June 2006

Friday, June 30, 2006

New Virtua Fighter 5 screens
Posted by White_Pointer at 17:08:10 CST
Sega have released six new screenshots of the upcoming Virtua Fighter 5, currently under development at Sega for the Arcade and the Playstation 3. As usual, you don't need to go anywhere to find them because we have them right here, so check them out.
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Second DOA movie confirmed?
Posted by White_Pointer at 19:09:23 CST
Even though the first Dead or Alive movie isn't even out yet (and the trailers released for it so far don't bode very well for the film at all), producer Jeremy Bolt, while talking about the future Castlevania movie on horror movie website Bloody Disgusting, also mentioned that a follow up to DOA: Dead or Alive is already undergoing early stages of production. Either they are dellusional that the DOA movie that opens in the US on August 25th will actually be good, or they just assume scantily clad chicks on the big screen for 90 minutes is enough basis for a sequel. Either way it doesn't look like game-to-movie adaptions are going to get any better in the near future.
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SF Alpha movie releases on PSP
Posted by White_Pointer at 16:16:43 CST
Capcom must be one of the only companies still releasing movies on UMD format at the moment, but that hasn't phased them, as together with Manga Entertainment, they have brought Street Fighter Alpha: The Movie to the PSP. The animated feature which runs for about 100 minutes is the sequel to the Street Fighter II: V television series that aired in 1995, and follows the story of Ryu as he challenges Ken and fights a personal battle within himself before facing off against Akuma. The movie will retail for US$19.99 and will also include a special behind-the-scenes feature.
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SFII: Hyper Fighting release date spilled?
Posted by White_Pointer at 08:44:14 CST
While everyone is waiting on Capcom's announcement of when Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting will be hitting Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox Australia's website has listed the Australian release date of July 30th, sparking talk that the US release can't be far away. Capcom maintains that they have not announced a release date for any region yet, and since this was discovered, the release date listed on the above site has since been changed to a vague "2006"...so does this mean that Capcom instructed Xbox Australia to change the date because they had spilled the beans too early, or was this really just an estimated guess? The latter option seems unlikely given that this was the official Xbox Australia website that listed the news. We will need to wait about a month to find out.
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Theme music becomes available for SSBB
Posted by White_Pointer at 18:50:27 CST
The official Super Smash Bros Brawl site has updated to include an MP3 download of the game's main theme music. According to the site, all of the game's music will be performed by a full orchestra. The main theme music itself was composed by Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu. After listening to the music track you will probably get some kind of an idea of what the feel of the new game will be like. So what are you waiting for? Head over to the official site and download it!
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Namco responds to SC4 rumours
Posted by White_Pointer at 18:44:28 CST
A couple of days ago we reported that in an interview with Gamedaily, Namco Bandai chief producer Daisuke Uchiyama seemed to accidentally reveal that Namco are at work on a 4th title in the Soul Calibur series. Following that interview, a Namco representative apparently reported this to IGN:

"The Soulcalibur team has been looking into new projects after the completion of Soulcalibur III on the PS2. But the next project for that team has not yet been confirmed. We will keep you posted."

SCIII intro scores top 10 CG movie spot at IGN
Posted by White_Pointer at 19:02:27 CST
IGN have published their latest "Top 10 Tuesday" list, and this week's feature is the 10 Best Pre-Rendered Cutscenes. Coming in at number 10 in the list is the intro movie to Soul Calibur III. From the article:

While the series still relies on simple (but cool) hand-drawn stills for its endings, the Soulcalibur franchise has always had great introduction movies and Soulcalibur III is the best of the bunch. Namco's CG staff really hit the mark on this one, deftly showing off all of the game's main characters while giving you quick insights into the personalities of its new fighters, something not easy to do in a fighting game. But what makes this intro especially cool is its awesome cinematography mixed with some rather disturbing and foreboding imagery. The soul still burns.

Rag Doll Kung Fu going retail
Posted by White_Pointer at 08:32:49 CST
Previously only available through Valve's Steam service, Rag Doll Kung Fu, the independent hit by ex-Lionhead producer Mark Healey, is now going to be available to buy off the shelf. Merscom LLC have picked up the rights to publish the game, are are aiming for an August release.

The boxed version will retail for US$19.99, which is currently $5 more expensive than what it currently is through Steam. However the boxed version will include two versions of the game, a Steam-enabled version to play online and an offline version that doesn't require the internet (and also the convenience of actually having a disc). Merscom are also promising to include more extras for the retail version.
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Namco producer slips out news of Soul Calibur 4 in GameDaily interview
Posted by White_Pointer at 08:25:36 CST
Big news for SC fans!

GameDaily (who seem to be a regular source of information like this) yesterday published an exclusive interview with Namco Bandai chief producer Daisuke Uchiyama on what is happening with the Dragon Ball Z franchise and the future of the fighting games that are spawning from it. During the interview, one of the questions that was asked of Uchiyama is why Namco had decided to outsource the development of Super Dragon Ball Z to Craft and Meister (the studio ex-Capcom producer Noritaka Funamizu started up) instead of going with developers previously used to create titles in the series, and was also asked if, given Namco's track record of creating quality fighting games themselves, whether they would consider doing their own DBZ game in the future. It was here that Uchiyama slipped out that he'd like to think about doing that, but the Tekken and Soul Calibur teams are already working on sequels. Of course we already know about the sixth title in the Tekken series, but this is the first we've heard of a fourth SC game.

