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Blazblue Cross Tag Battle On Nintendo Switch Is Basically Dead, Will New DLC Revive it?

Posted on January 24, 2019 by Rae Michelle Richards

Last year brought a number of brand new indie and AAA fighting games to fruition. Alongside big names like Final Fantasy Dissidia NT entering the console arena for the first time and Soul Calibur VI teaming up with Square Enix, Arc System Works launched their own dream crossover title, Blazblue: Cross Team Battle last June.  During the summer months – after launch – it felt like CTB was sure to continue to foster a healthy community and would be a game that had potential to not just be a flash in the pan. When your roster spans Rooster Teeth’s RBWY franchise, Atlus’ Persona series, Arc System Works own Blazblue franchise and with newcomers from the criminally underappreciated Under Night In-Birth series, how could things go wrong?

Last night I loaded up BBTAG for the first time in a few months to try out the last DLC Pack that I finally got around to purchasing. After playing around with the katana-wielding Yuzuriha in a handful of offline VS matches, I went online to adjust my profile and pick up a few icons. While connected I decided to check the lobbies and surprisingly there were literally zero people playing online last night around 11 PM MST.  A fighting game’s ranked or competitive scene dying, I can see, it takes developer support and community interest to keep tournaments and the like going. But even the dozens of casual lobbies were empty. Things were a little better this evening, but not by much, with a grand total of 12 people in one casual lobby.

So what are some factors that might have worked against Blazblue: Cross Tag Battle to cause it to die within six months? I don’t have the exact answer but here are a few ideas:

  1. Poorly Received DLC Model – BBTag shipped with two versions – a full priced $69.99 USD release that included the complete 40 character roster or a $49.99 USD version that unlocked only half of the fighters. Arc System Works rolled out 3 free RWBY characters over the course of early summer until a major update hit at the end of August that unlocked the remaining DLC characters. Despite not being released for a full two months after launch, criticism of the launch line-up was swift due to the fact that the majority of the sprites, announcers, and movesets were datamined almost immediately.
  2. Nintendo Online Requirement –  It’s much easier for folks to hop online and play the various free to play titles available on Switch than it is to fork over $20 USD for the now mandatory online subscription. Yes, Online on other platforms also requires a sub fee but for the first three months of its life, anyone who owned Cross Tag Battle could hop on battle online without a paywall.
  3. Lack of Developer Support – Everything looked a lot brighter when the last of the DLC characters were revealed in August. Unloading the remainder of the roster in one big mega patch was a bit of a gamble after the slow drip-feed leading up to the announcement. While BBTag’s add-on characters were significantly cheaper than say Capcoms ($6.99 for 3 Characters Vs. $39.99 CDN for the current SFV Season Pass), Arc didn’t do much to make the mega patch an event. A press release was sent out, we covered it, the community loved it and then…. that was everything we’ve heard about Blazblue Cross until the end of the year….
  4. The Smash Factor – When talking about 2018 fighting games, I can’t ignore the fact that Nintendo released one of its most anticipated games right as the year was coming to a close. Packing in an impressive roster of 75 characters, all of whom come with the game, a full single-player campaign, and marketing presence that Blazblue: Cross Tag Battle could never hope to match- it is a sound argument that some of BBTag’s community have simply moved over to Smash for the time being.

“What’s Next?” – As a community, we simply do not know. Back during the release stream for the last two character packs in August 2018, Arc posted the above image on their screens both on stream and at the event – seeming to tease a fifth “fate” or franchise to join the fray. Since then we’ve heard absolutely nothing but “Anime FGC News” on Twitter recently reported that something would be announced in February. EVO 2019 isn’t until August, so lets all hope that Blazblue Cross Tag Battle gets an entire second season of additional characters – with a fifth franchise there is so much more potential.

