Play-Asia has put up new listings for an original soundtrack and a theme song single for the upcoming “Infinite World” PS2 fighting game. You will be able to pick up the original soundtrack 07 January 2009 in Japan (LACA-5852) for ¥2,999. If you cannot wait that long, or you just want the theme song single, it drops Christmas Day on 25 December 2008 in Japan (LACM-4555) for ¥1,200.
Big thanks to Tanooki Kuribo for the heads-up!
Right on the heels of “Infinite World” on the PS2, “Dragon Ball: Origins” (originally released in Japan as “Dragon Ball DS”) for the Nintendo DS has gone gold and is also ready for its North American release from Atari:
‘Dragon Ball: Origins’ Goes Gold
– Atari Completes Development on the First Action-Adventure Dragon Ball Game Featuring Goku and Bulma as Kids –
NEW YORK, Oct. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Atari announces that development of the latest hit from the Dragon Ball franchise, Dragon Ball: Origins for Nintendo DS(TM), is complete! Developed by NAMCO BANDAI Games Inc., Dragon Ball: Origins takes players back to the original Dragon Ball series and around the world for a thrilling action-adventure game with innovative stylus controls. Marking the first ever Dragon Ball game to feature Goku and Bulma as kids, and filled with several new gameplay elements including puzzle solving, fighting action, and mazes, Dragon Ball: Origins will be an essential and unique part of any Dragon Ball collection. Rated T for Teen, Dragon Ball: Origins will be available in North American retailers on November 4, 2008 for the suggested price of $29.99.
Presenting an all-new story line that takes place before the Dragon Ball Z sagas, Dragon Ball: Origins introduces Goku and his clever sidekick Bulma who must travel the world overcoming enemies and obstacles to collect the 7 Dragon Balls. Players control Goku in two modes: Combat and Power Pole mode. Each mode allows Goku a new set of enemy attacks to protect Bulma from incoming assaults while Bulma’s brains and her knack for inventing machines and weapons out of discarded spare parts help the formidable team to defeat the strongest of enemies and overcome the trickiest of obstacles.
Dragon Ball: Origins immerses fans with vibrant 3D graphics on both screens and further pulls players into the spectacular universe with the lively humor well-known to Dragon Ball games. This unique action-adventure game includes dozens of challenging puzzles and problem-solving obstacles, as well as plenty of room for exploration and treasure hunting – with, of course, an array of enemies on which to practice signature Dragon Ball fighting elements.
Through Goku and Bulma’s travels, players can progress through the game using the stylus to direct the character, control action, and unleash a variety of attacks. For example, a double tap on Goku followed by tapping on the Ka-me-ha-me-ha letters unleashes his famous devastating move. Another DS feature available for the first time in a Dragon Ball title is a unique wireless exchange, which will enable players to wirelessly trade items, vehicles, costumes and weapons.
The immensely popular Dragon Ball Z(R) series is the gold standard of anime-based video games, with more than 30 different games and over 12.7 million units sold since May 2002.
For more information on Dragon Ball Z(R) video games, please visit http://www.atari.com/dragonballz.
About FUNimation Entertainment
FUNimation(R) Entertainment is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Navarre Corporation and the market share leader for the home video sales of Japanese animation in the United States. FUNimation is known for acquiring top-rated anime series from Japan and for developing some of North America’s most popular anime series. The company has a proven formula for launching and advancing brands, and manages a full spectrum of rights for most of its brands including broadcasting, licensing, production, internet, and home video sales and distribution.
About Infogrames Entertainment and Atari
The Infogrames group, including Atari, Inc., is a global producer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment software for all market segments and all interactive game platforms including consoles from Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony, advanced smartphones, Personal Computers, web and online. Its games are sold in more than 60 countries through an international distribution network and direct to consumers via http://www.atari.com.
The Infogrames group’s extensive catalogue of popular games is marketed under the Atari brand and based on original franchises (Alone in the Dark, Test Drive, V-Rally, My Horse & Me, Backyard Sports franchise, Total Annihilation, Outcast etc.), publishing properties (The Witcher, Legendary, Race Pro etc.), international licenses (Dragon Ball Z, Dungeons & Dragons, Jamie Oliver etc.) and classic games covering the entire history of the video game industry (Pong, Missile Command, Asteroids etc).
Not much to report here other than the fact that games are at least finished for their North American releases and should be in stores on schedule!
‘Dragon Ball Z(R): Infinite World’ Goes Gold
– Development Complete on Final Dragon Ball Z Game for PlayStation 2 System that Combines the Greatest Elements from the World-renowned Dragon Ball Z Series –
NEW YORK, Oct. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Atari announced today that the development of the ultimate PlayStation(R)2 system Dragon Ball Z game, Dragon Ball Z(R): Infinite World, is complete! Representing the last “Z” title for the PlayStation(R)2 computer entertainment system, Dragon Ball Z: Infinite World combines many of the best elements from the previous Budokai and Shin-Budokai series, as well as the recently released and much-admired next-gen Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit, to deliver the definitive DBZ experience on the PlayStation(R)2 system. Moreover, Dragon Ball Z: Infinite World will boast several special features including “Dragon Missions”, new battle types, and dramatic cut scenes that enable fans to delve deeper than ever before into the Dragon Ball Z universe. Developed by NAMCO BANDAI Games, Inc. and rated T for Teen, Dragon Ball Z: Infinite World will be available in North American retailers on November 4, 2008 for the suggested price of $29.99.
