For those of you with a low tolerance for hit points, the dynamic duo will also be showing off XSEED’s first DS games, Populous DS based on the classic PC game, KORG DS-10, a music creation program, and Retro Game Challenge, a mini-game title based on the Japanese Game Centre CX TV series. Perhaps these three non-RPG titles will calm me enough to keep the Rune Factory fan in me from dry-humping their booth.

Marvelous Entertainment USA and XSEED Games

Join Forces to Announce E3 2008 Line Up

Independent Game Publishers to Showcase Stellar Portfolio of Titles on Wii™ and Popular Handheld Systems

Torrance, Calif., (July 11, 2008) – Marvelous Entertainment USA and XSEED Games today announced its E3 plans which include a stellar line up of games for both Nintendo platforms, the Nintendo DS and Wii, as well as the PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system. Both companies will display their portfolio of upcoming titles at E3 2008 which will be held at the Los Angeles Convention Centre from July 15th – 17th. E3 attendees are invited to visit the Marvelous Entertainment USA and XSEED Games booth located at Concourse Hall Pavilion #427.

“We’re very pleased to be able to give the North American audience a sneak peak at our upcoming lineup,” stated Yasuhiro Wada, Managing Director of Marvelous Entertainment. “This is just the beginning of some of the great games that we’ll be releasing in the US under our Marvelous Entertainment USA banner.”

“It’s been an amazing year for us, and we feel that we’re well positioned going into E3,” said Jun Iwasaki, President of XSEED Games. “We’ve got a fantastic partnership with Marvelous Entertainment which we greatly appreciate, and the overall line up of titles we’re showcasing is strong and diverse, which we’re exceptionally excited about.”

Games being shown under the Marvelous and XSEED Games partnership are:

Avalon Code DS

From the creative minds behind Rune Factory and Harvest Moon with the development studio responsible for the Final Fantasy III and Final Fantasy IV DS remakes comes Avalon Code, an action RPG boasting incredible graphics, a deep and engrossing story, and innovative game play mechanics. Using the main character’s ‘Book of Prophecy’, players can modify the rules of engagement during battle as well as weapon and monster attributes. The player even has control over the story as it changes depending on which gender the player chooses to play as, enhancing the ability to immerse themselves into the story. Avalon Code DS is scheduled for release Q1 2009. The game will be published in Europe by Rising Star Games*, a subsidiary of Marvelous Entertainment.

Rune Factory: Frontier Wii

From the creators of Harvest Moon and Rune Factory for the DS comes the first installment of Rune Factory for a home console. Developed exclusively for Wii, Rune Factory: Frontier features stunning graphics and takes full advantage of the Wii’s unique controls to fully immerse players in the Rune Factory universe. Rune Factory: Frontier incorporates an open-ended structure that allows players to choose the type of game they wish to experience. Whether it’s growing crops, expanding the town, fighting (or befriending) monsters or even falling in love, the experience is unique to each player. Rune Factory: Frontier Wii is scheduled for release Q1 2009. The game will be published in Europe by Rising Star Games*, a subsidiary of Marvelous Entertainment.

LITTLE KING’S STORY Wii

Little King’s Story has an art style that is very ’story-book’ in look and a magical fairy tale quality that will intrigue and delight gamers. The storyline, visual look, and lyrical music of Little King’s Story, work in concert to transport players to an interactive, enchanting, fairy tale world. By combining gameplay elements from life-simulation, real-time strategy, and adventure genres, the many aspects of creating a vast kingdom come to life! As King, players will manage and involve their townspeople in the goals of creating this new territory; enlisting them to dig for treasure, build new buildings and otherwise better their community. Of course, leadership is a two-way street, so as King, players will try to conquer rival nations to create a single unified kingdom, while also granting the requests of townspeople at whim. The game transforms the Wii Remote™ to a royal scepter and offers players the chance to be the best king in the world! Little King’s Story Wii is scheduled for release Winter 2008. The game will be published in Europe by Rising Star Games*, a subsidiary of Marvelous Entertainment.

VALHALLA KNIGHTS 2 PSP system

Sequel to the popular Valhalla Knights, Valhalla Knights 2 promises to give fans of the original game a vast and expansive world to explore, and the customisation tools to create the ultimate battle party. This action RPG (Role Playing Game) sequel adds new races, job classes, weapons, magic spells, foes, armour and more to the Valhalla Knights universe, all within an engrossing story arc. Controlling and choosing character aspects such as skills, race and appearance, players engage in real-time 6 on 6 battles, reliant on tactical combat strategies to achieve success. Supporting 2 player ad hoc network play, gamers can engage in Co-op and Versus modes with friends, or simply trade items and weapons. Valhalla Knights 2 PSP system is scheduled for release Fall 2008.

