MonkeyPaw Games To Import Japanese PlayStation Classics To PSN In US

Recently-formed import publisher MonkeyPaw Games has announced its first project: the company will bring over to the US' PlayStation Network store a slate of Japanese games for the original PlayStation, according to a set of new ESRB ratings. The first five games are Cho Aniki, a homoerotic shooter created by the defunct game company Masaya and now owned by Extreme Co., Ltd; Gaia Seed, a shooter by Techno Soleil of The Rapid Angel fame that's highly valued amongst Japanese collectors; Outlaws of the Lost Dynasty, Data East's second major entry into the fighting genre after Fighter's History Dynamite; Magical Drop F, a Data East RPG based on the Magical Drop puzzle game series; and Blockids, a Breakout-like game that, unlike the rest of the batch, was previously released in the United States. Like other PlayStation re-releases on PlayStation Network, the games will be playable on both PlayStation 3 and PSP. All of the games are rated "E for Everyone" by the ESRB, except for Outlaws of the Lost Dynasty and Cho Aniki, which are rated "T for Teen." MonkeyPaw's formation was announced last month. The company is headed up by John Greiner, former CEO and president of Hudson Entertainment, the North American arm of the Japanese publishing firm. Greiner said he hopes to use the startup to import "real Japanese games" to Western audiences -- in other words, titles "that feed into the fascination with Japanese gaming and culture."