Capcom’s dropped fighters

I’ve really been enjoying the latest Japanese fighter to hit American shores, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom. Of course, with every new fighter, there’s that given moment after its release to lament what could have been.  For a game on such a massive franchise-scale as Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, the number of characters you would want to appear in the game from either side can be staggering, so sadly many don’t make the cut.

In an interview with Dengeki Online, three of TvC’s head honchos, Ryota Nizuma, Mr. Bancho and Ryota Igawa gave some insight into the game’s early stages while they were still deciding which characters to include in the game.  The most interesting of which was the inclusion of the star from the Ace Attorney series, Phoenix Wright.  I remember the days when TvC was just newly announced and Phoenix was a definite hopeful to join the game’s ranks.  To find out that they actually did consider adding him to the game is pretty amazing. Although, what’s more amazing is the way thought up on how Phoenix would actually fight his opponents.

Some difficulties came up while deciding on moves for Phoenix. For one, the only movements he really makes in the game are hand gestures, and not much could have really been made from that.  Secondly, for the most part, you only see Phoenix from the waist up in the games.  This led to the decision to have Phoenix and his desk act as one whole character, with wheels attached to the underside, making him some sort of rolling, justice-bringing tank.  While I think this sounds awesome in theory, it would just end up looking really stupid in-game.  Not to mention I expect his hitbox to just be massive.

Other TvC wannabes were Arthur from Ghosts N’ Goblins fame and Ingrid from Capcom Fighting Jam.  Even though none of these made the cut for the first game, Ryota Nizuma said that if a sequel were ever made, he’d work really hard to get these characters into the game.

More revealed on the 5th generation of Pokémon

Remember that new Pokémon game that was teased about a few days ago? I was under the impression that it was just going to be a Pokémon Crystal remake, but it actually turned out to be a whole new generation Pokémon game. This latest piece of news comes straight from Coro Coro magazine, and though the details are scarce, the rag says that more info will become available in the coming month.

For starters, the silhouetted pokémon was revealed to be Zoroark/Zoroaaku (ゾロアーク). Many people mistook him to be the next evolution step for Lucario (myself included), but who knew it’d end up being a new pokémon entirely? Zoroark also has a pre-evolution by the name of Zorua/Zoroa (ゾロア).  Click the above image for the full picture including Zoroa.  The few details on Zoroark is that he’s a Dark-Type and classified as a Monster Fox.  He will also be playing a major role in the upcoming Pokémon film Phantom Champion Zoroark.

The name for the new region has not yet been revealed, and other gameplay details are incredibly scarce at the moment.  I’m also curious as to what the next set of games will be called. The last two were Diamond and Pearl, so I think it’d be a good guess that the next two games would be named after some precious metal or gem. As with the unveiling of any new Pokémon game, I’m incredibly excited and eagerly anticipating more news from Coro Coro next month!

Sega announces bonuses for Yakuza 3

The wait for Yakuza 3 has been a long time; the fact that it was announced at all for an international release still seems pretty crazy to me. Well, Sega announced this morning that they will be offering up some goodies for those who will be purchasing the game, although the sweetness of the deal depends on where you hail from.

Sega Europe is offering a “battle pack”.  The battle pack includes a 31-track soundtrack, a Yakuza Who’s Who which acts as a dossier for all the characters in the game and 4 separate pieces of DLC:

• Battle Survival: A boss-run mode
• All-Star Tournament: A 7 character tournament
• All-Star Tag Tournament: 8 tag-team tournament
• Haruka’s Request: Missions given by Haruka, where you’ll be made to play mini-games to keep her entertained

European pre-orderers will also get access to alternate costumes and two-player mini-games (pool, golf, darts and bowling). However, if you’re in North America, the deal is a little less sweet as pre-ordering the game will only get you the 4 pieces of DLC.  If your primary place to pre-order from is GameStop, you’ll also get access to the alternate costumes and two-player mini games.

Overall I think this is a good idea on Sega’s part. I know one of the main fears of bringing Yakuza 3 outside Japan was the less than stellar sales of the first two games, so maybe these added bonuses will bring in more buyers.  Hell, if this ends up selling well than we might just have a chance of seeing Kenzan! and Yakuza 4.  I really wish they would go the extra mile for us Americans and give us the Battle Pack.  I’d love to get my hands on that soundtrack and character dossier.

