A lot of people just can’t seem to get enough of Japanese hacking and slashing, seeing as Koei recently announced that Warriors Orochi has sold 1.5 million copies to date. The game, which was released for the PSP, PS2, PC, and Xbox 360, combined two of the company’s most popular franchises, Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors, into one game:

“This milestone is a significant testament to the global impact not only of this game, but also to the tremendous admiration that fans worldwide share for the DYNASTY WARRIORS and SAMURAI WARRIORS characters,” said Amos Ip, Senior Vice President at KOEI Corporation. “As we celebrate, I would like to recognize and express our thanks to the video game world’s greatest fans for making this achievement possible.”

Personally, I never really could get into those games; about five hours of Dynasty Warriors 2 has sated my hack n’ slash needs for several years now. But a ton of people must really be aching for more swarms of Japanese soldiers to plow through. As such, Koei has also announced that a sequel to Warriors Orochi is set to be released in September of this year. Warriors Orochi 2 will be available for the PS2 and Xbox 360.

Via Press Release

It has been a slightly busy week as far as game releases go, and while the majority of the more mainstream ones are reported, some have slipped through the announcement cracks. While Dark Sector, Viking: Battle for Asgard, Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword, Universe at War and Crisis Core: FF VII have been the media darlings of the week, included with these titles are some that you may have missed.

So without further ado, here is a list of all the games that hit between March 23-29, 2008:

DS
Backyard Baseball ‘09
Harvest Moon DS Cute
Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword

PC
Australian Zoo Quest
Command & Conquer 3: Kane’s Wrath Expansion Pack
Command & Conquer 3 Limited Collection
Escape From Paradise City
Guild Wars Platinum Edition
Guild Wars Factions Platinum Edition

PSP
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
Warriors Orochi

PS2
Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 3

PS3
Dark Sector
Viking: Battle for Asgard

Xbox 360
Dark Sector
Universe at War: Earth Assault
Viking: Battle for Asgard

Wii
Obscure: The Aftermath
Octomania
Opoona

Following a supremely lackluster update to the store last week, PSP owners can browse over to the PlayStation Store for PC and find two new downloadable games – flOw ($7.99) and Ape Escape: On the Loose ($14.99). Not too shabby, although the price of flOw seems several dollars too much when you take certain things into account.

Downloadable Games

• flOw ($7.99)
• Ape Escape: On the Loose ($14.99)

Game Videos (free)

• God of War Chains of Olympus Trailer
• Ape Escape On the Loose behind the scenes #1
• Ape Escape On the Loose behind the scenes #2

PSP Wallpaper (free)

• Ape Escape On the Loose wallpaper
• Warriors Orochi Wallpaper (x6)

Nintendo recently announced its DS and Wii line-up for the first half of 2008 and the respective months in which you can expect the games to hit stores. The gaming giant has promised consumers more than 80 DS and 65 Wii titles during the first half of the year, and 90% of these new games are third-party titles. Only 5 of the DS and 4 of the Wii titles are coming from Nintendo and I have posted the full list of upcoming titles below.

The following Nintendo titles are slated for the first half of the year, but have yet to have a release date or month announced: Mario Kart Wii is scheduled for a Spring release, and Wii Fit will be released sometime during Q2; Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers in Darkness for the DS during Q2.

The following third-party titles from LucasArts for both the DS and Wii are scheduled for a spring and summer release respectively: LEGO: Indiana Jones and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

Wii Titles

January

• Endless Ocean (Nintendo)
• No More Heroes (Ubisoft)
• Samurai Warriors: Katana (KOEI)

February

• Baroque (Atlus USA)
• Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 (Ubisoft)
• Dream Pinball 3D (SouthPeak Games)
• Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol Encore (Konami)
• London Taxi: Rush Hour (Destineer)
• MX vs. ATV Untamed (THQ)

March

• Alone in the Dark (Atari) —- UPDATE: Coming in May
• Destroy All Humans: Big Willy Unleashed (THQ)
• Ninja Reflex (EA)
• Nitro Bike (Ubisoft)
• Okami (Capcom)
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl
• Target: Terror (Konami)
• Worms: A Space Oddity (THQ)

April

• Pro Evolution Soccer (Konami)
• Wild Earth: African Safari (Majesco)

May

• King of Fighters: The Orochi Saga (SNK Playmore)
• Speed Racer (Warner Bros. Games)
• The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (Disney Interactive)
• THE DOG Island (Ubisoft)

June

• Catch of the Day (EA)
• Cooking Mama Cook Off 2 (Majesco)
• DeBlob (THQ)
• Rygar: The Battle of Argus (Tecmo)
• Wall-E (THQ)

DS titles are listed after the break.

Source: GamesInsudtry.biz

Read the full article

KOEI announced today that Warriors Orochi has reached gold status and will be available at North American retailers beginning the week of September 18, 2007, for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 2. Warriors Orochi includes 77 characters from both Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors who must team-up to wage war against a new, powerful force.

“For the first time in KOEI’s Tactical Action games, players will be able to create their own three-person tag team. At any given time, one warrior will be engaged in battle, while the other two are recuperating; restoring their Life Meters and Musou Gauges. Every character is categorized according to offensive ability, and with new fighting techniques, it’s up to the player to find the most lethal combination of warriors. “Weapon Fusion” lets players combine the attributes from different weapons for more devastating results.”

For more information on Warriors Orochi, please check out our previous posts, the brand new screens below, and Koei’s official mini-site for all things samurai!

MORE NEW SCREENS

Full Press Release and Gaming Features After the Jump

Read the full article

Back in June, we discussed how the new title Warriors Orcohi would have characters from both the Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors franchises, with four “crossover” storylines unveiling events where characters from either series are pitted against one another. The game will be available for the PS2 and Xbox 360 in September, but if you want your Samurai fix right now, check out these new screenshots courtesy of Koei Games.

MORE NEW SCREENS

Shipping to retail stores this September, Warriors Orochi has a roster of 77 playable characters from both the Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors franchises, with four “crossover” storylines unveiling events where characters from either series are pitted against one another. The game’s “Team Battle System” and “Weapon Fusion” push Tactical Action to a whole new level. For the first time in KOEI’s Tactical Action games, players get to create their own three-person tag team. One warrior will be engaged in battle, while the other two are resting and restoring their Life Meters and Musou Gauges. Characters are categorized according to offensive ability, and it’s up to the player to find the most lethal combination of warriors, and you can also combine your Chinese and Japanese generals (Free Mode) as try to defeat the evil Serpent King Orochi .

The game will be available for the PS2 and Xbox 360.

More screens