An artical from Famitsu.com has released details about the Nintendo DSi bundle along with the release date for KH Days in Japan. The release is scheduled for May 30th 2009, with the price being set at 5,980 yen.

In addition the design of the limited edition Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days , Nintendo DSi bundle has been shown, with the price with tax set at 24,880 yen for the bundle. Here is a pic below, with the main color of it being black with the top showing various icons in a checkered pattern from the game.

 

 

Also here are some other scans, from KH 358/2 days.

Minimin’s Memo has updated with details from the Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days article featured in the April issue of V Jump. The magazine goes on sale Feb. 21st.

A recent issue of V-Jump magazine has listed May as the new release month for Kingdom Hearts 358/2 days for Japan. There is also a scan featuring missions, involving Luxord in Wonderland. Click the thumbnail to the right to view a larger picture of it.

 

Also thanks goes to khinsider.com for obtaining a copy of it.

This is a translated interview from the Re:Riplai book with Tetsuya Nomura.

KINGDOM HEARTS Birth by Sleep

Q. Why does Maleficent know about “Kingdom Hearts”?
A. She is influenced by contact with a certain person. It’s a main part of the story to look forward to.

Q. Sora and company appear too!?
A. Though he is unrelated directly, please wait to see how the story leads to where Sora and company follow it up.

Q. The person wearing the full-faced helmet, have they appeared in the previous games?
A. Have they appeared… Have they not appeared… I can’t yet reveal their true character.

KINGDOM HEARTS coded

Q. It’s a matter of concern whether or not it’ll be released on a platform other than the mobile phone.
A. There are no plans to release it off the mobile at this stage. Since I want to continue introducing this specialized system on the mobile phones more in the future, I think that’s something to consider after the distribution of this title is finished.

Q. It look like it’d be fun even if you haven’t played Kingdom Hearts…
A. With this game as a start, people will become interested in the other Kingdom Hearts games.

Q. Isn’t it difficult to play an action game on the mobile phone?
A. It’s been tuned to be played by a simpler input method compared to the that of the normal Kingdom Hearts games. Additionally, this game comes preinstalled on the P-01A mobile phone, which can connect to a television with the appropriate cable, so it can be enjoyed on the big screen as well.

Q. Like with Before Crisis FFVII, can you communicate and play with other people?
A. This is different from BC, there are plans to play by an interesting communication.

KINGDOM HEARTS 358/2 Days

Q. I’ve never played a Kingdom Hearts game before, so it’d be best to start from the first game?
A. This time it’s a new main character in a new story. If you’re not familiar with Kingdom Hearts, I think you can enjoy it from this main character’s point of view. Additionally, it’s full of content fans of the series will enjoy.

Q. I was interested in the system introduced in the demos.
A. I regret I can’t reveal all the details of it yet. Please expect more information to be revealed about it in the future.

Q. What kind of mode is multiplayer?
A. The multipart is basically pulled out of standalone gameplay and become missions on a higher degree of difficulty. Even playing on your own, you could choose whatever character you wanted and play.

Q. When playing as the various characters, do you gain experience points?
A. It’s not the sort of system where what you do in one play mode only influences that mode, but it’s the sort which shares levels and items mutually.

Q. Since it covers only a year of Roxas’s time, I worry that the volume of the single player mode will be small.
A. Most of the time the plot is taking place between the previous games. Since this story is independent and is elaborating from the time of Kingdom Hearts II, I think that after clearing all the missions you won’t feel that the contents were short lived.

Famitsu has recently updated their website with some new screenshots from Kingdom Hearts 358/2 days in high quality, which also features a picture of Roxas’s new keyblade, the Wind Maker!

Also there some Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days translated scans from an article in the March issue of VJump, which features an Olympus Coliseum scenario, as well as new cutscene explanations. Thanks, goes to khinsider for taking the time to translate this. Click on the thumbnails to be able to read them:

Coded will be the first Kingdom Hearts game to be introduced to Mobile Phones and will star Sora and Co. Just like Birth by Sleep and 358/2 Days it will have a connection to the future Kingdom Hearts game. It will be played on a horizontal  screen and will still have 3D and 2D qualities.

Coded will take place after KH2. The story starts off with Jiminy looking through his journal until he finds a sentence he can’t remember.

“You need to return, to heal the wounds.”

The story will involve a digital Sora being sent to Destiny Islands as there is another scene where Sora arrives at Traverse Town but this time King Mickey is there too. This game is said to clear up any unsolved matters in Kingdom Hearts and will also let us know what Riku and King Mickey were doing during the events of the first game. This game will have a new story and gameplay as Sora will try to defeat a bug that has been corrupting the journal.

