Isayama’s “Attack On Titan” Announced For The 3DS

Image source: Animexmusic.net

Fans of the critically acclaimed Attack on Titan series will be thrilled to hear that their beloved franchise is heading to the Nintendo 3DS. Based on leaked images from the Bessatsu Shonen magazine courtesy of Itsuka Baito (translated by Gematsu), the game will be developed by Japanese game developer Spike Chunsoft and is slated to be released this year on the 3DS platform. Aside from this piece of news, additional gameplay details have not been revealed thus far and everyone eager to find out more will have to wait for the September issue of the magazine.

Attack on Titan’s release on the 3DS is actually not the first attempt at capitalizing on its popularity through a game. Strategy And Partners has already launched a social game based on the anime in the GREE mobile games platform and is working on another online browser version. They are currently recruiting 10,000 testers for a closed beta phase for their browser-based title.

Surge of popularity

Since the release of its anime adaptation this year, Attack on Titan’s popularity has grown by leaps and bounds. On top of the game announcements for it, a live action film has also been reported to be in progress due for a 2014 release. The manga has benefited from its global popularity as well and recently celebrated its 20 millionth printed copy in June. First published in 2009, Attack on Titan has been serialized monthly in the Bessata Shonen magazine and is still going strong.

Studio WIT (producers of Attack on Titan) founder, George Wada was interviewed last month at the Anime Expo in Los Angeles about the popularity of the series. When asked for his thoughts on its appeal to western audiences, he felt that the overarching theme in the anime about overcoming a “wall of fear” relates easily with any audience, although the idea for it was originally inspired by Japanese culture. In comparison with other modern animes, he felt that Attack on Titan stood out through its great action sequences that revolved around the unique 3D maneuver gear the characters use to roam about.

Image source: Konachan.com

Attack on Titan tells the story of three friends living in a world where the last vestige of human population lives in a single area protected by large walls. This occurs after an appearance of a race of titans that has largely wiped out the rest of the human population and continues to mount attacks against them in a bid to wipe them out.

Although I am a fan of the whole franchise and have been following every new episode eagerly, I was not aware of it before this year until a friend recommended it to me. The fresh concept of the anime coupled with its high production values drew me in and I have been hooked ever since. My experience with the anime also led me to devour the manga in one sitting from the first to the latest issue. I will be eagerly looking forward to the console game adaption for this as well.

(Editing by Steven Millward)