Welcome back to Beyond Co-Op, your weekly roundup of the other news going on in the gaming world! With the Tokyo Game Show going on this week, you'd expect some news to come out of there, but most things seem to revolve around Grand Theft Auto V.
Still, there are a few interesting tidbits floating out there, and we've accumulated them all here. This week does bear some sad news, though, as a gaming industry icon has passed.
- Former Nintendo President Hirosi Yamauchi Passes
- Unsung Story Announced by Final Fantasy Tactics Developer
- State of Decay Now on Steam Early Access
- Sega Acquires Developer/Publisher Atlus
R.I.P. Hiroshi Yamauchi
The saddest news of the week is the passing of former Nintendo president, Hiroshi Yamauchi. Yamauchi, who was 85 at the time of his death, was the president of Nintendo from 1949 to 2002, when he stepped down and handed the reigns over to Satoru Iwata. During this time, he oversaw the rise of Nintendo from a playing card company to the electronic and gaming giant it is today.
Source: BBC News
Yasumi Matsuno's New Game will be a Mobile Card Game
Best known for Final Fantasy Tactics and Vagrant Story, developer Yasumi Matsuno has announced his next venture/franchise, Unsung Story. Much like Final Fantasy Tactics, the newest title will be inspired by European history and be set in a medieval world called "Rasfalia." Not exactly known for tabletop game design, Matsuno will be teaming up with board game designer Christophe Boelinger so that he can focus more on the story and setting. This is just the first entry in the series, though, and the next game will be more tactical based. No set release date has been announced, but the goal for the first game is to hit sometime 2014.
Source: Shacknews
Atlus Will Fall Under Sega Ownership
Some of my favorite games, both co-op and single player, are made by Atlus. The Persona series is one of the strongest JRPGs to come out in recent history, and it is closely followed by others in the Shin Megami Tensei and Etrian Odyssey franchises. While their games have fared quite well in Japan and the States, parent company Index Corporation is not fairing as well. They filed for bankruptcy back in June and owes approximately $224 million in debt. Sega has outbid everyone else to acquire Atlus away from Index for a tidy sum of about $140 million. No word yet on what this means for Atlus itself as Sega states that it will "maximize the value of acquired IPs."
Source: Polygon
Zombie Survival Game State of Decay Now on Steam Early Access
Originally released on XBLA back in June, Undead Labs' zombie survival game, State of Decay, has come out on Steam Early Access. The PC port of the game has been underway since before it was released on the 360, though the developer wasn't too forthcoming on exactly when that would be. It seems that day was much sooner than expected as the title is available for anyone with $20 to spend through the Early Access program. The game currently only supports the gamepad, but the developers feel that this is a great way to get all the kinks worked out and get feedback from fans. While the game may not support co-op gameplay, the developers are trying their hand at "co-op development."
Source: Polygon