The arcade version of Persona 4: TUiMA is going to be released next month, so to accompany Atlus' official P4U website, Arc System Works has opened their own.

According to Andriasang:

The site has information about the game's NESiCA IC card support and Players Guild features. Via the P4U Players Guild site, you can edit your profile, buy character colors and other goodies using the P$ (Persona Dollars) that you earn while playing the game, view your ranking, search for other players, and get the latest event information.

A Q&A at the site offers further details on the NESiCA and Players Guild features for those who can read Japanese.

Along with this, Atlus' official site has been updated with a four minute tutorial video:

Kind of a lame website when compared to all the crazy flashy stuff in Atlus' website.

Tutorial video was neat, even if I didn't understand a single word. The music was fantastic. This game's soundtrack is half the reason I'm so excited for it.

basic arc system. always a must buy in my book.Also first time i see the new p3 characters, they look like kof fighters

They have to add more characters right? It seems real small to me.

@Phatmac said:

They have to add more characters right? It seems real small to me.

If they do, it'll only be one or two more characters in the console versions of the game. Quality > Quantity. Instead of some other fighting games, every single character plays very differently from each other and it makes for better balance between them, too.

@FluxWaveZ: Yeah, that's what I expected. Some more person peeps could never hurt.

I just keep telling myself that if any franchise will make me like an Arc System fighting game, it's Persona. Either way i'm still buying it just for the art, looks great. Seeing Akihiko and Mitsuru in their new get ups is kinda weird, I wonder if they will include some alts in the console version. Though the process of making alt costumes for an Arc System game should be a hell of a lot more intense then say a polygonal SF type game. All those frames of animation, it's crazy!

Here are some character palette swaps that can be purchased off of the arcade site:

Yu: P3 Hero

Yu: Ragna

Yu: Ky

Yousuke: Jin

Yousuke: Chipp

Chie: Makoto

Chie: Jam

Yukiko: Carl / Ingrid from CFJ :p

Yukiko: Anji

Kanji: Tager

Kanji: Potemkin

Kuma: Taokaka

Kuma: Faust

Naoto: Hazama

Naoto: May

Mitsuru: Litchi

Mitsuru: Axl

Akihiko: Bang

Akihiko: Sol

Aegis: v-13-

Aegis: Justice

Source

The dream of the Persona 3 main character being part of the game's final roster is dead.

Great now I'm waiting for the Taito Type X2 "home release" so I can try this out before it comes to the states.

I'm liking the GG color palettes.

@FluxWaveZ: That's the best use of palette swapping I have ever seen.

@Hailinel said:

@FluxWaveZ: That's the best use of palette swapping I have ever seen.

Marvel VS Capcom did something like that too, right? Anyway, it's amazing, but they need to be PURCHASED?

@MikeGosot said:

@Hailinel said:

@FluxWaveZ: That's the best use of palette swapping I have ever seen.

Marvel VS Capcom did something like that too, right? Anyway, it's amazing, but they need to be PURCHASED?

I have no idea if that's accurate or if he mistyped. Purchasing palette swaps off the arcade site? How does that work now?

@MikeGosot said:

Marvel VS Capcom did something like that too, right? Anyway, it's amazing, but they need to be PURCHASED?

MvC3 does have some cool palette swaps, yeah:

Gallery

And yes, I do believe that these P4U colors need to be purchased. Of course, these are not all of the palette swaps and there are several more alternates that are already available in the arcade game, but I suppose if a player wants to stand out or just wants a color that's not readily available, he can just buy one off of the site.

@Hailinel said:

I have no idea if that's accurate or if he mistyped. Purchasing palette swaps off the arcade site? How does that work now?

I'm not too keen on the arcade system in Japan, but I believe it kind of works like DLC with whatever electronic cards they use to store arcade player data.

@FluxWaveZ: To purchase a palette swap is going too far.

@MikeGosot: No one's forcing anyone to buy them. Like I said, there are plenty of other palette swaps that are included with the arcade game and that are free. Remember, this isn't for the console version; we don't know what will go on with that. But for the arcade version, especially since it's a game that you don't buy, I think this is realistic and probably happens more than we think.

