TAI-X

Extra definitely looks faster than the original, or maybe there's just less hitstop (a la BBCP), but that's about it. My biggest gripe with the original was that the controls felt like poo. You don't realize how important the tactile sensation and rhythm of motions like QCF, DP, and HCB are until they're gone. If I want to press a single button with a direction to do every special move, I'll just play Smash. If they were that hell-bent on making the game accessible, they should have taken the P4A route and given everyone an autocombo.

Have the hackers found any trace of playable Kokonoe or any other characters on the disc yet? They're typically very proactive with these things. Also, is Kokonoe's stage available from the start or will we not have it until her DLC?

Not if they've made some dramatic changes for the better in Extra I'm not aware of, but it sounds like that's not the case. Why couldn't they have made it play just like Asuka 120%, my favorite console-exclusive fighting series? I've heard that Delta Factory has some old staff from Fill In Cafe who worked on those games. The counter-step system is definitely reminiscent, but not as tight.

At this point I'd say the game has next to no hope of getting a netplay patch. FK Digital has made no effort to reach out to American players since CC's US release, and they seem to be much more focused on their smartphone/3DS casual games lately, which is probably where most of their money is coming from. There's also the fact that it's a terribly programmed port. The load times are several times longer than they have any business being on a HDD, and I've seen others report crashes, getting trophies out of the blue, and characters randomly starting a match with infinite HP. With development chops like these, they probably have no idea how to make netcode work. Not that I don't have fun fighting Level 4 AIs now and then, but netcode is a prerequisite for any fighting game on a console in 2013.

I think the point of this rehashed announcement was to reach out to BB players who may not be familiar with the GG series or keep up with Xrd news. I'm still fully expecting a Saya DLC announcement sometime next month.

So is this as flaky and boring as the original PB? I just can't take Smash Bros. controls in a traditional fighter seriously.

It's unlikely, but it would suck if the "emergency" is that they just discovered a fatal bug and are delaying the shipment to have a patch ready for launch.

Sadly, Jubei will probably be the very last character to be made playable after the story ends.

Yeah, I'm betting on Saya. She already has a sprite for the Takemikazuchi boss fight, so it's very likely that she'll show up by herself in playable form.

I bet the Blu-rays for this will fly off the shelves. Not. What a huge missed opportunity. I guess BB's story might only really work in the format of a visual novel, but they could have at least gotten a better studio. Production IG's opening for Extend was amazing - I'd eagerly watch a full series with that kind of animation, no matter how the story was handled.

My guess is it will be a tease for the next DLC character. I don't see them announcing a Vita version this late.

So does Terumi have any role in the story mode? Being a DLC character, he probably can't be playable in it, though that didn't stop them from including him on the box art.

Yeah, there are plenty of people who don't have a PS3 or are waiting for the US release of CP.

I almost wish that they'd use the lazy Mortal Kombat 4 method of balancing combos, where the game will immediately end your combo once it reaches a certain maximum damage value.

BBCS Extend released on Vita, PS3 and 360 on 12/17/11 in Japan; there was no delay between versions except for the PSP (which was clearly targeting a different market).

While it's not selling right now, the 360 has a Japanese install base of over 1.5 million, it's favored by hardcore players due to reduced input lag, and it's incredibly easy to port games to it from the Type-X2. Though, the bigger question is why CP isn't on Vita.

I'm actually not anticipating an Extend version this time around. Next-gen is knocking on the door, and Arc has obviously had to dial down their sales expectations for BB as the series ages, since they're not releasing CP on Vita or 360 at all or being proactive with the localization work. We may get more new DLC characters (probably Saya + Jubei), but I doubt we'll ever see them on disc. The justifiably poor reception to Alter Memory can't have helped either.

Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if we see Kokonoe made playable by hackers before she releases.

Galneryus was involved with the OST. It may have been a stipulation of their record label that players cannot freely access the music in-game. 300 yen for classic Noel is some nickel-and-diming BS. I'm happy to learn that Kokonoe's not far off, though.

Not confirmation of a PS3 release. Games get cancelled all the time due to any number of factors. I'm detecting some wishful thinking and overestimation of how much an international Steam release would make the game's community blow up. Most Steam users who took a glance at it would just go on ignoring it, because their reaction would be a combination of "lol weeaboo animu game" and "looks too complicated and the combos are too long, guess I'll fire up SFIV/MK9." No matter what, the game's primary market will remain in Japan. Now, GG and BB have an easier time of this, because ArcSys has a strong pedigree and a well-established history in the genre. But there's little hope for a new series like UNIB from a developer few people have ever heard of.

They removed the sound test because they want people to buy the OST.

Lemme clear up a few things. - French Bread has been well aware of their international fanbase since Melty's heyday, and they had plans at one point to localize the PS2 version of Act Cadenza through Aksys, though they obviously fell through. The problem is that they don't have the resources or connections to seriously pursue breaking into the Western market (Melty's licensing issues were also a factor), and it's just not as large or reliable as their Japanese core of players. - For everything that isn't an eroge or MMO, PC gaming is very niche in Japan; most people are on consoles (likely the PS3) or handhelds (likely the 3DS). Steam is rarely used and very unpopular - Valve's most significant venture into the Japanese market was Half-Life 2 Survivor, an arcade game. - Capcom and Bandai-Namco are the only JPN fighting game publishers who have a vested financial interest in the American FGC. It's little more than an afterthought for Examu, Sega and ArcSys, since they can't hope to compete with SF, Marvel and Tekken here.

Continuum Shift's JPN and US releases were much closer together, though.

The 12 GB models exist for two groups of people: - People who want a high-end Blu-ray player/streaming media box with the added bonus of being able to play PS3 games. - People who want to play GTA V and nothing else.

Which is a moot point, because Melty on PC gets pirated out the wazoo by Western players like all the Touhou games and many other doujins.