level-5
December 4th, 2009 at 04:00pm
Under DS
Japan’s infatuation with quaint, puzzle-filled villages has yet to wane. The second Professor Layton trilogy has started off on a positive note, with Professor Layton and the Devil’s Flute topping the Media Create sales charts. The latest in Level-5’s adventure series sold 306,000 copies in its first week at retail.
The rest of the weekly bestsellers list is almost entirely dominated by Wii and DS games, like Tomodachi Collection, Wii Fit Plus and another debut, Momotaro Dentetsu 2010!, the latest Wii release of Hudson’s Japan-only, train-themed board game series. The sole exception: Winning Eleven 2010, charting at number 7 with 20,000 copies sold. (The soccer sim’s life-to-date sales of 312,000 isn’t that far off from Layton’s first week!) Additionally, Cave’s region-free Xbox 360 shmup Mushihime-sama Futari just missed the top ten.
[Via Kotaku]
Professor Layton and the Devil’s Flute plays successfully in Japan originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: adventure, japan, level-5, media-create, professor-layton, professor-layton-and-the-devils-flute
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Professor Layton and the Devil’s Flute plays successfully in Japan
November 25th, 2009 at 12:30pm
Under DS
Professor Layton and the Devil’s Flute is out in Japan tomorrow, so Level-5 decided it was an appropriate time to go ahead and announce the next DS game in the second Layton trilogy. At a Devil’s Flute launch event, Level-5 president Akihiro Hino revealed the above artwork for Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask.
This fifth game has Layton and Luke investigating the mystery of the title artifact in Casino City, which seems to have been created by the wish-granting mask. According to a Famitsu report that leaked before the official reveal, there could be major changes to the familiar gameplay system.
Miracle Mask will be out in fall 2010, and may be followed by a second movie, Hino said. The company first has to solve the puzzle of how much money it will receive from the first one.
[Via Famitsu, Andriasang]
Level-5 reveals Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask, coming to Japan next fall originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 25 Nov 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: japan, level-5, professor-layton, professor-layton-and-the-miracle-mask, puzzle
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Level-5 reveals Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask, coming to Japan next fall
November 16th, 2009 at 03:15pm
Under DS
We were going to comment on the creepy “sign of the witch” that Professor Layton, Remi and young Luke encounter in this screenshot of Professor Layton and the Devil’s Flute — and how it seems that this Layton game is going in an unusually spooky and dark direction — but then we remembered that both of the Layton games out in North America contain some fairly scary supernatural-seeming content: mysterious murders, monsters, curses, and the like.
We tend to think of the Layton games as so pleasant and so light-hearted, but, really, there’s often something a bit sinister in many of the puzzles Layton must solve. Grab a cup of tea and head to Famitsu for more totally spooky screens.
Professor Layton and the sinister graffiti originally appeared on Joystiq Nintendo on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: japan, level-5, professor-layton, professor-layton-and-the-devils-flute, puzzle
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Professor Layton and the sinister graffiti
October 8th, 2009 at 06:40pm
Under Wii / Nintendo
Everything is improved with waggle. It’s a fact. Scientifically proven. And yet, Level 5 CEO Akihiro Hino has still seen fit to crush everyone’s hopes of a waggle-infused Professor Layton. Hino told Official Nintendo Magazine that the upcoming Professor Layton and the Last Time Travel will conclude the trilogy, though it will soon be followed by the first episode of a new trilogy, entitled Professor Layton and the Flute of Malevolent Destiny. That’s wonderful, and we’re sure handheld puzzle enthusiasts will be thrilled, but Hino notes — probably followed by a cruel, derisive laugh — that there are currently “no plans for a Wii release.”
Frankly, we’re shocked at the revelation, as a Wii release of Professor Layton seems like the mannerly, logical thing to do. We’re sure the world-famous Hershel Layton would agree.
Puzzling: No plans for Wii Professor Layton originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 08 Oct 2009 17:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: adventure, akihiro-hino, level-5, professor-layton, puzzle, Wii / Nintendo
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Puzzling: No plans for Wii Professor Layton
September 25th, 2009 at 02:00am
Under DS
Level-5’s Ni no Kuni: The Another World is, in general, a pretty standard JRPG. However, it’s a pretty standard RPG that takes place in a Studio Ghibli (Spirited Away, Ponyo, Princess Mononoke) world, and is thus magical. It really feels like you’re inhabiting a Ghibli movie, from the appearance of swarms of cute little spherical characters to the lush forest environments. The frequent animated cutscenes and the persistent voice acting (every line of text in the demo, whether in a cutscene or spoken in a pop-up text window) is fully voiced, which helps the cinematic feel.
Continue reading TGS 2009: Hands-on: Ni no Kuni
TGS 2009: Hands-on: Ni no Kuni originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 25 Sep 2009 01:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: level-5, ni-no-kuni, rpg, studio-ghibli, tgs-2009
By Mister-X
Continue Reading TGS 2009: Hands-on: Ni no Kuni
August 31st, 2009 at 02:46pm
Under Wii / Nintendo
Level-5 released character art of people working in the twenty different job-based “lives” in the developer’s newly announced Fantasy Life. The designs show the very Little King’s Story-esque style being used by character designer Hideo Minaba, which is going to charm the money right out of our bank accounts. Each one of these lives represents a unique set of quests, and a unique ending with a different Nobuo Uematsu vocal theme.
