Star Ocean Material Trader Announced; Is A Social Game

It’s already been a few years since the release of the last Star Ocean title, but it’s making a return—this time as a social card game RPG for GREE, called Star Ocean: Material Trader, where you’ll be collecting cards based off characters and items from the franchise. Series producer Yoshinori Yamagishi will also be in charge of the upcoming mobile game.

The game takes place in the space calendar year 5xx. The main character finds himself on the planet Noutis and must help out Tina, a researcher of the organization Ouroboros, who seems to have gotten herself into trouble. Your journey will consist of going on journeys to find “Star Shards” as a way to help her out, while collecting as many cards and materials possible in order to survive in the ocean of stars.

You’ll be progressing through the game’s story by completing quests, accumulating experience and money. The familiar Item Creation system seen in past Star Ocean titles will also be a part of the game.

The Item Creation feature will be used to create powerful accessories that can be equipped onto your cards, making them much stronger than before. This feature allows you to get standard cards and making them much more powerful, so you won’t have to worry too much if your favorite character card is low-ranked.

In addition, players who register in advance will acquire a special card of Peppita Rossetti (SR-rank) from Star Ocean: Till the End of Time.

Star Ocean: Material Trader will be developed by Hippos Lab, Square Enix’s smartphone division, who were also in charge of developing Circle of Mana, another social game for GREE. The game is expected to be released sometime this year for iOS and Android devices.

Read more stories about Android & GREE & iPhone & Star Ocean: Material Trader on Siliconera.

Here's A Look At Toukiden's Opening And PSP Gameplay Footage

In our earlier report, we showed a glimpse at the first few minutes of Toukiden’s beefy demo that will be downloadable on June 18th in Japan. While the video of the demo was based on the PlayStation Vita version of the game, here’s a look at the opening movie along with some footage from the PSP version.

The above is the opening movie for Toukiden, that shows a solo Mononofu warrior struggling to defeat a giant demon until he gets backup from three comrades that jump in the action.

In the PSP version’s gameplay demo, there are four Mononofu players from Tecmo Koei, tagging up to fight what appears to be a giant spider demon. The players are seen using the versatile Long Katana, the powerful and combo-heavy Tekko Gloves, the barraging long-ranged Bow, and the Sickle and Chain that allows you to mount enemies while attacking from mid-air.

As the Mononofu warriors pound away at the boss, it appears that they break off a few limbs, but it manages to regenerate them with glowing replacement parts, so simply taking off their parts won’t be enough to keep them down for good.

Toukiden is slated for release on June 27th for PlayStation Vita and PSP in Japan.

'

Read more stories about PlayStation Vita & PSP & Toukiden & Videos on Siliconera.

Nintendo To Discontinue Original Nintendo 3DS Launch Colour In Japan

Sharp eyes at Inside Games spotted Nintendo’s online shop in Japan listing two versions of the original 3DS—“Cosmo Black” and “Ice White”—as soon-to-be discontinued. Cosmo Black was a launch color for the 3DS, while Ice White was launched a few months later.

 

With their passing, the last of the 2GB Nintendo 3DS units will be pulled off the market in Japan, leaving only three 3DS sets with 4GB memory cards—Metallic Red, Light Blue and Gloss Pink.

The last color variation to be discontinued was Misty Pink and Cobalt Blue in May. The two variations will join Flare Red and Aqua Blue in the discontinued list for Japan.

Read more stories about Nintendo 3DS on Siliconera.

Why Did Makoto Asada Leave Cave For Phantom Breaker Developer Mages

Because Makoto Asada became well known for his work at Cave bringing their arcade shooters to Xbox 360, his departure was rather surprising. Siliconera caught up with Asada-san and asked him about his move to Phantom Breaker series developer Mages.

'

"Cave had announced that they were going to take a break from consoles and stuff that goes directly to the consumer, and that's really what I enjoy about what I do," Asada explained. "When I was going to quit Cave, about 10 companies contacted me to see if I was interested in joining them. Out of [those companies], MAGES had the best deal. Our president offered me the opportunity to explore and really do something interesting."

'

Check back later for our full interview with Makoto Asada and International Games System, developer of the upcoming title Constant C.

Read more stories about Cave & Constant C & Interviews & Mages on Siliconera.