Separately, XSEED Games will unveil the company’s first official support of the Nintendo DS with three titles:

Populous™ DS

Based on the original Populous PC classic from Electronic Arts, Populous DS brings a re-imagination of the classic game, which pioneered the God simulation genre. Featuring touch-screen controls that utilise the dual-screens, players manipulate 5 elementally-imbued gods, each with their own unique miracles, within an extensive single-player campaign. Within the multiplayer wireless mode, up to 4 players can unleash earthquakes, tidal waves and raging volcanoes onto rival players’ lands. Populous DS is scheduled for release Fall 2008. The game will be published in Europe by Rising Star Games*, a subsidiary of Marvelous Entertainment.

KORG DS-10

Designed after the famous KORG MS-10 music synthesiser, KORG DS-10 is a music-creation program for professional and aspiring musicians alike. The sound sources in the KORG DS-10 come from KORG, one of the world’s top musical instrument producers, and no effort was spared in the replication of creating high-quality sounds. The Nintendo DS’s touch-screen controls are utilized to the fullest to provide an authentic feel and operability across a dual-screen layout that is unsurpassed in portable music creation. A 6-track/16-step sequencer enables precise control and provides a wide range of musical possibilities, and up to eight DS units can be linked via wireless connection to play together or to exchange sounds and songs. KORG DS-10 is scheduled for release Fall 2008.

Retro Game Challenge

An original game based on the popular Japanese GAME CENTRE CX TV series, Retro Game Challenge reinvents how classic games are played. Featuring a story-driven progression, players complete short challenges in a wide-variety of fictional re
tro-games. Specific challenges in shooting, racing, action and even an epic role-playing game are integrated into the story, while the in-game magazines offer cheat codes as well as fake 80’s news stories paying tribute to the rich history of the gaming industry. Released to raving reviews as Game Centre CX: Arino’s Challenge in Japan, the game received a Gold Award from Famitsu with a 33/40 review score. Retro Game Challenge is scheduled for release Winter 2008.

Pre-E3 2008: Little King’s Story [IGN]

Wait, there’s more: The all-star team behind the game includes Yasuhiro Wada (Harvest Moon), Yoshiro Kimura (HM & Chulip), Youichi Kawaguchi (Dragon Quest VIII) AND Hideo Minaba, art director for FFXII.

I got to see an early demo of the kingmaking of little Corobo, the shy boy who the player must nurture into a wise and strong ruler.

The first thing that jumped out at me was the beautiful watercolour-pencil style of the cute, humorous cutscenes (we published the trailers a while back) – and how well they transitioned immediately into the brightly-coloured game world. I watched as a wacky looking old knight came riding up on a cute, bulbous cow (yes, it was the much-revered Harvest Moon cow) in his search for the true king.

Corobo then discovers a crown, suddenly prompting his friends to prostrate in homage. Next thing you know, you’re in a throne room, and as you start the game as a level one “rookie” king, your mailbox soon fills up with all sorts of mundane requests, like getting rid of a red mushroom that’s annoying the townsfolk, or filling in a mysterious hole behind someone’s house.

In the scene I watched, the charming, fancily-mustachioed Bull Knight explained to Corobo that the neighbouring lands are under siege by Oni devils and under the rulership of false kings, which, of course, it falls to you to rally your folk to deal with. Any time you want to know the state of your kingdom or what needs doing, you return to your throne.

But, of course, you’re the King, so you don’t have to do this dirty work yourself. Waving your sceptre at townspeople will recruit them to your aid – you can have a few or up to a throng of fifty following you from place to place, ready to do your bidding. Many townsfolk will have different specialties; for example, a team of carpenters will build something when instructed much faster and more efficiently than a group of regular individuals.

You can often earn respect by completing these quests; the more renowned you are as a ruler, the more people will obey you. And your obedient subjects are not just faceless nobodies. They’ve got HP and attack points, can gain in abilities, and will even show their relationship status – given enough time, your townspeople will marry and propagate. If you don’t treat them well, though, if you battle too recklessly or work them too hard, they can permanently die, and as their King, you’ll have to attend their funerals. That could be very interesting.

What I saw was mostly exposition and early stages of play, but this is a title I’ll personally watch with enthusiasm, because life-sim/adventure hybrids rate pretty high up among my favourite genres.

So will Valhalla Knights 2 change things up a bit? Make things a little bit easier, more accessible? Add some simple modes, some auto-leveling, some easy outs?

Not so much.

“This one’s actually a little bit harder”, the Xseed rep told me when I went to go see Valhalla Knights 2 today. And, I’m told, that’s exactly how the core JRPG fanbase wants things. In fact, the entire game’s been built to accommodate the fanbase’s feedback, and is shaping up to be a veritable wishlist of JRPG elements that could conceivably blow some minds when it hits PSP, likely in September.

One artist will be chosen among 100 winners submitting an original picture of a creature, person, ghost, beast, or anything like that – the chosen design will become a character in the game, while the other 99 will be featured in the in-game museum exhibit.