The new “Dragon Missions” in Dragon Ball Z: Infinite World will include many famous scenes from the Dragon Ball Z series never before seen in a video game. A range of missions from time attack in the “Snake Road Mission” alongside other action and racing-style missions puts players’ strategy and quick-thinking skills to the test beyond simply showing off their deadly fighting skills.
But no Dragon Ball Z game would be complete without its fair share of spectacular battles. Dragon Ball Z: Infinite World uses a simplified battle system taken from the recently released next-gen Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit for thrilling hand-to-hand fighting on the ground, or flying leaps and aerial combat in the skies. Defeat your opponent by blasting damaging Ki attacks from the sky or by diving into him and launching an explosive smash attack.
The game features over 40 unique characters, not counting the various character transformations which multiply the playing potential. On top of characters, fighting techniques and battle stages, Dragon Ball Z: Infinite World also includes selected drama scenes from the previous games all presented using beautifully refined effects and shading techniques.
Dragon Ball Z marks the gold standard of anime-based video games. The catalog is currently comprised of over 30 games that have sold more than 12.7 million units since May 2002.
For more information on Dragon Ball Z(R) video games, please visit http://www.atari.com/dragonballz.
About FUNimation Entertainment
FUNimation(R) Entertainment is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Navarre Corporation and the market share leader for the home video sales of Japanese animation in the United States. FUNimation is known for acquiring top-rated anime series from Japan and for developing some of North America’s most popular anime series. The company has a proven formula for launching and advancing brands, and manages a full spectrum of rights for most of its brands including broadcasting, licensing, production, internet, and home video sales and distribution.
About Infogrames Entertainment and Atari:
The Infogrames group, including Atari, Inc., is a global producer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment software for all market segments and all interactive game platforms including consoles from Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony, advanced smartphones, Personal Computers, web and online. Its games are sold in more than 60 countries through an international distribution network and direct to consumers via http://www.atari.com.
The Infogrames group’s extensive catalogue of popular games is marketed under the Atari brand and based on original franchises (Alone in the Dark, Test Drive, V-Rally, My Horse & Me, Backyard Sports franchise, Total Annihilation, Outcast etc.), publishing properties (The Witcher, Legendary, Race Pro etc.), international licenses (Dragon Ball Z, Dungeons & Dragons, Jamie Oliver etc.) and classic games covering the entire history of the video game industry (Pong, Missile Command, Asteroids etc).
Way back in July we put up an image of the concept art of what the Dragon Ball movie individual discs special figures would look like. We finally have some actual images of these new figures! From left to right, we have Super Saiyan Gogeta, Coola (4th Form), and Legendary Super Saiyan Broli:
We also get to finally see what it will look like when you have all of the special figures put together:
So, does anyone want to get all of these for me?
Episode #0149 of the podcast is available for download! This is probably going to finish out shows for the month, but hopefully you can all get along without new podcast material for a couple weeks! For the last show before our break, we dove into volume twenty (Viz’s DBZ Volume 4) of the manga. The Saiya-jin arc is all about action right now, and there is a whole lot to talk about. In addition to the manga, we’ve got a recap of all the news (which you’ve probably read below), some e-mails, and a bunch of other good stuff. Definitely check it out.
SHOW DESCRIPTION:
Episode #0149! VegettoEX, Meri, and Jeff tackle volume twenty in our “Manga Review of Awesomeness”. Toriyama has hit full-on-action in the Saiya-jin arc, and perhaps the story has hit its stride. Lots of random news bits, some e-mails, and a look to the future round out the episode.
REFERENCED SITES:
Well, that was fast! If you happened to read through some of our prior updates, you would have seen that there have been hints of a new vocal theme song being produced for the upcoming PS2 game “Infinite World”. One of the latest trailers (from Atari, no less) confirms this by blasting it right from the start!
We will try to have details on the song soon!
The third set of the Dragon Ball movies individual discs (DBZ movies 5 & 6) were released today and Toei has already posted the next set of covers. The next two films, “Extreme Battle!! The Three Great Super Saiyans” (DBZ movie 7) and “Burn Up!! A Close – Intense – Super-Fierce Battle” (DBZ movie 8), are set to be released 14 November 2008.
You can still order any of the previously released discs or any of these discs from Amazon Japan.
Harley wrote to point us towards an interview from 1986 with Akira Toriyama and Rumiko Takahashi over on Rumic World. Definitely a good read, if for nothing other than a picture of a very young Toriyama! Seriously, though, there is a lot of really good insight from around the time that Dragon Ball was still only just getting started.
I wanted to keep it a secret, but I planned to submit my drafts to Shonen Magazine at first, but I found the deadline had already passed, so I had no choice but to send it to Shonen Jump. The reason why I became a mangaka… to be honest, I just wanted the 100,000 yen prize (laughs).
That’s our Toriyama…!
SuperSaiyan000 wrote to let us know that DBZ Battleground put up a new commercial for some of Bandai’s new figures. That surrounding clip-on aura is certainly… interesting:
Our favorite part, though? The correct pronunciation of “Saiyan”.
Kyoko~chan wrote to let us know that CDJapan has some new calendars up for order! The 2009 DB-specific calendar is looking pretty awesome, and the general Toei one is equally impressive.