3DS Castlevania Lords of Shadow Announced for Japan

Konami has finally gotten around to announcing a Japanese release for the 3DS Castlevania Lords of Shadow. The announcement came without a release date or final name, but you can visit the newly opened teaser site.

3DS and Mario Dominate Summer Sales

Nintendo showed is usual strength over the summer break period, with Wii, 3DS and DS claiming the top ten slots in the software chart and 3DS having another 100,000+ week.
New Super Mario Bros. 2 was the top game once again, selling 152,026 units to bring its life total to 942,758 units.
The Enterbrain top 30 remained mostly unchanged from the prior week. The only new releases over the week were Heavy Fire Afghanistan and the Monster Hunter Frontier Online Anniversary 2012 Premium Package on Xbox 360. These did not chart.
Here's the full Enterbrain software chart covering August 13 through August 19, as reported at Famitsu.com today. Release date, publisher and life-to-date sales are in parentheses.

• [3DS] 01. New Super Mario Bros. 2 (Nintendo, 07.28.2012): 152,026 (942,758)
• [NDS] 02. Pokemon Black & White 2 (Pokemon, 06.23.2012): 55,787 (2,631,683)
• [WII] 03. Dragon Quest X (Square Enix, 08.02.2012): 45,470 (536,133)
• [WII] 04. Just Dance Wii 2 (Nintendo, 07.26.2012): 24,723 (137,981)
• [3DS] 05. Demon Training (Nintendo, 07.28.2012): 21,286 (119,374)
• [3DS] 06. Taiko Drum Master Chibi Dragon and the Mysterious Orb (Bamco Nandai, 07.12.2012): 21,215 (171,991)
• [3DS] 07. Run For Money: Flee From the Strongest Hunters in History (Namco Bandai, 07.05.2012): 16,813 (92,056)
• [WII] 08. Wii Sports Resort (Nintendo, 06.25.2009): 13,088 (2,971,249)
• [3DS] 09. Kobito Zukan Kobito Kansatsu Set (Columbia, 07.26.2012): 12,483 (62,063)
• [WII] 10. Kirby 20th Anniversary Special Collection (Nintendo, 07.19.2012): 12,245 (171,726)
• [PSP] 11. Kuroko's Basketball (Namco Bandai, 09.09.2012): 10,987 (47,831)
• [WII] 12. Mario Party 9 (Nintendo, 04.26.2012): 9,620 (520,631)
• [3DS] 13. Monster Hunter 3G (Capcom, 12.10.2011): 9,346 (1,526,313)
• [PS3] 14. Persona 4 Arena (Atlus, 07.26.2012): 9,187 (153,608)
• [PSP] 15. Digimon World Redigitize (Namco Bandai, 07.19.2012): 8,366 (137,546)
• [3DS] 16. Little Battler eXperience Baku Boost (Level-5, 07.05.2012): 8,320 (118,901)
• [NDS] 17. All Kamen Rider Rider Generation 2 (Namco Bandai, 08.02.2012): 8,089 (36,525)
• [WII] 18. Taiko Drum Master Wii Ultimate Version (Namco Bandai, 11.23.2011): 7,268 (275,277)
• [PS3] 19. Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball 2012 (Konami, 07.19.2012): 6,864 (113,911)
• [3DS] 20. Mario Tennis Open (Nintendo, 06.23.2012): 6,655 (287,874)
• [PSP] 21. Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball 2012 (Konami, 07.19.2012): 6,494 (59,232)
• [3DS] 22. Rune Factory 4 (MAQL, 07.19.2012): 6,482 (130,876)
• [3DS] 23. Dragon Quest Monsters Terry's Wonderland 3D: (Square Enix, 05.31.2012) 6,302 (870,780)
• [PS3] 24. Sniper Elite V2 (Ubisoft, 08.09.2012): 6,247 (17,658)
• [3DS] 25. Mario Kart 7 (Nintendo, 12.01.2011): 6,125 (1,787,209)
• [PSP] 26. Super Danganronpa 2 (Spike Chunsoft, 07.26.2012): 5,755 (86,032)
• [WII] 27. Wii Party (Nintendo, 07.08.2010): 4,918 (2,325,923)
• [WII] 28. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo, 04.10.2008): 4,859 (3,547,632)
• [3DS] 29. Super Mario 3D Land (Nintendo, 11.03.2011): 4,682 (1,679,872)
• [3DS] 30. Smile PreCure! Let's Go! Marchen World (Namco Bandai, 08.02.2012): 4,664 (17,794)

Here's Enterbrain's hardware chart covering 08.13.2012 to 08.19.2012. Last week's sales are in parentheses.

