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Guilty Gear Xrd arcade to receive console-exclusive fighters
In a recent Japanese-language update, developer Arc System Works reveals plans to add the console exclusive characters of Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- to the fighting game's arcade incarnation. According to a translation by the fighting game devotees at Shoryuken, an update for the arcade game will be released that will both balance the game to more closely mimic its console counterpart and add three new fighters: Sin Kiske, Leo Whitefang and Elphelt Valentine. Sin is an unlockable playable character in the console game, while Leo and Elphelt were both added to Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- as separate DLC characters after launch. Arc System Works offers no word on when it plans to launch the update. [Image: Aksys]
Evo 2015 line-up announced, double helping of Smash
Super Smash Bros Wii U and Melee are two of the nine games already confirmed for this year's Evolution Championship Series. As revealed during last night's Twitch stream, the line-up for Las Vegas this July also includes returning games Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Ultra Street Fighter 4 and Killer Instinct, The remaining four games are new for this year, and they are Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, Guilty Gear Xrd Sign, Mortal Kombat X and Tekken 7. Recent years have seen more games added closer to the event, though a roster of nine is already on the high end for an EVO championship. Whatever the full line-up proves to be, it's coming to the Bally's/Paris Las Vegas Casino, where the world's fighting game specialists will duke it out across July 17-19.
Nintendo sponsoring Apex 2015 tournament series
Nintendo will sponsor Apex 2015, a competitive gaming series that will include tournaments for every Super Smash Bros. title released on home consoles as well as games like Ultra Street Fighter 4, Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 and Pokemon Omega Ruby & Pokemon Alpha Sapphire. Apex shared the news on Twitter, noting that Nintendo would help the series put on an "incredible" Smash Bros. event. Apex 2015's tournaments will run from January 30 – February 1, 2015 at the Clarion Hotel in Secaucus, New Jersey. If you're unable to attend, you can still check the event schedule and tune into one of the Twitch channels that will be covering the event. Nintendo's sponsorship is a welcome gesture of embracing the competitive fighting scene, especially when considering its alleged attempts to shut down the Smash Bros. Melee division of EVO 2013. Nintendo did eventually give the go-ahead to feature Melee in the tournament as well as EVO 2013's streaming schedule, but it's nice to see the developer stepping up its support for third-party tournaments from the get-go. [Image: Apex]
Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- review: Technical knockout
PS4, PS3 Not everything that glitters is gold, but sometimes that glitter can go a long way. Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN-, the latest fighting game from Arc System Works, handily demonstrates this tweaked adage. Despite carrying over many characters and gameplay elements from the niche-hit Guilty Gear series, this entry adds a wholly new graphics engine that trades 2D sprites for cel-shaded 3D models. The result is a hyper-kinectic 3D fighter that looks like a very attractive 2D fighter while retaining a few neat gimmicks only possible in the third dimension. But beneath that glossy exterior lies an anemic framework. What's there is great, both aesthetically and mechanically, but what's there is also relatively scant. It's hard to dislike Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- because it does so many things well, but the level of quality present in the game only makes you wonder how much better it might have been had the developers added a few more fighters and gameplay modes.
