Namco Bandai spinning Wii, 360 Tales

Publisher's anime-inspired RPG series celebrates 10th NA anniversary with Tales of Vesperia on Microsoft's console and Dawn of the New World for Nintendo's system.

Namco Bandai's Tales series of anime-inspired role-playing games has been going strong since the early 1990s. Now, the enduring franchise is set to debut on two of the 21st century's newest consoles. Today, Namco announced it will release Tales of Vesperia exclusively on the Xbox 360 and Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World on the Nintendo Wii in North America by year's end.

Vesperia's new graphics engine at work.

Developed by Namco's Tales Studio, Tales of Vesperia marks the first outing in the series to make its way to Microsoft's platform. Characterized as a "standard-setting RPG," Vesperia follows the travails of errant knight Yuri, who seeks to uncover the mystery surrounding a mystical and mystifying ancient technology that powers his civilization.

Namco Bandai promises Vesperia will deliver a new interpretation on the antiquated series, with a new graphics engine that features high-definition character models and environs that recall traditional cel-shaded anime. Vesperia will also include an update to the game's distinctive real-time combat system, with larger battlefields, new special attacks, and unique weapons all slated to appear.

Dawn of the New World should look familiar.

Also in development at the Namco Tales Studio, Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World is a continuation of the well-received GameCube game that takes place two years later. Though it primarily follows two new protagonists--Emil Castagnier and Marta Lualdi--it will also feature cameos from the GC game's cast, including Lloyd, Colette, and Ratatosk.

Dawn of the New World will include a number of updates for its Wii appearance, including a new monster recruitment tool that will allow players to collect, train, and evolve more than 200 enemies. The series' battle system will also be revisited in the Wii game, with Namco Bandai promising free-roaming on battlefields as well as new special attacks and weapons.

123 Comments

  • hannify

    Posted Sep 12, 2008 5:47 pm GMT

    SPRING 2009 FOR EU RELEASE DATE - WOOTTT THE HELL??

  • R-Mak

    Posted Jun 18, 2008 10:20 am GMT

    Tales of Symphonia, still to this day, is the best RPG I have ever played.

  • magusat999

    Posted Jun 11, 2008 6:27 am GMT

    Too bad they opted for the Wii (I guess its good for Wii owners, though). Personally I am not into the Wii and wont be until Nintendo makes a top of the line regular couch potatoe controller that completely replaces the stupid "nin-chuck" (NO, the current one they have is not it - all it is is a throwback to one of the worse controller ever made, the old NES "thumb burner". Why not make a wavebird style controller instead?). I'm not waving my arms around for hours and hours while i play a game - that just doesn't excite me. If i want exercise I can do it when and how I want to, thank you very much. I don't need it integrated into my games or any other entertainment - nor do I want it there.

    Anyway, Tales is one of my favorite series and its nice to hear that it will be branching out to other consoles - but I hope they respect the series and dont experiment with them until they are unrecognizable - or bring some goofy one to the Xbox, as if they think they can pass off some sub-par version to Xbox owners because they assume that they don't know what the series is all about.

    Make them clean, logical series that can be identified as such - and dont' change anything dramatically just because it's on a new or different platform. Some of us do have more than one system - you know... we just might know a little something about how the game should feel.

  • ColdDice

    Posted Jun 2, 2008 3:12 pm GMT

    i want a piece of that!!!!

  • lionheart234

    Posted May 13, 2008 6:40 am GMT

    looks awesome....!!! cant wait.....

  • ineedanap

    Posted Mar 27, 2008 3:38 am GMT

    Tales of Symphonia was beautiful, and I'm eagerly awaiting Dawn of the New World. Vesperia looks awesome, and I also plan to get my grubby mitts on Vesperia when it comes out.

  • H-A-V-O-K

    Posted Mar 24, 2008 7:48 pm GMT

    I thought the first ToS game was awesome and invested 60+ hours of my life into it.it was the best RPG i had played in a long time,and i havent played another one like it since. Here's to hopin they dont screw up 2 with "innovative" motion controls.

  • Bogue2kw

    Posted Mar 16, 2008 4:25 pm GMT

    I loved Tales of Symphonia on the GC, the best RPG on this system with Baten Kaitos, so I'll be sure to buy Dawn of the New World too!

  • Zangan_Zack

    Posted Mar 10, 2008 11:45 pm GMT

    Well this worked out great for me I can't wait to play ToV and ToS: Dawn of The New World.

