Hotel Dusk sequel coming to the West

I was worried that we wouldn’t see Last Window, CING’s sequel to Hotel Dusk, released in English after the DS adventure game failed to appear at E3 last month, but Nintendo just announced its release for Europe this September 2010. Unfortunately, the localized edition forgoes the Japanese subtitle Midnight Promise in favor of the tremendously boring The Secret of Cape West. :o/

Oh, and Nintendo also revealed that it’s releasing Face Training, its face exercise software, across the Atlantic next September, minus the camera attachment. Sorry, this is a DSi and DSi XL-only title!

There’s no guarantee we’ll also see either of these in North America — don’t forget that Trace Memory/Another Code’s Wii sequel only shipped in Europe and Japan — but hopefully we’ll hear some announcements soon. In the meantime, let’s celebrate with this fanart of the series’ protagonist Kyle Hyde in his briefs underwear, taking a nap beside a tiny cup of coffee.

Buy: Hotel Dusk: Room 215 ($19.99)

[Image via zkmn]

tags / last window / hotel dusk / cing / face training / zkmn / europe / imports

Cing filing for bankruptcy

Cing, the decendant of another fine developer taken before its time, filed for bankruptcy last week, with liabilities totaling some ¥256 million yen (around $2.83 million).

The studio is mostly known for its Hotel Dusk/Last Window games, but they also worked on Another Code, Little King’s Story, Glass Rose, Again, and the Monster Rancher DS series — LKS, in particular, receives heavy recommendations from the Tiny Cartridge staff (which basically consists of me, JC, Tiny, and the lizard).

So, where did all that money go? Perhaps sales didn’t meet Cing’s projections? Maybe the studio blew it all on burgers and bananas? Whatever happened, it’s a damn shame, and I hope the company manages to pull itself out of this.

If you need us, we’ll be at the bar.

Buy: Little King’s Story, Hotel Dusk: Room 215

See also: Again Japanese commercial

[Via Data-max, Duckroll]

tags / cing / bankruptcy / hotel dusk / ec

Two major additions to Hotel Dusk sequel

Many of you appreciated yesterday’s news that CING is developing a follow-up to its DS adventure game, Hotel Dusk: Room 215, so I figured you’d want to hear these new details on Last Window: Midnight Promise.

Apparently, the sequel was shown at a Japanese retailer conference, and an attendee at the event posted his impressions online. NeoGAF’s Duckroll translated and paraphrased the text, which I’ve pasted below:

“The setting of the sequel is in the Cape West Apartments. The story in the sequel stands alone from the previous [game], even though there might be connections that fans of the original can pick up on. …

There are two major additions to the sequel he mentions. One is the ignore function. In the original game, progression is pretty much always made when you butt into other people’s problems in conversations, etc. In the sequel, more attention will have to be paid when you decide whether you want to butt in or to ignore something, because there is a possibility of getting a game over if you butt into everything. At least, that’s what I think he’s saying.

Read More →

tags / hotel dusk / cing / last window / ec

Last Window: Hotel Dusk sequel revealed

Working with Tecmo on Again, its FBI murder mystery (due for the U.S. next March), doesn’t mean CING forgot about the adventure title that established its name in gamers’ hearts, Hotel Dusk: Room 215.

The studio is developing a sequel with Nintendo titled Last Window: Midnight Promise (trademarked as The Last Story two months ago), also releasing for the DS.

The follow-up once again stars former NYC police detective Kyle Hyde and takes place during the 1980s in Los Angeles. CING hasn’t announced any other details, but Last Window will release in Japan on January 14th, so expect to hear more soon.

Nintendo also announced another title, Zangeki no REGINLEIV for Wii, developed by Sandlot (Earth Defense Force 2017, Chosoju Mecha MG). It looks like an EDF-style game with a mythological setting and supports four-player online co-op. This is apparently Nintendo’s first title with a “D” CERO rating (equivalent to Mature). Who knows, maybe this features girls not wearing?

Buy: Hotel Dusk: Room 215 ($18.49)

See also: Again Japanese commercial

[Via Neo2046]

tags / hotel dusk / last window / cing / sandlot / zangeki no reginleiv / ec