The gameplay will involve Sora moving blocks to complete puzzles while heartless are trying to attack you. After you complete the puzzle a Debugging option will appear causing Sora to vanish.

Coded will have more than one Mode,  it will have High Speed Mode which will allow Sora to move in high speed. There will be another mode called Crash Mode which will turn the game into a side scroller.

As this game will be on Mobile it will have a Telecommunication feature which will allow you to interfere with other players during gameplay but you will be shown as a ‘shadow Sora’. You will be able to help the other player kill a few heartless or help with puzzles.

The leveling up system will be a little different from the other games, each heartless will earn you 10 Upgrade Points which will help Sora become stronger.

 

“The Keyblade is said to hold phenomenal power. One legend says its wielder saved the world, while another says that he wrought chaos and ruin upon it.”

These words were among one of the first that we saw, when we first gazed our eyes upon the secret trailer at the end of Kingdom Hearts 2. We witnessed three knights whom none of us recognized pick up 3 familiar keyblades, yet no one could really make a decent connection. We then were given a second trailer, which showed a lot more, including a boy who looked exactly like Roxas get frozen and fall of a mountain side.

Birth by Sleep tells the tale before the first Kingdom Hearts, and before Sora ever picked up a keyblade. We are taken back 10 years into the past where 3 knights, (who go by the names of Terra, Aqua, and Ven) go on separate journeys to find and stop an evil man who surprisingly is named Master Xehanort. What they encounter turns out to be much deeper than any of them could have expected and sets the stage for future events involving not only Kingdom Hearts, but also many of the characters we have grown to know and love. One character we know that gets himself involved, that character being King Mickey who by the looks of it, doesn’t have his king status yet and is still training and struggling to wield a keyblade.

This game will feature the option of being able to play 3 different characters. Those Being Terra, Aqua, or Ven. Each has their own unique journey in Birth by Sleep and by playing all three scenarios the player will be able to fully understand the story of the game and how it connects to the Kingdom Hearts games out now. Tetsuya Nomura has stated that the game play although similar to KH: Chain of Memories, this game will not feature cards, but instead uses a new battle system unique to the Kingdom Hearts series. As also mentioned by Nomura, Birth by Sleep will utilize the PSP system to its max with the way the graphics and game play is and that perhaps out of all 3 new Kingdom Hearts games coming out this will probably be the biggest. This game also features a new type of leveling system best described as a growth or growing system. Enemies in this game will not be the heartless and nobodies we are used to, since at this point in time they do not exist. So instead we are introduced to a new enemy that existed around the time of Birth by Sleep called the Unbirths, which tend to move really fast.

There have been discussions whether or not a co-op mode would be put in this game, and there is still no support either way, but its highly theorized that based on 3 different scenarios it might not take place.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep is anticipated to come out sometime during the year of 2009 in Japan, however the date is still to be determined and could be changed.  However more and more information will still come forth for us to look into, and just like the old saying, “The past paves the way for the future.”

                                                                                  

The time has come to hear the story of one of Kingdom Hearts’ most important characters: Roxas.  Yes, the story of Sora’s mysterious nobody is finally told in the Nintendo DS installment, Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days.  Taking place after Sora gives up his heart in Hollow Bastion, 358/2 Days picks up in front of the abandoned mansion in Twilight Town.  A young boy awakens in front of the gates, and is greeted by mysterious man in a black coat.  The man then makes the name “Sora” appear in front of the boy’s face, rearranges the letters and adds the letter X, creating a name for the boy: Roxas.  Upon this event, Roxas joins Organization XIII as the 13th member.  His weapon of choice, the enigmatic keyblade, a weapon of unfathomable power thought only wieldable by Sora.

Unlike the other games in the Kingdom Hearts series, 358/2 Days will focus on the time Roxas spent as a member of Organization XIII.  Players will experience the same feel they did when playing Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, since game play (in terms of main controls) is relatively the same as the Gameboy Advance installment.  However, the card system has been removed, and instead will be a regular battle system, much like what was used in Kingdom Hearts. With this removal of the card system, the L and R buttons will now move the camera around and lock onto to enemies. X and Y (for the DS) buttons have been added.  X will scroll through the command menu.  Y performs the ability “Reflect Guard.”  It will perform dodge roll and glide when used while on the ground or in the air.  Furthermore, the very way the game is viewed resembles the 3D graphics of Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II, complete with full 3D cutscenes.  It will definitely push the limits of the DS, nearly rivaling the graphics that will be seen in Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep for Sony PSP.

