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Super Dodgeball Brawlers sped up for American release
The only complaint we've heard about the Japanese version of Super Dodgeball Brawlers is that it is very slow compared to previous games, though you gain the ability to speed your characters up over time. Aksys Games, publisher of the American version, apparently paid attention to this criticism: according to IGN, who totally got to play the game already, Brawlers has been sped up, and this timing has had a positive effect on their ability to catch the ball.The items have also been rebalanced since the Japanese version, which now makes us glad we've waited. Just like Bangai-O Spirits, which will come with many new Treasure-created stages not found in the Japanese release, the American version will be the definitive Super Dodgeball Brawlers.%Gallery-14440%
One million signatures to end Uwe Boll's directing career
You'll never be able to get back those eight-and-a-half bucks you blew on your ticket for Uwe Boll's "Alone In The Dark", but those seeking revenge against the infamous German filmmaker will be pleased to know that a recent interview with FEARnet revealed a giant glowing weak point in his floundering directorial career -- amidst Nazi humor and PETA endorsements, Boll commented on a petition, currently at around 18,000 signatures, for him to forever put an end to his game franchise-defiling ways. It'll take more than that to derail his train of box office catastrophes, he claimed -- though one million signatures should do the trick.We doubt one million people have even been exposed to Boll's unique brand of sensory torment -- but still, this remains your best chance to fulfill any vendettas you may hold against the pugnacious producer. With enough door-to-door campaigning and MySpace chain letters, this lofty goal may be attainable. If not, we can always hold out hope for the merciful release of bankruptcy.
Mythic expects WAR beta apps to reach one million
Forumites at the Vault Network boards started a thread speculating as to whether or not EA Mythic's Warhammer Online will reach one million beta apps when all's said and done. Mythic CEO and WAR lead designer Mark Jacobs promptly responded (as he's been known to do), assuring everyone that he and the WAR team have every expectation of achieving that goal."I'd be surprised if we didn't hit 1M once we start taking beta apps for our Asian partners," he said. "Even without Asia, based on our current sign-up rate, we should blow through 750K and we have a decent shot at 1M." He also noted that his original goalpost was 500,000 in North America and Europe, a goal which EA Mythic has "far surpassed."Maybe Funcom should take this as a throwing down of the gauntlet. Age of Conan's 500,000 beta sign-up number is impressive, but it looks like Funcom will have to do better than that to beat Warhammer![Via Keen and Graev]
Realtime Worlds grabs $50 million
Techcrunch is reporting that developers Realtime Worlds (makers of last year's Crackdown, which could be an MMO, and the upcoming All Points Bulletin, which we heard lots about at GDC) have picked up a whopping $50 million in funding from a round of investment capital, including lots of it from Maverick Capital.So good news for APB fans -- of course, it's just a fraction of that billion dollars that Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick claims anyone will need to take on World of Warcraft, but $50 million buys a lot of artists, programmers, and servers, all things that a great MMO needs for a strong launch. APB is still in the development stages of course -- we've heard that it'll drop this year, though at this point (and with the extra cash going into a little extra development), we're probably looking at a spring 2009 release.
