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Dark Souls 2 ships 1.2 million to West in first three weeks
Death factory Dark Souls 2 shipped out 1.2 million copies to North America and Europe in its three weeks at retail. From Software's action-RPG launched in early March, just ahead of Bandai Namco's fiscal year-end, so the shipping figures published today are as of March 31, 2014. That means they don't include last month's PC release, nor do they include sales in Japan because From self-published the game over there. With all that in mind, the third Souls game is showing good progress compared to its direct predecessor; Dark Souls took around a month to ship 1.5 million units worldwide. Around this time last year, From revealed total Dark Souls sales had risen to just under 2.4 million. Looking at Bandai's Namco's end-year report, Dark Souls 2 was Bandai Namco's strongest software performer across the 12 months, although Vita and PSP entry God Eater 2 proved a strong hit in Japan with 700,000 units shipped. Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z shifted 620,000 units worldwide, while JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle hit 500,000 units ahead of its Western arrival last month. Bandai Namco's retail and arcade games contributed 155.5 billion yen to net sales, which converts to around $1.5 billion, and the company expects to hit similar numbers this fiscal year. Overall, Bandai Namco posted a net profit of 25 billion yen ($246 million), although that is down 22.6 percent year-on-year. However, the company expects that figure to rise by 11.8 percent for the coming fiscal year. [Image: Bandai Namco]
PSA: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle available now
Bandai Namco hasn't put much effort into promoting CyberConnect2's PlayStation 3 fighter JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle, so consider this your official notification that the game is now available for purchase. However, you shouldn't expect to walk into your local GameStop and find a copy. As we mentioned earlier this year, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle is only being released as a digital, PlayStation Network download and via limited physical copies on Amazon and the Bandai Namco online store. Supplies are still available at either retailer, so those hoping for a box to go along with their new 2D fighter should place an order before they run out. As its name suggests, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle is based on Hirohiko Araki's long-running manga JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. Though they share subject matter and the 2D fighter genre, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle is unrelated to Capcom's JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, a fighter which debuted in 1998 and later hit the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in an updated high-definition release. [Image: Bandai Namco]
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle coming to North American PS3s on April 29
CyberConnect2's PlayStation 3 fighting game JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle will unleash its stylish brand of manga-based fisticuffs at the end of April, publisher Bandai Namco revealed. Bundling all software updates released since the game's initial launch in Japan last year, the North American version of All Star Battle also features an exclusive Arcade mode. In addition to a digital release via the PlayStation Network, a disc version will be available in limited quantities on Amazon and at the Club Namco online store. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle will hit store shelves in North America on April 29. A European release is set for April 25. [Image: Bandai Namco]
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle tours Europe, Australasia in April
The manga-adapted ostentation of Jojo Bizarre's Adventure: All Star Battle is coming to PS3s in Europe and the Australasian region on April 25, but North America has to wait on a "spring" release window for now. The flamboyant fighter, developed by Asura's Wrath studio CyberConnect2 (of course it is), is a PSN release in Europe and Australia, while North America is getting an additional limited run of physical copies. The most important news, however, is that of the pre-order bonus DLC for Europe and Australasia, if only for the descriptions Namco Bandai Europe provided in this week's press release. We quote: · Yoshikage Kira (Chapter 4 - Diamond is Unbreakable): Originally a salesman who is aspiring for a quiet life, Kira is full of contradictions and madness. Why a man seeking discretion would be wearing a purple suit? Why a man seeking discretion would be a serial-killer for years? Lot of questions remains unanswered around this scary man and his terrifying stand: Killer Queen... · Shigekiyo Yangu (Chapter 4 - Diamond is Unbreakable): Nicknamed "Shigechi", like a lot of characters in Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, he appears to be full of paradoxes. People thought that being naïve can't be associated with being a smart fighter? Ask Shigechi about it! His encounter with the frightening Kira remains one of the most important twists in the 4th Chapter... "Why a man seeking discretion would be wearing a purple suit?" Truly, we don't know. [Image: Namco Bandai]
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle to see limited physical release in the West
We've known for a while that developer CyberConnect2 was planning to bring its manga-based 2D fighter JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle to Western territories, and now we have a few more details on how exactly that's going to happen. According to Crunchyroll, when JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle makes its English-language debut, the game will feature all of the updates released to date for its Japanese counterpart. Additionally, the Western iteration of the game will include an exclusive arcade mode that pits players against randomly-selected opponents. By defeating these foes your character can earn gold which is useful in purchasing upgrades and items for use in future battles. Despite the added content, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle will not see a wide-scale release outside of Japan. Instead, the PlayStation 3 game will appear as a download on the PlayStation Network, while limited quantities of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle will appear in physical, boxed form on Amazon and at publisher Bandai Namco's Club Namco online store. Both retailers have priced pre-orders of the physical game at $50. While it's still unclear when JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle will appear, Crunchyroll claims that the fighter will be released in March. When asked, Bandai Namco representatives refused to confirm or deny this timeframe. [Image: Bandai Namco]
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure may drop microtransactions in the West
Developer CyberConnect2 has been forced to reconsider its international release of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle after Japanese fans expressed dismay at their version's microtransaction scheme. Similar to many free to play mobile titles, the Campaign mode in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle equips players with a stock of 10 batteries. These batteries are exhausted each time you enter a fight. They will replenish over time, or players can opt to purchase DLC items for real cash to instantly rejuvenate their battery supply. Player reactions to this plan have been largely negative, even after the developer reduced the time necessary to refill a single battery by 75 percent. As a result of this backlash, the international version of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle is being reworked, with "lots of adjustments and improvements" promised by producer Noriaki Niino. Neither CyberConnect2 nor Namco Bandai has officially stated that the microtransaction scheme will be stripped from the game, but as Siliconera points out, the developers are currently rethinking this section of the game and are hoping to reward players who supported the original microtransaction scheme, "perhaps by offering something that might have been a paid item for free." JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle is currently scheduled for release in North America and Europe at some point in 2014.