PSN Store Update: Damn it Otacon, Get a Grip
Some six years after it hit retail shelves, you can now download Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots from the PlayStation Store. As such, you can now sort of ruin one of the game's most memorable moments. We're of course talking about that tongue-in-cheek bit about the PS3's Blu-Ray capabilities, which arguably loses its edge when you're not playing from a disc. So, it's another Metal Gear Solid moment that only really works when playing the game in its original form. Not that that's a bad thing. If you don't fancy shelling out $20 on a 30GB-ish download, there is other, fresher stuff on the PS Store. Guilty Gear Xrd Sign is the major new release of the week, and you can grab the fighter for $60 on PS4 and $50 on PS3. Also new on PS4 this week are free-to-play shooter Loadout, Tetris Ultimate ($10), and Super Mega Baseball ($20, cross-buy with PS3)
Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- spawns limited edition in late December
A few months ago we brought you a detailed explanation of what can be found in the limited edition version of Arc System Works' upcoming fighter Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN-. Now we know when it will reach North America: December 23. According to North American publisher Aksys Games, the limited edition release was originally slated to appear earlier, but labor strikes at California's docks made it impossible to nail down a launch date that could guarantee sufficient copies of a release that includes the exceedingly attractive Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- alongside a soundtrack, keychain, art book and premium box. "In conjunction with our partners, Aksys Games has been working hard to mitigate this postponement," states the publisher's release date announcement. "We'd like to apologize for the delay and thank all our fans for their patience in this matter." The limited edition version of Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- will be available for both PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 consoles. On the former machine it will feature a $70 price tag, while the new-generation version of the limited edition is priced at $80. If you don't need any of the these extras and just want to buy the game itself, you can pick up Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- on December 16 for $60. [Image: Aksys Games]
Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- clashes with PS4, PS3 in December
Arc System Works' eminently stylish 2D fighter Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- debuts for the PlayStation 4 and PS3 in December, North American publisher Aksys Games revealed today. Abandoning sprites in favor for a stylized polygonal approach, Xrd features a roster of 16 playable fighters, and expands on series-standard mechanics like the Roman Cancel for deeper and more complex brawls than ever before. If you're wondering how to pronounce that nonsensical title, by the way, here's a quick primer. Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- premieres on December 16 at retail and digitally via the PlayStation Network. A limited edition release that includes a soundtrack CD, an art book, and a keychain modeled after Sol Badguy's belt buckle will also be available at launch. [Video: Aksys]
Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN-'s Limited Edition detailed
North American Guilty Gear fans can spend anywhere from $50 to $80 on the incoming Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- (pronunciation help here), depending on how many real-world trinkets they'd like and the console they intend to drain life meters on. As preorder pages from Amazon dictate, a Standard Edition copy of Xrd -SIGN- on PS3 will go for $50, with its PS4 counterpart running for $60. Xrd -SIGN-'s North American-exclusive Limited Edition will follow the same pattern, with the PS3 version costing $70 and the PS4 build pulling off an $80 combo on wallets. As for what makes the Limited Edition so special, a press release from publisher Aksys notes the bonuses of an outer box styled after the series' Backyard, complete with "gears and high-quality binding," a soundtrack arranged by series creator Daisuke Ishiwatari, and a roster-encompassing art book that also includes work for Gear XX Accent Core Plus and Guilty Gear 2 Overture. A keychain replica of Sol's belt buckle with the word "Free" carved in rounds out the offering. Though preorders are live, the press release only offers up a holiday season launch window, so we'll have to wait a little longer to learn when exactly it'll be time to rock. Regardless of which version you purchase however, Xrd -SIGN-'s crossplay compatibility means PS3 and PS4 owners will eventually all be fighting in the same community. [Image: Aksys Games]
Why Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- ditches pixels for polygons
The biggest change hitting Arc System Works' Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- is a shift from hand-drawn, two-dimensional sprites to three-dimensional, polygonal characters. You could be fooled into believing the game is 2D, as the game's vibrant cel-shading covers any jagged edges, but the sweeping camera angles betray the game's new 3D technology. According to Arc System Works chief creative officer Daisuke Ishiwatari (via translator), the company's rival fighting franchise, BlazBlue, has reached the apex of what its developers can do with sprite artwork. Describing BlazBlue as the "pinnacle of that style," Ishiwatari feels that it would be "boring to do the same thing with Guilty Gear." Plus, the new three-dimensional space allows the development team access to new camera angles - a feature especially notable in the almost-cinematic launch attacks, where the camera drops behind the attacker, then follows his or her victim into the air where players can unleash a brutal, mid-air combo. [Image: Aksys Games]
