Another Century's Episode R

[Wes]

^yeah that does look alot like Amored Core

Uhhh I wanna pick it but:

1. too many games I haven't beaten/touched yet

2. still haven't finished Ace Frontier, and most importantly

3. if i enter one of those japanese electronic stores with their goddamn jingles mentally unprepared I swear I'll burn it down and laugh over the roar of flames as that sad excuse for a song dies.

[D.D. Ivanov]

Well, yeah, that's because it's Nineball Seraph from Armored Core: Master of Arena.

[Sorata]

Apology email from playasia. Luckily mine shipped a day early of release so mine is on the way but it appears others arent so lucky at playasia.

Pre-Ordering @ Play-Asia.com - Explanation and Apology - A.C.E.: Another Century's Episode R

Recently, with the release of A.C.E.: Another Century's Episode R, some flaws in our pre-order management have been exposed. Please read through this letter and please rest assured that we take all the necessary steps to not have this matter repeated again in the future.

What went wrong

Cause A

Many of you are placing pre-orders to ensure smooth and earliest delivery. Pre-ordering also helps us to gauge customer interest in a product and to use this as a forecast of how big our purchase orders need to be. But placing purchase orders can be a nerve-wrecking business for our purchasers because they can never get right. Buy too many and we sit on stock that is selling slowly or not at all, buy too little and we can't ship out to you and you are angry with us with every right of being so. Plus purchasers need to place their orders many months in advance. Our purchases where, although barely enough under perfect circumstances, on the low side.

Cause B

A simple way to decide in which priority orders are shipped is by having the order with smaller order number shipped first. This is a very simple thing to do and we have followed this for many years. However, around a year ago, we changed our tactics slightly and did not only use the order number for priority evaluation, but a mix of order number and order modification log. As many of you know, an order at Play-Asia.com can be changed before it is being shipped. Say, a customer who pre-orders Item #1 very early on, but not Item #2, will be early in the pre-order list, regardless of which items they may add to the order at a later stage. If they then choose to change the order to include Item #2 they would get it shipped before others although they didn't order Item #2 until very late. We felt this was unfair to those who order their items early on and this is why this change has been made.

Cause C

Our main shipment was unfortunately delayed in Japan and thus only additional, smaller shipments arrived.

What happened

Now, combine a poor purchasing forecast from A, with our operation procedures as laid out in B, and a shipping delay from C, we had a situation where not many orders at all could be shipped on release day. On top of that, many orders did not ship that should have as our procedures put less emphasis on the order number. In fact, since we established this procedure a year ago we have never had much complaint but at the same time never faced a situation where our main shipment was delayed and only small secondary shipments arrived until 3 days past release date.

Conclusion

1. We have reverted our systems back to order number based and will monitor to make sure that those who order early are also getting their products early. We have also in planning more features to make your pre-order experience a better one and will update all our customers about these changes in the near future.

2. We will improve our purchasing operations to not have this unfortunate event of missing of the main shipment delaying all orders again.

We apologize for the inconvenience caused and hope it can be forgiven. As a token of appreciation, all orders of A.C.E. : Another Century's Episode R that ship on Saturday 21st of August will include a small free gift.

As an update on the shipping situation of said game, all pre-orders clear today and we receive further stock on Tuesday which will cover the pending orders and we forecast to ship new orders from stock on Wednesday, August 25th.

Please continue to give us your support and pre-order from us in the future.

[Sorata]

Intro and first 11 minutes of gameplay footage http://www.gamersyde.com/news_another_century_s_episode_r_videos-9830_en.html

[UN Spacy]

Yawn. That King Gainer footage was pretty boring.

Here's the VF-25 in action.

[UN Spacy]

Well, well, well, look what's playable.

MUF fans will not be as excited.

Edited August 22, 2010 by UN Spacy

[Graham]

Well, yeah, that's because it's Nineball Seraph from Armored Core: Master of Arena.

Wow, that's ugly IMO. Looks more like something out of Super Robot Wars Original Generations, than from Armored Core. I remember when I used to play Armored Core on my PS1 and it had nice looking realistic mechs.

Graham

[D.D. Ivanov]

It's the final boss. Virtually all AC games have had at least one unrealistic mech has a boss(AC1's massive MT, ACPP's Phantasma, ACMoA's Nineball Seraph, Leos Klein's massive weapon in AC2, any of the special bosses in Another Age, AC3's massive MT, ACSL's IBIS, Nexus' massive MT and Nineball cameo, [Ninebreaker didn't have anything, as the game was all tests] and ACLR's Pulverizers.}

[Akilae]

So that explains why my pre-order didn't ship until late... didn't get the email though.

Looking at some of the vids, the shift chase system is looking a tad... rail-shooter-ish.

