Gamertell

Host clubs are no secret in Japan. Interested parties will find the streets of Kabuki-cho in Shinjuku (Tokyo, Japan) swarming with sharply dressed young gentlemen bombarding women of all ages in hopes of luring them back to their love nest that is one of their host clubs.

Last Escort is a unique series, usually on the PS2, that has enjoyed success on the Japan thanks to many a fine lady interested in getting a glimpse of what the host club scene in Japan is like without committing oodles of real-world monetary funds.

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With only just a month left to go until the exciting and anticipated release of Square Enix’s latest chapter to the long-standing pivotal Final Fantasy series, fans will be clamoring to gain access to the Final Fantasy XIII launch party.

Square Enix will be hosting a two-part event in honor of the game on March 8, 2010, in San Francisco, California.

The first, coined the “Final Fantasy XIII Experience”, is described as a fan-focused event that will take place in the day across two 2-hour sessions. There, attendees can enjoy playing the game first hand, browsing a gallery of artwork, viewing trailers, and meeting members of the development staff. This daytime event will also feature a raffle where lucky individuals will be able to win “fantastic” prizes, yet to be announced. During this time, a select group of guests will also be invited to partake in the second part of the two-fold event, the Final Fantasy XIII launch party that will occur later that evening.

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NIS (Nippon Ichi Software) America, most popularly known for its library of delightfully unique games including the Disgaea series, has announced a new ongoing project in its horizon: anime.

NIS America announced on February 11, 2010, that the company would be releasing anime titles mid-2010 to quench the growing thirst for Japanese pop culture. Following the footsteps of many of their games, the anime titles the company plans to release will be offered with exclusive collector’s items.

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Even though Japan is currently enjoying the release of Final Fantasy XIII for the Playstation 3 (released on December 17, 2009), American fans aren’t being left out in the blistering winter cold this holiday season.

On December 23, 2009, Square Enix will kick off its Stylin’ Final Fantasy XIII Sweepstakes where 13 lucky winners will be able to win an assortment of Final Fantasy XIII-inspired accessories.

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Check out the gallery: Square Enix announces STYLIN� FINAL FANTASY XIII Sweepstakes

Tecmo will be redefining the word “handheld” with its latest announcement, Dead or Alive Paradise, which promises to bring everyone’s favorite batch of barely clothed busty babes to Sony PSP owners in Japan this coming Spring 2010.

Paradise is what you might call a stripped down (pun intended) version of the Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball (DOAX) series. DOAX is a game that revolves around the lovely ladies of the DOA series prancing around in sometimes barely-existent bikinis on a beautiful private beach doing anything but fighting.

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The January 2010 issue of B’s Log is sure to bring big smiles to fans of Konami’s popular dating simulation game Tokimeki Memorial Girl’s Side (TMGS).

Gracing the cover of this month’s current issue was one of the new characters coupled with the official title of the new addition scheduled for a tentative 2010 release on the Nintendo DS.

Tokimeki Memorial Girl’s Side 3rd Story takes place seven years after the events of the first TMGS game at Habataki Gakuen. This new chapter in the series promises new locations, gameplay, delectable date-ables (of course) and even a new main character sporting a new hairstyle and school uniform. The main character will still have a sidekick who serves as a barometer for your crushes’ affection as well as important statistics, but no additional details have been released yet.

So far, only 3 character have been introduced: Ruka Sakurai, Arashi Fujiyama, and Tamao Konno.

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Check out the gallery: Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side 3rd Story

Japan is a country that specializes in niches and otome (games directed at female gamers) games are no exception. Since otome games are such a common commodity among the female population of gamers, there’s even a magazine wholly dedicated to it called Dengeki Girl’s Style.

Dengeki Girl’s Style finds it roots with Dengeki PlayStation, a monthly Japanese gaming magazine published by ASCII Media Works. Initially introduced as Dengeki PlayStation Girl’s Style on December 4, 2003, the title was later changed to its current form in the early part of 2007. While this magazine is chock full of everything and anything an avid otome-gamer might want, it unfortunately sees only a bimonthly release.