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle coming to NA, EU in 2014
Hyper-stylized, multi-generational 3D manga fighter Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle will bring equestrian combat and psychically-summoned spirits to North America and Europe sometime in 2014, Namco Bandai announced at its pre-TGS showcase earlier this week. The PlayStation 3-exclusive fighter was released in Japan near the end of last month and has "reached 500,000 sales," according to producer Noriaki Niino (left). When it does finally launch in western territories, the localized version of All Star Battle will be on par with the Japanese version's character balance: "We are still making character adjustments – even in the Japanese version – based on the feedback that we're getting from fans," CyberConnect2 president and CEO Hiroshi Matsuyama (right) told us, when asked about the potential for future balance updates. "All of that feedback will be implemented in the overseas [version]."
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle breaks out in Japan August 29
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle – that's the new Jojo game from Namco and CyberConnect2, not the HD re-release of the Capcom fighter – will be released in Japan on August 29. Along with the announcement, Namco sent out the dynamic, exciting, and surprisingly long trailer above.There's no news on a release date for North America, as the game has not yet been announced for release outside of Japan. A trademark found in September for "All Star Battle" suggests that Namco may be planning a localization, however.
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle director aiming for casual appeal
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle director and CyberConnect2 president/CEO Hiroshi Matsuyama wants his company's first entry into the JoJo's mythos to be as casual-friendly as possible, Joystiq was told during a Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 event held last week.When asked if he hoped that All Star Battle, the new JoJo's fighter being developed for Namco, would be accepted by the competitive fighting game community (or if that was even a goal for the project), Matsuyama responded via translator that he "actually prefers JoJo to become a game that casual users can pick up and play, because if you appeal to the 'maniac' users too much, it becomes too niche, and the people who can play this game become very limited."Matsuyama referred to fans of the JoJo series as 'maniac' at one other point during the event, and at both times the term was said with a cheerful inflection. Here's hoping that the director's goal of creating an accessible fighting game involves making it accessible in countries that aren't Japan.
Namco trademark points to US release for JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle
CyberConnect2's upcoming manga adaptation/fighting game JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle (not to be confused with Capcom's recently released JoJo's Bizarre Adventure HD on XBLA and PSN) may see the light of day on North American shores, should a recently filed trademark serve as any indication. The trademark itself (Serial No. 85723902) was submitted by Namco Bandai and only covers the words "All Star Battle," which is interesting considering that the trademark for "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure" has been abandoned since 2010. At any rate, the trademark covers usage of the phrase in relation to computer games, arcade machines and other "amusement arcade services."We're not willing to interpret those definitions as meaning that an arcade version of All Star Battle is in the works, but this trademark's existence does support the notion of a North American release. We've reached out to Namco Bandai for comment by freezing time and dropping a road roller in front of their offices.
Rumor: Jojo's Bizarre Adventure HD coming from Capcom
Achievements for an alleged HD version of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, one of the strangest and most unique fighting games of the 20th century, have appeared on 'chievo database Xbox360Achievements. The list, which makes reference to gameplay mechanics like Stand Crushing and specific character abilities like Mahrahia's magnetism, also mentions Xbox Live-enabled multiplayer and to-be-expected Story and Challenge modes.Capcom is listed as the publisher, while CyberConnect2 is surprisingly listed as the potential port's developer. CyberConnect2 is currently in the process of developing Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle for Namco Bandai. We've reached out to Capcom for comment and will be keeping an ear to the ground for more on this as it develops.
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle on the way from Asura's Wrath dev
Japanese manga Jojo's Bizarre Adventure is being adapted into a video game once again. However, this time, Namco's publishing instead of Capcom, and development is by Naruto fighting game developer (among other things) CyberConnect2 – so don't expect Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle to use the same style of gameplay as Capcom's arcade/Dreamcast fighter.The first trailer reveals that the PS3-exclusive All Star Battle is rendered in 3D, and features a variety of characters we're sure you'll recognize from the manga, including teeth guy. If you don't recognize anyone (like us), the game is tied to a new TV anime coming this year, so we'll have a chance to acquaint ourselves.
