The other day Namco Bandai stormed the internet announcing a bunch of awesome Tekken Tag Tournament 2 stuff: release dates, pre-order information, collectors edition information, and more! However it’s also been revealed which DLC fighters you may get will depend on who you pre-order with. But don’t stress, because Namco Bandai have released a few character profiles to help you get to know your DLC fighters to help you decide!
Those who pre-order throughShopto.net will be able to play as exclusive DLC fighters Angel from Tekken 2 and Michelle Chang who has not made an appearance in the series since the last Tekken Tag almost a decade ago. For more information, check out their character profiles below.
Pre-Order throughZavvi.comand you can get your hands on exclusive DLC fighters Kunimitsu and Ancient Ogre! Kunimitsu, much like Michelle Chang will be returning to the franchise after a 10 year absence. Ogre on the other hand you’ve probably seen recently as a final boss for Street Fighter characters in Street Fighter x Tekken. For more information, check out their character profiles below.
Still can’t decide? Check out the video below for in-game footage!
The World God Only Knows Collection Studio:Manglobe Publisher:Madman Entertainment Format:DVD Release Date:April 18, 2012 Price: $59.95 – Available Here
Overview:
The harem genre as a whole is one that is regularly frowned upon due to it’s over-sexualization of women and general formulaic nature. The World God Only Knows has a pretty big task ahead of it, which is to defy the stigma against harem series. It’s something very few series are ever capable of pulling off, which is what makes The World God Only Knows so special, it does just that.
The World God Only Knows takes a tired genre and does something new with it. It’s the creativity and charm is what makes The World God Only Knows so very special and it’s what makes this a genre redefining series that must be seen to be believed. This series takes the harem genre onto untouched territory. It’s new, it’s fresh and it’s The World God Only Knows.
Story:
So what makes for a good harem series? Well there has got to be some cute girls right? Right. But what makes for a great harem series? Some good plot to support the cute girls right? Right. Well what makes for a brilliant harem series? Some cute girls supported by good plotting with something fresh and creative thrown into the mix right? Right!
The World God Only Knows fits into the brilliant harem series category. It takes the tropes of the genre and turns them on their head. It’s got a creative streak unlike any other harem series in recent memory and it’s stylish as hell to boot.
The series revolves around Keima the self proclaimed Conqueror of Women, the only thing is, all the women that Keima conquers don’t exist. He is a pro dating sim player and has gained online notoriety for his efforts, unfortunately though for Keima, the demons of hell have caught wind of his skill and sent the demon girl Elsie to work alongside him to free the women of the world of their ‘Loose Souls’.
In a strange way, The World God Only Knows is an anti-harem due to the fact that after Keima wins their hearts, they completely forget about all of it, leaving him alone with his 2D girls in his dating sims. It’s very unique and is something certainly different from the norm of harems, which generally involves a loser guy finding himself salivated over by all manner of women for no particular reason what so ever.
The World God Only Knows main theme is that love is something that is earned, but it’s also something that is fleeting. This is a comedy series but that message is undoubtedly a sad but true one. It’s this tenet that makes The World God Only Knows so profound, it connects on a deeper level than the average harem series because it understands that love is something that is hard fought and easily lost, something that anyone who has loved someone can relate with.
From start to finish The World God Only Knows is simply fun. The characters are endearing, the stories are memorable and the message is bold and true. This is not something that comes by everyday and it is a must watch.
Visuals and Audio:
Manglobe put a lot of effort into this series and it’s evident through every single episode. The animation is absolutely gorgeous, with a great deal of attention to detail, right down to the slightest of character ticks, this show is so lively in terms of animation. The show aesthetically is very vibrant and colourful and features some incredibly memorable character designs, in particular Elsie, whom is in many ways the iconic character of the series on looks alone.
