Coming up this year is a tactical RPG for the 3DS, Project X Zone, however in Japan it came out back in October of 2012. This game, which is being published by Namco Bandai Games, will feature characters from three major video game publishers… Capcom, Sega, and of course Namco Bandai. It also seems to have anime styled cut scenes. Project X Zone is a follow up to Namco x Capcom (2005), and it will be featuring over 200 characters. These characters include, but aren’t limited to..
Ryu, Ken, and Chun-Li from Street Fighter (Capcom)
X and Zero from Mega Man X (Capcom)
Jin and Xiaoyu from Tekken (Namco Bandai)
Kite and BlackRose from .hack (Namco Bandai)
Akira and Pai-Chan from Virtua Fighter (Sega)
Ulala from Space Channel 5 (Sega)
Project X Zone sounds pretty epic, but I have two questions.
WHY IS THIS COMING OUT ONLY ON 3DS?
WHY ISN’T THIS A FIGHTING GAME?
I mean seriously what the hell. When I heard about this I expected a fighter, now I can’t say I dislike RPG or the tactical sub genre either… But seriously. You had a chance to make a bad ass fighting game and didn’t. Then, you go and throw it on the 3DS, but I honestly look forward to this. Also, I noticed that this game hasn’t really gotten any press in the U.S., which is pretty bad for the sales point of games. Either way, I’m looking forward to Project X Zone. I’m excited to see characters like Arthur (Ghosts’n Goblins), Frank West (Dead Rising), and Hsien-Ko (Darkstalkers) in a new game, yay for crossovers.Project X Zone has a set release date in North America for June 25, 2013.
Our latest section, Sexy Cosplay Show, is a bi-weekly feature of the sexiest video game cosplayers we can find. We save you the time of having to go to creepy Japanese websites and bring the goods straight to you. Whether your poison is big thighed fighting game gals or busty archaeologists, we’ve got hot gaming cosplay on lock down.
First up is probably the most cosplayed fighting game character ever, Chun Li from Street Fighter. This is the classic Chinese blue Chun Li costume popularized in Street Fighter II. Check out the sexy & hotChun Licosplayer below…
Next is the venerable Cammy from Street Fighter. Although she first debuted in Super Street Fighter II, this is Cammy’s costume from the Street Fighter Alpha series. Check out the sexy & hotCammycosplayer below…
The next most popularly cosplayed Street Fighter character is Sakura. Sakura debuted in the Street Fighter Alpha series using a fighting style similar to Ryu’s. Check out the sexy & hotSakura cosplayer below…
Much to the dismay of Street Fighter fans, Elena is rarely cosplayed. Fortunately, we’re really big Street Fighter III fans so we found a really good one. Check out the sexy & hotElena cosplayer below…
The finish things off, we’ve got this great cosplay of Poison, who debuted in Final Fight, appeared in Street Fighter and is playable in Street Fighter X Tekken. Poison is a fan favorite among male players despite “her” dubious gender. Check out the sexy & hotPoison cosplayer below…
Which video game cosplay is your favorite? Come back next time for more of the Sexy Cosplay Show.
Oh Japan. Yet another thing you’ve given the world. The latest photo gag in Japan is HADOKEN-ing. Chances are if you were kid who played Street Fighter or watched DBZ, you’ve done this before. You basically pose in the classic Ryu fireball pose as your friend acts like they’re being blown back from the strike.
Check out the pics below…
Will this be a new thing for American’s to do at cons? Are you already hadoken-ing?
Capcom has made some of my favorite games of all time. I was a die hard fan of theirs up until about 5 years ago. At first, I thought it was just because gaming trends changed and now I’m just a crusty, old gamer. I can live with that. But on the other hand… I’m still a gamer and Capcom has made a lot of great games. As much as it bothers me to say it, short of a stray hit game and a few retro collections, Capcom hasn’t really put out much to impress me recently.