This is as good as an official confirmation you can get (without being completely official of course) that Soul Calibur 4 is indeed in the works, and seems to have been for some time now, since at least before the Namco Bandai merger. Hopefully we may hear some more official news on it soon. To read the full article, follow the above link to the GameDaily interview.
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GameDaily reveal existence of secret minigame in MK: Armageddon
Posted by White_Pointer at 19:15:32 CST
A recent hands-on article with Mortal Kombat: Armageddon over at GameDaily has revealed that, the new MK title will, amongst other things, have a new secret minigame that is yet to be revealed. This is meant to be replacing Puzzle and Chess Kombat from Deception, though any other details remain a mystery. This is the first real news we've heard about the existence of the minigame, and the article also hints that details for the first next-generation MK title are also not far away. Follow the above link to read the whole article.

Kudos to Grella and d37yhn for the heads up!
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New Poll
Posted by White_Pointer at 19:45:04 CST
One of Capcom's sleeper hits on the ill-fated Dreamcast was the Powerstone series, 2 games that really innovated how fighting games played and introduced brand new play mechanics. Since then Capcom have decided to pursue other ventures, but that hasn't stopped loyal fans pleading to Capcom to create a new title in the series. So far all they have received is a compilation of the two Dreamcast games on the PSP, but no new title has been forthcoming, and the voices for a new game are now louder than ever.

What do you think? Should Capcom return to the Powerstone series and create a new title, or are the games best left as classics? Vote now!
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Poll Results
Posted by White_Pointer at 19:37:42 CST
Time for a new poll...but as always, here are the results from the last one:

Are you looking forward to Super Smash Bros Brawl?

77.5% - Hell yeah!
8% - No, I don't want a Wii
6.3% - Maybe when the launch gets closer
5.2% - I'm waiting to see what else is revealed
2.8% - No, I want a Wii but not this game

Well, that result was quite one sided! Over three quarters of the site visitors are looking forward to SSBB, it should be good when it finally hits!
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Wait remains for SFII: Hyper Fighting
Posted by White_Pointer at 19:14:15 CST
Xbox 360 owners have been patiently waiting for the Xbox Live release of Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting, and apart from the odd rumour here and there (including the news we posted last week), nothing official has been forthcoming from Capcom. This week though Capcom made available several Street Fighter-themed picture packs and one theme pack over Microsoft's online service, and this prompted many a fan to start thinking that this was preparation for a surprise release of Hyper Fighting. Unfortunately Capcom have since confirmed that this is not the case, and that they will definately be making an announcement before the title's release.

Patience SF fans, it's coming.
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Uwe Boll wants a fight
Posted by White_Pointer at 19:10:39 CST
This isn't exactly fighting game news per se, but it's fighting news related to the games industry so is worth reporting on, at least in a light value.

Uwe Boll, the much critisied director and producer of many game-to-movie adaptions including House of the Dead, Alone in the Dark, BloodRayne and the upcoming Postal and Far Cry movies, has apparently had enough of his movies being slammed, (largely by the internet population) and wants to take those critics on in a boxing ring. We're serious. A press release was issued by Boll's publicist titled "Uwe Boll challenges his critics to 'Put Up or Shut Up'", and contained the following quote from Boll:

"I am fed up," said Boll. "I'm fed up with people slamming my films on the Internet without see[ing] them. Many journalists make value judgments on my films based on the opinions of one or two thousand Internet voices. Half of those opinions come from people who've never watched my films."

"Towards the end of the filming of Postal the five most outspoken critics will be flown into Vancouver and supplied with hotel rooms. As a guest of Uwe Boll they will be given the chance to be an extra/stand-in in Postal and have the opportunity to put on boxing gloves and enter a boxing ring to fight Uwe Boll. Each critic will have the opportunity to bring down Uwe in a 10-bout match. There will be five matches planned over the last two days of the movie. Certain scenes from these boxing matches will become part of the Postal movie. All five fights will be televised on the Internet and will be covered by international press.

Capcom hires new marketing boss
Posted by White_Pointer at 08:09:58 CST
Sorry for the lack of news yesterday, it was a public holiday here in Australia and we totally forgot to post the news! Anyway back into it...

Capcom's US operations have been boostered by the recent hiring of ex-Sega marketing executive Charlie Bellfield. After being on a hiatus from the games industry since being in charge of the launch of the Dreamcast in 1999, Bellfield is returning as Capcom's new vice president of marketing where he will "oversee the company's strategic and operational marketing efforts, including brand and product management, publicity, customer service, e-commerce, and the Web site.".