DS Daily: Super Bangai-O Brawlers
There's a considerable number of DS games out there that we cherish, but Super Dodgeball Brawlers and Bangai-O Spirits must rank amongst our greatest obsessions.By a happy coincidence, both titles recently released within days of one another in Japan, so the next question is obvious: as the U.S. still has a couple of months to wait for these gems, did you buckle under the pressure and import either? If so, we'll be happy to place our extreme envy to one side for the time being, and listen to your impressions! We're nice like that, see.%Gallery-16997%%Gallery-14440%
Super Dodgeball Brawlers plays dirty
Hands-on impressions of Super Dodgeball Brawlers have been coming in since the game's release in Japan earlier this week, and while previews indicate that the game's "pacing" seems slow in comparison to the NES original, we're happy to hear that this design decision is in favor of a much deeper experience with stat-tweaking and buyable upgrades. Even without an online component, Brawlers already sounds like a title with a lot of replayability! All the special throws and jumping skills won't save you, however, when your opponent can pick up and toss a bomb at you, literally (0:50). As you can see in these two in-game videos -- complete with face-smashing sound effects -- a mess of potential weapons litter the arena, enticing you to abandon the gym pastime's dated rules. According to 1UP's preview, the Canadian team, in particular, has no problem relying on under-the-belt strategies rather than its own abilities.Why bother waiting to get beaned when you can just run across the chalked line and mollywhop whoever has the dodgeball? Head past the post break for another foul-play-filled Super Dodgeball Brawlers clip. %Gallery-14440%
Videos from 'that other Brawl'
Though Aksys published these Super Dodgeball Brawlers clips to keep the game fresh in our minds, the videos are also a reminder of the potential that playgrounds have to serve as battle arenas for our nation's youth. Imagine a utopia in which children of all creeds and races, rich or poor, can come together during recess and pummel each other with dodgeballs, crude weapons, and their own two fists. It is a dream we have worked our entire lives to realize.The Brawl Mode in Super Dodgeball Brawlers is a window to that dream, allowing up to eight kids to battle it out in a no-holds-barred, free-for-all game of Murder Ball. Adolescents are encouraged to swing lead pipes at each other, throw exploding rocks, and transform the dodgeball into a tire-hugging panda whilst a small yapper-type dog cheers them on. Wipe that proud tear from your eye and step past the break for another clip of elementary school children locked in gladiatorial combat.%Gallery-14440%See also: 2008's Biggest Blips: Super Dodgeball Brawlers
Brawl tops one million sales, has already passed Galaxy
Super Smash Bros. Brawl unleashed the mother of all Final Smashes on the Japanese charts last week by selling 820,000 copies in four days. Now, Famitsu publisher Enterbrain says Nintendo's scrapper (released eleven days ago) has topped the one million sales mark, and passed another Wii flagship title in the process: Super Mario Galaxy (released almost three and a half months ago). That's crazy.To be fair to Galaxy, it's far from the only game to be left spluttering in Brawl's dust. Next-gen notes that Wii Fit took seven weeks to pass a million sales, that Wii Sports passed the landmark after eleven weeks, and that Wii Play and Mario Party 8 are the only other Wii titles to top a million units in Japan.
Guard your grill: Super Dodgeball Brawlers trailer
We estimate that about 95% of the people who're hyped about Super Dodgeball Brawlers's release are nostalgic fans of the original NES game, scarred veterans of the flickering playground. Publisher Arc System Works must have come to the same conclusion, as its latest promotional trailer introduces the return of the Kunio dodgeball series with "archival footage" of the 1988 title, positioning Brawlers as a modernized remake. Smart move!This minute-and-a-half-long video has a lot more excitement than the mini-clips we've featured the past two months -- it has florid lines of text flying around, chaotic scenes grabbed from the 8-player free-for-all battle mode, and some dude lifting a vending machine over his head. Expect Super Dodgeball Brawlers to hit Japan this March 19th (the February 21st date advertised in the trailer is from before the game was delayed).%Gallery-14440%See also: 2008's Biggest Blips: Super Dodgeball Brawlers
Super Dodgeball Boxarts
According to Amazon, Super Dodgeball Brawlers now has a release date: May 27th. That's pretty far away, but okay! We don't mind having just Dodgeball to play during what is usually a lull in game releases. That's totally fine. Also, take a look at that boxart! It uses the same artwork as the Japanese boxart (which is welcome), with the characters all rearranged and the background replaced with some purple lightning or something. Most interesting to us is the little "Kunio Series" label on the box. Since there aren't that many Kunio fans who wouldn't already know about this game, we totally take that to mean that Aksys is looking forward to continuing the series. Or they're just making us happy.See also: 2008's Biggest Blips
