TGS: Disgaea Goes Mobile, Free-To-Play At NIS America Showcase

Today at an event at the Tokyo Game Show, Gamasutra discussed with president Haru Akenaga NIS America's plans to bring its Disgaea series to both the Android and PlayStation Vita platforms -- and more. Disgaea: Netherworld Unbound marks the publisher's entry into the mobile phone market, and while based on the first game in the series -- originally released on the PlayStation 2 and later ported to PSP and Nintendo DS -- it will, for the first time, be free-to-play and supported by in-game transactions. It's due to be released in the U.S. in late 2011. Haru Akenaga, president of NIS America, told Gamasutra that his company has had its eye on the mobile space for some time. Development of the game was pushed for by the U.S. branch. The business model is like other online games, says Akenaga: "if you want to get more items or power, you will be charged to download," though he stressed that 30 percent or more of the game is totally free to play from the outset. The game marks a partnership with mobile platform holder GMO, which has G-Ge, an Android gaming platform similar to DeNA/Ngmoco's Mobage. There is also a version of Q Entertainment's Lumines on the G-Ge service in Japan. Akenaga says GMO is a "big company in Japan" and Disgaea is just the beginning of the partnership between the two companies -- as well as just the start of GMO's plans for the U.S. market. GMO recently opened an office in Southern California according to Akenaga. The idea of going free-to-play appeals to Akenaga in part because of the company's success with DLC on the PlayStation Network. "We released many games for hardcore gamers; many hardcore gamers want extra contents and they play the same game for a long time so we really appreciate it. Our additional downloadable contents are doing really well," says Akenaga. Meanwhile, a Vita port of 2008's PlayStation 3 title Disgaea 3 will feature new characters, story elements, DLC, and touch controls, and is due in 2012 -- a big launch for the company on Sony's new handheld, says Akenaga. Disgaea 3 producer Shogo Kozakai said that the developer added social functions to Disgaea 4 for the PS3 because "obviously it's becoming a lot more popular... It's probably about time we should do something like that too." "Social networking stuff at TGS is very huge," Kozakai continues. "Obviously cell phones have their own limitations, too, so we're trying to figure out what we can do with the cell phones and the different consoles, and if it's PlayStation Vita or PS3, try to survive within that category." The company also announced a publishing deal with Acquire (the creators of the Tenchu series) for a multiplayer-focused game called Clan of Champions, which will be coming to the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC next year. Another announcement was Idea Factory's hardcore RPG sequel Hyperdimension Neptunia mk. 2, due for the PlayStation 3 early next year. As to the company's relationship with Clan of Champions developer Acquire, Akenaga told Gamasutra that it makes games for hardcore gamers, too. "The philosophy of the company is pretty similar. That's why we really want to work with them more," said Akenaga. Though the two companies worked together on the localized version of the PSP series What Did I Do to Deserve This, My Lord!?, which NIS published in the U.S., "this is the first time to make a contract with them" directly, says Akenaga. The games were published by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan, which handled licensing to NIS America. Like NISA, "they also have strong ambitions to make a good game, a fun game that appeals to hardcore gamers," he says of Acquire.