"DBZ: Battle of Z" (360/PS3/Vita) On-Going Discussion Thread

[TheMightyOzaru]

Dude, Raging Blast IS a predecessor to BoZ. Just because it's not part of the same game engine used in say the Sparking series, doesn't mean it doesn't preceed Raging Blast. That aside, I agree with the latter about not releasing or making a game that is quite inferior to it's predecessors. Namco Bandai, and it's partner in this case, need to take time developing the game. We really don't care if it takes an extra year or 2. Something that might help would stop takeing 1 step forward and 2 steps back. Let's compare the selling points of the game to it's faults. BoZ has 4-8 player combat and BoG characters..... That's really all it has going for it. Now let's look at it's flaws. No local multiplayer, you HAVE to be battle in teams, no in-game transformations, important characters are missing from the roster, Vegetto is DLC, the gameplay looks pretty shallow/restrictive, and, if you like GT, no GT characters. Thanos, we get it you like the game, but don't call people out when they have completely valid criticisms.

[Hellspawn28]

I'm still looking forward to playing the game. There might not be any ingame transformations, but I think the game could still be fun. The older SNES games didn't allow you to transform and they were fun. The first Sparking game sucked because it had a very poor story mode, nearly every character played the same, the character models looked bad, the combat sucked and the camera was fucking awful. Not to mention that the Budokai soundtrack at this point was getting very old and I'm glad the second game give us a new soundtrack for the US release. It was not the worst DBZ game, but it need a lot of improvements.

[Thanos]

Yes. It is the game's predecessor, solely in the fact that it was released before it. That's it. But that's not the point. Beyond that, and the fact that they both happen to be Dragon Ball games, the two series are not connected. Until the producers state there is a connection, there simply isn't. Pretty basic stuff.

Thanos, we get it you like the game, but don't call people out when they have completely valid criticisms.

What valid criticisms? Like this one?

How much do you want to bet Namco is gonna blame DBZ fans for being too picky when they don't buy this game ?

I'm willing to see both sides. True, the character models don't look all that good. Offline multiplayer and in-game transformations seem like odd omissions. Super Vegetto as DLC? Wow. All I've done is contributed to the degree that was meant to move the conversation along as the release window closes. I would agree that I'm optimistic about the game, but that hasn't really colored or dominated my posts. I present my views based on what we've seen thus far, which isn't a whole lot. Barely any of us have actually seen the game in person, and even fewer have actually played it. The game could very well be complete shit... but I haven't decided, like you, that I need to continuously "contribute" to this topic, reminding everyone that I, personally, dislike the game which I have neither seen in person nor played.

[EXBadguy]

Namco Bandai, and it's partner in this case, need to take time developing the game. We really don't care if it takes an extra year or 2. Something that might help would stop takeing 1 step forward and 2 steps back. Let's compare the selling points of the game to it's faults. BoZ has 4-8 player combat and BoG characters..... That's really all it has going for it. Now let's look at it's flaws. No local multiplayer, you HAVE to be battle in teams, no in-game transformations, important characters are missing from the roster, Vegetto is DLC, the gameplay looks pretty shallow/restrictive, and, if you like GT, no GT characters.

It's too bad you should've said this a long time ago, back when RB1 or Burst Limit was around, that way we would've had RB3 being the game coming next year instead of this. And that's the problem, as I will say it again, you and a majority of fans need to come together and SPECIFY, cuz if we don't we will keep getting "mediocre games". You see the Kinect game? That shouldn't have been there IF WE GAVE THEM the proper feedback with either RB2 or Ultimate Tenkaichi by with going to the positives before the negatives, but it's too bad we had to whine about Namco Bandai not knowing what they want, right? We pretend that Namco Bandai doesn't put good stuff in their games, right?

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's 100% of the fan's fault, but I'm just saying WE fans, at least 85% of us, need to give the proper feedback and to WAKE THE HELL UP! It's our fault too, because we made the mess by "helping" them move away from RB2 to Ultimate Tenkaichi to BoZ. And if BoZ goes well but didn't sell well or wasn't well-recieved by fans, then Namco does have a right to call the fans picky. The fans HAVE been picky idiots ever since RB2 was around.


Another I'd like to add is that there is a difference between "series" and "predecessors", people. So I'll break it down like this.

