The Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne Laptop: A Tale of Two Models



While helping out friend of the blog eirikrjs on a writeup he’s doing, I ended up going down the very dark rabbit hole of exploring old archived versions of Atlus’ Japanese corporate site (different from the main landing page used to direct the general public to official game sites) in search of various business statistics and investor information. We didn’t really get much of what we were hoping to find on that front, but we did come upon a treasure trove of old press releases, including one involving a licensed laptop for Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne.

Specially licensed computers like this aren’t an entirely uncommon sight out in Japan. Linger long enough in bona fide electronics districts like Akihabara where you’d expect to find respectable PC part stores and you’ll come across a fair few soon enough. In this instance, Atlus teamed up with NEC to produce the laptop in question, announcing it on the day of release for the original, non-Maniax edition. Based on NEC’s LaVie J (pronounced “Lah-Vee Jay”), a model that actually still exists to this day, albeit in an obviously different incarnation, this Nocturne laptop was, according to the press release cited above, sold for all of a month and some change, from February 20, 2003 to March 27, 2003, available only at a special Shin Megami Tensei-themed “corner” on NEC’s 121ware.com, as well as 7dream.com (the official URL being http://www.7dream.com/go/megaten, though no archive of it seems to exist anymore), a former online portal for the Japanese branch of 7/11. Before we get to what set this laptop apart in terms of special perks, let’s quickly review the basic specifications for those with an interest in the nitty gritty:

CPU: Ultra low voltage Pentium III, 933 MHz-M



RAM: 256 MB, with a maximum 768 MB allowed

Hard Drive: Approximately 30 GB

Disc Drive: External USB 2.0 CD-R/RW and DVD-ROM drive

Monitor: 12.1” TFT (XGA)

Additional Slots: Compact Flash x1, PC Card Slot Type-II (4-in-1 memory card adapter included)

Supported Memory Card Types: Compact Flash, SD, Memory Stick, SmartMedia, MultiMediaCard

Interface Ports: IEEE1394 (DV) 4-pin x1, USB 2.0 x3

Communications: Wired LAN (100BASE-TX/10BASE-T), 56Kbps modem

Projected Battery Life: Approximately 4 hours

Dimensions (mm): 270(w)x222(d)x17-21.8(h)

Weight: Approximately 1.19 kg

Operating System: Windows XP Home

Price (121ware.com): 208,400 yen (roughly $1760 when adjusted for inflation as of this writing using this calculator)

Of course, these specifications in and of themselves wouldn’t have necessarily justified the price that this laptop commanded in its heyday. To that end, Atlus and NEC threw in a few extra bonuses in an effort to make the proposition a little easier to swallow financially. According to the press release, these were as follow:

A Kazuma Kaneko-designed back-cover designed to evoke the tattoos that the protagonist sports in Nocturne.



Jack Frost and Shin Megami Tensei-themed (as in SMT I, II, and if) wallpapers and screensavers featuring characters, demons, and scenery. Standard desktop icons could be swapped out for SMT-themed ones (check the second photo at the top) and Windows system sounds for startup and general use also included ones drawn from the SMT series.

“Mysterious emails” from SMT mainstay Steven, as well as the ability to participate in special events such as online chats with Cozy Okada and Kazuma Kaneko. Chats were conducted via the BIGLOBE service’s BIGLOBE Cafe, which required free membership to participate.

A certificate of authenticity, complete with serial number.

This Japanese Shin Megami Tensei fansite also mentions that the laptop apparently came with videos of things like game commercials and opening cinematics, as well as a black carrying case with the series’ iconic logo affixed to it, though these claims can’t otherwise be independently verified.

As for the Shin Megami Tensei “corner” on 121ware.com (which was set to http://121ware.com/megaten/ but has sadly not been preserved), it was a place where visitors could square off and see who knew the most about the SMT series by participating in a limited-time quiz; the best scorers received “original merchandise” for their trouble. Official wallpapers for Nocturne specifically could also be downloaded from there.

The story doesn’t end quite there, though. While researching this story, Twitter user MysticDistance pointed me towards a promotion that Atlus USA ran where they gave away a custom Nocturne-themed laptop to promote their localization of the game. (The official page for it was once here, though it can only now be viewed in an archived capacity elsewhere.) Interestingly enough, though, the laptop itself is otherwise entirely different in terms of manufacturer and specifications from what was released in Japan, despite the promotional image on Nocturne’s official English site lifting the first image up top. Instead, according to IGN’s article on the matter, this laptop was made by Falcon Northwest and, par for their reputation, the American laptop is noticeably fancier considering the time period. Here they are, straight from that article:

Fragbook DR Chassis Fragbook DR Chassis



17in. WXGA 1440x900



Perfect Pixel Guarantee Fragbook



ATI Mobility 9700 Turbo 256MB



Intel P4 3.00GHz



1 GB RAM



DR DVD-Rom 8X



Hitachi TR60GB 7200



Intel 802.11bg 2200 Wireless



DR Extended Battery



WinXP Pro Microsoft



Few photos seem to remain of this edition, save for the lone one provided below that remains on IGN’s article post-site renovation. (Edit: Twitter user LollipopDave was kind enough to get in touch with Falcon Northwest and acquired a photo of their laptop’s back side, which has been appended below. Turns out it’s obviously more or less the same as the NEC model. Thanks, duder!) Apparently it was possible to still purchase other units by getting in touch with Atlus USA, but it remains unknown as to whether anyone ever actually acquired a laptop by such means.

Likewise, from what I gathered, little documentation remains online of the original Japanese model as well, save for the original press release and consequential articles that game sites wrote about it at the time. (Indeed, the photos I’ve included at the top come from PC Watch.)

(Source: web.archive.org)