Mind≒0 Gameplay Video Shows ZeroDiv's MIND Control RPG In Action

4Gamer has shared a 12-minute gameplay video of Acquire and ZeroDiv's latest Vita RPG. Kicking off the video is the opening movie with the song “Bousou Machine, Mind≒0 Ver.,” performed by yucat.

The story of Mind≒0 is centered around a group of teenagers who can summon familiars called MINDs. Using these familiars, they investigate a deranged spirit world. In the parallel world, you will come across monsters. MINDs are powerful and can defend your characters against these monsters, but if they take too much damage, they will break and leave you paralyzed.

You can fight without your MINDs, too, but your attacks are much weaker and you risk taking damage directly. For more details, check our previous article.

When you're back in the real world, you can boost your skills at an antique shop called Moment. Apart from that, this video also gives you a preview of two boss monsters and several ominous mystery characters.

Mind≒0 will be released for the PlayStation Vita on August 1.

Read more stories about Mind 0 & PlayStation Vita & Videos on Siliconera.

atelier 2014 may be brand new, dusk series won't end with escha ' logy

This week’s Dengeki PlayStaton magazine featured an interview with Gust’s director Yoshito Okamura, who hinted that they’ll be releasing a new Atelier game, that may not be related to the Dusk series. In addition, he also says that the Dusk series will continue and won’t end with Atelier Escha & Logy: Alchemists of the Dusk Sky.

Previously, Okamura mentioned that there won’t be a plus version of Atelier Rorona. The other two games in the Arland trilogy got expanded ports for PlayStation Vita and were released as, Atelier Totori Plus and Atelier Meruru Plus. Okamura said that they’d like to make an expansion for it in the future that will show the reason why they saved it for last. According to the Dengeki PlayStation interview, we may be seeing a remake for Atelier Rorona before we see a completely new Atelier series.

“Since becoming part of Tecmo Koei, we now have the grounds to make big titles, while keeping true to Gust’s identity.” says Okamura in the interview. The director also reveals his intention to step down from the development of the Atelier series, with the reason being that when the same person continues developing a title, the game’s content will always be too similar to one another.

Here are some highlights from the interview:

There are no plans to end the Dusk series anytime soon, as there are still plenty left to do.

Gust’s next title may not be part of the Dusk series, although it’s not certain.

There will be a new Atelier game released next year, as they have no intention to break the pattern of releasing a new title per year so fans will have something to look forward to every year.

Since merging with Tecmo Koei, Gust now have the grounds to develop bigger titles and still keep true to their essence.

Gust are currently training their young developers so they can carry on with the future of the Atelier series, along with new IPs, all while changing the future of the company from within.

Director Yoshito Okamura feels that someone else must be entrusted with Atelier. Not because he dislikes making it, but because he feels that if the same person keeps working on it, the games will always be too similar.

This year is Gust’s 20th anniversary, as they’re looking forward to taking on greater challenges.
Read more stories about Atelier & Gust & PlayStation 3 & PlayStation Vita on Siliconera.

mario ' luigi dream team shows the power of luigi's imagination

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team is AlphaDream's fourth RPG, and this game is all about Luigi's dreamy powers. When you're inside one of Luigi's dreams, the game plays like a 2D sidescroller. Pressing A makes Mario jump and pressing B makes Luigi jump so the controls are quite different from New Super Mario Bros.

The part I played had the platforming part on the top screen and Luigi sleeping on the bottom screen. Soon enough, I reached a point where Mario and Luigi couldn't go any further because the next platforms were too high. That's where Dreamy Luigi comes in handy. He can use his imagination to take over objects like a column that transforms with Luigi's face and a bush moustache.

You can pull Luigi's moustache on the bottom screen to grab Mario and fling him to higher ground. Later in the level, Luigi uses his Luiginary powers to make dozens of tiny Luigis. Mario rides a stack of Luigi clones to scare a small army of monsters and he the Luigi tower is also heavy enough to break ground so the duo can move forward.