  • ti_marc1102

    Posted Mar 9, 2008 5:09 pm GMT

    What the? Since when do the Tales series go with microsoft? I bet Namco got payed to be exclusive on Xbox 360. ToS2 on WII I can do with it... Not 360. I'm pretty sure most fans bought a PS3 and/or WII.

  • AoiKita

    Posted Mar 9, 2008 4:36 am GMT

    x_X I dont even have a stupid xbox and never plan to get one....I'm dissapointed...why not ps3? *I dont have that either, but I WILL Get it*

  • gamecubepad

    Posted Mar 5, 2008 3:32 am GMT

    Thank you Namco. With new Wii games are being announced every month I'm getting more and more stoked about 2008.

  • Hitman2500

    Posted Mar 3, 2008 9:46 am GMT

    I cant wait for ToS2! I hope Tales of Vesperia has multiplayer like the tales of the abyss

  • zyxomma100

    Posted Mar 3, 2008 12:35 am GMT

    ...I wasn't really looking forward to any games this year, except SC4 and MGS4 (the latter which I probably won't get to play anyway). This changes everything.

  • Lightchaos

    Posted Mar 1, 2008 6:54 pm GMT

    this is awesome news for both wii and 360 owners! I can't wait!

  • SSBBGanondorf

    Posted Mar 1, 2008 4:29 pm GMT

    AWESOME!!!

  • Bogue2kw

    Posted Feb 29, 2008 7:28 am GMT

    Get the release date for DotNW and I'll get the money! XD

  • sidious

    Posted Feb 28, 2008 2:57 pm GMT

    This is a pretty good series.It is good to see them spreading the love to other consoles.

  • Bladescorpion

    Posted Feb 28, 2008 2:23 pm GMT

    I am with Link_86_1 when can I preorder!

  • GodsPoison

    Posted Feb 28, 2008 2:04 pm GMT

    freaking awesome, now im happy i own a 360!!

  • Krusnikzero2

    Posted Feb 28, 2008 1:45 pm GMT

    Can't wait for either of these titles : )

  • Link_86_1

    Posted Feb 28, 2008 1:42 pm GMT

    Just give me a release date! I'll have the money.

  • Caybrown

    Posted Feb 28, 2008 1:31 pm GMT

    Yaay^^! i can't wait xD.

  • Dualmask

    Posted Feb 28, 2008 1:21 pm GMT

    I would have preferred to hear that Symphonia's sequel featured the same characters in the lead, but a sequel to Symphonia is exciting news all the same. Hopefully it won't be waggle-happy.

  • DoomBringer2010

    Posted Feb 28, 2008 1:06 pm GMT

    cant wait for both of them but i will probably get ToSawn of the new World first

  • zgreenwell

    Posted Feb 28, 2008 12:03 pm GMT

    I can't wait!

  • imortiferus

    Posted Feb 28, 2008 11:46 am GMT

    Awesome!

  • gamecuber7

    Posted Feb 28, 2008 9:49 am GMT

    ToS was an awsome game and its great to see a sequel coming out. just hope it dont go through delays like SSBB =P

  • mergedsalem23

    Posted Feb 28, 2008 9:34 am GMT

    Hell yeah!!

  • Strike_Zer0

    Posted Feb 28, 2008 8:10 am GMT

    Very cool news. Definitely will try get hold of both.

  • Yukihirou

    Posted Feb 28, 2008 7:36 am GMT

    Awesome news, planning to grab both. Hopefully they'll reach Europe...

  • jcloverboy

    Posted Feb 28, 2008 7:21 am GMT

    I'll definitely grab Vesperia on 360.

  • the_real_VIP

    Posted Feb 28, 2008 6:17 am GMT

    "vashkey: The_Real_VIP, Tales is not the third most popular rpg in Japan. Pokemon and Kingdom Hearts are both more succesful in Japan."

    I didn't said that. Re-read. That part I quoted what the other said; "quotes".

  • Icegoten777

    Posted Feb 28, 2008 4:10 am GMT

    I don't like how Tales of Vesperia is Xbox360 exclusive. I don't have one so Im not going to be able to play it. =(

  • AngelsongCA

    Posted Feb 28, 2008 2:16 am GMT

    The RPG's are really piling up this year, I can't wait until E3. There's so many new RPG's that I want more information about. It's going to be a great year.

