On an up note the website is back, and its future is more secure than ever. However, what little creative interest we’ve been able to sustain since the first downtime late last year is now (after our second, and what should be final, downtime) at an all time low. In fact there appears to be no party interested in contributing new content to the website.

That said we still have administrative and editorial staff eager and available to assist any fans who would be interested in helping to expand the website. A long term commitment is not even necessary. As always, just drop us a line in the website BBS and we will see that your contribution however great or small is made available to our readership.

The website will not be going anywhere in the meantime, and we still field a lot of traffic everyday. Generally about 300 people visit the site about 1000 times a day like clockwork. We are still the premier source for in-depth Megaten info in English. We know the site could be a much better resource, but its up to Megami Tensei fans everywhere to see to that. Details follow.

Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey, the next title of the Megaten franchise, has been confirmed to be in development for Nintendo’s portable console, the Nintendo DS. Megami Ibunroku Devil Survivor’s success was a big hit, and appears to have inspired Atlus to develop their next game for the same console. This time around, Kazuma Kaneko will be taking the lead as the character & devil designer and producer. Other development team members include: Eiji Ishida (Director) - Shogo Isogai (Scenario) - Shoji Meguro (Composing)

As for story, this time you are a soldier enlisted on an expedition to investigate the dimensional rift at the south pole. There are 4 distinct crews in this exploration team, each in a different ship: Red Sprite No. 1’s crew are the commanders; Blue Jet No. 2 & and Gigantic No. 4 specialize in battle, and Elves No. 3 are scientists.

In order to survive in this alternate realm, the scientists have created Demonica Suits; armor that improve abilities and can be customized. Allied explorers will also play a part in the story; you cannot win alone. Your interactions with your teammates will affect the progression of the story.

With approximately 300 devils, including some new designs by Kaneko never seen before, battles will be far from dull. These devils will be obtainable as allies mainly through negotiation and fusion. Allied devils are able to give quests to find rare items, and cooperate with one another to perform extra-special maneuvers.

The game will be released on October 8th, of 2009 in Japan; no scheduled release date is confirmed elsewhere as of yet. It will be a Nintendo DS first-person view RPG with a retail price of 6,279￥. No word yet on any “innovative” stylus/touch screen features. Stange Journey hasn’t a “IV” in sight, so this is not the “next-gen” SMT game fans have been waiting for, but regardless looks to be a fantastic new addition to the Shin Megami Tensei series.

The teaser website is to be replaced by the actual official website soon, so be ready to visit once it’s open to the public.

Sources: Silconera, Wii @ Everyday, Atlus USA forum

Atlus has revealed a new teaser website of what appears to be the next Megaten game, Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey. Showing a picture of Earth with the South Pole imploding and showing messages like: “This is a soldier’s hand. It’s trustworthy.”, “For us, it’s ‘hope’!”, “Don’t lose sight of yourself!”, “You came here from a rich country just to die?”, “For the future of mankind, let’s both hold our ground!”, “South Pole”.

A Japanese blogger was able to grab what seems to be the logo of the game, from the page’s source code before Atlus removed it.

Atlus will reveal more about this game on July 24th, 2009 and, supposedly, it will be released on October 8th, 2009 for Japan. But the lack of the most important details have left us hanging; will it be a spin-off? a sequel? what genre? and for what console?

Short and sweet, this is a courtesy sticky, to be removed, letting our loyal readers know account holders are no longer being denied access to their IMAGINE accounts in Japan under the auspices of CAVE. As a fellow long-time IMAGINE player, this is good news and cause for celebration. Yee-hah!

In the most recent “Atlus Faithful” email, Atlus has announced that the upcoming re-make of Persona for the PSP will be released on September 22nd, 2009, and will come packed with a complete 2-disc original soundtrack of the game’s music in it’s entirety; not like the A side / B side Persona 4 had.

So mark your calendars, save some pocket-change, and be sure to pre-order your copy when it becomes available. Don’t miss this awesome Atlus Spoils re-translated edition of Persona for the PSP PLUS the full OST together in one exclusive package.

Update, June 19th: The blocking of foreign IPs has been ended. Though it appears some parts of the world might still be blocked out for particular reasons. Please let us know if you’re still blocked out where you live/play. This post is now de-sticky-fied.

This is a short and simple sticky until the block is lifted. I don’t know much except I can’t login, and I’ve sunk hours into this game, and can’t wrap my head around the entity that would just pull the plug on that sort of investment for someone else. So in short, this is a petition. To pledge, not to spend any money on Megaten products from any region until the block is lifted. You don’t have to play on the Japanese server to sign the petition - ie. leave a comment. Just agree it’s a shitty thing to do, and the wrong way to treat your fans. We live in a day when pirating software is much easier than ponying up at your nearest retailer. This site makes no bones about piracy, it’s a personal decision, made by people who feel like they’re being served or not.