Criminal Girls Invitation Has Two New Playable Characters

"Playable" should be in quotes because Criminal Girls Invitation has a unique battle system where you don't have direct control over the characters. You can suggest commands like "fight," but the girls can choose not to listen to you. See, Criminal Girls Invitation has players guide a group of girls on their way to reincarnation and each girl represents a different sin.

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You might remember Tomoe (top left) and Coco (bottom right) from the PSP game. Himekami who is attacking the monster is new for Criminal Girls Invitation. So is the girl with the golden hairpin in the top right. Dengeki revealed a screenshot of the Vita-exclusive character, but didn't share any details about her.

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Criminal Girls Invitation is slated for release on November 28 for PlayStation Vita.

Read more stories about Criminal Girls Invitation & PlayStation Vita on Siliconera.

Class Of Heroes 2 UMD And Digital Code Edition Pre-Order Open, 40 Already Sold

Gaijinworks and MonkeyPaw will release Class of Heroes 2 on UMD, but' only in limited quantities. The Class of Heroes' 2 physical + digital edition costs $36.99 shipping included in the US. Purchasers will get codes their code Class of Heroes 2 via e-mail when the game is available on PlayStation Network. Fulfillment is expected to take between four to eight weeks.

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"We've already sold 40% of the 2700 [Class of Heroes 2 Physical + Digital] units fans indicated they wanted in the poll," Gaijinworks CEO Vic Ireland tweeted. Ireland elaborated on the cost, "The physical+digital deal is fanservice. As long as we break even on the offering or make a little, we want to do it 4 all games."

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Class of Heroes 2 is still in QA due to rights issues with the new animated movie. Ireland thinks the game may be ready by the third week in May.

Read more stories about Class of Heroes 2 & PSP on Siliconera.

Castle of Illusion HD Won't Be Like Other Disney Games, It's Still Really Hard

Fans of old school Disney platformers were shocked to hear that Capcom was resurrecting the NES classic DuckTales for modern consoles a few months back. And not long after came another bombshell from Sega—that they, too, were giving an old Disney classic the HD treatment with Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse.

Siliconera caught up with the latter game’s producer, Omar Woodley of Sega Studios Australia, on the show floor of E3 to ask how and why.

So, how did all this this come about exactly?

Omar Woodley, Sega Studios Australia: We were actually talking to Disney, about two years ago, about doing a collaboration. Initially, we were unsure what it would be—we just knew that we wanted to do a project together, to make a Disney game.

So we looked at our catalogue of games, and obviously the original Castle of Illusion is one of the best games from the Mega Drive and Genesis era, so we chose that. Disney was totally on board, so we then contacted the original creator, Emiko Yamamoto-san, who actually works for Disney of Japan now, as an executive producer.

She was very excited by the proposal, and ended up being involved in the vision of the new game. So she wanted us to re-imagine her original vision with modern technology, with high fidelity visuals and special effects, plus to innovate the gameplay and add dynamic challenges. That's what we targeted, and that's what we accomplished.

Did Yamamoto give you her blessing or did she keep tabs on development?

She was involved, she helped keep tabs. We sent various deliverables to her, to get her feedback, to make sure she was happy with the direction we were going. Actually, once the development team built the prototype, they actually flew out there personally to present it to her.

I'd imagine that was pretty nerve-wracking.

Yes it was!

Was Disney surprised that you and your team chose to re-imagine Castle of Illusion? It certainly has its fans, even to this day, but it was hardly a billion copy seller either.

Not at all! They were happy to do the project and very support every step of the way. There were those in Disney who were aware of the game's pedigree. They're also super happy with the final product, and believe it’s in line with the original vision.

What do you think differentiates this from other Disney games on the market today?

I think how we kept to the original core content of the game, one of which is its high degree of challenge, which I believe is the most compelling element.

That's the thing that struck me the most; it's really hard, compared to most Disney games, which are clearly skewed to a younger audience, and are therefore a cakewalk in many instances.

That was our goal from the get-go, to target the retro gamer, our age group. The guys who played this for months when they were kids, because mom and dad wouldn't buy them a new game.

Was there any temptation, perhaps from outside sources, to make it easier, like an easy mode?

We did experiment with that, but in the end, we felt it stay as close to the original core of the game as possible, the steep challenging aspects.

There are some additional, smaller nuances as well' we spent hundreds of hours when researching this game. Every group involved—us, Sega, Sega of Japan, Disney of Japan, Disney of US—we combed over every detail, the memories, the feel of the game that we wanted to represent.

Mickey, for example, in the original game, was the very first game character to have an idle animation. Most people think it was Sonic, but Mickey in Castle of Illusion pre-dated that by almost a year. So we really wanted to give that same sense of vitality that was introduced back then. His physics still have the floaty jump, where you can back off from your jump. And we built all the levels around that aspect.