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Blazblue Cross Tag Battle Releases Yang For Free + Two New Character Packs

Posted on June 19, 2018 by Rae Michelle Richards

Fans of Blazblue, RWBY, Under Night: Rebirth or Persona 4: Arena should be excited because ARC System Works just dropped two new character packs as paid DLC alongside Yang from Team RWBY as a free add-on for all platforms. 

Character Packs #2 contains: 

  • Jubei (Under Night: Rebirth) 
  • Aegis (Persona 4: Arena) 
  • Carmine (Blazblue) 

Character Pack #3 contains: 

  • Hakumen (Blazblue) 
  • Naoto (Persona 4: Arena) 
  • Vatista (Under Night: Rebirth) 

Each pack is available separately for $4.99 CDN or as part of the $19.99 CDN Season’s Pass. Alongside the first character pack which was free for the first 14 days of release, we’ve had 9 of the promised 20 DLC characters released thus far. No word yet on who Character Pack #4 might contain but the Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon, Labyrsm as she has been datamined in adorable Chibi form. 

Blazblue Cross Tag Battle is available for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and PC. 

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Blazblue Cross Tag Battle Blasts Its Way Onto PC and Consoles Today

Posted on June 5, 2018 by Rae Michelle Richards

Arc System Works latest 2D fighter, Blazblue: Cross Team Battle, sees the universes of Persona 4, Under Night Rebirth, Blazblue and Rooster Teeth’s RWBY collide in the most epic crossover fighting game this side of Smash Bros.  BCTB’s accessible yet deep fighting system – combining aspects of Blazblue, Persona 4 Arena and Under Night: Rebirth together – allows players to ease into their favorite characters, while allowing more experienced veterans room to pull off impressive combos. 

Here are some of the features of Blazblue: Cross Team Battle as Arc System Works PR outlined in their press release: 

 BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle Features 

CROSS 

  • Cross over between 4 different universes! Play as characters from the BlazBlue, Persona 4 Arena, Under Night In-Birth, and (for the first time ever in a fighting game), RWBY series! 

TAG 

  • Dive deep into the accessible 2 vs 2 gameplay system in a gorgeous 2D tag team based fighting game! 

BATTLE 

  • Take the fight to your friends, online, or against CPU opponents in robust single and multiplayer modes! 

LOOK GOOD DOING IT 

  • High definition anime styled 2D characters alongside beautiful 3D backgrounds and smooth animation brings the game to life! 

ARC ASSEMBLED 

  • Developed by Arc System Works, creators and developers of critically acclaimed and fan favorite fighting series BlazBlue, Guilty Gear, and Dragon Ball Fighter Z! 

Available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Windows PC, Blazblue: Cross Team Batle isn’t just more accessible gameplay wise but price wise as well. The Standard Edition, which includes a 20-character roster, is priced at $59.99 CDN. Additional characters will be sold in sets of 3 for $4.99 as add-on DLC but during the game’s first two weeks the first character pack is available for free alongside Blake from RWBY who will be free indefinitely. A season pass of sorts, the Cross Tag Collection, priced at $19.99 includes all 5 character packs. 

More coverage of Blazblue: Cross Tag Battle will be forthcoming later this week as Arc System Works has provided us with a digital Nintendo Switch copy for coverage. Until then make sure to check out several brand new launch day screenshots below. 





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Arc System Works warns about streaming guidelines for BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle

Posted on June 3, 2018 by Jason Nason

Online of videogames has become a big thing in recent years. There are a lot of gamers on Twitch, YouTube, and most recently Facebook Gaming who play their games, stream them, and provide VOD after the fact for fans of the games and themselves.

Arc System Works has issued a reminder of some of their guidelines for online gaming content creators of some dos and don’ts when it comes to Arc System Works’ upcoming game BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle. The studio has stated that they want to give gamers the freedom to upload content, however when it comes to story mode, that is where most of the restrictions and guidelines will reside.