@FluxWaveZ said:

@MikeGosot: No one's forcing anyone to buy them. Like I said, there are plenty of other palette swaps that are included with the arcade game and that are free. Remember, this isn't for the console version; we don't know what will go on with that. But for the arcade version, especially since it's a game that you don't buy, I think this is realistic and probably happens more than we think.

Oh, i know no one is forcing me. Now i'm imagining an Arc System Works employee pointing a gun at my head and saying "Sooo... I heard you don't want to buy our palette swaps... Tsc, tsc." And i forgot about the arcade cabinet thing. Thanks for reminding me.

@FluxWaveZ said:

@MikeGosot: No one's forcing anyone to buy them. Like I said, there are plenty of other palette swaps that are included with the arcade game and that are free. Remember, this isn't for the console version; we don't know what will go on with that. But for the arcade version, especially since it's a game that you don't buy, I think this is realistic and probably happens more than we think.

You still haven't clarified how to use a palette swap purchased off of a website on an arcade cabinet.

@Hailinel said:

@FluxWaveZ said:

@MikeGosot: No one's forcing anyone to buy them. Like I said, there are plenty of other palette swaps that are included with the arcade game and that are free. Remember, this isn't for the console version; we don't know what will go on with that. But for the arcade version, especially since it's a game that you don't buy, I think this is realistic and probably happens more than we think.

You still haven't clarified how to use a palette swap purchased off of a website on an arcade cabinet.

USB maybe? Or you get a code? Or the Japanese are so advanced that how this works is something that we cannot hope to understand.

@MikeGosot said:

@Hailinel said:

@FluxWaveZ said:

@MikeGosot: No one's forcing anyone to buy them. Like I said, there are plenty of other palette swaps that are included with the arcade game and that are free. Remember, this isn't for the console version; we don't know what will go on with that. But for the arcade version, especially since it's a game that you don't buy, I think this is realistic and probably happens more than we think.

You still haven't clarified how to use a palette swap purchased off of a website on an arcade cabinet.

USB maybe? Or you get a code? Or the Japanese are so advanced that how this works is something that we cannot hope to understand.

I'd like better confirmation that this is actually the case and not some mistranslation or misinformation.

@Hailinel: Like I said, I'm not too keen on the system, but going by the site itself:

NESiCA (Neshika): This is a common IC(?) card that can be used in game titles to download content or arcade NESiCAxLive cabinets provided by Taito Corporation.

"NESiCA can be purchased from ticket vending machines are installed in the store card.
※ sales price will vary by location.

"P4U PLAYER'S GUILD" in, offers rich content to enjoy, such as further confirmation of the information and view and edit player such as player name, the setup of the title, of the rankings, the P4U.
Site registration fee, fee is (separately ※, communications expenses will take) are free for all

So what I gather is that you obtain an NESiCA, you go on the dedicated P4U website and you purchase DLC that is then stored in your NESiCA.

Actually, purchasing alt colors might not involve real money as:

Shopping (login required)
Playing the game had saved $ P (Persona dollar) to use, can be replaced, such as title character and color.
※ The image is an image. And may differ from the actual product.
※ For inquiries regarding the addition of P $ is a point, please understand we will not answer.

So maybe someone would need to use these obtained "Persona dollars" to get their desired alt colors. Either way, they need to be bought in some way.

Yeah, Jin is the perfect palette swap for yosuke as I can't stand either of them.

@FluxWaveZ said:

@Hailinel: Like I said, I'm not too keen on the system, but going by the site itself:

NESiCA (Neshika): This is a common IC(?) card that can be used in game titles to download content or arcade NESiCAxLive cabinets provided by Taito Corporation.

"NESiCA can be purchased from ticket vending machines are installed in the store card.
※ sales price will vary by location.

"P4U PLAYER'S GUILD" in, offers rich content to enjoy, such as further confirmation of the information and view and edit player such as player name, the setup of the title, of the rankings, the P4U.
Site registration fee, fee is (separately ※, communications expenses will take) are free for all

So what I gather is that you obtain an NESiCA, you go on the dedicated P4U website and you purchase DLC that is then stored in your NESiCA.

