Damn, that cover art is nice.

http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=17851

“This application failed to initialize properly (0xc0000135). Click on OK to terminate the application.”

What am I missing here?

To answer your question, yes, Celceta: Sea of Trees is to Ys IV what The Oath in Felghana is to Ys III. It’s using Ys Seven’s gameplay style (and engine, IIRC), much the same as how Felghana uses Ys VI’s gameplay style and engine. And since this is the first time Falcom has made its own take on Ys IV, expect it to be dramatically different from The Dawn of Ys and Mask of the Sun in and of itself.

At the rate things are going, the entire Ys series will be playable in one form or another on PSP/Vita. I just hope that Falcom sees fit to remake Ys VI as well, or at least port it themselves (at this point, the lack of a number in the U.S. version’s title isn’t nearly as upsetting as the fact that Konami handled the whole thing from start to finish, with questionable results).

Judging from a few screenshots and videos, there are 3 people on the team which seems to contradict the style of Ys: 4.

Just wondering if you could provide any insight, as I’m clueless.

http://s2.n4g.com/media/11/news/835000/839405_0.jpg

What an unprecedentedly weird thing to do.

There have been grumblings regarding the Vita’s price point to the effect that “3DS floundered at $250; what makes Sony think they can sell the Vita for that much?” People seem to forget that the PSP launched for that exact same price; not that it didn’t struggle, but it’s worth noting that the Vita is definitely aimed at the hardcore crowd, which is typically more willing to invest in new hardware.

I’ll put it bluntly: I think the Vita is worth $250. The 3DS, on the other hand, is not. I estimated the maximum viability threshold of the 3DS at $220; anything over that would have been shooting themselves in the foot, and I’m sorry to see my predictions panned out. If anything, the price cut – far more than necessary, even if vastly appreciated – is a signal to the industry that Nintendo is in fire sale mode, trying desperately to wring some profit out of what they’ve (prematurely) identified as the system’s complete and total failure.

Let me clarify a point I made in my post. Nintendo does not think they are making toys for small children. They are making toys for small children. Their hardware is expressly designed for nongamers; the fact that both Wii and DS have excellent hardcore games available is purely an accident, as far as they’re concerned. And now that the nongamers have gone elsewhere for their Angry Birds and whatnot, they’re trying to recapture the audience that grew up with them without actually changing their hardware strategy from last gen. 3DS is a casual system launched at a hardcore price point, thus alienating both their audiences, much like the Wii U threatens to do with its schizophrenic combination of modern HD graphical prowess (with a price point to match) and gimmicky tablet controller.

One of the reasons I love nintendo is that it doesn’t “quasi-mandate” online play. It has other restrictions, though; the most annoying being the ESRB ratings agenda.

Chrono Cross is I think Mitsuda’s magnus opus that, tragically, will never be recognized.

I think the 3DS library at the moment is barebones, with zelda as the only must-own title.

Wait until we see a mario title and metal gear solid, then we’ll see that hardware move like crazy. Nintendo will never bow out of the hardware market, they have too much to offer.

In semi-related news, have you seen the info about persona 4 being remade/enhanced(ly) ported to the vita? It has online functionality and more suggestive scenes included.

And you know what? This is a good thing, I think. Nintendo needs to have its ass kicked. They’ve grown arrogant and complacent: I want Nintendo to win, but I don’t want this Nintendo to win. They need a good tooth-and-nail fight ahead of them. It worked wonders for Sony, after all…