In terms of the soundtrack of The World God Only Knows utilises a mixture of digital beats and more standard pop tunes, which is of course a great combination when you consider the subject matter of the show (a character who is a pro dating sim player being forced to earn the love of real world girls). The opening theme in particular is a great song in it’s own right and simply addictive. The soundtrack from top to bottom is catchy as hell and a perfect backing for this series.
Extras:
Now for the unfortunate news. Madman Entertainment unfortunately did not include any significant special features or extras in this release, which is disappointing to say the least. The only special features included is textless opening and ending songs, which is of course the standard for any anime release these days. There is not much else to say, besides that this is a poor showing for a series that deserved some more extras to compliment the already brilliant series.
Overall: The World God Only Knows redefines the harem genre through it’s sheer creativity. It takes a genre that is decades old and pumps it with new life in a way that most series can never achieve. It is the freshest spin on the genre in years and has some real heart underneath it. The heart beneath it all makes The World God Only Knows an endearing experience that must be seen.
While this particular release is a little low on special features, it is still a worthwhile purchase due to the excellence of the series itself. It is 12 episodes of anime brilliance, that is without a doubt The World God Only Knows.
Tokyo Game Show has always featured a certain logo or catchphrase that changes from year to year. Lately this logo has been a piece of artwork featuring a woman who looks like her outfit and most of her body has been built out of video game hardware.
Today Tokyo Game Show’s organize CESA revealed that this girl will be returning yet again for a third year and with it she comes with a new color scheme, swapping her previously purple body for a red one. Andriasang has translated the text as saying something about her flying to your town to deliver “memories of smiles” from the digital world, more or less. The full artwork can be seen below and those who wish to attend this year’s TGS should know that it will be held at the Makuhari Messe from September 20th through the 23rd.
We just heard about the main characters that players will be able to take control of when Yakuza 5 hits Japanese store shelves in December and now Sega has updated Yakuza 5’s Japanese website with a slew of new images of these main characters.
For the most part all of the returning guys still look the same but we also seen the slightly grown up version of Haruka Sawamura as well as what the brand new character, Tatsuo Shinada, will look like. There are also a few images of each of the five areas players will be exploring. These images are accompanied by a large amount of Japanese text that differs between characters, however at the moment there exists no English translation of this text.
Things have been rather quiet about Viz Media’s Tiger & Bunny English dub ever sine it was announced that the series would in fact be receiving one. However today Viz chose to reveal a number of voice actors and actresses which will be handling some of the cast’s English voicework.
We already learned that Patrick Seitz would take care of Sky High/Keith Goodman’s voice and that Travis Willingham would handle Rock Bison’s voice but this time around Viz chose to reveal the voices of the head female characters. Well… two female characters and one who really wishes he was a female.
The voice of Karina Lyle, also known as Blue Rose, will be handled by Kari Wahlgren while Laura Bailey will be handling Dragon Kid’s voicework. As for Fire Emblem, his voicework will be taken care of by John Eric Bentley. Interestingly enough, no information has been revealed yet about the two main characters, Kotetsu and Barnaby. Perhaps we will find out in the coming weeks who will be handling their voices when the anime is released in North America.
Or at least that is what we would have liked to have seen. Earlier this week Hideo Kojima himself chose to give everyone a nice little teaser on his Twitter saying that he was so excited about Metal Gear Rising’s E3 demo that he would reveal a bit of its gameplay before E3 actually happened.
However that seemed to have just been a nice little troll from Kojima as the video released by Konami today is fifty seconds of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance’s demo screen. Looks like everyone will have to wait until E3 to see the newly revamped Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance in action when we will be getting our first chance to try out the game on the showroom floor.
Tecmo Koei has chosen to reveal the roster for their upcoming release of Dead or Alive 5 via a drip feed. Despite the fact that the game was announced many months ago, only a few characters have been confirmed for the final game and this includes the iconic ninjas Kasumi, Ayane, Hayate and Hayabusa as well as my favorite, Hitomi, and even a guest from Virtua Fighter in the form of Akira Yuki.
