@jallen: Agree. Next-gen (Current-Gen?) Ratchet, Sly, and Jak would make me a happy PS3 owner. I figure we might hear some news about a new Sly or Jak by 2009.

TheCleaningGuy

@jallen:
I must admit I've never played a Sly Cooper game myself. I've played some Jak, EVERY Ratchet, but no Sly. I dunno why, I think it might have dwelled a little too close to Furry-land for my tastes, but I may just have never gotten around to it with all the awesome RPGs on the PS2. I really don't know.

But I wouldn't mind seeing a new iteration on PS3 either. Hell, I'd support it. The PS3 needs the games.

Archaotic

@jallen: I miss Jak.

Amazon_Chris

@Archaotic: I know they're working on InFamous, and I don't mean to drag that one down at all.

Just saying, more Ratchet, yay, but Sly Cooper was my favorite between the two on the PS2. It's nice, yeah, to see the Ratchet franchise continue, but there have been...what.

Four PS2 "originals," one PSP version with a subsequent port, Secret Agent Clank (which is almost certain to be ported), Tools of Destruction, and the upcoming Quest for Booty?

That's almost Capcomian. And yes, as long as they're as good as Tools was, keep them coming, but I also miss Sly and the gang. :(

jallen

@TalKeaton: A Force to be Reckoned With: I'd imagine this game would focus on the Kanji and/or Hirigana (or however it's spelled) and vocabulary moreso than grammar. That's how My Spanish Coach and My French Coach were... and it's being developed by the same people.

thezman

God dammit. It's already been rated by places, just announce it now since we know it's coming.

Amazon_Chris

woo~ Japanese coach. I already have Japanese resources out the wazoo, but whatever.

Morpork

sweet, i'm looking forward to trying out the japanese coach. i really would like to see more educational software of this variety. i thought it was a no-brainer for dictionary manufacturers to get in on the ds, but apparently, i'm alone.

thaKingRocka

I tried My French Coach and got kinda disappointed.. the game is good to learn vocabulary, but very poor on grammatic.. If you already know the language and want to practice, it's good, but if you really want to learn it, go get a teacher.

CockroachMan

Yea, I dunno if this would be too easy for me... I have like two semesters of Japanese under my belt, and my downfall is more in vocabulary and Kanji than in grammar.

I'll probably wait to hear reviews and such before making a decision.

TalKeaton: A Force to be Reckoned With

If they don't have some absurd mech references then its not realy japanese.

hk458

I'm really tempted to get My Japanese coach, but I hope I don't know it all already. X_X

feder

Sweet, looking forward to both.

My master scheme of learning Japanese by the time FF13 is released in Japan (in the year 3631AD I predict), so I can import it and play it early, can only be helped by this news!

hamandcheeseUK

I've heard Ratchet: Quest for Booty is an expansion pack that's actually due out this month. If that's true, it might be an awesome surprise release at E3.

@jallen:
INFAMOUS! GRAAARGHABLE!

...seriously, though. inFamous. So awesome. Maybe after that's over, Sucker Punch will work on a new Sly, though.

Archaotic

I'm all for more Ratchet & Clank, but maybe they could hold off and give it some time to bake? I don't need them to come out one right after another.

wild homes is non-canonical

Ooh, sweet, Ratchet And Clank: Tools of Destruction was my first game of the series and I loved it. :D

Floreum

Whatever happened to the deal where game ratings would be private?

Was that not with the ESRB?

Poisonous Taoist

Looking forward to the next Ratchet game, but that is a terrible title.

sascha23

As much as I love the Ratchet & Clank franchise, I really wish we could get a Sly Cooper treatment in HD.

Yeah, I know, Insomniac vs. Sucker Punch, different devs and all, but still.

jallen

Yes! My Japanese coach! I bet it'll be good for practice. ^__^

.em.

@thezman: Sure, the worrying question - by which I mean, something a developer can get wrong in Japanese that they can't get wrong in Spanish - is whether it uses romaji (=instant fail, in my view, though opinions differ) or kanji+furigana.

I suspect it won't be much use anyway (though I could do with better vocabulary for sure). I do already have a perfectly good kanji practice program that I'm neglecting...

quen

@dreadnought666:
Everything I've heard points to the fact that R&C: Quest for Booty is an expansion pack or a bonus add-on that might possibly include multiplayer. Maybe it was being worked on by a smaller part of the Insomniac team while everyone else was working on R2?

Archaotic

This R and C game has me puzzled. Didn't Insomniac just say that they had no time to alot for trophies in old games because there entire focus has been on Resistance 2? Then how is this game being done, and what is it? Could it be a 2D version of Ratchet and Clank, kind of like prince of persia on xbox live, or maybe some levels they left out of Tools of Destruction?

dreadnought666

@Captain_Willard:
I almost hate to say it, but I might have to give that one a look. I studied Japanese in college, and a little program like that might be the perfect refresher course.

Or it might be dumbed down as hell and totally useless. With UbiSoft, you never know.

