixel-filled simulation goodness on the way.

Which Kairosoft games are your favorites? What idea would you like to see Kairosoft tackle next? Leave a note in the comments below and let us know.

Justin is Editor of IGN Wireless. He has been reviewing cell phone games since the dark days of Java flip phones. You can follow him on Twitter and IGN.

Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com

Final Fantasy III Launching on Ouya

Square Enix has announced it will release Final Fantasy III as a launch title for the Ouyaconsole in March 2013.

In a statement translated by Square Portal, the company promised that they will also be providing more content in the future.

Final Fantasy III originally released on the NES back in 1990 and became the first Final Fantasy title to sell over a million copies, but has since had a 2006 remake for the DS. It seems this is the version Ouya owners will be getting as this was ported for Android devices last month, which is the operating system that the upcoming console will use.

We recently reported how Ouya signed a deal with cloud gaming service OnLive, meaning hundreds of games from over 80 publishers will be available when the console is eventually released next March. Square Enix is the first major third-party publisher to back the console, and it'll be interesting to see if others now follow suit.

Ouya's Kickstarter campaign hasn't ended yet either; with 8 days still to go, the project has currently amassed $5.8 million, completely shattering its original $950,000 target.

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Editorial Assistant. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter.

Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com