January 29, 2005 4:29 am - PS2, news

Hot Gimmick Axes-jong surfaces; fan-gouging resumes

Last year Tsukasa Jun blabbed in his diary about illustration work that he was doing for a new PS2 Hot Gimmick game. Full information on that game has finally surfaced, and it's apparent that X-nauts have decided to skip the second game in the series. Said second game, Taisen Hot Gimmick Kairakuten, was produced in part under a license from manga magazine Kairakuten, so it's likely that X-nauts are seeking to avoid any legal and financial entanglements involved with the license for their next PS2 port. Instead, Hot Gimmick 3: Digital Surfing is being adapted and retitled Hot Gimmick Axes-jong. The theme of this particular game involves surfing to various well-known artists' websites and of course holding mahjong duels against females they've drawn. The artists that contributed to the game include the increasingly popular Mine Yoshizaki (Keroro Gunsou), well-known Ayanami-scribbler and Scrapped Princess character designer Mogudan (NSFW), Ugetsu Hakua, Zen Yasumori, Tsukasa Jun himself, and several others. Tsukasa did not contribute art to the original arcade release of Hot Gimmick 3, but his contribution to the PS2 version will be featured in a 32-page special booklet that will be included in the ¥7329 limited edition of the game. The booklet will also feature new artwork by Mine Yoshizaki, and both artists' work will be present on the game's packaging. The regular edition of the game will run for ¥6279, and both editions will see release on April 28 of this year.

It's interesting to see the marketing playing up both Tsukasa and Yoshizaki when neither artist was as large a draw back in 1999, as both artists are fairly hot right now. Tsukasa has been working on commercial projects for longer than Yoshizaki, but he's starting to see more mainstream sucess with projects like Airforce Delta Strike. And while Access-jong carries the same CERO 18 rating that Hot Gimmick Cosplayjong did, one can be sure that this will be just as censored. I'm not expecting the quality of the port to be that much higher, either. Until high-res screens prove otherwise, expect low-resolution illustrations mixed with high-res mahjong tiles and HUD elements. How long are they going to get away with charging full price for these? Oh, wait - this is Japan.

Sources: Miamo, Iggy, Quiter

Update 2/2/05: corrected title spelling.