Dreamy Luigi also powers up Mario during Mario & Luigi: Dream Team's battles. AlphaDream uses a similar battle system where you can inflict extra damage by hitting A during an attack animation. If you press the button at the right time, you can make a wave of Dreamy Luigi's shake the ground during Mario's hammer attack or make Luigi stomp on an enemy. Another demo had a Kaiju fight where a Godzilla-sized Luigi fought a gigantic robot. I held the 3DS like a book and swiped the screen to make Luigi attack.

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team like the other Mario RPG games puts an emphasis on humor and the parts I played had clever jokes. The demo has a lot of text and if that's any indication to go by there may be even more text in Dream Team than other portable RPGs.

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team is slated for release on August 11 in North America and in July for the rest of the world.

Read more stories about Mario & Luigi: Dream Team & Nintendo 3DS on Siliconera.

Zelda A Link Between Worlds Gets A Gallery Of Nostalgic New Screens

Nintendo have released new screenshots of The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, their spiritual successor to A Link to the Past. You can check them out below, and also catch up with our hands-on impressions of the game.

 

Read more stories about Nintendo 3DS & Screenshots & The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds on Siliconera.

Cybuster Busts In For A Super Robot Taisen OG Saga Clip

Masaki Andoh and Cybuster return for Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: Masou Kishin III: Pride of Justice. Cybuster has the power of wind due to a contract with Syphis, a wind elemental. Cybuster can also transform into a Cybird and fly around.

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Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: Masou Kishin III: Pride of Justice is slated for release on PlayStation 3 and Vita on August 22.

Read more stories about Masou Kishin III: Pride of Justice & PlayStation 3 & PlayStation Vita on Siliconera.

Injustice Gods Among Us Leads April Sales In U.S.

Total retail videogame sales were down 25% year-over-year in the U.S. in April, the NPD Group reports. Meanwhile, retail software sales were down 17%.

The best-selling game for the month was Injustice: Gods Among Us, marking the first time since 2011’s Mortal Kombat that a fighting game has ranked in the NPD top-spot. Injustice, along with games like Dead Island: Riptide, and Lego City Undercover: The Chase Begins drove software sales in April. Games that launched during the month saw an increase of 118% in unit sales and 130% in dollar sales compared to April 2012.

The overall 17% decline to software came from the weak performance of games that were launched prior to March, the NPD Group’s Liam Callahan says.

The top-10 best-selling games for the month of April (at retail) were as follows:

RankTitleSystemPublisher01.Injustice: Gods Among Us360, PS3, Wii UWarner Bros.02.Dead Island: Riptide360, PS3, PCDeep Silver03.Bioshock Infinite360, PS3, PCTake 204.Call of Duty: Black Ops 2360, PS3, PC, Wii UActivision Blizzard05.Defiance360, PS3, PCTrion Worlds06.Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon3DSNintendo07.NBA 2K13360, PS3, Wii, Wii U, PSP, PCTake 208.Skylanders GiantsWii, 360, PS3, 3DS, Wii UActivision Blizzard09.LEGO City Undercover: The Chase Begins3DSNintendo10.MLB 13: The ShowPS3, PSVSony

Reporting period: April 7th – May 5th, 2013.

Meanwhile, on the hardware front, the Xbox 360 was the best-selling console for the month once more. The system sold 130,000 units during April.

Read more stories about Bioshock: Infinite & Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 & Injustice: Gods Among Us & NPD & Xbox 360 on Siliconera.

The Binding of Isaac Rebirth Remake Coming To PC, PS4, Vita

Indie rogue-like The Binding of Isaac is coming to PC, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita in 2014 as an updated version of the original game, titled The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth.

The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth is a remake of the original with expanded gameplay, more playable characters, story, enemies and items. The game will feature overhauled graphics in a new 16-bit style as well, and will be published by Nicalis.

Here’s a rundown of the features in The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth:

Local co-op multiplayerCompetitive loadouts“50-percent” new contentSteam discount for those that own the original gameNew playable charactersSeveral new challenge runs

The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth will be available in 2014, but Nicalis haven't announced a date beyond that.

