Apropos of nothing, I really like these recent examples of Japanese Vita box art

My original plan was for this post to be filled with pieces of box art that represent a variety of current-gen game systems--from the 3DS and Vita to the Wii U and PS4.

After contemplating things a bit, though, I decided to focus my attention on the Vita. Specifically, I decided to focus my attention on the following trio of Japanese Vita covers:

This first piece of box art, for those of you who can't read katakana, is for a game called Airship Q. Don't worry if this is the first you've heard of it, as I hadn't heard of it until I came across the image above while perusing NeoGAF about a week ago.

So, what's the point of Airship Q? Well, for starters, its developers--which include a bunch of ex-Square Enix employees--are touting the game as a "sandbox action RPG" in the mold of Minecraft and Terraria. (Visually, it calls to mind the latter far more than the former.)

There's more to this intriguing title than that, of course, but I'll hold off on saying more until tomorrow, when I'll publish a more extensive post about this upcoming release. (It's due out in Japan on Nov. 19, although it seems it'll eventually hit other regions as well.)

Even if there weren't more to it, though, I'd be seriously thinking of buying a copy because of its beautiful box art alone, which calls to mind some of the lovely illustrations that graced the covers of Sega Mega Drive games back in the day.

This cover art, on the other hand, is for a Namco Bandai-published game called Tokyo Ghoul Jail. All I know about it, unfortunately, is that it's based on a popular anime and manga series and that it'll hit Japanese store shelves both digital and physical on Oct. 1.

OK, so I know one more thing about this Tokyo Ghoul game adaptation: it'll be a visual novel--at least for the most part. (Its second trailer, which can be viewed here, suggests it'll feature some battle scenes, too.)

Is Tokyo Ghoul Jail's in-game art as wondrous as the art that's set to appear on its packaging? Not really, but you can't have everything, right? And at least the folks who buy retail copies of this title will be able to ogle the cover imagery found above whenever they feel the need.

Finally, we have the box art that's been prepared for Nihon Falcom's latest--and hopefully greatest--effort, Tokyo Xanadu.

Unsurprisingly, Tokyo Xanadu is going to be an action RPG. (I say unsurprisingly because Nihon Falcom has made a bunch of games in that genre, such as the Dragon Slayer, Popful Mail and Ys series.) Surprisingly, on the other hand, this one looks to be taking some cues from Atlus' mega-popular Persona titles.

You can see some of the latter influence in Tokyo Xanadu's cover illustration--which, admittedly, isn't as immediately sexy as the other two examples that've been shared in this post so far, but it's still pretty darn impressive.

What do you think of the pieces of box art shown throughout this post? Do you like all of them? Some of them? Even just one of them? Also, can you think of any other pieces of Vita box art that you consider wow-worthy?

The question is: will SaGa 2015 for Vita be like Romancing SaGa, SaGa Frontier or (barf) Unlimited SaGa?

Actually, before answering that question, we probably should ask ourselves, "why in the hell did the folks at Square Enix decide to make a new SaGa game at all?"

After that, we could ponder, "and why did they decide to put it on the Vita, of all systems?"

Finally, with both of those questions out of the way, the three or four of us who still have an interest in this long-ignored series can move on to contemplating how SaGa 2015 (which I'm assuming is a placeholder name) will compare to its predecessors.



Personally, I'm hoping SaGa 2015 will follow in the footsteps of my favorite SaGa game to date, SaGa Frontier.

The worst-case scenario for me, on the other hand, would be for this new SaGa title to play like 2002's Unlimited SaGa and look like the PS2 remake of Romancing SaGa from 2005.

How about you? Do you have any hopes or fears related to this just-announced game?

Five games I'd probably pick up if I owned a PlayStation Vita

Although I'm hardly what you'd call a "Vita hater," I'm also not exactly the biggest fan of Sony's latest handheld.

Still, a handful of its games have captivated me enough that I don't think it's completely out of the question that I'll own a Vita someday (especially considering I'm far more interested in portable, rather than console, gaming these days).

Should that "someday" ever arrive, here are five Vita games I'd seriously consider picking up alongside the bulky, OLED-screened system:

1. @field--What do you get when you combine Hot Shots Golf and pinball? Apparently you get this Sega-made game. Don't worry, I don't quite understand how a golf-pinball mash-up is supposed to play either. Something like mini-golf, perhaps? Regardless, I'm intrigued.

2. Dokuro--I've written about my interest in this puzzler-platformer before, so there isn't much more to say about it here. What I will say: if possible, I'd prefer to pay a premium and pick up the Japanese retail version of this game--just so I can sit and stare at its beautiful box art.

3. Gravity Rush--So many people trumpeted this title's merits around the time of its release that I actually stopped paying attention to it. (What can I say? I'm sometimes contrary like that.) Anyway, now that I've had a chance to reflect a bit, I think I can see why gamers went gaga over it and I'm curious to give it a spin myself.

4. Persona 4 Golden--Full disclosure: I've never before played the original version of Persona 4. In fact, I don't even own a copy of the game--although it's been on my "to buy" list since it was released. Everyone says this is the best version of it, so maybe I'll just skip the PS2 release and buy this one instead (should I ever purchase a Vita, of course).

