Tag: Japan

Is FFXI Going To Start Phasing Out The PS2? No Expansion Outside Japan


The recent announcement of a new boxed expansions for Final Fantasy XI brought a swell of joy from the aging MMO’s community. Except for the Playstation 2 community, because earlier today Square Enix clarified on the announcement to point out that Seekers of Adoulin will not be releasing on the Playstation 2 outside of Japan, hence the ominous absence of the PS2 on the trailer we posted.

Is Square Enix greasing the wheels to start phasing out support for the Playstation 2? It is absolutely possible, as Sony Online Entertainment did with Everquest Online Adventures earlier this year. It is absolutely possible, considering the ripe old age of the Playstation. The full statement is below:

“I’d like to take a moment to clarify which platform Seekers of Adoulin will be available on for those that have been asking. We will continue to support North American FINAL FANTASY XI players on the PlayStation 2, Xbox 360 and PC (Windows) platforms. However, FINAL FANTASY XI: Seekers of Adoulin will only be available on the Xbox 360 and Windows platforms in North America when it is released in 2013.”

Eve Online Heading To Japan Under Nexon


Despite what some may like you to believe, the cultural differences between the East and West are astronomical, and nothing showcases these differences better than our choice in consumer goods. In the MMO sector, grind-based cutesy free to play cash shop MMOs tend to do better in the east while the west prefers  less anime games, has a far higher tendency to reject pay-to-win cash shops, and isn’t afraid of paying a subscription or two.

CCP announced today that Eve Online is heading to Japan, partnering with Nexon who will take care of the localization. Japanese players will connect to Eve’s Tranquility server, unlike the Chinese market. The game hits Japan later this year, with Nexon also handling the release of DUST 514 in Japan.

It’ll be interesting to see how well received Eve becomes in Japan, given a major focus of the game is how corporations deal with one another, between players building up empires and stabbing each other in the back. More on Eve Online as it appears.

Earth Eternal Is Coming Back…To Japan…


Unfortunately for those of us in the states and Europe, our hopes that Earth Eternal was picked up by Time Warner were dashed when it was announced that a Japanese company, Sankando, had bought the title and was planning to re-release it under the name Ikimonogatari. Unfortunately, this is where the news descends from triumphant to disappointment: Sankando will only release Earth Eternal in Japan, at least for the time being.

Right now our focus is on the Japanese release. We are investigating our options for an English re-release.

My guess is that Sankando wants to test the game in home territory before they go ahead and launch international operations, or invest the money in translating the game to other languages. That does, however, raise some valid skepticism as to the game’s viability and odds of reaching the Western audience. Earth Eternal was, to scope the game broadly, a bare bones browser version of WoW, albeit with adorable characters, that financially collapsed so hard, there is a black hole where the Earth Eternal offices used to be.

Hopefully the Sankando team will pull a Fantasy Earth Zero (In Japan) and turn Earth Eternal into a financial profiteer. MMO Fallout will continue supporting the game, although I have to admit I may refuse to change the category title. The game will always be Earth Eternal.

Perfect World Entertainment: This Is How You Charity


You may have thought that the charity articles were over, and you would be wrong. Following all of our other articles, we’ve got an update from Perfect World Entertainment. For the next two weeks, until April 13th, players of Perfect World International (by Perfect World Entertainment) will be able to purchase the Super Inventory Stone, which upgrades your inventory to 64 slots.

The item is one per character, and lasts forever. 50% of the proceeds are sent to charity. The charity of choice is the American Red Cross.

For more information, check out the web post: http://www.perfectworld.com/blog/?p=218551&style=pwi

Hallelujah! Square Enix Restoring Services March 25th


Amidst the disaster in Japan, what with the body count rising and the ongoing threat of even greater problems stemming from the nuclear power plants, it’s easy for us westerners (and more likely easterners) to forget that Square Enix fully suspended services for Final Fantasy XI and XIV last week Sunday. In a new lodestone, the team settled in to offer us an update on the situation.

As the original shut down was to conserve energy, the team at Square has been working on conserving their own energy usage, in order to bring the servers back online. This includes, as the lodestone states, shutting off air conditioning and reducing the lighting (they could also reduce lighting costs by switching to compact fluorescent, but I won’t go into that as I can already smell the angry mob forming outside my house). So when are the servers coming back on?

With these energy saving measures in place, we will be able to bring our servers back online and restore service to FINAL FANTASY XIV, FINAL FANTASY XI, and PlayOnline on Mar. 25, 2011 4:00 (PDT).

