Atlus Releases Xbox Online RPG Specifics
30-APR-02
Atlus in Japan has released the first screens of Megami Tensei Nine, their online RPG project for the Xbox due out by the end of the year. The game is part of a strategy-RPG series that's lasted over 15 years in Japan; gamers in America got a small taste of it with Persona and Persona 2: Eternal Punishment on the PlayStation.
Set approximately twenty years from now, Nine takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where the human race is forced to live in giant underground bunkers. It's a pretty boring life for most people—fortunately for them, there's a giant virtual computer network themed after 1990-era Tokyo for them to explore and chat with their friends in. You traverse this virtual city using a Navi, or virtual avatar. The plot centers around the "bugs" in the system—demonic ones, in fact, and depending on how you deal with them, they'll either battle against you or join your party and fight for your side.

Atlus will release more details later on in the year as the release date approaches closer. Microsoft has yet to reveal anything about playing online Xbox games in America; that info's expected to come at next month's E3 exposition.
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