The Obscurer Tribune # 42: (Slightly) Early Edition

Posting this issue a bit earlier than usual – got to get out the door and finally try to make a DToid New York meetup. Anyways, here are this week’s items of semi-interest:

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The official site for the 360 port of Ketsui has updated several sections recently. It’s hard to believe that we’re only a week or so away from release…at least when you’ve been waiting for it as long as I have. There are also videos of stage 1, stage 3, and parts one and two of stage 5 on YouTube.

Some new images of the 360 Strike Witches shooter can be found here – according to my shmup forum compadres, one of the blurbs on that page confirms that the game will use a dual-stick move/aim control setup, a la Forgotten Worlds. Haven’t seen that particular design sensibility resurrected in awhile for a side-scroller…let’s hope it turns out okay. A bit more info and whatnot here and here, plus some predictable complaining about the graphics here.

Gamer Limit’s coverage of ESPGaluda II’s iPhone port features a five-minute demo video that I don’t think the Tribune has posted before (an English-language equivalent is here) – meanwhile, Siliconera interviews Cave’s mobile manager about the game. There’s also an unfortunate bit of info for iPod Touch users, namely that the game isn’t working too well on that platform yet – Cave is aware of the problem, though, and is working on it. In the meantime, it looks like someone has discovered a workaround.

Meanwhile, this image on Cave’s site seems to suggest that Mushihime-sama Futari is going to be the next iPhone shmup port from Cave – if you missed out on the 360 port (and I haven’t killed you yet for doing so), keep an eye out (for both me and the port, as I haven’t forgiven you yet)!

There were previous signs that Darius Burst would be leaving Japan at some point – the latest bit of fuel for the fire is this trademark filing – the listing of Taito as the publisher further suggest that it’ll likely be a downloadable title. More to come soon, presumably.

Just barely shmup-related, but remember that kick-boxer guy who dresses up like Touhou characters? Well believe it or not EA had him appear at a Japanese promo for one of its soccer games. Yeah.




The producer of Super Street Fighter IV is still trying to convince people that all the new stuff is worth the 40 bucks…seriously, is this still even an issue, guys? If you wanted to DL all of the extra characters and whatnot (not even counting the balance tweaks and other minutiae), how much do you think it’d cost you total, not to mention the time and HD space involved? Give the guy a break on the PR front and let him get back to making some games. On a related note, the iPhone Street Fighter IV port is getting Cammy added to the roster for free. (DToid coverage here.)

Still getting used to the idea of the “main” console ports of Blazblue making it to your territory, European fight fans? Well, you’d best be ready for more, as not only the PSP version but the PC edition of the game (which the US never got) are both also headed your way.

I know that the Tribune has previously made brief mention of Project Cerberus, a fighter by Milestone, a company best-known for its shmups – in case you were hoping to try it yourself, the game will be getting an import-friendly PSP port. The title itself looks a little bit “meh” to me, but maybe it’s better “in person”…

Well, I guess I can technically put this one here – while Magic Sword got the nod as the “companion game” in Final Fight: Double Impact, two other titles considered for the role were action/platformer Black Tiger and the aforementioned Forgotten Worlds. Whichever way you slice it the sucker would have been a pretty interesting compilation (though personally I’m okay with my Capcom Classics Collections from last generation).

Lots of fighting-related action on the c-blogs this month – let’s start with de BLOO , who shows off a new podcast featuring several of DT’s fighting fans, as well as a handful of Super Street Fighter IV videos. That new announcer is going to drive me nuts, I swear…

Wry Guy, meanwhile, keeps us up-to-date on the status of his trainees for the “Fatal Impact” Mark of the Wolves tournament – click here to see a few of them getting their faces smashed in! Ahh, those were the days…

And that’s not the only tourney in the offing either – johnpierre informs us that a Mortal Kombat II tourney will be taking place at San Jose State. Oh, and by the way, the only controller anyone’s allowed to use is a DDR dance pad mat. Be sure to check out the pair of entertaining videos from the previous event.

Capcom-Unity visitor BigMex offers up a pair of blogs on the subject of fighting game character design – there are more where those came from, and at some point he’s apparently going to challenge readers to design their own characters using the principles he lays out. Perhaps it’s time for me to unleash my secret creation “Stick Fighter Man” upon the world…then again, those buggers at Sunsoft already BLATANTLY STOLE my brilliant idea via Astra Superstars’ Test-kun. You can also get a preview of a later entry that Mex posted early and hid soon afterwards – you cannot escape my JOURNALISM, as they say!

Speaking of design (and Capcom-Unity) somebody else from over there has whipped up a batch of alternate costume ideas for some of Super Street Fighter IV’s cast – there are a handful of those I’d love to see make it into the official wardrobe someday!

In case you just can’t get enough of Street Fighter: The Movie, a fellow c-blogger has posted a short montage of a few of this cinematic masterpiece’s more memorable moments.

Some more custom-made squished down Street Fighter figures have appeared, including this Blanka over at Tomopop – click around in there to see a few of his companions.

Only marginally related, but still worth sharing - apparently a member of SRK recently lost most everything he had in a house fire. On the bright side, his fellow fight fans (along with MadCatz) have teamed up via both donations and a raffle to raise money to help him get back on his feet. Good show, everyone! (C-blog item, and humorous header, here.)

On a final note, this is probably pretty old, but I still couldn’t resist linking the image in this post from the forums.




Atlus has put out a pretty good amount of Hexyz Force videos already, so it seems a bit odd that only now do we finally have an official trailer – anyways, um, there it is! (DToid coverage, and a few screens, here.)