Actually, purchasing alt colors might not involve real money as:

Shopping (login required)
Playing the game had saved $ P (Persona dollar) to use, can be replaced, such as title character and color.
※ The image is an image. And may differ from the actual product.
※ For inquiries regarding the addition of P $ is a point, please understand we will not answer.

So maybe someone would need to use these obtained "Persona dollars" to get their desired alt colors. Either way, they need to be bought in some way.

See, this goes beyond just buying palette swaps. This is the generation of player specific profiles for arcade game cards, which are not a new concept.

@Hailinel: Huh? These cards have existed for a while, like I mentioned before, but that doesn't change the fact that you still need to purchase the palette swaps.

@FluxWaveZ said:

@Hailinel: Huh? These cards have existed for a while, like I mentioned before, but that doesn't change the fact that you still need to purchase the palette swaps.

Because when you first mentioned purchasing them, you didn't clarify how. It sounds a lot less ridiculous when the system that allows it is described.

The original Andriasang post already stated that you accrue Persona dollars by playing the game and that you can then use those Persona dollars towards pallete swaps. That language implies that it's an unlock system and not inherently an EA-style DLC one. Just to make certain, though, I checked the original Japanese and that is indeed the case. Machine translators are very likely to screw up the context behind some of ArcSys' wording (and plausibly so), but indeed, the original Japanese plainly states that Persona dollars are earned by playing the game and not by paying money for it. Granted, you still have to pay money for the (still totally optional) game card with your player and ranking info, but that's par for the course for the Japanese arcade scene here. The card is therefore technically the only part of the process where you would need to pay money of some sort, but conversely, given the way that the system is, there would be no other way to save unlocked palettes to an individual player profile.

Should they just let any and all players access the palettes without needing to unlock them and/or buy a card to retain them? Probably. But the system itself is otherwise free minus that card that most players are going to use primarily for record keeping anyway, myself included.

Why couldn't they have added the P3 main character? FFFFFFUUUUUUU!!!!

Must... resist..... P4U jokes...

@Landon said:

Why couldn't they have added the P3 main character? FFFFFFUUUUUUU!!!!

Because we all gotta move on some day. Don't want this turning into Code Geass and all.

@Pepsiman said:

Because we all gotta move on some day. Don't want this turning into Code Geass and all.

Screw that! He was one of my favorite Persona characters despite not even having a lot of (or any) dialogue. He wouldn't even need to be relevant to the game's story. It's just disappointing that the most important character in Persona 3 won't be making it to the fighting game...

I understand that it would weaken the narrative, especially if they tried to explain why he was there, but I'm still disappointed.

That main characters have always just been a shell to me, like a cypher for the player. However after watching the p4 anime I love how they treated the mc, gives me more desire to play as him in this game.

So the "Megane" option on the character select screen enables/disables glasses worn by the characters; that had been known already. What had not been known was what the Persona 3 characters would look like with that option enabled, so here they are:

Also:

@FluxWaveZ said:

@Pepsiman said:

Because we all gotta move on some day. Don't want this turning into Code Geass and all.

Screw that! He was one of my favorite Persona characters despite not even having a lot of (or any) dialogue. He wouldn't even need to be relevant to the game's story. It's just disappointing that the most important character in Persona 3 won't be making it to the fighting game...

I understand that it would weaken the narrative, especially if they tried to explain why he was there, but I'm still disappointed.

Well, this is a Persona 4 fighting game. The Persona 3 characters that are present are only there as guests and because they have some supposedly logical reason to be present in the story.

I never really got a good feel for the P3 Protagonist, though. Compared to Yu, he isn't particularly interesting beyond his pulling a Surprise Jesus at the game's end. Despite both being silent protagonists with dialogue choices, I felt that Yu is a stronger character overall.

@Hailinel: Agreed. In addition to all of that, I always like when video games actually commit to keeping a character dead and not bringing them back arbitrarily. Obviously plot details from The Answer and Persona 4 regarding Elizabeth's antics make things a little tentative, but for the time being, I like that Atlus (and I suppose ArcSys by extension in this instance) are actually keeping things the way that they are. It ensures that the death retains its heaviness and its implications don't become cheap. The very fact that some people actually "miss" him should be reason enough to leave things as they are.