[Keith]

I've played a couple stages on the Frontier campaign. And whlie I haven't played any of the A.C.E. games before, it feels expectedly "slow" compared to more fast paced Macross games (MUF for example). Missile lock seems to use up the special meter, which means you can't use it all the time, which is also unfortunate. But regardless, it is a cool game, just seems more geared towards Gundam styled units.

[sdf2501]

Apparently this game has sold 189,000 copies so far. So at say $80 a pop, that's like over $15 million, if my math is right.

That's a good thing for the franchise, right? Or are those numbers average?

http://superrobotwar.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/srwhotnews_acer8_sale2.jpg

Article: http://www.vgchartz.com/article/81637/the-japan-preview-822-edition-ace-r-opens-well/

Edited August 24, 2010 by sdf2501

[Vepariga]

Apparently this game has sold 189,000 copies so far. So at say $80 a pop, that's like over $15 million, if my math is right.

That's a good thing for the franchise, right? Or are those numbers average?

http://superrobotwar.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/srwhotnews_acer8_sale2.jpg

Article: http://www.vgchartz.com/article/81637/the-japan-preview-822-edition-ace-r-opens-well/

weell seeing as it just came out,for this type of game id say its doing pretty darn well.

[UN Spacy]

http://kotaku.com/5625906/its-a-big-week-for-playstation-3-games-in-japan

01. A.C.E.: Another Century's Episode: R (PS3) - 220,000 / NEW

02. Wii Party (Wii) - 69,000 / 805,000

03. Chou Jigen Game: Neptune (PS3) - 23,000 / NEW

04. Inazuma Eleven 3: Sekai e no Chousen!! Bomber / Spark (DS) - 18,000 / 798,000

05. Sengoku Basara 3 (PS3) - 18,000 / 353,000

06. Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon X (PSP) - 16,000 / 153,000

07. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii) - 14,000 / 784,000

08. Egokoro Kyoushitsu DS (DS) - 13,000 / 138,000

09. Hatsune Miku: Project Diva 2nd (PSP) - 13,000 / 310,000

10. Tomodachi Collection (DS) - 10,000 / 3,390,000

[Graham]

Have none ouf you guys got this yet?

Really looking forrad to a review and comments.

Graham

[Roy Focker]

I need to buy this game sometime this month maybe.

[Keith]

Haven't had a whole lot of time to play in this heat. But overall impression, fighter controls are useless, targetting is a bit clunky, and on the MUF scale, it's slow as all hell, but still fun. I've only played a bit of the Frontier campaign so far, but the Aquarion just popped up in one of the missions, and that has a pretty sweet transformation, with each form specializing in different style attacks.

[Roy Focker]

Ordered a copy a couple of hours ago.

[Akilae]

I got it yesterday and played a bit of the Full Metal Panic storyline. I don't know if it's just me, but I'm having a hard time having fun. Gameplay is FAST and enemies do impressive damage with pretty good accuracy. I found it hard to sit back and actually enjoy without having to worry about dodging and dashing all over the map. The second mission must have killed me a few dozen times while I tried to figure things out. For some reason the first two ACE games felt much more enjoyable. Could be just me though... then again, I never died to mooks in MUF...

Targeting is, as Keith said, clunky, but I've come to think of this as a staple of ACE games.

[Renato]

So... is it slow or fast? Mixed signals..!

How is the Orguss campaign? That's what makes or breaks it for me.

[Graham]

Hmmmm.......if fighter mode is useless, then I won't be buying this game (even if I had a PS3, that is)!

Not really interested in any of the other mecha, except possibly FMP.

Although killing those ugly Gundams would be fun!

Graham

[sdf2501]

I got this in the mail shortly after Valkryia Chronicles 2 came out, so I've been spending more time with VC2 in order to finish it first (and Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep comes out next week, so I have no idea how I'm going to balance all these video games).

I have played a bit of ACE:R though, starting with the Mac F campaign. I only completed the first scenario, but in terms of gameplay, it seems similar to the previous ACE games, so if you enjoyed those, you'll probably enjoy this.

If your only exposure is to MAF and MUF and you're looking to play the Valkyries here, the control scheme is a little different and takes some getting used to (ex: switching modes also uses the right analog stick, although the directions are reversed from MUF; i.e. up for Batroid, down for Fighter). Also, I seem to recall being able to use missiles in Gerwalk mode on the VF-1s and YF-19 & 21 in ACE:2 and ACE:3, but it seems like on the VF-25, you can only use them in Fighter mode (although I do need to play more to learn the controls and glazed through the tutorials so I could be missing something). Weapon placement and choices in the various modes is different as well.

However, the gameplay (at least with the Valkyries) doesn't seem as "fast" as with the PSP games (although Fighter mode seems to go too fast for me, in terms of movement, but I suck at fighter mode in all the games with Valkyries in them ), but again, it's like comparing apples and oranges as they're different games from different series and different studios. I haven't played ACE 2 or 3 in a while, but ACE:R in terms of gameplay speed seems to be about the same. It was fun though, for the little bit that I played.

