Author Archives: InTheSky

Blade Arcus from Shining EX Official Website is Up

InTheSky July 23, 2015 Leave a reply

Sega has published a new webpage promoting Blade Arcus from Shining EX under their umbrella of Shining games websites. It features screenshots of the game, the story’s premise (revolving largely around the two new characters Pairon and Ryuuga,) character bios and “battle style” descriptions for the 14 characters that are currently confirmed for the game, and a preview of the Limited Edition contents.

The image above is what Sega used to tease Shining Resonance’s Sonia and her arrival to the game; she will be accessible to those who purchase the first print copies of the game. Beyond that, it’s not known if she will be made available in any other form.

Continue reading to learn more! Some of the content leans toward being NSFW, so be warned.

Dengeki Bunko: FIGHTING Climax Ignition Coming to JPN Arcades Next Week

InTheSky July 23, 2015 Leave a reply

While previously only given a release window of “Summer 2015”, Sega has officially announced that Dengeki Bunko: FIGHTING CLIMAX Ignition will arrive in Japanese arcades on July 28, which is next week. It’s rather sudden, but the sooner the better. Were a console version to come out, you’d want the space between releases to be pretty noticeable. And considering that Blade Arcus from Shining EX is coming to Japan late November, it’s better not to have the two compete or be all that close to each other. Maybe the playerbase doesn’t have much overlap, but you ideally don’t want your game to have to compete with hype from another fighter. Fighting games ideally want consistent customers, and people only have so many hours in a day.

It remains to be seen what will happen with this version in the West!

Persona 4: Arena Ultimax, Catherine, and Dengeki Bunko: FIGHTING CLIMAX Featured at EVO 2015

InTheSky July 21, 2015 Leave a reply

Some of our readers who are interested in competitive fighting games should be aware that EVO 2015 took place this past weekend. Persona 4: Arena Ultimax was one of the headlining events. Sega’s Dengeki Bunko: FIGHTING CLIMAX and Atlus’s Catherine were featured as side events at EVO 2015. So while they weren’t featured as main stage events and enjoyed the large pot bonuses that some other games may have enjoyed, they were also streamed through Twitch channels and many players had the opportunity to compete against each other in the tense but fun atmosphere of EVO.

Be sure to continue reading! It was a fun event, and a quick recap awaits after the break.

Blade Arcus from Shining EX Coming to PS4, PS3, Shining Resonance’s Sonia in Tow

InTheSky July 21, 2015 1 Reply

This week’s Famitsu has revealed the first console port of the Blade Arcus from Shining series, to be titled “Blade Arcus from Shining EX.” The game is coming to both Playstation 4 and Playstation 3, which is in keeping with Japanese developers’ greater adoption of the Playstation 4 as a platform moving forward. It is set to release on November 26, and is receiving both a standard edition (¥6,990) and a limited edition (¥9,990.) The limited edition includes a Shining Heroine art book, a special art box designed by Tony Taka (current Shining series artist), Shining Blade OST, Shining Ark character songs, and a Heroine swimsuit calendar.

First print copies of all Blade Arcus from Shining EX will include a code for a new playable character – Sonia from Shining Resonance. Sonia is one of the more popular characters from Shining Resonance, so it is not too surprising to see her here. Other new characters are set to come to the game too, though it’s not specified if they’ll be revealed in the months leading to the release, and whether or not they’ll be on the disc or featured as DLC.

Beyond that, this game will feature all of the characters available in the most recent version of the game, which was scheduled for a summer release in arcades.

Blade Arcus isn’t a major name in fighting games in Japan, though it is consistently supported. Arcades may be dwindling in japan, but they still remain a strong social force and can be a great place to get in long hours of practice. Console versions of fighting games are typically expected to sell to passionate high-level competitors of a certain game in Japan. Let’s see how this does.

Credit for the information goes to this Gematsu article, and Hachima Kikou. Featured image is credited to Famitsu.

Lost Dimension Trailer: The End (The Character)

InTheSky July 15, 2015 Leave a reply

Here’s The Article containing The Trailer for The End, The Character, who apparently shows up at The Beginning (but also presumably shows up at other parts of the story including The End, and by The End I mean a particular point in the game’s plot progression and not the character himself.) To let you know that The End of humanity is coming.

He is a terrorist, self-styled agent of the apocalypse, and delights in the suffering and impending doom that he aims to bring upon humanity. The Pillar, his lair, is designed in such a way to psychologically torture the characters of the game, as the team must guess at the traitors amongst the ranks and eliminate one team member periodically through the journey to the top.

Continue reading to check out the English trailer! Lost Dimension is coming to North America on July 28 (two weeks!) and Europe on August 28.

