ds
Majesco Announces DS RPG With Mistwalker
Posted by Leigh Alexander at 10:20 AM on July 8, 2008
Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey developer Mistwalker, Hironobu Sakaguchi's current outfit, is teaming with Majesco and AQ Interactive for Away Shuffle Dungeon, an RPG for the DS slated for a fall release. It casts players as the creatively-named young hero "Sword", who must rescue townsfolk from a "mysterious unknown". Sounds traditional!
Majesco knows its stuff, commenting that working with Sakaguchi, Sonic character designer Naoto Oshima and Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu will make the game "well-positioned for success when it hits retail this fall".
Full announcement follows the jump.
MAJESCO ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCES 'AWAY SHUFFLE DUNGEON'
FOR NINTENDO DS™
Renowned Creative Talent Contributes to Groundbreaking New RPG
EDISON, N.J., July 7, 2008 - Majesco Entertainment Company (NASDAQ: COOL), an innovative provider of video games for the mass market, in partnership with leading developers Mistwalker and AQ Interactive, today announced premier RPG AWAY Shuffle Dungeon for Nintendo DS™. Players take control of the young hero "Sword," the sole resident left of the once booming Webb Village, who must rescue as many kidnapped townsfolk as possible from a mysterious unknown that has been slowly "spiriting them away." AWAY Shuffle Dungeon includes creative contributions from renowned industry visionaries: RPG creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, character designer Naoto Oshima and composer Nobuo Uematsu.
"We are very excited to be working with the collective creative talent of Hironobu Sakaguchi, Naoto Oshima and Nobuo Uematsu," said Jesse Sutton, Chief Executive Officer, Majesco. "Their experience creating high quality, best-selling games means that AWAY will be well-positioned for success when it hits retail this fall."
In AWAY Shuffle Dungeon, an unknown force has stripped Webb Village of its residents, and now the sole heroic survivor, Sword, must rescue the stolen villagers from the ominous dungeons as he strives to expose and defeat the mysterious thief. Sword must first collect and use various objects including musical instruments to reveal the secret dungeons where prisoners are being held. But successfully saving them is another challenge altogether given a unique timed "shuffle" mechanic that reconfigures the dungeon prisons and hurts Sword and any survivors still caught within when the time runs out. Saved villagers will lend assistance to Sword's quest, as will the magical 'Fupongs' and dungeon treasure he finds that lets him shop in the village specialty stores for armour, weapons, health, medical aid and more.
-more-
MAJESCO / AWAY SHUFFLE DUNGEON / 2
AWAY Shuffle Dungeon allows players to navigate in both the 2D Shuffle Dungeons and the 3D Webb Village, and features voice-over cinematics that breathe life into the characters in this extraordinary mystery.
AWAY Shuffle Dungeon for Nintendo DS™ is expected to release this fall. For additional information about Majesco's exciting line of products, please visit www.majescoentertainment.com.
About Majesco Entertainment Company
Majesco Entertainment Company is a provider of video games for the mass market. Building on 20 years of operating history, the company is focused on developing and publishing a wide range of casual and family oriented video games on leading console and portable systems. Product highlights include Nancy Drew™, Cooking Mama™ and Cake Mania® 2 for Nintendo DS™ and Cooking Mama: Cook Off for the Wii™ system. The company's shares are traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol: COOL. Majesco is headquartered in Edison, NJ and has an international office in Bristol, UK. More information about Majesco can be found online at www.majescoentertainment.com.

Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
German Romance
Posted July 8, 2008 12:14 PM
Majesco making a new release? I can't wait to see it!!
Amazon_Chris
Posted 11:29 AM 8/7/08
I thought Majesco was dead...
Amazon_Chris
thejakeman: visit my site!
Posted 11:28 AM 8/7/08
needs more breasts.
thejakeman: visit my site!
Fox
Posted 11:26 AM 8/7/08
@Komrade_Kayce: Hahaha, wow, I would probably have to buy that if it were real.
Fox
majatt
Posted 11:24 AM 8/7/08
@Komrade_Kayce:
Dude, don't even kid...that sounds awesome!
majatt
marmidukestank
Posted 11:22 AM 8/7/08
They got Nobuo? HOLY!
marmidukestank
Komrade_Kayce
Posted 11:08 AM 8/7/08
@StupidDufus:
Cooking Mama RPG
You heard it here first.
Mama used beat!
Egg was defeated!
Exp Gained: 205
Items Gained: Yolk, Shells
New Skill(s) Learned: Rolling-pin Eye Gouge
Komrade_Kayce
Kazama Sogetsu
Posted 11:00 AM 8/7/08
Majesco? Shovelware inc.