5. Sei Madou Monogatari--The two main reasons I'm interested in this sure-to-be-Japan-only Vita title: 1) I've long been a fan of the Madou Monogatari series of dungeon-crawlers and 2) I like that this one looks more than a bit like Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon.

Other possibilities: The Legend of Heroes: Sen no Kiseki, Orgarhythm, Muramasa: The Demon Blade, Tearaway and Touch My Katamari.

Now that you've spent some quality time with them, what do you think of your Vitas and Wii Us?

The poor Vita and Wii U have gotten so much negative press as of late that I thought I'd ask all of you who own either or both of these systems what you think of them.

I ask this question, in part, because I'm generally curious about these kinds of things. I also ask, though, because I have a feeling I'll buy both systems at some point in the future (although the Vita is a less likely purchase than the Wii U, I think) and I want to know if those of you who own them currently feel they were worth the price of admission.



So, what do you say? Are you glad you bought your Vitas and/or Wii Us, or do you wish you'd saved your money (at least for the time being)?

If your response is that you wish you hadn't picked up a Vita or Wii U, why do you feel that way?



Personally, I've only regretted buying a system once--that being the Xbox 360--and even then I still got a good amount of enjoyment out of the console in question (just not as much as I imagined I would).

Given that, I can't imagine I could go wrong by adding either or both of these machines to my "collection" at some point. Still, I'd love to hear your thoughts and opinions on them all the same.

Don't cry, Vita fans; at least we were given a new Dragon's Crown trailer

I originally intended to fill this post with commentary about the second "Vita Heaven" broadcast Sony streamed to the masses over the weekend, but I decided to pass on that after seeing that it consisted of little more than an announcement of a rather large (and late-in-coming) price drop for the system and a slew of Monster Hunter clones.



Still, a new trailer for Dragon's Crown, the Atlus- and Vanillaware-developed (spiritual) successor to Princess Crown, Odin Sphere and Muramasa: The Demon Blade, was shown as part of the event, so I wouldn't call this latest "Vita Heaven" a complete wash.

(Via tinycartridge.com)

Raise your hand if you picked up a PS Vita yesterday

I know the "regular" versions of the Vita won't land on store shelves in the western world until next Wednesday (Thursday if you're an Aussie), but here in North America a "First Edition" bundle, which includes a copy of Little Deviants and a 4GB memory card, hit the streets yesterday.

Being the inquisitive sort that I am, I have to ask: Did any of you pick up one of these "First Edition" bundles? If so, what do you think of it so far? Was it worth the moolah?



If you're planning to buy one of the, er, second-edition Vitas that will be available starting on Feb. 22 (or Feb 23, if you call Australia home), please feel free to pipe up, too.

As for myself, although I'm intrigued by Sony's second foray into the handheld space, I won't be purchasing a Vita anytime soon. It's too expensive, for starters, and I'm not all that interested in the launch-window games. Plus, I'm still slowly but surely bolstering my (annoyingly meager) PSP collection. Maybe I'll add a Vita to the mix sometime in 2013?

Sega's doing its darndest to lead me @field

Specifically, the folks at The House That Sonic Built are doing their darndest to get me to buy a PlayStation Vita.

How so? Well, they're preparing to release--in Japan only, of course--a game called @field, which combines golf and pinball (in terms of gameplay) and is covered with a smear of the company's out-of-this-world--in more ways than one--Space Channel 5 (in terms of graphics).

Sadly, I can't seem to find any videos of this oddly titled game, which is supposed to be released sometime this winter, so the screenshots above and below will have to suffice.

Actually, I'm kind of glad I can't find any videos of @field, as I really don't need to add any games or systems to my "to buy in 2012" list, which already includes a slew of 3DS, PSP and Wii titles, as well as possibly a PS3 and/or a Wii U.

Should @field be positively received by the few brave souls who pick it up and play it, though, I definitely could see myself buying a copy of it alongside a Vita system--sometime after the Vita lands in the bargain bins in the States, of course.

See also: 'Are you planning to pick up a PlayStation Vita?'

Question of the day: Are you planning to pick up a PlayStation Vita?

As expected, Sony Computer Entertainment Japan opened the proverbial floodgates in regards to its PSP successor, officially called PlayStation Vita, during its Tokyo Game Show 2011 press conference last night.

The most interesting and pertinent information to come from said presser, according to yours truly:

1. The system's battery will provide users between three and five hours of entertainment "depending on the brightness of the screen, what content being played and if the network (3G/Wi-Fi) feature is being used or not."

2. Twenty-six PS Vita games will be available at launch, or so Sony says. (I'm more than willing to bet that these games will be released during the system's "launch window"--i.e., its first few months--rather than on Dec. 17, its Japanese launch day.)



3. Three of the above-mentioned games are new Hot Shots Golf, Katamari Damacy and Ridge Racer titles.

4. More than 74 additional games are currently in development for the PlayStation Vita/PS Vita/Vita/whatever-you-want-to-call-it.

Given all of the above, are you planning to pick up a PlayStation Vita as soon as it's available in your region, or are you planning to hold off (you know, until more games are released, until the system is cheaper, etc.)?

Or maybe you're not planning to buy the system regardless of its price or software library?

Pre-order: PlayStation Vita (WiFi model) or PlayStation Vita (3G model)