The Magic Box has updated and we finally have a release date set for “Dragon Ball Z 3” for the Japanese PlayStation 2 (which we already received as “Budokai 3”): 10 February 2005. Also, it will have “… additional characters from the DBZ movies and Dragon Ball GT.”
Note that we simply have no idea exactly who these extra characters are going to be (though we can probably make some educated guesses). We will be sure to let you know as soon as we find out.
As you may recall, both Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z have been released on DVD in Japan over the past two years, in the form of three huge (not to mention hugely expensive) boxed sets, known as “Dragon Box” sets. There have been three so far (because DBZ was split in half) but there is soon to be a fourth…
As forum-goer Milton pointed out to us, Toei has officially announced the Dragon Ball GT Dragon Box — go ahead and check out the official GT DVD site and see for yourself. For the exorbitant-but-still-lower-than-domestic-DVDs price of ¥52,500, you’d get:
You read right on that last one: while the DBZ sets had Goku and Piccolo figures from Kaiyodo, and the DB set had a Tenka-ichi Budōkai diorama, this one will have a remote control, shaped like (and the same size as) the Dragon Radar. It is certainly an offbeat choice, but I gotta say… I want one now!
The GT Dragon Box pre-order ends on 28 February 2005, and it will be officially released on 25 May 2005. If you want yours, you might want to start saving up those pennies now.
To further support the theory that “Budokai 3” is quite an unfinished product (see our “Rumor Guide” for all sorts of details), I have come up with some audio files that seem to suggest Chibi/Little/Kid Goku was originally intended to have his own “Dragon Universe” storyline.
What is really sad is that it sounds like it would have been great! There’s some funny stuff in here. There appear to be several more of these, as well, some of which can even be listened to within the game itself as a part of the “Memories of…” capsules.
It never occurred to me that I should probably check the audio on the first “Budokai” game. I wanted to check the announcer recordings of DBZ1 vs DBZ3 with characters like Zarbon & Dodoria to determine concretely if they were left-over recordings, or new ones done specifically for the third game.
What I found was even more interesting.
DRAGON BALL Z: BUDOKAI (1)
In addition to the regular playable characters we all know, the following additional announcements are indeed on the disc:
Saibaiman and Cell Jr. had not been playable characters until the third game, yet have been fully complete since the first game (as NON-playable characters). Quite interesting. Perhaps they were intended to be playable, at some point? Or maybe just as testing devices for the play-testers to use in World Tournament? And what’s up with Kewi being in there? Was he intended to be a character, and was simply never finished?
DRAGON BALL Z: BUDOKAI 2
Absolutely nothing of interest not already known.
DRAGON BALL Z: BUDOKAI 3
The main goal (before finding extra DBZ1 audio!) was to compare the announcing of character names with DBZ1 announcements. If they were not the exact same sounding, that means they were new recordings, and recorded for some reason. Well, they sure are new recordings, so that solves that one.
For proof that Bulma is (or was intended to be?) an actual character in “Budokai 3” in some capacity, look no further than the “exclusive bonus DVD” that came with the Collector’s Edition of the game. During some of the behind-the-scenes shots of actual voice work being performed on the game if Tiffany Vollmer, FUNimation’s voice actress for Bulma, actually performing typical “Yah! Hiya! Ha! Ooyah! Get back! Ha!” fighting sounds.
In somewhat related news, Jeremy Dunham of IGN has reviewed the game and gave it a flat 8.0.
Atari has put up a new page with the first actual information screen shots from the upcoming “DragonBall Z: Sagas” (which seems to now no-longer have the word “Evolution” in the title).
Join the Z-Warriors on their epic journey from the Saiyan Saga through the Cell Games. Battle their enemies. Gain power from their victories. Discover all-new parts of the DBZ® story as you obliterate fully destructible environments. Enter their world and become a hero.
- Play as one of five DBZ® heroes including Goku®, Gohan® and Piccolo®
- Face brutal enemies including Raditz™, Nappa™, Captain Ginyu®, Frieza® and Cell®
- Unlock bonus areas, characters and other hidden surprises
- Battle in 1- or 2-player mode
Killing henchmen on Namek as Vegeta?! I am so there. I will try to post whatever information and video I can after checking out the preview disc that comes with the Collector’s Edition of “Budokai 3”.
GameSpot seems to be the first with their “Budokai 3” review, written by Ryan Davis, who gives the game a not-too-shabby 8.2 for a final score.
If you’re a Dragon Ball Z fan, you want this game. It re-creates the DBZ experience better than any other offering before it. And while there’s definitely a lot of fan service here, the gameplay is also just plain fun, so anyone who’s up for a simple, high-impact fighting game should have a blast with Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3.
We will let you know as the other major players get their reviews finished and online.
I decided to go through all of the sound files on the North American release of “Budokai 3”, extracting them one-by-one from the game’s programming on the disc. Within these audio bits, I found the announcer’s… well, announcements for the characters’ names (you know, “Goku vs…!” and so on). A complete list of what I discovered is included below, written as-is from the FUNimation English dub version as spoken aloud in the game, and in order from the extracted files:
Yes, “Cell Jr.” and “Saibaman” get two entries. It is worth noting that the Zarbon, Dodoria, and Android 19 audio bits are indeed new recordings, and not simply left over from the first “Budokai” game when they last appeared (having been removed for “Budokai 2” and are still not playable here in “Budokai 3”). Then there’s “Shin”; if that was meant to be Kaiōshin, why would “Supreme Kai” already be there, too? The biggest surprise is — naturally — “Bulma”.
