Joystiq

BlazBlue producer wants to bring a new fighting series to PS4

Jordan Mallory — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 12:30:00 EST

Arc System Works has designs on bringing a new fighting game series to the PlayStation 4, according to Shoryuken's translation of Dengeki's interview with BlazBlue series producer Toshimichi Mori.

"We can't give you a definite title yet, but we want to make one," Mori said. "We actually made Guilty Gear targeting the Dreamcast, and we started creating BlazBlue around the time of the PS3 release, so we want to make a game for PS4 when the system releases. Creating new things at the turning point of time is who Arc System Works is, so we would like to take it on."

If we may be so bold, Arc System Works, might we suggest a 2D fighting game based on the works of Hayao Miyazaki? Kiki vs. Yubaba, Princess Mononoke vs. Nausicaä of the Valley - just think about it.

BlazBlue producer wants to bring a new fighting series to PS4 originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 03 Apr 2013 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Overheard at Comic-Con: The battle for Seth Killian

Mike Schramm — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 20:30:00 EST

During the "Titans of Fighting Games" panel on Friday afternoon at Comic-Con 2012, PlayStation All-Stars director Omar Kendall was introduced on stage just after Street Fighter creator Yoshinori Ono left it, and he cleverly joked as Ono departed that developer SuperBot was happy to have Seth Killian on board, who of course came from Ono's team at Capcom. "If anyone else is looking for a job," poked Kendall, "you can email us."

Later in the panel, Kendall remarked to fellow panelist Tekken creator Katsuhiro Harada that he was happy to have Tekken's Heihachi in PS All-Stars as a playable character, and he added that if Ono was in fact still in the room, he'd also be happy to have a character from Street Fighter included. The characteristically goofy Ono returned to appear at the Q&A mic later on, and his first question, in the middle of a laughing crowd, was to Kendall.

"Yes, can you give me back Seth Killian?" he asked in accented English, and the panel broke out laughing.

"If you give me Chun Li," Kendall joked back, "I'll give you back Seth Killian." Ono considered that a moment, and then replied, though he was barely heard by the cheering crowd: "Deal."

But Harada, who was on the panel to also talk about Tekken Tag Tournament 2, was having none of it. "Ono, go home," he also said in English. "We don't have time for this."

Overheard at Comic-Con: The battle for Seth Killian originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 14 Jul 2012 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Divekick, a fighting game parody of fighting games, hits Kickstarter

David Hinkle — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 07:00:00 EST

Divekick started out as a joke. It was meant to be a commentary on fighting games and the community surrounding it, but has escalated into much more since people discovered it was ... actually fun.

Now creator Adam "Keits" Heart is holding a Kickstarter campaign to finance a PC release. Divekick only uses two buttons: jump and kick. The first hit scored wins the round, and the first to win five rounds takes the match. A Kick-Meter fills during the match and activates Kick-Factor, speeding up your diving and kicks.

Divekick has 28 days to go at the time of publishing, and has earned $9000 toward its $30,000 goal.

Divekick, a fighting game parody of fighting games, hits Kickstarter originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 04 Jul 2012 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yoshinori Ono on resurrecting Street Fighter, says 'there's no mercy' at Capcom

David Hinkle — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 19:00:00 EST

Yoshinori Ono is more than the Blanka-toting, smiling face of the Street Fighter series - he's its savior. After Street Fighter III: Third Strike in 1999, Capcom was all too happy to abandon the series, which had seen flagging sales. And Ono always felt responsible for having some hand in its demise, having worked on the last game in the series.

He held onto that guilt for years, and after being promoted to the role of producer, pitched a design document for Street Fighter IV. "I was working on Onimusha 4 and during that time I repeatedly submitted my proposal for a new Street Fighter," he told Eurogamer. "The company kept telling me: 'It's a dead franchise. It doesn't make any money. We have series that make money like Resident Evil and Onimusha. Why bother with a dead franchise?'"

"Eventually I was given a small budget to create a prototype," Ono revealed. But it wasn't a result of his "pestering" the management that eventually brought the game to fruition - the journalists and fans "started making a lot of noise and pressuring Capcom," even though Ono admitted he told them to do that. "Journalists and fans have the power to move Capcom - not producers. With so many voices crying out for a Street Fighter game Capcom could no longer ignore it any more and so they gave the green light for a prototype and they asked me to create it. It's a miracle that happened after a decade..."

But as romantic as all of this is, Ono's account of work-life at Capcom is anything but. After taking a step back from the Street Fighter spotlight following a health scare, Ono spoke candidly about his employer - one he accuses of overworking him and failing to recognize his health woes related to overworking.

"Nobody told me to take a rest. When I returned to work, Capcom didn't even acknowledge that I had been in hospital. There was no change in my schedule. I was at home for an entire week before the doctors allowed me to return to work. When I returned to my desk there was a ticket to Rome waiting for me. There's no mercy. Everyone in the company says: 'Ono-san we've been so worried about you.' Then they hand me a timetable and it's completely filled with things to do."

Ono recalled a previous project in his first days at Capcom, when he had a short timetable to retrofit the soundtrack for Street Fighter Alpha to be compatible with a less advanced arcade chipset. "Capcom was very good at squeezing people to the last drop of their blood to get work done."

In regards to what's next, Ono isn't talking - but there's no way he'll leave fighting games behind. "There have been rumours saying Ono is dead or retiring. None of that's true. I want to support the next generation of fighting game. It's my job. It's my calling."

Yoshinori Ono on resurrecting Street Fighter, says 'there's no mercy' at Capcom originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 11 Jun 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Skullgirls 'Move Primer' trailer primes your eventual moves

Jordan Mallory — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 22:30:00 EST

From everything we've seen before, and from the contents of this latest trailer, it looks as though Skullgirls will attempt to solve universal genre issues that plague fighting game enthusiasts the world over. That's a pretty tall order, considering that Capcom, Namco, SNK (R.I.P) and others have been attempting the same feat for nearly 25 years.

Reverge Labs seems to understand that gameplay issues in fighters can't be solved by balancing alone, and as such will be implementing a number of mechanical systems in order to prevent abusive gameplay mechanics which can potentially taint a fighting experience. The Anti-Infinite Combo System, for instance, allows players to escape from combos that would otherwise guarantee a loss. Similarly, the game's blocking system protects unblockable high-low mix-up traps.

Skullgirls' radically different failsafe systems have already sparked heavy debate among the die-hard fighters that run Joystiq's circles, a prevailing opinion being that the "problems" the game's systems attempt to correct are not problems at all, but rather accepted play-styles inherent to the genre. It will take months of extensive community involvement for the scene to render a verdict either way, which we can get started on sometime early next year.

Skullgirls 'Move Primer' trailer primes your eventual moves originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 29 Oct 2011 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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King of Fighters XII at AOU 2008

Majed Athab — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 21:00:00 EST

Filed under: News

Some of you might remember our post about King of Fighters XII coming to the PS3 in 2009. That seems like a long time from now, but don't worry old school fighting fans -- 2008 won't be going down without a little SNK love. The SNK-Capcom website tells fans that the AOU 2008 expo in Tokyo's Makuhari Messe convention center will feature King of Fighters XII in video format.

Not much else is know about what will be shown at AOU, but we do know that KoF XII will use a whole new game engine and rehashed old character sprites will be a thing of the past. The game is expected to come out first in the arcades by June/July 2008, running on the Taito Type X². A PS3 port (and possibly an Xbox 360 port) will follow in 2009.

King of Fighters XII at AOU 2008 originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 11 Feb 2008 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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