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Bandai-Namco Bringing More Gundam, JoJo's, and Tales Games to North America

Though no specific dates were given, the announcement describes the plans as being "for 2016 and beyond."

It's a Gundam! (Okay, actually it's like two Gundams and also they probably have teammates that are also Gundams?)
It's a Gundam! (Okay, actually it's like two Gundams and also they probably have teammates that are also Gundams?)

I woke up this morning to a dozen or so very excited tweets, many of which were just variations on my name plus a link to a Bandai-Namco post on the official Playstation Blog. The post outlines the company's 2016 localization plans, but in my heart of hearts I knew at least one of the items on the list before I even scrolled down the page: Mobile Suit Gundam Extreme Vs-Force for the PlayStation Vita.

Force is the latest in the long running (and well loved) Gundam Extreme Vs 2-on-2, arena fighting game series. It's something like a faster paced, team-based Virtual-On with a much bigger battlefields and many more characters to chose from. I'm a huge fan of Gundam Extreme Vs Full Boost, so I'm thrilled to see the latest entry in the series coming stateside. Bandai-Namco had previously announced plans to release an English version of the game previous to this announcement, but only for the Asian market--so I'm also happy that I no longer need to import the game. The last time that Bandai-Namco tried to bring this style of game to the west was with the quickly-shuttered Rise of Incarnates. Hopefully ExVs-Force will do better. Check the bottom of the post for a trailer.

As excited as I am about this Gundam news, I know that other folks are likely as hyped over some of the other announcements Bandai-Namco made today:

  • Tales of Berseria (PS4): Releasing in Japan next year, Bandai-Namco will be bringing the next entry of the Tales series to the west sometime in the future. You play as Velvet, a girl furious over a past injustice, and beyond that there isn't much info on this RPG.
  • JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven (PS4): Developed by CyberConnect2, this is another 2v2 Arena brawler. CyberConnect 2 has done a bunch of other anime-based fighting games in this style, and each of those has seemed to be pretty decent, so consider me curious. If it's true to the JoJo's name, it will have S tier posing.
  • God Eater: Resurrection (PS4) and God Eater 2: Rage Burst (Vita): The God Eater games take the Monster Hunter formula and add a splash of fast-paced character action. God Eater: Resurrection is a remake of Gods Eater Burst for the PSP, and God Eat 2: Rage Burst is an "enhanced edition" of God Eater 2.

Bandai-Namco didn't give specific dates for any of these games, but did refer to them as "plans for 2016 and beyond," so hopefully we'll see at least a couple of them next year. And by "hopefully we'll see a couple," what I really mean is "hopefully I'll get to pilot a Gundam in 2016."