Today however it seems that two more characters have been revealed for the game via the latest issue of Famitsu. As you can see in the image to the right Lei Fang will be one of the available fighters when the game is released. Famitsu contains a few more images including ones that show Lei Fang taking on a clown suit wearing Zack in the middle of a circus stage called “The Show.” I’m sure we will be hearing something a bit more official in the next few days from Tecmo Koei themselves, but for now this is good enough for fans of Lei Fang and Zack.
Today Microsoft Japan revealed that they are planning to release Crimson Dragon (previously known as Project Draco) on June 13th through their digital marketplace for 1,200 MSP, also known as $15. The game will be exclusive to the Xbox 360 and must be controlled using the Kinect sensor to control the dragon in flight as well as use the dragon’s special powers.
For those who don’t know, Crimson Dragon is being developed by the same creators of the much beloved Panzer Dragoon series. Unfortunately Microsoft in North America has yet to reveal when Western gamers may have a chance to purchase the title in English. We have reached out to Microsoft to see if they care to shed a little light on Crimson Dragon’s Western release and will update you if they choose to respond.
Interestingly enough, the previous main game in the Yakuza series, Yakuza 4 had four main characters that the players switched between periodically. Now today Sega has revealed that Yakuza 5 will feature 5 different characters to play as as well as five different locations that can be visited. This information comes from Famitsu as it is reported that Kazuma Kiyru, my favorite Shun Akiyama and Taiga Saejima will be among the playable characters. Also playable in Yakuza 5 is Haruka Sawamura, the girl who Kazuma has been protecting for a long time.
The other new character is named Tatsuo Shinada and he is a brand new character that used to be a baseball player before he was banned due to gambling. Andriasang reports that Famitsu details Shinada as a character players will be able to emphasize with. The five areas gamers will be able to visit are Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, Fukuoka and Hokkaido, easily making Yakuza 5 probably the largest game ever in the Yakuza series.
Yakuza 5’s storyline picks up after Yakuza 4, with Shun traveling to Osaka, Kazuma working as a cab driver in Fukuoka, Haruak working as an idol in Osaka and Taiga serving a prison term. How these characters’ storylines will develop has not yet been revealed. Currently Yakzua 5 is set to be released in Japan in December exclusively on the PlayStation 3 with a release overseas still up in the air.
Capcom have revealed that they plan on becoming the #1 provider of digital content by the year 2022. This shouldn’t come as any surprise to gamers, who have been subjected to a ridiculous amount of downloadable content from Capcom (most of which exists under questionable pretences).
This goal that Capcom has is certainly not too much of a stretch of the imagination, especially when you consider their current business model of releasing incomplete games only to release countless DLC packs afterwards, many of which by all rights should have been on disc to begin with (Dragon’s Dogma says ‘Hi’).
The basic gist of Capcom’s plan here is that they want to up their distribution and production of digital content, which means there will be more DLC and more digital re-releases. There will also probably be yet another version of Street Fighter IV as well, they haven’t made one with the word ‘Ultimate’ in the title yet, so that is a given. In related news, Satan himself has bought Capcom shares.
The sad reality here is that the continuing trend of releasing incomplete games will continue and even increase in the case of Capcom, which is an utter shame. It’s really a sad day when you see a company like Capcom lose so much faith in their consumers whom they used to be very much in touch with.
What do you think of Capcom’s goal to become the #1 provider of digital content by 2022? Sound off in the comments section below. Don’t be too hard on Capcom though, they mean well. Ask their wallets if you don’t believe me, at least Capcom is thinking of someone.
Tecmo Koei has chosen to reveal the roster for their upcoming release of Dead or Alive 5 via a drip feed. Despite the fact that the game was announced many months ago, only a few characters have been confirmed for the final game and this includes the iconic ninjas Kasumi, Ayane, Hayate and Hayabusa as well as my favorite, Hitomi, and even a guest from Virtua Fighter in the form of Akira Yuki.