BlitWorks (Spanish porting house) Suggests Fans Keep Asking for Ports of Sega Games

InTheSky July 15, 2015 Leave a reply

Recently, Spanish website Gamespek conducted an interview with the Spanish porting company BlitWorks. Selected translated comments posted to this NeoGAF thread suggest that the company’s boss, Tony Cabello, encourages fans to continue to ask Sega for ports of games, and welcome the opportunity to handle ports themselves.

A page detailing their portfolio can be seen on their official website, alongside the platforms they work on. Among their works, the Sega standouts are Jet Set Radio (Vita, PS3, Android, iOS, 360, PC) and Sonic CD (PC, 360, PS3.) A few years ago, BlitWorks approached Sega with working demos of Jet Set Radio, Sonic CD, and Shenmue, but apparently Sega had expressed interest in the first two.

They also mention that they used a certain “emulation trick” to make Jet Set Radio operable on the firmware versions that were the newest at the time, but the game ceased to be functional with later updates, such as on iOS8. The terms of BlitWorks’ contract apparently didn’t enable them to revisit the mobile ports to retool them and render them functional. Jet Set Radio is one of many games culled from Sega’s current mobile offerings in a sort of “quality assurance” initiative.

Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax IGNITION’s Last Location Test Concluded Today

InTheSky July 15, 2015 Leave a reply

For those wanting to keep up on developments regarding DFBC: Ignition in Japan, the official FIghting Climax Twitter account recently noted that it was conducting its last round of location tests at three arcades in Japan today (Wednesday the 15th, Japan time.) So it appears that there aren’t likely to be any more character additions in this iteration of the game (though I think there’s room for more on the character select screen!) As it stands, no ports to any Playstation hardware platforms have been announced yet. Wide release of Ignition will be coming to Japanese arcades later this summer.

Meanwhile, Western release is as of now officially scheduled for Q3 of this year for the original version of Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax.

Featured image credit goes to this blogiswar article.

Shenmue III: Lake of the Lantern Bugs Trailer, KS Ending in Less than Three Days

InTheSky July 15, 2015 Leave a reply

YsNet uploaded a short, new trailer to promote Shenmue III to the official Shenmue III YouTube account ahead of the Kickstarter‘s impending closure. We’re now at just three days left (read: <3….or </3) to donate – if you haven’t already done so and want to contribute, be sure to stop by the Kickstarter page! The physical PS4 copy is now an option at the $60 tier, an update that was made quite a while ago. Be assured that the Kickstarter will certainly hit $5 million, in my opinion. At this point, it’s about if you want to contribute or not, and how much you want to contribute! Do note that electing to contribute will allow backers to offer opinions when Ys Net solicits them during the development process.

The trailer itself shows Ryo and Shenhua at a night scene. Ryo, while catching up to Shenhua, notices a firefly, and as he approaches the lake he witnesses a mass gathering of light around Shenhua. It’s the presence of a mass gathering fireflies, and it also serves to highlight the lighting work in-game and offers another work-in-progress look at the character models, to which Yu Suzuki is paying particular attention. Continue reading to check out the trailer!

Sympathy 2015 – A Phantasy Star Online Series 15th Anniversary Concert

InTheSky July 14, 2015 Leave a reply

Sega announced a new entry in the Sympathy concert series with Sympathy 2015. The last Sympathy concert took place in 2013, and at the time it was commemorating 25 years since the first Phantasy Star title was released. It featured music across the entire Phantasy Star franchise. Sympathy 2015 will celebrate 15 years since the first Phantasy Star Online title and will be devoted to the Phantasy Star Online subseries.

Sega’s official webpage for the concert event can be seen here. The event times are up, alongside ticket prices (a little on the pricey side!) The event is scheduled for November 23 at the Pacifico Yokohama convention center.

Credit for the featured images goes to this PSUBlog article.

Stella Glow Coming to Europe through NISAmerica

InTheSky July 9, 2015 Leave a reply

NISAmerica announced that they will be publishing Stella Glow, Imageepoch’s SRPG that is newly released in Japan, for European release. The game is receiving both a physical and a digital release, and is set to come out during the Spring 2016 window.

NISAmerica has consistently been handling the European releases of games that Atlus has been coordinating for North America, at this point. If as many relatively niche titles can be consistently localized for Europe, I can’t help but speculate if there’s in fact a positive reception to the Atlus games and other titles like Lost Dimension for the region. It bodes well for Europe, if true. And it makes you wonder if NISAmerica will follow suit with FuRyu’s Legend of Legacy.

Stella Glow is set to come to North America via Atlus during the 2015 holiday season.