Budokai series- may have omitted some characters but the last two went up to GT

Budokai Tenkaichi series- All three of them go up to GT, though Tenkaichi 1, not that much. This is where I go in depth. Tenkaichi 1 didn't have Uub, Omega Shenron, Supreme Kai, SSJ Broly, and no transformations and did you see anyone bitching?

So why is Artdink getting all the flak? 45 base characters seems A LOT for a start of a new series if you ask me.

[Silkman3003]

I actually do remember a lot of people bitching about no in game transformations For BT1, especially since the budokai games had it. Then they added it in BT2, and people became happier.

In terms of "Z" character content, I don't have that much issues with the roster, but thats just me.

[TheMightyOzaru]

What valid criticisms?

Did you really just pick out that one statement and say I didn't have valid criticisms. I suggest you actually read all of my post.

[Thanos]

Budokai Tenkaichi series- All three of them go up to GT, though Tenkaichi 1, not that much. This is where I go in depth. Tenkaichi 1 didn't have Uub, Omega Shenron, Supreme Kai, SSJ Broly, and no transformations and did you see anyone bitching?

So why is Artdink getting all the flak? 45 base characters seems A LOT for a start of a new series if you ask me.

Good point. Although, therein lies another issue. The fact that, when Sparking! was localized, Atari decided to call it "Budokai Tenkaichi", as to imply that there was a connection to the Budokai games... which there wasn't. Different engine, different models, different developer. If it weren't called "Budokai Tenkaichi", no one would've noticed that Uub, Super Yi Xing Long, Kaioshin and SSJ1 Broli weren't in the game. I'm curious as to how sales/reputation of the series might've been different had it kept the Sparking! name in localization.

What valid criticisms?

Did you really just pick out that one statement and say I didn't have valid criticisms. I suggest you actually read all of my post.

One of several. I only chose one as to not bloat my already borderline lengthy post.

[SparkyPantsMcGee]

The release date in Japan is set for January 23rd on PS3, and 360. The article doesn't mention the Vita version at all, so I don't know if it's a staggered launch or an oversight on the author's behalf. http://remoon.blog15.fc2.com/blog-entry-27677.html

Smart move, there is no way in hell this game will survive in the shadow of new brand new consoles and their launch games. However, this game can do well when the hype settles, Christmas is over, and kids need to spend their unused gift cards.

[Super Sayian Prime]

Anime News Network is reporting that that the Vita version will also arrive on January 23rd in Japan. Prices will be 7,480 yen (about US$76) on console and 6,480 yen (US$66) on Vita. I'm assuming they're the primary source, and took the image embedded on the right. It's too small for me to check out, and reverse image searching brings up nothing.

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/20 ... 3-in-japan

The release date in Japan is set for January 23rd on PS3, and 360. The article doesn't mention the Vita version at all, so I don't know if it's a staggered launch or an oversight on the author's behalf. http://remoon.blog15.fc2.com/blog-entry-27677.html

Smart move, there is no way in hell this game will survive in the shadow of new brand new consoles and their launch games. However, this game can do well when the hype settles, Christmas is over, and kids need to spend their unused gift cards.

The only new console launch Japan's getting this holiday is PSVitaTV. PS4, and Xbox One will launch in 2014. PS4 is out one month after BoZ's JP release.

[Daimo-Rukiri]

Wow those prices are pretty shocking, really $66? Hopefully tax is included.
I'm more surprised at the vita's price point, $76?!.. I like my vita but jesus it's not console gaming it's mobile!

[Chuquita]

That team of Gokûs really makes me think of all those doujins that use each of Gokû's forms as a separate character. O_O
Like, you'd have ssj1 and base form Gokû in the same room with each other, stuff like that.

Also, I still enjoy that 59 and 590 number play. X3

[DBZGTKOSDH]

Dragon Ball Z (Budokai) - 45 characters
Dragon Ball Z: Sparking! - 90 characters
Dragon Ball: Raging Blast - 72 characters
Dragon Ball: Ultimate Blast - 65 characters
Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z - 70 characters

The roster number isn't very bad for a new series first. What annoys me is the bad decisions in the roster, and the fact that they count the transformations & costumes as different characters.

