Afro Samurai Gets Comic-Con Appearance

Afro Samurai will be demoed to the public for the first time at this week's Comic-Con International in San Diego, Namco Bandai announced today.

The playable demo will give gamers a chance to check out what looks to be a pretty stylistic fighter based on the Samuel L. Jackson executive produced anime series. There will also be an Afro Samurai panel on Thursday featuring the creators behind the show. Panelist members will include Samuel "Snakes on a Plane" Jackson, THe RZA, Takashi Okazaki and Leo Chu. The group plan to talk about the development process, dish on some behind-the-scenes anecdotes and explain the inspiration behind the characters, music and story.

Namco-Bandai Rescuing Hellgate From Sinking Flagship?

Namco-Bandai may be stepping in to rescue Hellgate: London from embattled Flagship Studios, who recently suspended private testing for Mythos in the wake of widespread reports that the studio was shutting down.

We've approached Flagship for comment and they've yet to explain their status to us. Then, a posting appeared on Hellgate's official forums from Namco-Bandai's senior director of business development, Zack Karlsson, stating:

Hello Hellgaters,

I know everyone is looking for an announcement, and we'd love to make one — but right now, many things are in flux and we don't have all the information yet. As soon as we do, we'll post here on the forums, on the website, and anywhere else we can find you.

The posting continued:

iDOLM@STER For PSP Announced

Until now, nerds who wanted to play Namco's pop idol sim THE iDOLM@STER had two choices: Play the arcade versions or play the Xbox 360 versions. But not every owns an Xbox 360 in Japan. (Shocking, we know.) Good news! There's a new option as Namco Bandai is releasing the game on the PSP. Dubbed THE iDOLM@STER SP, this one player game almost looks like a port of the arcade version with PSP-tweaked graphics. There is a new "mail check" system where players have to check the idol's email from magazine writers, stylists and fans. Since Namco Bandai won't be able to make a killing on DLC like it has with the Xbox 360, the company is releasing three versions of the game with three characters spliced into each one. Maximum profits! The three versions (with characters) are:

He still doesn't belong in this game, but if he's going to be in it, you may as well use him in his native surrounds. That way you can at least pretend Kilik's an curious bonus character in a Star Wars fighting game, and not the other way around.

It seems almost pointless to write hands-on impressions of a game several of you have already gotten your hands on, by I assure you my hands are professional trained to receive impressions still harboring the faint traces of a spiral notebook I fell asleep on in 1989. Those are lasting impressions right there. Either way, I got a chance to test my Soul Calibur IV mettle against some of the Namco Bandai folk at E3 last week, and boy did I ever fail to kick complete ass. Word to the wise: don't button mash against employees of the company creating the game. They are wise to such tricks. Could I alter my strategy and beat them at their own game?

Namco Bandai Roundup - Digimon, Naruto, And The Game That Never Ends

My very last E3 appointment was at Namco Bandai on Thursday afternoon, and while the majority of my time was spent getting my ass kicked at Soul Calibur IV, which I will handle in a separate post, they did have several interesting offerings on hand, from the girl-friendly We Cheer to the anime-friendly Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm to the most authentic Digimon experience for the Nintendo DS. Here's some of the titles that Namco Bandai has coming your way.

Digimon World: Championship: As mentioned above, this is the ultimate Digimon experience for the DS, bringing the game back to its handheld electronic pet roots. Use the stylus to capture Digimon in the wild, bring them back to your base to train, feed, and care for them, and then place then in the arena to battle. Includes cleaning up Digi-droppings - it doesn't get any better than that.

Soulcalibur IV Breaks Street Part II: Gameplay Video

Yesterday we posted pictures of guys who got their hands on Soulcalibur IV, 10 days before its release date of July 29. Today, we have video. I guess you can just walk into any store and ask them to break the street date and get your game. Here's Yoda vs. Ivy, Yoda taking it 4-1 with a lot of button mashing and bad camera work. If the game looks repetitive, I think these guys' admittedly bad technique (" I hadn't played a Soul Calibur title since Soul Calibur 2 a couple years ago, so our match is pretty bad.") might be to blame, not the game. If any of you manage to snag this, we'd appreciate a more informed breakdown of gameplay in the comments.