I'm definitely looking forward to playing through the MacF and Super Robot Wars OG campaigns, and I'll post more thoughts once I have time to do so. However, if you're looking for a similar experience to MUF, you might as well get the Macross F movie Blu-ray with Trial Frontier included; I'm pretty sure the experience will be the same.

Edited September 5, 2010 by sdf2501

[Renato]

Not really interested in any of the other mecha, except possibly FMP.

Aw. No (M)love(r ) for the Orguss?

Edited September 5, 2010 by Renato

[Keith]

You can use missiles in Gerwalk, but you have to switch to the second weapons set (L1) in order to access them, and they use up your special meter.

[Wes]

Have none ouf you guys got this yet?

Really looking forrad to a review and comments.

Graham

It's like 7000 yen still, I've found it at 4600 used. I haven't spent more than 30 bucks for a game in 2-3 years, so I'm holding out for at least a couple of weeks.

[Akilae]

Finally got a chance to use some Valks, and the Valks are SLOW. A VF-25 should, I think, be faster in gerwalk than the Arbalest hoofing it on the ground. Instead, the gerwalk seems to creep around barely faster than battroid mode... at least, I get no sense of speed from gerwalk mode. The Arbalest on the other hand is slipping and sliding all over the place. Tracking on the gunpod is also pretty bad (actually, I find tracking on all guns to be pretty bad). The plus side, I suppose, is unlimited clip ammo for the gunpod. The tension mechanism also makes playing with Valks a pain for me. I like opening up with MMM and then cleaning up with the gunpod. The tension mechanism makes me do everything in reverse, plinking away with the gunpod until I have enough tension for a missile volley. Not very intuitive.

Targeting and camera angles are still a problem...

Overall, I'm still not having fun with ACE:R. MUF was a much more fun game. Now that I have Valkyria Chronicles 2, I simply don't feel the urge to grind ACE:R mechs and pilots to a point where they're usable...

[Graham]

Hmmm.......think I will pass on this and stick with MUF for my Macross fix.

I hate it when the performance of VFs is dumbed down, so as not to make other lesser mecha seem so bad in comparison....LOL!

So unless, Trial Frontier is really awesome, I can save my money and don't need to buy a PS3.

Graham

[Keith]

Only one more month 'til trial frontier. All they really have to do is leave the basic gameplay alone, and amp up the graphics power, and we'll truly have the best anime game ever...since MUF.

[sdf2501]

So unless, Trial Frontier is really awesome, I can save my money and don't need to buy a PS3.

Graham

If and when you do decide to get a PS3, you can probably find a used copy of ACE:R for cheap. I have to say that the graphics and cut scenes look great though! They've really tried to mimic the look and feel of the TV series, at least when it comes to MacF.

[Akilae]

Finally finished the FMP campaign, and starting the Macross Frontier campaign. The Arbalest was pretty cool, and its shotgun hits like a mutha, but the fact that it's rather stuck to the ground made me go for the Valks when I got them. Gerwalk mode is still slow as ever, but after a few upgrades the gunpod is finally doing something. Tracking on these things is still driving me crazy. The gunpod seems to track very well at times, but at other times it aims above, below, or to the side of the intended target with no rhyme or reason. Missiles are relegated to killing bosses or killing tough mooks. I haven't figured out how reaction missiles work, since they didn't seem to do damage to anything I shoot them at, and the beam cannons on the armored packs don't seem to be usable.

Aquarion, on the other hand, is a beast. Solar's regular melee attacks hit most mooks for near insta-kill... when it hits that is. The thing is just so slow... Luna has machine guns that pack a punch and track much better than VF gunpods. I think I must have killed more Vajra with Luna than with Alto's Valk.

Haven't gotten around to using any of the gundams yet.

[Renato]

Over one year later, whoo-hoo!!

I FINALLY got this game last week, dirt cheap, second-hand. Played it for about 30 minutes in total so far, maybe it sucks, or maybe I suck, i haven't decided yet.

I have DEFINITELY been spoilt by the PSP Macross games because the valks here move like crap. I'm just so glad I have an Orguss game, though, even if it doesn't get as much love as some of the other series featured.

So far I have played small sections of Macross Zero, Orguss and Frontier.

[VF5SS]

http://www.mechadamashii.com/reviews/reviews-another-centurys-episode-r-510/

yeah it sucks

try to get ACE 2 or ACE 3

they're sweet

[Keith]

Definately sucks, it's clunky & slow. Check out the Last Frontier mini-game, full PSP goodness on the PS3.

[Renato]

Definately sucks, it's clunky & slow. Check out the Last Frontier mini-game, full PSP goodness on the PS3.

I already have that, of course.