Capcom Announces Phoenix Wright 3, Harvey Birdman, More Mega Man (Updated)

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During its Gamer's Day event in San Francisco last night, Capcom announced that it will be publishing the third game in the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney series in North America. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trials and Tribulations is a remake of the Japan-only Game Boy Advance game Gyakuten Saiban 3; the first two Nitnendo DS games in the series were also adaptations of Gyakuten Saiban games. Like its predecessors, Trials and Tribulations is a character-driven point-and-click style adventure game which alternates between crime scene investigation and courtroom drama, with a humorous tint. The "psyche-lock" gameplay mechanic introduced in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice for All also makes a return. Capcom plans to release the game in North America in September 2007.

During last night's proceedings, Capcom executive VP Mark Beaumont noted that one of the company's most crucial current initiatives is to put a heavier focus on development aimed at various markets worldwide, and to diversify its publishing assets to include a broad mix of existing IP, newly created IP, and licensed franchises. Towards that end, and apparently also to increase the company's stranglehold on the courtroom adventure game market, Capcom will be releasing a game based on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim animated series Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law. The PlayStation 2 and PSP game will have a similar gameplay vibe to the company's Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney line, and is being developed by Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude developer High Voltage Software. No details were released for the game, which is expected to ship for both platforms some time this year.

Capcom also announced that it will be shipping two new Mega Man games for Nitnendo DS in 2007. Mega Man ZX Advent is a followup to last year's Mega Man ZX, set several years after the events of that game. Producer Takeshi Horinouchi, who has worked on past series entries such as Mega Man Zero 2 (GBA) and Mega Man X7 (PS2), stressed that the game is intended to introduce numerous new elements rather than be a simple incremental upgrade, hence the "Advent" suffix rather than the number "2." The game features new male and female main characters, Grey and Ashe. Players can transform into 14 different forms, including the new "Model A" form allowing them to absorb the powers of enemies and bosses. Horinouchi also promised to address certain criticisms of the first game by tightening up the game's level design while retaining the nonlinear aspects. Mega Man ZX is set to ship for Nintendo DS this fall.

Also en route is Mega Man Star Force. A spiritual successor to the Mega Man Battle Network series on Game Boy Advance, Star Force sports similar gameplay to that line. It will ship in three variants: Pegasus, Leo, and Dragon. Star Force adds a new "Brother Band" feature allowing players to cooperate via local wireless multiplayer, and share content and areas unique to the respective game variants. All three versions of Mega Man Star Force are set to release for Nintendo DS this summer.

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