Figured it's time to start up Apollo's official thread.  Capcom released the fact sheet today:

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SAN MATEO, Calif. - November 9, 2007 - Capcom® Entertainment, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games, today announced that the latest installment of its highly popular courtroom drama series, Apollo Justice™: Ace Attorney™ is scheduled for release in North America in early 2008. This is the fourth game in the series and the first developed specifically for Nintendo DS™ and sees a change of direction for the story line with the introduction of new defense attorney Apollo Justice and a host of new characters. Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney has been rated T for Teen by the ESRB.

Players star as rookie defense attorney Apollo Justice as he visits crime scenes, questions key witnesses and collects vital evidence before stepping into the courtroom to prove his clients’ innocence. Facing Apollo across the courtroom is the highly talented and flamboyant prosecutor Klavier Gavin who, in addition to being a legal genius, is also lead singer with Gavinners, a highly successful rock band with a string of hits to their name.

He may be young and inexperienced but Apollo’s confident manner and passion, coupled with his unique ability to uncover witnesses’ lies by studying their body language, will prove invaluable assets in the courtroom as he pleads the case for the defense. Thankfully, Apollo is not alone and is aided both in and out of the courtroom by his assistant Trucy, a mysterious female magician. Apollo also receives invaluable advice from his mentor the ultra-cool Kristoph Gavin, elder brother of Klavier, whose perfect logic and natural instincts have won him numerous cases and the respect of his colleagues.

Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Features:
• 1st fully new title to be developed specifically for the Nintendo DS.
• Touch screen interface progresses players through the game
• Microphone can be used to yell “Objection!” and “Hold it!” as you cross examine witnesses
• All new “Crime Recreation Mode” that allows players to reveal hidden clues by re-creating the scene of the crime
• Two distinct gameplay segments:
• Investigation phase – survey crime scenes, interview witnesses and gather evidence that will be used in court
• Court phase – present findings from the investigation to support your case, listen to testimonies and examine witnesses

• Diverse cast of characters
Apollo Justice: the new main character who leads the series into a new chapter
Klavier Gavin: in addition to being a top prosecutor, Klavier is also the lead singer in a highly successful rock band who brings his star qualities into the courtroom
Kristoph Gavin: the coolest character on the judicial circuit, and Apollo’s mentor. His cool headed thinking means he always provides his clients with the best defense
Trucy: The mysterious magician Trucy started working with Apollo after a chance encounter.

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Ace Attorney 4's coming a lot sooner than I thought.  Like I said in the T&T thread, for those lagging behind on the Phoenix trilogy, you'd best pick up the pace; the new blood is on the way.  ^_^

Yeah, got a press release on this today. I'm nowhere NEAR to taking the plastic off the first PW, though, heh.

Man! This just keeps getting better. I'm maybe halfway through case 2 of PW3, so hopefully I'll finish that before Q6 2007.

This is one franchise that I'm happy about Capcom pushing out sequel-after-sequel of. If Apollo is coming out here early next year, I'm willing to bet that there will be an announcement of the next game and a new OST release by summer 2008.

Zvarri!   ..... I see what you did there.

Yeah, Gyakuten Saiban 5 has already been announced to be in production.  It looks like Capcom is aiming to make Apollo into another trilogy, and with the sales success of GS4 in Japan, you can bet we'll be seeing more Ace Attorney very soon.

Let's just hope the series doesn't follow suit and degrade like other to-be-unnamed long-standing Capcom franchises.

Eh, I'm in no rush.  I'm only half-way through PW2.  I'll just drop Apollo Justice onto the pile with PW3 once it comes out.

Hmmm, the name just doesn't have the pizazz of "Phoenix Wright". Apollo Justice would make a very nice name for a boxer though Ah well, What's in a name? that which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet... or so a poet once said.

cheers,

-avatar!

You know, I can't help but think about that part early on in Ratatouille.  The character Remy discovers a fine piece of cheese and mushroom, and his brother Emile says, "Well, throw it on the pile, I guess...."  And Remy replies with exasperation, "We don't wanna throw this in with the garbage!  This is special!"

