Publisher Atlus has revealed that it's planning to release Spike's PSP beat 'em up Kenka Bancho 3 to North America, and has sent out a survey to help rename the game.

"The game is all about you proving yourself as the baddest hombre in town, accomplished by putting your fist as ungently as possible into the faces and guts of your opponents," said Atlus, adding that the original Japanese title is essentially the "equivalent of 'Awesome Master of Badass Beating-Up-People Guys.'"

Whatever it ends up being called, the game is due out in early 2010, with the list of the proposed names following below. Personally, I'm all for "Badass Rumble... Read more

Claiming that Demon's Souls is "the hardcore RPG experience PLAYSTATION 3 system owners have been waiting for since the platform's launch" and "the ultimate action RPG," publisher Atlus today announced that the game will hit North America this fall.

Developed by the King's Field and Armored Core veterans at From Software, the PlayStation 3 action-RPG arrived in Japan earlier this year. Along with single-player, the title offers cooperative multiplayer for up to three players... Read more

Best known for publishing niche retail titles such as Shin Megami Tensei and other various role-playing games, Atlus U.S.A. today announced that it's entering the realm of digital distribution by publishing Blitz Arcade's downloadable aquatic puzzler Droplitz.

Rather than summarize the game, I'll let Atlus' description speak for itself:

In a world where spouts at the top of a screen leak drops of liquid, one player will have to spin a series of round dials studded with different types of path formations in order to link those top droppers to the collectors at the bottom of the screen. Four unique play modes. Unlimited replayability. When drops start dripping, dials must spin.

It's coming to PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and iPhone in "late spring." The console versions will arrive in the PlayStation Store and Xbox Live Arcade and the iPhone edition will be in the iTunes App Store, while distribution venues for the PC version are TBA.

The PSP remake of Atlus' RPG Shin Megami Tensei: Persona, the first in the popular Persona series, is officially heading to North America.

While no specific release date was mentioned by Atlus, the company has scheduled the game for a general "fall" release.

The remake will include new "gameplay enhancements and additions."

The original Shin Megami Tensei: Persona was released on PlayStation in 1996. The game centers around a group of high schoolers that battle demons using magical Personae.

Publisher Atlus has delayed the release of Legacy of Ys: Books I & II (DS) by two weeks in order "to magically transform [each launch copy] into a premium boxed release."

The boxed set will pack a soundtrack CD, originally intended as a pre-order bonus. Only first-run copies of the title will sport the fancy box and included soundtrack album.

"No one cares because boxes releases are awesome," reads the announcement. "Atlus quickly slips new release date of February 24th, then deftly avoids questions."

Based on the Nihon Falcom-developed PC originals, the Interchannel-helmed DS remake adds new graphics and multiplayer modes to the top-down hack 'n slash RPG.

PlayStation 2 action-RPG Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon will arrive in North America on May 12, publisher and developer Atlus has announced, boasting its belief that "the longer the title, the better the game."

Released in Japan in October 2008, the sequel to Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army (PS2) sees detective Raidou Kuzunoha return as he calls on monsters to aid him in the action-based battles.

First-run copies of the $39.99 game will come packed with an exclusive Raiho plushie doll, with Atlus stressing that quantities of the title will be "extremely limited."

The first title in Atlus' Persona series of RPG games could be heading to the PSP, according to a report by Play.Online.

The most recent issue of Hong Kong magazine GameWave apparently claims that Revelations: Persona is being ported to the PSP in Japan. Atlus has not yet confirmed or denied the rumor.

Revelations: Persona was released on the PlayStation in 1996. The game centers around a group of high schoolers that battle demons using magical Personae.

The Persona series has since gone on to spawn numerous sequels, including last month's Persona 4.

The latest installment in Atlus' supernatural role-playing series Shin Megami Tensei: Persona will arrive in North America on December 9, the publisher has announced.

In development for PlayStation 2, Persona 4 tasks players with solving a murder mystery set in the Japanese countryside. As with Persona 3, players must accent their monster-killing ways with a normal "double life," such as attending high school.

The game will also continue Atlus' tradition of a goodie-packed retail release, with a soundtrack CD "featuring selected music from Persona 4" included in every copy.

Publisher Atlus has released new screenshots of Zoids Assault (360), an upcoming mech-centric strategy RPG coming to the Xbox 360 this summer.

Described by the publisher as "loaded with deeply engaging strategic gameplay," Zoids Assault features grid-based warfare with customizable biomechanical war machines.

Zoids Assault is primed for an August 26 release.

Prolific publisher Atlus today announced that a remastered version of the card-based strategy RPG Yggdra Union will make a return to handhelds on Sony's PSP. The company also provided screenshots from the upcoming revamp.

Developed by Japanese studio Sting, Yggdra Union originally appeared on the Game Boy Advance in 2006, employing a mix of turn-based strategy and real-time action realized through tactical card-based combat.

Yggdra Union's remastered appearance on the PSP will feature improved audio and visuals, dual language voiceovers in both Japanese and English, unlockable content and additional difficulty settings.

Expect Yggdra Union to reach store shelves on September 16.

Cementing its position as the leading publisher of obscure Japanese titles, Atlus has announced that the dungeon crawling RPG Izuna 2: The Unemployed Ninja Returns (NDS) will arrive in North America on July 22.