It is important to note that Square’s promise of not billing players through April (especially on Final Fantasy XIV, wink wink) is still in effect, as the company reminds its Japanese players that the services may have to be shut off again if the energy situation worsens.

More on Final Fantasy as it appears.

Hello Kitty Online: Save The Children


I love Hello Kitty Online. Not in the sense that I love the game itself, but the knowledge that any time some major disaster occurs, the team at Sanrio Digital will be there with an in-game event to generate donations. To top it off, the team has always managed to present the charity drives in a way that costs the player nothing, yet still manages to donate a notable amount.

In the wake of the earthquake in Japan, the Hello Kitty Online team has put together the HKO Japan Earthquake Aid event, which follows a pattern similar to the previous charity drives. Players are tasked with obtaining a certain set of items, and bringing them to a specific NPC, which will accumulate donations that will be sent to the Save the Children foundation.

The list of items are as follows:

  • 50 Cherry Tree Wood
  • 100 White Bread
  • 50 Green Tea Leaf
  • 50 Veggie Tempura

The items must be given to a GM outside Sanrio Harbor during set times, and the event will only last until March 21st.

Nexon: $1.2 Million and All Proceeds


I’ve said it already, and I will continue saying it: The outpour of support from MMO developers and the community toward Japan has been absolutely overwhelming. Already we have seen support from Square Enix, Sony Online Entertainment, CCP, Hi-Rez, and NCsoft, and the list just keeps on growing.

Nexon today announced a two-tiered plan to send aid to Japan, via select relief agencies including the Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders. On the first tier, the company has donated $1.2 million USD in initial corporate contributions. But that’s not all. Players can have a direct effect on the second tier of contributions via the game’s cash shop:

In addition to Nexon’s donation, from March 14 through March 20, Nexon America will be donating 100 percent of the proceeds from the sale of many of our in-game items to the Red Cross for the Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami disaster relief efforts.

The following games are included in the charity movement:

 

NCSoft: No, This Is How You Charity


Money is a powerful tool that can buy many things. In the wake of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, we’ve seen an outpour of support from MMO developers and their players. Square Enix has shut down Japanese Final Fantasy servers, while Sony Online Entertainment has announced the suspension of billing for Japanese players. Global Agenda has pledged 100% of sales for the next ten days to the Red Cross, while CCP is offering players the option to convert their PLEX into cash to donate.

NCsoft is next on the list, with a substantial donation to the relief effort, particularly the restoration projects. In a recent announcement on the Aion forums, NCsoft announced:

NCsoft sends its most heart-felt condolences to the victims and people of Japan. As such, NCsoft will donate 500 million Yen (approx 4.5 million Euros/3.9 million GBP/6.3 million USD) to restoration of damages in the region. Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Japan.

More on the charity drive as it appears.

Eve Online: PLEX For Japan


Since the 8.9 magnitude earthquake the hit Japan this month, the outpour of support has been intense not only from gamers, but from the not-so-soulless entities that operate them. Already, we’ve seen responses from Square Enix (who are shutting down servers to consolidate energy), and Sony Online Entertainment, both companies of which will not be billing Japanes players through April.

CCP is the next company to join the list, with the PLEX for Good initiative. Players are encouraged to donate PLEX, which will be converted into cash, and donated to the Red Cross. Players have until April 1st to make their donation.

To make your PLEX donation:

  • Contract your PLEX to the “CCP PLEX for Good” character, and please make sure the character is in the “C C P” corporation and that the name is spelled correctly to avoid scams.
  • Contracts will be accepted within 24 hours of submission, though usually sooner than that.

And I should point out for emphasis:

CCP regards any scamming attempts surrounding this effort to be morally reprehensible and they will be met with swiftest action.

Sony and Square Enix: Not Billing Japan This Month


With the recent earthquake in Japan, the power companies have asked that people and companies conserve as much power as possible, for fear of an electricity shortage. In response to the warning, Square Enix has decided to temporarily shutter services for Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XIV in Japan for at least a week, and will not be billing players for the cycle through April. More information is expected on how long the servers will be down, although players in Japan likely have more important out-of-game issues to deal with at the moment.

Source for Square Enix

Meanwhile, Sony Online Entertainment has announced that they are suspending billing for Japanese players. The company does not host servers in Japan. In addition, Sony had linked up players to the Google relief effort where they can donate.

http://www.google.com/crisisresponse/japanquake2011.html

Our hearts go out to those affected by the earthquake, and we here at MMO Fallout wish a speedy recovery for Japan.