Well, there was me, thinking that the Sega site would be the first place to have Shining Soul video footage… didn’t even notice when IGN sneakily put some up 😉 Thanks go to Scott Nichols for pointing me to the following URL, which includes footage of Shining Soul in action, and a little bit of info on how the game plays 🙂
http://pocket.ign.com/news/41257.html
Whoah, has it really been 2 weeks since I last updated? Time is going so quickly these days! I’m spending a lot more time with my other half… but you’ll be glad to hear that I’ve handed in my notice at work and will be leaving my job at the end of February – which means… more time for me to update!!
Well, since I intend to spend another evening with my Lee, I don’t have time to write too much here. Basically, as always there’s a new MP3, poll and a new comic (yes, I had time to do one this fortnight 😉 It’s not great, I was in a rush). I’ll be updating my collection in the next few weeks, and I’m also working on something that I’m sure you’ll all love: I’m going to put up all the game scripts in English! I have a good amount of them so far, I just need to put them into the right format, which – needless to say – will take some time. As always, I strive to keep SFC the most extensive resource for Shining information on the web 🙂
Only a few days left to get your contest entries in, and I’ll be launching the new contest next week. So, you’d best get your entries in soon! Also, please do keep your fan art coming in, I love to see it and so do a lot of other SFC viewers!
Look forward to lots of updates in March, when I’m free to do what I like (and play Shining Soul!) 🙂
A big thank-you to cullsoft for providing me with a great comic strip for this fortnight!
As usual, there’s a new MP3 and a new poll. I haven’t had the time to make a new comic strip though 🙁 I’ll try to do it over the next couple of days, but I can’t promise anything. Sorry about that! I’m sure you’ll love the other additions though 🙂
I’ve added several Fan Art submissions, and updated various related merchandise pages 🙂 Keep the Fan Art coming!
I still need to update the chronology, midis and my collection (I’ll probably wait until the batch of items I’m waiting for arrives). I’ve yet to add my “want list” and a number of game storyline summaries. I also hope to add some Desktop Wallpapers and more Greeting Cards soon, once I’ve left my job.
Expect some new links to be added later this month.
Well, before I leave you with the results of last fortnight’s poll, I thought I’d tell you about the letter I received a few days ago. I was most amazed to find a Camelot Software Planning envelope when I picked up my mail… I haven’t had contact with them for a few months, so it was quite out of the blue. This is what it said:
I congratulate you opening in Ms. Mariska.
A New Year’s Card is given to you!!
Please enjoy yourself as a collection by all means.
I’m also asking for our Company well this year!!
Thank you.
With it came two Camelot 2002 postcards, and some Camelot stickers. The letter itself was hand-written in English, on some Camelot development paper! Woohoo! Those guys really are great! I was really pleased to see that they’ve kept in contact with me, even though they don’t have to! I’ve emailed them a thank you message, and wished them all the best for 2002 – the year in which we all hope there will be a new venture between Camelot, Sega and Nintendo for a new Shining game on the GameCube. I wonder how they’ll respond?
Recent articles at Sega Japan’s online shop (D-Direct) include some extra information about Shining Soul. Though it’s not a lot of info, it’s certainly very exciting – one of the primary goals of Shining Soul will be to reseal Darkness Incarnate… yes, you guessed it – Dark Dragon! There’s no clue as to the timeframe yet… but I’m guessing this is the original fight against Dark Dragon, where the Ancients sealed him in another dimension.
Anyone pre-ordering the game through D-Direct will receive some form of free Shining Soul gift, which no doubt will be quite collectable in the future! Unfortunately, it seems that D-Direct only ship within Japan.
On an unrelated note, I’ve received several emails recently asking me whether I’ve heard anything about a new Shining game for X-Box or PS2. I would like to remind everyone that anything you hear about such things are nothing more than rumours until confirmed by Sega or truly reputable gaming sources. It still seems most likely that the next Shining game after Shining Soul will be on the GameCube.
The storyline summaries for Shining Force CD, Gaiden 1 and Gaiden 2 have been added – thanks Earl! See the relevant game sections for the summaries.
Just to recap, for those of you who didn’t know, Shining Soul is due for release on March 28th this year, in Japan and has been called a “Communication RPG” (likely to be similar to Phantasy Star Online). The retail price is due to be 5800yen. There’s still no news on release dates outside of Japan.
Development seems to be moving along well, and new – clearer – screenshots are now available at the Sega site:
http://sega.jp/gba/shinsoul/
The pictures seem to show that our heroes will still be saying “…” 🙂 It looks like we’ll also be able to fully equip characters with helms and armour too – yay!
Here’s a rough translation of what’s said on the Sega site:
“The first multiplayer action RPG for the Game Boy Advance is about to appear!
The Shining series, a hit on the Mega Drive, Game Gear and Sega Saturn, has been updated on the Game Boy Advance.
This new game in the world famous Shining series is to be an action RPG with typically charming characters.
The player may choose to be a human soldier, human magic user, elven archer or dragonewt berserker. The name and colours of the character may also be selected, allowing some customisation of the character.
The game is in real time, and you’ll find items in treasure chests and dropped by monsters. Characters must make their way through dungeons, going gown to the lowest level to reach the boss.
Items found will vary in rarity, and can be traded between players. Using the Game Boy Advance link cable, up to four people may play together, however, each must have their own copy of the game.
The character designer for Shining Soul was also the character designer for Shining and (in) the Darkness on the Mega Drive/Genesis.”
I’ve added another section to the Final Conflict Translation. Sorry about the delay!
Phew! I’ve been extremely busy trying to get lots of new bits together for the site, while trying to spend more time with my dearly beloved! Well, I think you’ll see that I’ve made some progress!
Before I talk about the new additions to the site, I’ll take a moment to remind you that, as with every fortnight, there’s a new MP3 for you to download and a new poll. “What? No new comic strip?!” I hear you cry! Well, I spent so long on the Christmas Comic, that I figured I’d leave it up until the next update. That also gave me a little more time to work on the new features. Oh, and the winner of last month’s contest has been announced – which means the new contest is launched today too!
Okay, now the new features!
Well, as I mentioned at the last update (now in the Archives), I had plans to add a lot of new areas to SFC. The good news is that all the areas are ready… the bad news is, they’re not all complete. I thought you’d want to have a look at what I’ve done so far though, so they’re up and running, and I’ll be adding to them constantly.
The new areas can be accessed from each game’s section. They are:
Throughout the rest of the site I’ve done some minor updates too, including on the intro page for each game, and there are a bunch of new sites added to the links database. My collection still needs updating, but I’m due a few more items and will add them as a batch later on. Likewise, I intend to add my “want list” to that page at some point soon.
The Chronology is still awaiting an update (I’ve had some submissions of extra details), I’ve finally finished off the next section of my Final Conflict translation (I’ll try to get it online this week, I promise!!) and at some point this month I shall continue to work on adding all the town maps to the Shining Force II Guide (thanks again, Zor!). More midis to come soon.
Right, I think that’s it for now! So, until the next update, I hope you enjoy the new additions. Feel free to send me your feedback 🙂