Said to feature more "zany characters and hilarious dialogue with hardcore dungeon RPG gameplay," the sequel begins as Izuna attends a wedding for the free food, only to find her sidekick missing and several foreign deities severely pissed off.

Featuring a new tag team system that lets the unemployed ninja combine her power with that of other party members, the second Izuna was once again developed by series creator Success.

Another entry in the Atlus-developed surgical series Trauma Center is headed to Nintendo DS later this year, according to DS Fanboy report citing the latest issue of magazine Nintendo Power.

Currently titled Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2, the sometimes-realistic surgery title will sport a rebalanced difficulty mode for those who found the original too frustrating.

Other discussed features included promise of improved surgical tools and the exposition of several unaddressed plot points.

Though only the second Trauma Center title for the DS, Under the Knife 2 will mark the fourth entry in the series care of the two Wii editions that have arrived since the initial release of the first DS installment.

Japanese developer Flight-Plan's Summon Night: Twin Age (NDS) is destined for North American shores on May 20, Atlus announced today. The publisher also unveiled a handful of English screenshots and a trailer. The latest in Flight-Plan's long-running Summon Night series, Twin Age brings a stylus-centric focus to the action RPG gameplay seen in previous North American releases Summon Night: Swordcraft Story (GBA) and its sequel.

The game is said to include alternate story paths, numerous battle options, side quests and multiple endings. Twin Age also incorporates weapon crafting and the ability to trade items via local wireless.

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Atlus USA today announced that Persona 3 FES, a 2-disc package including the original RPG title and a new expansion chapter, will be making it to North America on April 22.

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The company promises the new chapter will function as a stand-alone game, delivering over 30 hours of gameplay. However, players of the original title will be able to use their saved games in order to continue the story with old data.

Persona 3 FES will hit the PlayStation 2 on April 22 for an MSRP of $29.99.

Atlus announced today that its customization-focused tactical RPG Drone Tactics (NDS) is set for release on April 8 in North America, and released a handful of new screens.

An insectoid mashup of Square Enix's Final Fantasy Tactics and From Software's Armored Core, Drone Tactics features both traditional turn-based strategy gameplay in addition to a deep character customization aspect, which allows players to swap and modify weapons, power-ups, and squad composition.

The game features a lengthy single-player campaign, as well as local wireless multiplayer. Drone Tactics' April 8 release puts it some two weeks later than Atlus' original announcement of late March.

R-Type Command (PSP), Irem's turn-based tactical twist on its long-running arcade shooter series, will arrive in North America on May 6, publisher Atlus announced today.

Priced at $39.99, the grid-centric strategy game--known in Japan as R-Type Tactics--has players defending Earth by launching an attack into the heart of the Bydo Empire.

Close to 100 different units types, including Bydo craft, will be available for the purposes of armada building, and two players will be able to duke it out via local wireless multiplayer.

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Idea Factory's color-matching puzzler Octomania (Wii) is headed to North America, courtesy of publisher Conspiracy Entertainment and distributor Atlus. It will ship to stores on March 11 and sell for the budget price of $19.99.

Along with the news of the game's impending release, the companies sent over several screenshots of the title in action.

Developed under the supervision of Puyo Puyo creator Masamitsu Niitani, Octomania has players rotating squares to match up octopi of the same color and features two-person online multiplayer via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. The game employs a hyper-saccharine visual style to weave the epic tale of a magician who must rid the land of the excess octopi created by a wayward spell.

A recent US study found that surgeons performed better after playing the Nintendo Wii prior to surgery, the Telegraph reports.

Dr. Kanav Kohel and Dr. Marshall Smith of the Banner Good Samaritan Medical Centre in Phoenix, Arizona asked eight surgical residents to put in an hour playing games on the Wii before performing surgery with a training tool that simulates a patient's body in 3D. Scores of those residents that warmed up with the Wii were 48% better than those who didn't.

Some games were more useful than others. Hudson Soft's Kororinpa Marble Mania (Wii), which requires more precise movements of the Wii remote, was noted by researchers as having a greater impact than games that prompt faster, broader movements like Nintendo's Wii Sports.

Researchers are developing specially designed software for the Wii to better meet the needs of doctors looking to tune their skills at home—Atlus' Trauma Center series apparently doesn't fit the bill.

Atlus is bringing Success Corp.'s portable strategy RPG Rondo of Swords (NDS) to North America on April 15, the publisher announced today.

The game tasks players with saving the Kingdom of Bretwalde and its princess after the unexpected passing of its king, which opens it up to an invasion from the tyrannous Grand Meir Empire. Players can use the touch screen to position party members, as well as use the title's errand systems to level up their characters outside of battle.

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Registered users can also use the HD stream.

Atlus today announced plans to bring a strategy RPG entitled Drone Tactics to Nintendo DS in North America. Drone Tactics was originally published by Success Corp. in Japan under the name Insect Wars (on that note, who remembers Battle Bugs on PC?).

It features both the traditional turn-based tactical element of most SRPGs as well as an involved customization aspect allowing players to modify weapons and power-ups on the insectoid robots that make up the game's squads. The strategic element is displayed in 2D with sprites, while robot modification sequences and battles are rendered in real-time 3D.

Drone Tactics features a single-player campaign consisting of several dozen maps, and multiplayer via local wireless. In addition to releasing a batch of screenshots from the original Japanese version of the game, Atlus said it plans to release the North American version on March 25, 2008.