Aksys-Games
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BlazBlue: Continuum Shift 'Makoto' DLC aims for August release
Although BlazBlue: Continuum Shift won't be out in America until July 27th, Aksys has unveiled its DLC plans. Makoto Nanaya will be available as a playable premium DLC character in August. Makoto is fast, but has a short reach, making her ideally suited for aggressive players that play a more offensive game. The DLC pack will not only add Makoto as a playable character, but it will also add a strategy guide in the Tutorial Mode, and a Challenge Mode, which will include high-level combos. Finally, there will be additional trophies and achievements unique for the DLC. According to Aksys, players that don't buy the Makoto DLC will still be able to fight against her in online matches; they simply won't be able to play as her.%Gallery-96331%
Interview: Alex Neuse of Gaijin Games
A Bit.Trip-themed party at LA's GR2 gallery/store served as an E3 kickoff of sorts for us, as we prepared to be dazzled by new games with a night of dazzling Bit.Trip games projected on the walls outside the store. Gaijin Games CEO Alex Neuse took a break from watching attendees' minds be blown by the magnificence of gigantic Bit.Trip Runner to speak to Joystiq about the future of the Bit.Trip series, the successs of Runner, and being in awe of Tetsuya Mizuguchi. A note: the wink at the end will make more sense after you read that Gaijin announced an iPhone version of Bit.Trip Beat two days after we conducted this interview. Joystiq: How's the party going? Alex Neuse, Gaijin Games: The party's pretty fun! It kinda started off slow, and I thought maybe no one's going to come, but now it's filled out and I couldn't be happier. I really like playing the games all big on the buildings, but the most fun for me is talking to fans of the series and to see how much they really care for it. I'd say it's going really well tonight. Are the games any easier on the big screen? Man, I wonder. You know, they might be. They just might be. But they're harder with a crowd of people pressuring you to beat the boss of level 1 in Runner.
Review: Bit.Trip Runner
Bit.Trip Runner is profoundly difficult, as anyone who has played a previous Bit.Trip game would guess. It's probably one of the hardest games I've ever played, and in a way that most developers don't dare to make their games. Basically, if you already have high blood pressure or a short fuse, you should stay far away from Bit.Trip Runner. And if you don't, you should wear the Wii wrist strap while playing. Not because it uses motion controls, but because you'll occasionally get the impulse to throw something. If that doesn't scare you off -- if you welcome the challenge, or are a patient person in general, perhaps with access to the occasional cup of soothing tea -- then you'd do well to try out Gaijin Games' rhythmic, nostalgic version of the side-scrolling platformer.
ESRB rates BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger for PC
With BlazBlue: Continuum Shift set to fight its way to the Xbox 360 and PS3 this summer, a cuter spin-off called BlazBlue: Battle x Battle coming to DSiWare and a PSP port of the original fighter due soon, no platform is safe from Arc System Works' sprite-fueled fighter. Not even the PC, according to an ESRB listing. The certificate makes no mention of when BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger will launch on PC, but it does remind us just how raunchy that game was: "includes still images of female characters -- in provocative poses -- wearing outfits that expose deep cleavage or barely cover their breasts." Remember when fighting games were just, you know, fighting games?
Take your wall on a Bit.Trip with vinyl wall graphics
Are you enjoying this week's WiiWare release, Bit.Trip Runner? Would you like it even more if it were non-interactive, huge, and stuck to your wall? LTL Prints, who offers vinyl wall graphics based on Jet Set Radio Future, Dragon's Lair, Super Meat Boy and more, is now selling a line based on the Bit.Trip series and Gaijin Games' iconic, blocky Commander Video character. The vinyl prints range from the easily recognizable (Commander Video himself) to the abstract (a set of rectangular "beats" as seen in Bit.Trip Beat, and simple icons representing the first three games). The prints come in a variety of sizes, from one foot long ("laptop size") up to seven, so finding space for some Bit.Trip artwork is significantly easier than beating a Bit.Trip game.
NintendoWare Weekly: Bit.Trip Runner, Looksley's Line Up, Kirby Super Star
It's quite the week for the DSi and Wii as far as downloadables go -- Bit.Trip Runner arrives on WiiWare today and EA, Tecmo Koei and Konami all offer solid titles for DSiWare. Oh, and you can finally get your hands on Looksley's Line Up, the interesting 3D DSiWare game from Nintendo. There's even a new Virtual Console game starring a certain hungry pink blob to check out!
