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Asura's Wrath will be unleashed on February 21, 2012
Last week, during a Capcom event showcasing the publisher's upcoming games, a brief demo on Asura's Wrath was given by Capcom's Kazuhiro Tsuchiya and developer Cyberconnect 2's Hiroshi Matsuyama, giving us a glimpse at the game's opening portion and the stage immediately following Asura's fight on the moon. While the two talked about all of the crazy stuff going on in Asura's Wrath at length, the end of the demo yielded a far more juicier nuggest: a launch date for the game in North America. Capcom reconfirmed the date this morning via press release, revealing a February 21, 2012 launch for Asura's Wrath on both Xbox 360 and PS3. That gives us plenty of time to practice our pose!
How CyberConnect2 became a Soulcalibur 5 collaborator
CyberConnect2 has movie-making experience from working on a CG .hack movie, and it's that experience -- including motion capture expertise -- that drew Namco Bandai to the developer for Soulcalibur V. "I was approached by Namco almost two years ago," CEO and Naruto cosplayer Hiroshi Matsuyama told Gamasutra. "I knew they were working on Soulcalibur V, and they asked for help in the visual side of the game. The fighting gameplay was handled by their own team, and they just needed help in the visuals of the game, because they wanted to add more to the dramatization of the game." CyberConnect 2 did storyboarding and motion capture for the fighter. Matsuyama said that the motions have a CC2 look. "The actions look a little like in Naruto, in the sense that the motion doesn't look like we used motion-capture," he said. "In that sense, I think the game looks like it's been done by us." Matsuyama also said that Epic is surprised by CC2's use of Unreal Engine 3 for Asura's Wrath. He said it's "difficult" to make a cinematic action game in an engine designed primarily for shooters, but there's something like that for every engine. "I think the tools don't matter," he said. "And, a perfect engine doesn't exist. There's always something that's difficult to do with every tool."
Crazy Eddie's TGS 2011 Trailer Blowout! It's an Asura's Dogma Army Online of savings!
That's right folks, it may still be Sunday here in the states, but in glorious Nippon it's already Monday, and that means these Tokyo Game Show trailers are priced to move! Our manager is out of town and we've gone crazy!! Just look at these prices: Army Corps of Hell Trailer - Free! Dragon's Dogma Trailer - Free!! Asura's Wrath Trailer - Free!!! Phantasy Star Online 2 Trailer - Price too low to print!! Resident Evil Revelations Trailer - 100 percent off!! Are you still reading this? You'd have to have a toolbox for a head to pass up an opportunity this golden! Jump past the break and find out why Crazy Eddie's Discount Trailer Emporium and Rustic Furniture Showcase is still your number one source for new and used video game footage!
Overheard@TGS: Just how long is that sword in Asura's Wrath?
If you read our preview of Asura's Wrath from Gamescom, you might remember that protagonist Asura battles a god named Augus on the moon. Augus chooses to end this fight by lunging at Asura with a very long sword, launching him right off the moon and all the way back to Earth. At this point, said sword impales Asura and the Earth, eventually popping out of the other side of the planet. Like we said, it's a long sword. Thanks to Hiroshi Matsuyama, CEO of developer CyberConnect2, we now know exactly how long it is. During an interview with Joystiq, Matsuyama gleefully informed us that the sword is 380,000 kilometers long, or roughly the average distance from the Earth to the moon. Another fun fact: At one point during development, the sword didn't actually emerge from the other side of the planet after impaling Asura. In other words, at some point -- perhaps during a very official business meeting -- someone at Capcom or CyberConnect2 said, "You know, I'm not sure the sword is long enough."
Asura's Wrath includes second angry playable character
Should you get bored with Asura's Wrath, developer CyberConnect2 has revealed a second playable character, who no doubt has a totally distinct and fresh style of wrath. Yasha blames Asura for the death of his sister (Asura's wife), and thus has that rage going for him in addition to sharing Asura's own ire against his many, many enemies -- including the "Shinkoku Army," a newly announced faction of would-be Asura-punchers. Capcom says it'll tell us more about Yasha at TGS. For now, you can look at the screens and check out his weird mask.%Gallery-132970%
Asura's Wrath preview: Drunken boxing on the moon
We saw Capcom's bizarre CyberConnect2-developed action game Asura's Wrath back at E3, and JC wrote up an excellent preview at the time. Walking into the Gamescom presentation of a previously unseen part of the game, I was reticent to write up yet another preview just a scant few months later, but that feeling quickly vacated my brain and was replaced with pure, unadulterated madness -- madness that I'd be remiss not to share. If you're not already sold on Asura's Wrath, here's why you should be: you fight a dude on the moon. Oh, is that not exciting enough? Would it be better if you knew the dude you fight is a god? Oh, and he's also obsessed with battle, constantly going on about how he "lives for it" and ... pffft, whatever, Asura's not listening. He's too busy being furious and punching that dude in the face with one of his six arms. You'll excuse my lack of tact, but I came out of the presentation grinning like a child, ready to evangelize the uniquely bizarre experience that is Asura's Wrath.%Gallery-130728%
The evolution of the 'Asura Pose'
Back at E3, Joystiq Features Editor JC Fletcher took the best picture ever, as seen above. Little did we know that Capcom's Kazuhiro Tsuchiya and CyberConnect2's Hiroshi Matsuyama would be so keen to show off their latest version of "The Asura Pose" this week at Gamescom after demoing Asura's Wrath. Osuuuu!