Read more stories about PC & PlayStation 4 & PlayStation Vita & The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth & Videos on Siliconera.

The Cast Of Sengoku Basara 4 Are Up To Their Usual Tricks

Capcom has announced a release date of January 23 2014 for the Sengoku Basara 4, and to celebrate, they released a new trailer letting the game's characters get some screen time, showing off their allegiances or plans.

From Takeda Shingen to Date Masamune and every faction’s various retainers and allies in between, it's a video full of manly cutaways, proclamations and moments full of the kind of angst and yelling that Sengoku Basara fans love.

Read more stories about PlayStation 3 & Sengoku Basara 4 & Videos on Siliconera.

Earn Poké Miles In Pokémon X And Pokémon Y For In-Game Rewards

In Pokémon X and Pokémon Y, you can earn “Poké Miles” within certain parts of the game, reports Serebii.net. Poké Miles are used in the PokéMileage Club to play attractions and receive items at the Pokémon Global Link website.

These items can then be sent back to the two Nintendo 3DS games; however, there is another way to earn these items as well. Dream Points in the Pokémon Global Link can be converted to Poké Miles as well, and the amount you get varies, depending on which of the  Pokémon RPGs you own.

More details can be found over at Serebii.net. Something else to note is that the Pokémon Global Link for the Gen 5 games (Black/White, Black 2/White 2) will be closing soon, with January 14th, 2014 set as the closing date.

Read more stories about Nintendo 3DS & Pokemon X & Pokemon Y on Siliconera.

Namco Bandai's PS3 Teaser Site Is Probably For A Saint Seiya Fighting Game

Update: Sources have confirmed that the game's title is Saint Seiya: Brave Soldiers, not 'Bout Senses'.

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Namco Bandai will reveal a new PlayStation 3 game in two days and it's probably for a Saint Seiya fighting game. Jump revealed Saint Seiya: Brave Soldiers, which has characters from the Zodiac Knights, Elysion Chapter, and Saint Seiya Omega in it. The magazine confirmed Kouga, Seiya, Shiryu, Kanon, Tenma, and Rhadamanthys will be in Saint Seiya: Bout Senses.

Back to the teaser site: did you notice the URL?

It's bandaigames.channel.or.jp/list/sbs/. Saint Seiya: Brave Soldiers, perhaps?

Saint Seiya: Brave Soldiers is slated for release this Fall on the PlayStation 3 in Japan.

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Read more stories about PlayStation 3 & Saint Seiya: Bout Senses on Siliconera.

Lightning Returns Final Fantasy XIII Won't Let You Use MP To Heal

In past Final Fantasy titles, the Cure spell has always been a magic or ability that recovers health in exchange for a short amount of MP. In Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, Cure and other spells will be a little different than before.

“In this game, Cure isn’t a regular ability, but a part of the GP effects. It will require the use of GP in order to heal yourself,” design director Yuji Abe tells Dengeki Online.

As previously detailed, GP in Lightning Returns stands for “Glory Points”. Abe describes GP as “convenience points,” which allow you to do various things like teleporting to specific areas on the field or stopping time in the game. And now, it’s also used to heal yourself when you’re hurting.

“It will also include Raise, which is used whenever you get knocked out,” Abe continues. “So, this time around, in order to heal yourself, you’ll either have to use GP or items such as potions. There will be different situations where you might have to consider saving your GP for stopping time instead of healing.”

“You’ll gain GP at the end of battles, so to a degree, you’ll be able to go around fighting to recover your health. Stronger enemies will give you more GP, so it might be a good idea to take on a stronger enemy to cast a Curaga when your HP is looking low. Command-based battle systems allow you to use them as much as you’d like, but this time it may feel a little more restricted.”

In Lightning Returns, the general flow of the game will start your day out in the ark where Hope is located. By 6 a.m. you’ll be forced back to the ark, where you’ll get to give your accumulated Radiant Points to the Tree of Life, in order to prolong the planet’s life span. The Radiant Points can be acquired by completing quests. Some quests will give you more and others, less. You’ll be able to expand the planet’s life through the tree by up to 13 days at a time.