Kazama Sogetsu
Sparx
Posted 11:00 AM 8/7/08
Actually Sword is more inventive than Hero from DQ8, but then you could name him anything you wanted too
Sparx
StupidDufus
Posted 10:58 AM 8/7/08
Wait.. Majesco is doing a big release again? Count me in! I was hoping these Cooking Mamas would give them funds to do something adventurous again.
StupidDufus
Tull
Posted 10:58 AM 8/7/08
Mistwalker seems to love the DS.
Tull
DiscipleofJamzy
Posted 10:57 AM 8/7/08
While I'm generally not into the randomly generated dungeon sub-genre, the twist where the dungeon shuffles around with you inside of it and smashes your shit sounds intriguing.
Keep 'em coming, Gooch, keep 'em coming.
DiscipleofJamzy
Pombar
Posted 10:50 AM 8/7/08
Surely not... a roguelike!? It sounds like it could be. Anyway, "Sword" is a wonderfully no-nonsense name. Just like "FIGHT" and "HEAL".
I'm a total fan of what Mistwalker are doing, though. Bringing back the old school RPG concepts with a few neat tweaks instead of taking the genre to unrecognisable FF12+ territory.
Pombar
mast3r_blast3r
Posted 10:46 AM 8/7/08
MORE TURN BASED RPGs PLEASE!
especially HD ones, they are sorely needed!
Also, I hope this is better than ASH.
mast3r_blast3r
Green-clad Gamer Dude
Posted 10:42 AM 8/7/08
Yet another DS RPG?
Green-clad Gamer Dude
HaydenTenno
Posted 10:42 AM 8/7/08
They have an article in the new EGM and it looks really good. I can't wait for this and ASH to hit US shores. Mistwalker <3
HaydenTenno
L1GHTN1N
Posted 11:41 AM 8/7/08
New RPG = Good
RPG creators with lots of experience = Great
Majesco = Bad
Hope it turns out well, but I'm not expecting much unfortunatly...
L1GHTN1N
BrotherNick
Posted 11:38 AM 8/7/08
@Kazama Sogetsu: Good Shovelware :D Cooking Mama may not be your cup of tea, but Blast Works is awesome.
BrotherNick
FrenchZed
Posted 12:18 PM 8/7/08
well majesco published Psychonauts so they can't be that bad :)
FrenchZed
Byakko
Posted 12:17 PM 8/7/08
@Komrade_Kayce: This HAS to be made into a homebrew!
@L1GHTN1N:
Well, Majesco is really just publishing this, I think. Artoon's handling the development, which I'm actually more afraid of. So far, Artoon hasn't exactly been the best...Blue Dragon was all right, but the weird lag made the timed button releases hard to gauge.
Also, this needs to appear with ASH. I tried the Jap version but there was only so far I could go with pure guesswork. It felt good, though the overworld sprites were fugly.
Byakko
cio
Posted 12:04 PM 8/7/08
Can't wait for a new Nobuo soundtrack.
cio
Xanto5824
Posted 1:02 PM 8/7/08
Dear Majesco/Mistwalker:
Please change the horrid name first
Xanto5824
Suzaku
Posted 1:16 PM 8/7/08
"Majesco knows its stuff, commenting that working with Sakaguchi, Sonic character designer Naoto Oshima and Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu will make the game "well-positioned for success when it hits retail this fall.""
If they spent more time working on quality games and less time trying to come up with "dream team" staff, maybe their games would sell better...
Suzaku
Lord Thayer
Posted 1:53 PM 8/7/08
Do mine eyes deceive me?
Is Mistwalker going to be involved in yet ANOTHER RPG B-lister? Only time shall tell.
Heres to hoping at least the music will mark a return-to-form for Uematsu.
Lord Thayer
Pantsman
Posted 3:26 PM 8/7/08
"It casts players as the creatively-named young hero 'Sword,' who must rescue townsfolk from a 'mysterious unknown.'"Oh, fantastic. If you're at all interested in this game, you're a big part of the problem with the game industry.
Pantsman
reecord2
Posted 4:21 PM 8/7/08
"Sword"? What a dumb name. Next they're gonna have even worse, like "Cloud". Or "Dagger".
reecord2
megaStryke
Posted 11:33 PM 8/7/08
@Suzaku: Aren't you forgetting ? As software exclusive to a Nintendo console or handheld approaches mainstream success, the likelihood of it being called "casual" or "shovelware" approaches 1. The corollary is also true: As software exclusive to a Nintendo console or handheld dives deeper into obscurity, the likelihood of it being called "hardcore" approached 1. You can find the proofs for those in Internet Appendix A.
megaStryke