Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey announced

Atlus U.S.A. announced Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey, the very first first-person science fiction RPG for Nintendo DS set in the ultra popular Shin Megami Tensei RPG game universe. Strange Journey is set in the near future, where a mysterious and ever-growing, black void appears at the Earth’s southern pole. Unsure of what to do about this void, humanity sends an elite team of explorers (four ships carrying humanity’s finest soldiers and most cutting-edge technology) into the heart of the phenomenon in hopes of stopping its deadly expansion. Obviously this rift, black hole or whatever you want to label it as demonic and otherworldly in nature.

According to Atlus, Strange Journey’s game mechanics and presentation herald a return to the series’ roots. The game feature a first-person view, the ability to team up with more than 300 types of demons, plenty of options to build your party and party strategy and a mature rated storyline that long-time fans should appreciate.

When the black spot appeared in the Antarctic, mankind became nervous; when it began to spread, that anxiety turned to panic. The Joint Project, convened to discuss how to deal with the expanding anomaly, decided to send in four ships carrying humanity’s finest soldiers and most cutting-edge technology. The mission: to investigate what lay on the other side of what had been dubbed the Schwarzwelt and find out if there was a way to stop it from eventually covering the Earth.

You play as one of the many elite soldiers hand-picked for the Strike Team, but you are outfitted with a Demonica environment suit and posted to the Red Sprite under Commander Gore. Upon entering the Schwarzwelt, or pocket world, the crew finds itself forced to deal with harsh conditions, supernatural interference, and throngs of demons populating within the world.

Fort Zombie now available

The Zombie Apocalypse begins anew in publisher Paradox Entertainment’s and developer Kerberos Productions’ action-strategy-RPG, Fort Zombie. In Forte Zombie you are a survivor of a zombie outbreak in a small town. You’re goal is pretty simple: Find a place to hideout, fight from and stay alive. But staying alive means finding supplies, training other survivors that may want to join you and kill any zombies that might get a little too rambunctious. Zombies can be precocious little fellows sometimes.

Players will really need to assemble a party from the survivors you can find. You’ll also have to step outside your comfort zone to get supplies like weapons and ammo (and food), to help with the survival effort. Military and emergency vehicles, the best sources for hardware and vital ammunition are also a must find to survive.

Fort Zombie is available for purchase through all major digital distribution channels for the hauntingly low suggested retail price of $9.99 and €9.99.

Medal Wars demo available now

A demo for Medal Wars is now available on PC at www.medalwars.com. Medal Wars is an cartoon style action-RPG set in the chaos of World War 1. The demo features the first act from the game. The full game will offer three character classes with unique attributes and weapon skills, 24 areas to explore, an advanced combat system that offers a deep targeting system, an on-screen inventory and full multiplayer support for Local Area Network and internet.

The demo doesn’t require much to run: Windows 95, 98, XP, Vista; Pentium 500 or equivalent; 64 MB RAM; 20 MB available hard drive space and a 16 MB video card. If you can meet those meager requirements then you should grab the demo now at the link above.

Harvest Moon: Animal Parade gold

Natsume announced today that Harvest Moon: Animal Parade for the Nintendo Wii has gone gold and will be released on November 10th at an MSRP of $49.99 and is rated E for Everyone by the ESRB. In the game playr are charged with figuring out what the hell is going on in Harmonica Town.

 Crops aren’t growing, the wind isn’t blowing, and the five elemental bells are missing. Only the power of the Harvest King can revive the land, but he’s nowhere to be found. It’s up to the player to find the five bells, awaken the Harvest King, and save the town - all while managing a farm and your love life as you would be excted to do in a Harvest Moon game.

On a related note, players who pre-order the game at GameStop will receive a limited edition plush duck. Quantities are limited, so get the duck over there and pre-order if you want one.

Fort Zombie dated for Halloween

Kerberos Studios and publish Paradox Interactive announced today that their action-RPG title, Fort Zombie, will be released on Halloween through various digital distribution platforms. In the game you play as a survivor of a Zombie apocalypse who must find shelter, create a makeshift fortress from an abandoned structure and stay alive. You’ll have to scrounge for supplies and weapons, recruit other survivors and wait out this pox on humanity.. or die trying.

Fort Zombie will be available on October 30, for purchase exclusively through all major digital distribution channels for the low suggested retail price of $9.99 and €9.99. For more information, visit www.fortzombie.com. You can get a taste of what this game is all about by visiting youtube.com.

More Demon’s Souls stock heading to retail

Atlus U.S.A. has released additional stock of Demon’s Souls, the recently released action RPG for PlayStation 3, will be making its way to stores across North America this week in response to what it calls overwhelming demand.

“We’re thrilled at the level of interest and acclaim gamers are showing for Demon’s Souls, one of the best reviewed games of the year and one of the highest-rated role-playing games of all time,” stated Aram Jabbari, Manager of PR and Sales for Atlus. “We’re working quickly to get more copies of the game out onto store shelves. We thank fans for supporting a daring, innovative product, and we ask interested gamers to be patient as stock is replenished.”

Atlus also announced that the game’s Deluxe Edition, which featured a 160-page strategy guide and collectible embossed slipcase, is now considered out of print in North America and will not be remanufactured.

Demon’s Souls is out now for PlayStation 3 system and retails with an MSRP of $59.99.
To see why the game is selling like crazy, check out our review.

Alpha Protocol ‘officially’ pushed to 2010

Here’s a bit of a non shocker - SEGA of America and SEGA Europe Ltd. officially announced that Alpha Protocol, Obsidian Entertainment’s much anticipated and first original RPG (an espionage thriller) will be moving to a spring 2010 release date for the Xbox 360, the PlayStation 3 and the PC. Didn’t we already know this and was there any doubt about that fact? Online retailers pushed the date into 2010 awhile ago. Anyway, here’s Obsidian sounding absolutely delighted about the delay - shouldn’t the tone be a little bit somber?

“We’re very happy that SEGA has made the decision to hold back the shipment of the game in order to give it the best chance at becoming the publishing success that we at Obsidian and our partners at SEGA are striving for.“

“We’ve worked in conjunction with Obsidian Entertainment in making the decision to move Alpha Protocol’s ship date to spring 2010 to ensure that we have the best game possible at launch,” said Masanao Maeda, President and COO, SEGA of America.”

And there you have it and it’s official: no Alpha Protocol in 2009.