Players will be sent into the daily lives of the Organization’s members, taking part in various missions.  Each time a mission is completed, it is unlocked in the game’s 4-player co-op mode.  Here, up to four people can control Roxas, Saix, Xigbar, or Axel and go on the missions they have unlocked.  At the end, each player will be seen in the white chairs the Organization sits in.  Based on how well they do on a mission, the chair will rise.  The opposite can be said if the player does poorly on one.  Daily life as a member of Organization XIII will be the main part of the story, until Roxas’ fated duel with Riku, thus beginning Kingdom Hearts II.

But the story does not end there.  Joining the cast is yet another member of Organization XIII. She is the most mysterious member seen thus far, seeing as how she is clearly not in the subsequent games.  Yes, Organization XIII’s 14th member, Xion, will finally been introduced in this installment.  Sometime after Roxas’ birth, Xion will join the Organization.  It is said that she has some sort of connection to Kairi, yet she resembles Birth by Sleep’s Aqua.  Like Roxas and Sora, Xion is able to wield the keyblade, and spends her free time with Axel and Roxas.  But, just who is she?  What is the fate that will befall her in this story?  All the answers, and more, will be answered in 2009 when Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days reaches Nintendo DS.  The story is not over yet. 

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Apart from the pride of having your very own articles published on a website receiving in excess of 10,000 unique visitors every day, you will be able to earn your way up the Thekingdomhearts.com staff ladder; posters having many articles approved by the TKH administration will be promoted to higher and higher positions, and you could potentially gain the prestige of become an administrator of the site or forums. You will also be able to use your experience for future jobs; the owner of this website, Alex, gained admittance to university in part by referencing his knowledge of the internet and experience in managing web sites.

If you are interested contact me on the forums(Username is Kaito) or email me at Dakota@Thekingdomhearts.com

Also, be sure to join the FFNet forums and the KH3 forums!

New scans from the French Magazine, Role Playing Game No.7 have been made available. Scroll down below the images for the Translation of the Scans.

Thanks to KHIsland.info , KH-Network and to Riku for translating the Scans!

Riku Edit: Very well, here we go with the translation. There is some new stuff in here so do read it. Only took 7 hours:

Page 10”
Kingdom Hearts quickly became a top franchise of Square Enix; it was therefore logical that this series would arrive on the two main portable consoles of the market. The DS will follow the short life of Roxas in 358/2 Days, while the PSP will be entitled to the prequel Birth by Sleep. Which, of the small nomad of the double screen of Nintendo or of the technological animal of Sony, will hold the most responsive reception with this mixture, which was still unlikely a few years ago, of Disney films and Final Fantasy?”
—————————BIRTH BY SLEEP

Realisation
“Birth by Sleep, co-realised by Tai Yasue, is developed by the same team that was in charge of Re: Chain of Memories; although its production had begun first, it will be the last of the three new projects to be released. Technically, the name Birth by Sleep is therefore a bluff, and the graphics should appear as beautiful and animated as well as Kingdom Hearts II! Aspects dedicated to the PSP will include new Disney worlds, such as those of Sleeping Beauty, Snow-White and Cinderella (the remaining Princesses of Heart it seems), as well as surprising training courses… Birth by Sleep being held a few years before the first adventures of Sora, certain worlds will take this into account; for example, one can expect to see an adolescent Hercules in Olympus Coliseum.”

Gameplay
“Following the example scenario, the gameplay will differ according to the character: Terra will impress us with his power; Ven will be the most agile, while Aqua undoubtedly proves the specialist of forces/magic. The combat menu conceals a new gauge, Command, which fills up by attacking and is executed by pressing Circle or Triangle (the actions associated with this button are modifiable) and gives access to additional techniques; for example, Terra will be able to enter into Fatal Mode to carry out combos and then finish with devastating move. Another change, the MP disappears; certain magic will require a time of loading and can be launched only when their gauge is full. The progression system (which is still quite mysterious) and some of the enemies will also be new…”

Music
“Once more, Yoko Shimomura will compose her memorable, melancholic music to accompany the journeys of Terra, Ven (which has been said to be an abbreviation of the name of this character, who is undoubtedly called Ventus) and Aqua. As new software for creating the music is a priority, including only a few elements of the previous software, the majority of the pieces should be new. It would be logical that the theme of the secret ending of Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix+, precisely entitled Birth by Sleep(Riku: Or Fate of the Unknown I think they’ll find), would be the primary theme of the new soundtrack… Moreover, one will discover doubtless arrangements of the melodies representative of each new Disney world – unless, as for The Lion King in Kingdom Hearts II, the artists (Riku: Disney composers) offer compositions of their own.”

