This Week in Famitsu

WEEKLY FAMITSU #1176

Cover Story

This month's Famitsu has an in-depth look at all things Capcom. Capcom can trace its roots as a company back to 1979, when it was created as a branch of the IRM Corporation for the manufacturing and production of “Capsule Computers”, a term used by the company to describe arcade machines. In fact, Capcom's name itself is an abbreviation of CAPsule COMputers.

Capcom's first release was a coin-operated baseball game in 1983 called Little League, but its first real video game, a top-down shooter called Vulgus, wasn't released until the following year. Since then, Capcom has gone on to establish itself as one of the leaders in the video game industry. They have created some of the most popular franchises of all time, including Street Fighter, Mega Man, Resident Evil, Devil May Cry, Ace Attorney (Phoenix Wright), Lost Planet, Dead Rising, and Monster Hunter.

Besides a basic history of the company, the article is chock-full of interesting Capcom trivia. For example, since being released in 1991 there have been 16 different versions of Street Fighter II to appear in both arcade and home console form. The Mega Man series is actually known as Rock Man in Japan and has seen over 60 releases since its introduction on the NES, with the 67th release, Mega Man Legends 3, currently in development for the 3DS. In fact, the Mega Man Legends series is Keiji Inafune's, the creator of Mega Man, favorite of all the various Mega Man games.

The Resident Evil series is known in Japan as Biohazard. The name was changed because Capcom was unable to trademark the name Biohazard in the United States. The Ace Attorney series was originally developed and released for the GBA here in Japan, and it wasn't until the series was ported to the DS that it was released abroad in other countries. Phoenix Wright's name in Japanese is actually Naruhodō Ryūichi, which is a word pun; naru hodo roughly translates to 'I see!' or 'I understand now!'

Last but certainly not least is Monster Hunter, or 'Mohan' as it is known colloquially in Japan. While Monster Hunter has a small following in the United States and sells decently, the series is popular in Japan. Really, REALLY popular. So much so, in fact, that since the series debuted in 2004, it has sold over 18 million copies, with more than 2/3 of those sales figures coming solely from Japan. Ask any 13 year old Japanese boy what game he likes and he will tell you 'Mohan', I guarantee it.

In addition to creating some of the biggest franchises of all time, Capcom also publishes many Western games here in Japan. Over the years, they have been responsible for the Japanese localization of many of the most popular franchises abroad, including Grand Theft Auto, God of War, The Getaway, True Crime and until fairly recently Call of Duty (With the release of Modern Warfare 2, Square Enix now publishes the series in Japan).

Famitsu also polled its readers on a number of topics relating to Capcom for their article. Here are the results:

Top 5 Most Popular Capcom Series

1.) Resident Evil

2.) Monster Hunter

3.) Street Fighter

4.) Mega Man

5.) Ace Attorney

Top 10 Capcom Series That People Want Sequels For

1.) Breath of Fire

2.) Monster Hunter

3.) Mega Man

4.) Final Fight

5.) Resident Evil

6.) Onimusha

7.) Rival Schools

8.) Devil May Cry

9.) Ghost 'n Goblins

10.) One Piece

Top 10 Favorite Capcom Characters

1.) Ryu (Street Fighter)

2.) Dante (Devil May Cry)

3.) Mega Man (Mega Man)

4.) Jill Valentine (Resident Evil)

5.) Airou (Monster Hunter)

6.) Albert Wesker (Resident Evil)

7.) Amaterasu (Okami)

8.) Phoenix Wright (Ace Attorney)

9.) Zero (Mega Man)

10.) Miles Edgeworth (Ace Attorney)

Featured Games

Grand Knight History (PSP): So, many of you might remember last week's Dragon's Crown, by VanillaWare (Odin Sphere, Muramasa) for the Vita, but did you know they are also making a regular PSP game? Grand Knights History is an RPG with strategy game elements, with a world set around a great war between 3 countries. You control 4 knights at a time in battle, and you can make up to 3 teams of knights to switch between. It's playable over PSN, so you can battle and check your rankings against other players online. The art is the typical gorgeous fare VanillaWare always puts out, and if nothing else, it will be interesting to see why it's listed as being playable by 1 player to infinity players... They literally use an infinity symbol, I've never seen that in Famitsu before. It's coming out here in Japan this September 1^st, but whether it makes it over to the US remains to be seen; with the PSP on its way out, and VanillaWare hard at work on another title for the Vita, this could get skipped over. Be prepared to import this one, VanillaWare faithful!