Crysis goes platinum
In yesterday's investor call, Electronic Arts confirmed that sales of Crysis have gone platinum, meaning that over 1 million units had been sold since its launch. That figure marks a drastic improvement over earlier indications that consumer interest in the game was, well, in crisis. At this month's GDC, developer CryTek will be showing off a console version of CryEngine 2, although a console version of Crysis itself has not been announced. Of course, EA could pull a "surprise" announcement -- dun dun dun! [Via inCrysis; thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
2008's Biggest Blips: Super Dodgeball Brawlers
Developer: MillionPublisher: Aksys GamesRelease: April 2008 Parents:You've seen the news. Our children are rapidly falling under the sway of insidious video games, spending hours upon hours watching and even taking part in the most brutal acts of violence imaginable. Games like Grand Theft Auto and Manhunt 2 are designed with nothing in mind but a devious plot to corrupt our children and disrupt our society. Not only that, but many of these games expose our youth to graphic sexuality. Case in point: Mass Effect, which is a pornographic game targeted at preschoolers and (reportedly) given away with boxes of cereal.The latest threat to our children's sensitive minds comes from Super Dodgeball Brawlers, a game of such stark brutality that it should be banned. And yet, it's going to be released on the Nintendo DS, a game system for children. This shocking violence simulator allows children to play a game called "dodge ball," in which characters break up into teams and attempt to murder each other with thrown projectiles. Disgustingly, this "dodge ball" is presented as a sport, suggesting that it's an acceptable activity for children to engage in on the schoolyard or in the park. Publisher Aksys Games should be held accountable when this deadly game begins claiming young lives. It's bad enough that children will be taught to use harmless playground balls as weapons, but Super Dodgeball Brawlers takes the corruption a step farther. It satisfies murderous fantasies by giving the players super powers, allowing them to electrify the ball, multiply it in the air or throw it at super-speed. These attacks will even turn our harmless pizzas, cacti, panda bears, and Eiffel Towers into brutal weapons. Kids will even be able to drop the pretenses of sportsmanship and batter each other directly. Worst yet, Super Dodgeball Brawlers will allow children to connect their DS units wirelessly and perform the simulated violence in groups of eight. Even if you can keep this out of your own home, your children are in imminent danger of having the offending software forced onto their DSes. We must put a stop to this! If you don't complain to your congressman and do your best to block sale of this disgusting game, it will be on you when children, too addled by flashing lights and cartoons to understand the difference between fantasy and reality, begin acting out this "dodge ball" with their friends.%Gallery-14440% Ninja Gaiden Back EXTREME INVADING
Super Dodgeball mini-clips: 'Boot country'
If you're having trouble making out what it is exactly that Lorenzo is tossing across the field, it's a giant pizza, heavy on the green peppers. Aksys' most recent video update for Super Dodgeball Brawlers showcases the special throws of Team Italy, a smooth bunch that insists on walking into every match wearing leather jackets, open arms and thumbs up, introducing themselves with an "Aaay!"IGN also has a two-minute movie worth checking out, in which you can see the two teams actually trading shots with each other. We need more of this! As with the mini-clips, the video is soundless, but you'll get to see our paisanos throwing a vending machine at people's heads. Team Italy's celebratory pirouettes are worth watching, too!
Super Dodgeball mini-clips: 'Ich bin ein Dodgeballer'
Aksys' latest Super Dodgeball Brawlers videos take us to Germany, the land of Deutsches. Boasting a six-man squad of supermen, Team Germany has its own array of power throws to show off.Those of you who've been following Aksys' updates should already know what to expect from this new set -- clips without sound or any lasting entertaining value. Also, while each of the eight special attacks shown varies in its style of dodgeball delivery, the result is always the same -- dudes getting beaned in the face. Not very exciting, but it's Super Dodgeball Brawlers!
Super Dodgeball mini-clips: 'Cor blimey, guvna!'
Like the blinking dodgeball traveling two miles per hour in this short clip, Super Dodgeball Brawlers' release this coming spring continues its slow approach. Before you know it, the game will crash right into your face, leaving an imprint of your surprised expression on its box before sending you flying out of the arena.Aksys has eight new videos in its latest Super Dodgeball Brawlers update, this time demonstrating the "super throws" from the "super tossers" of Team England. Once again, the clips are soundless and, in our opinion, not too exciting, but we'll take what we can get; we're just happy that the game is being localized at all!