Don't throw Phoenix in with the garbage, X.  As the other Ratatouille character Gusteau says, "You are better than that."

The latest issue of Nintendo Power has February 2008 pegged as a release date.  Knowing Capcom's history with the Ace Attorney series, though, it wouldn't be surprising if that slipped into March or April.

On the other hand, they also say that Apollo Justice will be the cover story for the February issue - so maybe it is a lock.  I'll definitely be looking forward to that issue; I'm betting they'll have a good feature, maybe a detailed history of the series up to this point.

Here's Phoenix Wright/PS3 gif I saw over a Gametrailers.

OBJECTION!!!

Nice.

Nicely photoshopped in.  There are barely any artifacts.

AA4 now has a ship date of 2/19/08:

http://www.ebgames.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=180729

I need to start catching up. I have Ace Attorney, but I was looking for another new copy for a gift, and they're gone (luckily I was able to score a "used" copy that was actually just a new copy moved to the used section). Haven't seen Justice For All anywhere either, new or used...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi … 0189587322 

I'm ready for it!  Finished PW3 earlier this month.  I liked it a lot.  The last case brought things together nicely.

Wow.  That's too fast.  Capcom must be really worried about people seeing this as a fad.  It's like they're trying to get while the getting's good, you know?

Felt that way, too. But the ending seemed incomplete to me. Anyone else feel the same way?

Incomplete?  How so?

I've heard that from some folks, but I can't fully comprehend why.  Were the resolutions for the characters not as fleshed out as you'd hoped?

Well, GS4 was always slated to arrive outside of Japan, and ten months from the original release seems about the right turn-around time for localization. (Capcom was apparently translating GS4 simultaneously alongside GS3.)  In a way, I suppose they were taking a risk, banking on potentially strong consumer reaction for Trials And Tribulations to even justify doing GS4, but luckily for them, it looks like sales of PW3 have been brisk.

I'm just glad that we're finally caught up with Japan with the series. :)

Your shameless plug has paid off... for both of us!

Yeah, that's a good upside.  Assuming GS5 will hit Japan by the end of summer, I suppose we'll be seeing it here by the end of next year.

The nice thing about playing on a used copy of Phoenix Wright is that the quick-text option is already enabled.  That's, of course, assuming that the game had already been completed once and that the save data wasn't reset and erased.  (Trying to remember if the Phoenix Wright games even allow you to do a save-data wipe.)

That quick-text can really come in handy.  Like, say, you present a piece of evidence to somebody that yields the same result in conversation, you can hold the "B" button and skip through it quickly instead of having to read through it again.

Eh, part of the reason, I guess. They all just kind of . . . go out for dinner afterwards? I was hoping for something more of an epilogue. Like what happens to each of the main characters (and some minor ones) after they go their own ways. This IS the last word on the Phoenix Wright sub-series of the Ace Attorney games, right?

True, but I wonder if that was a conscious decision on Capcom's part when they were creating the game?  We obviously regard the games as a trilogy now, but at the time, perhaps they didn't want to pigeon-hole the characters into a sense of finality -- in case they were planning to bring them back in future games.  As GS4 proves, a crucial part of the overarching story is discovering what exactly happened to Phoenix after the events of PW3; which means the possibility of bringing back or referencing other previous characters in conjunction to Phoenix may continue as the series goes on.   

As such, PW3 ends just as the previous games do - with immediate, self-contained resolutions for everyone. (You do stay for the credit roll, right?) ;)

I do stay for the credit roll. But nothing really happens. What is the final word on Mr. Wright? On Maya? What do they do afterwards, and what are their actions from the end of the Wright trilogy, up until Apollo Justice? I hear Phoenix goes through some . . . interesting changes (in the screen caps, he looks homeless), so I was hoping something would segue nicely into this change. Or is it addressed in its' entirety in Appolo Justice? Have you played this game before?

Sorry, Angela. I didn't mean to make it sound at all that I disliked the game at all (love it to bits, you know that). I guess my big worry is that none of my questions will be addressed in the capacity I might wish for.

Maybe I shouldn't worry, though. Trials and Tribulations as a general whole wrapped everything up very nicely, after all.

