E3 2009: Nintendo Announces Golden Sun DS, Shows Several RPGs

UPDATE: Trailers for Crystal Bearers, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, and Golden Sun DS up. Still waiting on Bowser's Inside Story vid.

During Nintendo's E3 press conference this morning, the company showed off several RPGs for both their Wii and DS systems, both from Nintendo itself, as well as several from RPG giant Square Enix.

As the only representation for the Nintendo Wii, Square Enix's Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers received some time in the spotlight, gaining a new trailer, but still silent on a release date. The game continues to look interesting, but may not appeal to fans of the older Crystal Chronicles, as it appears to be heavily story-driven.



Next, Nintendo gave us another look at Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days for Nintendo DS, the latest in Square Enix's Final Fantasy meets Disney crossover ARPG series. It is slated for a release in North America sometime this September, and will apparently feature the English version Hikaru Utada's song 'Passion,' known as 'Sanctuary' and used in KH2.


Nintendo then took some time to announce Mario & Luigi RPG 3 for North America, receiving a name-change to Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story. M&L3 features classic 2D sprites with timed elements in battle. The story follows Mario, Luigi, and several other citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom as they get trapped inside Bowser's body. It will be reportedly available in North America and Europe sometime this fall.

Finally, Nintendo's big RPG announcement came that they would be resurrecting the GBA RPG franchise Golden Sun with lazily-named Golden Sun DS. It will feature full 3D graphics (think the Final Fantasy DS remakes) and a new story. Details are scarce at the moment, but it was announced that we will have the game sometime in 2010.



It should be noted that The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks was also mentioned, but no new footage nor a release date were given. It will apparently be playable on the show floor, so there is a good chance to see the game's release in the near future.

Overall, though Nintendo failed to show Microsoft up in terms of technology and innovation (plus the incredibly embarrassing pulse tracker peripheral), their selection of new game announcements was very impressive.

I personally would have liked to see the new Golden Sun get the Wii treatment over the DS, but I guess I'll take what I can get. Also, if Nintendo is bringing that over, what's the deal with ditching ASH and Soma Bringer (which are exceptionally well-developed titles)?

But all in all, not a bad show, Nintendo. Not bad at all.

Kingdom Hearts DSi Pack for Your HARDCORE GAMING

As you all know, the premier gritty, hardcore RPG series Kingdom Hearts is making its way to the epitome of high-technology gaming, the Nintendo DS next February in Japan. What you may not know is that, in order to remind you that your current DS is now out of date, and the MUCH MUCH better Nintendo DSi is, in fact, way better, Nintendo and Square Enix have teamed up to bring you a Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days Nintendo DSi bundle.

This limited and ultra super awesome package will include the game in question plus a Kindom Hearts edition original DSi with an original design, rumored to rival such works as the Colosseum and Michelangelo's David in terms of sheer artistic brilliance.

The bundle will be available in Japan at the same time as the game's release next February. You might want to think about pre-ordering now, just because greatness like this only comes around once in a while.

Here is the announcement via Famitsu.

Hardcore RPGamers Only: New Kingdom Hearts Scans

Think you've got what it takes to save the magical realm of King Mickey? Think you're hardcore enough to help Cinderella? Think you're man enough to defend the Hundred Acre Wood? Alright tough guy, then the following scans for the upcoming two Kingdom Hearts handheld titles should be just what the doctor ordered.




That is quite the mess of scans. I have no really good way of determining which screens are for the DS game and which are for the PSP game... Guess I'm just not awesome enough to be a part of the Kingdom Hearts sensation.

Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days will be available on Nintendo DS sometime this winter in Japan, while Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep will be available on PSP sometime next year. There is no word on North American or European versions of either game at the moment.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days gets a Website

A new Japanese website has just launched for the upcoming Nintendo DS iteration of the oddly popular Disney-meets-Final-Fantasy RPG series Kingdom Hearts.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (I can write it, but I'm not sure how to say it) was announced last year for Nintendo DS, alongside Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep (for the PSP) and Kingdom Hearts Coded (for Japanese cell phones). Currently no word has been given about websites for the PSP or cell phone sites.

I don't really follow Kingdom Hearts, so I can't really tell you anything about it. But chances are, if you are hardcore for this series, you wouldn't want my noob-ish translations for it anyways. You can view the website for yourself here.

According to the website, the game has yet to receive a release date.