Atlus' Catherine Becomes a Franchise

[Tom Goldman]

Atlus' Catherine Becomes a Franchise

After strong Japanese sales, Catherine has become more than just a unique PS3/Xbox 360 game.

Atlus' boobs [http://www.amazon.com/Catherine-Playstation-3/dp/B004P7VGF2/ref=sr_1_1?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1302994783&sr=1-1] and the game's apparent weirdness. Now fans have even more Catherine goodness to look forward to, as Atlus parent company Index Holdings has announced that Catherine is a new franchise.

This aligns Catherine with other Atlus properties such as Shin Megami Tensei [http://www.amazon.com/Shin-Megami-Tensei-Persona-Playstation-2/dp/B001C6GVI6/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1302993549&sr=8-4]. If you're like me, you instantly began wondering when this will translate into sheep-man plushies.

Catherine was released in Japan on February 17, 2011, and has since beaten sales expectations with 250,000 copies sold in the region alone. Index Holdings wants to capitalize on this popularity. A Catherine novel is in the works, while an anime would also seem to fit the property well. New Catherine games have not been mentioned yet.

Catherine is trailers [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/108129-Catherine-Officially-Cheating-on-Japan-With-U-S], it might be responsible for widespread nightmares too.

Source: Siliconera [http://www.siliconera.com/2011/04/15/index-holdings-have-various-plans-for-catherine/]

Permalink

 

[Aeryn Seoung]

It's things like this that just make me want the game more and more.

 

[Doctor What]

It's beautiful. Makes me happy to be a gamer.

 

[OutforEC]

Strange...first thing I thought of is the 'franchise tag' NFL teams put on players. I wonder in the case of Catherine however, whether developers coming out and saying 'X game is now a franchise' actually means anything, at least until other games within the same gameworld follow.

 

[-Dragmire-]

what are the chances it'll get heavily censored when it goes over seas?

 

[gigastar]

what are the chances it'll get heavily censored when it goes over seas?

Probably very low is they hear about what went/is going on with Bulletstorm and Duke Nukem Forever.

 

[Eri]

.. LoL..
The game is hardly out and they're already establishing it as a franchise.
Not to mention, didn't they decide not to release it outside of Japan?
Or was it just not in America (which means us in EU gets it harr harr)?
Seems like a good way to piss off people honestly.

Ahem >.> http://www.ebgames.com/ps3/games/catherine/90445

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

.. LoL..
The game is hardly out and they're already establishing it as a franchise.
Not to mention, didn't they decide not to release it outside of Japan?
Or was it just not in America (which means us in EU gets it harr harr)?
Seems like a good way to piss off people honestly.

See my forum title for the US release date.
OP: I'm a Persona fanboy. This news pleases me.

 

[SovietSecrets]

Can't wait till I actually get to play it in July! Really looking forward to it.

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

.. LoL..
The game is hardly out and they're already establishing it as a franchise.
Not to mention, didn't they decide not to release it outside of Japan?
Or was it just not in America (which means us in EU gets it harr harr)?
Seems like a good way to piss off people honestly.

See my forum title for the US release date.
OP: I'm a Persona fanboy. This news pleases me.

+3 Days -1 month and you'd have my birthday!

Happy Birthday since I will probably forget by then!

 

[Shirokurou]

When I think franchise, I think sequel...

 

[darthotaku]

yes, sheep-men plushies and cosplaying as vincent in the unlikely hope to find a girl dressed as catharine. another franchise I predict I'll like.

 

[Therumancer]

.. LoL..
The game is hardly out and they're already establishing it as a franchise.
Not to mention, didn't they decide not to release it outside of Japan?
Or was it just not in America (which means us in EU gets it harr harr)?
Seems like a good way to piss off people honestly.

According to Amazon.com it has a release date:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004P7VGF2/ref=s9_simh_gw_p63_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1Y1XWTC42FQFGTJAJ05Q&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846


Which is odd, because I hadn't heard much about the release being confirmed, or what censorship if any it has underwent which would influance my desician to buy it.

That said, the game managed to get a lot of hype from it's ad campaign, but I have my own questions about how satisfied people buying it are going to be. From the descriptions I've heard, the actual gameplay element is a sort of scrolling block puzzle. The storyline and hub between block puzzles (the sheep bar) being dressing on that.

Given what I've seen and heard, I think they are jumping the gun on turning this into a franchise, because to be brutally honest it all depends on how appealing that block puzzle gameplay is, because that's the core of the experience.

I look forward to trying this game at some point, but truthfully I'm awaiting a current-gen SMT title for the PS-3 or 360 with even more anticipation. It's been a while since the last Persona, and as neat as the last two DS games (Devil Survivor, Stange Journey) were, they aren't quite the same as the full-on console experiences.

Honestly I'm a little miffed that it's been taking them so long to get some of these games out here for the current hardware, given that the current console cycle has gone on so long.

 

[theultimateend]

.. LoL..
The game is hardly out and they're already establishing it as a franchise.
Not to mention, didn't they decide not to release it outside of Japan?
Or was it just not in America (which means us in EU gets it harr harr)?
Seems like a good way to piss off people honestly.

Ahem >.> http://www.ebgames.com/ps3/games/catherine/90445

I wonder why my former friend got so pissed off about it not being released in US then.. ?_?
~shrugs~ I have no idea, I'm tired! D;

First they weren't going to do it because they thought US was too prudish about the games content.

Then a bunch of American's said "Screw those prudes bring it here!"

So now they are.

 

[vxicepickxv]

.. LoL..
The game is hardly out and they're already establishing it as a franchise.
Not to mention, didn't they decide not to release it outside of Japan?
Or was it just not in America (which means us in EU gets it harr harr)?
Seems like a good way to piss off people honestly.

The original play was to release it only in Japan.

Atlus got so much hate mail for not sending it out of Japan they buckled and said go team go.