Me?  Nope.  I've decided to wait out for the domestic release, so the game will be entirely fresh to me.  I do know that the overarching narrative focuses on what exactly happened to Phoenix between PW3 and now, so you may not be disappointed.

In related news, my copy of the latest issue of Nintendo Power came in today.  Sadly, Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword made the cover story, and not Apollo.  >_<  There's a good spread on AJ, though, and we learn of a few new things.  First, the new Perceive System allows you to "slow down time" during a witness testimony, allowing you to zero in on a witness to catch subtle mannerisms -- like shifting eyes, twitching fingers, and swallowing -- which may give themselves away.  (Now I know why the song "Seeing Through ~ Surge, Glance" sounds the way it does on the OST.)  During Perceive, you yell or tap the "Gotcha!" button to catch them in the act.

Psyche Locks are now gone, as is, sadly, the option to present character profiles as evidence.  In their absence, though, is a bevy of DS-specific features.  Like the Rise From The Ashes bonus case from PW1, you can do luminol spray testing, take fingerprints, and examine evidence in 3D.  In addition, you can now 're-create' a crime scene in a 3D setting, as well as take footprint samples.  (NP describes it as a "multistep procedure that requires you to pour plaster in a footprint, dry the plaster and roll ink on the resulting mold, in order to compare it to the footprints of suspects."  Sounds cool.

Sounds like the inspiration for a whole bevy of CSI franchise games for the DS heh.

Capcom's latest press release for AJ is out: http://gonintendo.com/?p=33145#more-33145

They're now stating a 2/12/08 release date, plus this:

"Fans and newcomers alike will get a chance to experience the game early by way of a flash demo that will be found on both www.Capcom-Unity.com and www.Ace-Attorney.com in January. Similarly, Nintendo DS™ owners will have the opportunity to download via wi-fi a demo of the game from Nintendo Stations which can be found in various retail locations. By sampling the unique puzzles, characters and storyline of Apollo Justice, gamers will see for themselves what the hysteria surrounding Ace Attorney series is all about – unrelenting fun!"

I see that they've chosen to go head to head with Professor Layton, which comes out one day earlier.  Granted, the two games play quite differently, but they have similar appeal, and I still don't see the need to rush this one out so close to the release of the third one.

Looks like Capcom's rectified the release back to the original 2/19/08 date.  Also, the online demo is now available for play!  It basically takes you through the case's intro and first cross-examination:

http://www.ace-attorney.com/aj/

Finding Phoenix's initial aloofness intriguing, and I'm enjoying the bantering trash-talk between he and Payne. ;)  I dig Apollo's "Objection!" -- sure is a lot more "manly" than what I first anticipated.

Well, that's good.

Regarding the online demo, what was Kristoph insinuating when he criticized Apollo for saying he's "fine" so much?

His words were, "People might take you the wrong way," wasn't it?  Perhaps there's a deeper meaning later on, but I just thought it was a set up for the joke when Apollo introduces himself to Phoenix -- and Phoenix mistakingly assumes that his name is "Mr. Fine."

It's probably not necessary for me to do this, since most fans of the series here have likely already heard the GS4 OST in full.... But it's practically become a tradition for me with each new game, so I've put together another twelve minute medley sample from Apollo Justice: 

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=BW12YF28

As a bit of musical trivia, I'd heard that the playable demo was built off the early demo build of the Japanese version -- and that the old "Suspense" theme actually isn't in the final game.  It's been replaced by the new and far more intense "Thrill ~ Suspense 2007" theme, heard at 09:46 in the medley sample.

And I'm just absolutely digging the new "Pursuit ~ Cornered 2007" theme, which immediately follows 'Thrill' in the sample.

Nintendo Power's review of AJ is featured in the latest issue: 8.0 

Interestingly, they liken it Metal Gear Solid 2, where in both games, "you end up playing as a hero that's just not quite as exciting as his predecessor, even though he's got essentially the same tricks and more more, while the real hero's story unfolds in the background." 

Scan to the review below.  Just beware that there is one picture in the article that's a potentially big spoiler:

http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/4871 … ce2nr1.jpg