The identity of each Life isn’t labeled, though Andriasang printed a list from Famitsu magazine of all the jobs to go along with the picture. Many of them seem pretty obvious given the tools in their hands, and six of them are outright revealed by a second picture. Both images, and the list, are available after the break.
Continue reading Fantasy Life’s collection of lives
Fantasy Life’s collection of lives originally appeared on Joystiq Nintendo on Mon, 31 Aug 2009 13:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: fantasy-life, hideo-minaba, level-5, nobuo-uematsu, rpg, Wii / Nintendo
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Fantasy Life’s collection of lives
August 29th, 2009 at 06:00pm
Under DS
In Level-5’s homeland of Japan, the top-hat wearing sleuth Professor Layton is well past his originally planned trilogy, but North American gamers have only recently caught up to the second game in the franchise. According to Level-5 president and CEO Akihiro Hino, a combination of localizing the game’s puzzles and images and giving each title enough room to breathe at retail are contributing factors to Layton’s slow release schedule Stateside. “We want to let each title have time to perform on the market before releasing the next game,” Hino told Wired.
As for the recently released sequel Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box, Hino estimates the game features “roughly double” the amount of data than the first. Not only is Layton’s new tea-sipping adventure bigger, but it makes more sense contextually. “One lesson we learned from the first title is that some puzzles seemed irrelevant to the storyline,” Hino said, noting the Professor’s second outing actually works the puzzles into the game’s story to give them a purpose. “For instance, you may have to solve a puzzle about a key in order to enter a locked chamber.”
If Layton’s adventure piques your interest, make sure to check out our review of Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box.
Level-5’s CEO on lessons learned from Professor Layton’s first adventure originally appeared on Joystiq Nintendo on Sat, 29 Aug 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: akihiro-hino, interview, level-5, professor-layton, professor-layton-and-the-diabolical-box
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Level-5’s CEO on lessons learned from Professor Layton’s first adventure
August 26th, 2009 at 02:18pm
Under DS
In addition to the London Life RPG inside Professor Layton and the Devil’s Flute, Level-5 announced another collaboration with Brownie Brown, the Sword of Mana developer and Mother 3 co-creator: Fantasy Life, a town simulation in the vein of Animal Crossing.
Fantasy Life occurs in the world of Fantazeal, which shows prophesied signs of impending destruction after a shadow passes over the moon. If this were a normal RPG, you’d portray some kind of teenaged hero fighting to save the world from this catastrophe, but in this game, it basically doesn’t seem to matter: you choose a job and undertake daily “Life Quests” related to that job, to improve your wealth and happiness levels. The game includes local and online wireless functionality, allowing others to visit your town.
Aside from Level-5 and Brownie Brown, Fantasy Life features more big names. Nobuo Uematsu is composing an opening theme, as well as ending themes for the ending of each job’s “life,” and character design is being done by Hideo Minaba, a Final Fantasy series alum who most recently designed the characters in Little King’s Story.
[Via Andriasang]
Level-5 invites players into a ‘Fantasy Life’ … in a doomed town originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 26 Aug 2009 13:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: brownie-brown, fantasy-life, hideo-minaba, level-5, nobuo-uematsu
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Level-5 invites players into a ‘Fantasy Life’ … in a doomed town
August 25th, 2009 at 03:00pm
Under DS
Ni no Kuni (The Another World), the Level-5/Studio Ghibli RPG for DS that includes the huge spellbook, will no longer be considered Level-5’s 10th anniversary game — because it won’t be out in 2009. The game has been bumped to spring 2010.
A playable demo was available at the LEVEL-5 VISION conference, and the same demo will be playable at Tokyo Game Show, where it will also be handed out to lucky attendees as part of the Level-5 Platinum demo cartridge Said cartridge which also hourse Professor Layton and the Devil’s Box and Inazuma Eleven 2 demos. Check out Andriasang for predictably lush new screens and artwork.
Level-5 and Studio Ghibli’s Another World delayed until another year originally appeared on Joystiq Nintendo on Tue, 25 Aug 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: delays, japan, level-5, ni-no-kuni, rpg, studio-ghibli, the-another-world
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Level-5 and Studio Ghibli’s Another World delayed until another year
August 25th, 2009 at 02:00pm
Under DS
Most American gamers have yet to get their copies of Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box, and Level-5 has already released news that will make you yearn for the fourth game. At last night’s LEVEL-5 VISION conference, the company announced that Professor Layton and the Devil’s Flute will include a bonus game, Professor Layton and London Life.
The Brownie Brown-developed London Life is an RPG that, according to Level-5’s Akihiro Hino, will last over 100 hours. It was originally announced for the ROID cell phone game service — we have yet to learn whether it will still be released there in addition to DS. Devil’s Flute will be out on November 26 in Japan.
Professor Layton 4 includes unlockable Professor Layton RPG originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 25 Aug 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: level-5, level-5-vision-2009, professor-layton, professor-layton-and-london-life, professor-layton-and-the-devils-flute, puzzle, rpg
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Professor Layton 4 includes unlockable Professor Layton RPG
