Shueisha Publishes -next 0rder- V Jump Books Guide

March 16th, 2016. V Jump Books formally announced its next title, the official guide to Digimon World -next 0rder-. The guide was previously teased in an issue of V Jump magazine; VJB is an imprint of Shueisha, the publishing company which owns V Jump. The Digimon World -next 0rder- Official Guidebook is sponsored by Bandai Namco Entertainment, and touted as a "Tamers' Bible." It comes packaged with a product code that can be entered to download Black War Greymon and Metal Garurumon (Black) evolution items, in addition to stat-boosting items.

While the guide does provide a visual list of 216 of the game's Digimon, the evolution trees, names, descriptions and Tech lists are all in Japanese, requiring some level of literacy to read. The back of the guide features short section of pages featuring concept art of the core human cast, and the front contains a small foldout artwork of the adult Digimon World protagonist with Mugendramon.

Several sellers have made this guide available over eBay. A list of affiliate links comprising the most competitive prices we could find are provided below; affiliate links are hyperlinks to product listings on e-commerce websites. If a reader accesses one of these listings through one of the links below, and/or purchases the item listed, the editor is provided a referral fee and/or commission fee. In this case, the links exclusively direct to eBay.

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Digimon World -next 0rder- will launch in Japan March 17th, 2016, on the PlayStation Vita for 6,980 yen (7,539 JPY after tax). It is the latest entry in the World series, succeeding directly from Re:Digitize Decode on the 3DS, Re:Digitize on the PSP, and World on the PSX. Tying into Digimon Adventure tri., the game will feature Maicoomon as free downloadable content.

Those that preorder the game will get access to five special DLC Digimon, a remastered copy of the 1999 Digimon World soundtrack, and two original Vita themes, "ver. Nostalgic" and "ver. Dot." Theme ver. Dot features a montage of original Digimon LCD sprites, while theme ver. Nostalgic turns the screen into the layout of a Digital Monster virtual pet. 

1999 Metal Etemon Giveaway Flyer Scans

On February 23rd, 1999, Shueisha published its official Digimon World guide, the pages of which contained the only known method of raising Metal Etemon. Earlier this year we took apart many of the rumors surrounding Metal Etemon, a Digimon programmed into the game but which can't be obtained without the use of cheat codes. The truth of the matter is that Metal Etemon's evolution item, the Metal Banana, was only obtainable through a giveaway on page 134 of this Digital World Guide, published under Shueisha's V Jump Books imprint.

According to the flyer, 50 participants were selected to be mailed a memory card containing the Metal Banana data. Fans participated by mailing in a "Metal Etemon Present Application Ticket" (seen in the top left corner of the page) along with their answer to a quiz from the page written on their postcard. The quiz question is as follows;

Metal Etemon Data Present Quiz
On the surface of book's outside cover binding is a "Digimon Life Theater," how many Digimon are there in all? From among the following 3 answers, choose 1 and write it on your postcard!
A. 30 kinds
B. 40 kinds
C. 57 kinds

(First, look closely at the cover's "Digimon Life Theater." Then, count the number of Digimon in the "Digimon Life Theater." There are small Digimon too, so don't overlook any. Once you know the answer, write either A, B, or C on your postcard. After that mail your postcard along with your application coupon to the below address. [Hint: The number of Digimon is "Bigger than 50 but smaller than 58!"]

The quiz is referring to a set of monochrome stickers beneath the book's jacket, attached to the binding. Metal Etemon himself appears on the giveaway page, inviting tamers to "Run wild with me through Digimon World!" and saying further down that he'll be waiting for fans' many submissions. The contest ran for just one month, ending on March 31st, 1999. Metal Etemon does not appear in the guide's list of Digimon or their stats, but the strategy guide did include a brief profile of him;

Metal Etemon Profile
A cyborg-type Digimon which debuted in Digimon Pendulum Nature Spirits. They are a powered-up version of Metal Etemon called the "King of Digimon." On a journey of rigorous battle, they acquired combat data, new finishing moves, and weapons to face formidable opponents.
The powered-up "King of Digimon" appears in your own Digimon World!

Digimon World -next 0rder- Will Be at Jump Festa 2016

Makuhari Messe, the site of Jump Festa.

November 24th, 2015. The Digimon World -next 0rder- title site updated today with an announcement that the 2016 game will be featured at this year's Jump Festa, held on December 19th and 20th at Makuhari Messe. The official Digimon games Twitter account confirmed this, asking readers to come play at JF2016. -next 0rder- will likely be hosted at Exhibition Zone 2 at the Bandai Namco Entertainment/Banpresto booth.

Some Japanese fans have responded to the announcement negatively on Twitter, demanding instead to know if the smartphone game Digimon Linkz will be present at JF2016. Very little information about the mobile game has been given since its TGS trailer. While past issues of V Jump have featured small splash sections encouraging users to preregister for Linkz to receive a V-mon in-game, the lack of information has been frustrating for some.

Jump Festa is an annual media expo first formed in 1999, and promoted through a collaboration of several Jump brand magazines, including Weekly Jump, Shounen Jump+, V Jump magazine, and Jump SQ. Formed through a coalition of Shueisha and associated companies, Bandai's Digimon was a foundational work for the expo, having its own booth at the first event, Jump Festa 2000. Although in the past Jump Festa was held at the Tokyo Big Sight convention center in Tokyo Bay, beginning with JF2004 the event was relocated to Makuhari Messe, where it has stayed ever since.