Finally, Abe concludes with the following message for fans regarding the final adjustment stage of the game’s development:

“This time around, weapons and equipment will be a crucial element, so we are currently adjusting their parameters and values. We’re thinking about topics such as how to make players purchase and change (weapons and equipment) more frequently, and about the balance of abilities, which we’re constantly adjusting. We’ve been going back and forth in order to not have things appear too boring or too flashy. We’re doing our best to adjust it so it can correspond to various play styles, so please look forward to it.”

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII will be available in North America on February 11th, 2014, and in Europe on February 14th, 2014.

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Read more stories about Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII & PlayStation 3 & Xbox 360 on Siliconera.

Monster Hunter 4 Will Have Nintendo-Themed Guild Cards, Too

Not content with putting Link, Mario and Luigi in the game, Nintendo and Capcom are also including the option of obtaining special guild cards in Monster Hunter 4 ,that are collaborations between the two companies.

Noted on Twitter after Nintendo Direct’s reveal on the additional outfits, the guild cards will feature such backgrounds as Super Mario Bro’s, Donkey Kong and The Legend of Zelda.

These guild cards will also allow players to pose Monster Hunter 4 characters, such as the picture above.

 

More details, said Nintendo, will be released by Capcom on how to obtain these cards. Monster Hunter 4 comes out September 14 for the Nintendo 3DS.

Read more stories about Monster Hunter 4 & Nintendo 3DS on Siliconera.

WinFS delayed even beyond Longhorn Server

The so-called next-gen filesystem to come from Microsoft is really looking to earn that generational distinction, and in more ways than one. Not only is the tech promising (what we know of it), but apparently it's taking much, much longer to bake than we thought.

Originally slated for release with Longhorn, it was revealed in April that WinFS was being scaled back, and wouldn't make the Longhorn desktop release. Later in August we received official word on the matter from Microsoft, who then said that they planned to release WinFS as an off-cycle development platform. Then, in late October, Ballmer said that WinFS would ship with Longhorn Server, and be available as a free add-on for Longhorn.

Yesterday Bob Muglia, Senior Vice President of the Windows Server Division, told press conference attendees that WinFS would not ship with Longhorn server, but would be delayed even beyond that. In general terms, this puts WinFS into 2008, at the earliest. Muglia has some regrets about having pumped everyone up for something that's getting pushed back on a quarterly basis now.

"We've been working on this for a long time, and this team is going to deliver," he said. "Our mistake, frankly--and it was a mistake--was to go out and talk about it before we really had clarity as to how we would be able to deliver it and all the complexities there."

Noting that WinFS is not merely "a relational database," Muglia noted that a serious revamping of the way in which filesystems are conceived of has been a longtime dream for the company, and it's something that will happen. It's just going to take longer than anyone expected. Much longer, in fact.

Microsoft has made a bit of a habit out of cutting announced features. Recently, Windows Server 2003 was launched without promised features, and the company also nixed features that were originally announced for "R2" of Server 2003. The good news is that Windows Server R2 Release Candidate 2 has gone out to beta testers, and a gold candidate is expected within just a few months. Many of the developers working on R2 will turn their attentions to Longhorn Server, and hopefully, WinFS, shortly thereafter.

VRForums for Android Updated (1.1.2), iOS release to follow next week

VRForums for Android(VRForums) has been bumped to version 1.1.2 and can be autoupdated from the Android Market or by installing this apk. Changes include security and bug fixes likethread prefixes support, ability to move to SD Card and no more user registration crashes.

Meanwhile in the other universe, our VRForums iOS application for the iPad/iPhone/iPod has also been resubmitted to the Apple App Store and we expect it to be finally available earliest next week if Fruitzilla is satisfied +}

Forums Support Thread:http://forums.vr-zone.com/chit-chatting/1324993-updated-220611-vrforums-now-android-marketplace-ios-coming-soon.html