Shin Megami Tensei General. 真・女神転生

[Moridam]

anyone see SMT4's retailer-exclusive preorder costumes? so fucking tacky, haha. gamestop's has a big "GS" plastered right across the front, amazon's is basically a coat made out of cardboard and every last inch is covered in the smile logo.

[Doombear]

Haha, yeah.

I am in for 1 Prime Coat myself.

[xopher]

I don't dislike the prime coat. What is the red and black hoodie from?

Also, has anyone finished Soul Hackers? About how long is the game? I think it's kind of silly that I'm level 32 and only 9 hours in.

[Doombear]

Red and black is EB Games. I have Soul Hackers coming from GameFly. I am excited.

[xopher]

Index Holdings has filed bankruptcy. The Atlus brand is up in the air. I would like to see Nintendo or Sony pick them up and make them a first party developer.

[The Blackrose]

Nope.jpg.

First party would be a terrible decision. It would also be out of the norm for Nintendo to make such a move.

Would be in a lot better position with a third party. Expect Koei-Tecmo, Bamco or GungHo to make a move. Level-5 may do it, but they're a smaller studio compared to Atlus so it might cause a clusterfuck. SE, Sega Sammy and Capcom are in no position for a new acquisition.

EDIT:

Yoshida at Sony also indicated that they will be hands off. So no first party.

[xopher]

Why would it be out of the norm for Nintendo? They picked up Monolith and Platinum.

[Moridam]

Monolith and Platinum are strictly development houses, Atlus' operations are a lot more diverse, so having to spin off redundant or undesirable divisions might be more hassle than its worth. Also worth noting that Nintendo didn't scoop P+, they're just funding projects in exchange for platform exclusivity on those specific titles they're funding.

[Insanecyclone]

[Kirin]

Monolith and Platinum are strictly development houses, Atlus' operations are a lot more diverse, so having to spin off redundant or undesirable divisions might be more hassle than its worth. Also worth noting that Nintendo didn't scoop P+, they're just funding projects in exchange for platform exclusivity on those specific titles they're funding.

It could also come down to what the buyer really wants Atlus to function as. If its in their current state, then yeah a current developer would suffice just fine since Atlus would bring the benefit of being able to publish. If they strictly want the IP's Atlus owns along with the dev staff, then a company with current publishing ability like Nintendo or Sony would be a better fit imho. I think long term Atlus is better off being under the wing of a group like Nintendo or Sony and then if they grow enough themselves they can split them off into a self serving entity.

I do remember reading recently that one of the main reasons Atlus USA was still expanding was strictly to act as a publishing arm for Atlus abroad. Could be they would like to continue to exist under a developer like Sega, but they may not have that choice in the end since Index sounds like they might be in panic mode.

And damn, I knew the SMT 4 release date was close but I didn't realize it was this close. Gotta go buy a 3DS and preorder like now. Is the XL worth it or just something nice to have?

[xopher]

If you don't buy an XL you're a scrub.

[Rokku]

http://tinycartridge.com/post/549368...emblem-and-smt

This seems more than a little relevant for this thread.

[xopher]

Welp. Already have FE, so looks like I'll be getting $30 credit.

[Mizango]

Welp. Already have FE, so looks like I'll be getting $30 credit.

Absolutely!

[Rokku]

Yeah, it pretty much means I can get SMT IV for $20, so it kind of just jumped up to being a "going to buy" type of thing.

[xopher]

New Persona 3 and 4 Club Arrange disc coming out featuring artists like Kors K and Novoiski. So hype.

[xopher]

Alignment lock question.

So I'm about 30 hours into SMT IV and

Spoiler: show

I just went through the Path of Ethics or whatever. How far away am I from the alignment lock?

[Stromgarde]

Still a fair ways, plenty of time to shift all the way to the other side if you feel thusly inclined.
More details, minimal spoilers

Spoiler: show

While the point where you must choose to go with Jonathan or Walter is not the alignment lock point, it is a good idea to maintain a separate save there anyway since if you are extremely unlucky and gunning for neutral it is possible to put yourself in a position where only Law or Chaos are possible (-1/0/+1 since the final choice gives +-10, and neutral is from -8 to +8). There are still a few choices to be had after 'pressing the remote' though, so that point would probably work just as well.

[xopher]

Yeah I'm trying to go neutral route but I keep siding with Walter on shit. I'm at the point where you choose to

Spoiler: show

go with walter and see Lilith

[Stromgarde]

Yeah I'm trying to go neutral route but I keep siding with Walter on shit. I'm at the point where you choose to

Spoiler: show

go with walter and see Lilith

You should be able to go to any of the Hunter's Associations and talk to the first guy on the option list to get a rough idea which way you're leaning. Figure that out, then start doing the opposite. Be sure to get a final diagnosis before 'pressing the remote', as it's the last chance to check, although despite there still being a fair amount of gameplay left before the lock.