NetEase to Close Nagoshi Studio Amid Major Cuts


Nearly three years have passed since Toshihiro Nagoshi departed SEGA and Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio to establish his own venture, Nagoshi Studio, under NetEase. Unfortunately, reports indicate the studio may not see its debut project come to fruition. According to Bloomberg, Nagoshi Studio is among the casualties of NetEase’s recent restructuring, facing closure.

While the studio will be granted time to finalize its current projects, but will not receive further time, funding or marketing support. This severely limits the game’s prospects for widespread release and promotion.

Speculation now turns to Toshihiro Nagoshi’s future. His departure from SEGA was reportedly fueled by dissatisfaction with a demotion and disagreements over company expenditures. Regardless, Nagoshi’s reputation remains strong within the Japanese gaming industry. It would not be surprising if other publishers are already expressing interest in his services. Who would that be?

ToeJam & Earl: Back to the Groove vinyl pre-orders go live

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The ToeJam & Earl: Back to the Groove vinyl has opened its pre-orders via the official Funkotron Shop! The vinyl set will set you back a cool $44.95 plus shipping. It seems like a ton of money but the vinyl set comes with a ton of things! The ToeJam & Earl: Back to the Groove vinyl set comes with:

  • 2xLP (ToeJam Red and Earl Orange)
  • Soundtrack on CD
  • Digital Soundtrack code
  • 24 page comic-style art book

While its cool that the package comes with the digital code and CD, it would have been cool to get a cheaper package with only the art book and vinyl. You can check more details about the ToeJam & Earl: Back to the Groove vinyl set over here. All orders are mean’t to ship this fall, keep that in mind. If you didn’t know, ToeJam & Earl: Back tot he Groove is a new entry to the ToeJam & Earl franchise being headed by creator Greg Johnson, the game was funded by Kickstarter on March 25, 2015. The game is set to come out sometime in 2017 on PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The game is being published by Adult Swim (the channel, yeah).

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Project DIVA f – Trailer

To be honest I’ve spent a long time now somewhat ignoring the Project Diva series, as it’s never had a release in the West coupled with my only passing interest in rhythm games it has remained on the peripheries of my gaming radar. However I have to say I felt a bit of a tingle while watching this latest trailer for Project DIVA f for the PS Vita.

Somewhere between the Phantasy Star Online 2 cameo and a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it glimpse of what looks like a modified Dreamcast controller this trailer managed to capture my attention. If Sega was to ever take a risk with bringing Project DIVA West it should be with a game like this. Perhaps a digital release? What do you think?