Atlus has recently secured the publishing rights for Kenka Bancho 3, a PSP title that follows a high school student in Japan brawling with, well, everything. Sounds great, right?

It is, but Atlus doesn’t know what to name the US version of the game and has looked to the community for help. The publisher has set up a website, here, that will let visitors choose what they want to game

Of course, it’s only a survery so the chance that you’ll directly influence the game’s US name are slim.

It seems that Atlus decided to announce that their upcoming PS3 exclusive Demon Souls would be hitting store shelves on October 6th, 2009.

Futhermore, they have also announced that for $69.99 you will be able to pick up the Deluxe Edition which includes a 150-page exclusive strategy guide. However, if you pre-order the game (Deluxe or not) you will be able to get a Demon Souls art book.

Common Atlus, couldn’t we have at least gotten a little demon figurine or something, too?

Read (Kotaku)

If you were a fan of Trauma Center for the Nintendo Wii you’ll be happy to hear that Atlus has announced they will be bringing the game’s Japanese sequel, Hospital, to the States entitled Trauma Team.

Joystiq reports that the game will allow players to take the position of 6 different medical fields a diagnostician, general surgeion, E.M.T., orthopedia surgeon, medical examiner and endoscope technician.

The above promotion flyer states Trauma Team will have a Spring 2010 release window but we are sure to learn much more about it when E3 rolls around.

It seems that Tokyo based publisher Atlus has taken time away from getting their website hacked to bring From Software’s Demon’s Souls to the US.

Having been already released in Japan we know what to expect of the game with game reviewer Paint Yamamoto from Famitsu giving the game a 9 saying:

This is a game you learn how to play by losing — you’ll face sudden death frequently. But! Keep playing… and you’ll realize how deep it really is. If you’re looking to experience rich RPG elements, by all means play Demon’s Souls!!.

Sounds promising considering the Japanese really know their RPGS. Demon’s Souls will let players choose from a range of different classes and adventure through the fictional Kingdom of Boletaria to reclaim the land from demons.

Like what you hear? Demon’s Souls will be out exclusively for the PS3 sometime this fall.

Game developer/publish Atlus has recently announced that their website, Atlus.com, has been hacked by a “third-party entity” who also managed to embed a trojan within the website.

Atlus is saying that users who visited the website on April 25th should seriously consider running antivirus software because the trojan could have spread.

The company also issued an apology stating “The faith and trust of our fans is of the utmost importance to us, a responsibility we don’t take lightly.” Don’t worry Atlus, we won’t hold it against ya!

Read (Joystiq)

You know how I’m constantly railing against games that are all gameplay and no story?  How I wish, sometimes, plots would get deeper and richer and more fully realized? Well, today, I’ve seen the other end of the spectrum, and its name is Zoids Assault.

An extremely rare and hard to find title from the boys at Atlus, who for some reason don’t seem to be putting out a lot of product these days, Zoids Assault is a long and involved story, which is in turn part of a much longer and much more involved story, about two major nations at war.  The Guylos Empire and the Republic of Helic have been at each others’ throats for years, and this time around, we focus on two smaller appendages of these great bodies politic, Maroll and Jamil.  One of Marill’s military bases explodes under mysterious circumstances—which is odd enough by itself; explosions don’t tend to be mysterious, ever, they tend to be big, loud, and, in wartime, part of a series—and thus two covert operations teams are sent into their rival Jamil’s territory in response.  They’re probably on their way to do some damage in the best loud, grotesque military fashion available, but we’ll never know exactly what they were doing.  But what’s going on right now, with a cold war brewing between Maroll and Jamil, is irrevocably linked to events that happened around the end of the full shooting war between the Guylos Empire and the Republic of Helic, ten years prior.
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Never heard of the puzzle-platformer Steal Princess for the Nintendo DS? Me neither and that’s why Atlus has decided to delay the game until May.

Originally slated for a March 24th release date, Atlus decided that the market wasn’t ready due to the minuscule amount of hype surrounding the game.

Tim Pivnicny, Atlus exec, has this to say about the delay.

“Releasing a few weeks later gives us more time to familiarize gamers with this creative, original title. Because Steal Princess will be available through fewer sales channels and in smaller quantities than other Atlus releases, finding the optimal launch conditions is critical to ensuring that this daring new release avoids getting lost in an already busy April.”

You can read more about the seemingly little known Steal Princess at the official website, here.
Read (Kotaku)

Game publisher Atlus is continuing their streak of bringing games to the USA; their newest title is Crimson Gem Saga, which they’ve secured the publishing rights to release on the PSP. The title is a JRPG which promises a thrilling story and turn based combat that is simple enough for newcomers to master and complex enough to keep the attention of more experienced gamers including combo chains, ambush attacks and multi-character attacks.

For once North American gamers are getting something over the Japanese version: in addition to an excellent soundtrack Atlus has added over a thousand extra lines of voice acting to the original. The game revolves around Killian von Rohcoff, a hero who hits a run of bad luck. After being robbed of the top spot in his graduating class he follows a lead on a job which gets his wallet stolen and propels him into the main storyline which revolves around an ancient artifact known as the ‘Wicked Stone’ (which my keen intuition tells me might be some shade of red).

Atlus seems to have an excellent business model. They focus heavily on bringing games over to the USA from Japan. The latest title that they’ve secured the rights to is another of the many turn-based strategy games that are much beloved in Japan. You won’t be fighting to regain a stolen throne, questing for glory or any of the more common plotlines; instead you will be controlling a Wisp named Maria who reanimates the souls of fallen knights in a castle to battle her foe, Astart.

In Knights in the Nightmare, which was released in Japan in September last year, action sequences punctuate the more standard strategy gameplay. As with most strategy titles you can customize your party with over a hundred playable characters from seven different classes of knights. Further strategizing is possible by combining multiple souls into one character. Play through the somewhat unusual game and you’ll unlock a second gameplay mode, where you take on the role of the former antagonist. The game releases on June second.

Atlus has secured the publishing rights of Steal Princess, a Japanese RPG, in the United States. The game is developed by Climax Entertainment, the same people who brought you the classic Shining Force.

In the game, you play as a princess who must “steal” back her treasures from demons. The game combines both RPG and puzzle elements into over 150 levels. Players create and share levels via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.

Steal Princess will be hitting shelves on March 24th for $34.99.