May 2005

Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi details from E3
Posted by White_Pointer at 03:49:42 CST
Another new fighting game announced at this year's E3 is the fourth title in the DBZ: Budokai series, titled Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi (which translates roughly to "best in the universe"). This game is building on the solid platform set by Budokai 3, and is currently under development by Spike to be published by Atari late this year.

First of all, fans of the popular anime series will relish the fact that apparently there will be 60 playable characters in the completed game which is a huge amount. All the characters look sharper now, thanks to the fact that the graphics engine has been enhanced. It's still cell shaded, but the characters are less so now. The characters also now take body damage during the course of a fight and it won't be uncommon to be battered and bruised with torn clothing by the end of each round. The actual battle arenas are larger than Budokai 3 and now have more of an element of interactivity in them, with breakable objects you can knock your opponents into to cause them extra hurt. These breakable objects can also contain certain powerups than can be picked up during the course of a fight. Lastly, the game's story mode is apparently going to be significantly longer this time around.

Of course, what E3 preview would this be without screenshots? See them here, we have 20 of them for you to see.
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New Review
Posted by White_Pointer at 00:33:13 CST
We have another new review for you to check out. This time we take a look at Mythic Blades, the brand new PC fighting game. To our knowledge, this is the first review of Mythic Blades published online. So what are you waiting for? If you want to know what it's like, visit our Review section!
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Guilty Gear Dust Strikers details from E3
Posted by White_Pointer at 04:18:57 CST
Yesterday, we brought you a quick preview of the latest GG game for the PSP, today we do the same thing for Guilty Gear Dust Strikers, the new Guilty Gear game on show at this year's E3 for the Nintendo DS.

Rather than being a simple port, the DS Guilty Gear game is being designed to take full advantage of the two screens of the DS as well as the system's wireless multiplayer possibilities. The action actually takes place on both screens simultaneously, creating vertical fights on multi-tiered battlegrounds as players can jump up and down from one screen to the other. Like GG Isuka, GG DS (is that acronym deliberate? Hmmm...) features up to 4 player simultaneous battles, and the possibility of being able to wirelessly play 3 different opponents on your DS is salivating. The graphics are clear, crisp and colourful like you'd expect them to be for a Guilty Gear game, although you may need to get used to the characters being smaller than usual due to the fact that you'll be having four of them on the screen at once. They'll be 21 characters in the completed game, although none of them are new characters (not that that's really a bad thing with the innovative new gameplay). The game doesn't really seem to take advantage of the touch screen at all at this point, although Majesco says there will be mini-games incorporated into the game before release, which could possibly use the touch screen.

Like yesterday, we have six new screenshots of the game directly from E3, so what are you waiting for? Head to our Guilty Gear images section and see them for yourself!
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Guilty Gear Judgement details from E3
Posted by White_Pointer at 04:19:05 CST
We'll kick off our coverage of the fighting games from E3 with the two new Guilty Gear games announced by Sammy at the show.

First and foremost, we now know that both the portable versions are being published by Majesco.

Today, we bring you news on the PSP version: Guilty Gear Judgement.

First and foremost, fans of the series will no doubt be pleased to know that developer ARC System Works is remaining true to the gameplay style and character designs from the previous games, so expect more off-the-wall action in both of those areas. The one-on-one fighting should translate well to the PSP, and the prospect of wireless play is indeed mouth watering. Of particular note is the new boost mode, which was the staple of the E3 showing of the game. In this mode, the player can choose any character they wish and play through a traditional 2D-Brawler type of game, and it appears as if the characters here have been modified as (at least the ones playable at E3) seemed to have new moves designed to hit multiple enemies at once. According to Majesco, there will be 20 levels of boost mode when the game is complete. The animation is also spot on...crisp, clear and full of 2D brilliance that the series is well known for, and looks to be taking full advantage of the PSP's high resolution and wide screen display.