European Nintendo downloads: Bit.Trip Runner, Ghoul Patrol
The fourth game in Gaijin Games' retro-esque, musical Bit.Trip series arrives in Europe today, three days before Commander Video runs across the Atlantic Ocean. Should your tastes run more toward shooting than running, you can play Ghoul Patrol, the second game about zombies having eaten someone's neighbors. DSiWare is packed with stuff, including EnjoyUp's original DS version of Chronos Twins and a time-management game about fire trucks. Ghoul Patrol (SNES, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points) Bit.Trip Runner (WiiWare, 1 player, 800 Wii Points) AiRace (DSiWare, 1-6 players, 500 DSi Points) Brain Drain (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points) Chronos Twins (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points) Fire Panic (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points) Sudoku Challenge! (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
Run to your printer for Bit.Trip Runner papercraft
Gaijin Games and Paper Foldables have provided us with an activity with which we can keep busy while waiting for the May 17 release of Bit.Trip: Runner. In anticipation of the chiptune-soaked, sidescrolling action game starring Commander Video, Gaijin posted the template for this papercraft Runner diorama. If you throw it across the room, it'll kind of look like the game in motion! But there's no way we'd ever do that after spending hours meticulously cutting, folding, and gluing this model together. In fact, we're just going to get some of that puzzle glue to drench this with. If you like building papercraft Bit.Trip models, there's a Commander Video, too, also created by Paper Foldables.
Bit. Trip Runner crosses the finish line in Europe first
Bit.Trip Beat hit Europe a month after it arrived in North America, as did Core. Void was almost three months behind. However, European Wii owners won't have to wait in agony while the western hemisphere enjoys Bit.Trip Runner. In a brief announcement, Gaijin Games revealed that the chiptune-filled rhythm platformer will be released in Europe in Australia on May 14, three days before it arrives in North America. To help you decide whether or not this is welcome news, we've embedded the trailer. You'll find this out when you watch, but spoiler alert: yes, this is probably great news if you're a PAL gamer.
ESRB: Cute BlazBlue spinoff bound for North American DSiWare
If you prefer your fighting games adorable, you've probably been keeping an eye on BlazBlue: Battle x Battle, a four-player DSiWare fighter starring chibi versions of the characters from BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger. The ESRB just telegraphed plans by Aksys to localize the downloadable fighter -- under the strange title Blayzbloo: Super Melee Brawlers Battle Royale. Why "Blayzbloo"? Arc System Works differentiated the DSiWare game from the original title by spelling "BlazBlue" in Japanese hiragana, rather than the English alphabet used for the main series. To preserve the change without using a different writing system, Aksys spelled it differently. It's pretty whimsical. Speaking of whimsy, the ESRB description of the arena fighting game describes the following modes: " last-man standing, hitting opponents to collect soba noodles, and capture-the-flag." We're contacting Aksys to find out when you'll be able to fight for noodles.
Bit.Trip Runner sprints to WiiWare May 17; Summer DSiWare releases dated
The main highlight of the latest transmission from Fort Nintendo is that Bit.Trip Runner, the quirky rhythm-platformer from Aksys Games, is scheduled for release on WiiWare on May 17. Seriously, guys -- get on the hype train before it pulls out of the station. As for DSiWare, there's a whole bunch of games being released over the next few months, including Photo Dojo, X-Scape and Metal Torrent. Head past the break for the full list of whats and whens.
Cho Aniki Zero and Agarest War trailers break the silence
Aksys picked the right day to send out trailers for Cho Aniki Zero and Record of Agarest War. In the case of Cho Aniki, we wouldn't normally post a trailer for a game that was released over a week ago, but a general lack of news today gives us a pretty good excuse to post this new video! In case you missed its arrival on PSN in late March, let this video serve as notice that yes, the Men's Beam-firing shmup is downloadable now from the PlayStation Store. There's also a trailer after the break for Record of Agarest War, which we were going to praise for its emphasis on gameplay and J-pop over lasciviousness, but then we watched the rest of the video. Oh, well.
Aksys announces North American release, hype train for BlazBlue: Continuum Shift
It's official: Aksys Games is localizing BlazBlue: Continuum Shift for North America. Continuum Shift, the sequel to Arc System Works' high-resolution 2D fighting game, will be released on Xbox 360 and PS3 this summer. Like the Japanese release, this updated version adds new characters. It also adds new modes, including a Beginner Mode, which simplifies the control scheme, a Challenge Mode with specific missions for each character, and Legion Mode, a mini-strategy game in which players fight enemies to gain control of a map. "If you're not on the hype train this time, you're missing out on the latest greatest 2D game from Arc", Aksys marketing director Gail Salamanca said in a quote we can't help but pass along, "GET HYPE, CHOO CHOO!" %Gallery-88603%
Rumor: BlazBlue Continuum Shift on leaked Famitsu cover
Like a villain from some cheesy show back in the '70s, you haven't seen the last of BlazBlue. The latest issue of Famitsu (via Andriasang) confirms that BlazBlue Continuum Shift -- presumably a home console installment of the recently released arcade game of the same name in Japan -- is currently in the works. What was a one-off fighting game in the summer of 2009 has grown into a full-on franchise, with a PSP port and DSiWare spin-off already out mixing it up amongst fight fans, so the safe bet is that Continuum Shift is a new retail game. However, the info is coming from a leaked Famitsu cover on Enterbrain's site -- which has since been pulled, but can still be seen on Andriasang -- that only mentions the title of the game, so that's all we have to go on right now. We'll be sure to keep you posted as information becomes available.