These announcements come from the “World Tournament” mode, which does not include fusions and possible alternate-outfits. This is all pretty interesting, especially considering we are hearing that Bardock has an alternate outfit that is quite Tullece-like.
UPDATE:
I just went through all 4500+ sound files I could decrypt from the game. I did not hear any Bulma fighting sounds / attacks (or #19, Zarbon, Dodoria). There is a crapload of Bulma audio from what sounds like “Dragon Universe” (the game’s single-player story mode that expands upon a single character’s adventures) and audio specifically regarding getting Vegeta to Super Saiyan 4 (which backs up what a little birdie told me weeks ago). I also hear absolutely no Yamhan (“Tiencha”) or Gotan (“Gokule”), or any other fusions besides Vegetto, Gogeta, and Gotenks, for that matter.
I know I am not hearing EVERYTHING, though; lots of stuff is hidden away elsewhere in the game’s programming. In none of these files did I hear the everyday, normal Kamehameha, Buster Cannon, etc. “regular” attacks and fighting sounds, so they are probably elsewhere in the game, and not with this batch.
There could be a chance that these characters are actually in there… or they could be not.
Just because these files exist does not necessarily mean any one specific thing. They could be extra files, they could be things that were never finished, they could mean things that we just cannot even comprehend yet.
Nintendo of Japan has a neat little promo video featuring some upcoming GameBoy Advance games. Included is some really nice “Advance Adventure” footage!
[pro-player width=’420′ height=’360′ type=’video’ image=’http://www.kanzenshuu.com/media/video/gbasoft3.jpg’]http://www.kanzenshuu.com/media/video/gbasoft3.swf[/pro-player]
Thanks to Mugenmidget for the heads-up.
A comprehensive press release from Atari details the company’s plans post-“Budokai 3” as we head toward 2005:
BEVERLY, Mass. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — Nov. 4, 2004 — On the eve of the highly anticipated Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 launch for the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system, Atari, Inc. today announced the future of Atari published Dragon Ball games for the North American market. The four titles slated for release next year demonstrate Atari’s commitment to the Dragon Ball brand and to building video games that will excite the imaginations of millions of loyal Dragon Ball fans, anime lovers, and superhero aficionados.
“The Dragon Ball franchise is one of the deepest, most beloved properties in the entertainment industry today,” said Matt Collins, Director of Brand Marketing for Atari’s Beverly studio. “While Atari is proud to have been part of its interactive growth, we are even more excited to be part of its future. Because we listen carefully to fans and work closely with our development partners, we are optimistic that these future titles will be as successful and popular as the current slate of hit releases.”The 2005 Atari product calendar currently includes:
* Dragon Ball Z: Sagas (Spring 2005): Sagas is the first cross-platform Dragon Ball Z game to launch simultaneously, the first Dragon Ball Z action/adventure game for console, the first Dragon Ball Z game for Xbox video game system from Microsoft, and the first Dragon Ball game to offer cooperative story mode play. * Dragon Ball GT: Transformation (Summer 2005): – Developed by Webfoot, creators of the hugely successful Legacy of Goku series and Boo’s Fury, Transformation is the first all-GT action/adventure title on Game Boy Advance. * Atari will have two more games based on Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball GT that will launch later in 2005. One will create an innovative combination of action and fighting game elements on PlayStation 2, while the other will allow players to recreate the most dramatic moments of the second half of DBGT on Game Boy Advance.
“Atari has raised the bar for video games based on entertainment franchises. Their commitment to the Dragon Ball franchise has created some of the most authentic video game experiences in the industry,” said Gen Fukunaga, president of FUNimation Productions, Ltd. the master licensor for the Dragon Ball franchise in the United States. “Atari’s future releases for the Dragon Ball trilogy will raise this bar even higher and for the first time bring fans into fully immersive Dragon Ball environments.”
About Dragon Ball Z: Sagas
The game that all Dragon Ball Z fans have been asking for; an action-adventure title with RPG elements that spans the storylines from the Saiyan Saga through the Cell Games Saga. Players will journey from Earth to Namek and beyond in a 3-D action-adventure featuring melee, ranged attacks and destructible environments.
More information regarding Transformation and other forthcoming Dragon Ball Z games will be released after the Holiday 2004 season.
What we previously knew as “DBZ Sagas: Evolution” will indeed be a cross-platform (PS2, GameCube, Xbox) release, and will be an all-out action game. Stories hinted at include the early Saiyan arc through the Cell arc. The game is slated for a spring release; note that EBGames lists a street date of 15 March 2005.
The “DBGT: Transformation” title that fans have seen sitting around on such sites as GameFAQs appears to be an actual game (and not one of the GBA Video titles)! Seemingly the next entry in the “Legacy of Goku” action/RPG series on the GameBoy Advance, it will also be developed by Webfoot. The game is slated for a summer release; note that EBGames lists a street date of 14 June 2005.
In addition to this, Atari notes that there will be another two games released in 2005. One of them (to be released for the PS2), “will create an innovative combination of action and fighting game elements.” The second, a GameBoy Advance game, “will allow players to recreate the most dramatic moments of the second half of [DBGT]” (can you say “Legacy of Goku V”…?).