Resident Evil: Revelations and Asura's Wrath due in early 2012 [update: trailers]
Capcom narrowed the release windows for two of its upcoming games today in GamesCom fact sheets. Resident Evil: Revelations, the 3DS Resident Evil that hasn't been the subject of a scandal yet, and Asura's Wrath, CyberConnect2's dramatic, QTE-filled, Hindu-themed action game, will both arrive in early 2012. It's a pretty weird pairing -- the portable, expressly traditional Resident Evil game and the HD game that reminds us of a Dragon Ball Z spinoff set in India. Along with these date updates, we have new screenshots of both games. Enjoy the cognitive dissonance from our mashing together of old IP and weird new IP by opening both galleries in new tabs and flipping between them. Update: head past the break to see some video of both games.%Gallery-130728%%Gallery-130722%
Asura's Wrath preview: Just one more episode
A grimacing man who appears to be partly made of stone, faces off with a portly, glowing-eyed man in the desert. "YOU DON'T BELONG HEEEEEERE," the large gentleman (Wyzen) exclaims, launching into a fistfight with his more muscular interloper (Asura). In the ensuing scuffle, Wyzen ends up thrown off a cliff, then rises up, 100 times his previous size. He explains that he got this power from Asura's daughter. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH HER," Asura asks before catching one of the missiles thrown by Wyzen (did I mention Wyzen was shooting missiles?) and throwing it back. Firing projectiles of his own and reflecting Wyzen's back, Asura prevails again. And then Wyzen grows to the size of the planet and attempts to smush Asura with his index finger. Asura pushes back against the glacial finger, and then peppers it with punches, eventually launching Wyzen into space. For the next thrilling episode of this Asura's Wrath preview, hit the break.%Gallery-125713%
Watch a six-armed man battle a giant finger in this Asura's Wrath trailer
You couldn't have known that today would be the day you saw a six-armed man battle a giant's finger. But here we are, in the cold light of Tuesday morning, watching the latest trailer for Asura's Wrath and marveling at the pure, unbridled madness to be found therein. The latest trailer and screens (seen below) were loosed this morning from last week's Capcom press event, so you'll excuse their rich brown tans in mid-April. Unfortunately, it seems no new info was given on the "serialized drama" and action title, but hopefully we'll hear more at this year's E3.%Gallery-120983%
Hey, remember Asura's Wrath? That's pretty weird
Capcom released a new trailer and screens of CyberConnect2's "serialized drama" Asura's Wrath today, which is really the best news for people who woke up this morning wanting to see a guy beat up a bunch of possessed Buddha-like statues. No news accompanied the release of this media -- no release date or anything like that. Capcom just decided to remind us all that this game exists. That's probably a good idea, given that we haven't seen anything about it in months. Just sit back and enjoy the monumental violence.%Gallery-114652%
Asura's Wrath aiming for 'continuous drama' a la Lost, Battlestar Galactica
Asura's Wrath looks crazy, but that compelling weirdness isn't just in the visuals for the Capcom title. In a recent interview with Eurogamer, director Seiji Shimoda of developer CyberConnect2 expressed that "drama -- continuous drama -- is also another key point" in the game. CyberConnect 2 President Hiroshi Matsuyama elaborated, calling the game "very Japanese" and noting that the company doesn't want to hide from that. However, it also plans to incorporate narrative elements found in popular TV shows like Lost, Battlestar Galactica and 24. "That feeling where you're at the end of an episode and you're desperate to know what happens next -- that's a feeling of continuing drama that we want to put in the game," he said. Hopefully Asura's Wrath will work out a better ending than those influential dramas did. %Gallery-102298%
Video proof: Asura's Wrath is crazy
Our TGS liveblog didn't exactly capture how crazy Asura's Wrath -- the upcoming collaboration between Capcom and CyberConnect 2 -- really is. Imagine taking the over-the-top action of the Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm series, mixing in a ton of violence, all rendered with the power of the Unreal Engine. Oh, and did we mention the giant space Buddha statue thingy? Yeah, there's that too. %Gallery-102298%
CyberConnect2 taking out 'Asura's Wrath' on Capcom
CyberConnect2, creators of the .hack series and various Naruto games, is working on a new PS3/Xbox 360 game for Capcom. Asura's Wrath was announced a few minutes ago at Capcom's pre-TGS event. The game, which the director says involves "serialized drama," is an action title built in Unreal Engine 3. Speaking of "unreal," he said that "What we're bringing to this game is a brand new style that will have you questioning whether or not you're even playing a game ... sometimes even we're confused if what we're making is a game." Gameplay footage revealed a character unconcerned with numerous sword wounds, destroying enemies with a giant sword of his own.
