Few details have been announced for the game conversion. Arc says that it will have an original story and will have a mix of original puzzles and puzzles pulled from the show.

The anime series is currently running, and a second season has already been confirmed.

A puzzle game sounds interesting. Based on what the anime has shown so far, the puzzles are challenging and this game will be definitely worth it.

Source: andriasang

The Baka to Test to Shōkanjū Portable board game/adventure game from Kadokawa Games will allow players to experience the summoning exam wars of the story. Players advance through the game board part of the software by spinning a roulette, and they collect equipment and money along the way. There will also be a part of the game where players can interact with every character, as well as beast-summoning battles.

Source: ANN

Kyubey’s face appears on the 4 GBmemory card which includes a product code for Kyubei downloadable content from the PlayStation Store.

Will be out on 15 March 2012 at a retail price of 3,280 yen.

Will you make a contract with Kyubey for your PSP? :D

Source: ANN

Known as Disaster Report in the west, this series was non-existent to me as I do not own a PS2. It was the news on the cancellation of Zettai Zetsumei Toshi 4 that I started looking into it. The fourth game was supposed to be released on the PS3, but due to the 2011 Tohoku earthquake in March the developer had no choice but to cancel it.

I can’t comment on the first two games or do any form of comparison as I have not played them, but from what I’ve experienced in the third game this is quite an… interesting title. Although you are generally just travelling from Point A to Point B the set pieces, random events and story help to prevent this game from being a snore and the gameplay is different from the many games that I have played before.

You play as a university student who is trying to survive in the aftermath of a huge earthquake that left Central Island in a very bad state. Before I started, I was pretty skeptical and wasn’t quite sure how Irem is able to develop a game like this without making it boring. However after playing it, I was impressed and rather intrigued by some of the game design choices that they make. So instead of holding the R button for a shield attack or hitting the square button to slash some dude like what I’m used to, you can crouch/crawl during random aftershocks to prevent the character from falling down and getting injured, or shout to locate survivors.

There is a health bar that is shared with the stress bar which I thought was neat and also really fitting to the type of game this is. The stress bar increases through certain factors and overrides the health bar from the right. Some of the factors that affect the character’s stress level include witnessing a traumatic scene, getting drenched in the rain, and hanging from an edge. You can use items that you have picked up to lower the stress level (but does not recover any health), or rest on allocated benches to fully restore both stress and health.

Some of these are probably common features that can be found in many games but when they are put together here, they make sense and are very suitable.

Zettai Zetsumei Toshi 3 also features unique set of dialogue choices and multiple endings for each of the two characters (a guy and a girl) that you can choose from at the start of the game. This also mean pre-rendered FMVs for each of them so if you are a completionist then you will have a lot of replaying to do. The dialogue choices affects the protagonist’s relationship with other characters which changes how they interact with each other during cutscenes. The choices are not deep and the developer definitely didn’t try to blur the line between good and evil, so it is easy to aim for the ending that you want.

Earthquake is a large scale disaster, which means the environment should be reasonably big in order to evoke that sense of scale. However with the PSP’s current hardware it is difficult to achieve that and at the same time ensure that the visuals hold up. Other than the main characters, most of the assets in the game are really blocky looking. At a distance, the environment look okay but when you get closer (which you are often doing) everything looks quite bad.

As bad as I may be commenting on the visuals, the developer is probably already pushing the limits of the PSP… though maybe a little too much because the frame rate is choppy in a number of places. This will be solved when the series finally makes its way to the next-gen consoles.

Zettai Zetsumei Toshi 3 is the first game in the series to feature a multiplayer mode and it supports up to 4 players. As you play through the game, you will unlock more missions for multiplayer. I have not tried this out yet and probably never will since there won’t be anybody who can play it with me, but I think it is safe to assume that the environment puzzles are the same as the singleplayer ones except that you are solving them with another human being instead of an NPC.

The costumes that are picked up in the singleplayer campaign can be used in multiplayer. I’m not sure if that applies to usable items like gas mask and umbrella, but I can see them helping a great deal especially if you can give and receive the items from other players too.

