The Future Of Tales Is In The West (Part 2)
Fri, Aug 6th, 2010, 9:15 pm (EST) by Shawn
In yesterday's first part of this article, we detailed the recent events surrounding Namco Bandai's postings on Namco Games's Facebook wall and the misconceptions surrounding comments that it would be incredibly easy for the company to release the PS3 port of Tales of Vesperia. This second part details what both sides can do to help release more Tales games in the west.
What Namco Bandai needs to realize with the Tales series is that while it might not be as big of a juggernaut as other RPGs such as Final Fantasy or the company's very own Tekken franchise, there is a very passionate fan base, much like the fan bases for Atlus's Shin Megami Tensei and NIS America's Disgaea franchises.
The company also needs to realize that part of the lackluster sales can be attributed to two factors: release dates and fan outreach. One such example of the former would be Tales of the Abyss's release in North America. Namco Bandai released the title mere weeks before Final Fantasy XII and had little-to-no advertising, with only a few websites having advertisements for the game, compared to Square Enix's mammoth advertising for the their title. With Square Enix pushing out a limited edition version of Final Fantasy XII, many gamers were forced to pick one of the two and many forgoed picking up Tales of the Abyss if they happened to noticed it. The lackluster sales that followed only helped to push the game to the back of the store, furthering hampering its sales.
Keep on reading for more of the second part of the article.
The Future Of Tales Is In The West (Part 1)
Thu, Aug 5th, 2010, 6:47 pm (EST) by Shawn
Late last month Namco Bandai's Japanese branch revealed a series of new Tales games, one of which being Tales of Graces f, a PS3 port of the original Wii version which includes a plethora of new additions and updates. After a small number of fans posted on Namco Games, the branch of the company responsible for causal mobile and PC releases, the company posted the following response on their wall:
Firstly, thank you all for your excitement around the series. We also love the series here at Namco of America and are working with our Japan counterparts to determine if we'll see US releases for these games. Unfortunately, we don't currently have any plans to bring Tales of Graces to the US. If this changes, we'll let you know as soon as we can!
For those who follow the series and the company, Namco Bandai has normally disregarded fan responses to the Tales series, so to have the company acknowledge the fans, let alone comment on talking to their Japanese branch, which has control over what titles the North American branch can and cannot publish, was a welcome sign indeed. Shortly after this announcement, a petition on PlayStation.Blog Share for Sony to help localize both the PS3 and PSP Tales titles was posted, along with a plethora of wall posts on the Facebook wall which totaled over 300 in just a few days time.
Keep on reading for more information, as well as details for how to let Namco Bandai hear your voice on the matter.
Tales of Vesperia's Yuri Lowell Now In Plastic
Sat, Jul 24th, 2010, 12:28 am (EST) by Shawn
Yuri Lowell, the main protagonist from Tales of Vesperia and the winner in the recent Top 30 Most Popular Characters (General) poll at this year Tales of Festival, is now coming to plastic, figurine form thanks to Alter.
Alter is well-known in the figurine making business, with figurines for properties such as K-On! and the Xenosaga series. According to the company's blog post, a sample of the figurine will be present at the upcoming Wonder Festival 2010 (Summer).
No word was given on a release date or the price for the Yuri Lowell figurine, but news likely will be released tomorrow during the event.
Even More Tales of Vesperia Costumes
Sun, Feb 7th, 2010, 12:53 pm (EST) by Shawn
Just when you thought there wasn't enough DLC Tales of Vesperia costumes, Namco Bandai has announced more. Since the release of Tales of Vesperia on the PS3 in September 2009, the company has released a various assortment of costumes, ranging from cameos of earlier Tales of games to cameos of older Namco Bandai properties.
This latest batch don't seem to have to do with either one, instead being called the "strongest" costumes. From the pictures shown, it looks like these costumes could be considered as high-level, flashy variations of their normal costumes (think of it as a class change for each character).
Each costume will be released on February 10, 2010 for 300 Yen a piece in Japan. No word has been announced on an localization for either North America or Japan.
Tales of Vesperia Movie Blu-Ray Comes With PS3 DLC
Wed, Jan 27th, 2010, 7:25 pm (EST) by Shawn
Namco Bandai has announced that the Blu-ray version of Tales of Vesperia ~The First Strike~ will have PS3 DLC. The movie is a prequel to the game, focusing on Yuri and Flynn's past when they were in the Imperial Knights. Estelle, Raven, and Rita also have cameos, along with some other characters created specifically for the movie.
The movie will also be released on UMD and DVD. However, only the first prints of the Blu-ray version will include the DLC, which is for Yuri and Estelle. The DLC is available via a code which is included inside the movie's case.
The Blu-ray and DVD version of the movie will also have a trailer collection, audio commentary, and a new video which connects the game with the movie. The UMD version only include the trailer collection as an extra. Gamers interested in picking up the videos should remember that Blu-ray and UMD videos are region-locked, unlike video games.
The movie will be released on May 28, 2010 in Japan. No word has been made on either a localization of the PlayStation 3 version of Tales of Vesperia or an English version of the movie.
New Namco-Themed Tales of Vesperia DLC Costumes
Sun, Dec 20th, 2009, 7:34 pm (EST) by Shawn
Namco Bandai has revealed a slew of new Namco-themed Tales of Vesperia DLC costumes due to be released next year during Jump Festa 2010.
Each character will get one Namco-themed costume, ranging from the company's beginnings to its latest games. The costumes will be released on January 14th, 2010 (no price was revealed). The costumes are as follows:
Yuri: Heishiro Mitsurugi (Soul Calibur)
Estelle: Valkyrie (The Adventures of Valkyrie)
Flynn: Frederic Chopin (Eternal Sonata)
Repede: Character from Family Stadium
Karol: Klonoa (Klonoa)
Rita: Haruka Amami (The Idolmaster​)
Judith: KOS-MOS (Xenosaga)
Raven: Heihachi (Tekken)
Patty: Mr. Driller (Mr. Driller)
Improved Tales of Vesperia Abyss Costumes Now DLC
Wed, Dec 9th, 2009, 9:51 am (EST) by Shawn
According to an update on Famitsu's website, Namco Bandai will be re-releasing the Tales of the Abyss cameo costumes on the PlayStation Store later this month. Originally, said costumes were only available to those who had pre-ordered the game before it's release earlier this year.
However, these costumes are not exactly the same as the ones that were released before. The hair color and other modifications were made to match the original Tales of the Abyss characters better (the pre-order costumes merely just added the clothing onto the characters), and the "clothing" icon that appears next to DLC costumes is also there now.
Namco Bandai will release these new costumes on December 15th for 150 Yen each as a tie in to mark the fourth anniversary of the original game's release in Japan.
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