@Hailinel: Yeah, but this was really the only opportunity we had to see two main Persona protagonists (Aigis doesn't count) directly meet each other and it's gone. Even though it's a Persona 4 fighter, they surely included the P3 characters to, at least partly, appeal to the fans and the P3 protagonist would have obviously been the most impactful form of fanservice.

When I had started Persona 4 for the first time, I was disappointed that Narukami wasn't like Minato (not his official name, but it's easier to refer to him by that). Minato's disposition depicted him as an aloof, introverted, quiet and slightly awkward teenager, which is mostly why I connected with him. This was, after all, Soejima's goal when he came up with Minato's design, from what he's said in an interview. I feel that a lot of Narukami's appeal comes from his depiction in the anime, which is accurate to how he behaves in the game. I feel that with a Persona 3 anime, Minato's personality would be as fleshed out and interesting, too.

But yeah, on one hand I'm very disappointed that what is probably my favorite Persona character most likely won't be making it in P4U and on the other, it's cool that Atlus is willing to stand by their plot and maintain the impact of the Messiah's death even though his inclusion would probably be the ultimate fanservice and make a lot of people probably more happy than irritated.

@FluxWaveZ: A conversation between those two characters would go somewhere along the lines of

P4MC:...

P3MC:...

P4MC:...

P3MC:...

@FluxWaveZ said:

@Hailinel: Yeah, but this was really the only opportunity we had to see two main Persona protagonists (Aigis doesn't count) directly meet each other and it's gone. Even though it's a Persona 4 fighter, they surely included the P3 characters to, at least partly, appeal to the fans and the P3 protagonist would have obviously been the most impactful form of fanservice.

When I had started Persona 4 for the first time, I was disappointed that Narukami wasn't like Minato (not his official name, but it's easier to refer to him by that). Minato's disposition depicted him as an aloof, introverted, quiet and slightly awkward teenager, which is mostly why I connected with him. This was, after all, Soejima's goal when he came up with Minato's design, from what he's said in an interview. I feel that a lot of Narukami's appeal comes from his depiction in the anime, which is accurate to how he behaves in the game. I feel that with a Persona 3 anime, Minato's personality would be as fleshed out and interesting, too.

But yeah, on one hand I'm very disappointed that what is probably my favorite Persona character most likely won't be making it in P4U and on the other, it's cool that Atlus is willing to stand by their plot and maintain the impact of the Messiah's death even though his inclusion would probably be the ultimate fanservice and make a lot of people probably more happy than irritated.

As much as I enjoy Persona 3, I'd have been irritated if they did include him, but then, Mitsuru was my favorite character and they put her in there.

Also, my opinion of Yu hasn't really changed since the anime came out. The series certainly gives him some great character moments, but like you said, he's pretty much the same way he is in the game. But the thing is, whereas the protagonist of P3 could be easily swapped out with another character (as is the case in P3P), the structure of P4 makes it very hard to imagine the game with someone else as the lead. The game works because Yu is who is is, and because of the nature of his personal connections to the characters. P3's protagonist has no such connections. He's easy to swap out because there's little that defines him as a person that couldn't just as easily describe someone else of a different gender and temperament.

New alts:

According to dustloop:

Yu - Minato/Oprheus (P3)

Yosuke - Eikichi /Hades (P2)

Chie - Yukari/Isis (P3)

Yukiko - Chidori/Medea (P3)

Kanji - Baofu/Odysseus (P2: EP)

Teddie - Jack Frost

Naoto - Yukino/Durga (P1 & P2)

Mitsuru - Maya/Artemis (P2)

Akihiko - Takaya/Hypnos (P3)

Aigis - Metis/Psyche (P3: FES)

@FluxWaveZ: Loved they got some P2 in there, P2 IS is still my favorite PSX era JRPG.

@Nasar7 said:

Yeah, Jin is the perfect palette swap for yosuke as I can't stand either of them.

That's Eikichi from Persona 2 Innocent Sin.

@FluxWaveZ said:

So the "Megane" option on the character select screen enables/disables glasses worn by the characters; that had been known already. What had not been known was what the Persona 3 characters would look like with that option enabled, so here they are:

Also:

You have to play Teddy with his megane enabled. Every time. Look how great that looks!