In the last few years I think of Street Fighter IV as the only quality product they’ve released. While there have been a few runner ups, they’re marred by gameplay issues (Street Fighter X Tekken) or never even make it to the US (Monster Hunter series). Now as most of you should know, Capcom is a Japanese company, Japanese run. So the US division of Capcom is basically a middleman to the real suits in Osaka. I find it interesting reading Capcom’s official US community site, Capcom Unity; it’s filled with creative fans and plenty of fan service from the US Capcom employees who run it. Videos, artwork, giveaways, reposts of fan created content… hell, they even outright bought a game that a fan made (Street Fighter X Mega Man). The posts are enthusiastic and cater both to the new and old fans of Capcom’s gaming past.
Let’s take a look at key Capcom games over the past 30 or so years. I was sure not to include every sequel they made; nor did I include every beat’em up and shoot’em up. I focused on new IP’s and critical releases.
1942 (1984) Ghosts ‘N Goblins (1985) Bionic Commando (1987) Mega Man (1987) Forgotten Worlds (1988) Final Fight (1989) U.N. Squadron (1989) Strider (1989) Street Fighter II: The World Warrior (1991) Mega Man X (1993) Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom (1993) Breath of Fire (1993) DarkStalkers (1994) X-Men: Children of the Atom (1994) Street Fighter Alpha (1995) Resident Evil (1996) Star Gladiator (1996) Mega Man X4 (1997) Rival Schools: United By Fate (1997) Street Fighter III (1997) Mega Man Legends (1997) Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix (1997) Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes (1998) Tech Romancer (1998) Dino Crisis (1999) Power Stone (1999) Giga Wing (1999) Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes (2000) Maximo: Ghosts to Glory (2001) Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (2001) Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001 (2001) Devil May Cry (2001) Onimusha: Warlords (2001) Mega Man Zero (2002) Steel Battalion (2002) Chaos Legion (2003) Auto Modellista (2003) Viewtiful Joe (2003) Monster Hunter (2004) Resident Evil 4 (2005) Shadow of Rome (2005) Killer7 (2005) God Hand (2006) Okami (2006) Lost Planet (2006) Dead Rising (2006) Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars (2008) Street Fighter IV (2008) Asura’s Wrath (2012) Dragon’s Dogma (2012) Street Fighter X Tekken (2012) DmC: Devil May Cry (2013)
Notice in the list how many more games were released before 2007. It’s as if at that point the company locked down and chose profit over creativity and innovation. If you ask me, that strategy has bit them in the ass.
To make things more interesting, this is something that has been noticed in Capcom. It began with luminary designers leaving the company or having their studios closed around 2007. In most cases they left because they felt their ideas weren’t being given enough freedom. Then there’s Capcom US. As mentioned above, these guys are OK in my book. But it seems a lot of what they want released goes unnoticed by Japan. For example, the Mega Man IP. Just based on their social posts alone, there is a ton of enthusiasm for that series, yet CapcomJapan keeps canceling any hope of the series continuing. It took years for Capcom Japan to greenlight the Monster Hunter series again in the US. And even then they dragged their feet for months and sometimes years translating the game for US release. It’s a commonly known fact in the game industry that one of the leading reasons for piracy of games is long delays in multi-region releases. This is something Valve learned with the Russian market as explained in the past by Gabe Newell. By releasing games in tandem in different regions, it removes the NEED to pirate the games. You will always have pirating, but the average consumer wants to buy their entertainment, not waste time downloading torrents and applying patches to their expensive gaming consoles.
Long story short, Capcom is not the creative wrecking ball it used to be. At best, they’re a company crawling in the shadow of their glorious legacy. Every now and then they get it right, but for the most part, they seem to have lost their passion for risk and innovation. If Capcom is having difficulty creating new and interesting IPs, then at least go back and use your history to your advantage… Reboots can be effective as proven by the success of Tomb Raider and DmC. Whether you liked them or hated them as a hardcore fan, the games themselves are solid, worthy titles which introduce new players to the series. I don’t think there’s a Mega Man fan out there that would be dissatisfied with a new adventure game called Mega Man Legends 3. If you ask my humble opinion, I think there should be more collaboration between Capcom’s US and Japanese offices, because Americans are starved of amazing Japanese video games.