  • magicalclick

    Posted Feb 28, 2008 1:17 am GMT

    Cool news, one more good JRPG on xbox360 in addition to Squre-Enix Last Rement and Infinite Undiscovery. But I have to beat LO first, which won't be anytime soon.

    I like how they put high support to Xbox360 platform. Hopeing Japanese comsumers will finally give in to the power of green x.

  • vashkey

    Posted Feb 28, 2008 12:30 am GMT

    The_Real_VIP, Tales is not the third most popular rpg in Japan. Pokemon and Kingdom Hearts are both more succesful in Japan.

  • Nickster_11

    Posted Feb 28, 2008 12:19 am GMT

    im sure many sony fanboys are upset about tales of vesperia being 360 exclusive. they should be happy that they get both f XIIIs and white knight story. as for me ill be playin TOS2 when it comes out. cant wait!

  • Bay_Maximus

    Posted Feb 28, 2008 12:12 am GMT

    Even though it is admittedly a bit shocking; I am very pleased to hear that a Tales game is coming to the 360. And I'm sure Wii owners can't wait for ToS2. And where the hell is our REAL Tales of Destiny 2, because ToD was the best, bar none, in the Tales series.

    And by the way, what the hell is with the Sony fanboys crying about us getting a jrpg before them. YES 360 will get some jrpgs first, YES is will likely be ported to PS3 after awhile, so shut up about it. Damn.

  • the_real_VIP

    Posted Feb 27, 2008 11:36 pm GMT

    "jigglebilly1983: You do know that The Tales series is the 3rd most popular RPG series in japan behinf Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy Right? its not going to tank, Even with the 360's crappy install base in japan."

    Trusty Bell tanked in Japan. It was 2nd on the first week at launch, then dropped to 35th on the second week. There's only around 500,000 360s compared to millions PS3s in Japan.

  • Raivon

    Posted Feb 27, 2008 11:10 pm GMT

    *Sigh* Another 60 bucks for another good jrpg to add to my Xbox 360 rpg collection . Maybe rpgs and jpgs are selling well on the Xbox 360 in America because this is awesome news !!!

  • ShuuMutou

    Posted Feb 27, 2008 11:06 pm GMT

    Yay. Time to get two awesome Tales games to add to my collection. I'll play ToS again, then i'll wait for them both!

  • ShuuMutou

    Posted Feb 27, 2008 11:06 pm GMT

    Yay. Time to get two awesome Tales games to add to my collection. I'll play ToS again, then i'll wait for them both!

  • Nick_DeLonge

    Posted Feb 27, 2008 10:52 pm GMT

    Both good games, tough for the time will only get Dawn of the New World, at least till I can afford to get a 360. Don´t matter this year is full of good games and I can wait for that

  • sickside6

    Posted Feb 27, 2008 10:19 pm GMT

    nice work

  • Stonetowerghost

    Posted Feb 27, 2008 8:52 pm GMT

    I'm not complaining.

  • gurux2k

    Posted Feb 27, 2008 8:51 pm GMT

    We love the 360, but it hasn't been doing very well in Japan.

    YH: I suppose you want to ask, "why 360?" (laughs) We had actually begun research into HD hardware while still working on Abyss. When Abyss was finished, it was very well-received, and we had to decide where we were going next. There were many possibilities-at the time, we could certainly have done another game on PS2. But we felt there was a need to go HD. Logic would dictate we'd have to do it eventually, so why not now? That left two choices. When we started this project, The 360 had the more complete development environment.

    Was that the only reason?

    YH: Well, even thought the West isn't our main target, I knew we had to cater to our overseas fans as well, so that's another reason. But this doesn't mean we're not going to work on PS3 or other hardware-just that Tales is coming to the 360 first.

    Can you see Vesperia getting ported to PS3 some time in the future, like Eternal Sonata?

    YH: Yes, I won't deny the possibility. But we're not thinking about it yet-there are so many other things to concentrate on first.

  • nyyspinstripes

    Posted Feb 27, 2008 8:34 pm GMT

    good stuff

  • CorruptGamerGX

    Posted Feb 27, 2008 7:24 pm GMT

    Today, Namco announced it will release Tales of Vesperia exclusively on the Xbox 360

    Keep dreaming Game$pot with misleading info.

    And Ratatosk had somthing to do with the previous title of ToS2.

  • Cheddarchet

    Posted Feb 27, 2008 7:09 pm GMT

    At last, news on the Wii Tales game! I'm really looking forward to this...

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