While there was a lot to look at at the Namco Bandai Editor’s Day, there were a couple things that were announced that weren’t available for checking out.
First up is Naruto: Ultimate Ninja. The game will be rendered in full 3D including all the backgrounds and the battles. It will be an exclusive to the PS3 platform as well as the first Naruto game to be presented in full 3D.
Next we heard about Namco’s answer to Nintendogs, National Geographic Panda. Raise and train your own panda with its own distinct personality right on your DS.
While Naruto isn’t exactly my thing, something about that Panda game has me a little intrigued. It would be awesome if you could train it to maul your enemies, but I suppose that isn’t exactly National Geographic’s MO. Too bad really.
You can check out the press release for both games after the jump.
There was only one XBLA/PSN game on display at yesterday’s Editor’s Day, but boy was it a doozy. PowerUp forever is what Namco describes as a “fractal shooter”. You fly your ship around an open space taking out the wild enemies all around you. As you destroy the enemies, your ship starts growing larger as the enemies and space around you grow smaller. But, being big isn’t all it’s cracked up. The larger you get, the more enemies realise you are there and soon you may find yourself overwhelmed. Avoiding enemy bullets and contact with the enemies themselves becomes a harder and harder task the bigger you become.
One thing Namco loves is their Japanese RPGs and in particularly, their “tales” series. The franchise has moved over 10 million units which is pretty damned impressive when you think about it. This year marks the tenth anniversary of the series and to celebrate, they are rolling out two new Tales games, Tales of Symphonia for the Wii and Tales of Vesperia for the Xbox 360.
It seems like everything is health oriented with the Wii these days. Active Life Outdoor Challenge is what Namco hopes will be the first in a long line of “Active Life” titles. The “active” refers to the jumping, running and other various actions you must perform to get through the game’s many mini-games. It is controlled with an proprietary pad that will come bundled with this first game and will be able to be used for the Active Life titles that follow.
We Ski is everything you would expect from a Wii skiing game and oh so much more. At first glance I figured it would be as simple as moving your remotes around to simulate the skiing and maybe a few races and runs, but We Ski actually goes much deeper.
When We Cheer first showed up on the screen during the main presentation, it was met with many derisive snickers behind hands. I will admit that I was one of those snickerers although I used a fan and not my hand. I mean a cheerleading rhythm game? And the commercial they showed showing a bunch of teenage girls giggling and flailing their Wii remotes around didn’t help matters any.
Fans of Afro Samurai have a treat headed their way in the form of a game based on the show about a renegade African american Samurai seeking revenge on the killers of his father. Armed with his father’s trusty katana, he goes forth to slice and dice the evil doers.
As we previously announced, the big news out of yesterday’s Namco Bandai Editor’s Day was the announcement of a US street date for Soul Calibur IV: July 29, 2008. Also announced was a special Collector’s Edition will be made available on the same date for both the 360 and PS3 versions. The Collector’s Edition will come in a tin box and includes an art book, a t-shirt, a poster and exclusive access to downloadable content only available in this special edition. Announced at the same time was the news that the Original Soul Calibur will be making it’s way to XBLA.
