Level-5 Vision Conference

Gaming developer Level-5 (Professor Layton, Dark Cloud) held its annual press conference today and Andriasang was present for all the details. Here's a link to their live blog.

I'll just narrow it down to a few highlights and snippets.

• Ni no Kuni, a game being made for both the DS and PS3. This looks pretty cool, an RPG with lots of puzzles.
• A new Layton game for the 3DS. They will put up a new puzzle for download every day for an entire year. Release planned in the Spring.
• A new Inazuma Eleven game for the regular DS. These are silly soccer games with RPG elements. Never played them, but if they're anything like the old Captain Tsubasa games, I'll have to try them out.
• Little Battle eXperience, also known as Danbal Senki. A PSP game, and they're going to be making an anime and manga at the same time. It's a mech/robot game.
• Mystery Room, another puzzle-style game for the DS. Music by Yuzo Koshiro (Ys I & II, Streets of Rage, and more recently, the Etrian Odyssey series)!
• Kyaba Joppi, a waitress simulation game for the 3DS.
• Time Travelers, a crazy looking suspense game for the 3DS. Here's a trailer.

Vote for a new Megaman Legends heroine!

Capcom is running a poll in which fans can vote for a character design for a new girl in Megaman Legends 3! They say "new heroine" but it won't be a replacement for Roll.

Here is the link to the English site. Unfortunately, you need to set up a Capcom Unity account to vote!

Here is the link to the Japanese site. You don't need an account to vote here!

They also promise that there will be more ways for fans to contribute to the game soon.

Here is a picture of all the females, along with the names of who designed them.

I think I'll have to side with the consensus here and go with Haruki Suetsugu's design. She's currently the leader in votes in the west, while the characters on the bottom row are popular in Japan.

Suetsugu was heavily involved in Zak & Wiki and Zelda: The Minish Cap

And here's an early video of the game.

The Panasonic Jungle

Yesterday marked the 17th anniversary of the Panasonic 3DO, released in North America on October 4, 1993. Now, Panasonic has revealed its plans to re-enter the gaming world, this time unveiling its Jungle handheld device.

The official site is located at www.welcometo.thejungle.com. Here's a few blurbs:

We began this journey by asking gamers what they wanted. Almost unanimously, we heard calls for online gaming products. Some gamers wanted a handheld, some wanted new content, others new experiences (one dude wanted a tattoo of the Kalphite Queen). In response, the Jungle was born.
Our mission: Create an ecosystem around online gaming.
At the core is a new mobile device concept designed specifically for online gamers. We’re also working with leading online game developers to create some exciting new content.

A handheld made specifically for online gaming. Now you can play your MMOs in public! The only game currently announced is Battlestar Galactica Online, which runs through a browser (?!).

3DS to Download Firmware Updates Automatically?

There's no official text source, but a lot of places are reporting that Nintendo President Satoru Iwata announced Wednesday that they are "looking into having automatic system updates via the internet," in regards to the 3DS. This is done by a feature called "SpotPass," which will allow the 3DS to update even in sleep mode, as long as it has internet access.

No news further than that. The big question is whether you'll be able to turn automatic updates off or if they are forced. Fans of homebrew or less legal things ought to be worried if they are interested in online services. And if Nintendo handles 3DS firmware like Sony handles PS3 firmware (by completely removing features), everybody should be worried.