Archaotic

Having just started to learn Japanese I look forward to seeing what 'My Japanese Coach' has to offer.

Captain_Willard

@sascha23: It's a GREAT title!

Well, if you're 12. Or your humor is of that sort, I suppose.

Spoony Bard

@Archaotic: Sly is a kick ass game. We need some closure to Jak X though, seeing as the ending was a cliff hanger.

Amazon_Chris

Those coach games are guys talking about is boring after a week or two like "Brain age" or you really hooked to it? The Japanese coach got me interested but so did Brain age and many others for DS & Wii, then turned out boring after a while.

jocaju

Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty has shown up on DVDCrave as coming out this September for PlayStation 3...

[www.dvdcrave.com.au]

AusGamer

YAY my japanese coach

megamario621

After my third semester of Italian is done, which is coming up this Fall session, I may pick up this Japanese Word Coach if I can find a cheap one, if only to erase all memories of that other God forsaken language.

I still need to pick up R&C:FToD since I just got the PS3 with MGS4, but I loved the series on the PS2 so I'm looking forward to that one too.

FLYmeatwad

@Archaotic: I'd imagine it wouldn't have if not for the byplay between Sly and Carmelita Fox. Without that, it isn't any different "furry-wise" from any of a dozen other platformers. Add the romantic tension, and, well...

@Amazon_Chris: Honestly, when those three franchises first came out, I expected that my order of preference would go Jak, Ratchet, Sly. It ended up being exactly the reverse.

jallen

Ratchet games are fantastic. Looking forward to that.

Wolfers

I wonder if the My Japanese Coach going to have Mecha or Girl/Witch touching involved? ;D

DranzerKire

PSIV? Wii? Yes!

KaboomtownUSA

Phantasy Star IV!! YESS!!!
Best. Genesis. Game. EVAR!!

xerograde

I can see why a lot of the big shows like E3 are losing their lustre. We continually find out about the games, announcements and all the good surprises (well not all, but still, enough) in the weeks or months leading up to the event. Even if half of the stuff that comes down the rumour tubes is hopes and photochops, the other half is "rumour and speculation that Microsoft/Sony/Nintendo refuses to comment on" and ends up being true in a week's time.

That being said, I know someone who will be buying My Japanese Coach and has been waiting for that in particular since the concept arose. R&C? After just finishing the first PS3 title, I'd like to see a new one. If they do announce it, it'll most likely be a while before we see it (Resistance 2 is still in the priority for Insomniac, I'm sure) so I'll be ready for it then.

nick.soapdish

@thezman: I guess that's the disadvantage of never actually knowing what the convention was like, really. Way I saw it through the years was just a list of announcements on some page, or a friend coming into class and saying "Did you hear what game is coming out?!"

I think only when it changed a few years back did I actually learn what it was all about, really. Some kind of gaming Sodom and Gomorrah that is receiving a slow burn in Brimstone, and the more we reflect on that the more likely we all are to turn to salt.

nick.soapdish

@xerograde: Right--so either no one bothers to read below the jump, or no one else other than my good friend xero up there cares about Phantasy Star.

Seriously, folks. Seriously. PSIV on VC! This is incredible news! Us state-siders (and PALers) never had the benefit of getting our grubby paws on Japan's Sega Ages collection. This might be the best we're ever going to get!

Fuck Squeenix. Fookin' packagin' a 12-year old game and selling it to us for 30+ bones. This is how it should have been done.

JustThisGuy

@nick.soapdish: True, but E3 wasn't ONLY about announcements and such. It was a place for the public and others in the industry to get together and actually play or see these games in action... as well as communicate and learn from each other.

Cos really, only harder-core and heavy gamers even followed or knew about E3. It wasn't like this big commercial extravaganza for every house wife and child to learn about all the new stuff...

And it it used to be about hot babes dressed up in gamer costumes and getting drunk as shit.

I mean, if E3 was still the party convention it used to be... I'm sure you'd still see devs going religiously, even with constant leaked announcements. Hell, that might even give them more attention as people will be anticipating and wanting to see their booths.

thezman

@quen: Yeah, I totally know what you mean. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't do the romanized romaji as their only writing stuff.

I'd expect to see mostly Hiragana with easier Kanji... and a whole bunch of vocabulary and commonly used phrases/questions.

But I wonder how well the character recognition will be when writing...

thezman

@sascha23:
The series titles have always been innuendos.
This one is a tad abrasive though. Oh well, more R&C is always good in my book.

VishusBurn

What happened to no more ESRB leaks?

MykalBloom

Cool! both games will be awesome for me :D

Reetesh

This devalues the previous Ratchet and Clank Future for me. Give it up and make new IPs, Insomniac. I'm tired of milking.

Swift_

YES YES My Japanese Language Coach YES! I've took two years of Japanese in college and I need help/incentives to keep learning. I begged on their forums to have them create one. I know there are Kanji DS games from Japan, but they are soo expensive.

dArk_stAr