What's an E3 preview without screenshots? We've got seven brand new screenshots of the game from the show...check them out in our Guilty Gear images section!
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Fighting games at E3 2005
Posted by White_Pointer at 03:44:44 CST
Well, E3 is all over and done with for another year...so what fighting games were there at the show? We knew a handful would be there, but there were others that made an appearance we were not expecting. More details on these in the coming days, but for now, here's the full list, in no particular order:

Soul Calibur III
Samurai Shodown V
Dead or Alive 4
Mortal Kombat: Deception (PSP)
Urban Reign
King of Fighters 2002/2003
King of Fighters '94 Re-bout
King of Fighters Neowave
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi
Final Fight: Streetwise
Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks
Beat Down: Fists of Vengeance
Guilty Gear Judgement
Guilty Gear Dust Strikers
The Con
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3: Mutant Nightmare
Tekken 6 (tentative name)

Looking at that list, there's a number of surprises in there. But the two that have us the most excited at this point are Guilty Gear Judgement and Guilty Gear Dust Strikers...portable versions of Guilty Gear coming to the PSP and DS respectively. They'll be sure to take advantage of each system's strengths too.

We'll be bringing you some more coverage on the games in this list in the coming days, so stay tuned! To get you in the mood, just like we have done every year we have been online, we bring you show floor photos of all the fighting game stuff we can manage to get! Click here to see the gallery!
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New Fan Art
Posted by White_Pointer at 04:28:22 CST
We've had some new fan art submissions over the past week, so it's time for everyone to enjoy them! First of all we have regular fan art contributor Rachel York who has submitted four excellent-as-always hand drawn pictures of Maxi, Vega, Vanessa and Yashiro. You can see them in Fan Art Gallery 6. Next we have a new fan art contributor, Tin Mac Daddy, who has submitted seven great hand drawings of fighting game characters. These are of Ryu, Ryo, Wolverine, Marrow, Iori and 2 of Venom. You can check these new additions out in our newly opened Fan Art Gallery 7.

Where do you access the Fan Art galleries? Just click the link in the left hand menu, or click here. If you are a budding artist and would like your work published here on Blood-Sports.net for the world to see, follow that link as well for the easy submission instructions!
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DOA Ultimate champion found
Posted by White_Pointer at 04:20:28 CST
Well the official Dead or Alive Ultimate tournament that we reported on several times over the past few weeks has drawn to a close. The finals were held in Los Angeles on Wednesday during an evening event. The finalists represented the US, Singapore, Taiwan, Australia, Japan and Mexico, with seven in all. Very quickly this was cut down to a two horse race between American Daniel Roberson and Japanese Yuichi Yanagisawa, in which Yanagisawa emerged the Ultimate champion. That was $1000 worth of winning form, plus the free trip the LA to attend E3. Not bad for being good at a video game. Yanagisawa was also treated to an unedited version of the DOA4 trailer, showing a little more of one of the female fighters than the general public got to see.
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Dead or Alive 4 announced for Xbox 360
Posted by White_Pointer at 04:11:34 CST
Microsoft have revealed that quite a library of games are in development for their new console, the Xbox 360. At this year's pre-E3 show conference, they showed off a few, including Tecmo's next iteration of their DOA series, creatively titled Dead or Alive 4. Despite the unimaginative name, DOA4 looks like it's going to blow DOA3's and DOA Ultimate's graphics completely out of the water as it takes full advantage of Microsoft's new hardware. From what was shown at the conference, we know that series stalwarts Ryu Hayabusa, Kasumi, Ayane, Christie, Hitomi, Jann Lee, Zack and Bass are all making a return, plus there's at least four new characters making their debuts. We don't know the names of these characters yet, but they are a dark-skinned woman wrestler, a traditonally dressed Japanese girl, a young man that weilds a swashbuckling sword and a Fabio wannabe with long white hair.