Julius capcom, dlc, japan, nintendo ds, pokémon, ps3, sega 0 comments

TOKYO GAME SHOW 2009

Again I awoke to few, if any, Tokyo Game Show updates worth mentioning.  It looks like the event may be losing its momentum as it gets closer to being opened to the public.  I still wish I got to go for swag and food purposes.

A few more disappointingly short trailers, devoid of new information have surfaced.  Take this Persona 3 Portable trailer for instance:

It’s mostly a fusion of existing trailers we’ve already seen, arranged to distract the viewer from the fact that they aren’t learning anything.  Kind of like watching reality TV right?

I daresay the most successful and interesting enterprise of the event is easily Kojima’s Metal Gear Solids.  He’s somehow managed to really provide substantial information about both his two projects (Peace Walker and Rising) and his philosophy on gaming in general.  Case in point: this excellent article by Stephen Totilo via Kotaku.  That’s right: I just liked to Kotaku.  Boo-ya.

If there was a Kotowari award for Tokyo Game Show Champion, Kojima gets it.

PODCASTING

Mark and Glenn of PSNation were nice enough to have me on their most recent podcast to discuss current events and review a few recent/upcoming RPGs.  It was a lot of fun and I think we did a pretty thorough job discussing Demon’s Souls specifically.  I plan on having my review up soon for the game, but if you want a preview of my thoughts this is definitely a good place to start.

I noticed I said “like” a lot.  Damn.  I guess I am more eloquent when writing than talking.  I knew I should have taken public speaking in high school!  Anyway, if all goes well I will probably be back on Mark and Glenn’s podcasts sometime again.

FALLOUT 3 DLC HITS PSN

Yesterday, Broken Steel went on sale on the PlayStation network.  I cannot tell you how long I have waited for this day.  Fallout 3 blew me away last year and is still one of my favorite games for the PS3.  This particular piece of DLC really builds on the game by providing story after the somewhat controversial ending.  It also increases the level cap from twenty to thirty and provides some more difficult enemies to keep things interesting.

Bethesda was kind enough to provide me with a PSN code for Broken Steel, so I plan on diving into it as soon as possible.  Expect a review soon!

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OK, I’m attempting to give a slightly more organized look to these chimera posts.  It’s kinda strange for me to change my ways after over a year of homogeneity, so I hope you guys don’t mind a few growing pains!  Also, thanks again to those who offered up some advice.

Persona 3 Portable:  New Video

A new video for Persona 3 Portable appeared on Famitsu last night.  It’s on the longer side and is quite a mixed bag of scenes.  Most of it we are familiar with: the significance of personae, the game’s story, yada yada.

There were a few things in the video which peaked my interest.  We do get a first look at a team attack with Mitsuru and the female main character.  I am still not sure how to trigger these but we’ll find out sooner or later.  Also the screen when initiating an all-out attack looks a bit different.

A message near the end of the video (1:41) reads “You can have a new evolution/progression in your hands.”  I am not sure if that just means this game itself is an evolution of Persona 3 or if there are new story elements.  It then shows (1:42) an area with a bunch of free standing doors, similar to what we saw in Persona 3: FES.  The name of this area is “Vision Quest Gate” and the male protagonist scans over a few different doors.  Each door appears to be for a different shop.  I also noticed that the date is January 22nd, which is pretty late into the game.

I don’t really know the significance of all this, but I feel like it has something to do with the missing person quests.  The new characters shown near the end of the video are almost certainly these rescue-able missing people.  I am glad to see that these people get their own dialog art and everything.  This leads me to believe this aspect of the game will be pretty involved.

Disgaea Infinite Website Goes Live

Today the Japanese website for Disgaea Infinite went live, unveiling a decent amount of info on the game.  I busily began translating what I could this morning.

NIS has definitely outdone themselves this time in terms of originality.  Imagine, if you will simple game enthusiast, if Disgaea and Groundhog Day somehow fused together.  Would that not be the greatest game ever?  Maybe you’re having a difficult time imaging that, so I will elaborate.

The game takes place in Laharl’s castle after he regains his title as overlord of the underworld.  One of Etna’s Prinnies is assigned the task of cleaning Laharl’s room, where he discovers an unusual pocket-watch.  For some reason the hands don’t move at all, so the Prinny attempts  to fix it.  When he does so, he hears an unusual voice:  “User information confirmed.  Commencing soul link — please remain still.”  Soon, the Prinny falls unconscious.  When he wakes up, aside from being in trouble, he learns that he is now able to replay the past few hours in an infinite time loop.  With this immense power he can surely do something to increase his meager salary right?  But if he fails, his salary will surely be severely cut…  I guess it’s a chance he’s willing to take!