How to pronounce 'Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN-'
Unless you've got a baffling grasp of phonetics, you're likely having trouble pronouncing the title of the latest entry in Arc System Works' Guilty Gear franchise, Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN-. Fortunately, we're here to help. According to chief creative officer Daisuke Ishiwatari (via translator), the title is pronounced exactly as you read it. The "Xrd" bit is properly pronounced "ecks-erd," and the remaining bits of the title are pretty self explanatory. [Image: Aksys Games]
Report: Guilty Gear Xrd Sign boasts PS3, PS4 cross-play
The next entry in Arc System Works' Guilty Gear franchise, dubbed Guilty Gear Xrd Sign, will allow PlayStation 3 players to throw down against those on PlayStation 4, according to the latest issue of Famitsu (courtesy Siliconera translation). Those unable to follow the labyrinthine naming structure Arc System Works uses for the Guilty Gear games should know that Guilty Gear Xrd Sign is the fifth official installment in the series, and ninth overall. Unlike 2007's Guilty Gear 2: Overture, Guilty Gear Xrd Sign features three-dimensional characters duking it out on a 2D plane, not unlike Capcom's various Street Fighter 4 iterations. Unfortunately for fans of Arc System Works' gorgeous 2D sprite animation, that's not the only trick Guilty Gear Xrd Sign borrows from Street Fighter 4, as the game will ditch hard-drawn graphics in favor of cel-shaded 3D models. Further information from this week's Famitsu report includes the comforting news that the PlayStation 4 incarnation of Guilty Gear Xrd Sign will run at 1080p resolution. Arc System Works also plans to add new, exclusive characters to the console version of Guilty Gear Xrd Sign, though there's no word on how many polygonal pugilists will join the fight. As we recently mentioned, Guilty Gear Xrd Sign is slated to hit both the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 in North America at some point this Fall. [Image: Arc System Works]
Guilty Gear Xrd SIGN makes it up to North America this fall
Guilty Gear Xrd Sign hits North America this fall on PS3 and PS4, courtesy of localization specialist Aksys Games. The Xth fighter in the series features 2D cel-shaded graphics, and Aksys promises IGN it retains trademark systems with some noteworthy improvements. Xrd Sign features 15 combatants including new villain Ramethal Valentine, who's related somehow to the Valentine from Guilty Gear 2: Overture. Ramethal hit the character select screens in Japan's arcades last month. where players are also trying out fellow newbie Bedman. And we reckon we know why he's called that... [Image: Arc System Works]
Japan's PS4 launch day line-up features 19 games
We now have confirmation of what games will be available for the PlayStation 4 when it launches on February 22, 2014 in Japan. The nation's launch-day line-up includes 19 games - well, 18 games and a beta, although when that beta is for Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn, it probably counts as a game. The full launch day line-up is after the break.
Potemkin, May, Venom and Chipp return in Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN-
More characters have been revealed for Arc System Works' highly anticipated Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN-, and like the swallows returning to Capistrano, so too have series veterans May, Venom, Chipp Zanuff and Potemkin returned to the roster. This brings the game's list of fighters up to seven confirmed combatants, as Sol Badguy, Ky Kiske and Millia Rage have already been announced. We recognize that Guilty Gear's characters are not as ubiquitous as some other fighting game faces, so we'll break it down SAT style: If Sol Badguy and Ky Kiske are to Guilty Gear as Ryu and Ken are to Street Fighter, then this latest reveal is essentially like finding out that Cammy, Chun-Li, M. Bison and Dhalsim are returning – exciting, if not entirely surprisingly. Everyone's trademark abilities appear intact based on Shoryuken's ongoing translation of each character's move list, so expect plenty of Potemkin Buster-ing in your future. Arc System Works is set to begin location testing for the arcade version of Xrd -SIGN- in Akihabara sometime this month, though beyond that no release window or platform availability information has been made available.
Guilty Gear Xrd SIGN announced at Arc System Works festival
Arc System Works announced Guilty Gear Xrd SIGN at its 25th anniversary festival in Yokohama, Japan today. While there are no details yet on what platforms the arcade fighter will appear on, the developer uploaded an introductory trailer to its YouTube channel. The trailer features a battle between series mainstays Sol Badguy and Ky Kiske. Guilty Gear Xrd SIGN will, once again, be directed by Daisuke Ishiwatari, who also composed the song heard in the trailer. The video shows that the game will run on the Unreal engine and won't use sprites, a first for the developer. Additionally, while the character shown at the end seems to be Milla Rage, the character briefly reflected in her eyes appears to be Eddie/Zato-1. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