To go with this news we have some brand new screenshots, hot off the press from the Microsoft conference, so you can see it for yourself. Check them out!!
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TMNT 3 coming this year
Posted by White_Pointer at 04:06:49 CST
Konami have announced that a new title in their revived TMNT series, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Nightmare, is in development and will be released later this year on the PS2, Xbox, Gamecube and DS. We don't know too much about it yet, save for the fact that it will be four-player simultaneous, the turtles will be upgraded throughout the game and that the three console versions will feature the original TMNT arcade game as a bonus unlockable. There's no mention on whether there will be another attempt at adding in a SSB style brawler mode like they did in TMNT 2. Stay tuned for more updates!
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Tekken 6 confirmed for PS3
Posted by White_Pointer at 04:06:55 CST
It looks at though the Tekken series is remaining 100% on Sony's consoles, because at the recent unveiling of the PS3 at the pre-E3 conference, Tekken 6 (amongst other titles) was confirmed for the system. Namco didn't specify whether they were working on any other PS3 titles however.

To give you a little teaser on the game, we have 2 brand new renders. check them out!
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New info on KOF XI
Posted by White_Pointer at 04:27:47 CST
Well, the beta test of King of Fighters XI has wrapped up, and we've got some information for you that has come from the event. First of all, the confirmed characters list:

Ash
Oswald
Shen
Elisabeth
Benimaru
Kyo
Shingo
Terry
Kim
K’
Kula
Ryo
Yuri
King
Athena
Griffon
Ralph
Clark
Vanessa
Blue Mary
Gato
B Jenet
Marin
Kasumi

Now some more info. The game seems to be based on the KOF 2003 system, although there are some differences.

- There's now a new "judgement system" for timeouts, which leans towards one player or the other depending on how skillfully they are playing, and in the event of a timeout awards the round to the player that has played most skillfully. Yes, that means it's not based on how much life you have left anymore.
- A new "Skill Meter has been added to the game, right above the power meter. This builds up over time (where you can actually accumulate 2 skill meters) that allows you to pull off a whole new set of specials.

That's just the tip of the iceberg too. To see a more complete list of what seems to be in the new game, check out this forum thread. Thanks to forum member enshinkarateman for this news!
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King of Fighters XI officially announced
Posted by White_Pointer at 03:55:00 CST
A couple of days ago we reported that SNK had filed a trademark and logo for the potential name of the next title in their KOF series. Turns out this report was true, as SNK have officially announced that King of Fighters XI will indeed be the name of the new KOF game. The game is already in development for Sammy's Atomiswave arcade platform...so far into development in fact that beta testing will begin this weekend in Japan. We also get a glimpse of three of the characters that will appear in the game on the official website.
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New Capcom Fighting Evolution Xbox details
Posted by White_Pointer at 04:57:44 CST
New details have emerged on the Xbox port of last year's Capcom Fighting Evolution, the somewhat odd 2D fighting game from Capcom. Not much has changed in the Xbox version over the PS2...the game still contains characters from Street Fighter II, Street Fighter III, Street Fighter Alpha, Darkstalkers, and Red Earth, and you choose any two fighters to be a combination, although there's no switching between the characters partway through a round (you basically choose which character to play as each round). Four characters from each game are included, plus a couple of new characters, most of which are unlockables, have been thrown in for good measure.

Rather than making a completely direct port of the Arcade and PS2 original, Capcom are actually working hard to balance the characters better this time around, particularly between the faster-hitting style gameplay of SFA to the slower paced SFII. And, of course, the game will be fully playable online via Xbox Live as well. We'll bring you more information on this when it's available.
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MK: Shaolin Monks gameplay video revealed
Posted by White_Pointer at 02:45:17 CST
Total Mortal Kombat have managed to acquire a new gameplay video of Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, which also seems to be on this month's cover DVD for PSM magazine. Also revealed with the video is part of the game's story. Apparently it is set between the original MK and MK2, as Liu Kang and Kung Lao are sucked into Outworld after Shang Tsung escapes from their grasp. The video also shows off some of the game's gameplay, and it looks as though both Liu Kang and Kung Lao have retained most of their signature moves in the process of gaining many new ones. To download the 11 meg, 2-minute video, click here.

Thanks to forum member masta-Dante for this news!
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Next KOF to be a Roman Numeral?
Posted by White_Pointer at 04:50:22 CST
As all KOF players know, ever since the series debuted in 1994, the KOF games have always been named after the year they were released. However, last year, this trend was broken, because there was no KOF 2004 released. A new KOF game has been announced, and it's already been stated that it won't be named after the year of its release (this was announced last year). But if that's the case, what will it be called?

