Sadly, JRPG July must come to an end, but luckily I’ve got another great Community Game-Along theme lined up for August! While many months are themed around game genres, I also like to mix in specific game developers from time to time, as well. This time around, August is all about PlatinumGames!
Calling all Kirby fans! Starting this August, you’ll be able to eat all manner of food shaped like the adorable pink puffball at the brand new Kirby Café… if you live in Japan, of course.
Unveiled by the official HAL Labratory Twitter account, the cafe will be a limited-time affair, so if you don’t live in Japan, it’s time to start planning those trips! Unfortunately, the official website has no word on where the café will be located, but I think there’s a pretty good chance it’ll be somewhere in Tokyo.
There will also be limited edition merchandise that can only be purchased at the Kirby Café, but nothing aside from the August launch date has been revealed so far. The official Kirby Café Twitter account did, however, share this adorable stop motion animation to commemorate the announcement:
はじめまして！『カービィカフェ』です。この夏、「星のカービィ」の世界観をテーマにしたカフェをオープンします。https://t.co/dGo0tFNSkl pic.twitter.com/cV4cLaCtTJ
— KIRBY CAFÉ / カービィカフェ (@KirbyCafeJP) July 7, 2016
My heart be still! If, like me, this video has you somewhat inspired to make your own adorable Kirby vignettes, you can get your very own Kirby Nendoroid at CDJapan. It’s not the same thing as visiting the cafe, but it’ll have to do…
I had no idea going into this year’s Anime Expo that Aksys Games would announce not one, but four otome games localizations, but here we are! With Idea Factory International’s silence after releasing Amnesia: Memories, it wasn’t clear if and when we would see more Otomate games in English, but luckily Aksys Games has shown they value this market by showering fans with game announcements. And I couldn’t be happier!
[Update] Period Cube and Collar x Malice are available on Amazon!
Scheduled to release in 2017 for PS Vita in North America are Period Cube, Bad Apple Wars, Collar x Malice. In addition, the Code: Realize fan disc will also be getting an English release. Since Aksys Games already brought over Code: Realize last year, it makes sense that they would release the fan disc (not quite a sequel, but rather extra content for fans of the original game), but all of these other titles came as a complete surprise!
[Update] Apparently Aksys Games also stated during their Anime Expo 2016 panel that they are trying to release Hakuouki: Sweet School Life, the Hakuoki AU spinoff game set in a Japanese high school, as well.
July is nearly upon us, and that means it’s time to start picking out games for JRPGS July! Created as part of my monthly Community Game-Alongs, JRPG July has proved to be the most popular theme by far. I’m excited to see what everyone plays throughout the month!
But first, allow me to explain the rules: to participate in JRPG July, simply play a JRPG. That’s it! But to get the most out of the festivities, share your experiences and connect with other participants by tagging your posts with #JRPGJuly on social media. You don’t have to stop there, though – why not share a blog post, podcast, or gameplay video, too? The goal is to get as many people playing and enjoying JRPGs as possible, so do spread the word!
Since July is often a slow release month, this is a great time to knock off some games in your backlog, but there are also a lot of great JRPGs that have recently come out or will be coming out in July. Below are a few you might want to check out, but you can also head to the 2014 and 2015 JRPG July posts for more recommendations!
When I first moved to Australia five and a half years ago, I was pretty isolated. Not only was I in a completely new country, but my husband and I moved to a city where we didn’t know anyone, much less fellow nerds! That’s why, when StreetPass groups started popping up around the world for folks outside Japan to have more chances to obtain those precious StreetPass hits, I immediately set out to create my own.
Five years later, I’ve organized StreetPass meetups in Brisbane nearly every month. Not only have I been able to complete many, many StreetPass puzzles, but I’ve also been able to bring other Nintendo fans together to enjoy a hobby they love in a welcoming environment. Let me tell you, it’s been a whole lot of fun!
Hello June! Sadly, we’re now halfway through the Community Game-Along themes for 2016, but the good news is we still have lots of good themes left! For June, we’ll be doing a slightly different theme, as suggested by @BadoorSNK: media tie-in games!
Media tie-in games are often shunned as cheap cash grabs, but this month we’re going to celebrate some of the good ones! And maybe laugh at the bad ones? Either way, it’s going to be a blast!
Remember that vaguely creepy teddy bear simulator for the Nintendo 3DS? No? Well, three years after its Japanese release, Kuma Tomo is finally coming out in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand as Teddy Together. Wait, what?!
I don’t know about you, but getting a random PR email announcing the localization of a game I nearly forgot about is not something I expect at 6 pm on an average Tuesday. But hey, why not?! Kuma Tomo scared more than a few folks with its talking bear who remembers the your responses to questions it asks you (just check out this Japanese commercial), but Nintendo of Australia is marketing Teddy Together as a game for parents and children to play together to help develop their reading and interpersonal skills. Let me tell you, I can’t wait to hear what the teddy bear sounds like in English.
So, will this game come out in North America, or is it doomed to be another Europe-only Nintendo release? If so, I hope that at least means Teddy has a British accent. You can pick up Teddy Together for 3DS on July 1st in Europe and July 2nd in Australia/NZ. It will also be compatible with amiibo figures, which I believe is new to the English version!