We'll no doubt see the effects of his recruitment when Capcom's new titles start rolling out.
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SFII Hyper Fighting to cost $5 over Xbox Live?
Posted by White_Pointer at 18:56:27 CST
We reported a while ago that Capcom were bringing their classic Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting to Xbox Live Arcade, but nothing has really been mentioned recently regarding a possible release date and how much it would potentially cost. While Capcom are continuing to remain silent, Club Skill have acquired a leaked scan from an un-named magazine that details upcoming titles to the Xbox's online service. Looking at the list it can clearly be seen that SFII: HFE is due out sometime this month, and will cost 400 points (about US$5).

As with yesterday's news however, don't take this as gospel. Neither Capcom nor Microsoft have confirmed these details themselves yet, and Club Skill have also made no mention of the name of the magazine the scan has come from.
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SSBB character roster update
Posted by White_Pointer at 19:08:01 CST
French based Nintendo fansite LiveWii is reporting that Masashiro Sakurai, the brains behind Super Smash Bros Brawl, recently had an interview with Japanese radio's "The Gaming Show" and he spoke about the potential character roster of the anticipated title.

First of all it seems the news from a couple of days ago is true, as not all characters will be making a return appearance. Mr Game and Watch, The Ice Climbers and Young Link have all apparently been axed. However, new characters are on their way and in their place are Ridley, (Samus's nemesis from the Metroid series), Bowser Jr. and the "Celda" version of Link (the one that was used in the Gamecube's The Wind Waker). Sakurai also apparently said they are aiming to have at least 40 playable characters, a significant increase from SSBM's roster.

Note that this information has at the time of writing this NOT been confirmed as official by Nintendo or anyone else. Until it is, it should be taken as a grain of salt.
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And more new fan art
Posted by White_Pointer at 19:04:45 CST
The fan art keeps streaming in! The newest additions come from Nikola G, who has sent us some of his own fighting game characters as fan art in the past. He's done it again with his unique style and approach with three new sets of original characters. Check them out in gallery 8 of our fan art section!

If you want to contribute your own fighting game artwork, you know where to go!
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New SSBB details and screens
Posted by White_Pointer at 18:30:54 CST
There hasn't been too many updates to the English Super Smash Bros Brawl official site since E3, but Masahiro Sakurai, the brains behind the new SSB game, has been making some comments on the Japanese version of the site. Unfortunately not all of us can speak Japanese, but luckily someone over on the English Smash World forums can. This is apparently what Sakurai has been saying since E3, quoted from the above link:

• Non-Nintendo characters added into the game MUST have appeared on a Nintendo platform. The tentative number of non-Nintendo characters to be added is 1-2.
  
• The speed of the game will be "moderated." Unclear whether this means slower or faster, but slower is more likely.
  
• Every character's ability is being refined from the very beginning in order to allow "more freedom" in aerial combat.
  
• Not all characters will return.
  
• Just like in SSB and SSBM, in SSBB some attacks will be weaker than others on purpose.
  
• If they add online functionality to the game (they are still working out technical difficulties), they do not plan to add a ranking system to online battles.
  
• "This time, we'd like to stress easiness over the small details of combat, so overall it might become somewhat easier."
  
• Now that Smash is world-renowned, they don't want to include characters only popular in Japan. However, due to the success of the Fire Emblem characters, they still may.
  

Even more new fan art
Posted by White_Pointer at 19:29:28 CST
We are having a fan art frenzy at the moment as two more fantastic pieces of artwork have been submitted by site visitors over the weekend. The first comes from Ricardo Ramirez, who has submitted to us before, and this time he's given us an awesome colour drawing of Nina from the Tekken series. Up second we have Antonio Farina who has sent us a great sketch of Gouki from Street Fighter. You can find both new additions in gallery 8 of our fan art section!

If you would also like to submit your fighting game artwork to us...well, you know the drill by now! Just visit our fan art section for the submission instructions.
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More new fan art
Posted by White_Pointer at 19:54:40 CST
We've been blessed with more great eye candy this week as Sean Husmann has sent us in three great additions to our fan art section! There's a sketch of Dark Ryu, a sketch of Burn Gliffis (from Psychic Force) and sketch of Chipp Zanuff (from Guilty Gear).

All new images can be found in gallery 8 of our fan art section, so make sure you check them out.

If you've got your own fighting game fanart you would like to submit to our galleries, you know the drill...just visit our fan art section for the submission instructions!
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Heavenly Sword wins best of E3
Posted by White_Pointer at 19:11:56 CST
The results of the Game Critics Awards: Best of E3 2006 are finally in, so we can see now exactly what games are worth looking at and what aren't. Not surprisingly, Nintendo took home the most awards with their impressive showing of the Wii. The best fighting game award was handed out to Heavenly Sword, an upcoming title by Ninja Theory for the Playstation 3 that hasn't really received much media yet. They seemed to really stretch it with this award though, as while admittedly there wasn't a huge fighting game showing at this year's show, Heavenly Sword hardly classifies as a fighting game...more of a hack and slash adventure game. Even more amazing was that it managed to beat Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, Tekken: Dark Resurrection and Virtua Fighter 5 for the award (WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2007 was also nominated, and very surprisingly Super Smash Bros Brawl didn't even make it into the nominations).

A bit of a rip-off? You decide.
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