We've gained a bit of a insight into a possible name, because SNK have recently filed a trademark with the Japanese Patent Office: King of Fighters XI. While it's not a definite thing, it seems logical this will be used as the name of the newest game in the series, since excluding King of Fighters: Maximum Impact and King of Fighters Neowave, we have had 10 main titles in the KOF series to date, and this would be the 11th. Adding weight to it is the fact that SNK have also filed a logo to the patent office. Check it out:

MK: Shaolin Monks box art revealed
Posted by White_Pointer at 03:00:50 CST
Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, the new spinoff to the MK series will be on show at E3 this year, but Midway have given the public a little teaser by releasing the box art a couple of weeks before the event:

SNK officially announces their E3 lineup
Posted by White_Pointer at 03:15:16 CST
SNK have officially announced their lineup of games to be shown at this year's E3. This isn't really "new" news, as we reported what games trhey will have on show a couple of weeks ago, but this is their official announcement. "New" news however is the news that noted SNK artist Falcoon will be at SNK's booth, signing limited edition posters of Mai Shiranui from the KOF series.

"The SNK booth is usually crammed with our fans at E3," commented Ben Herman, SNK PLAYMORE USA CORPORATION president. "With the added excitement of Falcoon signing his limited edition Mai posters for fans, I expect our booth to experience the largest turnout ever to both play our games and to get each of the posters.

Mythic Blades selling well, digital download now available
Posted by White_Pointer at 22:16:14 CST
According to Cartel Games, the response to the release of Mythic Blades has been better than expected, taking numerous orders and shipping the game all around the world. In reponse to this, they have now made the game available to download straight from their site, for $10.00 cheaper than the boxed version until the 1st of June 2005. Visit the official site for more details. Thanks to Eric Petersen from Cartel Games for the heads up.
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Namco and Bandai to merge
Posted by White_Pointer at 01:38:34 CST
Sega-Sammy Holdings may find themselves with a major competitor come September. Namco and Bandai (the Japanese toy manufacturer probably best known for the Tamagotchi and Gundam series) have announced that a merger between the two companies is on the cards. On September 29th this year, the two companies will form one holding company called Namco Bandai Holdings Ltd, in which Bandai will hold 57% and Namco 43%.

"In the entertainment industry worldwide, global competition has intensified as technological innovations spur the expansion and widespread penetration of information technology networks. In addition, in the domestic Japanese market, the number of children has been decreasing due to declining birth rates, and people's hobbies and interests have diversified. In order to continue to secure sustained profits, we believe we must win customers by aggressively promoting research and development and creating and providing attractive products and services," the companies said in a joint statement.

"The [new enterprise] will integrate and mutually complement Bandai's strengths in character merchandising and Namco's strengths in game content--as well as its game development capability and its vast network of amusement facilities--with the goal of developing synergies in the entertainment industry. In the medium and long term, we aim to establish a new business model to enable us to succeed amidst global competition."

Mythic Blades now available
Posted by White_Pointer at 18:36:48 CST
Mythic Blades, the new PC fighting game from Cartel Games and Vermillion Entertainment has been released, and is available to purchase on the official site for US$29.99. Also released is the new demo, which will allow you to play as two of the characters from the game. This too is available from the official site. It's not a huge download (about 18 megs), and you don't need a killer PC to run it, so it might be worth checking it out. For more info on Mythic Blades, you can check out our interview with Eric Petersen from Cartel Games that we conducted late last year. We'll also have a review of the game in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.
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MK: Deception coming to the PSP
Posted by White_Pointer at 01:45:45 CST
A little late with this news, but here we go anyway...

There's been rumours flying around for a little while now that Mortal Kombat: Deception may be making its way onto one of the new portable systems. Mortal Kombat Online decided to pursue these rumours and contact Midway themselves about them. The answer they received confirmed what people had been hoping for...MK: Deception will be coming out for the Sony PSP, and will probably be upon us before the end of the year. We don't know however whether Midway are planning a DS version as well, all they confirmed was the existence of the PSP port.

Portable MK fans, your prayers seem to have been answered.
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