The platforming is presented in a 2.5D format, so we didn't stray too far from the original. But we have presented the game in a modern engine, and we added new content, to make it even more challenging and dynamic, for the modern platformer' So we did a good job I think of identifying some of the core experiences from that classic, and translating it to a modernized version.

But was there one utmost important defining aspect of Castle of Illusion, that one almost magical element that you all knew, more than anything else, had to be retained?

God. Seriously, there was so many pillars we were trying to maintain' When designing the game, we drew upon everything: the original game, Disney theme parks, movies, cartoons' We really wanted to emphasize the Disney magic, and make sure you felt that in this game.

Though, I would have to say, I think we really achieved in making Mickey a truly compelling character for today's audience. I know it's not Assassin's Creed, I know it's not Halo, but I think we really made Mickey a personable character for pretty much any age group.

When you play this, it doesn't feel like a kids’ game. And you end up respecting Mickey a bit more. It's not a kids’ game, because it's so hard, so you end up having more respect for him.

Well, if this does well, will we see remakes of World of Illusion, or maybe Quackshot, other early classic Disney platformers for the Genesis?

We've been getting that question a lot' Our focus is strictly on Castle of Illusion, so we'll just have to see how well it does.

How does it feel to come out around the same time as Ducktales Remastered?

I'm very happy for Disney, I'm excited that all these classic games are coming back, strictly speaking as a gamer. 'Oh wow, they're making Ducktales, this is awesome!'

And speaking from Sega's stand point, I think we accomplished our task, we're really happy with our product, Disney's really happy with our product. Also, speaking as a dad, I'm happy to see Disney contemporize all these classics, and introducing them to my kids.

Read more stories about Castle of Illusion HD & Interviews & PlayStation 3 & Xbox 360 on Siliconera.

Bravely Default Screens Show Off The New Graphical Improvements And Story Events

While the US will have to wait till next year to pick up Square Enix’s Bravely Default: For The Sequel, new screenshots of the game show how it’s shaping up, and highlight the numerous improvements, from better graphics to better UI. We’ve detailed these features in the past, but now you can see them for yourself below.

 

The above screens showcase the auto battle system and revamped user interface we previously mentioned. Check out how the equipment list is now longer, requiring less scrolling and utilizing all the white space on the bottom touch screen (which will also have quick-jump buttons)

 

In this shot, the revamped battle and after-battle (respectively) screens show what skills were used as well as more detailed after-battle reports for players. Note that when players select auto-battle, the game remembers which commands were used and repeats the actions rather than simply using the basic attack command.

Above: the newly updated Job Change class screen.

   

Additionally, the entire game has gotten a graphical facelift, which you can see in the screens to the right above. Note the obvious added emphasis in the flower gardens to the brighter tones during overland segments, bringing better life to streets, shops, and general eye-candy while walking around.

In response to fan demand, Square Enix are also expanding the number of story events, including minor characters who did not get enough screen time. This includes adding new facial expressions to them, and tweaking later chapters to better explain the ending.

For those who simply cannot wait and want to play through the game with a Japanese 3DS, note that For The Sequel will ship with English voiceovers (alongside French, Italian, German and Spanish). Menus and text will still be in Japanese however.

 

Other minor improvements include aforementioned expansions to save slots (from one to three), the ability to import your data from the original game, and the ability to fully tweak options such as random battle spawns and the average difficulty.

Bravely Default: For The Sequel will be out for the Nintendo 3DS December 5 in Japan, by end year in Europe, and 2014 in the US.

Read more stories about Bravely Default & Nintendo 3DS & Screenshots on Siliconera.

Atelier Meruru Plus The Apprentice of Arland Is Coming; Have An English Trailer

Atelier Meruru Plus: The Apprentice of Arland is headed to the West, and Tecmo Koei brought the game to E3 along with a new trailer containing English-language footage and the theme song. Watch the trailer below:

Atelier Meruru: The Alchemist of Arland will be available this September.

Read more stories about Atelier Meruru Plus & PlayStation Vita & Videos on Siliconera.

Animal Crossing New Leaf Review

Developer: Nintendo EAD
Publisher: Nintendo
Platform: Nintendo 3DS
Genre: Simulation
Release Date: June 9, 2013
MSRP: $39.99, $34.99 (via Nintendo eShop)

The Animal Crossing series returns on the Nintendo 3DS with Animal Crossing: New Leaf, bringing all the life-simulating fun of the franchise to a handheld that comes loaded with more online/social connections than any Nintendo console before it.