Sold at 740 to 830 yen (approx. US$8 to $9), certain issues of Girl’s Style even include exclusive packaged goodies of the current flavor of the month game in the form of such paraphernalia including phone straps, card files, calendars, and bookmarks. This month’s issue (September 21, 2009) made females weak in the knees with art from Idea Factory’s Hakuouki Portable for the Sony PSP lavishing the cover and included an exclusive Hakuouki long strap featuring one of the game’s forlorn heroes in a vulnerable pose.

Dengeki Girl’s Style brings its readers information on otome games of all media including MS Windows, consoles, handhelds and even cell phones. The cell phone games, especially, will make American cell phone owners green with envy thanks to the sluggish pace when it comes to US cell phone technology. It’s also worth mentioning that this magazine includes comprehensive special reports on popular game specific merchandise available in Japan.

The September 2009 issue features a 2-page spread on Hakuouki goods, for example, that includes pictures of every single item as well as prices. The magazine almost always features exclusive interviews with the seiyuu (Japanese voice actors) who bring life to the handsome bishounen (Japanese term for handsome or pretty boy) characters of popular otome games as well as round-about information on otome conventions and events.

Each month, Dengeki Girl’s Style features an exclusive cover with art created specifically for the magazine by the original artist of the game that’s chosen. Not only that, the pick of the month also gets a whopping 10+ pages worth of coverage that includes anything from the character artist’s comments on his/her designs, walkthroughs, related events, and special side-stories just to name a few.

I highly suggest trying to nab a copy of Dengeki Girl’s Style because if you’re a die-hard otome fan, you will definitely not be disappointed with this magazine’s contents. It keeps you abreast on all the hot new dating simulation games amidst beautifully illustrated visuals.

Unfortunately, finding this magazine outside of Japan poses an extremely difficult challenge since most import sites (such as PlayAsia, NCSX, JBOX) don’t carry it. However, if you’re lucky enough to live near a Kinokuniya bookstore, then I’d suggest that is your best outlet for obtaining this elusive publication. Of course, curious cats and interested readers can always take the now savvy green approach and check out the official website.

Since the website is completely in Japanese, it may be a bit of a doozy for those who aren’t familiar with the language. Here’s a hint though: Most of the clickable links show English equivalents at the bottom of your internet browser if you merely roll your mouse over them, so it’s best to be attentive. Or, you could get creative and simply utilize one of the many free text translation sites like Yahoo’s Babel Fish to do all the hard work for you.

Site [Dengeki Girl’s Style] Read [Gamertell]

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Hot off the press of the latest issue of the Weekly Famitsu, Square Enix breaks its silence regarding information on the much anticipated Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep (KHBBS) for the Playstation Portable. The director of this new chapter in the Kingdom Hearts series, Testuya Nomura, confirmed that KHBBS would indeed be playable at the 2009 Tokyo Game Show and also feature a brand new trailer.

KHBBS is an action role-playing game that serves as a prequel set ten years prior to the first Kingdom Hearts game. Its battle system slightly resembles that of Re:Chain of Memories (Playstation 2) and allows players to customize their “deck” by choosing which techniques and abilities are displayed onscreen.

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Check out the gallery: Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep

At the 2009 Electronics Entertainment Expo, Square Enix debuted a playable demo of the latest chapter in its Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles series titled The Crystal Bearers for Wii.

In the demo, I was able to experience Layle’s mysterious abilities in an assortment of different environments. During battles, players will utilize the WiiMote by moving it to collaborate with the onscreen targeting point and pushing the B button to commence its appropriate action. This could be anything from telekinetically controlling a Gatling gun to Swiss cheese oncoming avian enemies, to targeting chasing enemy Chocobo knights and tossing them from their steeds in an attempt to flee.

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I first caught a glimpse of Bayonetta at the 2008 Tokyo Game Show so when I found out that Sega would be debuting a playable demo of this game, I made sure I held my place in line. The demo offered two different stages: A tutorial (easy mode) and actual levels (normal mode).

Bayonetta is a third-person action adventure game amidst a fully 3D environment with game play that closely resembles Capcom’s Devil May Cry. It includes an intact combo system as well as a scoring meter that tallies everything at the end of the level and awards the player with different trophies representative of skill level displayed. Bayonetta was being demoed on the Xbox 360 and is scheduled for a multi-platform release in late 2009 (Xbox 360, Playstation 3). From the early looks of this game and the demo, it looks like the latter part of 2009 is heating up to be be one extremely sexy adrenaline rush.

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Check out the gallery: Bayonetta