Month: August 2015

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Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden Demo Now Available in North America and Europe

Heads-up, Dragon Ball fans! Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden is now playable in North America and Europe courtesy of a demo that just appeared in Nintendo’s eShop.

This handheld title was developed for the Nintendo 3DS by fighting game veterans Arc System Works, and gives players the opportunity play as a wide array of Dragon Ball Z characters. The demo includes Goku, Kid Gohan, Vegeta, and Majin Buu as playable characters, with backup provided by Korin, Great Saiyaman, Hercule, Recoome, Tien, Turtle, Mercenary Tao, and Majuub.

Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden is scheduled to launch this fall (October 16 in Europe, October 20 in North America), so use this opportunity to try the game out for yourself before the final release lands on store shelves.

Editor’s note: If you are having a hard time finding this title in the eShop, it should show up with a quick search. Sorry for the confusion.

Sources: Bandai Namco US, Bandai Namco UK

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SNK Playmore Acquired by Chinese Investors

Reports have surfaced that Japanese video game studio SNK Playmore has been acquired by Ledo Millenium, a subsidiary of the Chinese investment firm Leyou Technologies. This was made possible by two separate companies, Oriental Securities and Shunrong Sanqi, investing in Ledo Millenium, allowing them to acquire majority control of SNK from former CEO Eikichi Kawasaki for $63.5 million USD.

Moving foward, Oriental Securities will act as the majority shareholder thanks to their control of 80% of the company, and it would appear as if they have big plans for the future.

Oriental Securities CEO Zheng Jianhui named the developer’s vast amount of intellectual property and their tie-in possibilities as the main impetus behind their purchase, mentioning that they hope to follow Marvel’s lead and expand SNK’s presence in comics, movies, and television in addition to video games.

With SNK’s rather disappointing focus on pachislot development in recent years, this news could definitely provide a shift to more proactive work on their fighting game series as well as introduce a whole new generation to franchises like Fatal Fury, Samurai Shodown, and King of Fighters.

Sources: Shunrong Sanqi, Sina, Yicai, hksilicon via Dream Cancel, Reuters via MMCafe