I like what I have seen and played so far of this game and I look forward to the next installment in the series. However, as much as I wish for a sequel, how long Irem feel that the series should take a break as a respect for the lives lost in the Tohoku earthquake is completely up to them and I’m sure everybody understands that.

Also the seiyuu cast from the PSP game will reprise their roles, though the 3 sisters will be voiced by different seiyuu – instead of by one actress (Kanae Itou) as in the game

• Hiroshi Kamiya as Rick
• Kanae Itou as Amil
• Mai Aizawa as Neris
• Shiori Mikami as Airy

My only comment? Oh YEAH!! :D

Source: ANN

Game Title: [PS3] Powerful Pro Baseball 2011 Ultimate Version
Catalog Number: VT049-J1
Release Date: 22 December 2012
Retail Price: 6,980 yen
Preorder at: CDJapan

Game Title: [PSP] Powerful Pro Baseball 2011 Ultimate Version
Catalog Number: VP094-J1
Release Date: 22 December 2012
Retail Price: 5,250 yen
Preorder at: CDJapan

Source: andriasang

People who pre-order the magical battle action game will receive the Nanoha and Fate characters’ Barrier Jacket costumes from last year’s Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha The MOVIE 1st, as well as their Christmas costumes. The players gain “Lyrical Points” as they clear each mode of the game, and they can use the points to unlock other rare costumes (such as swimsuits) or special cards.

Gears of  Destiny will be out on 22 December 2011. Preorder details below.

Game Title: Mahou Shojo Lyrical Nanoha A’s Portable: The Gears of Destiny [Limited Edition]
Catalog Number: ULJS-384
Release Date: 22 December 2011
Retail Price: 13,629 yen
Preorder at: CDJapan

Game Title: Mahou Shojo Lyrical Nanoha A’s Portable: The Gears of Destiny [Regular Edition]
Catalog Number: ULJS-385
Release Date: 22 December 2011
Retail Price: 5,229 yen
Preorder at: CDJapan

Source: ANN

Also in the Ultimania interview, Tabata discusses possible directions for a Type-0 sequel. He said feels like he’d like to do a direct sequel featuring the same world and characters, and also create a true numbered sequel, which he referred as Type-1. He also said that he’d like to make the next title on a console.

While a sequel has been rumored for Type-0 in Japan, Tabata has said that the series’ future will be determined by player reaction, so players have to pick up the Japanese version, or pick up the international version when it’s released.

Source: andriasang

You get the demo from either 4gamer or Famitsu.com.

This new demo seems to have different quests from the TGS version. It includes 2 original quests which won’t be available in the final retail version of the game.

One of the quest is for beginners and the other is more advanced players.

Lord of Apocalypse is scheduled for release in Japan on 17 December 2011.

Source: andriasang

The video highlights the involvement of A Certain Scientific Railgun/A Certain Magical Index creator Kazuma Kamachi as a supervisor, as well as the anime cast who voiced all of the game’s dialogue. The game also features newly animated sequences.

The title has three forms of gameplay. In the conversation part, the player can interact with the characters seen in the anime version and obtain information key to unraveling the mysteries in the story. In the “special deduction” part’s girls-talk mode, the player talks with four characters and then makes decisions on what to do next. This leads to the “special deduction” part’s judgment mode where the closer the players gets to the truth, the higher the game’s gauge rises. In the action part, the characters are recreated in 3D graphics for battles.

-via ANN

The limited first edition of the game will bundle a figma figure of the character Shirai Kuroko, and all pre-ordered copies will include an exclusive screen-cleaning cloth illustrated by J.C. Staff. Preorder details below.

Game Title: Toaru Kagaku no Railgun PSP [Limited Edition, comes with figma Kuroko]
Catalog Number: ULJS-353
Release Date: 8 December 2011
Retail Price: 9,429 yen
Preorder at: CDJapan

Game Title: Toaru Kagaku no Railgun PSP [Regular Edition]
Catalog Number: ULJS-354
Release Date: 8 December 2011
Retail Price: 6,279 yen
Preorder at: CDJapan