[Thanos]

Wow those prices are pretty shocking, really $66? Hopefully tax is included.
I'm more surprised at the vita's price point, $76?!.. I like my vita but jesus it's not console gaming it's mobile!

I dunno, I'm pretty sure that's just the conversation rate of 円 to $. Taking into account inflation and currency value, they're probably equivalent prices to 40-60 USD. I highly doubt the digital Vita release will be anything more than $39.99, or the console versions anything higher than $59.99.

Smart move, there is no way in hell this game will survive in the shadow of new brand new consoles and their launch games. However, this game can do well when the hype settles, Christmas is over, and kids need to spend their unused gift cards.

Hmm, maybe the past would be a good indicator--anyone remember how the PS2 DBZ games did in terms of sales and hype around the time the XBOX360/PlayStation 3 were released? I guess they would've been released around the same time as Sparking!/BT1 & NEO/BT2, respectively...?

[Super Sayian Prime]

Wow those prices are pretty shocking, really $66? Hopefully tax is included.
I'm more surprised at the vita's price point, $76?!.. I like my vita but jesus it's not console gaming it's mobile!

You have the prices in the wrong order. The Vita version is cheaper by 1000 yen (or $10), and will likely receive a 500 yen ($5) discount if you purchase it via PSN. Those won't be the equivalent prices for the western releases. They'd be $40 on Vita, and likely $60 on the home consoles.

[SparkyPantsMcGee]

Hmm, maybe the past would be a good indicator--anyone remember how the PS2 DBZ games did in terms of sales and hype around the time the XBOX360/PlayStation 3 were released? I guess they would've been released around the same time as Sparking!/BT1 & NEO/BT2, respectively...?

Neo had a few weeks before the launch of the PS3 and Wii, not sure if that helped in any way but I'm the price of the PS3 at the time probably did. At the time(2006-2007) there was still plenty of good reasons to own a PS2. For example, Okami and FFXII came out in '06; and God of War II and Persona 3 came out in march of '07('06 in Japan). It also didn't hurt that the Dragonball games were still more popular then than they are now(though interest was definitely waning). BT3 ended up going against Mario Galaxy(Wii), Uncharted(PS3) and Mass Effect(360); 2007 also saw the launch of the first Modern Warfare title.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_in_vi ... th_America

Interesting thing to note, BT3 doesn't appear on this list for some reason and I'm not really sure why.

[Hellspawn28]

Most casual people don't get new consoles until a few years later when the price drops. I won't worry about kids and fans in Japan not buying the game because the new consoles. The game will likely sell better in Japan then in the US.

[theoriginalbilis]

I am one of those types of gamers. I would never spend $500 on a video game console, and for me, it's good to wait just because most launch-era consoles have some sort of technical/performance problem with them. For me, it's smart to wait for the next version/cheaper price point.

Luckily, I've got a good number of unfinished PS3/360/3DS games in my backlog to keep me busy... and I do plan to buy Battle of Z on release week.

[Thanos]

Even if the PS4 were the same price as the PS3, it still wouldn't be worth it to me at this point. A console is nothing without a decent library of games. The problem with the Vita was that it was, on paper, worth $250 in every way except for the lack of games. For $500 or whatever the amount is going to be for PS4, and only a launch window to select from... yeah, no thanks.

Odds are, Dragon Ball will stay on this generation until the Battle of Z series runs its course, unless they pull a 180 and decide to give the game's sequel a face lift. Fine by me... but I am eager to see how well the next generation is able to handle emulating cartoons.

[SparkyPantsMcGee]

For $500 or whatever the amount is going to be for PS4, and only a launch window to select from... yeah, no thanks.

Um, The PS4 is NOT $500!!

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/sony-playst ... Id=8240103
http://www.target.com/p/playstation-4-c ... A-14485673
http://www.gamestop.com/ps4/consoles/pl ... tem/109942

[KentalSSJ6]

For $500 or whatever the amount is going to be for PS4, and only a launch window to select from... yeah, no thanks.

Um, The PS4 is NOT $500!!

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/sony-playst ... Id=8240103
http://www.target.com/p/playstation-4-c ... A-14485673
http://www.gamestop.com/ps4/consoles/pl ... tem/109942

There is a 500 buck bundle with the eye cam, two controllers, and Killzone Shadow Fall, but your right. The standard system with one controller is 400 bucks.