Month: September 2016

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World of Warcraft – Do You Remember the Corrupted Blood Incident?

It was exactly eleven years ago today that the infamous Corrupted Blood Incident happened in World of Warcraft. What’s that, you say? Starting September 13, 2005, the infection of corrupted blood that spawned out of the Zul’Gurub raid from Hakkar the Soulflayer remained on pets and minions when it was supposed to have fallen off after a short period of time. As a result, the corruption of DOOM spread throughout Azeroth for over a week.

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Have Sakurai’s Theories on Competitive Play Changed? Smashboards Discusses the Evolution of His Stance

Masahiro Sakurai has, for a long time, been one of the most polarizing developers in fighting games. A famed producer of the Kirby franchise before producing the Super Smash Bros. series, Sakurai has possessed an ever-changing stance on competitive fighting games. From calling fighting games “too hard to get into,” to having to create a website explaining advanced nuances of the original Super Smash Bros. on the Nintendo 64, Sakurai’s original stance was to make Smash accessible, but competitive and flexible. He further developed Super Smash Bros. Melee in a way that would allow it to be played either casually or competitively.

Soon after, during development of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Sakurai completely flip-flopped on his stance and went out of his way to make Brawl limited technically–and thus less competitive–as possible, even going so far as to implement the infamous randomized character tripping into the core mechanics. But seeing the differences between Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, one has to wonder: had his outlook again changed?

PushDustin from Smashboards and Soma from Source Gaming sat down for a podcast to discuss the possibility. Going over translations of interviews and writings of Sakurai from the last couple decades, they try to come up with the solution. They also try to understand how he came to his stance that caused the design choices in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

[Editor’s note: Sakurai has discussed his current outlook on fighting games at length in his Famitsu column as well, worth a look for comparison.]

Source: Smashboards

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Dragon Ball Z and One Piece Characters Duke it Out in New Cross-Play Update For Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden

Fans of Dragon Ball Z and One Piece will be able to play out their dream match ups, thanks to a compatibility update for Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden and One Piece: Great Pirate Colosseum on Nintendo 3DS. This November, players will be able to take the fight locally or online on either title.

For years, fans have clamored for a Dragon Ball game with more depth than the average anime fighter. Bandai Namco answered that plea last year with Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden for Nintendo 3DS. Don’t let its handheld home fool you, it was developed by Arc System Works, the folks behind the 2D fighting series of Guilty Gear and Blazblue. Extreme Butoden features a robust cast, multi-tiered stages, and fast paced unadulterated gameplay.

The hit anime and manga series, One Piece, is currently getting the Arc System Works treatment with One Piece: Great Pirate Colosseum, which will release in Japan on September 21. The game will feature 23 playable characters alongside 80 assist characters, all from throughout the series’ 9 year history. It will also feature a competitive online “Bounty” system that allows players to rise up the ranks to become the “King of the Pirates.”

There is currently no word of an international release, but the console fighter One Piece: Burning Blood found its way west this passed May, so there is still hope! Bandai Namco will reveal further information at a later date.

Feel free to check out One Piece: Great Pirate Colosseum’s character overview trailer below!

Source: Gematsu