The result is largely the same Animal Crossing experience, enhanced a great deal by the accessibility of all the social/sharing options in the game.

I'll be honest, before I actually downloaded my own copy of New Leaf, I wasn't thrilled about the game or its release. I was particularly annoyed with Nintendo's highly suggestive attitude toward downloading the game versus buying a hard copy ' this almost completely turned me away from picking it up at all. The last time I really played anything from the franchise was Animal Crossing: Wild World, which failed to capture my day-to-day attention in the same way that the original GameCube release did.

I felt like the only issues I ever really had with Animal Crossing was the lack of accessibility when concerning the multiplayer components. But with New Leaf, these problems have been all but eliminated.

In fact, after all the fuss about downloading the game, it ended up being this very decision ' going with the digital version versus the retail copy ' that made the process of playing daily so much easier. On the other hand, the game definitely still demands a certain level of commitment, and those who aren't familiar with the Animal Crossing series might find it to be as bizarre of a concept as when it originally launched on the GameCube.

However, those who do end up getting into it might find themselves sucked in pretty quickly, as the game is definitely addictive and highly entertaining.

The gameplay in New Leaf remains largely the same as previous Animal Crossing games, but this time you immediately assume the role of the mayor when you move into town. From the get-go you have a lot of control over the development of your town, and it's as simple as visiting the town hall and sitting in your mayor chair. You don't even have to waste a bunch of time doing pesky part-time jobs for Tom Nook ' though you'll still ultimately owe him a load of money for anything you happen to do to your house.

Many of the hobbies and collection mini-games return, such as fishing for different kinds of fish and sea life, digging for fossils, searching for sea shells down by the sea shore, catching bugs and more. You can donate a lot of your loot to the local museum, which players visiting from other towns can observe. You an also sell most of your loot to one of the stores located in town.

Of course there is still a large focus on customizing your house with various objects that can be purchased, found or obtained from residents around town. It's a lot of fun to collect all the different items, especially the ones based on classic Nintendo games ' such as the Virtual Boy console, the Piranha Plant Pipe, the Blue Falcon replica and the swirling fire bar. I even bought a phonograph one afternoon that could play songs obtained from other players.

You can change your clothes, accessories and even pants, socks and shoes, and, as always, you can visit the Able Sisters' shop to purchase your own custom patterns, which can be easily created on the touch screen. I made a shirt that looks like Gengar's face, and ended up setting it as the town flag as well.

Moving on, you can customize a lot more than just the objects and arrangement of your house. As you build up more money and take on bigger home development projects, you can also choose new doors, fences, roof textures and more. There is a great deal of personalizing that fans of games like The Sims should immediately enjoy. The idea goes further still, allowing you to fund projects for the town, such as new fountains, bridges, benches and more.

As the mayor, you also have direct control over the town tune, which greets visiting friends and also plays as the hourly alarm tune in the background. The town eventually grows beyond its original size, with villagers moving in and out, special guests making an appearance (such as the dog that plays guitar on weekends and the psychic that visits weekly) and even renovation of the stores and shops in town.

I didn't actually get a chance to check out all of the features and events within Animal Crossing: New Leaf, especially some of the multiplayer content, but I did explore a friend's town and scour it for new items that I couldn't access in my own town. For example, in my friend's town, there were cherries growing in the trees. I had pears in my town, so cherries were more valuable to sell at the shop. Naturally, I stopped by to check out his house and all the goodies he had collected over the course of his experience.

That was just scratching the surface of what is offered in New Leaf, and, in general, I feel like this is how my current experience with the game has gone. There's plenty more that I look forward to seeing, such as the tropical island that you can explore, with tropical fruits to collect, deep sea diving and catching salt water creatures ' never mind all the daily/weekly/monthly events, many based around holidays and even birthday parties.

Generally speaking, there is definitely something cool about showing off the town that you've developed over time, sending messages to friends with ease, all the while sharing images of your experience with the Image Share feature. In fact, I feel like this feature alone makes New Leaf worth checking out for Animal Crossing fans. The feature allows you to immediately upload snapshots of your game to social networking sites like Facebook, Tumblr and Twitter. In fact, thanks to this nifty feature, all of the screenshots in this review were taken from my own personal game.

Unfortunately, if I had one criticism concerning New Leaf, it isn't much different than what I'd hold against previous Animal Crossing games, but it's a flaw nonetheless.

The game just doesn't allow you to have the same experience unless your daily schedule permits a lot of playtime during the day. For example, the two major shops in town close pretty early, at least from the get-go, so if you happen to have a work schedule (such as mine) that doesn't allow you to get around to playing games until later in the evening, it makes it difficult to participate in most of what the game has to offer.