Agent North has linked us to a “walkthrough” video for Persona 3 Portable – nothing that gamers familiar with Persona 3 didn’t already know is in there, but it does offer a look at the game in action, and more info on the new stuff is promised for the near future.

Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey players can gobble up two more exclusive demon unlock codes, also courtesy of Agent North.

While it’s at it, the front page just keeps on putting up bits of Xenoblade stuff – this time we’ve got a few actual action screens, as well as confirmation that Nintendo is co-developing this. The official site also recently updated and revealed a few of the character profiles (DToid coverage here.)

The Last Story hasn’t been on anyone’s radar all that long (and rather little has been revealed about it), but according to our ol’ pal Sakaguchi the game is almost finished. Can you feel the approaching, jarringly sudden media blitz? In the meantime we’ve got some details on the thing’s battle system.

A bit more art has surfaced for Chaos Rings, Square’s nice-looking iPhone RPG – it seems you’ll choose one of several pairs of characters to play as at a time, and then go through the game again as each to see the full story. Hopefully the game itself is good enough to warrant all those journeys.

If you’re (still) more excited for Arc Rise Fantasia than I am, you might be interested to know that Amazon pre-orders will include a set of character profile cards. Also check out a sizable batch of new screens while you’re at it (DToid coverage here).

A bit after the fact, but in case you still need a rundown of the major changes made to Lunar: Silver Star Story since the last version of the game, Siliconera has an article you should find useful.

Siliconera also appears to be teasing something, quite possibly related to Ys 7…an impending localization, perhaps? The truth should come out soon, it appears.

Dungeon crawler fans, take notice – Class of Heroes 2, which has not been localized as of yet, is getting ported, believe it or not, to the PS3, with a handful of extra features tacked on. Something tells me a retail release is not in the offing, but if nothing else this is one more possible version to be picked up (maybe) by a local publisher. (DToid coverage here.)

On the 3D Dot Game Heroes front, an issue or two ago someone created Link from Legend of Zelda, but this time around another enterprising block-builder has added Atlus’ cute ‘n chilly mascot, Jack Frost, to the fan-made roster. As the article brings out, it’s a tad surprising that Atlus didn’t put him in there themselves…

Not sure if this one even technically belongs here, but I couldn’t resist Mamotte Knight, an upcoming XBLA Indie title with 8-bit graphics and up to 4 players cooperating to defend the princess from “f**kin’ goblins” (her words, not mine). (DToid coverage here.)




This week’s “Featurette” for Trauma Team features the game’s music composer, and includes a trio of sample tracks for your listening pleasure. Of course, it’s not long now before you can hear them “for real” in the game.

I said I’d keep posting pretty much anything related to Fragile that I could find, and I meant it – this time around, Kauza’s got an article for you.

Did I somehow completely miss this? When I saw this article mentioning Jett Rocket, an upcoming WiiWare platformer by Shin’en (the Nanostray guys), it felt like something I should have already known about, but I drew a complete blank. Anyway, check that link for a quick trailer.

Joystiq has had some hands-on time with the Rocket Knight reboot, and seem to like what they see so far – here’s hoping!

If you’re interested in Solarobo (the upcoming spiritual sequel to Tail Concerto), then this trio of short videos ought to be up your alley. One quick question, though – am I the only one who isn’t getting any sound from those?

I haven’t kept up as closely with Lost in Shadow as I might have lately, but Kotaku’s preview is worth a read.

The Puzzle Quest derivatives just keep on a’comin’…though Lt. Fly: Rise of the Arachnids is an unusual take on the formula, combining the usual [i]Bejewled[/url] core with target shooting (and cartoon insects) For two bucks it might not make a bad addition to your iPhone library.

I’m pretty sure that the Tribune has mentioned Noitu Love 2, a well-regarded doujin 2-D action title, at some point – either way, it’s coming to WiiWare! (Front page item here.)

It appears that Prinny 2 has received the distinction of offering the cheapest DLC on the PSN – you can obtain a radish machine gun weapon for 10 yen (about a dime). I still don’t think anyone forgiven NIS for their Disgaea 3 DLC shenanigans, though. (DToid coverage here.)

Now here’s an interesting factoid about Okamiden – as fate would have it, the game was not passed through the “traditional” channels of conception and approval over at Capcom, but actually began as an off-to-the-side pseudo-doujin project by a couple of guys within the company. At some point, though, they decided to run it by one of the higher-ups, and the rest is (soon-to-be) history.

Of course, that item is not even the most unlikely story to be linked this issue – try this one, which starts way back in the early 90’s, when a group of Iraqi students developed a puzzle-platformer for the Amiga called Babylonian Twins. Of course, a number of factors beyond their control prevented the game from ever being released – until now! In perhaps the most stunning “take THAT, Duke Nukem Forever” move yet, Babylonian Twins is coming to the iPhone – check out a trailer here. Now THAT’S persistence! (DToid coverage here.)

On slightly less-roundabout indie puzzle-platformer fronts comes Robox, an upcoming WiiWare title which looks quite nice but (from here at least) also appears a bit “sticky” in the control department…maybe my eyes deceive me.

My “brick breaker” fetish strikes again – apparently this week’s DSiWare releases include a game called Alpha Bounce, a Breakout-style game with some RPG elements thrown in. Wonder how it compares to Beta Bloc?

C-blogger odber shows his devotion to Cave Story (specifically its music) by cooking up some custom images that you can print out and use with a generic case for your own CD copy of the game’s soundtrack! Nicely done!

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…and I’m off! ‘Til next time, thanks for reading and keep gaming obscurely.

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