Here are the video/streaming guidelines as set by Arc System Works:

DO

  • Stream matches to your heart’s content. Either against other players (local or online), or against the CPU.
  • Put together tutorial videos to break down characters, teams, strategies, or show how to pull off that amazing combo.

DO NOT

  • Stream Episode Mode at all. Very short clips of Episode Mode content up to Chapter 2 are permitted for video content only. 
  • Stream or upload any music-only content. Music playing in the background during matches, online lobbies, and etc are totally fine. A soundtrack rip or upload is not.

These rules, in general, apply across the board with Arc System Works games. Unfortunately, these rules are non-negotiable with the powers that be, and violating these rules could result in your channel being issued a content ID claim, or worse, a channel strike/account suspension.

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MomoCon Announce SUDA 51, Warren Spector, Blizzard Talent As The Big Draws For 2018

Posted on May 3, 2018 by Rae Michelle Richards

Anime conventions are pretty dang fun aren’t they? I’ve been attending conventions for at least the past 15 years – both as a fun activity with friends but also in a work capacity for coverage here. Anime and gaming fans in Atlanta, Georgia are going to have a lot to do at MomoCon This coming May 24th – 27th with the announcement of their special guests line-up.

SUDA 51 – the founder of Grasshopper Manfucture and creator of Killer Is Dead, No More Heroes and Killer 7 is joining representatives from Nippon Ichi Software (NIS) to make a mysterious special announcement. Perhaps with Travis Strikes Again coming out for Nintendo Switch this year we will see the first two No More Heroes titles on Nintendo’s hybrid handheld console?


Cossplay photo from MomoCon 2017 via MomoCon PR

Blizzard, not being content to just attend their own multi-day convention will be at MomoCon as well. Joining developers from the Heroes of the Storm Team and Overwatch Team are the voice actors for Mercy (Lori Pohl), Junkrat (Christopher Parson), Pharah (Lucie Phol) and Soldier 76 (Fred Tatasciore) will band together to defend the payload.. I mean help out with Blizzard’s selection of panels.

MomoCon 2018 takes place from Thursday May 24th through Sunday May 27th at the Georgia World Congress Center.

 


Lastly voice actors from a number of DragonBall fighting games from the last few generations of consoles will be on hand to share their experiences playing Akira Toyayama’s iconic characters. The voice actors from the latest Dragon Ball Fighterz, the Budokai series of games, Raging Burst and of course the Funimation dub of DBZ will be on hand. The recognizable voices of Sean Schemmel (Goku), Kyle Hebert (Gohan, Narrator), Christopher Sabat (Piccolo, Vegeta) and Josh Martin (Majin Buu) will all be present and sharing their experiences with attendees.

 

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Arc System Works unveils BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle Collector’s Edition

Posted on April 14, 2018 by Jason Nason

Arc System Works unveiled new details about the release of the collector’s edition of the team anime fighting game, BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle for the Playstation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC (Steam). The game and collector’s edition will hit stores on June 5th, 2018.

The collector’s edition can only be pre-ordered as a limited edition on the official Arc System Works Gear store (which is currently under development) starting on May 4th.

The BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle Collector’s Edition will include the BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle game (PS4 or Switch), a full color, 52 page art book, 15 song soundtrack, and will be in a special BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle steel game case. It will also include 4 acrylic figures featuring BlazBlue‘s Ragna, Persona‘s Yu, Under Night In-Birth‘s Hyde, and RWBY‘s Ruby.

The Collector’s Edition will retail for $99.99 USD.

If you pre-order the standard edition at retailers such as Amazon, Best Buy, and GameStop, you’ll also receive a special mini soundtrack featuring 7 select tracks from BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle.

Finally Arc System Works also unveilled a brand new English language character trailer. Check that out below.

http://darkainartsgamers.tumblr.com/post/172878106130/more-at-httpgamersdarkainartscom

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BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle’s first DLC character pack announced

Posted on February 15, 2018 by Jason Nason

Arc System Works America announced today the three new fighters joining the BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle line up in the DLC Character Pack 1.

