Virtua Fighter 5R Location Test Videos

Last weekend a location test was held in Japan for Virtua Fighter 5R. Of course I missed posting about it prior to the event, but coming to the rescue has been YouTube! and the never-ending supply of user-uploaded videos of the game in action. Probably the best source for the location test videos has been user wannafight.us which has 6 videos from the location test period.

I'm going to try to dissect some of the information that I've seen posted in regards to the test, but until then, I recommend heading over to Shoryuken where a few details have already been posted.

Battle Fantasia Demo on PSN (With Xbox Live consolation prize)

According to Battle Fantasia's official website, as of midnight last night, a limited demo of the game (with two selectable difficulties and three trial modes) was uploaded to Sony's Playstation Network for gamers to be able to download and play. Of course this is limited to gamers with a Japanese PSN ID, so if you are interested in checking out the game, I would recommend following the numerous instructions available online to access the Japanese PSN store.

Though the game does have a few flaws, the unique blend of an RPG-lite setting and fighting is unique enough to warrant a play through on the chance that you may be able to overlook its problems in favor of its generally satisfying experience. I enjoyed the game myself, but my time with it was so short and without many opponents, so outside of a semi-enthusiastic thumbs up for effort I'm not really able to provide much more detail from a competitive standpoint. I do know that it has been lambasted at times for being broken, but I take that with a grain of salt since 9 times out of 10 the first complaint I hear about any fighting game is that 'its broken!'

Xbox 360 owners don't fret if you were wanting a demo (well, maybe...), because Arc System Works didn't forget you entirely. While you won't get a chance to play the game prior to its May 29th release, Arc System Works has thought of you enough to post new themes and icons for download... I'm sure all of you will be satisfied with that, right?

[Discuss on Forums]

Amusement Journal Top 5's

Though it is a bit later in the month than I usually post these numbers, the Amusement Journal website has updated their February - March list for the top performing arcade games over the course of the last month. The survey is taken from a select group of arcades who are then polled and quizzed based on revenue earners and plays at the location.

Tekken 6 sits pretty on the top of the list. I'm not expecting this to change much in either the Arcadia magazine list or future Amusement Journal reports. For all intents and purposes, the game has been performing at a level that I would assume at least meets the expectations with some sources (such as The Stinger Report) going as far as saying that it is breaking most expectations and exceeding even some previous tracking highs.

Outside of Tekken 6, there isn't anything new sneaking on to the top 5 list from Amusement Journal. When the Arcadia numbers are available (in the next week or two), we should see a little shake-up with a couple of recently released games, but the smaller reporting by Amusement Journal has led to a fairly static top 5 for the month.

Out of the remaining games scheduled for a release in arcades in 2008, there are only three titles yet to be released that may vie for Tekken 6's top slot. Virtua Fighter 5R may push Virtua Fighter 5 ahead of Tekken for a time, especially if the game adds as much content as it has been promising. Street Fighter IV and King of Fighters XII may also be able to contend when they are released, but both games are subject to a possible slipping release date especially when considering the recent cancellation/postponement of the King of Fighters XII location test (more on that in another post).

Top 5 arcade titles
1. Tekken 6 (Namco Bandai, PS3 Board)
2. Virtua Fighter 5 (Sega, Lindbergh)
3. Mobile Suit Gundam: Seed Destiny vs. Z.A.F.T II (Banpresto/Capcom, System 246)
4. Guilty Gear XX Accent Core (Arc System Works, NAOMI)
5. Melty Blood Act Cadenza ver. B (Ecole, NAOMI)

[Discuss on Forums]

Street Fighter IV: Not being developed internally?

Back when Street Fighter IV was first announced, one of the earliest debates circling most forums was who the developer was going to be. Due to the complicated issues surrounding the rights to the game and the close down of a portion of Capcom's US development studios, the early speculation had the game being outsourced to another company eerily similar to how the Street Fighter EX series was sent off to Arika for development.

These rumors were further flamed by a post on Kotaku that actually named DIMPS (of Rumble Fish fame) as the primary developer of the new Street Fighter title. Eager to 'set the record straight' (and possibly clear up some anti-Capcom sentiments that were floating around following the first footage), Christian Svensson posted on the Capcom BBS that Capcom USA had contracted Capcom Japan to handle the development of Street Fighter IV.

Pretty cut and dry, right? Question asked and answered.

Well, not so fast...

According Jarrod at Neo Gaf, the upcoming issue of EGM comes with something of a wallup to Street Fighter IV. Though I haven't been able to verify this myself (I have a subscription but I never seem to get it sent to me with the first batch), supposedly it has been officially revealed that DIMPS once again is being named as having a part in the development of Street Fighter IV.

After re-reading Christian Svensson's post on the Capcom forums, it's a bit more clear to me that there was a bit of double speak (whether intentionally or unintentionally) in the way he chose to word his statements. By simply stating that they had contracted Capcom Japan to handle the development of Street Fighter IV, he didn't eliminate the possibilty of another studio also being involved.

What isn't clear from Jarrod's post on Neo Gaf is how big of a role DIMPS actually has in the development (hopefully the EGM article or statement is more than just a little blurb). While Capcom Japan's lead (with Ono as producer) is not in dispute, it does make me wonder why it took Capcom so long to 'clear the air' so to speak in regards to the make-up of the production team behind the game.

I remember an article (on Gamasutra maybe) that discussed the trend of uncredited, independent development studios working on the nitty gritties of games under the guidance of a larger studio (I imagine slaving under a corporate overlord may be a more suitable description - but from the article it seemed the team being interviewed didn't mind at all)... I guess this is just another example of business being business.

Where I've been...

It's been a while since I've had a chance to make regular updates on the site and I apologize for that. I am currently in the midst of a project that is taking up about 99% of my time right now which is leaving me just enough to eat and sleep with very little else. I wish I could go into the details about what the project is surrounding (since it is arcade-related), but due to a forced NDA I have my hands tied. I'm hoping things will be getting back to normal in a few weeks, but please bare with me while I get everything worked out.

Sengoku Basara X finds a home on the PS2

Capcom and Arc System Works' joint project has been pushed aside for bigger and better things. While Sengoku Basara X has definitely caught the attention of fans of the source material, with Street Fighter IV and BlazBlue on the horizon, its hard to blame the rest of the fighting game community for looking at it as a 'secondary' fighter. I'm sure it will attract some quick attention in arcades, but it is painfully obvious that it more than likely will not have the competitive stay that people were expecting when they first heard of the project between the two companies.

With that said, it was inevitable before a home console port of Sengoku Basara X was announced. With the game being featured on Namco's System 246/256 hardware, a PS2 port was naturally expected from the beginning. This last week, Famitsu has went ahead and announced the project and has provided a June release date for the game. There were previous rumors of the game coming to the Wii as well, but it looks as though as of this time Capcom is only spending the effort on the PS2 port of Sengoku Basara X.