PS3 Fanboy

You've got to hand it to Nippon Ichi Software of America; they really know how to rope you in. Not only does Disgaea 3 ship with a discounted price at $50 and a fan-chosen soundtrack as a pre-order bonus, but you'll also have a choice of three bundles to choose from if you pre-order from NIS's online store, Rosenqueen.

The game will ship in three sets: Alma Mater, Delinquent Pride, and No. 1 Honor Student. The Alma Mater set is the standard game at $50 and contains the game disc, custom soundtrack, and a main theme CD. The Delinquent Pride set is the same but with a strategy guide and priced at $70. The last one is for the hardcore fan; No.1 Honor Student set includes all of the above plus a digital media disc (over 700 storyboard stills, art, and screens) and any one of the following: original soundtrack CD (2 discs, 37 songs), 36-page art book, or a school flag. All that comes at a hefty $90 price tag. You can see all of that in the picture above. Check this link for larger images.

[Thanks Gambit 07!]

Some promotional art for the PlayStation 3 game Cross Edge has been located -- it's blurry, but we're not picky. This cross-over game features characters from multiple franchises including Darkstalkers and various Nippon Ichi and Gust properties.

Compile Heart has slapped up a bunch of characters on said promotional art, but we can't identify them all. SiliconEra has an updated roster from what they could identify, but it's far from complete. If you can name any of the characters on there they haven't, you'll not only get huge props, but a freshly-baked bundle of e-cookies will be shipped to your e-stomach.

If you've been wondering what Disgaea 3 will look like on your HDTV, we've got a gazillion new screenshots to frisbee throw at you. Yep. The sprites are still the low-res generally-recycled stuff from the last generation of consoles, but they do look like they've been softened up a hair. The level design is still quite basic, but totally smooth. NIS isn't taking home any trophies for graphics, but it's always been their gameplay that grabbed us. This will probably succeed in that, so the fact that we privileged PS3 owners get first dibs is icing on the cake.

We've also received word that a release date for the addictive strategy RPG has been set -- January 31, 2008 is the date for Japan, so if you're an import-savvy fellow, there's probably not much you'd miss besides the humorous dialogue. If you've played the previous games, you'd be able to figure this out. Just a few more throwing options and monster fusions. Oh, and be sure not to choke on any pretzels and die. The Netherworld would miss you.

This is a great bit of news for anyone out there who has been itching for some next-gen role-playing action, but like to stay away from the "MTV of RPG: Final Fantasy" stuff. A bunch of Japanese developers sat down and discussed their plans for now regarding the PS3 and you may be happy to know that a lot of studios have started moving on to the new console. We'd talk about the bits mentioned on The Last Remnant or the Final Fantasy XIII games, but it's all stuff we've heard. With that in mind, we'll go on to more obscure titles and studios.

Level 5 has remained hush on their upcoming RPG White Knight Story ever since the showing at the Tokyo Game Show last year, but they've finally issued a statement on the game and what we can expect at E3. Level 5's president Hino Akihiro says their development is progressing well and "should be able to show everyone something really soon." In addition to that, he said the graphical quality shown at TGS is just a taste of what's to come. We're fairly sure he's referring to the scope of the enemies and places in the game. We recall hearing about a giant turtle with a city on its back?

Other studios voiced their thoughts and plans also. Gust, makers of the Atelier games as well as Ar Tonelico, have new games currently in development. It should be noted that Gust and Banpresto are finishing up Ar Tonelico 2 for the PS2, but there's no word on whether or not it will come to America. If Nippon Ichi Studios is nice, they'll bring it over even though it'll probably stay on the PS2. Please! It was an amazing first game. We gush, but we were moved by it somehow. Other studios working on titles include: Takuyo, Namco Bandai, Hudson, Sunrise Interactive and of course, Nippon Ichi. We'll keep our eyes peeled for any info on their games because we loves us our RPGs.