Koei and Tecmo have finalized their merger, in a stock deal with value of $20 Billion Yen, or about $207 million USD. Tecmo, as you know, is being sued by Tomonobu Itagaki and some members of his team. They claim they were promised bonuses and financial compensations that were never honored. When this happened, Tecmo all but fell apart. At that point Square showed interest in the company, but in the end, Koei won the takeover war. Tecmo claims that games like DOA and Ninja Gaiden are still in their hands, so we will stay tuned to see if we can expect DOA5 and more.

Koei and Tecmo are giving more details on their planned merger, revealing their new company will be debuting in Spring 2009. After rejecting the Square offer, Tecmo entered into talks with Koei for a merger. Last month it become official.

"In the ¥3 trillion ($28 billion) global games market, we have revenue of ¥40 billion ($377m), which begs the question of whether we can survive. We plan to make the most of this merger and move on to the next step, which may include acquisitions."

The troubled Tecmo, or what is left of it right now, has rejected the overtures being made by Square, and decided to open takeover talks with Koei instead. Square maintains that the bid was a friendly offer, and that they will not attempt a hostile takeover. This means that a Koei buyout is likely. We think Koei is a much better fit for Tecmo anyway.

"Through a merger, we expect we can grow further by respecting both companies' identities and having an environment in which employees can fully exhibit their skills," said Tecmo and Koei in a statement, pointing to a choice for Tecmo which "has a higher possibility of improving corporate value."

Dynasty Warriors Gundam apparently did so well that Koei is going to bring us a sequel. Click read more for the full info.

PRESS RELEASE

Hertfordshire, UK- September 3, 2008 - KOEI today announced the European release of DYNASTY WARRIORS®: GUNDAM®2 for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, and PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system.

Fatal Inertia EX, the revamped version of the average futuristic racer from Koei, is due out via the PSN on June 19. This is exclusive to the PS3, and a free demo which includes online multiplayer will also be made available on the same day. Click read more for the full info.

PRESS RELEASE

Burlingame, CA – June 11, 2008 - KOEI, recognized worldwide as the premier brand of strategy and action games, today announced that Fatal Inertia®EX has reached gold status and will be available on June 19, 2008 exclusively on PLAYSTATION® Network, and only for PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system. A free demo of Fatal Inertia EX which includes an online multiplayer mode will also be available on the same day.

Koei has confirmed that there will be no demo for the revamped Fatal Inertia on Xbox Live. Fatal Inertia EX was revealed yesterday for the PS3, and Koei promises that the PS3 game will fix all the flaws of the Xbox360 version.

The team at Koei responsible for Fatal Inertia and its demo on the Xbox360 have admitted that it was a mistake to release the demo in the shape it came in. The demo was pretty bad, with frame drops and slowdown galore. The final game performed better, but still not perfect. Well, now the team says Fatal Inertia EX for the PS3 will fix those issues in both the new demo, which is multiplayer, and the full game.

"In FI EX, we've dramatically improved the frame-rate again and I think players will be pleasantly surprised," he said. "This combined with a significantly higher game speed makes for a much, much nicer experience."

While we hope this is true, even if the game turns out great, this is the same window as Wipeout HD. That may be the final nail in FI's coffin.

Koei has announced the sixth official installment of their popular Dynasty Warriors series. This time, they claim the entire series will be reinvented, with massive battles on a scale as yet unseen, new features, and control aspects. Let's hope they really did retool the franchise, we have been playing the same Dynasty Warriors game for almost 10 years now. Click read more for the full official info.

PRESS RELEASE

Burlingame, CA – November 19, 2007 - KOEI, recognized worldwide as the premier brand of strategy and action games, today announced that Dynasty Warriors®6 is slated to ship to North American retailers beginning February 19, 2008 for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, and for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system.

Koei has announced Samurai Warriors: KATANA for the Nintendo Wii. The game will be similar to the other Koei beat-em-up RPGS, but the Wii will utilize the Wiimote for weapon weilding. How well it will work is anyone's guess. Click read more for the full info.

Burlingame, CA- November 15, 2007 - KOEI, recognized worldwide as the premier brand of strategy and action games, today announced that Samurai Warriors®: KATANA for Nintendo Wii™ will be coming to North American retailers beginning January 15, 2008. Players can pre-order the game now at GameStop.com, EBGames.com and Amazon.com.

Bladstorm, the next-gen hack and slasher with more, has gone gold and will be officially available on November 6, 2007 for the PS3 and Xbox360 systems. Don't forget, the demo is already up, so check it out before you buy this one folks, it has. let's call them "quirks" you may or may not like. Click read more for the full info.

PRESS RELEASE

Burlingame, CA – October 26, 2007 - KOEI, recognized worldwide as the premier brand of strategy and action games, today announced that BLADESTORM™: The Hundred Years’ War has achieved gold status, and will ship to North American retailers beginning November 6, 2007 for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, and for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system.