The main character Prinny is accompanied by the bizarre talking pocket-watch found in Laharl’s room named Tokiwatari-san.  In addition to being able to re-live the past few hours in a loop, the Prinny soon learns he is also able to leave his body and possess other people in the castle.

The possession system allows the Prinny to experience different conversations during different hours that normally he was not able to.  This allows him to gather information and unlock more of the story.  When possessing someone, the Prinny can also hear the characters thoughts and occasional humorous soliloquy.

The game has been confirmed to be a PSN download-able title for the PSP.  It will be released on the Japanese PSN on November 11th for a yet unknown price.  You can watch a trailer of the game here — be forewarned: you will see a lot of delicious flan.

Fallout 3 DLC Coming to PS3 FOR REAL This Time

Today Bethesda announced the definitive release dates for each item of DLC for Fallout 3 for us PS3 owners.  I have been waiting for this forever it seems, since the dates have been pushed back multiple times.  Anyway, here they are:

• Broken Steel — September 24th
• Operation:  Anchorage — Oct 1st
• The Pitt — Oct 1st
• Point Lookout — October 8th
• Mothership Zeta — October 8th

The release date for Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition will be October 13th.  Most people will probably wait and just purchase this version since it includes all DLC as well as the game itself which makes it the most economical option.  All I know is I gotta bring my character out of retirement.  He’s a low INT build which I guess works better with the new level cap.  I cant wait to find out!

Roy atlus, bethesda, disgaea, dlc, nis, persona, ps3, psp, videos 1 comment

At last glance I had upwards of 180 hours in Disgaea 3.  This doesn’t include time spent resetting after unsuccessful class world runs or reverse pirating missions.  Earlier in the week NIS America announced that there would be an upcoming patch which, if installed, would render current save files obsolete and inaccessible.

I am sure everyone’s intial reaction to this boarded on fear-filled-panic.  I admit I was there too.  Luckily the official press release for the trophy patch states that this is an optional patch and repeatedly warns of the possible data loss.  I am going to put my faith in NIS America until the patch is released next Thursday and not go rabid-badger-crazy.

I think this is a cool bonus for those who may be picking up the game at this point, but for most I don’t think it’s enough incentive to abolish your save file.  To those who are interested there is a complete list of each achievement and corresponding trophy here.

Trophies are mainly just for show right?  I guess I will never be able to display these trophies on my PSN account (which is tanuki_tea if you’re interested), but just assume I have all of them.

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A trailer has been released concerning the new Valkyria Chronicles DLC on the topics page for the game.  The trailer gives a bit of information on the 6 new missions given to the player from the Edy Detachment, as well as reveals some combat from each mission.  Here is what I was able to establish by watching it:

• Mega-Tank Battle: This seems to be a mission where the opponent is packing several tanks.  For that reason, Lancers like Largo and Juno appear to be running around the map.  This challenge most likely comes from Jann.
• A Lone Scout’s Reconnaissance:  Scenes from this mission show Alicia in a wilderness environment at night time.  This is most likely Susie’s challenge.
• Sniper Assault on Opposite Shore: This mission shows Marina in a tower position sniping units from a good distance.  This is most likely Marina’s challenge.
• Rescue From Certain Tank Destruction: This battle appears to focus on the Engineer jobclass.  So far it shows the Edelweiss with extensive tread damage and Dallas neutralizing anti-tank mines.  This is most likely Homer’s challenge.
• Shocktrooper Rush!: This mission shows Edy running through a series of other Shocktroopers strategically arranged to do some decent damage.  Also, her Panic potential activates… heh, potential humor.  Not sure if this challenge comes from Edy or Lynn.
• Tank Penetration Battle: For this mission the player appears to use tank rounds to knock down slabs of rock–not sure why.

The trailer also explains that there will be new weapons included in the DLC.  I am not sure if there is one for each jobclass or if earning the new weaponry is dependent on your rank.  In the trailer, the player earned an “S” on the Scout mission which earned them this thingy:

The more I hear about this DLC, the more convinced I am that this is the best one to date.  It’s a close race between this and “Selvaria’s Mission: Behind Her Blue Flame.”  It may be too early to call, since there are still many unknowns with “Edy Detachment’s Challenge.”  When it goes on sale on the 26th in Japan more information should definitely become available.

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