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Princess Debut Charms Our Dancing Shoes Off
Posted by Brian Ashcraft at 6:00 PM on July 22, 2008
Back at E3, we had a chance to check out some of the titles Natsume is publishing in the US. Titles like Rune Factory 2 for the DS. It's of course the second Rune Factory game, which is best explained as Harvest Moon meets fantasyland. The game's going to be out this fall, and here's something I didn't know about it: Rune Factory 2 has over 9,000 words of text. That's a lot of text! For those not into the fantasy element, the DS and the Wii will both see new Harvest Moon games. Bring on the farming and marrying!
The most exciting title Natsume is bringing? Princess Debut, hands down. We posted about it before, and the DS game is broken down into three parts: rhythm game, princess dress-up and find a prince. The game takes place within the thirty days before a big ball. The game has multiple endings in story mode, and the dancing sequences use full motion capture. It's even possible to watch footsteps on the dance sequence and learn the steps.
The game is geared towards the female pre-teen ('tween) audience, and while Princess Debut doesn't make any misgivings about its girlyness, the game doesn't appear to be shovelware in the least. While checking out Natsume's line-up, Princess Debut went from being the game we were least interested in to the game we were the most interested in. Hey, who doesn't want to play rhythm games, learn to actually dance and find a prince?! Princess Debut debuts later this year.
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
Elly
Posted 6:28 PM 22/7/08
Reminds me of the Princess Maker games of yore. Not that I played any of those games and secretly keep them in a deep, dark folder somewhere on my computer...honest!
Elly
KeroseneClimax
Posted 6:27 PM 22/7/08
@Testamonium: I'm sorry, you have to respond in the form of a question. So that is incorrect. Would you like to try a different answer?
@Topic: Well, I'm way out of this games target demographic, and don't generally have interest in this title, but this looks like a cute game for girls. I know the shojo-manga addicts will probably eat this up.
KeroseneClimax
Metal_Slug_Solid
Posted 6:16 PM 22/7/08
A-hmmm.... Hm...
Metal_Slug_Solid
Torgen got his apology faceplate but not his fixed GH3 disc
Posted 6:06 PM 22/7/08
The only problem with Rune Factory for me was that there was an event early in the year that you couldn't feasibly be ready for the first time around, and you'd beat the game and got hitched before the year was out so there was no point in playing the second year. I guess that's a pretty small problem.
Torgen got his apology faceplate but not his fixed GH3 disc
Testamonium
Posted 6:05 PM 22/7/08
"Hey, who doesn't want to play rhythm games, learn to actually dance and find a prince?!"
I'll take straight things with testicles for 400, Alex!
Testamonium
cZEAL
Posted 6:03 PM 22/7/08
Pretty soon they'll have to delegate games like the delegate toys at Wal-Mart; girls and boys departments.
cZEAL
mascot1063
Posted 6:55 PM 22/7/08
this is going to be a neat gift for my gf lol
mascot1063
gique
Posted 6:50 PM 22/7/08
charming idea for younger girl gamers.. cute gfx too.
gique
Thorax
Posted 7:35 PM 22/7/08
And then at some point they all turn into zombies, and the princess learns the importance of aiming for the head...
Thorax
everybest
Posted 7:29 PM 22/7/08
I vote Klaus!
everybest
Feba
Posted 8:08 PM 22/7/08
@Testamonium: This would be funny, if the DS didn't have quite possibly the most successful penetration of the female market of any video game console ever.
Also, I totally didn't just post this as an opportunity to say "penetration of the female market". That was just a bonus.
Feba
FatCatLim
Posted 7:57 PM 22/7/08
Being a regular player of visual novels, I wouldn't mind buying this game. The 3D graphics don't look too good though...it could use some polishing up - one of the screen makes the heroine looks like a cheaply-made dutch wife.
FatCatLim
Testamonium
Posted 8:30 PM 22/7/08
@Feba: I don't recall making any comments about the female game market. Mostly I remember answering the question of who wouldn't want it, which I don't think negates anything you, rather literally, noted. A little bit of snark enriches everyone's life!
Testamonium
Demaar
Posted 8:25 PM 22/7/08
I dunno... it might not be released in Japan to appeal to little girls. I reckon it appeals to a certain sub-class of otaku more than little girls, in fact :P
Demaar
Vidunder
Posted 8:49 PM 22/7/08
9.000 words isn't a lot of text at all.
95%+ of modern games (let's say, from 1993+) exceed 10.000 words.
To have a realistic picture, let's say that Ubisoft shovelware for DS rounds about between 5.000 and 10.000 words, while huge MMORPGs like DAoC, Warhammer Online or WoW exceed 3-4 millions with ease. Almost everything else lies in between.
signed:
a vg translator :D
Vidunder
MelodyKitn
Posted 9:56 PM 22/7/08
@Elly: Well bring them out and start some outcries for ports of that stuff, cause I sure as hooey wanna play'm ^^
Well.. I could stand for less pink, but shoot, if Bash is interested in it, its gotta be a decent play. Besides, it's Natsume, I've been addicted to farming because of them since the snes era. Too bad it never works out in real life...
MelodyKitn
Kavatar
Posted 9:34 PM 22/7/08
Damn it! Why does this look like it could actually be a decent game?
Kavatar
Johnny_Under
Posted 10:54 PM 22/7/08
I am a male in his late 20s, and I will most likely be purchasing this.
I'm a fan of rhythm games, dating sims, shojo manga, AND Cave. So this is kinda right up my alley, believe it or not.
Johnny_Under
LittleBlueWindow
Posted 12:32 AM 23/7/08
When I went to reserve Harvest Moon, I did so along with 4 or 5 other beefy dude games. You insert it in the middle, completely nonchalantly. I think for a title like this, you are better off just ordering it though.
LittleBlueWindow
Lainface
Posted 12:01 AM 23/7/08
@cZEAL: Case and point.
This shit is ridiculous. My daughter gets punished if she even lays eyes on these types of games in the future.
Lainface
Rebochan
Posted 11:57 PM 22/7/08
Reminds me of the old Princess Maker series. Which means I must have it.
Rebochan
Ffenix
Posted 3:11 AM 23/7/08
@LittleBlueWindow: "Why yes, I'd like to pre-order Gears of War 2, Fallout 3, Killzone 2, Princess Debut, and Madden 2009 please. Yeah, you heard me, Madden 2009!"
Ffenix
DKII
Posted 4:14 AM 23/7/08
It should be 900k words for Rune Factory 2, up from about 350-400k in the original.
DKII
kostahansen.de
Posted 7:08 PM 22/7/08
It´s kind of ... well ..."pink".
kostahansen.de
Muk1000
Posted 6:03 PM 22/7/08
Yeah, I'll be buying that.
Is it possible to be too secure in one's sexuality?
Muk1000