Dragon's Dogma (PS3): Touting the call line of being Capcom's first 'open world action game', Dragon's Dogma is just that: a vast world waiting for you to explore, and of course, kill everything you meet on the way. You can choose between 6 character classes for your journey: warrior, ranger, sorcerer, assassin, mystique knight (that's what they actually call it, but it's probably an English mistake for mystic knight) and a magic archer. As you adventure through the world with your allies (played by other friends over the internet or AI characters), you meet a variety of mythical monsters who want to kill and eat you, so of course you have to kill them first. It's currently scheduled to come out here in Japan sometime in the first quarter of 2012.

Rebuild of Evangelion 3nd Impact (PSP): Based off of the popular anime series Evangelion, this music rhythm game is being developed by Suda 51 (Killer 7, No More Heroes), with the music being supervised and created by Akira Yamoka, the famed composer of the Silent Hill Series! The game will feature six different gameplay modes, all of which are based on different aspects of the Rebuild Evagelion series.

Weird Games Found Only In Japan

New Love Plus (3DS): Back in 2009, Konami released a game called Love Plus for the DS in Japan. Love Plus was a dating sim game that let you pick one of three different girls (each with their own unique personalities) to engage in a virtual high-school relationship (FYI: There is no sex what-so-ever). The game sparked a cultural and social phenomenon in Japan. Love Plus became so popular that one gamer became an internet celebrity for marrying his Love Plus girlfriend, and a travel company actually started offering real life vacation packages to go on with your Love Plus girlfriend...I kid you not. Love Plus has sold 500,000 copies, so a 3DS sequel was inevitable.

The game still features the same three girls that made the first one such a sensation, but thanks to the 3DS's technology, it features superior graphics, which are now displayed in 3d, and improved features. In addition to the visual upgrade, the game takes full advantage of the systems multiple cameras. New Love Plus lets gamers introduce their girlfriend to their friends, which then allows your friend to come up in casual conversations you have with her. The camera is also used for the game's "boyfriend lock" feature, which ensures that your girlfriend only recognizes you and will treat anyone else playing your game as a stranger. The 3DS's cameras will also be used in conjunction with the systems built-in gyroscope, allowing you to look at your girl from all sides. Be warned though: if you stare at certain 'special' areas too much, she'll get embarrassed. You'll also be able to take pictures of your girl via a camera mode, and if you're on good terms with your girl, she'll even pose for you. The game also utilizes the 3DS's online play to allow you to let your girlfriend interact with other players' girlfriends, which will in-turn create new story-lines and conversations to take part in.

Look for this game to be released in the United States NEVER!

Hardware Sales: Week of 5/30-6/5

• PSP – 29,519 units
• 3DS – 27,866 units
• PS3 – 15,270 units
• Wii – 7,056 units
• NDS – 6,832 units
• 360 – 1,619 units
• PS2 – 1,141 units
  
  

Top 5 Selling Games: Week of 5/30-6/5

• Resident Evil: Mercenaries 3D (3DS) – 61,306 units
• One Piece: Unlimited Cruise SP (3DS) – 19,937 units
• Battle & Get! Pokemon Typing DS (DS) – 11,860 units
• Phantom Breaker (360) – 11,789
• Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 Professional (DS) – 10,613 units
  
  

Top 5 Most Anticipated Games: Based on survey results from 6/2-6/8

• Tales of Xillia (PS3)
• Final Fantasy: Type-O/Agito (PSP)
• Dragon Quest X (Wii)
• Photo Kano (PSP)
• 2^nd Super Robot Wars OG (PS3)

That's all for this weeks Famitsu, we hope you enjoyed it! Check back next week to see what is going on in gaming here in Japan! If you would like us to cover different subjects/topics please make sure to leave us some feedback in the comments section, thank you.

Submitted By: Aaron McKeever & Sherrie Blackwell