Crispy Gamer News

Digimon are the champions. Namco Bandai’s latest game based on the popular digital monster collection cartoon is on stores shelves today. Digimon World Championship for Nintendo DS lets players join in on a legendary tournament as a wet-behind-the-ears tamer. Using a variety of hunting gear players explore and hunt over 200 wild Digimon in their natural habitats, then tame them and use their powers in battle.

As you’d expect, this game is rated “E” for everyone - no killing hookers or smoking crack in this game, thank you very much.

Atlus passed along word this evening that Master of the Monster Lair has slipped from September to the new release date of October 21.  No specific reason was revealed for the delay. Master of the Monster Lair for Nintendo DS lets players create the dungeon of their dreams. Once you build it they will come. Of course, if they don’t you’ll have to try to lure in a variety of monsters carrying different types of items and treasure. Master lair builders will also be able to trade designs with friends via local wireless.

Look for the game in late October.

Namco Bandai Games announced that it is bringing Afro Samurai to Comic-Con (July 23-27, San Diego Convention Center) this week, with sneak-peak demos of the game. Based on Spike TV’s anime series starring and executive- produced by Samuel L. Jackson, Afro Samurai combines hip-hop culture with traditional Japanese culture to create a fresh cinematic experience. The playable demos (located in booth# 5037) will provide attendees an early glimpse at the action game. Afro Samurai will be released Q1 2009 on Xbox 360 and PS3.

An Afro Samurai panel will also be conducted on Thursday, July 24 (4:15pm – 5:15pm; Room 6B) featuring the creators behind the hit series including star and executive producer Samuel L. Jackson (The Spirit), musical artist The RZA, (Kill Bill), original creator Takashi Okazaki, and executive producer Leo Chu (Spike TV). Finally, the creators will premiere an exclusive Comic-Con trailer and artwork from the manga.

More Comic-Con news here.

Okay, I lied, she’s still unemployed and loving it. NIS America’s Izuna 2: The Unemployed Ninja Returns is now in stores across North America. The sequel sees everyone’s favorite raspberry haired ninja in an all new set of adventures featuring wacky characters, zippy dialogue and that devil may care attitude fans have grown to appreciate. The sequel promises more game content, combat options, and RPG depth. Oh and it might just pass the time until Disgaea 3 and Spectral Force 3 are released next month.

Find out more at www.atlus.com.

A new Naruto game from Ubisoft Montreal is in the works and apparently going straight to Xbox Live.
Naruto: The Broken Bond will build on Rise of a Ninja with an all new adventure where the loud mouthed ninja will grow up a little and become a mature hero.

Playing as Naruto, players explore an open environment based on the popular anime series and take part in its most important battles using new teamwork skills both offline and online. Ubisoft also promises the ability to team up with multiple characters (25 to choose from), an online tournament mode, and new techniques and jutsu.

The game will hit Xbox Live in November.

Namco Bandai America’s latest One Piece game makes its way to the Nintendo Wii today. There are several pirate-themed videogames hitting the market today, so I am going to avoid spending the intellectual capital on pirate-themed pokes, witty banter and puns.

Based on the animated misadventures the Straw Hat Pirates that airs on Cartoon Network, One Piece: Unlimited Adventure is a platform-y beat-’em-up mini-game mash-up featuring the stars of the show in all their glory.

Players will use the Wii remote and Nunchuk controller to twist, turn and swing against nefarious enemies infesting a mysterious island on which the Straw Hat Pirates have found themselves stranded. Up to eight different Straw Hat Pirates are up for play in Adventure Mode, with special moves such as Luffy’s Gum Gum Storm and Nami the Navigator’s Cyclone Tempo at your disposal. And if that’s not enough One Piece characters, you can unlock over 40 playable characters for use in Survival and Vs. Modes. Other features include a brand-new story, new outfits and items and attacks to unlock. Look for the game in stores today.

Atari is finally bringing the Dragon Ball Z fighting game franchise to the high-definition generation of consoles. In a press release today the company laid out plans to bring Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit to both the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 sometime in 2008. Both games are being developed by Namco Bandai Games.

While there’s a lot of marketing-speak going on in today’s announcement, the main focus of Burst Limit seems to be lightening-fast, open-world fighting featuring the cast from the popular anime series and buckets of graphical enhancements. The one bit of information revealed today that players may appreciate is online multiplayer, though details on that were not available at press time.

It will be interesting to see how the developers use the resources of both systems to enhance the franchise above and beyond what has been done on the Wii and the PlayStation 2 in giving the franchise a next-generation makeover.