Soul Calibur [sic] IV Gameplay [Youtube]

Soulcalibur IV Start Screen and Character Selection

Reader Sourside21 found four Photobucket images of Soulcalibur IV breaking the street date by about 10 days. Well, maybe. It looks like these guys are playing it in the back of a store, so maybe they're employees (or friends) playing with the stock after hours. Naturally, we don't see any gameplay. But we do see the character selection page and Kratos ain't on it. "We'll probably be getting a lot of information on how each of the characters play soon," Sourside21 surmises. Good bet. All the full size photos are on the jump. Officially, Soulcalibur IV drops on July 29 in North America, July 31 in Japan, Australia and Europe, and Aug. 1 in the UK.

Yup, You're Getting Eternal Sonata On The PS3

Afro Samurai "Over Focus" Video Demo

Let's shift the focus away from the Soul Calibur IV women for a moment to focus on the new big boss of the Soul Caliburse, Algol. Not to be confused with petite Angol, Algol is the king of an ultra ancient civilization, and the strongest character ever in the Soul Calibur series. This according to character designer Hideo Yoshie, who addressed Angol's design in a statement accompanying these new screens of the character today.

So how powerful is the bird-armored ancient ruler? His right hand glows red because he is holding the Soul Edge, and his left hand holds the Soul Calibur and a blue glow. He has 10 different weapons built into his body. In short, he's much more of a bad ass than a generic energy being who mimics the other character's styles could ever be. Hit the jump for the full description in somewhat broken English from Hideo Yoshie.

ANOTHER Tales Game Coming, This Time For The Wii

At a press conference held yesterday in Japan, Namco Bandai's Makoto Yoshizumi has apparently announced the development of another Tales game. This time for the Wii. And no, he's not talking about Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, he's talking about another one. With Dawn of the New World, Tales of Vesperia, Tales of Hearts and Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2 all on their way, this makes the currently unnamed title the fifth Tales game currently in developmenti. Leave no stone unturned, Namco Bandai!

Tales Series Continues on Wii [IGN]

Announced earlier this week, here's some footage of the latest Tales game for the DS, Tales of Hearts. Glad they went to the trouble of including some CG stuff for a DS game. Also glad they've gone to a lot of trouble for the rest of the graphics, because for a 3D game on the DS, this is looking nice.

[via Go Nintendo]

Check Out SoulCalibur IV's Darth Vader Stage In Action

Soul Caliber IV’s Starwars Stage [Aeropause]

A bunch (and we mean a bunch) of new Soulcalibur IV screens have popped up. These are screens that show things like the game's Single Player Mode menu, Arcade Mode, Training Mode, VS Mode, Museum, Character Creation and a comic as well. There's lots of nitty-gritty to click through, but it's interesting stuff.

『ソウルキャリバーIV』のモード＆システム [Dengeki Online]

Soulcalibur IV Adds One More Female Fighter

With this, the seventh new character to join the Soulcalibur IV line up, we're starting to notice a trend. Kamikirimusi, like her predecessors Shura, Scheherezade, Algol Fear, and Ashlotte, is a female fighter designed by a well known Japanese artist, this time by guest artist Hirokazu Hisayuki. Kamikirimusi will fight with a very large metal club/mace and satisfy fans of exposed upper thigh flesh.

Her facial expression seen in the scan above — click through for the full-sized version if you're just visiting the front page — accurately sums up our thoughts on her design.

iDOLMASTER Tickets Are Crazy Expensive

Fans of Namco's Xbox 360-exclusive, J-pop idol sim THE iDOLM@STER are rich, it seems. Tickets for the iDOLM@STER event "THE iDOLM@STER 3rd Anniversary Live later this month have been going bananas. Auction prices have hit as high as ¥138,000 or US$1,292 (starting at ¥6,500 or $61) and fetching about $470 on average. The event will have the full iDOLM@STER voice cast in attendance, so perhaps these prices are understandable.

No, no they are not.

アイドルマスターライブ [my game news flash via Sankaku Complex]

Ace Combat 6 Trailer Really Does Make Things Better