The convenience store eventually expands and stays open for later hours, but it takes a while before that option is allowed. Daily events like the Bug Off competition were all but impossible for me to enjoy. Even the turnip-trading mini-game (the 'Stalk Market') can be difficult to experience, especially when you have to purchase the turnips from Joan the warthog on Sunday, and then try to re-sell them at the store for a profit at some point throughout the week. It can be tough (and potentially result in going bankrupt) if you miss a day with big profits simply because you didn't have the time to take out of your real life.

Interestingly enough, I feel like this struggle to get back to playing New Leaf is what made my decision to download the digital version feel so much more satisfying. At the very least, the game is always available to boot right from the Home Menu, and playing it day in and day out is that much less of a hassle. Also, the fact that it feels like such an obligation to get back to your town and tend to its needs really speaks volumes about how great of a game New Leaf is, and how well it succeeds in doing exactly what it intends to do: pull you into a digital life simulator, and dig its hooks in deep.

Although Animal Crossing: New Leaf isn't intended for everyone (particularly nocturnal people and those who feel the urge to shoot at something every few seconds), it definitely has an undeniable charm that seems to pull you in long before its life-sim gameplay sucks you in for the long term. I feel like I could easily spend a few minutes a day playing this one for a very long time.

Final Truth:

As far as Nintendo 3DS games go, there haven't been any with such an impressive ability to connect to other players. With the connection between your town and the towns of your friends being more seamless than ever before, Animal Crossing: New Leaf is truly the definitive installment of the franchise, and one hell of a 3DS game that you should seriously consider checking out.

It's a casual player's delight, with the easy-going gameplay involving a lot of collecting, selling items, and decorating everything to your own liking. Whether you're looking for that relaxing experience or not, New Leaf also serves as the perfect 'cool-down' game after a hectic session with an online shooter or tough action game.

Animal Crossing: New Leaf ReviewCliff Bakehorn III, Contributor

Summary: Nintendo's virtual life simulator series returns to the Nintendo 3DS, connecting players and their customized towns more than ever before.

9Buy it!

A Closer Look At The Redesigned PS Vita 2000

On October 10, Sony will release a lighter and slimmer PlayStation Vita. The PCH-2000 model is 20% slimmer and 15% lighter than the original system. The front screen has also been changed to a high-definition liquid crystal display instead of the OLED screen in the first generation Vita. Sony says the screen is capable of displaying 16 million colors, making it comparable to the OLED display.

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PlayStation Vita 2000 has a rounded design. Notice that the button layout has changed too with the start and select buttons underneath the right analog stick.

The new PlayStation Vita has longer battery life that lasts about one hour more. You can charge your system using a standard micro USB cable too. Sony also added 1GB of internal memory to Vita. A nice addition, but you will probably want a memory card if you plan on downloading Vita games.

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Sony will have six colors prepped for launch white, lime green & white, light blue & white, khaki & black, pink & black, and black.

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Here's the spec sheet straight from Sony.

Platform name

PlayStation®Vita

Model number

PCH-2000 series

CPU

ARM® Cortex™-A9 core (4 core)

GPU

SGX543MP4+

Main memory

512MB

VRAM

128MB

External Dimensions

Approx. 183.6 x 85.1 x 15.0 mm (width x height x depth) (excludes largest projection)

Weight

Approx. 219g

Screen

(Touch screen)

5 inches (16:9), 960 x 544, Approx. 16 million colors, LCD

Multi touch screen (capacitive type)

Rear touch pad

Multi touch pad (capacitive type)

Cameras

Front camera, Rear camera

Frame rate : 120fps@320'240(QVGA), 60fps@640'480(VGA)

Resolution : Up to 640'480(VGA)

Sound

Built-in stereo speakers

Built-in microphone

Motion sensors

Six-axis motion sensing system (three-axis gyroscope, three-axis accelerometer), Three-axis electronic compass

Location

Wi-Fi location service support

Keys / Switches

PS button

Power button

Directional buttons (Up/Down/Right/Left)

Action buttons (Triangle, Circle, Cross, Square)

Shoulder buttons (Right/Left)

Right stick, Left stick

START button, SELECT button

Volume buttons (+/-)

Wireless communications

IEEE 802.11b/g/n (n = 1'1)(Wi-Fi) (Infrastructure mode/Ad-hoc mode)

Bluetooth® 2.1+EDR （A2DP/AVRCP/HSP）

Internal memory card

1GB

Slots/Ports

PlayStation®Vita card slot

Memory card slot

Micro USB port (Type B) (for USB data communication, DC IN, Audio [Stereo Out / Mono In], Serial data communication),

Headset jack (Stereo mini jack) (for Audio [Stereo Out / Mono In])

Read more stories about PlayStation Vita on Siliconera.