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.

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Nintendo released this teaser image advertising the next issue of CoroCoro Mix, which goes on sale February 15th.  The issue  will reveal both the mystery silhouette-ed pokémon as well as details concerning the next game in the series.  If you look at the image you’ll notice that the games are connected by arrows in order of their release ending in the “?” box at the top.  The image also states that the game is planned to go on sale sometime in 2010 in Japan.

This is truly exciting news for Pokémon fans.  Before the month is through we should have some information regarding this title.  I am interested to see what new features Nintendo will be adding to the mystery game since it seems like they have really pushed the Nintendo DS to its limit.

Personally I am hoping that the Pokéwalker will be compatible with this version.  What are some features you would want to see in the next Pokémon game?  Please avoid mentioning the Pokémon MMO, it’s not happening people!

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I think I am going to start looking into being unemployed for the month of March.  Nintendo officially announced that the highly anticipated remakes of Pokémon Gold and Silver will be released in North America on March 14th.  That adds one more title to the must-play list for that month.  Well, at least this appears to be the only portable title for March I want to play, so I can bring it to work.

There were rumblings suggesting the announcement was close this weekend when the games popped up on Amazon with the same release date.  Also, the box art depicted on Amazon during that time was this:

Since the games were removed and re-added, the box art has changed to an extremely generic design.  The updated packaging includes no mention of the Pokéwalker, but the previous artwork did.

Is Nintendo not ready to announce the inclusion of the Pokéwalker with the games?  I am not sure what the purpose would be of tiptoeing around it.  I also cannot think of a reason why the game would not be bundled with the Pokéwalker.  All I know is if they games don’t come with it, some throats are gonna get kicked.

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DoubleJump Books Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days Guide Available

Those who wisely took my advice and grabbed a copy of Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days will be happy to learn that DoubleJump Books has released a supplemental guide to go along with their original guide from Disgaea 2.  As with their guide for Phantom Brave: We Meet Again, there is a purely web based e-guide as well as a physical copy with access to the supplemental info.  The e-guide is going for $9.99, and the physical bundle is on pre-order $24.99.  I think I got my copy of the guide back when Disgaea 2 first came of for PS2 for $19.99, so the latter may be a better deal.  As always, I think getting the physical guide is better since it’s more easily accessible.  Anyone can type in “gamefaqs” amirite?

Poké-walker Gets New Map:  Amber Forest

Those who purchased Pokémon Heart Gold and Soul Silver in Japan will be able to download a new map for their Poké-walkers via Nintendo Wi-Fi connection. The map is called “Amber Forest” (or yellow forest, I like amber better). As the name and above image suggests, this is a forest populated by only Pikachus. Players who have already acquired their Pokédex can download the map and catch a Pikachu early on for their journey through the game.

It should be noted that these are no ordinary Pikachus: each one inherently knows the move volt tackle.  There is also a high chance that any captured Pikachu will be holding a light ball.  That’s a recipe for one devastating little electric mouse pokémon.

While I am not a big Pikachu fan, I am happy to see that the Poké-Walker is being used for some pretty cool applications.  I hope there will be a lot of other maps to download and get rare pokés.

Valkyria Chronicles 2 New Jobclass Video

A new video appeared on the official site for Valkyria Chronicles 2 which reveals one of the formally unknown jobclasses.  This character is the one equipped with a handgun and has been confirmed to be the engineer.  The video shows one of the game’s main characters, Cozett, healing Avan who is dug in behind some sandbags.  I like that the engineer now has their own unique weapon.  I always thought it was strange that they shared the scout’s rifle.

Generally engineers heal infantry, disarm mines, provide ammunition, and maintain tanks.  I noticed that Cozett did 2 of these 4 tasks which was provide ammo and heal.  In contrast to the appearance of the engineer in the first Valkyria Chronicles, this newly designed engineer wears no wrench set and I saw no heavy duty set of wire cutters which makes me wonder if the task of maintaining tanks and disarming mines has been delegated to a different unit.  Perhaps this is something the lancer or unknown shield-bearing unit does now?

The actual kanji for this jobclass (???) literally translates to “support unit.”  Perhaps Sega USA decided to go with “engineer” based on the fact that they handle tank repairs.  If they’ve been stripped of this task, I am guessing this unit will get a name change — possibly medic?  It’s also important to note that the icon for this job class has changed slightly:

What does all this mean?  Probably just that we don’t know enough to think we know anything…  You have my attention Sega!

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As I have mentioned before, I am a huge fan of graphic tees featuring video game themes.  Possibly the largest producer of such apparel is Japanese clothing company Uniqlo.  They made my beloved set of Metal Gear Solid 4 tees and now they have a line of tees celebrating the launch of Pokémon Heart Gold and Pokémon Soul Silver in Japan.

Speaking of Heart Gold and Soul Silver, would you believe that one million units were sold in the first 2 days of the game being on sale?  That means nearly 1% of Japan now owns a copy of the game.  Right, back to the shirts then.

There are 6 different designs for adults and 6 designs for kids.  I assume most of my readers probably couldn’t squeeze into a children’s size, let alone a Japanese children’s size tee.  Of the 6 designs only three are on sale so far with the rest being added later this month.  Here are the other two adult designs with links to them on Uniqlo’s Japanese site:

I am not totally in love with these three designs, in fact I think I like the three unreleased shirts better.  If I had to pick one, it would be the “Which?” design.  I like the way it simply depicts selecting your starter pokémon, which is one of my favorite parts of the game:

Those interested in purchasing these tees will probably have to rely on sites such as Celga.  I gave up trying to find them on eBay: any searches for “Pokémon shirt” will bury you in children’s clothing.  Special thanks to commenter/contributor Jink/Julius  for making me aware go these tees.

Related Entries:
Fallout 3 Graphic Tees at Ebten
Persona 4 Apparel: Kanji Tatsumi and Kuma

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