Game Developer: Atlus

Old-school dungeon crawling at its best.

It's fitting that Golden was chosen as the extended title for the Vita edition of Persona 4. Between Revelations, Ascension, Redemption, and a host of other banal supplements, it's becoming difficult to tell just what in the hell you're buying. Golden, on the other hand, is a double entendre that references Golden Week, a holiday-filled week in Japan, and also highlights Persona 4's fixation with the color yellow. Persona 4 Golden is ultimately positioned as celebration of the vanilla release of Persona 4, and it (almost) always hits its mark.

If you enjoy SRPG or Shin Megami titles, this one's for you.

Buying this game does not require a real contract with Satan...

I've come to the conclusion that Atlus press releases are too good to reword... so here: ATLUS SPOILS HAMMERIN' HERO™ FOR PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) SYSTEM, OFFERS GAMESTOP®-EXCLUSIVE SET OF FIGURINES FREE WITH PRE-ORDER (WHILE SUPPLIES LAST) The only thing more hardcore than playing the game is playing the game while cuddled with collectible figurines of characters from the game IRVINE, CALIFORNIA -- FEBRUARY 18, 2009 -- Atlus U.S.A., Inc. today announced that Hammerin' Hero™, an upcoming arcade-style, old school, side-scrolling beat 'em up for PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system, will be the latest addition to its Atlus Spoils fan appreciation program. Exclusively at GameStop® (in stores and online), gamers who pre-order Hammerin' Hero will secure themselves a set of collectible Hammerin' Hero figurines at time of purchase. Not available for sale separately, these miniature versions of Gen-san and his damsel in distress are lovingly rendered and detailed. Pre-order your copy of Hammerin' Hero at GameStop and guarantee yourself a set of these rare Japanese collectibles! Hammerin' Hero is scheduled for release on April 7, 2009, with an MSRP of $29.99. For more information about Hammerin' Hero, visit the official website: http://www.atlus.com/hammerinhero...

Directly from the new release... IRVINE, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 13, 2009 - Atlus U.S.A., Inc. today discussed the new level exclusive to Legacy of Ys™: Books I & II for Nintendo DS™. Marking the site of a massive disaster that occurred 700 years ago is the Vageux-Vardette, a huge crater in the center of Esteria. Though the nature of the disaster has since faded from memory, the area within its rim is considered sacred and to tread upon its ground is forbidden. Since the appearance of the Veil of Storms months before, horrible howls and screams have haunted the land. In past version of Ys, the Vageux-Vardette was only mentioned in passing, but now in the first book of Legacy of Ys, players will be able to explore this never-before-seen area, essentially a whole new level, confronting its new boss and finding an entirely new set of equipment. "The Vageux-Vardette is one of the more eye-catching aspects of Ys I geography, and now Nintendo DS players can explore the natural expansion of the Ys universe in an exclusive new level," said Sam Mullen Project Lead of Legacy of Ys: Books I & II. "With...

As has been the case with most other recently-announced Atlus titles, the upcoming release of The Dark Spire will now also be "spoiled", meaning that you get a premium box with it which includes a full game soundtrack. And if you're a huge game music nerd like me, that makes you quite happy indeed. I am always thrilled to see companies trumpeting the quality of their games' music, as it says to me that they care about all aspects of the production (and music is so often tragically overlooked these days in games... now that you don't even have to have melodic innovation of any sort; you can just toss together some forgettable synth and generally no one is the wiser, not even some reviewers)... but I digress. Anyhow, for the full details on the premium package for The Dark Spire and the game itself, check out our full article here, which contains the original press release.

Whoops!  This one managed to slip under our radar over the weekend.  Are you a Persona fan?  Well, following the recent discovery of a Revelations: Persona remake for the PSP, we've now got an announcement of a brand-new installment in the overarching Shin Megami Tensei series for the Nintendo DS.  We've got the full details here.

Looks like some type of iteration of the original Persona is headed to the PSP, at least in Japan, that is.  Check out the YouTube video that was posted a couple of days ago.

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