The characters joining in the battle are Platinum the Trinity (BlazBlue), Kanji Tatsumi (Persona 4 Arena), and Orie (Under Night In-Birth).

BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle features a dream-team roster of characters that have never before been gathered in a single 2D fighting game. Featuring fighters pulled from the BlazBlue, Persona 4 Ultimate Arena, UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH EXE: LATE, and the RWBY universes, Cross Tag Battle‘s 2v2 tag based combat is perfect for fans of the genre. BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle will be released on June 5th, 2018 on PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Steam (PC).

https://youtu.be/dJNrP9rQJqs

http://darkainartsgamers.tumblr.com/post/170928539455/more-at-httpgamersdarkainartscom

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Blazblue Cross Tag Battle coming to the Americas on June 5th

Posted on January 13, 2018 by Jason Nason

Arc System Works announced today that their upcoming fighter Blazblue Cross Tag Battle will be released in Japan on May 31st with a release set for North America on June 5th.

BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle will feature a dream-team of characters that have never before been gathered in a single 2D fighting game. Featuring characters from BlazBlue, Persona 4 Ultimate Arena, UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH, and RWBY, the 3D animated series, developed by the visionary creators at Rooster Teeth Productions.

Cross Tag Battle features the work of Arc System Works’ up-and-coming illustrator: Konomi Higuchi as the game’s lead character designer.

BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle will be release for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Steam 3 platforms.

https://youtu.be/rsqwErCYEhg
https://youtu.be/KGY-JDYidlY
https://youtu.be/ldK5ed0SXSA
https://youtu.be/b9JNFpRS0c8
https://youtu.be/3YvnAaWfDyY

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Arc System Works Establishes North American Branch

Posted on November 12, 2017 by Jason Nason

Arc System Works has announced that they have established “Arc System Works America, Inc.” in Torrance, California as its North American branch. The move was made in order to expand its operations and offerings to fans in the region.

“Since its inception almost 30 years ago, Arc System Works has been at the pinnacle of 2D Fighting game development,” stated President Minoru Kidooka, “merging traditional Japanimation-like expression and technology to bring fans around the world entertainment the likes of which they have never seen.”

“While we have been able to bring our games to North America with help from local business partners in the past, with our new branch ‘Arc System Works America, Inc.’ we will better be able to open the channels of communication between fan and developer, ensuring your voices are heard and most importantly applied.

“As we expand in these exciting times, I will personally ensure we never lose sight of the Arc System Works company slogan: ‘Action’ ‘Revolution’ ‘Challenge’. I look forward to our latest challenge of establishing a new branch and continuing to develop exciting and innovative experiences for all the fans who made this next stage in our company’s history possible.”

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Double Dragon IV coming to Switch tomorrow

Posted on September 6, 2017 by Jason Nason

Arc System Works Co., Ltd. announced today that Double Dragon IV, the latest installment in the classic beat’em up series, is coming soon to the Nintendo Switch. Best of all the game will hit the eShop tomorrow.

Key team members involved in the 1987 arcade version including Original Planner, Yoshihisa Kishimoto, Designer, Koji Ogata, and Composer, Kazunaka Yamane, have teamed up to recreate the next chapter in the Double Dragon saga.

Billy and Jimmy Lee are back and they’ve brought the 80’s with them. Except this time, the battlefield has moved to Japan!

The game will feature a story mode, as well as co-op, versus, and tower mode. The game will be playable on the television, in handheld mode on the go, and also in tabletop mode for versus or co-op mode on the go.

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Circle’s Frontier Days launches today in 3DS eShop

Posted on March 9, 2017 by Jason Nason

Developed by ARC system works, Circle Entertainment is releasing Frontier Days: Founding Pioneers today in the Nintendo 3DS eShop.