Hide behind a big kid: Super Dodgeball Brawlers official site
What better way to ring in the new year than with Super Dodgeball Brawlers? Japanese publisher Arc System Works has set up an official site for the Kunio-kun game for its release in Japan this February 21st, providing the requisite wallpapers and tiny screenshots.Other than that, you won't find much media that we haven't already foisted upon you, but there are some interesting remarks about its "Create a Dream Team" mode and using punch or kick attacks during a regular match. The site also mentions the burst gauge, a new feature with which your team can charge up and execute special moves capable of changing the tide of the game!
Super Dodgeball mini-clips: 'USA! USA!'
"Pow! Right in the kisser!"Aksys Games has put out another round of Super Dodgeball Brawlers videos, this time showcasing the special throws available with Team USA's roster (last week's clips were from the Nekketsu Highschool team). Once again, the movies are extremely short and without sound, but you still get to see some dudes get their blocks knocked off, thrown off the screen and across town from the force of a connected power shot.Super Dodgeball Brawlers is scheduled to smack North America in the back of its head this Spring 2008 (without online support, unfortunately). The next set of videos Aksys plans to release will feature Team England and arrive on January 4th. Head past the break for the rest of this week's seconds-long clips -- you might want to take your glasses off first, though.
Super Dodgeball mini-clips: 'Lightning Bolt! Lightning Bolt!'
We ran here with a quickness unforeseen to deliver these Super Dodgeball Brawlers videos to you, jumping over the chalked line and spiking these clips with all our might right into your face. Sure, they're each only a few seconds long, demonstrating some of the special shots in place of an actual match, but beggars can't be choosers, and, like TLC, we ain't too proud to beg, especially when it's for our first look at one of 2008's most anticipated games in motion.If you haven't marked it on your calendar yet, Aksys Games plans to bring the Kunio-kun title to the states next spring, so go ahead and draw smiley faces across that entire season. Guard your grill and zig-zag past the post break for seven more of these short, soundless videos from Super Dodgeball Brawlers.
Super Dodgeball Brawlers: the first American Kunio game
When Siliconera's Spencer Yip interviewed Aksys's Gail Salamanca about Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles, he also submitted a battery of questions about Super Dodgeball Brawlers, many of which were submitted by readers. One reader asked if Aksys would keep the Kunio series characters for the game, rather than making them more generic and American. Salamanca responded with "Yes, we will be keeping the Kunio names for the US version."This may only be significant to us and to the person asking the question (who was, we admit, also us), but that means that Super Dodgeball Brawlers will be the first Kunio game in the U.S. Renegade, River City Ransom, Crash 'n the Boys Street Challenge, Super Spike V'Ball, Nintendo World Cup, and every previous version of Super Dodge Ball were all part of the Kunio-kun series from Technos, starring two rude high-school kids named Kunio and Riki. And without exception, the original characters were excised from the localization.Another reader asked if more Kunio games were upcoming, and Salamanca replied "We hope so." Not much news there, but if Aksys wants to continue publishing upcoming Kunio games, we're happy to hear it. What a great day for Technos nerds.
Super Dodge Ball DS uses NES-style control scheme
Spencer Yip played a little bit of Cho Nekketsu Koukou Kunio-Kun Dodge Ball Bu while waiting for a meeting with publisher Arc System Works in which they discussed things that are infinitely less important than Cho Nekketsu Koukou Kunio-Kun Dodge Ball Bu. For him, it was a few casual minutes of gaming to write up whenever he had time; for us, it would have been a screaming, all-caps, exclamation-point-peppered impressions post, complete with hyperbole about how we were ready to die or whatever. We like Super Dodge Ball is what we're saying. We've liked it since it was a flickery mess on the NES.Which is why we're just fine with the major revelation in his impressions post-- that the game uses the "classic" two-button control scheme found in the NES version. A passes, B throws and catches, and the two together jump. Most importantly, it sounds like super throws are activated in the correct run-then-throw-at-the-right-moment method, rather than some kind of touch screen nonsense. Not that we have anything against the touch screen-- we just like our Dodge Ball as is. It turns out that the bottom screen just displays every player's special attack arsenal. Which is a great feature!
