Atlus makes New Year resolutions

[12.23.98] » Among other details revealed, Soul Hackers may not yet be on its way to a North American audience. But you can help!

   Well-known RPG publisher Atlus has recently announced and reiterated several details concerning their console videogame lineup for the quickly-approaching New Year. The most troubling announcement involves the release of the latest title in the Megami Tensei series, Soul Hackers.

   Despite an apparently successful campaign to gather feedback from RPG enthusiasts on a North American Soul Hackers release, Atlus is still in negotiations with Sony for approval. "The ball is not in our court anymore," states Atlus' page, and is inviting those who wish to see Soul Hackers translated to persuade Sony with old-fashioned snail-mail. The address for empassioned correspondance is:

Sony Computer Entertainment America
919 East Hillsdale Blvd., 2nd Floor
Foster City, CA 94404-2175

   Secondly, Atlus reiterated that Thousand Arms, a traditional RPG in development for over four years, would certainly make an English release. As said before, the company will be putting forth a strong effort to deliver a decent translation and voice dialogue. The game is tenatively slated for the summer.

   A new RPG also earned a hint in Atlus' announcement. Although a name has not yet been decided upon, Atlus says that a new RPG is in development for Nintendo's Color Game Boy. We dug a little deeper, and found that a game known as "Hamster Paradise" was the sole GBC title on display at Atlus' booth during the recent Tokyo Game Show. Players raise virtual hamsters without needing to worry about all those messy cages and cleaning chores of real life. Little else is known, making it difficult to determine if the title is indeed an RPG, but with the success of items like the Tamagotchi and Pokémon, the game may appeal to the North American market enough for a release.