The official channel of the anime adaptation of the Steins;Gate visual novel on Japanese online video service NicoNico has been updated with a new extra episode that will be live to hype up the release of the game’s official sequel, Steins;Gate 0.
The highly anticipated sequel to 5pb. and Nitro+’s Steins;Gate visual novel will release in Japan on December 10th, and to celebrate a new anime episode will be streamed on Niconico. The episode is an alternative to episode 23, known as Steins;Gate Episode 23 (β). The episode will be on Niconico on Thursday, the 3rd at 1:35am JST. The website of the game itself has a new countdown timer, which coincides with the episode’s airing, indicating that the episode will be directly linking to Steins;Gate 0.
Here is the game’s main visual:
5pb. Games also began streaming two video clips on Monday, introducing Kagari Shiina, the “girl who holds the key to the story” of its follow-up game Steins;Gate 0. In the first video Rintarou Okabe meets Kagari, while in the second Kagari and Suzuha embark on a trip to the past.
Steins;Gate 0 will be an official sequel to the original game, but will not be an entirely new concept and story. It will be based on all the material released after the game, including the three novels and the various drama CDs. The first synopsis of the new game has also been revealed (Highlight to read, spoilers):
The story of the game and the anime adaptation take place on the beta world line, where Okabe could not save his precious person, Kurisu, on July 28, and ended up returning alone. However, the trailer for the game note
The first images for the new designs of the characters have were revealed earlier:
English subtitled version of the Steins;Gate 0 promotional video:
The production cast for the VN are as follows:
- Planning and Creator: Shikura Chiyomaru (Robotics;Notes, Chaos;Head)
- Producer: Tatsuya Matsubara (Steins;Gate and Robotics;Notes Scenario Supervisor)
- Character Design: huke (Steins;Gate, Black★Rock Shooter)
- Scenario Writers: Naotaka Hayashi (Steins;Gate: Soumei Eichi no Cognitive Computing), Yasumoto Toru (Steins;Gate: Fuka Ryouiki no Déjà vu), Masashi Takimoto (Steins;Gate: Heiji Kyokusen no Epigraph), Tsuchiya Tsukasa (Last Magica no Dualism)
- Music Composition: AboTakeshi (Steins;Gate, Chaos;Head)
Steins;Gate 0 will be priced at ¥7,800 ($63) on PS3 and PS4, with the PS Vita version going for ¥6,800 ($55) and will launch on PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and PS Vita on November 19.
In addition to this, July 25th was the 23rd birthday for the popular and beloved redhead tsundere scientist, Kurisu Makise. In celebration of this, the official website of the Steins;Gate 0 visual novel has revealed a special wallpaper to commemorate the occasion.
The wallpaper is based on the 4th member of the Future Gadget Lab in her visual novel design. The site also has comments from various characters from the Steins;Gate universe, including Kurisu’s professor Alexis Leskinen and fellow student Maho Hiyajo, both from the Steins;Gate: Heiji Kyokusen no Epigraph light novels.
Game visuals:
Steins;Gate is part of a series of “Scientific Adventure” games that occur in a singular universe, the others beingChaos;Head and Robotics;Notes. The games are a collaboration between developers Nitroplus and 5pb. They play out similarly to modern visual novels but are notably saturated with the usage of the main character’s gaming device, casually known as a trigger. All games focus heavily on scientific methods and theories which are incorporated into the game. The first game in the series was Chaos;Head, which released in 2008 for the PC. The next game, Steins;Gate released in 2009 and the final game was Robotics;Notes in 2012. Steins;Gate originally was released on the Xbox 360 before being ported to the PC, and all current generations, at the time, of consoles in Japan. An anime adaptation of the game was produced in 2011 that was directed by Hiroshi Hamasaki (Terraformars, Blade & Soul) and Takuya Satou (Selector Infected Wixoss,Ichigo Mashimaro) and produced by White Fox (Katanagatari, Jormungand). A sequel film to the anime was produced in 2013 and featured an original story. A sequel light novel titled Steins;Gate The Committee of Antimatter was planned to be released in 2014, but was cancelled within a month of release.
Steins;Gate 0 synopsis:
November 2010, the Beta World Line…
A story that unfolds after Rintarou Okabe returns, having failed to save “her” on July 28th. He had no idea that the system known as “Amadeus” would once again drag him into a world of dark conspiracy.
Yes, “she” is still there.
Source: Steins;Gate 0 Website, Otaku Tale, Steins;Gate Anime Niconico Channel
