Japan's Earthquake Hasn't Stopped These Two Games

With all the games being delayed (or worse, joy rummy canceled) and game developers not coming into their offices, it would be easy to assume the Japanese game industry is grinding to a halt. https://kotaku.com/earthquake-delays-and-cancels-games-5781613 It’s not. And today proves just that. Whether it be rummy new app PS3 game Motorstorm 3: Apocolypse or Nintendo 3DS title Steel Diver, this week a slew of games were delayed. One title, Disaster Report 4, was canned altogether for obvious reasons. What these games have in common is that they were all slated for release either this week or this spring.(new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=995c4c7d-194f-4077-b0a0-7ad466eb737c&cid=872d12ce-453b-4870-845f-955919887e1b'; cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "995c4c7d-194f-4077-b0a0-7ad466eb737c" }).render("79703296e5134c75a2db6e1b64762017"); }); But Japan will rebuild. Wounds may never entirely heal, but the country and its people will rebound. And when they do, some of them will want to play video games. Today, it was revealed that two of Japan’s biggest franchises, Monster Hunter and Dragon Quest, are getting new games. Monster Hunter spin-off Mon rummy nobel Hun Nikki: Poka-Poka Airu Mura G is being developed for the PSP. The game’s teaser site popped up today, and while it doesn’t provide a release date, it does let players know that the game is being worked on. Another spin-off was revealed as well. Square Enix is making a 3D version of the popular Rocket Slime games for the Nintendo 3DS, dubbed Slime Mori-Mori Dragon Quest 3: Daikaizoku to Shippodan. The game is pirate-themed and will have Slimes hitting the seven seas. The game is penciled in for this winter. This winter, Japan will still be dealing with the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami — and the winter after that. But part of returning to “normal”, whatever that may be, is stuff like this: video games being revealed, people getting excited, people buying them and then either loving them or hating them. Sure, the timing could have been coincidental. These things are planned months in advance. And on a grand scale, this is utterly inconsequential — just some silly video game news. But right now, that could be exactly what Japan needs. [Pic: Getty]