The requirements for a valid entry are pretty specific, and all info and submission instructions are included after the jump. Pens, pencils, paint, go!

Marvellous Entertainment USA and XSEED Games are Pleased to Announce Fan Art Contest for Little King’s Story

Marvellous Entertainment USA and XSEED Games are holding an artwork contest where winning entries will appear in the upcoming Little King’s Story

Torrance, Calif., (June 13, 2008) -Marvellous Entertainment USA and XSEED Games announced today that they are holding a fan artwork contest where winning entries will appear in their newly announced video game title Little King’s Story for Wii™.

100 winners will be selected – One (1) Grand Prize Winner’s illustration will become an actual in-game character, while ninety-nine (99) other illustrations will be displayed in the in-game museum exhibit! The theme of the competition is some kind of UMA, or an Unidentified Mysterious Animal. The illustration can be any kind of creature, beast, ghost, a weird man, etc; the only thing limiting the creativity of the creation is your own imagination!

The contest may be entered by e-mailing an original digital work of art in the form of a .gif, .jpg, .bmp, .tiff, or.eps file to comments@xseedgames.com with the subject heading “Little King’s Story UMA Contest.” Your illustration must be an unpublished, original work of art and the image should have dimensions of 148mm x 105mm with a resolution of 300 DPI.

Please provide the following information in the body of your e-mail:

· Name of your UMA

· Your name

· Your age

· Your address

· Your phone number

· Your e-mail address

· Name that you wish to appear with the illustration (real name or pen name)

If you prefer to send in your submission by mail, mail a standard 4.25″ x 6″ postcard with the UMA illustration or a CD containing the digital artwork and above listed information to:

Little King’s Story UMA Contest

XSEED Games

21515 Hawthorne Blvd., Suite 1020

Torrance, CA 90503

All entries must be e-mailed or post-marked by August 1, 2008

For more information and to read the full official contest rules please visit:

http://www.littlekingsstory.com

or

http://www.xseedgames.com

Marvellous Entertainment Inc.

Marvellous Entertainment is a leading Japanese creator of interactive entertainment with such esteemed franchises as Harvest Moon, Rune Factory, Luminous Arc and No More Heroes under their corporate umbrella. More information on Marvellous Entertainment can be found at http://www.mmvus.com.

XSEED Games

XSEED Games was formed in November 2004, by a small group of industry veterans led by president Jun Iwasaki with a common vision; to cross pollinate the avid gaming culture of Japan and North America. Delivering unique, innovative titles across multiple platforms and genres, XSEED Games is dedicated to publishing products that appeal and enrich the North American market. More information on XSEED Games can be found at http://www.xseedgames.com.

Torrance, Calif., (June 11, 2008) – Marvelous Entertainment USA and XSEED Games jointly announced today that the second videogame title in their co-publishing partnership agreement will be the fantasy adventure RPG title formerly known as “Project O”, Little King’s Story. Designed and developed by some of the most respected names in the gaming industry, Little King’s Story will ship in the US market Winter of 2008, exclusively for Wii™.

“Little King’s Story has an art style that is very ’story-book’ in look, and that we feel will be universally loved,” stated Yasuhiro Wada, Managing Director of Marvelous Entertainment Inc. “The game has a fairy tale quality that will intrigue and delight gamers the world around.”

“Little King’s Story is a game we felt very strongly about offering to the United States,” remarked Jun Iwasaki, President of XSEED Games. “The game truly reflects the high quality gaming experience, uniqueness, and game design creativity that we look for, with the ability to appeal to a wide audience while providing enough depth for seasoned gamers.”

Little King’s Story begins with the story of young boy named Corobo. Shy, and without many friends, Corobo stumbles upon a mysterious, powerful crown while walking in the forest near his village. He soon discovers that the crown grants him the ability to charm any person, and make them follow his orders. Suddenly, Howzer, the bull-knight, appears, informing Corobo that he is now King of the village, and he must not take this responsibility lightly. Returning to his sleepy village, as a King instead of a shy little boy, Corobo begins a quest to turn his small hamlet into a noble, fantastic kingdom.

The storyline, visual look, and lyrical music of Little King’s Story, work in concert to transport players to an interactive, enchanting, fairy tale world. By combining gameplay elements from life-simulation, real-time strategy, and adventure genres, the many aspects of creating a vast kingdom come to life! As King, players will manage and involve their townspeople in the goals of creating this new territory; enlist them to dig for treasure, build new buildings and otherwise better their community. Of course, leadership is a two way street, so as King, players will try to conquer rival nations to create a single unified kingdom, as well as grant the requests of townspeople at whim. With the Wii Remote™ as a royal scepter, this Winter Little King’s Story allows players the chance to be the best king in the world!

Harvest Moon Plants Another on DS [1UP]