The game is a simulation game where you build new cities onto undeveloped land. By chopping wood and mining stones, construct buildings with gathered resources to develop your city to become large and rich. The pioneers can gather the resources such as logs and raw meats by chopping and hunting.

You also use gathered resources to construct buildings and process the resources by building actions to obtain new resources. Various buildings can be constructed by new resources. When the end of a year comes, the harvest festival requires money and food for the buildings and pioneers, so take the balance of the cost of the resources into consideration!

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Ninja Usagimaru – The Mysterious Karakuri Castle | REVIEW

Posted on October 12, 2016 by Jason Nason

I like puzzle games, and there is something inherently satisfying when a puzzle game is also an action-platformer. Playing through many of the 3D Zelda games is a testament to just how popular this type of puzzle game can be. Ninja Usagimaru – The Mysterious Karakuri Castle is a side-scrolling puzzle platformer which combines the need to solve a physical puzzle in the level with also reaching the goal. While the game has all the markings of a fun game, the controls and responsiveness of the game are a little but clunky and it makes the experience of playing as a ninja a little bit unsatisfying.

At this point of all of my reviews I always point out that the negative things I pointed out in the opening paragraph aren’t enough of a damper to kill the entire game for me and this is again the case. While the controls can be a bit of a pain, and at times not very intuitive, the game still has some solid challenge. Once you can master the controls, and breathe when your character walks off a ledge instead of jumping, there is fun to be had.

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Aksys breaks a Chase cold case on Nintendo 3DS this week

Posted on October 10, 2016 by Jason Nason

Chase: Cold Case Investigations ~Distant Memories~ from Aksys Games and Arc System Works is due to hit the Nintendo 3DS eShop in North America and Europe this week. The game is set to be released on Thursday.

Chase: Cold Case Investigations ~Distant Memories~ is an adventure mystery game from the mind of Taisuke Kanasaki, director of the famed Hotel Dusk: Room 215. You’ll join the exploits of two gritty detectives whose sense of justice and raw instinct drive them to seek the truth. Put your sleuthing skills to the challenge by re-investigating old crime scenes and solving cold cases by searching for clues and interrogating perps!

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Aksys bringing to Ninja Usagimaru: The Mysterious Karakuri Castle 3DS eShop in September

Posted on September 11, 2016 by Jason Nason

Aksys Games has announced that they are bringing the Arc System Works and F K Digital title Ninja Usagimaru: The Mysterious Karakuri Castle to the Nintendo 3DS eShop in both North America and Europe.

Ninja Usagimaru: The Mysterious Karakuri Castle is an action puzzle game that challenges players to put their sharpened ninja skills to the test! Taking place in a time long forgotten by men, players assume the role of Usagimaru, a legendary hero who embarks on a massive quest to save his village from the clutches of vile monsters.

In the game players will travel through 60+ mindboggling levels to rescue captured villagers and restore order to the land. Freeing villagers will bestow items to boost Usagimaru’s abilities. You will have to navigate tough traps, manipulate the environment and overcome brain twisting puzzles.

Once you’ve bested the main game, you can unlock even more levels.

Ninja Usagimaru: The Mysterious Karakuri Castle hasn’t been given a rating by the ESRB yet. Ninja Usagimaru: The Mysterious Karakuri Castle is set to be released in both regions on September 29th.

http://darkainartsgamers.tumblr.com/post/150288415970/more-at-httpgamersdarkainartscom

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BlazBlue: Central Fiction Releases this Winter on PS4/PS3

Posted on June 1, 2016 by Jason Nason

Aksys Games and Arc System Works announced on Friday that BlazBlue: Central Fiction will be released this Winter in North America physically and digitally on the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3.

BlazBlue: Central Fiction is the newest installment in the BlazBlue franchise in the 2D fighting series. The game will feature a brand new story, new characters, levels, modes, and system mechanics, and there will be over 33 fighters to choose from.

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