Street Fighting IV is still sitting on the shelf for me (borrowed from our reviewer Victor) but always keep an eye on BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger thanks to its superb 2D graphics. However, and as rumored weeks before, ArcSystemWorks is indeed working on the consoles port for BlazBlue Continuum Shift with μ-12- making her home consoles debut along with Tsubaki and Hazama. Beginner Mode is being added for people like me who have hard times activating finishing moves and there will more than 11 new beautiful stages for the game. BlazBlue Continuum Shift will be released in Japan first this summer.

I have been playing the Japanese version of Yakuza 3 at really slow pace, thanks to the amount of side missions which I can’t help but keep working on. Game is pretty fun so far, enough to convince me to get the next title in the series, Ryu ga Gotoku 4: Densetsu o Tsugumono, when it’s released next month in Japan. As you probably now by now (my previous report here), Kazuma Kiryu, the series’ main character so far, will get some new friends this time. The game will play from the perspective of four different main characters with players controlling one character at a time in the earlier chapters.

Kazuma Kiryu

Each of them will have their own unique fighting styles and moves. Kiryu is an all-rounder who are great at kicking, wrestling, Nunchaku and he can wield just about any weapons he picks up. However, frequent fighting may not be so good for Kiryu as certain gangs may come back in group later. There are several of these groups in the game and some of them even come with their bosses. Tenkei, a system where Kiryu learns new moves after being inspired by things he see on the street, is back in Ryu ga Gotoku 4 with the three other characters also have their own way of Tenkei. For Kiryu, he will take photo of Tenkei he discovered with his mobile phone and posts it to his personal blog. Besides Tenkei, Kiryu will also meet his new master in the game, who is a legendary fighter and can be found in Kamurocho.

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PS3 owners in Japan brace for another wave of RPG attack as Final Fantasy XIII slowly fading out with less than 10,000 copies sold last week. Gust’s Ar tonelico III: Sekai Shuuen no Hikigane wa Shoujo no Uta ga Hajiku was out yesterday while End of Eternity and Star Ocean: The Last Hope International will be released next week.

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Final Fantasy XIII is just outside the Top 10 for the first time since its release four weeks ago, selling a respectable 16,000 copies according to ASCii.

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Ten days to go before it’s Japanese release, Bandai Namco shares more info on Gust’s grand looking RPG Ar tonelico III: Sekai Shuuen no Hikigane wa Shoujo no Uta ga Hajiku. Cocona-Vatel (above, view character art here), who apparently have a big following in Japan after her appearance in the previous game, will “travel” to the world of Ar tonelico III to hand over a crystal to a character named Harvester.

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Shonen Jump has a few new screens of Naruto Narutimate Storm 2 (aka Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2), one of CyberConnect 2’s several ongoing Naruto game projects. Besides Sasuke new outfit, the story mode is also shown with scenes from Naruto vs Sasuke and master puppeteer Sasori showing off his skills. The game is set for this fall in Japan.

Great to see Final Fantasy XIII and PS3 holding itself well as Nintendo dominate the holiday season. The former is edging towards 2 million copies sold with every week.

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I still have hopes that somewhere in a dark corner someone at Bandai Namco is working on the localization of Tales of Vesperia although it seems less and less likely as days went by. But I’m pretty sure we’re definitely not getting these new downloadable content of the game featuring costume of characters from Namco’s series. Clockwise from top left is Haruka Amami (from iDOLM@STER, costume for Rita), Kos-Mos (Xenosaga, Judith), Valkyrie (Legend of Valkyrie, Estelle), Chopin (Trusty Bell, Fren), Mitsurugi (Soul Calibur, Yuri), Yakyuu-kun (Famisuta, Repede), Kazuya Mishima (Tekken, Raven), Klonoa (Kaze no Klonoa, Karol) and Susumu (Mister Driller, Patty). The price for these costumes are ¥300 each and will be available from January 14th.

Source: Famitsu

Impressive third week for Final Fantasy XIII in Japan with more than 100,00 copies which gives PS3 hardware a little bump.

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Second week Final Fantasy XIII is no match for Nintendo’s powerhouses as New Super Mario Bros. Wii reclaim the top spot with another half a million copies sold.

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