• Nintendo 3DS: 107,140 (108,897)
• PlayStation 3: 19,202 (13,740)
• Wii: 14,805 (15,916)
• PlayStation Portable: 14,051 (12,208)
• PlayStation Vita: 11,082 (8,805)
• Xbox 360: 632 (517)
• PlayStation 2: 627 (445)
• Nintendo DSi: 410 (344)

Arcade Title Dragon Ball Heroes 3DS Released

Namco Bandai will be bringing its arcade title Dragon Ball Heroes to 3DS, V Jump reports this month.
Titled Dragon Ball Heroes Ultimate Mission, the 3DS version will feature a story mode, wireless support, and connectivity with the arcade version. You'll find over 200 warriors and 800 cards. Using the stylus, you'll directly control your deck of five cards in battle. A release is planned for Winter.

Dragon Ball Heroes is a card-based arcade game that was originally released in November 2010 and renewed this past March as Dragon Ball Heroes Galaxy Mission. Access the official site for movies.

Epic Zelda Book ‘Hyrule Historia’ Is Coming To America

Like Eddie Murphy. In that film. Except it’s a book.

Nothing causes us to punch the air with a hoot of pure delight like the news of something cool the Japanese have coming to a country other than Japan. Because you are clever, you have probably noticed that America and Canada are different countries to Japan. Not only this, but they are countries that are going to get the awesomeness that is the official Hyrule Historia.

The magnificent compendium of all things Legend Of Zelda hit Japan as part of Nintendo’s jubilant celebration of the franchise. We gave up all hope of ever seeing it in the West, but light at the end of the tunnel has been ignited, as Siliconera is reporting that the magnificent book is coming next year.

Clocking in at $35, the book’s being published by Dark Horse, and will be available to consumers from January 29th 2013.

The hardcover book contains an impressive 272 pages of Zelda lore, as well as insights into the creation of the series and a foreword by Nintendo mastermind Shigeru Miyamoto. There’ll be concept art aplenty, oodles of insight from some of the top designers who’ve worked on the series, as well as an exclusive manga by Akira Himekawa, the head honcho of Zelda manga adaptations.

The book is also famous for containing the, that’s the, official Legend Of Zelda timeline for the entire franchise, finally setting in order a series of videogame myths, legends and parables that has otherwise baffled fans for years.

Seeing such a terrific tome translated is wondrous news indeed. While there’s no confirmation of any release in Europe or Down Under, we’d be surprised (and probably weep openly in the streets like Christian Bale did in that scene in Equilibrium) if the Hyrule Historia didn’t eventually go global, following this news.
Either way, we’d actively encourage any and all future purchasers of this book to hold it aloft over their heads to a triumphant fanfare upon getting it. It’s tradition.

Monster Hunter news is still coming in 2012

For the third time in the past few weeks, Capcom has talked about the fact that Monster Hunter news that relates to its life outside of Japan is still on its way. This is what Christian Svensson said:

A few weeks ago, I told MH fans on this forum that you’d hear something before the end of the year. Nothing has changed on that front. You’re also assuming that when it comes, it’ll be at some event you can see coming from a mile away. That’s not necessarily a correct assumption. While I appreciate the passion, I can’t help you if every possible industry event leads to build up and crashes in anticipation. If we somehow get to Dec 31 and you do not have more visibility, then please be mad at me. Until then, I’d request the benefit of the doubt and your continued patience.

If time travel existed, this might be a good situation to go back in time and never promise anything. I’m sure the questions would have faded, people would have (mostly) forgotten about Monster Hunter outside of Japan in the mean time, and there’d be none of this anticipation. That might have been a better position for Capcom.

Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon Delayed

Vaccum cleaners are wonderful. You can use them to frighten pets, bother people watching television, and even to clean the carpet. They’re also an extremely useful means by which to rid large abandoned households of ectoplasmic apparitions, should the need arise.
Luigi’s GameCube foray into ghost-bustery needs no introduction, and 3DS fans have been eager to get their hands on the stereoscopic sequel for some time. Bad news struck Nintendo fans of the Americas today when it was reported that the game was delayed into 2013. Which, by the way, is next year. As in, not this year. As in, we have to wait even longer. Boo!

“No, when he wrote ‘boo’ he meant it as an expression of disdain, not a reference to y-y-you… uhh… c-c-can I get back to you next year on the whole sucking-you-into-my-Hoover thing?”

The question on everyone’s lips (except American lips, which were busy twisting downwards at the corners with sadness at the news), was would the delay hit Europe too?
A glance at the game’s information page on the UK Nintendo website suggests, sadly, that everyone’s suffering the 2013 blues. The game’s listed as a 2013 release, with no precise date beyond that. Not even a specific month.
Presumably Luigi’s schedule is just too packed for him to go creeping through mansions slurping up spectres, especially now he and his brother are busy frolicking with attractive Spaniards.
It’s glum news indeed for many a fan of the lean green ghost-slurping machine, and does detract one particularly anticipated title from Nintendo’s potential end of year lineup. Nonetheless, hopes for the hoover-powered haunt-’em-up remain high, and we can only assume that the longer wait will make for a much better game when it finally arrives.
Until that day, the humble household vacuum cleaner remains nothing more than a dutiful household appliance, humbly waiting for the day it can be strapped to a plumber’s back and used for greater things.
We feel your pity, vacuum cleaner. It really sucks.

Super Mario Bros. piggy bank is now available in Japan

Media Factory has released a Super Mario Bros. piggy bank in Japan, shown above (and after the break). This isn’t just a fancy plastic box with a slit in it though, it also makes sound effects. Whenever you drop in a coin:

…you’ll hear classic Mario sound effects, including a coin sound, a mushroom sound, a pipe sound, a game over sound, and more.

It’s available in Japan right now, and costs ¥399.

Senran Kagura Anime First Trailer

A first trailer for the Senran Kagura anime conversion debuted at the Comiket 82 today. An attendee captured the footage, which has lots of shake -- but not the camera type.

Inazuma Eleven 1,2,3: 3DS vs DS

Level-5 released a few comparison pics showing how Inazuma Eleven 1, 2 and 3 have been improved for their appearance on the 3DS through Inazuma Eleven 1,2,3 Legend of Endo Mamoru. The screens aren't full resolution, but you should be able to see the differences.

Inazuma Eleven Compilation Announced For 3DS

3DS owners have a whole lot of Inazuma Eleven to look forward to this year. Joining the previously announced Inazuma Eleven Go 2, Level-5 will also be releasing Inazuma Eleven 1,2,3 Legend of Mamoru Endo, a compilation of the first three DS Inazuma Eleven games (or the first six games, if you count the individual SKUs as separate releases).

Revealed in Coro Coro Comics this week, the Inazuma Eleven compilation will feature cleaned up visuals. The graphics have also been updated to support 3D output. Those who plan on buying Inazuma Eleven Go 2 can also look forward to some connective elements between the two games.

Legend of Mamoru Endo will be released on November 15, priced ¥5,800.

First Look: Nintendo's Style Savvy for 3DS

Nintendo is giving Style Savvy a sequel on 3DS. In Japanese, the sequel is titled Wagamama Fashion Girl's Mode: Yokubari Sengen! ("Greed Declaration").

View a first trailer from the newly opened official site below. Release and price are currently TBA. A download version will also be available.

3DS AKB48+Me Release Date

Just as Namco Bandai announces AKB1/153, Kadokawa Games has decided to bring a long missing AKB48 game back into the spotlight. Famitsu this week reveals an October 25 release date for AKB48+Me. The 3DS title will carry ¥5,670 price.

First announced in April, AKB48+Me features the girls of AKB48 in Mii form. You play as a prospective candidate for the group and take part in rhythm games and other activities.