Humiliating limited edition of Record of Agarest War coming to 360
Aksys Games has taken to promoting Record of Agarest War in a ... unique way, downplaying the actual strategy RPG gameplay in favor of lasciviousness. That extends (huh-huh, we said "extends") to the limited edition release of the Xbox 360 version, revealed today as the "Really Naughty Limited Edition." The PS3 version will be somewhat less naughty due to its digital-only release. For the truly despicable amongst us, Aksys has seen fit to package the game with a "Sensual Vira-Lor mouse pad" --featuring ergonomic breasts -- and a "Yearning Ellis pillowcase," packaged in a collector's box adorned with bathing anime girls. There's also a soundtrack CD, but that seems relatively innocuous. The Really Naughty edition, at least, carries a reasonably modest (for a limited edition) price of $59.99, so at least you won't be spending more than usual for the bonus of deep, lifelong shame. It'll be available April 27. Aksys has offered no date for a non-special edition.
Bit. Trip: Runner is a 'rhythm platformer'
Speaking to Nintendo Life in a podcast, Gaijin Games's Alex Neuse spilled plenty of details about the fourth Bit.Trip game for WiiWare, Bit. Trip Runner. Neuse calls the game a "rhythm platformer," a genre populated, in his estimation, only by Vib-Ribbon. Which means that players will move Commander Video through side-scrolling environments to the beat of new chiptune songs, two of which are provided by chiptune superstars Anamanaguchi. The game's 50 levels will make use of user-submitted fanart, for which the developer is still soliciting entries. The universe of Bit. Trip will also expand a bit: "We're going to be adding a lot more to this game," Neuse said. "There's going to be multiple characters – not playable characters, but we are going to introduce some new characters into the franchise." Runner is around 2/3 complete, and is expected to release on WiiWare sometime this spring.
BlazBlue Portable confirmed for US retail, PlayStation Store
Confirming an earlier GameFly listing, Askys Games has announced that BlazBlue Portable will be hitting, juggling and then pulverizing the US in a succession of 673 extra-dimensional laser punches this March. The PSP version of the frenetic fighter will be available via UMD at first, and then the PlayStation Store approximately two weeks later. Thankfully, fans of the console game's bold, 2D artwork need not worry about a calamity being triggered (hnngggghhh) in the miniaturization process. According to Aksys project lead Michael Manzanares, "Every frame of animation and hit box is painstakingly replicated from the original game, so all of your combos work without a hitch. And new Unlimited versions of your favorite characters don't hurt, either." BlazBlue Portable will also support multiplayer battles via Ad-Hoc mode, so you can punch all your friends -- right in their foolishly unprotected hit boxes.
BlazBlue Portable heading to US, GameFly listing shows
One of the best fighting games of the current generation has to be BlazBlue, the latest from Guilty Gear creators Arc System Works. A PSP version is currently in the works, and as is typical of many Japanese games, no US release has been announced. That's likely to change, as Siliconera has discovered a GameFly listing for the PSP version of BlazBlue. According to the rental site, the publisher is none other than Aksys, distributors of the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the game. Considering Gamefly's penchant for leaking releases, this should come as good news to PSP fans.
Gaijin Games offers first screen of Bit.Trip Runner
A single screen from the next Bit.Trip game from Gaijin Games has been revealed, and judging from the look of it, Bit.Trip Runner is going to be significantly less abstract than the previous entries in the retro-themed musical WiiWare game series. In fact, it looks like a side-scrolling platformer, which would make sense, given the name. But, of course, Gaijin made a Pong-esque game with 15-minute long chiptune-based levels, so we shouldn't assume the obvious when it comes to the adventures of Commander Video. This could be controlled with the Your Shape camera, for all we know. [Via Destructoid, GSW]
BlazBlue PSP fires up a new trailer
One of the best fighting games of this generation is coming to PSP. After watching this new trailer for BlazBlue, we were surprised to see how well the game's HD visuals have been translated for Sony's handheld. It appears the handheld version of the game will add a few new features -- Legion and Shop modes -- but most importantly, we'd want the gameplay to work on PSP's admittedly restrictive control setup. Check out the new trailer after the break. [Via PSPHyper]