Scenario
“This dark and complex adventure will be divided into three scenarios which you will be able to make in the order of your choice. You will therefore follow the destinies of the three main friends, each able to wield a Keyblade: the warrior Terra, Ven, the double of Roxas (this mystery will be explained in the game), and Aqua, the young girl with the blue hair. The epic story will proceed well before the events of Kingdom Hearts I, when Sora, Riku and Kairi, were still children. Terra is seen overseeing them with Ven, and in the company of Yen Sid, Donald and Pluto. This chapter will raise the subject of the War of Keyblades, the capacities of their owners and, undoubtedly, the origins of the amnesic disciple of Ansem the Wise…”

Page 11358/2 DAYS

Realisation
“Conceived by the studio h.a.n.d. Inc. (Chocobo Tales) and co-directed by Tomohiro Hasegawa (Final Fantasy VIII, Kingdom Hearts), Nomura obviously heading all the projects related to its series, 358/2 Days profits from a fine and detailed realisation all in 3D, with fluid animation. As for the cut-scenes, they do not diminish in comparison with those of the second episode. Definitely, the DS will not finish astonishing us… The keys L and R will make it possible to direct the camera in order to better locate enemies and to explore the locations; the latter accurately take on the environments of the preceding worlds, such as the World That Never Was, Twilight Town, Agrabah, Olympus Coliseum or Wonderland – As a priority, the title will not accomodate a new universe.”

Gameplay
“As a great innovation, the DS will comprise a multiplayer mode where one can direct the members of Organisation XIII! These missions with the varied objectives will be independent of the scenario, and each character will possess their own forces and weaknesses. The lower screen will post the chart, but a chat system may also be included; on the other hand, the tactile functionalities of the console do not appear to be exploited. In solo mode, Roxas will have as a daily task to fight the Heartless in various worlds and then to return to the World That Never Was. The combat menu and the actions are the same as the previous games, like jumping and gliding, blocking, etc… Lastly, Nomura promises that the systems of level-up and personalisation will allow great freedom.”

Music
“Like the other epic chapters of the Kingdom Hearts saga, the music of 358/2 Days will most likely be written by talented Yoko Shimomura which, definitely, often works with Tetsuya Nomura – moreover, the great woman also occupies the position of composer for much-awaited Final Fantasy Versus XIII. On the other hand, even because of the scenario, there will be few new pieces, while it will often be more likely to hear the themes of the Organization and Roxas… which won’t displease us! New worlds are also quite unlikely with the program as it is, so there are strong chances that the music of the Disney worlds visited in Kingdom Hearts I and II will be brought back, as that had been the case in Chain of Memories.”

Scenario
“Imagined by Daisuke Watanabe, like that of PSP games, the history of 358/2 Days reveals a year in the life of Roxas, his establishment in Organization XIII, his escape and his fateful duel against Riku. These events remained covered with mysteries or were only seen briefly; the fans waited impatiently for more on Roxas and his relations with his former colleagues. The plots of the charismatic members of Organization will therefore be presented in more detail. We will also discover what makes the Organization change the name of the group… (Riku: Referring to the mysterious 14th member) The story will therefore show many revelations on some of the most important characters of the series.”

—————————”

You have to like these two episodes of a series which doesn’t cease growing : an enthralling scenario, promising gameplay, a technical realisation of impressive actions and attractive characters. However, the DS game of Kingdom Hearts will not really quench the thirst for innovations of some players, as its worlds, its music and undoubtedly the majority of its characters are already known. On the contrary, the PSP game brings on the innovation and will finally clarify some of the enigmas which have puzzled us since the first chapter; for this reason, it is even more awaited than the adventure of Roxas.”

Page 14

KINGDOM HEARTS: CODED
“Fans of the lovable trio made up of the brown-dishevelled-haired Sora, Donald Duck and Goofy should be delighted, as episodes of Kingdom Hearts go portable and the series attacks mobile phones (Riku: I’m still fairly sure this will only be available in Japan). A digitised version of Sora will be thrown into a virtual world to eliminate all the bugs which cover its memory like dust; the game will include a mixture of 2D and 3D and may support vibrating when performing certain actions, following examples of other mobile phone games. Kingdom Hearts: Coded should logically be released this year, and there’s a rumour of there being a new world; we’ll see…”

Credit goes to Riku from KingdomHearts3.net